Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sentinel Lymph Node Radiolocalization with 99mTc Filtered Tin Colloid in Clinically Node-Negative Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Oral Cavity

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy by using a radiotracer lymphatic mapping technique in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, and the diagnostic value of this technique. We studied twenty patients with previously untreated squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity and N0 necks. After the peritumoral injection of 99mTc filtered tin colloid preop-eratively, lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative mapping using a gamma detector were performed to localize sentinel nodes. An open biopsy of the sentinel node was followed by complete neck dissection. We identified the sentinel nodes in 19 of 20 patients (95.0%) by lymphoscintigraphy and in all (100%) by intraoperative gamma detector. In all cases, the status of the sentinel node accurately predicted the pathologic status of the neck with the false negative rate being 0%. The negative predictive value for the absence of cervical metastases was 100%. In conclusion, our radio-localization technique of sentinel nodes using 99mTc filtered tin colloid in N0 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity is technically feasible and appears to accurately predict the presence of the occult metastatic disease.
In Vitro Development of Resistance to Five Quinolones and Amoxicillin-Clavulanate in Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACT The ability of 50 sequential subcultures in subinhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, grepafloxacin, sparfloxacin, trovafloxacin, and amoxicillin-clavulanate to select for resistance was studied for six penicillin-susceptible and four penicillin-intermediate pneumococci. Subculturing in ciprofloxacin, grepafloxacin, levofloxacin, and sparfloxacin led to selection of mutants requiring increased MICs for all 10 strains, with MICs rising from (i) 0.5 to 4.0 to (ii) 4.0 to 32.0 μg/ml after 7 to 12 passages for ciprofloxacin, from (i) 0.06 to 0.25 to (ii) 0.5 to 8.0 μg/ml after 5 to 23 passages for grepafloxacin, from (i) 0.5 to 1.0 to (ii) 4.0 to 64 μg/ml after 14 to 49 passages for levofloxacin, and from (i) 0.125 to 0.25 to (ii) 1.0 to 16.0 μg/ml after 8 to 26 passages for sparfloxacin. Subculturing in trovafloxacin led to increased MICs for eight strains, with MICs rising from (i) 0.06 to 0.125 to (ii) 0.5 to 8.0 μg/ml after 6 to 28 passages. Subculturing in amoxicillin-clavulanate led to raised MICs for only one strain, with the MIC rising from 0.015 to 0.125 μg/ml after 24 passages. Double mutations in both ParC and GyrA led to high-level quinolone resistance when ParC mutations were at S79. Trovafloxacin MICs were 1 to 2 μg/ml in double mutants with ParC mutations at positions other than S79 (e.g., D83). Mutations in ParE (at D435, R447, and E474) and GyrB (at S405, D406, and D435) were found in four and six mutants, respectively. In the presence of reserpine, 29 mutants had lower ciprofloxacin MICs (2 to 16 times lower), 8 mutants had lower levofloxacin MICs (2 times), and one mutant had a lower trovafloxacin MIC (2 times), suggesting the involvement of an efflux mechanism. In contrast to the case for quinolones, subculturing in the presence of amoxicillin-clavulanate did not select for resistance to this drug.
Effect of Iron Chloride Addition on Softwood Lignin Nano-Fiber Stabilization and Carbonization

This study presents the effect of iron chloride addition on the production of nanocarbon fibers from softwood Organosolv lignin. It was shown that adding 2% FeCl3 to the lignin solution before electrospinning to produce lignin nanofibers increased the thermal resistance of lignin fibers during stabilization. FTIR and XPS analyses of the lignin fibers stabilized with and without FeCl3 revealed that the temperature rate could be increased in the presence of FeCl3 from 1 to 3 °C/min. The optimal temperature to stabilize the lignin fibers was found to be 250 °C, as higher temperatures led to thermal degradation. Also, carbon fibers were successfully produced from pure softwood Organosolv lignin fibers. Carbonization tests were conducted under nitrogen and the best parameters were determined to be a ramp of 10 °C/min until 600 °C with a holding time of 2 h. Furthermore, the effect of 2% FeCl3 addition in the lignin solution was investigated during these processes. XPS analysis showed a 93% carbon content for fibers carbonized with and without FeCl3 addition, while SEM images revealed some surface roughness in fibers with FeCl3 after carbonization. These results confirm that FeCl3 addition influences the carbon nanofiber production.
Immediate perception of a reward is distinct from the reward’s long-term salience

Reward perception guides all aspects of animal behavior. However, the relationship between the perceived value of a reward, the latent value of a reward, and the behavioral response remains unclear. Here we report that, given a choice between two sweet and chemically similar sugars—L- and D-arabinose—Drosophila melanogaster prefers D- over L- arabinose, but forms long-term memories of L-arabinose more reliably. Behavioral assays indicate that L-arabinose-generated memories require sugar receptor Gr43a, and calcium imaging and electrophysiological recordings indicate that L- and D-arabinose differentially activate Gr43a-expressing neurons. We posit that the immediate valence of a reward is not always predictive of the long-term reinforcement value of that reward, and that a subset of sugar-sensing neurons may generate distinct representations of similar sugars, allowing for rapid assessment of the salient features of various sugar rewards and generation of reward-specific behaviors. However, how sensory neurons communicate information about L-arabinose quality and concentration—features relevant for long-term memory—remains unknown. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.22283. 001
Steady state and transient thermal analysis of hot spots in 3D stacked ICs using dedicated test chips

3D stacking of dies is a promising technique to allow miniaturization and performance enhancement of electronic systems. The complexity of the interconnection structures, combined with the reduced thermal spreading in the thinned dies and the poorly thermally conductive adhesives complicate the thermal behavior of a stacked die structure. The same dissipation will lead to higher temperatures and a more pronounced temperature peak in a stacked die package compared to a single die package. Therefore, the thermal behavior in a 3D-IC needs to be studied thoroughly. In this paper, a steady state and transient analysis is presented for hot spots in 3D stacked structures. For this analysis, dedicated test chips with integrated heaters and temperature sensors are used to assess the temperature profile in the different tiers of the stack and to investigate the impact of TSVs on the temperature profile. This experimental set-up is used to evaluated and improve the thermal models for the 3D stacks.
Optimum Power Allocation for Average Power Constrained Jammers in the Presence of Non-Gaussian Noise

We study the problem of determining the optimum power allocation policy for an average power constrained jammer operating over an arbitrary additive noise channel, where the aim is to minimize the detection probability of an instantaneously and fully adaptive receiver employing the Neyman-Pearson (NP) criterion. We show that the optimum jamming performance can be achieved via power randomization between at most two different power levels. We also provide sufficient conditions for the improvability and nonimprovability of the jamming performance via power randomization in comparison to a fixed power jamming scheme. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate theoretical results.
Multinationals and interdependence in internationalisation processes

This article deals with interdependence and the internationalisation process of multinationals (MNCs); a topic that has received scarce attention in the literature (e.g. Bell & Young, 1998; Holm et al., 1995). By reviewing the literature on behavioural models of internationalisation, initially, the article suggests that MNCs should be regarded as loosely coupled systems in which independence and interdependence of operations shape how MNCs evolve and organise activities across borders. Subsequently, the article models the internationalisation process of MNCs by highlighting three dimensions that characterise their pattern of evolution - uniformity, direction and rhythm, and lays out three hypotheses on the relationship between these dimensions and interdependence. The direction of the relationship is suggested to be negative, i.e., other things being equal, interdependence is negatively related to uniformity, direction and the rhythm of the internationalisation processes. The article concludes by claiming that the internationalisation of MNCs results from an intricate combination of independent, yet interdependent, internationalisation processes that evolve in various spatial and temporal contexts within the MNC network.
Argos: practical many-antenna base stations

Multi-user multiple-input multiple-output theory predicts manyfold capacity gains by leveraging many antennas on wireless base stations to serve multiple clients simultaneously through multi-user beamforming (MUBF). However, realizing a base station with a large number antennas is non-trivial, and has yet to be achieved in the real-world. We present the design, realization, and evaluation of Argos, the first reported base station architecture that is capable of serving many terminals simultaneously through MUBF with a large number of antennas (M >> 10). Designed for extreme flexibility and scalability, Argos exploits hierarchical and modular design principles, properly partitions baseband processing, and holistically considers real-time requirements of MUBF. Argos employs a novel, completely distributed, beamforming technique, as well as an internal calibration procedure to enable implicit beamforming with channel estimation cost independent of the number of base station antennas. We report an Argos prototype with 64 antennas and capable of serving 15 clients simultaneously. We experimentally demonstrate that by scaling from 1 to 64 antennas the prototype can achieve up to 6.7 fold capacity gains while using a mere 1/64th of the transmission power.
Resource-bounded alternating-time temporal logic

Many problems in AI and multi-agent systems research are most naturally formulated in terms of the abilities of a coalition of agents. There exist several excellent logical tools for reasoning about coalitional ability. However, coalitional ability can be affected by the availability of resources, and there is no straightforward way of reasoning about resource requirements in logics such as Coalition Logic (CL) and Alternating-time Temporal Logic (ATL). In this paper, we propose a logic for reasoning about coalitional ability under resource constraints. We extend ATL with costs of actions and hence of strategies. We give a complete and sound axiomatisation of the resulting logic Resource-Bounded ATL (RB-ATL) and an efficient model-checking algorithm for it.
Spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES To review the management of spontaneous ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma in the acute phase, the definitive treatment after hemostasis, and the prognosis. DATA SOURCES A MEDLINE search was undertaken to identify articles in English from 1970 to 2004 using the key words "hepatocellular carcinoma," "spontaneous rupture," "therapeutic embolization," and "laparoscopy. " Additional articles were identified by a manual search of the references from the key articles. STUDY SELECTION There were no exclusion criteria for published information on the topics. DATA EXTRACTION All studies that contained material applicable to the topic were considered. DATA SYNTHESIS In the acute phase, transarterial embolization for hemostasis has a high success rate (53%-100%). It has a lower 30-day mortality rate than open surgical methods (0%-37% vs 28%-75%). For the definitive treatment, staged liver resection has a higher resection rate (21%-56% vs 13%-31%) and a lower in-hospital mortality rate (0%-9% vs 17%-100%) than 1-stage emergency liver resection. Staged liver resection has a good survival rate (1-year survival, 54.2%-100%; 3-year survival, 21.2%-48%; 5-year survival, 15%-21.2%). CONCLUSIONS Transarterial embolization is effective in controlling bleeding from ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma in the acute phase. The serum bilirubin level, shock on hospital admission, and prerupture disease state are important prognostic factors to predict survival in the acute phase. For definitive treatment, staged liver resection after attaining hemostasis is better than 1-stage emergency liver resection. Laparoscopy and laparoscopic ultrasonography may decrease unnecessary exploratory laparotomy, thus increasing the resection rate of previously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma. Prolonged survival can be achieved in select patients with definitive treatment. It is still uncertain whether the long-term outcome of liver resection is the same for hepatocellular carcinoma with and without rupture when patients with the same tumor stage and liver functional state are compared.
Decentralized control and coordination of discrete-event systems with partial observation

Decentralized supervision and coordination are studied for partially observed discrete-event systems. The authors' (1988) previous results on decentralized supervision and supervision under partial observation are extended by incorporating both these features in the control structure. In addition, a concept of coordination is introduced, and conditions for the existence of a coordinating supervisor are established. It is concluded that decentralized supervision will be easier to design and implement that centralized supervision; under suitable conditions it will be equivalent with respect to overall closed-loop system behavior. In achieving this equivalence a key role is played by the linguistic property of normality. As shown by an illustrative example, the results have application to such complex systems as manufacturing systems, which the qualitative modeling framework adopted. >
Erratum: Evaluation of the Impact of Automated Specimen Inoculation, Using Previ Isola, on the Quality of and Technical Time for Stool Cultures

Background: This study was designed as a quasi-experiment to evaluate automatic inoculation of fecal specimens, using the automated specimen inoculator Previ Isola (bioMérieux, France). Methods: We evaluated the quality of cultures, recovery rates of enteropathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, and Yersinia species), and cost-effectiveness in terms of technical time. The Previ Isola recovery rates for the two-year period from August 2009 to July 2011 were compared with historical manual inoculation data of the previous two years (August 2007 to July 2009). The regional (Baden-Württemberg) and nationwide (Germany) trends of recovery rates for this four-year period were referred. Results: A total of 5,884 fecal specimens were collected over the study period. Most positive cultures were for Salmonella, followed by Campylobacter. Compared with the historical data, the numbers of Campylobacter-positive specimens for a year between August and July were increased significantly, from 19 in 2007-2008 and 10 in 2008-2009 to 32 in 2009-2010 (P =0.002) and 32 in 2010-2011 (P =0.003), respectively. During the study period, the official data for our region and nationwide did not show this increase in the recovery rate of Campylobacter. For Salmonella, Shigella, and Yersinia, no significant changes were observed. Compared with manual inoculation, the mean hands-on time with Previ Isola inoculation was significantly shortened, from 37:30 min to 8:42 min per 15 fecal specimens. Conclusions: Inoculation by Previ Isola improves the quality of routine culture of fecal specimens, with better sensitivity for Campylobacter and less hands-on time.
Spatial Inhomogeneity of Sympathetic Nerve Function in Hibernating Myocardium

Background—Although humans and swine with hibernating myocardium have an increased risk of sudden death, the contribution of chronic alterations in sympathetic nerve function is unknown. Acute transmural ischemia causes inhomogeneity in sympathetic innervation that may lead to lethal arrhythmias, but it is unclear whether similar abnormalities develop in response to chronic reversible ischemia. Methods and Results—Swine were chronically instrumented with a left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis that produced hibernating myocardium after 3 months. Resting subendocardial flow (LAD 0.75±0.14 versus 1.19±0.14 mL · min−1 · g−1, P <0.05) and wall thickening (LAD 15±3% versus 40±2%, P <0.05) were reduced compared with normal remote regions, without triphenyltetrazolium chloride evidence of necrosis. 131I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) was used to assess integrity of the norepinephrine uptake-1 mechanism, and the spatial and transmural distributions were quantified by ex vivo counting. In hibernating myocardium, MIBG deposition was decreased in each layer, with the greatest reduction in the subendocardium (LAD subendocardium 0.28±0.02 versus 0.42±0.04 mL · g−1 · min−1 in normal, P <0.05; LAD subepicardium 0.31±0.03 versus 0.38±0.04 mL · g−1 · min−1 in normal, P <0.05). In contrast, there were no spatial alterations of MIBG deposition in sham-instrumented animals. Conclusions—The sympathetic norepinephrine uptake-1 mechanism is impaired in hibernating myocardium. These findings raise the possibility that chronic alterations in sympathetic innervation contribute to the excess mortality seen in the setting of hibernating myocardium.
Compression-based self-organizing recognizer PRDC-CSOR with preliminary application to EO-image analysis

This paper introduces a new data analyzer, the compression-based self-organizing recognizer PRDC-CSOR, with a preliminary application to an EO-image. PRDC-CSOR is an application of the authors' previously proposed pattern representation scheme using data compression (PRDC). Contrary to the traditional statistical model based recognition system methods, PRDC-CSOR constructs itself by using incoming data only. The basic tool, compressibility, is an approximation of the Kolmogorov complexity K(x) defined on an individual text x as a countermeasure to the Shannon entropy H(X) defined on an ensemble X. Due to this feature, a highly automatic self-organizing recognition system becomes possible as shown in this paper.
Mutual Repression Enhances the Steepness and Precision of Gene Expression Boundaries

Embryonic development is driven by spatial patterns of gene expression that determine the fate of each cell in the embryo. While gene expression is often highly erratic, embryonic development is usually exceedingly precise. In particular, gene expression boundaries are robust not only against intra-embryonic fluctuations such as noise in gene expression and protein diffusion, but also against embryo-to-embryo variations in the morphogen gradients, which provide positional information to the differentiating cells. How development is robust against intra- and inter-embryonic variations is not understood. A common motif in the gene regulation networks that control embryonic development is mutual repression between pairs of genes. To assess the role of mutual repression in the robust formation of gene expression patterns, we have performed large-scale stochastic simulations of a minimal model of two mutually repressing gap genes in Drosophila, hunchback (hb) and knirps (kni). Our model includes not only mutual repression between hb and kni, but also the stochastic and cooperative activation of hb by the anterior morphogen Bicoid (Bcd) and of kni by the posterior morphogen Caudal (Cad), as well as the diffusion of Hb and Kni between neighboring nuclei. Our analysis reveals that mutual repression can markedly increase the steepness and precision of the gap gene expression boundaries. In contrast to other mechanisms such as spatial averaging and cooperative gene activation, mutual repression thus allows for gene-expression boundaries that are both steep and precise. Moreover, mutual repression dramatically enhances their robustness against embryo-to-embryo variations in the morphogen levels. Finally, our simulations reveal that diffusion of the gap proteins plays a critical role not only in reducing the width of the gap gene expression boundaries via the mechanism of spatial averaging, but also in repairing patterning errors that could arise because of the bistability induced by mutual repression.
Release of Rice dwarf virus from insect vector cells involves secretory exosomes derived from multivesicular bodies

Plant reoviruses in insect vector cells are sequestered in spherical multivesicular compartments. We demonstrated previously that the plant-infecting reovirus Rice dwarf virus (RDV) exploits multivesicular compartments for the transport and release of viral particles from infected insect vector cells. These multivesicular compartments contain small vesicles and, morphologically, they resemble previously reported endosomal multivesicular bodies (MVBs) exploited by enveloped RNA viruses during budding from the plasma membrane of infected cells. Electron microscopy revealed that, at a late stage of infection, RDV virions are released, together with small vesicles similar to secreted vesicles (exosomes), from infected cells. The incorporation of lysosomes into the multivesicular compartments raised the possibility that functions of host MVBs are required for the efficient release of RDV virions from infected insect vector cells. An actin-myosin transport system has been shown to mediate the transport of these multivesicular compartments. In this addendum, we provide evidence for the proposed model of release of RDV virions from infected insect vector cells that exploits secretory exosomes derived from MVBs.
Assessment of oral health-related quality of life in 9-15 year old children with visual impairment in Uttarakhand, India

Background: To assess the prevalence of dental diseases among 9–15-year-old visually impaired children and find out its impact on their daily activities using the Child-Oral Impact on Daily Performance (C-OIDP) questionnaire in districts of Uttarakhand, India. Materials and Methods: A total of 423 visually impaired institutionalized children between the age group of 9–15 years were included in the study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain the study population. Dental caries was recorded using dmft for primary dentition and DMFT for permanent dentition, traumatic dental injuries were assessed using traumatic dental injury index, and dentofacial anomalies were recorded using Angle's classification of malocclusion. The Hindi braille version of C-OIDP questionnaire was used to gather information regarding oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Results: There was a high dental caries prevalence of 57.7% in visually impaired children. The prevalence of traumatic dental injuries was 50.6%. Crowding (61.5%) was the most commonly seen dentofacial anomaly and the most commonly perceived oral health problem was toothache. There was less favorable OHRQoL in males as compared to females. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of dental diseases in this group and higher C-OIDP scores suggestive of unfavorable OHRQoL.