Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The presence of leukemic cells in the CSF can arise from hematogenous spread of lymphoblasts in the peripheral blood or by direct extension from involved bone marrow into the CSF ( Bleyer

The treatment of leukemia remains the success story of cancer. The patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia survive longer and longer, with the rates of long time remission of over 80% in children and 30-40% in adults. Therefore, increased attention is given to diagnose and prevent central nervous system (CNS) complications, not only in order to increase the survival, but also in order to prevent neurologic deterioration and the resulting decreased quality of life. CNS disease is relatively rare at diagnosis, with less than 10% of the patients being diagnosed with his condition. However, the rate of CNS involvement escalates to up to 75% in the first year, if no effective brain-targeted treatments are usedwhich justifies the need for CNS prophylaxis even in the absence of frank metastatic involvement. Classically, patients received cranial radiation. However, a significant percentage of ALL survivors that received cranial radiation now present with a discouraging array of complications, including neurodevelopmental sequelae, strokes, seizures and increased rate of secondary CNS malignancies. More recent, it was suggested that effective CNS prophylaxis can be achieved with a combination of high dose systemic chemotherapy and intrathecal chemotherapy. Though less toxic, some survivors of this approach are still plagued by neurological complications, including cognitive deficits due to the effects of chemotherapy on the developing brain. More research needs to be conducted on further decreasing the rate on CNS relapse, while minimizing the therapy effects of the brain. Our knowledge of the biological mechanisms involved in radiation and chemotherapy effects of different cerebral structures has to improve. For the ALL survivors, therapies to repair the cognitive damage caused by cancer treatments are still in infancy.
Effects of 3D Attenuation on Seismic Wave Amplitude and Phase Measurements

Abstract We incorporate 3D anelastic attenuation into the spectral-element method for seismic wave propagation. This advancement accommodates lateral variations in anelasticity on global, regional, or local scales. We use the method to investigate the effects of anelasticity in an upper mantle attenuation model in conjunction with a global wave-speed model and in a regional subduction zone model. These investigations reveal substantial and competing amplitude anomalies due to elastic and anelastic variations, but rather minor anelastic effects on the travel times of seismic waves. Seismic studies utilizing amplitude data must therefore consider elastic and anelastic heterogeneity in tandem to avoid mapping one type of heterogeneity into the other.
Wall functions and boundary layer response to pulsating and oscillating turbulent channel flows

Some limitations of the classical Wall-Function approach for the near-wall boundary layer treatment in LES and URANS are presented for isothermal oscillating and pulsating channel flows. Despite their simple geometry, pulsating and oscillating flows are interesting unsteady flow test cases representative of many industrial components. A special attention will be focused on the unsteady wallshear stress prediction since it is also an indirect measure of the unsteady wall-heat transfer. A correct evaluation of the unsteady wall heat transfer is in fact critical, for example, in combustion chamber applications when flow unsteadiness due to flame instability occurs and in general in each unsteady flow situation where thermo-acoustic phenomena play an important role.
A TCP-friendly rate adjustment protocol for continuous media flows over best effort networks

TR: 98-047 Title: A TCP-Friendly Rate Adjustment Protocol for Continuous Media Flows over Best Effort Networks Authors: Jitendra Padhye, Jim Kurose, Don Towsley and Rajeev Koodli Address: Department of Computer Science University of Massachusetts LGRC, Box 34610. Amherst MA 01003-4610 Date: October 23, 1998 As networked multimedia applications become widespread, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that these applications can coexist with current TCP-based applications. The TCP protocol is designed to reduce its sending rate when congestion is detected. Networked multimedia applications should exhibit similar behavior, if they wish to co-exist with TCP-based applications [1]. Using TCP for multimedia applications is not practical, since the protocol combines error control and congestion control, in order to ensure reliability. In this paper we present a protocol that operates by measuring loss rates and round trip times and then sets the transmission rate to that which TCP would achieve under similar conditions. The analysis in [2] is used to determine this "TCP-friendly" rate. We evaluate the protocol under various traffic conditions, using simulations and implementation. References: [1] J. Madhavi and S. Floyd, "TCP-friendly unicast rate-based flow control", Note sent to end2end-interest mailing list, January 1997. [2] J. Padhye, V. Firoiu, D. Towsley and J. Kurose, "Modeling TCP throughput: A simple model and its empirical validation", In Proceedings of SIGCOMM''98.
The response to MJO‐like forcing in a nonlinear shallow‐water model

This study examines the response to Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO)‐like heat forcing in a nonlinear shallow‐water model, including monopolar heating source traveling eastward with an around the world period of 48 days and dipolar heating with zonal wave period of 48 days, with zonal wave number 2 confined in longitude to the MJO active regions. A jet localized in the Pacific is compared to a zonally uniform boreal basic flow. The results show that the Rossby wave response downstream exhibits intensified quasi‐stationary anomalies in the Pacific jet exit region when the MJO‐like heat forcing passes the Maritime Continent, in accord with the observational analysis by Adames and Wallace (2014). The dynamical mechanism suggested in this study can be used to interpret the intraseasonal MJO‐Pacific North American pattern coherence and other extratropical intraseasonal events.
RPA phosphorylation facilitates mitotic exit in response to mitotic DNA damage

Human replication protein A (RPA) becomes phosphorylated on the RPA2 subunit by cyclin B-Cdc2 during mitosis, although the functional role of this modification is unclear. We find that this modification stimulates RPA2 to become hyperphosphorylated in response to mitotic DNA damage caused by bleomycin treatment. Cells in which endogenous RPA2 was replaced by a mutant subunit lacking both Cdc2 sites had a significant defect in mitotic release into a 2N G1 phase after exposure to bleomycin. An increased percentage of these mutant cells also was positive initially for cyclin B expression and BubR1 chromatin staining, indicative of an extended spindle assembly checkpoint. The mutant cells that experienced mitotic DNA damage also underwent apoptosis at higher levels than cells expressing the WT subunit. Even so, we did not find the mutation had any dramatic effects on the level of DNA repair in mitosis. Cells lacking ATM (a checkpoint factor and RPA2 kinase) also were severely defective in mitotic exit and were unable to support RPA hyperphosphorylation after mitotic DNA damage. Although checkpoint 1 effector kinase (Chk1) had a more complex role, inhibition of Chk1 activity with UCN-01 also reduced mitotic exit. Chk1 activation and mitotic RPA hyperphosphorylation were found to be independent events. Our results demonstrate that mitotic RPA hyperphosphorylation facilitates release of cells from a damaged mitosis into a 2N G1 phase, thereby increasing cell viability.
An analysis of the homogeneous ILS polar motion series

Summary A new reduction of the International Latitude Service Observations for the years 1899–1977 has recently been completed under the direction of Dr S. Yumi and the International Astronomical Union Commission 19. This paper examines the annual, Chandler frequency, and long period motion of the Earth's pole implied by this new homogeneous data set. The estimated annual polar motion differs slightly from earlier results. The new value for the Chandler frequency is also very close to earlier results, but the estimated Q is somewhat larger, as might be expected by a reduction in noise level. Analysis of the long period motion shows an apparent drift and, in agreement with earlier studies using other data, there is some evidence of an approximately 30-yr oscillation in the pole position.
Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) Attenuates Leptin-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy through Inhibition of p115Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor-RhoA/Rho-Associated, Coiled-Coil Containing Protein Kinase-Dependent Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway Activation

Leptin is a 16-kDa peptide primarily derived from white adipocytes and is typically elevated in plasma of obese individuals. Although leptin plays a critical role in appetite regulation, leptin receptors have been identified in numerous tissues including the heart and have been shown to directly mediate cardiac hypertrophy through RhoA/ROCK (Ras homolog gene family, member A/Rho-associated, coiled-coil containing protein kinase)-dependent p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation; however, the basis for RhoA stimulation is unknown. Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) catalyze the exchange of GDP for GTP resulting in Rho activation and may be the potential upstream factors mediating leptin-induced RhoA activation and therefore a potential target for inhibition. We investigated the effects of North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), reported to reduce cardiac hypertrophy, on RhoA/ROCK and MAPK activation in ventricular cardiomyocytes exposed to leptin (50 ng/ml) and the possible role of p115RhoGEF and p63RhoGEF in these responses. Leptin produced a robust hypertrophic response that was associated with RhoA/ROCK activation resulting in a significant increase in cofilin-2 phosphorylation and actin polymerization, the latter evidenced by a reduction in the G/F actin ratio. These effects were prevented by ginseng (10 μg/ml). The stimulation of RhoA/ROCK by leptin was associated with significantly increased p115RhoGEF gene and protein expression and exchange activity, all of which were completely prevented by ginseng. The ability of ginseng to prevent leptin-induced activation of RhoA/ROCK was further associated with diminished p38 MAPK activation and nuclear translocation. These results demonstrate a potent inhibitory effect of ginseng against leptin-induced cardiac hypertrophy, an effect associated with prevention of p115RhoGEF-RhoA/ROCK-dependent p38 MAPK activation.
Multiplex Fluorogenic Real-Time PCR for Detection and Quantification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Dairy Wastewater Wetlands

ABSTRACT Surface water and groundwater are continuously used as sources of drinking water in many metropolitan areas of the United States. The quality of water from these sources may be reduced due to increases in contaminants such as Escherichia coli from urban and agricultural runoffs. In this study, a multiplex fluorogenic PCR assay was used to quantify E. coli O157:H7 in soil, manure, cow and calf feces, and dairy wastewater in an artificial wetland. Primers and probes were designed to amplify and quantify the Shiga-like toxin 1 (stx1) and 2 (stx2) genes and the intimin (eae) gene of E. coli O157:H7 in a single reaction. Primer specificity was confirmed with DNA from 33 E. coli O157:H7 and related strains with and without the three genes. A direct correlation was determined between the fluorescence threshold cycle (CT) and the starting quantity of E. coli O157:H7 DNA. A similar correlation was observed between the CT and number of CFU per milliliter used in the PCR assay. A detection limit of 7.9 × 10−5 pg of E. coli O157:H7 DNA ml−1 equivalent to approximately 6.4 × 103 CFU of E. coli O157:H7 ml−1 based on plate counts was determined. Quantification of E. coli O157:H7 in soil, manure, feces, and wastewater was possible when cell numbers were ≥3.5 × 104 CFU g−1. E. coli O157:H7 levels detected in wetland samples decreased by about 2 logs between wetland influents and effluents. The detection limit of the assay in soil was improved to less than 10 CFU g−1 with a 16-h enrichment. These results indicate that the developed PCR assay is suitable for quantitative determination of E. coli O157:H7 in environmental samples and represents a considerable advancement in pathogen quantification in different ecosystems.
FairplayMP: a system for secure multi-party computation

We present FairplayMP (for "Fairplay Multi-Party"), a system for secure multi-party computation. Secure computation is one of the great achievements of modern cryptography, enabling a set of untrusting parties to compute any function of their private inputs while revealing nothing but the result of the function. In a sense, FairplayMP lets the parties run a joint computation that emulates a trusted party which receives the inputs from the parties, computes the function, and privately informs the parties of their outputs. FairplayMP operates by receiving a high-level language description of a function and a configuration file describing the participating parties. The system compiles the function into a description as a Boolean circuit, and perform a distributed evaluation of the circuit while revealing nothing else. FairplayMP supplements the Fairplay system [16], which supported secure computation between two parties. The underlying protocol of FairplayMP is the Beaver-Micali-Rogaway (BMR) protocol which runs in a constant number of communication rounds (eight rounds in our implementation). We modified the BMR protocol in a novel way and considerably improved its performance by using the Ben-Or-Goldwasser-Wigderson (BGW) protocol for the purpose of constructing gate tables. We chose to use this protocol since we believe that the number of communication rounds is a major factor on the overall performance of the protocol. We conducted different experiments which measure the effect of different parameters on the performance of the system and demonstrate its scalability. (We can now tell, for example, that running a second-price auction between four bidders, using five computation players, takes about 8 seconds.)
[Relationships between volunteerism and social-physical health and QOL with community-dwelling elderly participating in a long-term care prevention programme].

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of volunteerism as part of a long-term care prevention program on social and physical health indicators and QOL, as compared with non-participation among elderly people. METHODS The baseline survey was conducted in 2003 among elderly people (age, 70-84 years) living in a rural community in Miyagi Prefecture. We recruited elderly volunteer leaders for long-term care prevention from among the 1,503 elderly people participating in the baseline survey. Of these, 77 individuals were registered as volunteer leaders. One year later, we conducted a follow-up survey to clarify the influence of volunteerism. Finally, we analyzed data for 69 volunteer leaders and 1,207 non-leaders, focusing on influences of volunteerism on social and physical health and QOL using a logistic regression model. State of volunteer activity was treated as a dependent variable, and social and physical health indicators and QOL indices as independent variables. RESULTS Non-participating individuals had significant declines in Intellectual Activity (OR: 4.51, 95% CI: 1.60-12.74), Social Role (OR: 2.85, 95%CI: 1.11-7.21), Self-efficacy for ADL (OR: 4.58, 95%CI: 1.11-18.88), Satisfaction with Economic State (OR: 2.83, 95%CI: 1.11-7.21), and Contact with Neighbors (OR: 3.62, 95%CI: 1.29-10.16), as compared with volunteers. CONCLUSION These results suggest that volunteerism prevents lowering of higher-level functional capacity and social networking among community-dwelling elderly individuals.
IT-Enabled Coordination for Ambidextrous Interorganizational Relationships

Contextual ambidexterity of an interorganizational relationship IOR is the ability of its management system to align partners' activities and resources for short-term goals and adapt partners' cognitions and actions for long-term viability. It is an alternative to structural ambidexterity in which separate units of the IOR pursue short-and long-term goals. We theorize that when utilized to coordinate the IOR, information technology IT-enabled operations and sensemaking, along with interdependent decision making, promote the IOR's contextual ambidexterity. We test our hypotheses on both sides of a customer-vendor relationship using data collected from 1 the account executives of one of the world's largest supply chain vendors n = 76 and 2 its customers n = 238. We find commonalities and differences in the influence coordination mechanisms have on contextual ambidexterity from the vendor's and the customer's perspectives. For both customers and vendors, contextual ambidexterity improves the quality and performance of the relationship, and decision interdependence promotes contextual ambidexterity. For customers, using operations support systems OSSs and interpretation support systems ISSs enhances contextual ambidexterity. For vendors, the impact of both OSS use and ISS use on contextual ambidexterity depends on the duration of the relationship. Our study shows that IT-enabled operations and sensemaking are key enablers of IOR ambidexterity and that vendors should combine these IT capabilities with relationship-specific knowledge that accumulates with relationship duration.
FIELD-MEASUREMENTS OF SOIL-CREEP

An instrument has been designed to measure soil creep optically with a minimum of site disturbance. The instrument is sufficiently sensitive to detect movement in the soil over periods as short as one month. The results of measurements over a nine month period indicate that movement in the soil occurs in seemingly random directions and that large total movement does not necessarily imply a similarly large downslope movement. It is suggested that measurements of the type reported here are necessary for a satisfactory examination of the process involved in soil creep but that measurements over very long time periods are required for estimates of the rate of downslope transport.
Assessment Tools for Urban Catchments: Defining Observable Biological Potential 1

Abstract: Urbanization represents a strong and increasingly more prevalent impact on stream quality worldwide. One of the characteristic effects of increased urbanization is a consistent decline in biological stream condition. The characterization of this biological degradation with increasing urbanization presents a number of advantages for the study and management of urban streams and catchments. In this paper, the limitation of biological condition with urbanization, called observed biological potential, is characterized. Using an urban intensity index and a biological index developed specifically for urban systems in the Baltimore, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; and San Jose, California regions, two principal techniques were compared (quantile regression and bin regression) to define observed biological potential along urban gradients. Quantile regression was selected as the preferable tool for describing observed biological potential given the consistency with which it can be applied and its statistical efficiency, however, bin quantile regression performed similarly. Having identified a numeric approximation of observed biological potential, two methods for identifying factors related to distance from potential as a way of identifying critical environmental factors affecting biological condition in urban areas were explored. The results of this work can be used for identifying benchmarks for urban stream biological condition, identifying limiting catchment characteristics, and prioritizing urban stream management efforts.
Determination of the depth dependent scattering coefficient in sea ice

Measurements of the spatial spreading of light in typical first-year sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, have been characterized in terms of depth dependent scattering using Monte Carlo simulations. The results are shown to place constraints on models of the optical transmission of sea ice and on the relationship of the optical scattering parameters to the physical structure of the ice. Comparisons for different sites and seasons within a given year and between years are presented. The backscattering spatial profiles are shown to fix the scattering parameters of the strongly scattering top layer and the horizontal component of the anisotropic scattering parameter in the bulk layer. The transmission spatial profiles determine the anisotropy of the bulk layer and the absorption by algae near the base of the ice. It is demonstrated that the top layer is very sensitive to warming of the ice and that the scattering properties of this layer largely determine the albedo of sea ice while the transmission is affected by the nature of the top layer, the scattering in the bulk layer, and the absorption in the algal layer. A quantitative relationship between the scattering length and the air volume fraction is demonstrated.
The Economics of Household Demand for Water: The Case of Kandy Municipality, Sri Lanka

This study estimates the demand for domestic water in a fast-growing city of a developing country. Monthly data for 40 randomly selected households for a six-year period were used for the estimation. There were three price hikes during the study period, which provided adequate variation in the prices for an econometric estimation. A log-log model was selected as a proper specification for the demand function. Marginal price, difference price, income, and household size were used as the independent variables. After correcting the data for auto-correlation and heteroscedasticity, the final model was estimated. Results show all the expected signs with statistical significance. Price elasticity (marginal) and income elasticity for water in the study area are estimated to be - 0.34 and 0.08, respectively. Thus, our findings confirm the previous findings that water is neither price- nor income-elastic. Given these responses, a price hike may not help conserve water in the study area. However, very low price responsiveness can be used to increase water revenues of the municipality.
Diamidines versus Monoamidines as Anti-Pneumocystis Agents: An in vivo Study

Some compounds articulated around a piperazine or an ethylenediamine linker have been evaluated in vitro to determine their activity in the presence of a 3T6 fibroblast cell line and an axenic culture of Pneumocystis carinii, respectively. The most efficient antifungal derivatives, namely N,N′-bis(benzamidine-4-yl)ethane-1,2-diamine (compound 6, a diamidine) and N-(benzamidine-4-yl)-N′-phenylethane-1,2-diamine (compound 7, a monoamidine), exhibited no cytotoxicity and were evaluated in vivo in a rat model. Only the diamidine 6 emerged as a promising hit for further studies.