Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The clinical significance of HPIP and the associated prognosis in cervical cancer

Hematopoietic pre-B-cell leukemia transcription factor-interacting protein (HPIP), is known to promote tumor development and metastasis. However its role in cervical cancer remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of HPIP expression and the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. Fresh frozen tissues from 10 samples of cervical cancer and 8normal cervical tissues were analyzed for HPIP expression using real-time reverse transcription PCR and Western blot analysis. A total of 129 paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from patients with CC were collected for an immunohistochemistry assay to measure HPIP expression. Correlations of HPIP expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of patients with cervical cancer were analyzed. The HPIP expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was significantly higher in cervical cancer tissues than in normal cervical tissues (P<0.001). HPIP overexpression was significantly associated with high FIGO stage (P=0.005), Histological grade (P<0.001), Ascular tumor embolus (P=0.004), Iinterstitial infiltration (P<0.001), Tumor size (P=0.001) and Lymph node metastasis (P=0.005). Moreover, results revealed that HPIP expression was an independently prognostic factor for both overall survival [hazard ratio (HR): 8.874; 95% CI: 1.186–66.393; P=0.033] and disease-free survival [(HR): 11.523; 95% CI: 1.531–86.746; P=0.018] in patients with cervical cancer. The present study provides evidence that HPIP predicts metastasis and poor survival, highlighting its potential function as a therapeutic target for cervical cancer.
Intra-specific Variation in Virulence and In Vitro Production of Macromolecular Toxins Active Against Locust Among Beauveria bassiana Strains and Effects of In Vivo and In Vitro Passage on These Factors

Strains of Beauveria bassiana isolated from locust or from the soil varied considerably in their virulence and their ability to produce in vitro toxic metabolites against Locusta migratoria. Among the pathogenic isolates, only culture filtrates of 90/2‐Dm, 92/11‐Dm and 0023‐Su were toxic by injection, a result which demonstrates that isolates of B. bassiana can be pathogenic for L. migratoria whether they secrete toxic metabolites in vitro or not. Toxic metabolites secreted by strains 90/2‐Dm and 92/11‐Dm were macromoleculer as they were retained by dialysis (cutoff of 6./8 kDa for globular proteins), whereas those secreted by 0023‐Su were not. The effect of in vitro passage on virulence and on toxicogenic activity of isolate 90/2‐Dm was dependent on the mycological media the inoculum was produced on. The virulence of isolate 90/2‐Dm was significantly reduced after two passages through Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) whereas two passages through Malt Agar (MA) increased its virulence and its toxicogenic activity. Nevertheless, the most aggressive conidia and the most toxic macromolecules were obtained after two passages of the isolate 90/2‐Dm through the host. The bioactive macromolecules present in the crude filtrate of isolate 90/2‐Dm were precipitated by 90% saturation of ammonium sulphate, and the insecticidal activity was exclusively detected in high molecular mass fraction after gel filtration on Sephadex G‐25. In addition, the insecticidal effect of the Sephadex G‐25 fraction was significantly reduced after exposure for 2 h at 608C and 20 min at 1208C, suggesting that the insecticidal metabolites in the culture filtrates of isolate 90/2‐Dm were proteinaceous.
Effects of Stem Cell Treatment in Human Patients With Peyronie Disease

Abstract Context: Peyronie disease (PD) is a connective tissue disorder involving the formation of fibrous plaques in the tunica albuginea. Abnormal plaques and scar tissue create a chronic state of inflammation, causing increased curvature of the penis as well as erectile dysfunction. Objective: To determine the feasibility and effects of using placental matrix–derived mesenchymal stem cells (PM-MSCs) in the management of PD. Methods: In a prospective study, patients with PD were injected with PM-MSCs, and followed up at 6-week, 3-month, and 6-month intervals to assess changes in plaque volume, penile curvature, and erectile function status (measured using peak systolic velocity, end-diastolic velocity, and the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire). Results: In the 5 patients enrolled in the study, statistically significant increases in peak systolic velocity occurred after PM-MSC injection (P<.01). Of a total of 10 plaques managed, 7 had disappeared completely at 3-month follow-up. Changes in end-diastolic velocity, stretched penile length, and penile girth were not statistically significant. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this study is the first on the use of stem cells to manage PD in humans. The results suggest that PM-MSCs may be beneficial and effective as a nonsurgical treatment in patients with PD. Future studies with long-term follow-up in a larger sample of patients are warranted. (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT02395029)
Interfacial Delamination Failure in Bonded Concrete Overlay Systems - A Review of Theories and Modelling Methods

This study reviews the theories and modelling methods for describing interfacial delamination failure process between two bonded cementitious materials. Complex interfacial stress conditions at discontinuities and areas of high stress concentrations were primary areas of concern. Distinct analytical cases involving intrinsic material and structural property variables were considered. An approach based on plane strain analysis within the context of Interface Cohesive Zone Model (ICZM) was cited and presented as viable for describing and predicting delamination mode of failure in bonded concrete overlays systems (BCOs). The study shows that the use of numerical computational tools is vital in resolving the manifold complexity associated with interfacial delamination problems. In the concluding analytical model, it is evident that the numerical values of the delamination failure coefficient(D) and the corresponding Mixed-Mode energy release rates (G ) vary depending on the overlay structural scale, the type of problem (plane stress or plane strain) and the degree of mismatched properties between the overlay and the substrate. Keyword: Interfacial, ICZM, Delamination, BCOs, Mismatched.
Assessment of prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in multiethnic population of the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. Not much data are available regarding the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency among multiethnic UAE adult population. (1) To determine the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in multiethnic UAE population (2) To compare the Vitamin D status in Arab and non-Arab population (3) To identify the demographic variables associated with hypovitaminosis D. It was a retrospective study conducted at a secondary care hospital. Electronic case records of all the subjects who had checked their Vitamin D levels during the time period of May 2010-October 2012 were considered for the study. Vitamin D severe deficiency, deficiency, insufficiency, and sufficiency were defined as serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels < 10 ng/mL, 10-20 ng/mL, 21-30 ng/mL, and > 30 ng/mL, respectively. A total 425 subjects were included for the data analysis. Vitamin D deficiency was diagnosed in 208 (48.9%) subjects followed by severe Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in 141 (33.2%) and 63 (14.8%) subjects, respectively. The overall prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 96.9%. Negative association (r = −0.196, P < 0.01) was observed between body mass index (BMI) and 25(OH)D levels. Ethnicity was not (P = 0.103) a predictor of 25(OH)D levels. Majority of our study subjects had Vitamin D deficiency. There was no substantial difference in 25(OH)D levels of different ethnic groups. Female gender, age, and BMI were the predictors 25(OH)D levels.
Forwarding in the Publiy Distributed Publish / Subscribe System

Fine-grained filtering capabilities of content-based Publish/Subscribe (P/S) overlays often lead to scenarios in which publications pass through brokers with no local matching subscribers. Processing of messages at these pure forwarding brokers amounts to inefficient use of resources and should ideally be avoided. Accomplishing this goal requires a rethought of how the P/S overlays are maintained. In this paper, we develop an approach that largely mitigates this problem by building and adaptively maintaining a highly connected overlay mesh superimposed atop a low connectivity primary overlay network. While the primary overlay network provides basic forwarding routes, the mesh structure provides a rich set of alternative forwarding choices which can be used to bypass pure forwarding brokers. Moreover, the overlay mesh provides unique opportunities for load balancing and congestion avoidance. Through extensive experimental evaluation on a cluster and Planetlab, we compare the performance of our approach with that of conventional P/S algorithms as baseline. Our results indicate that our approach improves publication delivery delay and lowers network traffic while incurring negligible computational and bandwidth overhead. Furthermore, compared to the baseline, we observed significant gains of up to 115% in terms of system throughput.
A clinical study of Sydenham's chorea at University Malaya Medical Centre

This is a retrospective clinical study of Sydenham’s chorea admitted to the University Malaya Medical Centre from 1967 to 1997. Three hundred and thirteen patients with acute rheumatic fever were identified. Sydenham’s chorea was seen in 12% (37/313) of the patients. The mean age of onset of chorea was 11.5 years (range 2-21 years). The overall male to female ratio was 1.01:1, with a female preponderance among patients greater than 12 years of age. There was a disproportionate predominance of ethnic Indians among patients with acute rheumatic fever as well as Sydenham’s chorea. Of the patients with Sydenham’s chorea, 65% (24/37) were isolated chorea where there was no other major criteria of acute rheumatic fever. The overall trend was a decline in incidence of acute rheumatic fever over the study period. On the other hand, there were peaks in the incidence of isolated chorea. Isolated chorea was also associated with less frequently raised antistreptolysin O titer, higher recurrence rate, equal sexual predilection, and no development of rheumatic valvular disease after seven years of follow-up, as compared with other patients with mixed chorea, where there was major criteria of acute rheumatic fever. Conclusions: The lack of correlation between the incidence trend of isolated chorea and acute rheumatic fever, with differences in the features of isolated chorea as compared to mixed chorea suggested that some cases of isolated chorea were of non-rheumatic etiology.
Preclinical evaluation of racotumomab, an anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody to N-glycolyl-containing gangliosides, with or without chemotherapy in a mouse model of non-small cell lung cancer

N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) is a sialic acid molecule usually found in mammalian cells as terminal constituents of different membrane glycoconjugates such as gangliosides. The NeuGcGM3 ganglioside has been described as a tumor antigen for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in humans. Racotumomab is an anti-NeuGc-containing gangliosides anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody (mAb) (formerly known as 1E10) that has received attention as a potential active immunotherapy for advanced lung cancer in clinical trials. In this work, we have examined the antitumor activity of racotumomab in combination or not with chemotherapy, using the 3LL Lewis lung carcinoma as a preclinical model of NSCLC in C57BL/6 mice. Vaccination with biweekly doses of racotumomab at 50–200 μg/dose formulated in aluminum hydroxide (racotumomab-alum vaccine) demonstrated a significant antitumor effect against the progression of lung tumor nodules. Racotumomab-alum vaccination exerted a comparable effect on lung disease to that of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (100 mg/kg weekly). Interestingly, chemo-immunotherapy was highly effective against lung nodules and well-tolerated, although no significant synergistic effect was observed as compared to each treatment alone in the present model. We also obtained evidence on the role of the exogenous incorporation of NeuGc in the metastatic potential of 3LL cells. Our preclinical data provide support for the combination of chemotherapy with the anti-idiotype mAb racotumomab, and also reinforce the biological significance of NeuGc in lung cancer.
Accelerated reliability testing and modeling of Cu-plated through encapsulant vias (TEVs) for 3D-integration

Through encapsulant vias (TEVs) are an interconnect technology which enables 3D stacking and double sided re-routing of packages encapsulated with epoxy molding compound. These interconnects are formed by Cu-plated holes through the encapsulant and can typically be routed by an RDL (redistribution layer). In order to enable prolonged function of these interconnects, thermo-mechanical reliability has to be assured. Dedicated stress tests have to be conducted to evaluate lifetime under relevant testing conditions, then failure mechanisms have to be identified, understood and quantitatively condensed into a lifetime model to predict reliability for future designs. In order to assure a short time to market, accelerated tests (and corresponding acceleration factors) are urgently needed by industry and are the holy grail of reliability as an academic discipline. The idea presented in this paper is to substitute lengthy thermal cycling tests by results obtained by rapid isothermal fatigue tests at different temperatures and establish a correlation between both of them. Based on physics of failure principles, the applicability and viability of such a concept then is evaluated and discussed. In conclusion, this work shows a consistent approach for acceleration of the design for reliability procedure in system integration. It is based on the now possible rapid generation of a lifetime model by thin metal layer samples which are easily manufacturable with the same technology as the TEVs. More data is needed to confirm the failure mechanisms in TEVs, reproducible samples for thermal cycling and to validate the applicability of the method also to other metal layers used in the electronic packaging industry.
Maternal High-Salt Intake During Pregnancy Reprogrammed Renin–Angiotensin System-Mediated Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in the Adult Offspring Heart

Aims: Excess salt intake during pregnancy may alter fetal organ structures and functions leading to increased risks in the development of cardiovascular diseases in later life. The present study determined whether and how the prenatal high-salt (HS) diets affect renin–angiotensin system (RAS) that may mediate cardiac cell death. Methods and Results: Angiotensin II receptors, AT1 and AT2, protein expression was increased in the myocardium of the offspring exposed to prenatal HS; apoptotic cells appeared in the myocardium of the adult offspring. Mitochondrion was isolated in cell experiments, and the data showed cardiomyocyte apoptosis requiring cytochrome C release. Pretreating H9C2 cells with AT2 agonist CGP42112A induced cell apoptosis in DNA fragments and activated caspase 3. CGP42112A increased mitochondrion cytochrome C release and apoptosis in the cells. Conclusion: Both in vitro and in vivo study demonstrated that cardiomyocyte apoptosis was related to AT2 activation. Prenatal HS diets may reprogram RAS that mediates apoptosis in the offspring myocardium, and AT2 may contribute to cardiomyocyte apoptosis via the cytochrome C release pathway.
Antitumor Effect of Embryonic Stem Cells in a Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Model: Antitumor Factors and Immune Responses

Research in recent years has revealed that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) could generate obvious antitumor effects in both vitro and vivo. In vitro, ESCs could secrete soluble factors that are capable of blocking cancer cells proliferation, moreover, embryonic microenvironments could effectively inhibit tumorigenesis and metastasis; while in vivo, administration of ESCs in tumor-bearing mice could generate significant antitumor effects by indirectly activating the antitumor immune system. In this study, non-small cell lung cancer cells (Lewis Lung Carcinoma cells, LLCs) and ESCs were co-injected together into mice, after that subcutaneous tumor growth was monitored, cellular and humoral immune responses were detected, and different control groups were set to compare the results in different conditions. Our results suggested that compared to be injected alone, ESCs co-injected with cancer cells could inhibit cancer cell growth more efficiently in vivo, with more CD8+ lymphocytes generated in both peripheral circulation and spleen, and with higher serum anticancer cytokine level (interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-γ). We conclude that the boosted antitumor effects induced by ESCs and cancer cells co-injection may be both the effects of antitumor factors secreted by ESCs and immune responses induced by ESCs in vivo.
Protective immunity induced in mice by detoxified salmonella lipopolysaccharide.

C3H/HeNMTV mice were immunised intraperitoneally (i.p.) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or detoxified LPS (D-LPS) derived from Salmonella typhimurium strain SR-11. In both cases, effective protection was achieved against a challenge dose of greater than 2 x 10(2) LD50 of the same organism given by i.p. injection. However, by comparison with LPS, approximately 6- to 10-fold more of D-LPS by weight was needed to protect mice to an equivalent degree. Histopathological studies showed that the initial lesions in infected mice protected with either LPS or D-LPS were composed of self-limiting abscesses which transformed into granulomas as the animals recovered. It is suggested that D-LPS may be modified to become a highly effective, non-toxic salmonella vaccine.
Protos: Foundations for engineering innovative sociotechnical systems

We address the challenge of requirements engineering for sociotechnical systems, wherein humans and organizations supported by technical artifacts such as software interact with one another. Traditional requirements models emphasize the goals of the stakeholders above their interactions. However, the participants in a sociotechnical system may not adopt the goals of the stakeholders involved in its specification. We motivate, Protos, a requirements engineering approach that gives prominence to the interactions of autonomous parties and specifies a sociotechnical system in terms of its participants' social relationships, specifically, commitments. The participants can adopt any goal they like, a key basis for innovative behavior, as long as they interact according to the commitments. Protos describes an abstract requirements engineering process as a series of refinements that seek to satisfy stakeholder requirements by incrementally expanding a specification set and an assumption set, and reducing requirements until all requirements are accommodated. We demonstrate this process via the London Ambulance System described in the literature.
Diversity and Specialisation in Cities: Why, Where and When Does it Matter?

Why are some cities specialised and others diversified? What are the advantages and disadvantages of urban specialisation and diversity? To what extent do the structure of cities and the activities of firms and people in them change over time? How does the sectoral composition of cities influence their evolution? To answer these and related questions, we first distil some key stylised facts from the empirical literature on cities and the composition of their activities. We then turn to a review of different theories looking at such issues, and study the extent to which these theories contribute to the understanding of the empirical regularities.
The relative effects of corneal thickness and age on Goldmann applanation tonometry and dynamic contour tonometry

Aims: To establish the effects of central corneal thickness (CCT) on intraocular pressure (IOP) measured with a prototype Pascal dynamic contour tonometer (DCT), to evaluate the effect of CCT and age on the agreement between IOP measured with the Pascal DCT and Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), and to compare the interobserver and intraobserver variation of the DCT with the GAT. Methods: GAT and DCT IOP measurements were made on 130 eyes of 130 patients and agreement was assessed by means of Bland-Altman plots. The effect of CCT and age on GAT/DCT IOP differences was assessed by linear regression analysis. Interobserver and intraobserver variations for GAT and DCT were assessed in 100 eyes of 100 patients. Results: The mean difference (95% limits of agreement) between GAT and DCT was −0.7 (−6.3 to 4.9) mm Hg. GAT/DCT IOP differences increased with thicker CCT (slope 0.017 mm Hg/μm, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.03, r2 = 0.05, p = 0.01), and with greater age, slope 0.05 mm Hg/year (95% CI 0.012 to 0.084, r2 = 0.05, p = 0.01). The intraobserver variability of GAT and DCT was 1.7 mm Hg and 3.2 mm Hg, respectively. The interobserver variability was (mean difference (95% limits of agreement)) 0.4 (−3.5 to 4.2) mm Hg for GAT and 0.2 (−4.9 to 5.3) mm Hg for DCT. Conclusions: GAT is significantly more affected than DCT by both CCT and subject age. The effect of age suggests an age related corneal biomechanical change that may induce measurement error additional to that of CCT. The prototype DCT has greater measurement variability than the GAT.
A Refined Performance Characterization of Longest-Queue-First Policy in Wireless Networks

One of the major challenges in wireless networking is how to optimize the link scheduling decisions under interference constraints. Recently, a few algorithms have been introduced to address the problem. However, solving the problem to optimality for general wireless interference models is known to be NP-hard. The research community is currently focusing on finding simpler suboptimal scheduling algorithms and on characterizing the algorithm performance. In this paper, we address the performance of a specific scheduling policy called Longest Queue First (LQF), which has gained significant recognition lately due to its simplicity and high efficiency in empirical studies. There has been a sequence of studies characterizing the guaranteed performance of the LQF schedule, culminating at the construction of the σ-local pooling concept by Joo In this paper, we refine the notion of σ -local pooling and use the refinement to capture a larger region of guaranteed performance.