Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radical Prostatectomy versus External Beam Radiotherapy for cT1-4N0M0 Prostate Cancer: Comparison of Patient Outcomes Including Mortality

Background Although radical prostatectomy (RP) and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) have been considered as comparable treatments for localized prostate cancer (PC), it is controversial which treatment is better. The present study aimed to compare outcomes, including mortality, of RP and EBRT for localized PC. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 891 patients with cT1-4N0M0 PC who underwent either RP (n = 569) or EBRT (n = 322) with curative intent at our single institution between 2005 and 2012. Of the EBRT patients, 302 (93.8%) underwent intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Related to these, other-cause mortality (OCM) was also calculated. Biochemical recurrence-free survival was assessed as a secondary endpoint. Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. Results Median follow-up durations were 53 and 45 months, and median ages were 66 and 70 years (P <0.0001), in the RP and EBRT groups, respectively. As a whole, significantly better prognoses of the RP group than the EBRT group were observed for both OS and CSS, although OCM was significantly higher in the EBRT group. There was no death from PC in men with low and intermediate D’Amico risks, except one with intermediate-risk in the EBRT group. In high-risk patients, significantly more patients died from PC in the EBRT group than the RP group. Multivariate analysis demonstrated the RP group to be an independent prognostic factor for better CSS. On the other hand, the EBRT group had a significantly longer biochemical recurrence-free survival than the RP group. Conclusions Mortality outcomes of both RP and EBRT were generally favorable in low and intermediate risk patients. Improvement of CSS in high risk patients was seen in patients receiving RP over those receiving EBRT.
A Wideband 2$\times$ 13-bit All-Digital I/Q RF-DAC

This paper presents a wideband 2 ×13-bit in-phase/quadrature-phase (I/Q) RF digital-to-analog converter-based all-digital modulator realized in 65-nm CMOS. The isolation between I and Q paths is guaranteed employing 25% duty-cycle differential quadrature clocks. With a 1.3-V supply and an on-chip power combiner, the digital I/Q transmitter provides more than 21-dBm RF output power within a frequency range of 1.36-2.51 GHz. The peak RF output power, overall system, and drain efficiencies of the modulator are 22.8 dBm, 34%, and 42%, respectively. The measured static noise floor is below -160 dBc/Hz. The digital I/Q RF modulator demonstrates an IQ image rejection and local oscillator leakage of -65 and -68 dBc, respectively. It could be linearized using either of the two digital predistortion (DPD) approaches: a memoryless polynomial or a lookup table. Its linearity is examined using single-carrier 4/16/64/256/1024 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), as well as multi-carrier 256-QAM orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing baseband signals while their related modulation bandwidth can be as high as 154 MHz. Employing DPD improves the third-order intermodulation product (IM3) by more than 25 dB, while the measured error vector magnitude for a “single-carrier 22-MHz 64-QAM” signal is better than -28 dB.
Mechanical characterization of B_4C reinforced aluminum matrix composites produced by squeeze casting

Boron carbide (B_4C) ceramic particles were used as reinforcement material to produce aluminum (Al) matrix composites by squeeze casting method. Four different B_4C contents as 0, 3, 5, and 10 wt%, and three different squeeze pressures as 0, 75, and 150 MPa were used in which the samples consisted of pure Al without B_4C and the samples obtained without applying pressure were used as control samples. To determine the effect of squeezing pressure and the amount of B_4C added on machinability and mechanical properties, average chip length and surface roughness of the samples were evaluated and hardness measurements were accomplished, yield and ultimate tensile strengths were determined, respectively. Also, the changes in density and microstructure were investigated. B_4C reinforcement was found to decrease the average chip length and density of the samples while increasing the hardness and surface roughness. On the other hand, application of squeeze pressure had a positive effect on the densification and mechanical properties of the samples.
Immunological outcomes of exercise in older adults

Aging is associated with a dysregulation of the immune system known as immunosenescence. Immunosenescence involves cellular and molecular alterations that impact both innate and adaptive immunity, leading to increased incidences of infectious disease morbidity and mortality as well as heightened rates of other immune disorders such as autoimmunity, cancer, and inflammatory conditions. While current data suggests physical activity may be an effective and logistically easy strategy for counteracting immunosenescence, it is currently underutilized in clinical settings. Long-term, moderate physical activity interventions in geriatric populations appear to be associated with several benefits including reduction in infectious disease risk, increased rates of vaccine efficacy, and improvements in both physical and psychosocial aspects of daily living. Exercise may also represent a viable therapy in patients for whom pharmacological treatment is unavailable, ineffective, or inappropriate. The effects of exercise impact multiple aspects of immune response including T cell phenotype and proliferation, antibody response to vaccination, and cytokine production. However, an underlying mechanism by which exercise affects numerous cell types and responses remains to be identified. Given this evidence, an increase in the use of physical activity programs by the healthcare community may result in improved health of geriatric populations.
Attracting User's Attention in Spherical Image by Angular Shift of Virtual Camera Direction

A spherical image can contain the whole information of the landscape, allowing users to look at the point they want to. However, most of the information in a spherical image is often unimportant to the photographer, and only several points in the image are important. If users can view the spherical image completely freely, they may be unable to determine what the photographer thinks is important, and may stop viewing it before they notice the important points in the image. Therefore, a methodology to induce users to look at a selected point in the spherical image while leaving the interactiveness that allows them to look around with their intention is needed. In this paper, we propose a method to induce users to look at a selected point in the spherical image by using an angular shift in the direction of the virtual camera. We introduce a method of a tablet application called "Window to the Past," which was set up as a real exhibition. After analyzing a massive amount of user data obtained from the application, we found that our method worked well for spherical image viewing. The total amount of time during which users looked at selected points was significantly lengthened without feeling interrupted. The result also suggests that the induction method is also effective to make aware of users of virtual buttons on the image.
Consequences of Beauty: Effects of Rater Sex and Sexual Orientation on the Visual Exploration and Evaluation of Attractiveness in Real World Scenes

One of the key behavioral effects of attractiveness is increased visual attention to attractive people. This effect is often explained in terms of evolutionary adaptations, such as attractiveness being an indicator of good health. Other factors could influence this effect. In the present study, we explored the modulating role of sexual orientation on the effects of attractiveness on exploratory visual behavior. Heterosexual and homosexual men and women viewed natural-looking scenes that depicted either two women or two men who varied systematically in levels of attractiveness (based on a pre-study). Participants’ eye movements and attractiveness ratings toward the faces of the depicted people were recorded. The results showed that although attractiveness had the largest influence on participants’ behaviors, participants’ sexual orientations strongly modulated the effects. With the exception of homosexual women, all participant groups looked longer and more often at attractive faces that corresponded with their sexual orientations. Interestingly, heterosexual and homosexual men and homosexual women looked longer and more often at the less attractive face of their non-preferred sex than the less attractive face of their preferred sex, evidence that less attractive faces of the preferred sex might have an aversive character. These findings provide evidence for the important role that sexual orientation plays in guiding visual exploratory behavior and evaluations of the attractiveness of others.
TriRank: Review-aware Explainable Recommendation by Modeling Aspects

Most existing collaborative filtering techniques have focused on modeling the binary relation of users to items by extracting from user ratings. Aside from users' ratings, their affiliated reviews often provide the rationale for their ratings and identify what aspects of the item they cared most about. We explore the rich evidence source of aspects in user reviews to improve top-N recommendation. By extracting aspects (i.e., the specific properties of items) from textual reviews, we enrich the user--item binary relation to a user--item--aspect ternary relation. We model the ternary relation as a heterogeneous tripartite graph, casting the recommendation task as one of vertex ranking. We devise a generic algorithm for ranking on tripartite graphs -- TriRank -- and specialize it for personalized recommendation. Experiments on two public review datasets show that it consistently outperforms state-of-the-art methods. Most importantly, TriRank endows the recommender system with a higher degree of explainability and transparency by modeling aspects in reviews. It allows users to interact with the system through their aspect preferences, assisting users in making informed decisions.
Wavelet Neural Networks with a Hybrid Learning Approach

In this paper, we propose a Wavelet Neural Network with Hybrid Learning Approach (WNN-HLA). A novel hybrid learning approach, which combines the on-line partition method (OLPM) and the gradient descent method, is proposed to identify a parsimonious internal structure and adjust the parameters of WNN-HLA model. First, the proposed OLPM is an online method and is a distance-based connectionist clustering method. Unlike the traditional cluster techniques that only consider the total variation to update the one mean and deviation. Second, a back-propagation learning method is used to adjust the parameters for the desired outputs. Several simulation examples have been given to illustrate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed model. The computer simulations demonstrate that the proposed WNN-HLA model performs better than some existing models.
To study bactericidal activity of Isoxyl along with Isoniazid and Rifampicin, alone and in combination against standard strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using time kill kinetics against log phase and stationary phase cultures

Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) test is the one most frequently used to quantitate bactericidal potency. The MBC values can then be compared with concentrations attainable in blood and tissues to achieve a basis for considerations as to whether the bactericidal effect can be anticipated in the clinical situation. Also the rate of killing can be assessed thus giving a dynamic picture of drug action. It also helps to confirm the results of synergism obtained by checkerboard studies and helps to determine the potential for the antibiotic combination to demonstrate enhanced bactericidal activity as compared to each of the individual drugs. With the increasing prevalence of Mycobacterial infections, the development of new antimycobacterial agents and strategies for treating Mycobacterial infections is of paramount importance, As drug development is a long and expensive process, it becomes predominant to reexamine drugs that were formerly deemed effective against TB and increase the permeability of the Mycobacterial cell wall. One such drug is Isoxyl (ISO). ISO is an old drug, used for the clinical treatment of TB in 1960’s. The log phase, sometimes called the logarithmic phase, is a period characterized by cell doubling. The number of new bacteria appearing per unit time is proportional to the present population. If growth is not limited, doubling will continue at a constant rate so both the number of cells and the rate of population increase doubles with each consecutive time period. The stationary phase is often due to a growth-limiting factor such as the depletion of an essential nutrient, and/or the formation of an inhibitory product such as an organic acid. In this study we have evaluated bactericidal activity of INH and RF alone and in combination with ISO by time kill kinetic study in vitro against log phase and stationary phase culture against standard strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Synergistic bactericidal effects between ISO & INH and RF& ISO were evident in exponential phase cultures but were absent in the stationery phase cultures. The ability of ISO particularly at their higher concentrations to the increase the bactericidal activity of INH or RF was lost at the culture changed from exponential phase to stationery phase. The result of the present study suggests that ISO could be particularly useful in the first few days of treatment of pulmonary TB, when the majority of the bacterial population is actively multiplying in cavity walls. ISO is expected to have fairly high bactericidal activity at the start of treatment. The low level of bactericidal activity on stationery phase cultures suggest that, though they would still continue to inhibit growth, ISO would not be effective in shortening the duration of treatment. The results shown here with the combined medicament, ISO was in our opinion not unsatisfactory in bactericidal activity.
The neuropil of the periglomerular region of the olfactory bulb.

The periglomerular region of the olfactory bulb, apart from containing the somata and stem dendrites of the cells contributing to the glomeruli, is the sole region of distribution of the periglomerular cell thin dendrites and the short-axon cell dendrites. It is also the major site of termination of all axons to the glomerular layer except the olfactory axons - i.e. tufted cell collaterals, periglomerular cell and short-axon cell axons and centrifugal fibres. Its characteristic neuropil has been studied with the electron microscope to define the cells of origin of the types of neuronal process and their synaptic relationships. Three types of axon terminals have been found: those with spherical, large flattened and small flattened vesicles, which are deduced to derive from tufted cell collaterals or centrifugal fibres, periglomerular cell and short axon-cell axons respectively; those with spherical vesicles are consistently associated with asymmetrical membrane thickenings and those with either type of flattened vesicles with symmetrical thickenings. The thin periglomerular cell dendrites are very irregular and often have a somewhat dense cytoplasm, rich in ribosomes; they may become extended into very attenuated glia-like sheets that surround the mitral or tufted cell stem dendrites, from which they may receive synaptic contacts. Such dendrites also receive some synapses from all 3 types of axon in the periglomerular region. The short-axon cell dendrites are thick and varicose and show no sign of synaptic specialization oriented from them; they have few spines but receive many asymmetrical-type synapses on their shafts. Both axon terminal types synapsing with symmetrical thickenings are also found on the shafts. The evidence obtained from the study of normal material is summarized and the various cellular roles considered. In the light of observations on the olfactory bulb, it is suggested that dendrites may be divided into 2 major classes: those that only receive synapses (Class A) and those that make synaptic contacts as well as receiving them (Class B). Further comparisons with the deep layers of the bulb and physiological implications are discussed.
Self-Checking Fault Detection using Discrepancy Mirrors

A method for robust detection of faults is developed based on pairwise parallel evaluation using Discrepancy Mirror logic. Discrepancy Mirrors provide coverage for the fault detector elements within the same mechanism used for the functional logic under test. The detector logic is self-testing and propagates functional outputs with adherence to a single fault-secure property so that erroneous outputs from any single fault are not propagated. Within the detector, bitwise equality comparisons are employed directly without additional data encoding/decoding schemes to determine the validity of the output. Fault handling is performed using the underlying data throughput so that additional test vectors are not required. The circuit was implemented for a Xilinx Virtex II Pro FPGA platform and fault-secure operation was verified using ModelSim-II for exhaustive stuck-at scenarios. Results indicate fault isolation in a pool of 100,000 resources using an expected value of 17.6 to 64.1 pairings when as little as one half of the inputs applied articulate the fault.
The Representation of Negative Numbers: Exploring the Effects of Mode of Processing and Notation

The representation of negative numbers was explored during intentional processing (i.e., when participants performed a numerical comparison task) and during automatic processing (i.e., when participants performed a physical comparison task). Performance in both cases suggested that negative numbers were not represented as a whole but rather their polarity and numerical magnitudes were represented separately. To explore whether this was due to the fact that polarity and magnitude are marked by two spatially separated symbols, participants were trained to mark polarity by colour. In this case there was still evidence for a separate representation of polarity and magnitude. However, when a different set of stimuli was used to refer to positive and negative numbers, and polarity was not marked separately, participants were able to represent polarity and magnitude together when numerical processing was performed intentionally but not when it was conducted automatically. These results suggest that notation is only partly responsible for the components representation of negative numbers and that the concept of negative numbers can be grasped only through that of positive numbers.
Modulation of 11β‐Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Isozymes by Proinflammatory Cytokines in Osteoblasts: An Autocrine Switch from Glucocorticoid Inactivation to Activation

Tissue damage by proinflammatory cytokines is attenuated at both systemic and cellular levels by counter anti‐inflammatory factors such as corticosteroids. Target cell responses to corticosteroids are dependent on several factors including prereceptor regulation via local steroidogenic enzymes. In particular, two isozymes of 11β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β‐HSD), by interconverting hormonally active cortisol (F) to inactive cortisone (E), regulate the peripheral action of corticosteroids 11β‐HSD1 by converting E to F and 11β‐HSD2 by inactivating F to E. In different in vitro and in vivo systems both 11β‐HSD isozymes have been shown to be expressed in osteoblasts (OBs). Using the MG‐63 human osteosarcoma cell‐line and primary cultures of human OBs, we have studied the regulation of osteoblastic 11β‐HSD isozyme expression and activity by cytokines and hormones with established roles in bone physiology. In MG‐63 cells, interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) potently inhibited 11β‐HSD2 activity (cortisol‐cortisone conversion) and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in a dose‐dependent manner while stimulating reciprocal expression of 11β‐HSD1 mRNA and activity (cortisone‐cortisol conversion). A similar rise in 11β‐HSD1 reductase activity also was observed in primary cultures of OBs treated with 10 ng/ml TNF‐α. Pretreatment of MG‐63 cells with 0.1 ng/ml IL‐1β resulted in increased cellular sensitivity to physiological glucocorticoids as shown by induction of serum and glucocorticoid‐inducible kinase (SGK; relative increase with 50 nM F but no IL‐1β pretreatment 1.12 ± 0.34; with pretreatment 2.63 ± 0.50; p < 0.01). These results highlight a novel mechanism within bone cells whereby inflammatory cytokines cause an autocrine switch in intracellular corticosteroid metabolism by disabling glucocorticoid inactivation (11β‐HSD2) while inducing glucocorticoid activation (11β‐HSD1). Therefore, it can be postulated that some of the effects of proinflammatory cytokines within bone (e.g., periarticular erosions in inflammatory arthritis) are mediated by this mechanism.
Loss of Type I IFN Receptors and Impaired IFN Responsiveness During Terminal Maturation of Monocyte-Derived Human Dendritic Cells1

Type I IFNs are modulators of myeloid dendritic cell (DC) development, survival, and functional activities. Here we monitored the signal transduction pathway underlying type I IFN biological activities during in vitro maturation of human monocyte-derived DCs. IFN-inducible tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT family members was severely impaired upon LPS-induced DC maturation. This correlated with a marked reduction of both type I IFN receptor chains occurring as early as 4 h after LPS treatment. The reduced receptor expression was a post-transcriptional event only partially mediated by ligand-induced internalization/degradation. In fact, although an early and transient production of type I IFNs was observed after LPS treatment, its neutralization was not sufficient to completely rescue IFN receptor expression. Notably, neutralization of LPS-induced, endogenous type I IFNs did not interfere with the acquisition of a fully mature surface phenotype, nor did it have a significant effect on the allostimulatory properties of LPS-stimulated DCs. Overall, these data indicate that DCs strictly modulate their responsiveness to type I IFNs as part of their maturation program, underlining the importance of the IFN system in the regulation of DC physiology.
Increased Protein Stability and Decreased Protein Turnover in the Caenorhabditis elegans Ins/IGF-1 daf-2 Mutant

In Caenorhabditis elegans, cellular proteostasis is likely essential for longevity. Autophagy has been shown to be essential for lifespan extension of daf-2 insulin/IGF mutants. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that daf-2 mutants achieve this phenotype by increasing protein turnover. However, such a mechanism would exert a substantial energy cost. By using classical 35S pulse-chase labeling, we observed that protein synthesis and degradation rates are decreased in young adults of the daf-2 insulin/IGF mutants. Although reduction of protein turnover may be energetically favorable, it may lead to accumulation and aggregation of damaged proteins. As this has been shown not to be the case in daf-2 mutants, another mechanism must exist to maintain proteostasis in this strain. We observed that proteins isolated from daf-2 mutants are more soluble in acidic conditions due to increased levels of trehalose. This suggests that trehalose may decrease the potential for protein aggregation and increases proteostasis in the daf-2 mutants. We postulate that daf-2 mutants save energy by decreasing protein turnover rates and instead stabilize their proteome by trehalose.