Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Allogeneic stem cell transplantation after reduced-intensity conditioning in patients with myelofibrosis: a prospective, multicenter study of the Chronic Leukemia Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

From 2002 to 2007, 103 patients with primary myelofibrosis or postessential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera myelofibrosis and a median age of 55 years (range, 32-68 years) were included in a prospective multicenter phase 2 trial to determine efficacy of a busulfan (10 mg/kg)/fludarabine (180 mg/m(2))-based reduced-intensity conditioning regimen followed by allogeneic stem cell transplantation from related (n = 33) or unrelated donors (n = 70). All but 2 patients (2%) showed leukocyte and platelet engraftment after a median of 18 and 22 days, respectively. Acute graft-versus-host disease grade 2 to 4 occurred in 27% and chronic graft-versus-host disease in 43% of the patients. Cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality at 1 year was 16% (95% confidence interval, 9%-23%) and significantly lower for patients with a completely matched donor (12% vs 38%; P = .003). The cumulative incidence of relapse at 3 years was 22% (95% confidence interval, 13%-31%) and was influenced by Lille risk profile (low, 14%; intermediate, 22%; and high, 34%; P = .02). The estimated 5-year event-free and overall survival was 51% and 67%, respectively. In a multivariate analysis, age older than 55 years (hazard ratio = 2.70; P = .02) and human leukocyte antigen-mismatched donor (hazard ratio = 3.04; P = .006) remained significant factors for survival. The study was registered at www.clinicaltrials. gov as #NCT 00599547.
HIV-1 tropism, disease progression, and clinical management.

It has been 15 years since HIV-1 tropism was recognized as a prognostic marker for CD4 T cell depletion and progression to AIDS [1]. The original studies were performed by testing HIV-1 strains for syncytia induction in MT-2 cell culture. These cell-based assays had a sensitivity of detection of 5% and predicted disease progression. They were, however, slow and labor-intensive and thus did not lend themselves to clinical use. The discovery of HIV-1 coreceptors in 1996 demonstrated that syncytia formation in MT-2 cells was usually induced by HIV-1 strains that used the CXCR4 (i.e., X4) coreceptor (hereafter, “X4 strains”) [2]. Early studies of coreceptor use (i.e., tropism) confirmed that HIV-1 strains that used X4 were as-
Hands on!

F and second graders watch a toy car roll down a ramp. The students, in this economically and racially heterogeneous classroom, are working to develop qualitative descriptions of the car’s motion, specifically, changes in its speed as it moves down the ramp. Sharrone, a child who has rarely spoken since the first day of school, volunteers, and holds the floor for nearly ten minutes as he explains what he thinks is happening. Using an analogy to describe the car’s motion, he imagines a bike going down a high hill, going faster and faster, not able to stop, hitting a passerby near the bottom of the hill and sending her to the hospital. His teacher asks him to explain why the bike might hurt the passerby, anticipating some account of the bike’s fast speed. Sharrone responds with more elaborate details of the event, explaining how the bicyclist and the
The glacial thermohaline circulation: Stable or unstable?

The stability of the glacial thermohaline circulation (THC) with respect to North Atlantic freshwater input is examined using a global ocean general circulation model. It is found that the quasi‐equilibrium hysteresis behaviour is much less pronounced under glacial conditions than under present‐day conditions, and the existence of multiple equilibria requires an anomalous freshwater inflow. The results may help to assess the effect of iceberg invasions and meltwater events, suggesting that the THC is prone to instability during a deglaciation phase when the Atlantic meridional overturning is weakened. Under full glacial conditions, however, the THC is mono‐stable and even extreme freshwater pulses are unable to exert a persistent effect on the conveyor.
Angiogenesis related gene expression profiles of EA.hy926 cells induced by irbesartan: a possible novel therapeutic approach.

BACKGROUND Angiogenesis occurs commonly in various physiological and pathological processes. Improving blood supply through promoting angiogenesis is a novel approach for treating ischemic diseases. Angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) dominate the management of hypertension, but evidence of their role in angiogenesis is contradictory. Here we explored the angiogenic effects of ARBs through characterizing gene expression of the human umbilical vein endothelial cell line EA.hy926 exposed to irbesartan. METHODS The human umbilical vein endothelial cell line EA.hy926 was grown for 72 hours after treatment with different concentrations of irbesartan. The cell proliferative capacity was assessed by CCK8 assay at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Gene expression levels in EA.hy926 cells responding to irbesartan were measured under optimal proliferation conditions by microarray analysis using Affymetrix U133 plus 2.0. The differential expression of genes involved in angiogenesis was identified through cluster analysis of the resulting microarray data. Quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting analyses were used to validate differential gene expression related to the angiogenesis process. RESULTS In the 10(-4), 10(-5), 10(-6) mol/L treatment groups, cell proliferation studies revealed significantly increased proliferation in EA.hy926 cells after 24 hours of irbesartan treatment. However, after 48 and 72 hours of treatment with different concentrations of irbesartan, there was no significant difference in cell proliferation observed in any treatment group. We selected the group stimulated with irbersartan at a concentration of 10(-6) mol/L for microarray experiments. Statistical analysis of the microarray data resulted in the identification of 56 gene transcripts whose expression patterns were significantly correlated, negatively or positively, with irbesartan treatment. Cluster analysis showed that these genes were involved in angiogenesis, extracellular stimulus, binding reactions and skeletal system morphogenesis. Of these 56 genes we identified seven genes (VEGF, KDR, PTGS2, PLXND1, ROBO4, LMO2, and COL5A1) involved in the angiogenesis process. qRT-PCR analysis of these genes confirmed the microarray results. Protein expression of three VEGF pathway genes (VEGF, KDR, and PTGS2) was further confirmed by Western blotting. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that irbesartan may induce angiogenic effects in vascular endothelial cells. It suggested that the mechanism of angiogenic effects of ARBs might be attributed to the signaling cascade from angiotensin receptors in the VEGF pathway. It also provided evidence indicating that ARBs could be used as a novel therapeutic approach to treat chronic ischemic heart disease as well as anti-hypertensive agents.
Dynamic mechanical properties of sugar palm/glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane hybrid composites

Hybrid composites based on thermoplastic polyurethane were fabricated with the addition of sugar palm fiber and glass fiber. The best ratio of 30 wt% sugar palm fiber to 10 wt% glass fiber was used to reinforce the hybrid composites, which were then subjected to dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) to determine their dynamic properties. Three types of fiber treatment were assessed as follows: 6% alkaline (TNSP), 2% silane (TSSP) and combined 6% alkaline ‐ 2% silane (TNSSP) for 3 h. The untreated and treated hybrid composites were fabricated by the melt ‐ compounding method, followed by a hot pressing moulding. The DMA properties, including storage modulus, loss modulus and damping factor, were measured by a Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer. The hybrid composites of TNSSP showed highest storage modulus, loss modulus as compared to other treated hybrid composites. The peak height of damping factor was low for TNSSP and highest for TSSP hybrid composites. The Cole–Cole analysis was carried out to investigate the phase behavior of the untreated and treated hybrid composites. The study demonstrated that the combined 6% alkaline ‐ 2% silane fiber treatment was the most effective in enhancing the dynamic mechanical properties of the SPF/GF reinforced TPU hybrid composites. It is clear that, the treated fibers influenced the DMA of thermoplastic polyurethane hybrid composites. The overall result showed that treated sugar pam/glass reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane improved the dynamic mechanical analysis for hybrid composites suitable for automotive parts.
Non-adiabatic effects during the dissociative adsorption of O2 at Ag(111)? A first-principles divide and conquer study

We study the gas-surface dynamics of O2 at Ag(111) with the particular objective to unravel whether electronic non-adiabatic effects are contributing to the experimentally established inertness of the surface with respect to oxygen uptake. We employ a first-principles divide and conquer approach based on an extensive density-functional theory mapping of the adiabatic potential energy surface (PES) along the six O2 molecular degrees of freedom. Neural networks are subsequently used to interpolate these grid data to a continuous representation. The low computational cost with which forces are available from this PES representation allows then for a sufficiently large number of molecular dynamics trajectories to quantitatively determine the very low initial dissociative sticking coefficient at this surface. Already these adiabatic calculations yield dissociation probabilities close to the scattered experimental data. Our analysis shows that this low reactivity is governed by large energy barriers in excess of 1.1 eV very close to the surface. Unfortunately, these adiabatic PES characteristics render the dissociative sticking a rather insensitive quantity with respect to a potential spin or charge non-adiabaticity in the O2–Ag(111) interaction. We correspondingly attribute the remaining deviations between the computed and measured dissociation probabilities primarily to unresolved experimental issues with respect to surface imperfections.
Epidemiology of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease and Tuberculosis, Hawaii, USA

Previous studies found Hawaiians and Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders to be independently at increased risk for nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTMPD) and tuberculosis (TB). To better understand NTM infection and TB risk patterns in Hawaii, USA, we evaluated data on a cohort of patients in Hawaii for 2005–2013. Period prevalence of NTMPD was highest among Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese patients (>300/100,000 persons) and lowest among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (50/100,000). Japanese patients were twice as likely as all other racial/ethnic groups to have Mycobacterium abscessus isolated (adjusted odds ratio 2.0, 95% CI 1.2–3.2) but were not at increased risk for infection with other mycobacteria species. In contrast, incidence of TB was stable and was lowest among Japanese patients (no cases) and highest among Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese patients (>50/100,000). Substantial differences exist in the epidemiology of NTMPD by race/ethnicity, suggesting behavioral and biologic factors that affect disease susceptibility.
Sequence variations of GRM6 in patients with high myopia

Purpose Mutations in the glutamate receptor metabotropic 6 gene (GRM6) have been identified in patients with congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB1B). High myopia is usually observed in CSNB1B patients. This study tested if any mutations in GRM6 were solely responsible for high myopia. Methods DNA was prepared from the venous leukocytes of 96 Chinese patients with high myopia (refraction of spherical equivalent of at least −6.00 diopters [D]) and 96 controls (refraction of spherical equivalent between −0.50 D and +2.00 D with normal visual acuity). The coding regions and adjacent intronic sequence of GRM6 were amplified by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then analyzed by cycle sequencing. Detected variations were evaluated in normal controls by heteroduplex-single-strand-conformation (SSCP) polymorphism analysis or restriction fragment polymorphism (RFLP). Results Four novel variations predicted to have potential functional changes were identified: c.67-82delCAGGCGGGCCTGGCGCinsT (p.Gln23_Arg28delinsCys), c.858-5a>g (r.spl? ), c.1172G>A (p.Arg391Gln), and c.1537G>A (p.Val513Met). Except for c.1172G>A, the other three were not detected in the 96 controls. In addition, five rare variations—(c.72G>A, c.504+10g>t, c.726-50g>c, c.1359C>T, and c.1383C>T)—and one common variation (c.2437-6g>a) without predicted functional consequences and nine known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also detected. Conclusion Three novel variations with potential functional consequences were identified in the GRM6 of patients with high myopia, suggesting a potential role in the development of myopia in rare cases.
Verifying computations with state

When a client outsources a job to a third party (e.g., the cloud), how can the client check the result, without re-executing the computation? Recent work in proof-based verifiable computation has made significant progress on this problem by incorporating deep results from complexity theory and cryptography into built systems. However, these systems work within a stateless model: they exclude computations that interact with RAM or a disk, or for which the client does not have the full input. This paper describes Pantry, a built system that overcomes these limitations. Pantry composes proof-based verifiable computation with untrusted storage: the client expresses its computation in terms of digests that attest to state, and verifiably outsources that computation. Using Pantry, we extend verifiability to MapReduce jobs, simple database queries, and interactions with private state. Thus, Pantry takes another step toward practical proof-based verifiable computation for realistic applications.
The Prediction of Earnings Using Financial Statement Information: Empirical Evidence With Logit Models and Artificial Neural Networks

In the past three decades, earnings have been one of the most researched variables in accounting. Empirical research provided substantial evidence on its usefulness in the capital markets but evidence in predicting earnings has been limited, yielding inconclusive results. The purpose of this study is to validate and extend prior research in predicting earnings by examining aggregate and industry-specific data. A sample of 10,509 firm-year observations included in the Compustat database for the period 1982–91 is used in the study. The stepwise logistic regression results of the present study indicated that nine earnings and non-earnings variables can be used to predict earnings. These predictor variables are not identical to those reported in prior studies. These results are also extended to the manufacturing industry. Two new variables are identified to be significant in this industry. Moreover, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach is employed to complement the logistic regression results. The ANN model's performance is at least as high as the logistic regression model's predictive ability. © 1996 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Streptococcus mutans Protein Synthesis during Mixed-Species Biofilm Development by High-Throughput Quantitative Proteomics

Biofilms formed on tooth surfaces are comprised of mixed microbiota enmeshed in an extracellular matrix. Oral biofilms are constantly exposed to environmental changes, which influence the microbial composition, matrix formation and expression of virulence. Streptococcus mutans and sucrose are key modulators associated with the evolution of virulent-cariogenic biofilms. In this study, we used a high-throughput quantitative proteomics approach to examine how S. mutans produces relevant proteins that facilitate its establishment and optimal survival during mixed-species biofilms development induced by sucrose. Biofilms of S. mutans, alone or mixed with Actinomyces naeslundii and Streptococcus oralis, were initially formed onto saliva-coated hydroxyapatite surface under carbohydrate-limiting condition. Sucrose (1%, w/v) was then introduced to cause environmental changes, and to induce biofilm accumulation. Multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) approach detected up to 60% of proteins encoded by S. mutans within biofilms. Specific proteins associated with exopolysaccharide matrix assembly, metabolic and stress adaptation processes were highly abundant as the biofilm transit from earlier to later developmental stages following sucrose introduction. Our results indicate that S. mutans within a mixed-species biofilm community increases the expression of specific genes associated with glucan synthesis and remodeling (gtfBC, dexA) and glucan-binding (gbpB) during this transition (P<0.05). Furthermore, S. mutans up-regulates specific adaptation mechanisms to cope with acidic environments (F1F0-ATPase system, fatty acid biosynthesis, branched chain amino acids metabolism), and molecular chaperones (GroEL). Interestingly, the protein levels and gene expression are in general augmented when S. mutans form mixed-species biofilms (vs. single-species biofilms) demonstrating fundamental differences in the matrix assembly, survival and biofilm maintenance in the presence of other organisms. Our data provide insights about how S. mutans optimizes its metabolism and adapts/survives within the mixed-species community in response to a dynamically changing environment. This reflects the intricate physiological processes linked to expression of virulence by this bacterium within complex biofilms.
Physical parameters of components in close binary systems – VII

We present results of the modelling of multicolour light curves of 10 contact binary systems: V376 And, V523 Cas, CC Com, BX Dra, FG Hya, UZ Leo, XY Leo, AM Leo, EX Leo and RT LMi. The solutions resulted in a contact configuration for all systems. We found only FG Hya and UZ Leo to be in deep contact, the latter almost filling the outer critical lobe. The absolute parameters of the components have been determined with an accuracy of about a few per cent based on combined photometric and radial velocity curves, enlarging the sample of systems to 58 for which the physical parameters have been obtained in a uniform way. All but three systems (BX Dra, AM Leo and RT LMi) show asymmetries and peculiarities in the observed light curves, interpreted as resulting from their magnetic activity.
Cytokeratin and DAS-1 immunostaining reveal similarities among cardiac mucosa, CIM, and Barrett's esophagus

OBJECTIVE:The normal histology at the gastroesophageal junction, and in particular the nature of cardiac mucosa, remains in dispute. Likewise, the relationship of intestinal metaplasia at the gastroesophageal junction (CIM) to Barrett's and intestinal metaplasia of the stomach (GIM) is unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the immunostaining characteristics of cardiac mucosa and CIM and compare their staining pattern with that of other foregut mucosal types. We hypothesized that the immunostaining patterns of these foregut tissues would provide insight into the nature and etiology of cardiac mucosa and CIM.METHODS:Paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens from 50 patients with normal antral or fundic mucosa, cardiac mucosa, squamous mucosa, CIM, GIM, or Barrett's were obtained and immunostained with a panel of monoclonal antibodies including those for cytokeratins 7 and 20 (CK7/CK20) and DAS-1.RESULTS:Biopsies from normal gastric antral and fundic mucosa and squamous esophageal mucosa all showed a non-Barrett's type CK7/CK20 immunostaining pattern, whereas in 85% of patients, cardiac mucosa had a Barrett's type CK7/CK20 pattern (p <0.001). A Barrett's type CK7/CK20 staining pattern was seen in 100% of Barrett's, 78% of CIM, and 0% of GIM patients. Likewise, DAS-1 staining was similar in patients with CIM and Barrett's and significantly different in patients with GIM.CONCLUSIONS:Cytokeratin immunostaining of cardiac mucosa demonstrates significant differences from recognized normal gastric and esophageal mucosa but a similarity to Barrett's. This suggests that cardiac mucosa, like Barrett's, may be acquired. Likewise, immunostaining similarities between CIM and Barrett's biopsies point to the possibility of a reflux etiology for CIM in some patients.
Convexity of quasi-entropy type functions: Lieb's and Ando's convexity theorems revisited

Given a positive function f on (0, ∞) and a non-zero real parameter θ, we consider a function Ifθ(A,B,X)= Tr X*(f(LARB−1)RB)−θ(X) in three matrices A, B > 0 and X. This generalizes the notion of monotone metrics on positive definite matrices, and in the literature θ = ±1 has been typical. We investigate how operator monotony of f is sufficient and/or necessary for joint convexity/concavity of Ifθ(A,B,X). Similar discussions are given for quasi-entropies and quantum skew informations.
Cluster-aware iterative improvement techniques for partitioning large VLSI circuits

Move-based iterative improvement partitioning (IIP) methods, such as the Fiduccia-Mattheyses (FM) algorithm [Fidducia and Mattheyses 1982] and Krishnamurthy's Look-Ahead (LA) algorithm [Krishnamurthy 1984], are widely used in VLSI CAD applications, largely due to their time efficiency and ease of implementation. This class of algorithms is of the "local/greedy improvement" type, and they generate relatively high-quality results for small and medium-size circuits. However, as VLSI circuits become larger, these algorithms suffer a rapid deterioration in solution quality. We propose new IIP methods CLIP and CDIP that select cells to move with a view to moving clusters that straddle the two subsets of a partition, into one of the subsets. The new algorithms significantly improve partition quality while preserving the advantage of time efficiency. Experimental results on 25 medium to large-size ACM/SIGDA benchmark circuits show up to 70% improvement over FM in mincut, and average mincut improvements of about 35% over all circuits and 47% over large circuits. They also outperform state-of-the-art non-IIP techniques, the quadratic-programming-based method Paraboli [Reiss et al. 1994] and the spectral partitioner MELO [Alpert and Yao 1995], by about 17% and 23%, respectively, with less CPU time. This demonstrates the potential of sophisticated IIP algorithms in dealing with the increasing complexity of emerging VLSI circuits. We also compare CLIP and CDIP to hMetis [Karypis et al. 1997], one of the best of the recent state-of-the-art partitioners that are based on the multilevel paradigm (others include MLc [Alpert et al. 1997] and LSR/MFFS [Cong et al. 1997]). The results show that one scheme of hMetis is 8% worse than CLIP/CDIP and the other two schemes are only 2--4% better. However, CLIP/CDIP have advantages over hMetis and other multilevel partitioners that outweigh these minimal mincut improvements. The first is much faster times-to-solution (for example, one of our best schemes CLIP-LA2 is 6.4 and 11.75 times faster than the two best hMetis schemes) and much better scalability with circuit size (e.g., for the largest circuit with about 162K nodes, CLIP-LA2 is 10.4 and and 21.5 times faster and obtains better solution qualities than the two best hMetis schemes). Second, CLIP/CDIP are "flat" partitioners, while multilevel techniques perform a sequence of node clustering/coarsening before partitioning the circuit. In complex placement applications such as timing-driven placement in the presence of multiple constraints, such circuit coarsening can hide crucial information needed for good-quality solutions, thus making the partitioning process oblivious to them. This, however, is not a problem with flat partitioners like CLIP/CDIP that can take all important parameters into account while partitioning. All these advantages make CLIP/CDIP suitable for use in complex physical design problems for large, deep-submicron VLSI circuits.