Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship Between Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphism and Body Composition, Functional Performance, and Blood Biomarkers in Advanced Cancer Patients

Purpose: Nutritional and functional outcome measures have been shown to vary in patients with chronic diseases according to the polymorphic alleles of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), but little is known about the associations between ACE gene polymorphism (ACEGP) and the components of body composition, strength, and selected blood markers in advanced cancer patients (ACP). Experimental Design: Data were collected from an inception cohort of 172 newly diagnosed ACP with gastrointestinal and non–small cell lung cancer. ACEGP status was defined by the presence of one of the following three combinations of alleles: insertion/insertion, insertion/deletion, and deletion/deletion. Body composition measurements using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry comprised of the following: total fat mass, percent body fat, lean body mass, and appendicular lean mass. Body mass index; handgrip force by Jamar dynamometry; subjective recording of nutrition and performance status as per patient-generated subjective global assessment; cell blood count and differential, serum albumin, ACE, and C-reactive protein were also recorded. Results: Multiple regression analysis, controlling for gender, age, diagnosis, treatments (radio/chemo), survival, and medication use (ACE inhibitors, anti-inflammatories, statins) revealed the following significant (P ≤ 0.05) relationships in the insertion/deletion compared with insertion/insertion group: higher hemoglobin (Hb; β, 6.39 g/dl; 95% confidence interval, 0.01-12.78), lower total fat mass (−5.78 kg; −11.62 to 0.07), percent body fat (−6.04%; −12.20 to 0.12), and lean body mass (−3.26 kg; −6.78 to 0.26). When comparing the DD to the II group, higher serum ACE (9.10; 1.96-16.25), Hb (6.25 g/dl; −0.63 to 13.12), and handgrip force by Jamar (6.85 lbs; 0.78-12.93) were found. Conclusion: Of the variables studied, ACEGP seems to be primarily associated with differences in body composition, Hb, and muscle strength in ACP. Further data are needed to determine the clinical effect of ACEGP in cancer cachexia.
Brachytherapy in non melanoma skin cancer of eyelid: a systematic review

Purpose Non melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) of eyelid are uncommon. Many treatments approach are available with surgery being considered as the gold standard. Radiotherapy is an effective alternative in patients unfit for surgery. Brachytherapy (BT) might be a better therapeutic option due high radiation dose concentration to the tumor and rapid dose fall-off resulting in normal tissues sparing. The aim of this review is to evaluate local control, toxicity, and functional cosmetic outcome of BT in NMSC of eyelid. Material and methods A systematic search of the bibliographic databases PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library from the earliest possible date through October 2015 was performed. Only studies published in English were included. Results Six articles fulfilled the selection criteria and were included in our review. Due to high risk of bias, all studies were classified to provide a low level of evidence (according to Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Classification). No randomized controlled trials or case control studies were founded. Brachytherapy was well tolerated with acceptable toxicity and high local control rates (median: 95.2%). Functional and cosmetic outcome were reported in five study as acceptable good functional-cosmetic outcome (median: 100%). Conclusions To date, few evidences are available on the role of BT in eyelid NMSC, and they show satisfactory results in terms of local control and functional cosmetic outcome. Therefore, prospective controlled trials are justified.
Holographic endpoint of spatially modulated phase transition

In a previous paper [S. Nakamura, H. Ooguri, and C. S. Park, Phys. Rev. D 81, 044018 (2010)], we showed that the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole in the five-dimensional anti–de Sitter space coupled to the Maxwell theory with the Chern-Simons term is unstable when the Chern-Simons coupling is sufficiently large. In the dual conformal field theory, the instability suggests a spatially modulated phase transition. In this paper, we construct and analyze nonlinear solutions which describe the endpoint of this phase transition. In the limit where the Chern-Simons coupling is large, we find that the phase transition is of the second order with the mean field critical exponent. However, the dispersion relation with the Van Hove singularity enhances quantum corrections in the bulk, and we argue that this changes the order of the phase transition from the second to the first. We compute linear response functions in the nonlinear solution and find an infinite off-diagonal DC conductivity in the new phase.
Reproductive Variables, Soy Intake, and Lung Cancer Risk among Nonsmoking Women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study

Lung cancer among nonsmokers has emerged as a distinct clinicopathologic entity for which the etiology is still poorly understood, but which accounts for a significant proportion of the lung cancers among women. Although estrogens have been shown to have mitogenic effects in lung cells and interact with growth factor pathways in tumorigenesis, epidemiologic evidence for a link between reproductive hormones and lung cancer is sparse and inconsistent. We examined the effect of parity, age at menarche/menopause, cycle length and use of exogenous hormones, and dietary soy and soy isoflavonoid intake on lung cancer risk in a prospective cohort of middle-aged and elderly Chinese women in Singapore among whom 91% were lifetime nonsmokers. Among 35,298 women (mean follow-up time, 9.6 years), 298 cases of incident lung cancer were recorded, of which 189 (63.4%) occurred in nonsmokers. Compared with nulliparous women, those with one to two, three to four, and more than five livebirths had relative risks of between 0.49 and 0.59 (P for trend < 0.01) for all lung cancers, and between 0.32 and 0.42 (P for trend < 0.001) for adenocarcinomas. This relationship was observed in both smokers and nonsmokers. Age at menarche and menopause did not seem to influence risk. Dietary soy isoflavonoid intake was associated with a statistically significant inverse trend among nonsmokers only (relative risks, 0.59 for highest versus lower quartile; P for trend, 0.021). These findings add support for the role of hormonal factors in the etiology of lung cancer among nonsmoking women, and are consistent with emerging experimental evidence in this regard. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(3):821–7)
Transcriptional Shift Identifies a Set of Genes Driving Breast Cancer Chemoresistance

Background Distant recurrences after antineoplastic treatment remain a serious problem for breast cancer clinical management, which threats patients’ life. Systemic therapy is administered to eradicate cancer cells from the organism, both at the site of the primary tumor and at any other potential location. Despite this intervention, a significant proportion of breast cancer patients relapse even many years after their primary tumor has been successfully treated according to current clinical standards, evidencing the existence of a chemoresistant cell subpopulation originating from the primary tumor. Methods/Findings To identify key molecules and signaling pathways which drive breast cancer chemoresistance we performed gene expression analysis before and after anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy and compared the results between different histopathological response groups (good-, mid- and bad-response), established according to the Miller & Payne grading system. Two cohorts of 33 and 73 breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy were recruited for whole-genome expression analysis and validation assay, respectively. Identified genes were subjected to a bioinformatic analysis in order to ascertain the molecular function of the proteins they encode and the signaling in which they participate. High throughput technologies identified 65 gene sequences which were over-expressed in all groups (P ≤ 0·05 Bonferroni test). Notably we found that, after chemotherapy, a significant proportion of these genes were over-expressed in the good responders group, making their tumors indistinguishable from those of the bad responders in their expression profile (P ≤ 0.05 Benjamini-Hochgerg`s method). Conclusions These data identify a set of key molecular pathways selectively up-regulated in post-chemotherapy cancer cells, which may become appropriate targets for the development of future directed therapies against breast cancer.
“These classes have been my happy place”: Feasibility study of a self-care program in Native Hawaiian custodial grandparents

Native Hawaiian custodial grandparents have a distinctive set of strengths and challenges that may lead them to benefit from a structured self-care program. The purpose of this paper is to describe a feasibility study with nine Native Hawaiian custodial grandparents who participated in a 6-week self-care intervention. Based on openended questions during the post-questionnaire and at the 6-month follow-up focus group, grandparent participants noted that their grandchildren needed education and clothing. Most grandparents did not endorse statements that their grandchildren had any mental or physical health conditions. Grandparents reflected that the intervention provided them with skills to help cope with raising grandchildren and helped them realize the importance of their health to providing care to their grandchildren. Based on the findings from this pilot study, the self-care approach may have benefits for Native Hawaiian custodial grandparents.
Methodological study on the removal of solid oil and fat stains from cotton fabrics using abrasion

Solid fats are one of the most difficult stains to remove at low temperatures. Mechanical action is beneficial for stain removal, but the potential and limitations of such an essential part of washing are not known. Fabric abrasion has been studied for the first time in a systematic and controlled manner using a tribometer. The efficiency of cotton–cotton abrasion, to simulate the rubbing of clothes, was studied in the absence of detergents using models of liquid and solid oils (hexadecane, octadecane, and undecanoic acid) and real fats (lard and buttermilk fat). In model oils, abrasion is not very effective at any temperature, whereas in typical fats abrasion significantly improves cleaning in a wide range of temperatures. The different behavior is caused by the temperature-dependent solid fat content of lard and butter. Fluorescence microscopy is introduced as a novel methodology for the quantification of the fat content in soiled fabrics.
A1C and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. The role of aggressive glycemic control in preventing cardiovascular events is unclear. A nested case-control study design was used to evaluate the association between average A1C and cardiovascular outcomes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Adults with type 2 diabetes were identified among members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Type 2 diabetes was identified based on ICD-9 diagnosis codes and either A1C >7.5% or prescriptions for hypoglycemic agents. Case subjects were defined based on nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or death attributed to cardiovascular events during a 3-year window. Four type 2 diabetes control subjects were matched to each case subject based on age, sex, and index date for the corresponding case. A conditional logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratio of cardiovascular events and compare three patient groups based on average A1C measured in the preindex period (≤6, >6–8, >8%). RESULTS A total of 44,628 control subjects were matched to 11,157 case subjects. Patients with an average A1C ≤6% were 20% more likely to experience a cardiovascular event than the group with an average A1C of >6–8% (P < 0.0001). Patients with an average A1C >8% experienced a 16% increase in the likelihood of a cardiovascular event (P < 0.0001). We found evidence of statistical interaction with A1C category and LDL level (P = 0.0002), use of cardiovascular medications (P = 0.02), and use of antipsychotics (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS High-risk patients with type 2 diabetes who achieved mean A1C levels of ≤6% or failed to decrease their A1C to <8% are at increased risk for cardiovascular events.
Workflow and process synchronization with interaction expressions and graphs

Current workflow management technology does not provide adequate means for inter-workflow coordination as concurrently executing workflows are considered completely independent. While this simplified view might suffice for one application domain or the other, there are many real-world application scenarios where workflows, though independently modeled in order to remain comprehensible and manageable, are semantically interrelated. As pragmatical approaches, like merging interdependent workflows or inter-workflow message passing, do not satisfactorily solve the inter-workflow coordination problem, interaction expressions and graphs are proposed as a simple yet powerful formalism for the specification and implementation of synchronization conditions in general and inter-workflow dependencies in particular. In addition to a graph based semi-formal interpretation of the formalism, a precise formal semantics, an equivalent operational semantics, an efficient implementation of the latter, and detailed complexity analyses have been developed, allowing the formalism to be actually applied to solve real-world problems like inter-workflow coordination.
A clustering with slope algorithm based on item similarity

With the development of the internet and the arrival of large volumes of data, the analysis of transactional data is becoming important in the field of data mining. Clustering algorithms for transactional trade datasets are becoming a hot topic. Among them, clustering with slope algorithm (CLOPE) is widely used as a result of its superior performance, lower memory use, and better quality than other clustering algorithms. However, the quality of the CLOPE algorithm is related to the sequence in which the data is input; different result will be clustered by different input sequences of the same dataset. This can even result in poor clustering. In order to solve the problem, this paper analyzes the CLOPE algorithm deeply and proves that records with more items ahead will improve the quality of the result greatly in theory. A procedure to preprocess the dataset according to item similarity is proposed. The experiment results show that the algorithm has obviously better quality result when the proposed method is used, and it is 10% faster than the traditional procedure. This algorithm is a valid algorithm that produces high quality results for transaction data sets.
Revenue Management Under a General Discrete Choice Model of Consumer Behavior

Customer choice behavior, such as buy-up and buy-down, is an important phenomenon in a wide range of revenue management contexts. Yet most revenue management methodologies ignore this phenomenon - or at best approximate it in a heuristic way. In this paper, we provide an exact and quite general analysis of this problem. Specifically, we analyze a single-leg reserve management problem in which the buyers' choice behavior is modeled explicitly. The choice model is very general, simply specifying the probability of purchase for each fare product as a function of the set of fare products offered. The control problem is to decide which subset of fare products to offer at each point in time. We show that the optimal policy for this problem has a quite simple form. Namely, it consists of identifying an ordered family of "efficient" subsets S 1 ,. , S m , and at each point in time opening one of these sets S k , where the optimal index k is increasing in the remaining capacity x and decreasing in the remaining time. That is, the more capacity (or less time) available, the further the optimal set is along this sequence. We also show that the optimal policy is a nested allocation policy if and only if the sequence of efficient sets is nested, that is S 1 ? S 2 ? S m . Moreover, we give a characterization of when nesting by fare order is optimal. We also develop an estimation procedure for this setting based on the expectation-maximization (EM) method that jointly estimates arrival rates and choice model parameters when no-purchase outcomes are unobservable. Numerical results are given to illustrate both the model and estimation procedure.
The Impact of Perfectionistic Self-Presentation on the Cognitive, Affective, and Physiological Experience of a Clinical Interview

Abstract Perfectionistic self-presentation is proposed as a deleterious interpersonal style that has an influence in clinical contexts that involves promoting a public image of perfection and avoiding displays and self-disclosures of imperfections. A sample of 90 clinical patients taking part in a clinical interview were assessed in terms of their levels of perfectionistic self-presentation and trait perfectionism and their affective, cognitive, and physiological reactions. Perfectionistic self-presentation dimensions were associated with (1) greater distress before and after the interview, (2) negative expectations and greater threat prior to the interview, and (3) post-interview dissatisfaction. Analyses of physiological data found that perfectionistic self-presentation was associated with higher levels of heart rate when discussing past mistakes, and, as expected, the need to avoid disclosing imperfections predicted higher levels of and greater change in heart rate when discussing past mistakes. Analyses that controlled for trait perfectionism and emotional distress showed that the need to avoid disclosing imperfections was a unique predictor of (1) appraisals of the interviewer as threatening before the interview and as dissatisfied after the interview; (2) negative pre and post self-evaluations of performance; and (3) greater change in heart rate when discussing mistakes. Perfectionistic self-presentation is discussed as an interpersonal style that can influence therapeutic alliance and treatment success.
CTX (Crosslaps) Rather than Osteopontin Is Associated with Disturbed Glucose Metabolism in Gestational Diabetes

Objective Reciprocal interaction between bone and glucose metabolism might play a pivotal role in the development of type 2 diabetes. We recently demonstrated that osteocalcin is increased in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) compared to healthy pregnant women and related to enhanced insulin secretion. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of the bone resorption marker CTX and osteopontin (OPN), a key molecule in subclinical inflammation underlying insulin resistance, in gestational diabetes. Methods Insulin sensitivity and secretion (derived from OGTT) as well as CTX and osteopontin were investigated in 26 GDM and 52 women with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy [CON] between 24th and 28th gestational weeks; 24 women also underwent postpartum examination. Results CTX was significantly higher in GDM compared to CON (0.44±0.20 vs.0.28±0.12 ng/ml, p<.0001) and positively correlated with osteocalcin (R = 0.64, p<.0001) and parameters of insulin secretion. Osteopontin plasma concentrations were decreased in GDM compared to CON (28.81±22.12 vs.37.68±19.63 ng/ml, p = 0.04), and did not show any relation to insulin secretion or sensitivity, but were significantly correlated with CRP (R = 0.3, p<0.007) and liver enzymes. Twelve weeks after delivery CTX and OPN were increased compared to pregnancy (both p<.0001) and did not differ between GDM and CON. Conclusion Our findings support the idea of a tight regulation between bone and glucose metabolism, and suggest, that less curbed CTX during pregnancy might be involved in osteocalcin-mediated amelioration of insulin secretion in GDM. On the other hand, osteopontin was unrelated to insulin resistance in GDM, but associated with inflammatory markers and liver enzymes in all women.
The Prevalence and Correlates of Breast Cancer among Women in Eastern China

The purpose was to investigate the prevalence rate, characteristics and related factors of breast cancer among women in Eastern China. A total of 122,058 female subjects completed the study, with 320 confirmed cases of breast cancer (crude prevalence: 262.5/100,000; standardized prevalence: 207.7/100,000). Among all of the identified breast cancer cases, 91.6% were diagnosed after the age of 35 and 60.0% were diagnosed before menopause. The odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of those breast cancer risk factors as selected through multivariate logistic regression were as follows: 5.438 (1.553–19.004) for family history of breast cancer, 3.556 (1.880–6.728) for high behavior intervention score, 3.556 (0.904–13.994) for history of diabetes, 3.357 (1.131–9.969) for history of benign breast tumors, 2.196 (1.355–3.556) for poor overall life satisfaction, 1.826 (0.995–3.350) for premenopause of breast cancer, 1.528 (1.083–2.155) for high BMI index, 1.500 (0.920–2.446) for poor financial status, 1.497 (1.014–2.211) for multiple miscarriages/abortions, and 1.231 (0.972–1.559) for infrequent consumption of garlic (frequent garlic consumption is a protective factor). There were significantly more cases of breast cancer diagnosed prior to menopause than after menopause, and most of the patients were diagnosed after the age of 35. These findings suggest that attention should be focused on the incidence of breast cancer among premenopausal women older than 35.
Probabilistic verifiers for asymmetric debates

We examine the power of silent constant-space probabilistic verifiers that watch asymmetric debates (where one side is unable to see some of the messages of the other) between two deterministic provers, and try to determine who is right. We prove that probabilistic verifiers outperform their deterministic counterparts as asymmetric debate checkers. It is shown that the membership problem for every language in NSPACE(s(n)) has a 2 s(n) -time debate where one prover is completely blind to the other one, for polynomially bounded space constructible s(n). When partial information is allowed to be seen by the handicapped prover, the class of languages debatable in 2 s(n) time contains TIME(2 s(n) ), so a probabilistic finite automaton can solve any decision problem in P with small error in polynomial time with the aid of such a debate. We also compare our systems with those with a single prover, and with competing-prover interactive proof systems.
Upregulation of PD-1 Expression on Circulating and Intrahepatic Hepatitis C Virus-Specific CD8+ T Cells Associated with Reversible Immune Dysfunction

ABSTRACT Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with persistence in the majority of individuals. We demonstrate here that the inhibitory molecule programmed death-1 (PD-1) is significantly upregulated on total and HCV-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in the peripheral blood and livers of patients with chronic infection compared to subjects with spontaneous HCV resolution, patients with nonviral liver disease, and normal controls. PD-1 expression on cytomegalovirus-specific CTLs also varies according to HCV status and is highest in patients with chronic infection. HCV-specific CTLs that are PD-1high express higher levels of the senescence marker CD57 than PD-1low CTLs, and CD57 expression is greater in chronic than in resolved infection. In vitro blockade of PD-1 by monoclonal antibodies specific to its ligands (PD-L1 and PD-L2) results in restoration of functional competence (proliferation and gamma interferon and interleukin-2 secretion) of HCV-specific CTLs, including those residing in the liver. This reversal of CTL exhaustion is evident even in individuals who lack HCV-specific CD4+ T-cell help. Our data indicate that the PD-1/PD-L pathway is critical in persistent HCV infection in humans and represents a potential novel target for restoring function of exhausted HCV-specific CTLs.