Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INCREASED PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AND OBESITY‐RELATED POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS IN MALE PATIENTS WITH MENINGIOMAS

OBJECTIVEThe female preponderance of meningiomas may reflect hormonal influences on meningioma growth. We hypothesized that because obesity affects male steroid hormone synthesis, male patients with meningiomas might exhibit a high obesity rate, which, in turn, might increase their frequency of postoperative complications. METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed male patients who underwent craniotomy for benign meningiomas at our institution between 2001 and 2005 (n = 32) and used male patients undergoing craniotomy for aneurysms (n = 32) or glioblastomas (n = 32) from 2001 to 2005 as control subjects. Body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 kg/m2 was considered obese. RESULTSMale patients with meningiomas had a higher average BMI (30.2 kg/m2) than male patients with aneurysms (BMI = 27.5 kg/m2) or gliomas (BMI = 25.9 kg/m2) (P = 0.04). The obesity rate in men with meningiomas (47%) exceeded that in men with aneurysms (19%) or gliomas (3%) (P = 0.2). The median age-normalized BMI percentile was greater in men with meningiomas (67th percentile) than in men with aneurysms (49th percentile) or gliomas (52nd percentile) (P = 0.02). Deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolus was more common in men with meningiomas (19%) than in men with aneurysms (0%) or gliomas (3%) (P = 0.002). Wound infections were more common in men with meningiomas (6%) than in men with aneurysms (3%) or gliomas (0%) (P = 0.2). The 53% of obese patients with meningiomas who were readmitted with postoperative complications exceeded the 18% of nonobese patients with meningiomas who were readmitted (P = 0.03); complications included deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolus (27 and 12%, respectively, in obese and nonobese patients with meningiomas) and postoperative fever (53 and 35%, respectively, in obese and nonobese patients with meningiomas). CONCLUSIONWe found that many men with meningiomas are obese, suggesting a hormonal influence on meningiomas in men as well as women. Our results also underscore the high risk of postoperative complications in obese male patients with meningiomas.
Presynaptic Kainate Receptor Activation Preserves Asynchronous GABA Release Despite the Reduction in Synchronous Release from Hippocampal Cholecystokinin Interneurons

Inhibitory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus in mediated by a wide variety of different interneuron classes which are assumed to play different roles in network activity. Activation of presynaptic kainate receptors (KARs) has been shown to reduce inhibitory transmission but the interneuron class(es) at which they act is only recently beginning to emerge. Using paired recordings we show that KAR activation causes a decrease in presynaptic release from cholecystokinin (CCK)- but not parvalbumin-containing interneurons and that this decrease is observed when pyramidal cells, but not interneurons, are the postsynaptic target. We also show that although the synchronous release component is reduced, the barrage of asynchronous GABA release from CCK interneurons during sustained firing is unaffected by KAR activation. This indicates that presynaptic KARs preserve and act in concert with asynchronous release to switch CCK interneurons from a phasic inhibition mode to produce prolonged inhibition during periods of intense activity.
A pilot proteomic study of amyloid precursor interactors in Alzheimer's disease

Several approaches have been used in an effort to identify proteins that interact with β‐amyloid precursor protein (APP). However, few studies have addressed the identification of proteins associated with APP in brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer's disease. We report the results of a pilot proteomic study performed on complexes immunoprecipitated with APP in brain samples of patients with Alzheimer's disease and normal control subjects. The 21 proteins identified could be grouped into five functional classes: molecular chaperones, cytoskeletal and structural proteins, proteins involved in trafficking, adaptors, and enzymes. Among the proteins identified, six had been reported previously as direct, indirect, or genetically inferred APP interactors. The other 15 proteins immunoprecipitated with APP were novel potential partners. We confirmed the APP interaction by Western blotting and coimmunolocalization in brain tissues, for 5 of the 21 interactors. In agreement with previous studies, our results are compatible with an involvement of APP in axonal transport and vesicular trafficking, and with a potential association of APP with cellular protein folding/protein degradation systems. Ann Neurol 2005;58:277–289
Cancer Related Fatigue and Quality of Life in Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy

Cancer related fatigue (CRF) is a common and debilitating symptom that can influence quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients. The increase in survival times stresses for a better understanding of how CRF affects patients' QoL. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study with 148 randomly recruited prostate cancer patients aiming to explore CRF and its impact on QoL. Assessments included the Cancer Fatigue Scale, EORTC QLQ-C30, and EORTC QLQ-PR25. Additionally, 15 in-depth structured interviews were performed. Quantitative data were analyzed with simple and multiple regression analysis and independent samples t-test. Qualitative data were analyzed with the use of thematic content analysis. The 66.9% of the patients experienced CRF with higher levels being recorded for the affective subscale. Statistically significant differences were found between the patients reporting CRF and lower levels of QoL (mean = 49.1) and those that did not report fatigue and had higher levels of QoL (mean = 72.1). The interviews emphasized CRF's profound impact on the patients' lives that was reflected on the following themes: “dependency on others,” “loss of power over decision making,” and “daily living disruption. ” Cancer related fatigue is a significant problem for patients with advanced prostate cancer and one that affects their QoL in various ways.
Handling Uncertainty in Geo-Spatial Data

An inherent challenge arising in any dataset containing information of space and/or time is uncertainty due to various sources of imprecision. Integrating the impact of the uncertainty is a paramount when estimating the reliability (confidence) of any query result from the underlying input data. To deal with uncertainty, solutions have been proposed independently in the geo-science and the data-science research community. This interdisciplinary tutorial bridges the gap between the two communities by providing a comprehensive overview of the different challenges involved in dealing with uncertain geo-spatial data, by surveying solutions from both research communities, and by identifying similarities, synergies and open research problems.
Rigidity of area minimizing tori in 3-manifolds of nonnegative scalar curvature

The following version of a conjecture of Fischer-Colbrie and Schoen is proved: If M is a complete Riemannian 3-manifold with nonnegative scalar curvature which contains a two-sided torus S which is of least area in its isotopy class then M is flat. This follows from a local version derived in the paper.
Initial abstraction ratio and Curve Number estimation using rainfall and runoff data from a tropical watershed

ABSTRACT The Curve Number (CN) method is extensively used for predict surface runoff from storm events. However, remain some uncertainties in the method, such as in the use of an initial abstraction (λ) standard value of 0.2 and on the choice of the most suitable CN values. Here, we compute λ and CN values using rainfall and runoff data to a rural basin located in Midwestern Brazil. We used 30 observed rainfall-runoff events with rainfall depth greater than 25 mm to derive associated CN values using five statistical methods. We noted λ values ranging from 0.005 to 0.455, with a median of 0.045, suggesting the use of λ = 0.05 instead of 0.2. We found a S0.2 to S0.05 conversion factor of 2.865. We also found negative values of Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (to the estimated and observed runoff). Therefore, our findings indicated that the CN method was not suitable to estimate runoff in the studied basin. This poor performance suggests that the runoff mechanisms in the studied area are dominated by subsurface stormflow.
Sampling contingency tables

We give polynomial time algorithms for random sampling from a set of contingency tables, which is the set of m×n matrices with given row and column sums, provided the row and column sums are sufficiently large with respect to m, n. We use this to approximately count the number of such matrices. These problems are of interest in Statistics and Combinatorics. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg. ,10, 487–506, 1997
SMA observations of young disks: separating envelope, disk, and stellar masses in class I YSOs

Context. Young stars are born with envelopes, which in the early stages obscure the central (proto)star and circumstellar disk. In the Class I stage, the disks are still young, but the envelopes are largely dispersed. This makes the Class I sources ideal targets for studies of the early stages of disks. Aims. We aim to determine the masses of the envelopes, disks, and central stars of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Class I stage. Methods. We observed the embedded Class I objects IRS 63 and Elias 29 in the ρ Ophiuchi star-forming region with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 1.1 mm. Results. IRS 63 and Elias 29 are both clearly detected in the continuum, with peak fluxes of 459 and 47 mJy/beam, respectively. The continuum emission toward Elias 29 is clearly resolved, whereas IRS 63 is consistent with a point source down to a scale of 3 ��
Identification of Compound Heterozygous Mutation in a Korean Patient with Alpha 1-antitrypsin Deficiency

Alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is a genetic disorder that primarily affects the lungs and liver. While AAT deficiency is one of the most common genetic disorders in the Caucasian population, it is extremely rare in Asians. Here, we report the case of a 36-year-old Korean woman with AAT deficiency who visited the emergency department of our hospital for the treatment of progressive dyspnea that had begun 10 years ago. She had never smoked. Chest computed tomography revealed panlobular emphysema in both lungs, which suggested AAT deficiency. The serum AAT level was 33 mg/dL (reference interval: 90-200 mg/dL). Four exons of the SERPINA1 gene, which is responsible for AAT deficiency, and their flanking regions were analyzed by PCR-direct sequencing. The patient was found to have 1 missense mutation (c.230C>T, p.Ser77Phe; Siiyama) and 1 frameshift mutation (c.1158dupC, p.Glu387ArgfsX14; QOclayton). This is the first Korean case of AAT deficiency confirmed by genetic analysis and the second case of a compound heterozygote of Siiyama and QOclayton, the first case of which was reported from Japan.
Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinogenesis.

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori causes chronic persistent gastritis in virtually all infected subjects, leading to development of atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia and eventually dysplasia and gastric cancer in a number of infected subjects. Based on the available evidence, an IARC monograph committee classified H. pylori as a class I carcinogen to humans. Prospective studies suggest that infection increases the risk for atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer at least 8-fold. In the presence of infection, the risk for atrophy and cancer seems higher if a subject becomes infected in early childhood, if infection occurs with a cagA positive strain, and if acid output is decreased. CONCLUSION H.pylori is a gastric carcinogen. The clinical implications and possible strategies for cancer prevention have to be delineated in the near future.
Evaluation of Green Supply Chain Management Strategies Using Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS

This paper presents a new decision making approach for group multi-criteria evaluation for green supply chain management strategies, which clubs green procurement , manufacturing , green service to customer and environmental management process with order allocation for dynamic supply chains to cope market variations. More specifically, the developed approach imitates the knowledge acquisition and manipulation in a manner similar to the decision makers who have gathered considerable knowledge and expertise in procurement domain. Fuzzy-AHP method is used first for evaluation of GSCM strategies and weights are defined which are qualitatively meaningful. Thereafter, using fuzzy TOPSIS method, the criteria application is quantitatively evaluated for order allocation among the selected strategies . As a result, the approach generates decision-making knowledge, and thereafter, the developed combination of rules for order allocation can easily be interpreted, adopted and at the same time if necessary, modified by decision makers. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach, an illustrative example is presented and the results analyzed.
Polarimetric Radar Rain Estimation through Retrieval of Drop Size Distribution Using a Bayesian Approach

Abstract This study proposes a Bayesian approach to retrieve raindrop size distributions (DSDs) and to estimate rainfall rates from radar reflectivity in horizontal polarization ZH and differential reflectivity ZDR. With this approach, the authors apply a constrained-gamma model with an updated constraining relation to retrieve DSD parameters. Long-term DSD measurements made in central Oklahoma by the two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) are first used to construct a prior probability density function (PDF) of DSD parameters, which are estimated using truncated gamma fits to the second, fourth, and sixth moments of the distributions. The forward models of ZH and ZDR are then developed based on a T-matrix calculation of raindrop backscattering amplitude with the assumption of drop shape. The conditional PDF of ZH and ZDR is assumed to be a bivariate normal function with appropriate standard deviations. The Bayesian algorithm has a good performance according to the evaluation with simulated ZH and ZDR.
Evaluation of radar multiple scattering effects in Cloudsat configuration

MonteCarlo simulations have been performed to evaluate the importance of multiple scattering effects in co- and cross-polar radar returns for 94 GHz radars in Cloudsat and airborne configurations. Thousands of vertically struc- tured profiles derived from some different cloud resolving models are used as a test-bed. Mie theory is used to de- rive the single scattering properties of the atmospheric hy- drometeors. Multiple scattering effects in the co-polar chan- nel (reflectivity enhancement) are particularly elusive, espe- cially in airborne configuration. They can be quite consis- tent in satellite configurations, like CloudSat, especially in regions of high attenuation and in the presence of highly forward scattering layers associated with snow and graupel particles. When the cross polar returns are analysed (but note that CloudSat does not measure any linear depolariza- tion ratio (LDR hereafter)), high LDR values appear both in space and in airborne configurations. The LDR signatures are footprints of multiple scattering effects; although depo- larization values as high as 5 dB can be generated including non-spherical particles in single scattering modelling, multi- ple scattering computations can produce values close to com- plete depolarization (i.e. LDR=0 dB). Our simulated LDR profiles from an air-borne platform well reproduce, in a sim- ple frame, some experimental observations collected during the Wakasa Bay experiment. SinceLDR instrumental uncer- tainties were not positively accounted for during that exper- iment, more focused campaigns with air-borne polarimetric radar are recommended. Multiple scattering effects can be important for CloudSat applications like rainfall and snow- fall retrievals since single scattering based algorithms will be otherwise burdened by positive biases.
Aberrantly expressed mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs in patients with invasive ductal breast carcinoma: A pilot study

Invasive ductal breast carcinoma (IDBC) is the most prevalent type of invasive breast cancer in females; however, the pathogenesis of IDBC remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the identification of novel markers may enhance current understanding of the initiation and development of IDBC as well as elucidate potential therapeutic targets for effective treatment of IDBC. In the present study, a pilot study was conducted to screen for potential mRNAs and long non-coding (lnc)RNAs that exhibit aberrantly altered expression in patients with IDBC. Fresh breast cancer specimens and normal breast tissues were obtained from three female patients with IDBC aged ≥60 years following a modified radical mastectomy without chemotherapy. Expression levels of 44,244 probes were detected and included in the analysis, of which 22,078 (49.9%) were mRNAs and 22,166 (50.1%) were lncRNAs. Potential marker screening was performed using paired t-tests (criterion 1), false discovery rates (FDR; criterion 2) and sure independence screening procedures based on distance correlations (DC-SIS; criterion 3). The results showed that in IDBC tissues 3,510 probes had a ≥2-fold statistically significant change in expression levels compared to those in the corresponding normal breast tissue (P<0.05); in addition, following FDR analysis, 353 probes were found to have significantly altered expression levels. Furthermore, DC-SIS analysis identified 18 probes (12 mRNA and 6 lncRNAs) with significantly altered expression levels in IDBC tissue; these 18 probes therefore demonstrated significant results in all three criteria. Several of the mRNAs identified have been previously reported to be involved in signal transduction, protein binding, and cancer pathways, and the present study revealed that the majority of their gene products were located in the cytoplasm. Two of the six identified lncRNAs demonstrated a >10-fold decrease in expression levels in IDBC tissues compared to that in the normal breast tissue. However, further studies are required in order to elucidate the biological functions of the identified probes.
Few-layer graphene sheets with embedded gold nanoparticles for electrochemical analysis of adenine

This work describes the synthesis of few-layer graphene sheets embedded with various amounts of gold nanoparticles (Gr-Au-x) over an Aux/MgO catalytic system (where × = 1, 2, or 3 wt%). The sheet-like morphology of the Gr-Au-x nanostructures was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy, which also demonstrated that the number of layers within the sheets varied from two to seven. The sample with the highest percentage of gold nanoparticles embedded within the graphitic layers (Gr-Au-3) showed the highest degree of crystallinity. This distinct feature, along with the large number of edge-planes seen in high resolution transmission electron microscopic images, has a crucial effect on the electrocatalytic properties of this material. The reaction yields (40%–50%) and the final purity (96%–98%) of the Gr-Au-x composites were obtained by thermogravimetric analysis. The Gr-Au-x composites were used to modify platinum substrates and subsequently to detect adenine, one of the DNA bases. For the bare electrode, no oxidation signal was recorded. In contrast, all of the modified electrodes showed a strong electrocatalytic effect, and a clear peak for adenine oxidation was recorded at approximately +1.05 V. The highest increase in the electrochemical signal was obtained using a platinum/Gr-Au-3-modified electrode. In addition, this modified electrode had an exchange current density (I0, obtained from the Tafel plot) one order of magnitude higher than that of the bare platinum electrode, which also confirmed that the transfer of electrons took place more readily at the Gr-Au-3-modified electrode.
Linear Interference Alignment in Full-Duplex MIMO Networks With Imperfect CSI

In this paper, we consider a system where full-duplex (FD) base-stations (BSs) communicate with half-duplex (HD) downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) users in a multi-user multi-cell network, where all nodes are equipped with multiple antennas. The introduction of FD BSs offers potential to increase spectral efficiency, however, it also causes a surge in the number of interference links compared with the HD network counterpart. Here, we apply linear interference alignment (IA) to manage interference in this network under imperfect channel state information (CSI). First, we characterize the performance losses incurred with respect to the achievable sum rate and degrees of freedom (DoFs). Results show that the general trend in performance loss is mainly determined by how the error scales with the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In particular, full UL and DL DoF can be achieved even under imperfect CSI when the channel error is at least inversely proportional to SNR. Moreover, in such cases the sum rate loss is always finite, and either goes to zero or is upper bounded by a derived value. Second, we design two linear IA algorithms applicable to the system under consideration. These are based on minimizing the mean square error (MMSE) and maximizing the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, and consider statistical knowledge of the CSI error for added robustness. The proposed algorithms follow specific design principles that distribute the different interference components amongst the various beamformers and result in unitary receivers and precoders. In addition, we show that under certain conditions both designs result in identical beamforming solutions, even though the MMSE algorithm has lower computational complexity. Finally, we also derive the proper condition for IA feasibility in the multi-cell system under consideration.
Theratope® vaccine (STn-KLH)

Active specific immunotherapy (ASI) is a promising approach to treating cancer. Numerous studies in the laboratory have demonstrated that various cancer vaccines can stimulate antibody and cell mediated immune responses against tumour-associated antigens [1-9]. Yet few studies have demonstrated convincing clinical responses. Sialyl-Tn (STn) is a carbohydrate associated with the MUC1 mucin on a number of human cancer cells and is associated with more aggressive disease. Consequently, STn is an ideal candidate for ASI therapy. Theratope® vaccine is a cancer vaccine that was designed by Biomira, Inc. (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) by incorporating a synthetic STn antigen that emulates the carbohydrate seen on human tumours. The clinical trials conducted to date with Theratope® vaccine are outlined in this report. Overall, Theratope® vaccine has been well-tolerated with minimal toxicity. The most common side effects have been induration and erythema at the site of injections. Both in a non-transplant setting following low dose iv. cyclophosphamide and high dose autologous transplant setting, there has been a trend toward Theratope® vaccine decreasing the risk for relapse, prolonging the time to relapse and thus impacting on overall survival. The definitive Phase III trial comparing the outcome of patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving vaccinations with Theratope® vaccine versus vaccination with the nonspecific immune stimulants Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) and Detox™-B stable emulsion (Detox-B) (now called Enhanzyn™ Immunostimulant) was closed to enrolment on March 30, 2001. Over 1000 women with distant metastatic breast cancer were enrolled into the program.