Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extragastrointestinal stromal tumors: Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings

Extragastrointestinal stromal tumors (EGISTs) are rare mesenchymal tumors that originate outside the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of the present study was to investigate the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of EGISTs and analyze the correlations between radiological findings and pathological features. CT and MRI images of 24 patients with EGISTs were reviewed retrospectively. Patient demographics and tumor characteristics, including localization, size, contours, borders, cystic-necrotic components, calcification, hemorrhage, tumor vessels, attenuation and intensity, degree and pattern of enhancement, ascites, tumor invasion, lymphadenopathy and distant metastasis were recorded. Statistical analyses to compare the radiological characteristics of low- and high-grade EGISTs were performed with χ2 or Fisher’s exact tests. The mean patient age at the time of presentation was 53 years. A total of 24 EGISTs were detected, originating in the omentum (n=4), mesentery (n=19) and retroperitoneum (n=1), respectively. The EGISTs displayed a predominantly spindle cell subtype (87.5%; 21/24). The majority of the EGISTs appeared as large (>10 cm; 70.8%; 17/24), round or oval (66.7%; 16/24), cystic-solid (87.5%; 21/24) and ill-defined (66.7%; 16/24) soft-tissue masses. The EGISTs were hypodense (69.6%; 16/23) or isodense (30.4%; 7/23) on CT images, hypointense (50%; 3/6), isointense (33.3%; 2/6) or hyperintense (16.7%; 1/6) on T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), and hyperintense on T2WI (100%; 6/6) and diffusion-WI (DWI; 100%; 6/6). A total of 54.2% (13/24) of the EGISTs displayed tumor vessels. Overall, 95.8% (23/24) of the masses showed marked enhancement and 87.5% (21/24) demonstrated heterogeneous enhancement. Calcification, hemorrhage, ascites and lymphadenopathy were rare characteristics in the EGISTs. Distant metastases were present in 10 patients (41.7%). The size, borders, tumor vessels and distant metastasis correlated with high-grade EGISTs [>5 mitoses/50 high-power fields (HPFs)] (P<0.05). The results of the present study indicated that clinical and radiological features, including advanced age, a large tumor size, cystic-necrotic components, rare lymphadenopathy, a heterogeneous enhancement pattern and hepatic metastasis may aid in the diagnosis of EGISTs. Radiological characteristics, such as a large size (>10 cm), ill-defined borders, tumor vessels and distant metastasis, can provide useful information in identifying the malignant behavior of EGISTs.
The Neural Basis of Optimism and Pessimism

Our survival and wellness require a balance between optimism and pessimism. Undue pessimism makes life miserable; however, excessive optimism can lead to dangerously risky behaviors. A review and synthesis of the literature on the neurophysiology subserving these two worldviews suggests that optimism and pessimism are differentially associated with the two cerebral hemispheres. High self-esteem, a cheerful attitude that tends to look at the positive aspects of a given situation, as well as an optimistic belief in a bright future are associated with physiological activity in the left-hemisphere (LH). In contrast, a gloomy viewpoint, an inclination to focus on the negative part and exaggerate its significance, low self-esteem as well as a pessimistic view on what the future holds are interlinked with neurophysiological processes in the right-hemisphere (RH). This hemispheric asymmetry in mediating optimistic and pessimistic outlooks is rooted in several biological and functional differences between the two hemispheres. The RH mediation of a watchful and inhibitive mode weaves a sense of insecurity that generates and supports pessimistic thought patterns. Conversely, the LH mediation of an active mode and the positive feedback it receives through its motor dexterity breed a sense of confidence in one's ability to manage life's challenges, and optimism about the future.
ROBUST DECISIONS FOR INCOMPLETE STRUCTURAL MODELS OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

We propose Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) methods for estimation and in- ference in incomplete game-theoretic models with a particular focus on settings in which only a small number of observations for a given type of game is available. In particular we do not assume that it is possible to concentrate out or estimate consistently an equilibrium selection mechanism linking a parametric distribution of unobserved payoffs to observable choices. The algorithm de- veloped in this paper can in particular be used to analyze structural models of social interactions with multiple equilibria using data augmentation techniques. This study adapts the multiple prior framework from Gilboa and Schmeidler (1989) to compute Gamma-posterior expected loss (GPEL) optimal decisions that are robust with respect to assumptions on equilibrium selection, and gives conditions under which it is possible to solve the GPEL problem using one single Markov chain. The practical usefulness of the generic MCMC algorithm is illustrated with an application to revealed preference analysis of two-sided marriage markets with non-transferable utilities.
The role of sink to source re-colonisation in the population dynamics of insects living in unstable habitats: an example of terrestrial chironomids

Certain species of terrestrial chironomids (Diptera) are specialised on open patches in initial stages of primary or secondary succession (early fallow, lichens and mosses on rocks, etc.). These ‘‘source’’ habitats provide good quality food for their larvae and most offspring are produced here, but they are sensitive to summer desiccation. This often results in extinction of the summer larval population, followed in winter by re-colonisation from less suitable, but more stable ‘‘sink’’ habitats in the surrounding landscape. Soil dwelling and long-lived larvae are poor migrants; short-lived, winged adult females select patches for their development. Proper choice of oviposition sites and consequent distribution of eggs among individual habitats is thus critical for the success of these species. A mathematical model was developed in order to find out whether this re-colonisation strategy could ensure population persistence at the landscape level. The model was verified using long-term data on Smittia atterima abundance in old fields. The results indicate that even a small proportion of eggs laid in a sink habitat can ensure a successful re-colonisation of the source habitat. Thus, re-colonisation of source habitats from sink habitats is concluded to be one of the reasons for persistence of the latter. The model indicates that this re-colonisation may ensure population persistence even in conditions when exclusive use of only one habitat leads to population extinction either due to environmental stress or to a negative growth rate.
The Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase Kinases Are AMP-activated Protein Kinase Kinases*

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important regulator of cellular metabolism in response to metabolic stress and to other regulatory signals. AMPK activity is absolutely dependent upon phosphorylation of AMPKαThr-172 in its activation loop by one or more AMPK kinases (AMPKKs). The tumor suppressor kinase, LKB1, is a major AMPKK present in a variety of tissues and cells, but several lines of evidence point to the existence of other AMPKKs. We have employed three cell lines deficient in LKB1 to study AMPK regulation and phosphorylation, HeLa, A549, and murine embryo fibroblasts derived from LKB-/- mice. In HeLa and A549 cells, mannitol, 2-deoxyglucose, and ionomycin, but not 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribofuranoside (AICAR), treatment activates AMPK by αThr-172 phosphorylation. These responses, as well as the downstream effects of AMPK on the phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase,arelargelyinhibitedbytheCa2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase (CaMKK) inhibitor, STO-609. AMPKK activity in HeLa cell lysates measured in vitro is totally inhibited by STO-609 with an IC50 comparable with that of the known CaMKK isoforms, CaMKKα and CaMKKβ. Furthermore, 2-deoxyglucose- and ionomycin-stimulated AMPK activity, αThr-172 phosphorylation, and acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphorylation are substantially reduced in HeLa cells transfected with small interfering RNAs specific for CaMKKα and CaMKKβ. Lastly, the activation of AMPK in response to ionomycin and 2-deoxyglucose is not impaired in LKB1-/- murine embryo fibroblasts. These data indicate that the CaMKKs function in intact cells as AMPKKs, predicting wider roles for these kinases in regulating AMPK activity in vivo.
Patterns of bruising in preschool children with inherited bleeding disorders: a longitudinal study

Objective The extent that inherited bleeding disorders affect; number, size and location of bruises in young children <6 years. Design Prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Setting Community. Patients 105 children with bleeding disorders, were compared with 328 without a bleeding disorder and classified by mobility: premobile (non-rolling/rolling over/sitting), early mobile (crawling/cruising) and walking and by disease severity: severe bleeding disorder factor VIII/IX/XI <1 IU/dL or type 3 von Willebrand disease. Interventions Number, size and location of bruises recorded in each child weekly for up to 12 weeks. Outcomes The interventions were compared between children with severe and mild/moderate bleeding disorders and those without bleeding disorders. Multiple collections for individual children were analysed by multilevel modelling. Results Children with bleeding disorders had more and larger bruises, especially when premobile. Compared with premobile children without a bleeding disorder; the modelled ratio of means (95% CI) for number of bruises/collection was 31.82 (8.39 to 65.42) for severe bleeding disorders and 5.15 (1.23 to 11.17) for mild/moderate, and was 1.81 (1.13 to 2.23) for size of bruises. Children with bleeding disorders rarely had bruises on the ears, neck, cheeks, eyes or genitalia. Conclusions Children with bleeding disorder have more and larger bruises at all developmental stages. The differences were greatest in premobile children. In this age group for children with unexplained bruising, it is essential that coagulation studies are done early to avoid the erroneous diagnosis of physical abuse when the child actually has a serious bleeding disorder, however a blood test compatible with a mild/moderate bleeding disorder cannot be assumed to be the cause of bruising.
Impact of microstructure on the effective diffusivity in random packings of hard spheres

We present results of computer simulations of the effective diffusion coefficient in bulk random packings of hard monosized spheres with solid volume fraction between 0.54 (random-loose packing) and 0.634 (maximally random jammed). Six types of sphere packings were generated with different protocols and parameters resulting in a systematically varied degree of microstructural heterogeneity. The packing morphology is qualitatively characterized by statistical analyses of Voronoi cells obtained from spatial tessellation of the packing space. Diffusive transport of point-like tracers in the pore space of the packings was simulated with a random-walking particle-tracking technique. Our results indicate that the effective transport characteristics of the random sphere packings are not fully defined from the solid volume fraction but also depend on the packing microstructure. For the first time, we compared (i) the values of the effective diffusion coefficient Deff simulated in packings with different morpholog.
Phosphorylation-Dependent Interactions between Crb2 and Chk1 Are Essential for DNA Damage Checkpoint

In response to DNA damage, the eukaryotic genome surveillance system activates a checkpoint kinase cascade. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, checkpoint protein Crb2 is essential for DNA damage-induced activation of downstream effector kinase Chk1. The mechanism by which Crb2 mediates Chk1 activation is unknown. Here, we show that Crb2 recruits Chk1 to double-strand breaks (DSBs) through a direct physical interaction. A pair of conserved SQ/TQ motifs in Crb2, which are consensus phosphorylation sites of upstream kinase Rad3, is required for Chk1 recruitment and activation. Mutating both of these motifs renders Crb2 defective in activating Chk1. Tethering Crb2 and Chk1 together can rescue the SQ/TQ mutations, suggesting that the main function of these phosphorylation sites is promoting interactions between Crb2 and Chk1. A 19-amino-acid peptide containing these SQ/TQ motifs is sufficient for Chk1 binding in vitro when one of the motifs is phosphorylated. Remarkably, the same peptide, when tethered to DSBs by fusing with either recombination protein Rad22/Rad52 or multi-functional scaffolding protein Rad4/Cut5, can rescue the checkpoint defect of crb2Δ. The Rad22 fusion can even bypass the need for Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 (9-1-1) complex in checkpoint activation. These results suggest that the main role of Crb2 and 9-1-1 in DNA damage checkpoint signaling is recruiting Chk1 to sites of DNA lesions.
E-WOM and Accommodation

Online reviews (ORs) are continuing to foster a renewed spread of word-of-mouth in the travel industry. Travelers are increasingly using ORs to inform them about accommodations and other tourism-related products. As such, it is important to improve our understanding of the behavioral consequences of e-word-of-mouth. In this article, we adopt the elaboration likelihood model to identify what influences travelers to adopt information from ORs in their decision making. We measure the influence of six dimensions of information quality that are part of the central route and two dimensions that are associated with the peripheral route of persuasion. The results of this study reveal that product ranking, information accuracy, information value-added, information relevance, and information timeliness are strong predictors of travelers’ adoption of information from ORs on accommodations. These results imply that high-involvement travelers adopt both central (information quality) and peripheral (product ranking) routes when they process information from ORs.
Comparison of Time Domain and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Measurement of Macular Thickness in Macular Edema Secondary to Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinal Vein Occlusion

Purpose. To evaluate macular thickness, agreement, and intraclass repeatability in three optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices: the time domain (TD) Stratus OCT and two spectral domain (SD) OCTs, Spectralis and Cirrus SD-OCT, in eyes with macular edema secondary to diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinal vein occlusion (VO). Methods. In a prospective observational study at a university-based retina practice, retinal thickness tomography was performed simultaneously for fifty-eight patients (91 eyes) with DR and VO employing a time domain and two spectral domain OCTs. Agreement in macular measurements was assessed by constructing Bland-Altman plots. Intraclass repeatability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results. Based on the Bland-Altman plots for central macular thickness, there was low agreement between the measurements of Cirrus SD-OCT and Stratus OCT, Spectralis OCT and Stratus OCT, as well as Spectralis OCT and Cirrus SD-OCT among DR and RVO patients. All three devices demonstrated high intraclass repeatability, with ICC of 98% for Stratus OCT, 97% for Cirrus SD-OCT, and 100% for Spectralis OCT among DR patients. The ICC was 97% for Stratus OCT, 79% for Cirrus SD-OCT, and 91% for Spectralis OCT among RVO patients. Conclusion. There are low agreements among interdevice measurements. However, intraclass repeatability is high in both TD and SD-OCT devices.
Fast Image Colorization Based on Local and Global Consistency

Image colorization refers to the process of semiautomatic adding colors to a grayscale image. A novel image colorization approach based on local and global consistency is proposed, which applies the graph-based semi-supervised learning theory to solve the problem of colorization. Firstly, constructing a graph model according to the similarities between pixels, and then determine a quadratic cost function with sufficient smoothness which can fully guarantee the image structure information, finally the colors are propagated to the un-colored pixels from colored pixels by minimizing the cost function. In order to meet the time requirements when dealing with high resolution images, the authors further propose a segmentation-based approach, instead of directly on pixels, which regards image segmented region as the basic unit during colors propagating. Experiments on different natural images demonstrate that our approach's computational complexity is significantly reduced while achieves high quality colorization results compared with two existing techniques.
The interaction of market and technology in radical transformation: The case of Telecom New Zealand

Purpose – This study aims to demonstrate the interaction of the regulatory environment and market forces with rapid technological change in the transformation of SOEs, as exemplified by Telecom NZ.Design/methodology/approach – This case study analysis explicates resource dependency and institutional forces in the process of SOE privatisation, in the first ten years of transformation, through textual analysis of data collected from company annual reports and interviews.Findings – It is demonstrated that resource dependencies on technology and capital, market forces, and the institutionalization of new structures and relationships, are as important as regulatory changes in the analysis of SOE restructuring. It is also documented that the regulatory transitions are not as clear‐cut as the legislative dates and economic analyses suggest.Research limitations/implications – The research focuses on a single exemplar to explicate key interactions. While generalizable to theory, the use of in‐depth case studies is.
Searching for land tenure security in Africa

The report is based on case studies in seven countries, and relies on new data to examine the relationship between land holding rights, and agricultural production. Land remains the most important source of economic livelihood, security, and social status in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the extent to which existing tenure rules, and practices influence agriculture, is unclear. The report further questions whether indigenous African land tenure systems, accord farmers sufficient security for long-term investment in agricultural production, and, examines as well the major effects of land registration and titling, on agricultural production. The study represent the first rigorous quantitative analysis of the relationship between land tenure security, and agricultural production in the context of contemporary political economies of African countries.
Biomarkers of Parkinson's disease: recent insights, current challenges, and future prospects

A biomarker represents a tool possibly helping physicians in predicting onset, diagnosis, and progression of a disease as well as evaluating the response to disease-modifying treatments. Currently, there is no biomarker fulfilling all such ideal criteria for Parkinson's disease (PD). In this article, we have critically reviewed the literature searching for the most reliable and reproducible clinical, biochemical, and imaging biomarkers for prodromal phase, diagnosis, and progression of PD. Different comprehensive batteries of biomarkers have been proposed as a sensitive approach to predict the onset of PD during the prodromal phase. There is a discussion about the redefinition of the clinical diagnosis of PD, including clinical biomarkers as non-motor symptoms; however, on the other hand, we have also observed that imaging biomarkers support the differential diagnosis from other causes of parkinsonism. Various clinical (eg, freezing of gait or cognitive impairment), biochemical (eg, epidermal growth factor, insulin-like growth factor 1, uric acid, etc), and imaging (eg, functional mag- netic resonance imaging, voxel-based morphometry, etc) biomarkers may help envisaging disease progression of PD. To conclude, given the lack of a single biomarker that could track the entire course of the disease, our challenge is to find the best combinations of biomarkers for the different stages of the disease.
The Future of Illusion: Political Theology and Early Modern Texts

In recent years, the rise of fundamentalism and a related turn to religion in the humanities have led to a powerful resurgence of interest in the problem of political theology. In a critique of this contemporary fascination with the theological underpinnings of modern politics, Victoria Kahn proposes a return to secularism - whose origins she locates in the art, literature, and political theory of the early modern period-and argues in defense of literature and art as a force for secular liberal culture. Kahn draws on theorists such as Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss, Walter Benjamin, and Hannah Arendt and their readings of Shakespeare, Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Spinoza to illustrate that the dialogue between these modern and early modern figures can help us rethink the contemporary problem of political theology. Twentieth-century critics, she shows, saw the early modern period as a break from the older form of political theology that entailed the theological legitimization of the state. Rather, the period signaled a new emphasis on a secular notion of human agency and a new preoccupation with the ways art and fiction intersected the terrain of religion. Reclaiming a role for the arts in contemporary debates about liberalism and political theology, The Future of Illusion articulates a new defense of what Hans Blumberg called "the legitimacy" of our modern secular age.
Spatial decisions and neuronal activity in hippocampal projection zones in prefrontal cortex and striatum

This chapter presents a brief overview of the neural representations in the rat prefrontal cortex and striatum in spatial tasks. While both structures appear to be strongly affected by position information (and possibly hippocampal input), the nature of their representation is deeply different from the map-like structure of hippocampal-system activity. Both structures seem to be affected by combinations of factors such as task phase, current motor behavior, reward or lack thereof, and task-relevant locations. The prefrontal cortex is sensitive to the task-relevant cues, and exhibits a large deal of flexibility in changing its response characteristics when the reward contingency is changed, in accordance with its proposed role in attentional shifts. Spatial modulation of activity is often present in these two structures, but most likely in conjunction with some other influence, such as the factors mentioned above.
Synchrony, asynchrony, and temporally random mating: a new method for analyzing breeding synchrony

Much research has focused on understanding breeding synchrony in animals and its relationship to such issues as mating systems and extrapair copulations in birds (Birkhead and Biggins, 1987; Emlen and Oring, 1977; Knowlton, 1979; Stutchbury and Morton, 1995). To empirically examine synchrony, one needs an appropriate measure of the degree of synchrony in a population. Kempenaers (1993) presented an index of breeding synchrony (modified from Bjorklund and Westman, 1986) that has gained wide use as a simple representation of the degree to which breeding is synchronized among animals. This synchrony index (SI) is calculated as follows: