Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase I trial and pharmacokinetics of fenretinide in children with neuroblastoma.

PURPOSE Fenretinide (4HPR), a synthetic retinoid, induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells. A Phase I study in children with neuroblastoma was designed to determine maximum tolerated dose, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Fifty-four patients received oral 4HPR, once daily, for 28 days, followed by a 7-day interruption, for up to 6 courses. The starting dose was 100 mg/m(2)/day. At least 3 patients were entered at each escalating 4HPR dose level. Pharmacokinetic sampling was performed on days 1 and 28 of the first course. RESULTS Fifty-four patients, of whom 53 were evaluable, received doses between 100 and 4000 mg/m(2)/day for a total of 168 courses. Additional dose escalation was precluded by capsule number intake. A total of 34 of 53 evaluable patients showed manageable, reversible toxicities, which were not dose related. One dose-limiting toxicity (nyctalopia grade 3) occurred after the 1000 mg/m(2)/day dose. Twelve patients showed grade 2 toxicity: skin xerosis (6 cases); nyctalopia (3 cases); hepatic toxicity (1 case); diarrhea (1 case); and headache (1 case). Stable disease was observed in 41 patients for a median period of 23 months (range 2-35+). After first administration, average 4HPR peak plasma levels ranged from 0.6 to 6 micro M (after 100 and 4000 mg/m(2)/day, respectively) and increased 2-fold (to 1.3 and 12.9 micro M, respectively) after the 28-day treatment. 4HPR half-life increased from 17 h after the first administration to 25 h after the 28(th) administration. Incidence of grade 2-3 toxicity was 0 of 12 (0%), 7 of 22 (31%), and 4 of 8 (50%) with peak 4HPR concentrations <3 micro M, 3-10 micro M, and >10 micro M, respectively. After repeated treatment, retinol levels decreased from 20 to 10% of pretreatment levels after all of the doses. CONCLUSIONS In children, 4HPR administration up to 4000 mg/m(2)/day over 28 days, followed by a 7-day interruption, results in manageable toxicity and in drug plasma concentrations comparable with those that induce apoptosis in neuroblastoma cell lines.
The Big Five Personality Traits in the Political Arena

Recent political science research on the effects of core personality traits—the Big Five—contributes to our understanding of how people interact with their political environments. This research examines how individual-level variations in broad, stable psychological characteristics affect individual-level political outcomes. In this article, we review recent work that uses the Big Five to predict political attitudes and behavior. We also replicate some of these analyses using new data to examine the possibility that prior findings stem from sampling error or unique political contexts. Finally, we discuss several of the challenges faced by scholars who are currently pursuing or are interested in pursuing this line of inquiry. These challenges include refining theoretical explanations of how the Big Five shape political outcomes, addressing important measurement concerns, and resolving inconsistencies across studies.
A New Method to Estimate Risk and Return of Nontraded Assets from Cash Flows: The Case of Private Equity Funds

Abstract We develop a new methodology to estimate abnormal performance and risk exposure of nontraded assets from cash flows. Our methodology extends the standard internal rate of return approach to a dynamic setting. The small-sample properties are validated using a simulation study. We apply the method to a sample of 958 private equity funds. For venture capital funds, we find a high market beta and underperformance before and after fees. For buyout funds, we find a relatively low market beta and no evidence for outperformance. We find that self-reported net asset values significantly overstate fund values for mature and inactive funds.
Neural correlates of cognitive aging during the perception of facial age: the role of relatively distant and local texture information

Previous event-related potential (ERP) research revealed that older relative to younger adults show reduced inversion effects in the N170 (with more negative amplitudes for inverted than upright faces), suggestive of impairments in face perception. However, as these studies used young to middle-aged faces only, this finding may reflect preferential processing of own- relative to other-age faces rather than age-related decline. We conducted an ERP study in which young and older participants categorized young and old upright or inverted faces by age. Stimuli were presented either unfiltered or low-pass filtered at 30, 20, or 10 cycles per image (CPI). Response times revealed larger inversion effects, with slower responses for inverted faces, for young faces in young participants. Older participants did not show a corresponding effect. ERPs yielded a trend toward reduced N170 inversion effects in older relative to younger adults independent of face age. Moreover, larger inversion effects for young relative to old faces were detected, and filtering resulted in smaller N170 amplitudes. The reduced N170 inversion effect in older adults may reflect age-related changes in neural correlates of face perception. A smaller N170 inversion effect for old faces may indicate that facial changes with age hamper early face perception stages.
Student Perceptions of and Experiences With a PLA Course and Portfolio Review

Abstract Prior learning assessment (PLA) is the process whereby a student's outside-of-the-classroom learning is evaluated for college-level credit. PLA has been gaining momentum across the United States as part of the efforts to improve institutional completion rates for adult learners. In the present article, we provide an overview of the PLA portfolio review process at a large public U.S. institution and the use of an online or hybrid course to assist students in developing their portfolio for review. We also present the results of a survey examining the perceptions and experiences of the students who completed the PLA portfolio course. We conclude by discussing students' perceived gains from the PLA portfolio course and implications for PLA courses offered by other institutions.
A Learning Automata-Based Technique for Training Bayesian Networks

One of the most important challenges of Bayesian networks is training an optimal network based on existing training samples. We propose two Learning Automata-based methods for training parameters and structure of the network. Parameter training method is an incremental method which performs training and testing simultaneously and has lower computational cost than enumerative or search based parameter training methods. The structure training method uses a guided search scheme and avoids getting stuck in local maxima. This outputs a network that improves classification accuracy. We could also use both these methods together to train the network. Results indicated that this combinational method further improved classification accuracy while still kept computational cost rational.
Improved differential evolution for hydrothermal power systems

This paper develops an improved differential evolution based multi-objective approach for the optimal economic emission dispatch (EED) of the hydrothermal power system (HPS), considering non-smooth fuel cost and emission level functions. The improved differential evolution (IDE) equipped with an accelerated operation and a migration operation can efficiently search and actively explore solutions. The multiplier updating (MU) is introduced to handle the equality and inequality constraints of the HPS, and the ε-constraint technique is employed to manage the multi-objective problem. To show the advantages of the proposed algorithm, one example addressing the best compromise is applied to test EED problem of the HPS. The proposed approach integrates the IDE, the MU and the ε-constraint technique, revealing that the proposed approach has the following merits — ease of implementation; applicability to non-smooth fuel cost and emission level functions; better effectiveness than the previous method; better efficiency than differential evolution with the MU (DE-MU), and the requirement for only a small population in applying the optimal EED problem of the HPS.
Energy metabolism in sedentary and active 49- to 70-yr-old women.

This study examined differences between long-term exercising (LE) and long-term nonexercising (LNE) women [n = 24; age 56.4 +/- 6.2 (SD) yr] for resting metabolic rate (RMR) and energy expenditure in the free-living state by using doubly labeled water (DLW). There was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.0002) between the 12 LE (94.85 +/- 8.44 kJ . kg-1 . day-1) and 12 LNE (81.16 +/- 6.62 kJ . kg-1 . day-1) for RMR, but this difference was only marginally significant (P = 0.06) when the data (MJ/day) were subjected to an analysis of covariance with fat-free mass as the covariate. The DLW data indicated that the eight most active LE (12.99 +/- 3.58 MJ/day) expended significantly (P = 0.01) more energy than did the eight least active LNE (9.30 +/- 1.15 MJ/day). Energy expenditures ranged from 7.64 to 18.15 MJ/day, but there was no difference (P = 0.96) between the LE and LNE in energy expenditure during activity that was not designed to either improve or maintain fitness. These cross-sectional data on 49- to 70-yr-old women therefore suggest that 1) aerobic-type training results in a greater RMR per unit of body mass and also when statistical control is exerted for the effect of the metabolically active fat-free mass, 2) there is a large range in the energy intake necessary to maintain energy balance, and 3) aerobic training does not result in a compensatory reduction in energy expenditure during the remainder of the day.
Can a voluntary web survey be useful beyond explorative research?

ABSTRACT In this paper, we compare the estimates of earnings determinants based on the non-probabilistic WageIndicator web survey with those based on the widely used, representative EU Study of Income and Living Conditions survey. Using 10 years of Dutch data, we show that there exists an established segment of predominantly junior workers from which the respondents of the WageIndicator survey are disproportionally drawn. In consequence, the composition of WageIndicator sample tends to retain key characteristics over the years, even though it lacks a probabilistic sampling frame. We show that the estimates produced on the basis of an extended Mincerian earnings model using the two data sources are qualitatively similar. In line with much of the literature, however, the two sets of estimates do not pass the formal statistical test of equality. Nonetheless, when we examine only the subsample of junior workers, the statistical testing does not detect a statistically significant difference between the two datasets in many instances. To our knowledge, ours is the first paper showing such statistical evidence for comparability of a web survey based with a widely used representative data source.
A development of Portable Voice Based Device (PVBD) for stock identifications

In a common method, user needs to refer an id number or label on the storage in order to identify the stock detail. The stocks that have been seal in a box or other storage will facing a problem to identify the items inside that storage, The purpose of this study was planned to develop a Portable Voice Based Device (PVBD) for stock identifications. PVBD is a compact wireless technology tool which can help the user in efforts to accelerate identification of objects. This device can be assist and facilitate the user to identify a stock that has been seal in the box or other storage. PVBD equipped with built-in audio system so that users can record the stock information using their voice through a microphone and speaker. The recordable voice that contains the stock information can be saving on an additional memory card. The experimental test has been conducted was aim to determine the maximum detection length between the reader and the tag. From the test, it can be concluded that the ideal length for user hold the PVBD to scan the tag on the stock was from 0 to 8.8cm.
Synchronous primary cancers of the thyroid and breast: A case report and review of the literature

The current report presents the case of a 41-year-old female exhibiting synchronous primary cancers of the thyroid and breast. Pathological examination of a tissue sample following biopsy identified papillary carcinoma of the thyroid and invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast to provide a definitive diagnosis of synchronous primary tumors. The patient underwent a modified radical mastectomy and total thyroidectomy. Following regular adjuvant chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (800 mg), doxorubicin (100 mg) and paclitaxel (120 mg), once every three weeks for 3.5 months, oral levothyroxine and endocrinotherapy was recommended. Two years after the initial diagnosis, the patient was healthy with no disease recurrence. To the best of our knowledge, no association has been identified between the etiology and diagnoses of the two synchronous primary tumors. Thus, the aim of the current report was to improve the understanding of synchronous primary tumors of the thyroid and breast by presenting a review of the associated literature regarding breast and thyroid cancer. The mechanisms of synchronous neoplasms have only recently been elucidated, however, misdiagnosis is common. Clinicians are, therefore, advised to carefully examine patients with thyroid or breast cancer to avoid an incorrect or misdiagnosis. Furthermore, the present report aims to provide a reference for the cancer database, since the majority of analyses of rare diseases are derived from case reports. To improve the understanding of synchronous primary cancers of the thyroid and breast, an analysis of recent studies regarding the underlying mechanisms of synchronous primary cancers was also undertaken.
Celluloid love : audiences and representations of romantic love in late capitalism

My doctoral research analyses contemporary North American romantic films and the meanings brought to and made from them by socially and economically diverse audiences in London. It does so in the context of a historicised and ideologically alert account of connections between biological, psychoanalytic, anthropological and sociological theorisations of romantic love and its screen depictions. In particular, my audience-led textual analysis of discourses of Euro-American romantic love is driven by an engagement with three claims: First, that neoliberal or late-capitalist individualism has engendered a ‘crisis of romantic love’ which has reshaped the social and personal promises of coupledom and intimacy. Second, that popular film, the prime contemporary medium of representation for romance, cynically portrays this supposed crisis in an effort to capitalise on audience fears; and third, that audiences of these films experience the ‘crisis’, fashioning their romantic identities and practices in its shadow. Methodologically, the study involved a reflexive and recursive textual analysis of five North American films: Blue Valentine, (500) Days of Summer, Don Jon, Her, and Once. Using these films, I carried out 36 group interviews with (87) inhabitants of the multicultural Borough of Hackney, in East London, the results of which then fed into and informed my readings of the films. Subsequent thematic coding of group interviews revealed overlapping areas pertinent to the project: Technology, class, gender and coupledom. Findings include the suggestion that both romantic films and their audiences in Western Europe are currently adapting strategies, practices and ideas of romantic love and relationships to a new environment of precarious intimacy, technological mediation, and anxiety over economic, professional and personal stability. My analysis concludes that while intersections of class, race and gender continue to inflect audience experience and meaning-making, the current romantic environment that audiences are navigating - and that romantic films purportedly represent - is indeed markedly different from that of the last century. However, claims about the crisis of romantic love are not only greatly exaggerated, but usually also erroneously conflate the pain, anxiety and frailty of contemporary relationships and intimacy with a narcissistic, ego-centric definition of love as a form of consumption.
The Employment Cost of Sovereign Default

This paper analyzes the interaction between government default decisions and labor market outcomes in an environment with persistent unemployment and financial frictions. Sovereign risk impairs bank intermediation through balance sheet effects, worsening the conditions for firms to pre-finance wages and vacancies. This generates a new type of endogenous domestic default cost -- the employment cost of default. The persistence of unemployment produces serial defaults and rationalizes high debt-to-GDP ratios. In the dynamic strategic game between the government and the private sector, anticipation effects allow the study of debt crises in addition to outright default episodes. Introducing employment subsidies and bank regulations affect the government's ability to commit to debt repayment.
Supramodal Representations of Perceived Emotions in the Human Brain

Basic emotional states (such as anger, fear, and joy) can be similarly conveyed by the face, the body, and the voice. Are there human brain regions that represent these emotional mental states regardless of the sensory cues from which they are perceived? To address this question, in the present study participants evaluated the intensity of emotions perceived from face movements, body movements, or vocal intonations, while their brain activity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using multivoxel pattern analysis, we compared the similarity of response patterns across modalities to test for brain regions in which emotion-specific patterns in one modality (e.g., faces) could predict emotion-specific patterns in another modality (e.g., bodies). A whole-brain searchlight analysis revealed modality-independent but emotion category-specific activity patterns in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and left superior temporal sulcus (STS). Multivoxel patterns in these regions contained information about the category of the perceived emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness) across all modality comparisons (face–body, face–voice, body–voice), and independently of the perceived intensity of the emotions. No systematic emotion-related differences were observed in the overall amplitude of activation in MPFC or STS. These results reveal supramodal representations of emotions in high-level brain areas previously implicated in affective processing, mental state attribution, and theory-of-mind. We suggest that MPFC and STS represent perceived emotions at an abstract, modality-independent level, and thus play a key role in the understanding and categorization of others' emotional mental states.
Evaluation in practice: artifact-based requirements engineering and scenarios in smart mobility domains

Context: In the context of the research and development project ARAMiS, multiple partners from research and industry are collaborating in the development of new methods and technologies in the field of multicore systems. Goal: We designed and executed studies for evaluating the results of the ARAMiS sub-project responsible for requirements engineering: an artifact-based requirements engineering approach, its tooling, and a cross-domain scenario. Method: This evaluation was performed along with the dissemination of the results in the project. The evaluation included two studies aimed at collecting the opinions of the project participants regarding the requirements engineering results from the viewpoints of industry and research. Results: The mainly positive results showed us that the different parts of the requirements engineering approach in this project are being accepted. Conclusions: Nonetheless, especially the results for the scenario revealed some weaknesses, such as the so-called "ARAMiS gap", i.e., a gap between the high-level requirements engineering artifacts and the detailed engineering artifacts.
Genome-wide Association Study Identiﬁes New Loci for Resistance to Leptosphaeria maculans in Canola

Key message “We identiﬁed both quantitative and quantitative resistance loci to Leptosphaeria maculans , a fungal pathogen, causing blackleg disease in canola. Several genome-wide signiﬁcant associations were detected at known and new loci for blackleg resistance. We further validated statistically signiﬁcant associations in four genetic mapping populations, demonstrating that GWAS marker loci are indeed associated with resistance to L. maculans. One of the novel loci identiﬁed for the ﬁrst time, Rlm12, conveys adult plant resistance in canola. ” Blackleg, caused by Leptosphaeria maculans, is a signiﬁcant disease which affects the sustainable production of canola ( Brassica napus ). This study reports a genome-wide association study based on 18,804 polymorphic SNPs to identify loci associated with qualitative and quantitative resistance to L. maculans . Genomic regions delimited with 694 signiﬁcant SNP markers, that are associated with resistance evaluated using 12 single spore isolates and pathotypes from four canola stubble were identiﬁed. Several signiﬁcant associations were detected at known disease resistance loci including in the vicinity of recently cloned Rlm2 / LepR3 genes, and at new loci on chromosomes A01/C01, A02/C02, A03/C03, A05/C05, A06, A08, and A09. In addition, we validated statistically signiﬁcant associations on A01, A07, and A10 in four genetic mapping populations, demonstrating that GWAS marker loci are indeed associated with resistance to L. maculans . One of the novel loci identiﬁed for the ﬁrst time, Rlm12, conveys adult plant resistance and mapped within 13.2 kb from Arabidopsis R gene of TIR-NBS class. We showed that resistance loci are located in the vicinity of R genes of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus on the sequenced genome of B. napus cv. Darmor- bzh . Signiﬁcantly associated SNP markers provide a valuable tool to enrich germplasm for favorable alleles in order to improve the level of resistance to L. maculans in canola.
Attention-Like Modulation of Hippocampus Place Cell Discharge

Hippocampus place cell discharge is an important model system for understanding cognition, but evidence is missing that the place code is under the kind of dynamic attentional control characterized in primates as selective activation of one neural representation and suppression of another, competing representation. We investigated the apparent noise (“overdispersion”) in the CA1 place code, hypothesizing that overdispersion results from discharge fluctuations as spatial attention alternates between distal cues and local/self-motion cues. The hypothesis predicts that: (1) preferential use of distal cues will decrease overdispersion; (2) global, attention-like states can be decoded from ensemble discharge such that both the discharge rates and the spatial firing patterns of individual cells will be distinct in the two states; (3) identifying attention-like states improves reconstructions of the rat's path from ensemble discharge. These predictions were confirmed, implying that a covert, dynamic attention-like process modulates discharge on a ∼1 s time scale. We conclude the hippocampus place code is a dynamic representation of the spatial information in the immediate focus of attention.