Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neoadjuvant therapy may lead to successful surgical resection and improved survival in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND Borderline resectable pancreatic cancers are technically amenable to surgical resection, but are associated with increased risk of locoregional recurrence. Patients with these tumours may be treated with neoadjuvant therapy in an attempt to improve margin-negative resection rates. METHODS The University of Cincinnati Pancreatic Cancer Database was retrospectively reviewed. Borderline resectable disease was defined by the following radiographic criteria: (i) short segment occlusion of the superior mesenteric vein (SMV), portal vein (PV) or SMV/PV confluence; (ii) short segment hepatic artery encasement, or (iii) superior mesenteric artery/coeliac artery abutment of <180 degrees. Patients with resectable disease who had questionable metastatic disease or poor performance status were also included. RESULTS Twenty-nine patients met the criteria. Of these, 26 underwent a full course of neoadjuvant therapy. Twelve (46%) underwent surgical resection and 14 had tumour progression or were deemed unresectable at laparotomy. The most common neoadjuvant therapy regimen was gemcitabine-based chemotherapy alone (58%). Of those undergoing surgery, 67% had margin-negative (R0) resections and 42% required venous resection. Median survival was 15.5 months for unresected patients and 23.3 months for resected patients. DISCUSSION Borderline resectable pancreatic tumours can be treated neoadjuvantly, resulting in margin-negative resection and survival rates similar to those in initially resectable disease.
Effects of constraint-induced movement therapy on patients with chronic motor deficits after stroke: a replication.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Constraint-induced movement therapy (CI therapy) has previously been shown to produce large improvements in actual amount of use of a more affected upper extremity in the "real-world" environment in patients with chronic stroke (ie, >1 year after the event). This work was carried out in an American laboratory. Our aim was to determine whether these results could be replicated in another laboratory located in Germany, operating within the context of a healthcare system in which administration of conventional types of physical therapy is generally more extensive than in the United States. METHODS Fifteen chronic stroke patients were given CI therapy, involving restriction of movement of the intact upper extremity by placing it in a sling for 90% of waking hours for 12 days and training (by shaping) of the more affected extremity for 7 hours on the 8 weekdays during that period. RESULTS Patients showed a significant and very large degree of improvement from before to after treatment on a laboratory motor test and on a test assessing amount of use of the affected extremity in activities of daily living in the life setting (effect sizes, 0.9 and 2.2, respectively), with no decrement in performance at 6-month follow-up. During a pretreatment control test-retest interval, there were no significant changes on these tests. CONCLUSIONS Results replicate in Germany the findings with CI therapy in an American laboratory, suggesting that the intervention has general applicability.
Unexpected Diversity and High Abundance of Putative Nitric Oxide Dismutase (Nod) Genes in Contaminated Aquifers and Wastewater Treatment Systems

ABSTRACT It has recently been suggested that oxygenic dismutation of NO into N2 and O2 may occur in the anaerobic methanotrophic “Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera” and the alkane-oxidizing gammaproteobacterium HdN1. It may represent a new pathway in microbial nitrogen cycling catalyzed by a putative NO dismutase (Nod). The formed O2 enables microbes to employ aerobic catabolic pathways in anoxic habitats, suggesting an ecophysiological niche space of substantial appeal for bioremediation and water treatment. However, it is still unknown whether this physiology is limited to “Ca. Methylomirabilis oxyfera” and HdN1 and whether it can be coupled to the oxidation of electron donors other than alkanes. Here, we report insights into an unexpected diversity and remarkable abundance of nod genes in natural and engineered water systems. Phylogenetically diverse nod genes were recovered from a range of contaminated aquifers and N-removing wastewater treatment systems. Together with nod genes from “Ca. Methylomirabilis oxyfera” and HdN1, the novel environmental nod sequences formed no fewer than 6 well-supported phylogenetic clusters, clearly distinct from canonical NO reductase (quinol-dependent NO reductase [qNor] and cytochrome c-dependent NO reductase [cNor]) genes. The abundance of nod genes in the investigated samples ranged from 1.6 × 107 to 5.2 × 1010 copies · g−1 (wet weight) of sediment or sludge biomass, accounting for up to 10% of total bacterial 16S rRNA gene counts. In essence, NO dismutation could be a much more widespread physiology than currently perceived. Understanding the controls of this emergent microbial capacity could offer new routes for nitrogen elimination or pollutant remediation in natural and engineered water systems. IMPORTANCE NO dismutation into N2 and O2 is a novel process catalyzed by putative NO dismutase (Nod). To date, only two bacteria, the anaerobic methane-oxidizing bacterium “Ca. Methylomirabilis oxyfera” and the alkane-oxidizing gammaproteobacterium HdN1, are known to harbor nod genes. In this study, we report efficient molecular tools that can detect and quantify a wide diversity of nod genes in environmental samples. A surprisingly high diversity and abundance of nod genes were found in contaminated aquifers as well as wastewater treatment systems. This evidence indicates that NO dismutation may be a much more widespread physiology in natural and man-made environments than currently perceived. The molecular tools presented here will facilitate further studies on these enigmatic microbes in the future.
Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling are Resistant to Fire in Nutrient-Poor Grassland Soil Biology & Biochemistry

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 78:825–831 doi:10.2136/sssaj2014.02. 0056 Received 6 Feb. 2014. *Corresponding author (wenjinli@163.com). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher. Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling are Resistant to Fire in Nutrient-Poor Grassland Soil Biology & Biochemistry
Cyber relationship motives: Scale development and validation

In this study a Cyber-Relationship Motives Scale was developed and validated to see what motives drive people to make friends on the Internet. The scale was developed in 4 stages: item generation, purification, parsimony, and scale validation. As results of a 4-stage empirical study 9 factors involved in cyber-relationship motives were proposed: anonymity, the opportunity to meet new people, easier communication, curiosity, emotional support, social compensation, away from the real world, love, and sexual partners. These 9 motives were then grouped into 3 dimensions: adventure, escape to a virtual world, and romance.
Cooperative gain output feedback stabilization for multi-agent dynamical systems

This paper is concerned with cooperative stabilization for LTI homogeneous multi-agent dynamical systems. We first formulate the cooperative stabilization problem by constant output feedback and show that it can be reduced to a stabilization problem with complex gain feedback. We then present several classes of systems in which the system is cooperatively stabilizable if and only if it can be stabilized alone. We also show a multi-agent system with even number of agents whose dynamics is represented by a 4th order transfer function, which can be stabilized by cooperation even if any single agent alone is not stabilizable.
Writing Business: Genres, Media and Discourses

1. Business Writing as Social Action, Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini and Catherine Nickerson PART ONE: ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND WRITING IN ORGANISATIONS 2. The Use of English in Electronic Mail in a Multinational Corporation, Catherine Nickerson 3. E-mail: Uses, Issues and Problems in an Institutional Setting, Joan Mulholland 4. The Mass Production of Unique Letters, David Sless PART TWO: IDENTITIES, DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES AND RHETORICAL STYLES 5. Discourse Community, Culture and Interaction. On the Writing of Engineers, Karl-Heinz Pogner 6. Identity Creation Across Cultures: British and Italian Human Resource Managers, Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini 7. Words of Women: A Study of Executives' Texts, Carol David PART THREE: BUSINESS GENRES AND THEIR LANGUAGE 8. 'Can We Count on your Bookings of Potatoes to Madeira? '. Corporate Context and Discourse Practices in Direct Sales Letters, Miriam van Nus 9. Towards a New Genre: A Comparative Study of Business Faxes, Didar Akar and Leena Louhiala-Salminen 10. Homing in on a Genre: Invitations for Bids, Leila Barbara and Mike Scott PART FOUR: THE BUSINESS OF RELATING: EFFECTIVENESS, ADAPTION AND EMOTION IN WRITING 11. Spanish Language Billboard Advertising in the US: Are there Effects on Anglos? , Ellen Touchstone, Pamela Homer and Scott Koslow 12. English as a Lingua Franca in Corporate Writing, Sonja Vandermeenen 13. Managerial Perceptions of Effective Writing, Florence Davies, Gail Forey and David Hyatt EPILOGUE: AT THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN WRITING AND SPEAKING 14. Intertextual Networks in Organisations: The Use of Oral and Written Business Discourse in Relation to Context, Eugene Loos
Understanding how perceived barriers influence growth intentions and behaviours: Accounts from small business owner‐managers in Russia

Purpose – This paper aims to expand on existing conceptualisations of barriers to small business growth by addressing the question of how, or in what ways, do perceived barriers influence the growth intentions and behaviours of owner‐managers? Design/methodology/approach – Adopting an interpretive methodological approach, in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were held with 27 owner‐managers working in St Petersburg, Russia. Participants were asked about their intentions for their businesses, how they intended to grow and what, if anything, prevented or interfered with these intentions. Template analysis was used to develop owner‐managers' perceptions and experiences of barriers to growth, and to facilitate theory building.Findings – Six ways in which perceived barriers influence the growth intentions and behaviours of small business owner‐managers were identified. Barriers: stop owner‐managers from intending to grow; undermine intentions; add to the ambivalence around growth intentions; provide incentives t.
Special Education in a 4–Year Response to Intervention (RtI) Environment: Characteristics of Students with Learning Disability and Grade of Identification

This 4–year longitudinal research was designed to study special education determinations of students who participated in Tier 2 intervention in a Response to Intervention (RtI) model focused on reading across Grades 1–4. We compared identification rates for learning disabilities (LD) and student characteristics of 381 students the year prior to implementation with 377 students in the RtI environment. Across schools, 38–60 percent of students were English language learners (ELL). Key outcomes by Grade 4 for students with LD who had participated in a model of RtI were relatively greater reading impairment with effect sizes ranging from 0.64 to 0.82, and more equitable representation across ELL and native English speakers than in the cohort prior to RtI implementation. Notably, one–third of the students identified for special services as LD in these schools were not identified until 4th grade.
Stem cells: the generation and maintenance of cellular diversity.

Introduction Stem cells in adult self-renewing tissues Haemopoiesis Epidermis Gastrointestinal epithelium General characteristics of stem cells Asymmetric divisions Predetermined asymmetry Yeast C. elegans What are the mechanisms of predetermined asymmetric divisions? Asymmetry without lineage involvement Stochastic events Stem cell heterogeneity Environmental regulation Conclusions What is the difference between two daughter cells that result from an asymmetric division? Unlimited self renewal versus finite transit amplifying divisions The differentiation process is unidirectional Conclusions and prospects
Conversion to C2 monitoring of cyclosporine A exposure in maintenance kidney transplant recipients: results at 3 years.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that conversion from monitoring cyclosporine A (CsA) trough level to the level 2 hours after the morning dose (C2 ) may have clinical benefits in maintenance adult renal transplant recipients, but evidence supporting such a suggestion presently is very limited. METHODS We enrolled 188 maintenance patients to investigate the clinical impact of the adjustment of CsA dose according to C2 levels over 3 years (target, 800 ng/mL). RESULTS Patient and graft survival rates were 100% and 98.4%, respectively. C2 monitoring led to a reduction in CsA dose in 49.4% of patients and an increase in more than 20% of patients without an increase in acute rejection risk and clinically overt nephrotoxicity. Patients in the greatest quartile of C2 levels showed the lowest serum creatinine levels (P = 0.009), the greatest creatinine clearance values (P = 0.0006), and the lowest prevalence of chronic allograft nephropathy (P = 0.01). By means of multivariate analysis, C2 levels were the most relevant independent predictors of graft deterioration (change in serum creatinine level from baseline to end of study > or =0.5 mg/dL [> or =44 micromol/L]). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed an inflection point of mean C2 level versus risk for graft deterioration at less than 661 ng/mL. CONCLUSION In maintenance renal transplant recipients, conversion to C2 monitoring is a seemingly safe option with good graft performance after 3 years. Mean C2 levels greater than 661 ng/mL seem to be associated with better long-term graft function and a lower prevalence of biopsy-proven chronic allograft nephropathy, at least during a 3-year follow-up.
Factors related to acupuncture response in patients with chronic severe functional constipation: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial

Background Acupuncture has been demonstrated to be effective and safe for chronic severe functional constipation (CSFC). However, which patients with CSFC will have a better response to acupuncture remains unclear. Objective To explore factors related to acupuncture response in patients with CSFC. Methods We performed a secondary analysis of a previous multicenter randomized controlled trial consisting of a 2-week run-in period, 8-week treatment, and 12-week follow-up without treatment in which patients with CSFC were randomly allocated to an electroacupuncture group or a sham electroacupuncture group. Responders were defined as participants with an increase of at least one complete spontaneous bowel movement (CSBM) in week 20 compared with the baseline period. The CSBM responder rate in both groups was described, and the baseline characteristics of participants potentially related to acupuncture response were mainly analyzed using logistic regression analysis with bootstrapping techniques. Results A total of 1021 participants were analyzed in this study, of whom 516 (50.5%) were classified as responders. The CSBM responder rate in week 20 was significantly greater in the electroacupuncture group than in the sham electroacupuncture group (62.9% vs. 37.9%, respectively; P<0.001). Both age and comorbidity were negatively associated with clinical response: with every one-year increase in age, the likelihood of clinical response was reduced by 1.2% (OR 0.988, 95%CI 0.980 to 0.996; P = 0.005), and patients with comorbidities were approximately 42% less likely to respond to treatment (OR 0.581, 95%CI 0.248 to 0.914; P = 0.001). Conclusion CSFC patients with increasing age and comorbidity may be less likely to respond to acupuncture. These findings contribute to guiding clinical practice in terms of pretreatment patient selection. Further research is needed to confirm the association.
A Possible Role for Short Introns in the Acquisition of Stroma-Targeting Peptides in the Flagellate Euglena gracilis

The chloroplasts of Euglena gracilis bounded by three membranes arose via secondary endosymbiosis of a green alga in a heterotrophic euglenozoan host. Many genes were transferred from symbiont to the host nucleus. A subset of Euglena nuclear genes of predominately symbiont, but also host, or other origin have obtained complex presequences required for chloroplast targeting. This study has revealed the presence of short introns (41–93 bp) either in the second half of presequence-encoding regions or shortly downstream of them in nine nucleus-encoded E. gracilis genes for chloroplast proteins (Eno29, GapA, PetA, PetF, PetJ, PsaF, PsbM, PsbO, and PsbW). In addition, the E. gracilis Pbgd gene contains two introns in the second half of presequence-encoding region and one at the border of presequence-mature peptide-encoding region. Ten of 12 introns present within presequence-encoding regions or shortly downstream of them identified in this study have typical eukaryotic GT/AG borders, are T-rich, 45–50 bp long, and pairwise sequence identities range from 27 to 61%. Thus single recombination events might have been mediated via these cis-spliced introns. A double crossing over between these cis-spliced introns and trans-spliced introns present in 5′-UTRs of Euglena nuclear genes is also likely to have occurred. Thus introns and exon-shuffling could have had an important role in the acquisition of chloroplast targeting signals in E. gracilis. The results are consistent with a late origin of photosynthetic euglenids.
Stability constants of zinc complexes affect common cold treatment results

Recently, two articles appeared in this journal which reported negative findings with compounds of zinc formulated into lozenges as treatment for common colds (2, 4). I do not dispute their findings; rather, I offer a more constructive explanation for the differences between our respective findings than the conclusion by Farr and Gwaltney implying a propensity of Texans to fabricate tall tales (5). Apparently, most common cold researchers have not yet realized that it is the zinc ion that is solely responsible for the marked reduction in duration of signs and symptoms of the common cold when treated with zinc lozenges and that the instability of the zinc complex is extremely important for the positive outcome of common cold experiments. My colleagues and I reported significant and meaningful reductions in the duration of signs and symptoms ofcommon colds with highly ionizable zinc gluconate lozenges (3). Recently, D. A. J. Tyrrell's group at the British Medical Research Council's Common Cold Unit demonstrated similar reductions in the duration and severity of signs and symptoms of common colds with zinc gluconate lozenges sweetened with sugar and pleasantly flavored (1). The tablets were small, each weighing 1 g and containing 23 mg of elemental zinc. No beneficial impact on viral titer was evident over time (1). Two studies with nonionizable zinc compounds showed completely negative results against the signs and symptoms of common colds. The first study to demonstrate lack of efficacy of nonionizable zinc compounds was reported by my colleagues and myself for zinc orotate lozenges in 1984 (3), and the second was reported by M. L. McCutcheon, University of Minnesota, Duluth (personal communication), in 1987. In oral use in lozenge form, zinc gluconate rapidly ionizes, as does zinc combined with other ligands having low stability constants. It is very well known that if such occurs in the presence of acids having high stability constants for zinc ions at the normal pH of saliva, a new vastly stronger equilibrium
Instrument for Scoring Clinical Outcome of Research for Epidermolysis Bullosa: A Consensus‐Generated Clinical Research Tool

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a genetic condition characterized by skin fragility and blistering. There is no instrument available for clinical outcome research measurements. Our aim was to develop a comprehensive instrument that is easy to use in the context of interventional studies. Item collection was accomplished using a two‐step Delphi Internet survey process for practitioners and qualitative content analysis of patient and family interviews. Items were reduced based on frequency and importance using a 4‐point Likert scale and were subject to consensus (>80% agreement) using the nominal group technique. Pilot data testing was performed in 21 consecutive patients attending an EB clinic. The final score, Instrument for Scoring Clinical Outcome of Research for Epidermolysis Bullosa (iscorEB), is a combined score that contains clinician items grouped in five domains (skin, mucosa, organ involvement, laboratory abnormalities, and complications and procedures; maximum score 114) and patient‐derived items (pain, itch, functional limitations, sleep, mood, and effect on daily and leisurely activities; maximum score 120). Pilot testing revealed that combined (see below) and subscores were able to differentiate between EB subtypes and degrees of clinical severity (EB simplex 21.7 ± 16.5, junctional EB 28.0 ± 20.7, dystrophic EB 57.3 ± 24.6, p = 0.007; mild 17.3 ± 9.6, moderate 41.0 ± 19.4, and severe 64.5 ± 22.6, p < 0.001). There was high correlation between clinician and patient subscores (correlation coefficient = 0.79, p < 0.001). iscorEB seems to be a sensitive tool in differentiating between EB types and across the clinical spectrum of severity. Further validation studies are needed.
Impact of Framingham Risk Score, Flow-Mediated Dilation, Pulse Wave Velocity, and Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Events in Stable Angina

Although the age-adjusted Framingham risk score (AFRS), flow-mediated dilation (FMD), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, homocysteine, and free fatty acid (FFA) can predict future cardiovascular events (CVEs), a comparison of these risk assessments for patients with stable angina has not been reported. We enrolled 203 patients with stable angina who had been scheduled for coronary angiography (CAG). After CAG, 134 patients showed significant coronary artery disease. During 4.2 yr follow-up, 36 patients (18%) showed CVEs, including myocardial infarction, de-novo coronary artery revascularization, in-stent restenosis, stroke, and cardiovascular death. ROC analysis showed that AFRS, FMD, baPWV, and hsCRP could predict CVEs (with AUC values of 0.752, 0.707, 0.659, and 0.702, respectively, all P<0.001 except baPWV P=0.003). A Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that AFRS and FMD were independent predictors of CVEs (HR, 2.945; 95% CI, 1.572-5.522; P=0.001 and HR, 0.914; 95% CI, 0.826-0.989; P=0.008, respectively). However, there was no difference in predictive power between combining AFRS plus FMD and AFRS alone (AUC 0.752 vs. 0.763; z=1.358, P=0.175). In patients with stable angina, AFRS and FMD are independent predictors of CVEs. However, there is no additive value of FMD on the AFRS in predicting CVEs. Graphical Abstract