Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors and survival of synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis of colorectal origin: A population‐based study

The aim of our study was to provide population‐based data on incidence and prognosis of synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis and to evaluate predictors for its development. Diagnosed in 1995–2008, 18,738 cases of primary colorectal cancer were included. Predictors of peritoneal carcinomatosis were analysed by multivariable logistic regression analysis. Median survival in months was calculated by site of metastasis. In the study period, 904 patients were diagnosed with synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis (4.8% of total, constituting 24% of patients presenting with M1 disease). The risk of peritoneal carcinomatosis was increased in case of advanced T stage [T4 vs. T1,2: odds ratio (OR) 4.7, confidence limits 4.0–5.6), advanced N stage [N0 vs. N1,2: OR 0.2 (0.1–0.2)], poor differentiation grade [OR 2.1 (1.8–2.5)], younger age [<60 years vs. 70–79 years: OR 1.4 (1.1–1.7)], mucinous adenocarcinoma [OR 2.0 (1.6–2.4)] and right‐sided localisation of primary tumour [left vs. right: OR 0.6 (0.5–0.7)]. Median survival of patients with peritoneum as single site of metastasis remained dismal [1995–2001: 7 (6–9) months; 2002–2008: 8 (6–11) months], contrasting the improvement among patients with liver metastases [1995–2001: 8 (7–9) months; 2002–2008: 12 (11–14) months]. To conclude, synchronous peritoneal metastases from colorectal cancer are more frequent among younger patients and among patients with advanced T stage, mucinous adenocarcinoma, right‐sided tumours and tumours that are poorly differentiated. The prognosis of synchronous peritoneal carcinomatosis remains poor with a median survival of 8 months and even worse if concomitant metastases in other organs are present.
Identification and characterization of a polysaccharide-containing antigen from Schistosoma mansoni eggs which cross-reacts with the surface of schistosomula

SUMMARY Antisera were produced by immunizing rabbits with either a trichloroacetic acid-soluble fraction, or a high molecular weight (Mr) fraction of Schistosoma mansoni SEA (a salinesoluble fraction of homogenized egg). Both of these sera reacted monospecifically in immunoelectrophoresis against unfractionated SEA, recognizing a cathodally migrating antigen. This antigen had been identified previously as being responded to by S. mansoni-infected mouse sera, and has been designated K3 (Kappa 3). The rabbit antisera were used to partially characterize antigen K3 as having Mr in the range > 750 – 70 K, and being resistant to boiling, resistant to the action of proteases, but sensitive to periodate. It partially binds to Concanavalin A. In addition to SEA, the antigen was present in homogenized cercariae and schistosomula, but not adult worms, and it was also present in detergent extracts of intact cercariae and schistosomula. Using an antibody-dependent cell adherence assay, anti-K3 serum was found to react with the surface of live cercariae and with the surface of schistosomula recovered from the skin of mice infected up to 48 h previously. Anti-K3 serum also reacted with the surface of S. bovis, S. haematobium and to a lesser extent S. japonicum schistosomula.
The melatonin metabolite N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine is a potent singlet oxygen scavenger

Abstract: Singlet oxygen was generated by means of rose bengal under irradiation by visible light. N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AMK) was rapidly destroyed by this reactive oxygen species, whereas its formylated precursor, N1‐acetyl‐N2‐formyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AFMK), was remarkably inert. At photon fluence rates of 1400 μmol photons/m2s, and using 20 μm rose bengal, most of initially 0.2 mm AMK was destroyed within 2 min, whereas AFMK remained practically unchanged for much longer periods of time. Competition experiments with other scavengers revealed the following order of reactivity towards singlet oxygen: diazabicyclo‐[2,2,2]‐octane (DABCO) << imidazole < 4‐ethylphenol < Nα‐acetylhistidine < histidine < melatonin < AMK, the last one being about 150 times more effective than DABCO. Contrary to the oxidation in free radical‐generating systems, AMK did not form adducts with the tyrosine side chain fragment, 4‐ethylphenol, under the influence of singlet oxygen. In UV‐exposed cells (keratinocytes, plant cells) it is likely to be more rapidly destroyed by singlet oxygen than formed from AFMK.
Theory of the tensile actuation of fiber reinforced coiled muscles

There is a strong need for compact artificial muscles capable of applying large contractile strokes and lift heavy weights. Coiled fibers recently emerged as attractive candidates for these purposes, owing to their simple construction and the possibility of their thermal, electrical and chemical actuation. An intuitive theoretical understanding of the mechanics of actuation of these muscles is essential for the enhancement of their performance and can pave the way for the development of new applications and technologies. In this paper, a complete theoretical model for the tensile actuation of fiber reinforced artificial muscles is presented and experimentally validated. The model demonstrates that all muscles made from the same material have a universal behavior, which can be described by a single master curve. It enables the systematic design and understanding of coiled muscles for specific performance owing to a comprehensive mathematical correlation among the geometry, materials properties, and actuation. Carbon fibers (CF)/polydimethylsiloxane coiled muscles are demonstrated as simple to fabricate yet powerful muscles owing to the availability of high strength CF. In addition to showing excellent agreement with the theoretical models, they can be actuated by joule heating or chemical swelling, lift up to 12 600 times their own weight, support up to 60 MPa of mechanical stress, provide tensile strokes higher than 25%, and a specific work up to 758 J kg−1, the latter is more than 18 times higher than that of natural muscles.
HIV Vaccine Research: The Challenge and the Way Forward

Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a worldwide epidemic, with over 35 million people infected currently. Therefore, the development of a safe and effective HIV-1 vaccine is on top of the global health priority. In the past few years, there have been many promising advances in the prevention of HIV/AIDS, among which the RV144 Thai trial has been encouraging and suggests optimization of the current vaccine strategies or search for novel strategies. Here we reviewed the brief history of HIV-1 vaccine, analyzed key challenges existing now, and illustrated future research priority/directions for a therapeutic or prophylactic HIV-1 vaccine, with the hope of accelerating the speed of vaccine development. We believe that an effective HIV-1 vaccine, together with other prevention approaches, will bring an end to this epidemic in the near future.
Methylation of serum insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein 7 promoter in hepatitis B virus‐associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Methylation of gene promoter CpG islands is an important early event in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and detection of cell‐free tumor‐specific DNA methylation is becoming a useful noninvasive method for HCC. This study was aimed at determining the diagnostic value of serum insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) promoter methylation in hepatitis B virus‐associated HCC. A total of 217 subjects, including 136 HCC patients, 46 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 35 healthy controls (HCs), were included. The methylation status of the serum IGFBP7 gene promoter was determined using methylation‐specific PCR. The frequency of serum IGFBP7 promoter methylation in HCC patients (89/136, 65%) was significantly higher than that in CHB patients (8/46, 17%; X2 = 31.883, P < 0.001) and HCs (5/35, 14%; X2 = 29.429, P < 0.001). Moreover, elevated IGFBP7 methylation frequency was also observed in HCC patients with vascular invasion compared with those without vascular invasion (84 versus 60%, X2 = 6.633, P = 0.010). The sensitivities of serum IGFBP7 methylation and alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) in detecting HCC were 65 and 57%, respectively. Of note, the combination of IGFBP7 methylation and AFP showed 85% for sensitivity. These results suggest that methylation of the serum IGFBP7 gene promoter may serve as a useful noninvasive biomarker for HCC diagnosis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A conservative and minimally invasive approach to necrotizing pancreatitis improves outcome.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Treatment of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis has become more conservative and less invasive, but there are few data from prospective studies to support the efficacy of this change. We performed a prospective multicenter study of treatment outcomes among patients with necrotizing pancreatitis. METHODS We collected data from 639 consecutive patients with necrotizing pancreatitis, from 2004 to 2008, treated at 21 Dutch hospitals. Data were analyzed for disease severity, interventions (radiologic, endoscopic, surgical), and outcome. RESULTS Overall mortality was 15% (n=93). Organ failure occurred in 240 patients (38%), with 35% mortality. Treatment was conservative in 397 patients (62%), with 7% mortality. An intervention was performed in 242 patients (38%), with 27% mortality; this included early emergency laparotomy in 32 patients (5%), with 78% mortality. Patients with longer times between admission and intervention had lower mortality: 0 to 14 days, 56%; 14 to 29 days, 26%; and >29 days, 15% (P<.001). A total of 208 patients (33%) received interventions for infected necrosis, with 19% mortality. Catheter drainage was most often performed as the first intervention (63% of cases), without additional necrosectomy in 35% of patients. Primary catheter drainage had fewer complications than primary necrosectomy (42% vs 64%, P=.003). Patients with pancreatic parenchymal necrosis (n=324), compared with patients with only peripancreatic necrosis (n=315), had a higher risk of organ failure (50% vs 24%, P<.001) and mortality (20% vs 9%, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS Approximately 62% of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis can be treated without an intervention and with low mortality. In patients with infected necrosis, delayed intervention and catheter drainage as first treatment improves outcome.
Eurographics -ieee Vgtc Symposium on Visualization (2005) Combining Silhouettes, Surface, and Volume Rendering for Surgery Education and Planning

We introduce a flexible combination of volume, surface, and line rendering. We employ object-based edge detection because this allows a flexible parametrization of the generated lines. Our techniques were developed mainly for medical applications using segmented patient-individual volume datasets. In addition, we present an evaluation of the generated visualizations with 8 medical professionals and 25 laypersons. Integration of lines in conventional rendering turned out to be appropriate.
Tribological properties of surface coated duplex stainless steel containing SiC ceramic particles

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the tribological properties of coated duplex stainless steel (DSS) containing SiC ceramic particles. The preplaced SiC powder with 20 µm particle size and TIG torch surfacing was conducted with energy inputs of 480, 768 and 1440 J/mm. The comparisons of the room temperature wear behavior of substrate DSS and coated SiC duplex stainless steel was carried out against alumina ceramic ball. The effects of the process parameters on the hardness and wear behavior were analyzed in this study. The coated surface of DSS produced hardness about 2~4 times higher than uncoated DSS. It was revealed that coated surface was improved significantly with lower wear weight loss and coefficient of friction (about 2 times lower) than the substrate material. The embedded SiC into the surface of steel has improved the wear behaviour of DSS. This is due to SiC dendrites structure that strongly bonded to the steel resulting the reduction of the friction between coated surface and the alumina ball. The wear worn surface was observed under SEM with a very mild abrasive wear for coated surface compared to severe abrasive wear for substrate DSS surface. The coated surface has showed lower surface roughness and wear depth penetration indicated that the presence of the SiC reduced the wear of the material.
Life Event Stress and Binge Eating Among Adolescents: The Roles of Early Maladaptive Schemas and Impulsivity.

This study examined the relationships between life event stress, early maladaptive schemas, impulsivity and binge eating among adolescents and investigated the effects of early maladaptive schemas and impulsivity on the relationship between life event stress and binge eating. Specifically, we examined a moderated mediation model in which early maladaptive schemas mediated this relationship and impulsivity moderated the mediation effect. Life event stress, early maladaptive schemas, impulsivity and binge eating were investigated in a sample of 2172 seventh-, eighth- and tenth-grade middle and high school students (mean age = 14.55 years, standard deviation = 1.29). The results indicated that adolescents with greater life event stress, more early maladaptive schemas and higher levels of impulsivity displayed more severe binge eating. In addition, early maladaptive schemas mediated the relationship between life event stress and binge eating, while impulsivity moderated this relationship. Furthermore, impulsivity also moderated the mediation effect of early maladaptive schemas; as impulsivity levels increased, the strength of the association between life event stress and early maladaptive schemas increased. This study illustrates the importance of understanding individual differences and their effects on the relationship between life event stress and binge eating. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Model‐based analyses of bioequivalence crossover trials using the stochastic approximation expectation maximisation algorithm

In this work, we develop a bioequivalence analysis using nonlinear mixed effects models (NLMEM) that mimics the standard noncompartmental analysis (NCA). We estimate NLMEM parameters, including between‐subject and within‐subject variability and treatment, period and sequence effects. We explain how to perform a Wald test on a secondary parameter, and we propose an extension of the likelihood ratio test for bioequivalence. We compare these NLMEM‐based bioequivalence tests with standard NCA‐based tests. We evaluate by simulation the NCA and NLMEM estimates and the type I error of the bioequivalence tests. For NLMEM, we use the stochastic approximation expectation maximisation (SAEM) algorithm implemented in monolix. We simulate crossover trials under H0 using different numbers of subjects and of samples per subject. We simulate with different settings for between‐subject and within‐subject variability and for the residual error variance. The simulation study illustrates the accuracy of NLMEM‐based geometric means estimated with the SAEM algorithm, whereas the NCA estimates are biased for sparse design. NCA‐based bioequivalence tests show good type I error except for high variability. For a rich design, type I errors of NLMEM‐based bioequivalence tests (Wald test and likelihood ratio test) do not differ from the nominal level of 5%. Type I errors are inflated for sparse design. We apply the bioequivalence Wald test based on NCA and NLMEM estimates to a three‐way crossover trial, showing that Omnitrope®; (Sandoz GmbH, Kundl, Austria) powder and solution are bioequivalent to Genotropin®; (Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany). NLMEM‐based bioequivalence tests are an alternative to standard NCA‐based tests. However, caution is needed for small sample size and highly variable drug. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The gross anatomy course: An analysis of its importance

The gross anatomy dissection course is a cost‐intensive piece of undergraduate medical education that students and professionals alike describe as very important within the overall medical curriculum. We sought to understand more explicitly students' valuation of gross anatomy as an “important” course and so developed a quantitative longitudinal questionnaire. Medical students (n = 124) enrolled in the winter term 2006/2007 gross anatomy course at the Ulm University Faculty of Medicine were surveyed anonymously prior to, in the middle of, and at the end of the dissection course. Subgroups of students expressing rising or falling opinions of course value were identified and correlated with student opinions about the course's ability to convey professional competencies. Five‐point Likert scales were used for each survey item, which included such standardized instruments as the NeoFFI, BSI, and FBM. The study confirmed that medical students believe dissection to be valuable. Students indicated that participation in the course facilitated acquisition of anatomy knowledge as well as skills related to teamwork, coping with stress, and, to a lesser extent, time management. Students also noted that they developed less empathy than expected beforehand. Significant subgroup differences were observed relative to the competencies of teamwork, stress coping strategies, and empathy, as well as in students' stress levels associated with having to take a dissection course. Our study builds on previous work that has shown dissection courses help students develop professional competencies. The increase in professionalism might be a reason for the generally high value students place on the gross anatomy dissection course, Anat Sci Educ 3:3–11, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.
Classification of Imagined Beats for use in a Brain Computer Interface

The power spectrum of an EEG signal shows differences with respect to its baseline the moment a subject is hearing, or expecting, a tone. As this difference also occurs when one is not actually hearing it, a Brain Computer Interface can be developed in which imagined rhythms are used to transfer information. Four healthy subjects participated in this study in which they had to imagine a simple rhythm. A metronome was kept ticking so that the subjects would not drift in their tempo. Solely based on the EEG signals, the classifier had to distinguish between imagined accented and non-accented tones. The features for the classification were automatically selected out of a set of possible features that focussed on phase and power differences of independent components. The classification rate found is about 0.6 for two of the four subjects, and several classifications can be combined to increase this classification rate to values larger than 0.7 with 2 s worth of data for the best performing subject. Chance level for our classification task is 0.5.
A fully discrete local discontinuous Galerkin method for one-dimensional time-fractional Fisher's equation

In this paper, we consider the local discontinuous Galerkin (LDG) finite element method for one-dimensional time-fractional Fisher's equation, which is obtained from the standard one-dimensional Fisher's equation by replacing the first-order time derivative with a fractional derivative (of order α, with 0<α<1). The proposed LDG is based on the LDG finite element method for space and finite difference method for time. We prove that the method is stable, and the numerical solution converges to the exact one with order O(hk+1+τ2−α), where h, τ and k are the space step size, time step size, polynomial degree, respectively. The numerical experiments reveal that the LDG is very effective.
Does T790M disappear? Successful gefitinib rechallenge after T790M disappearance in a patient with EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer.

prognosis of patients with lung cancer harboring activating EGFr mutation. J Thorac Oncol 2012;7:1640–1644. 2. oxnard Gr, Arcila ME, Sima CS, et al. Acquired resistance to EGFr tyrosine kinase inhibitors in EGFr-mutant lung cancer: distinct natural history of patients with tumors harboring the T790M mutation. Clin Cancer Res 2011;17:1616–1622. 3. rosell r, Molina MA, Costa C, et al. Pretreatment EGFr T790M mutation and BrCA1 mrNA expression in erlotinib-treated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients with EGFr mutations. Clin Cancer Res 2011;17:1160–1168. 4. Kobayashi S, Boggon TJ, Dayaram T, et al. EGFr mutation and resistance of non-smallcell lung cancer to gefitinib. N Engl J Med 2005;352:786–792. 5. Miyazawa h, Tanaka T, Nagai Y, et al.; huqun. Peptide nucleic acid-locked nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction clampbased detection test for gefitinib-refractory T790M epidermal growth factor receptor mutation. Cancer Sci 2008;99:595– 600. To the Editor:
Nonextremal black holes are BPS

Extremal charged black holes are BPS solutions. It is commonly thought that their nonextremal counterparts are not. Further, experience with BPS solutions in flat spacetime suggests that all BPS solutions are supersymmetric; i.e. that they are invariant under some supersymmetry charges of either the original field theory or an appropriately extended version thereof. Using nonextremal Reissner-Nordstroem black holes as counterexamples, we show that neither of these expectations is universally valid. These black holes correspond to a one-parameter family of BPS solutions. By showing that, subject to one very plausible assumption, no generalized Killing spinor can be constructed for these, we show that there is no supergravity theory for which these BPS solutions preserve a fraction of the supersymmetry, nor is there an associated Witten-Nester positive energy bound.
Consistency of the MLE under mixture models

The large-sample properties of likelihood-based statistical inference under mixture models have received much attention from statisticians. Although the consistency of the nonparametric MLE is regarded as a standard conclusion, many researchers ignore the precise conditions required on the mixture model. An incorrect claim of consistency can lead to false conclusions even if the mixture model under investigation seems well behaved. Under a finite normal mixture model, for instance, the consistency of the plain MLE is often erroneously assumed in spite of recent research breakthroughs. This paper streamlines the consistency results for the nonparametric MLE in general, and in particular for the penalized MLE under finite normal mixture models.