Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perioperative chemotherapy for urothelial cancer

In the beginning, the concept of adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery or other localized treatment modality was met with skepticism, especially among surgeons. Slowly, with earnest work from many—but notably the Milan Group in breast cancer; the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project in colon cancer; and the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial Collaborative Group, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and others in lung cancer—a 4% to50% reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence was demonstrated with adjuvant, systemic therapy after surgery in patients who were stratified based on historic criteria and categorized as being at elevated risk of recurrence. Consequently, adjuvant therapy is now standard for patients with these cancers. Progress in defining the role of neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or adjunctive systemic therapies in genitourinary cancer has been uneven. The use of adjuvant chemotherapy in the most chemosensitive tumor, testicular cancer, has been well studied to the point that success against the cancer is almost universal. The goal now is not to over treat patients and expose too many to chemotherapy-associated morbidity with the use of risk-adapted surveillance strategies based on pathologic and serum marker criteria. In prostate cancer, adjuvant androgen deprivation is a standard of care for patients who have lymph node metastases at radical prostatectomy, whereas adjuvant radiation has benefit for patients with extracapsular extension, and adjunctive androgen deprivation is a standard for patients with high-risk, localized disease who receive radiation therapy as their primary treatment. The potential role of perioperative chemotherapy in prostate cancer is unclear. Renal cell cancer has suffered from a lack of drugs that are suitable for use in the adjuvant setting until the recent advent of agents targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor pathways. One of the great paradoxes of modern genitourinary cancer therapeutics is the relative lack of benefit for chemotherapy in the adjunctive setting for patients with bladder cancer who either undergo surgery or receive radiation. In advanced transitional-cell urothelial cancer, cisplatin-based chemotherapy has a response rate in excess of 45%, albeit with limited durability in many patients. Concurrent cisplatin
Influence of cultural factors in dynamic trust in automation

The use of autonomous systems has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. To improve human-automation interaction, trust has been closely studied. Research shows trust is critical in the development of appropriate reliance on automation. To examine how trust mediates the human-automation relationships across cultures, the present study investigated the influences of cultural factors on trust in automation. Theoretically guided empirical studies were conducted in the U.S., Taiwan and Turkey to examine how cultural dynamics affect various aspects of trust in automation. The results found significant cultural differences in human trust attitude in automation.
A Comprehensive Distributed Hydrological Modeling Intercomparison to Support Process Representation and Data Collection Strategies

The improvement of process representations in hydrological models is often only driven by the modelers' knowledge and data availability. We present a comprehensive comparison between two hydrological models of different complexity that is developed to support (1) the understanding of the differences between model structures and (2) the identification of the observations needed for model assessment and improvement. The comparison is conducted on both space and time and by aggregating the outputs at different spatiotemporal scales. In the present study, mHM, a process‐based hydrological model, and ParFlow‐CLM, an integrated subsurface‐surface hydrological model, are used. The models are applied in a mesoscale catchment in Germany. Both models agree in the simulated river discharge at the outlet and the surface soil moisture dynamics, lending their supports for some model applications (drought monitoring). Different model sensitivities are, however, found when comparing evapotranspiration and soil moisture at different soil depths. The analysis supports the need of observations within the catchment for model assessment, but it indicates that different strategies should be considered for the different variables. Evapotranspiration measurements are needed at daily resolution across several locations, while highly resolved spatially distributed observations with lower temporal frequency are required for soil moisture. Finally, the results show the impact of the shallow groundwater system simulated by ParFlow‐CLM and the need to account for the related soil moisture redistribution. Our comparison strategy can be applied to other models types and environmental conditions to strengthen the dialog between modelers and experimentalists for improving process representations in Earth system models.
An infrastructure for detecting and punishing malicious hosts using mobile agent watermarking

Mobile agents are software entities consisting of code, data, and state that can migrate autonomously from host to host executing their code. In such scenario there are some security issues that must be considered. In particular, this paper deals with the protection of mobile agents against manipulation attacks performed by the host, which is one of the main security issues to solve in mobile agent systems. This paper introduces an infrastructure for mobile agent watermarking (MAW). MAW is a lightweight approach that can efficiently detect manipulation attacks performed by potentially malicious hosts that might seek to subvert the normal agent operation. MAW is the first proposal in the literature that adapts software watermarks to verify the execution integrity of an agent. The second contribution of this paper is a technique to punish a malicious host that performed a manipulation attack by using a trusted third party (TTP) called host revocation authority (HoRA). A proof-of-concept has also been developed and we present some performance evaluation results that demonstrate the usability of the proposed mechanisms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Alteration Processes of Paleoproterozoic Manganese Protores of the North Téra: Mineralogy and Geochemistry (West Africa)

The manganese deposit of North Téra is located in the western side of the Diagorou-Darbani greenstone belt in the Niger Liptako Province (Northeastern part of Man Schield, West African Craton). Manganese mineralization bearing rocks are mainly gondites (a kind of garnet-rich quartzite of the spessartine type) whose borders consist of a high concentration of Mn oxide concretions. The methodological approach implemented consisted of a field study followed by a polarizing microscopic analysis in transmitted and reflected light and a geochimical analysis. North Téra gondites originate from Birimian manganese-rich sediments metamorphism in amphibolite facies. The supergene alteration, more or less important, has developed on the protore of gondites, a saprolitic profile whose setting up conditions were recently described in our previous work. The macroscopic analysis of the manganese deposits samples combined with the metallographic microscopic and geochemical analysis confirms that manganese mineralization originated from weathering processes. The first oxide that forms around the garnets is nsutite, while the mesostasis is invaded by pyrolusite with lenses of lithiophorite destabilizing in favor of pyrolusite. In the botryoidal concretions, the latter forms an alternation with the psilomelane rich in Ba (8,101ppm) in the uppermost levels. The abundance diagram shows that the normalize Rare Earths compared to PAAS derived from a plagioclase-rich quartzitic source. This observation is corroborated by a positive anomaly in Eu. Otherwise, the high levels of transition elements (Ni, V, Co and Cr) highlight the involvement of a basic source. The contents of major elements show a significant leaching, with an increase in those of Mn and Al during the increasing weathering. The CIA and PIA indices move in the same direction towards high values leading to the Al2O3 pole on the Al2O3-CaO * + Na2O-K2O diagram. This indicates an increasing alteration along the profile, according to an alteration path comprising plagioclase-smectite-kaolinite and illite to kaolinite.
Root Growth-promoting Activity of Unsaturated Oligomeric Uronates from Alginate on Carrot and Rice Plants

The root elongation activity of unsaturated oligomeric uronates from alginate on carrot and rice plants was investigated. Unsaturated oligomeric uronates were prepared by digesting polymannuronate (PM) and polyguluronate (PG) with an alginate lyase purified from Pseudoalteromonas sp. strain No. 272. The root elongation activity was measured by elongation in length of carrot- and rice-excised root incubated in the B5-medium containing 0.8% agar in the dark. PM and PG showed no activity, but the enzymatic digestion mixtures of PG had promoting activity on roots of both plants at a final concentration of 0.5 mg/ml. The maximum activity was obtained at 0.75 mg/ml. The dependence of activity on degree of polymerization of the uronates was tested and the pentamer was most active, but the mechanism of the action of unsaturated uronates on the cells remains to be solved.
An investigation of some properties of endothelium related to capillary permeability

The muscle capillaries of hearts taken directly from rats and mice, or perfused in vitro through the coronary vessels, were investigated by electron microscopy. The electron-dense marker particles ferritin and saccharated iron oxide were introduced into the blood or perfusion fluid. Versene, enzymes, surface active agents, and inhibitors of metabolism were added to the perfusion fluid, and perfusion was also carried out at 0 °C. Caveolae and vesicles were present in the endothelium of perfused hearts after all these measures; in damaged cells they disappeared in parallel with the cell and nuclear membranes. Particles entered caveolae and vesicles from the lumen under all conditions of perfusion. With saccharated iron oxide it was not certain w hat proportion of particles entering caveolae from the lumen passed right through the cell, since some of the particles in external caveolae could have come from accumulations in the basement membrane. Small numbers of ferritin molecules seemed to traverse the cell by the caveolae and vesicles in perfused hearts and in the whole animal. Groups or chains of communicating caveolae and vesicles were often seen. The cells remained closely apposed and the junctions intact in all preparations. Saccharated iron oxide passed into the junctions. In perfused hearts a variable amount left the vessels by this route, which was probably the main source of accumulations in the basement membrane and extravascular structures. Very little ferritin entered the junctions either in the intact animal or in vitro. The basement membrane was largely removed by papain and by impure preparations of collagenase but was not clearly affected by the other enzymes used. The removal of calcium from the perfusion fluid caused the basement membrane to separate from the endothelium.
The energy cost of cryptographic key establishment in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor nodes generally face serious limitations in terms of computational power, energy supply, and network bandwidth. Therefore, the implementation of effective and secure techniques for setting up a shared secret key between sensor nodes is a challenging task. In this paper we analyze and compare the energy cost of two different protocols for authenticated key establishment. The first protocol employs a lightweight variant of the Kerberos key transport mechanism with 128-bit AES encryption. The second protocol is based on ECMQV, an authenticated version of the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange, and uses a 256-bit prime field GF(p) as underlying algebraic structure. We evaluate the energy cost of both protocols on a Rockwell WINS node equipped with a 133 MHz Strong ARM processor and a 100 kbit/s radio module. The evaluation considers both the processor's energy consumption for calculating cryptographic primitives and the energy cost of radio communication for different transmit power levels. Our simulation results show that the ECMQV key exchange consumes up to twice as much energy as Kerberos-like key transport.
Localization of the RNA Binding Domain of the IHi Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus Rev Protein

The Lentivirus life replication cycle involves the synthesis of viral RNAs. These RNAs are divided in three groups: fully spliced, partially spliced and unspliced mRNAs. As described in HIV-1, the fully spliced viral mRNAs encode regulatory proteins including Tat and Rev whereas the partially spliced viral mRNAs produce enzymatic and structural proteins. The unspliced RNAs are template for genomic viral RNAs that will be packaged for the production of progeny viruses [1,2]. The fully spliced viral mRNAs are exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm of the infected cells through standard cellular machinery. In contrast, nuclear exportation of unspliced and partially spliced viral mRNAs is accomplished with the involvement of the HIV-1 Rev protein[1]. Rev forms a multimeric protein complex on the Rev responsive element (RRE), a secondary RNA structure that is present in unspliced and partially spliced viral mRNAs [3].
Redundant Basal Forebrain Modulation in Taste Aversion Memory Formation

Mnemonic deficits resulting from excitotoxic lesion of the basal forebrain have been classically attributed to the resulting depletion of cortical acetylcholine activity. It has been demonstrated that in spite of the strong cholinergic depletion after injections into the basal forebrain of the immunotoxin 192IgG–saporin, no detectable deficit can be found in the acquisition of several learning tasks, including conditioned taste aversion. Conversely, NMDA-induced lesions of the basal forebrain strongly impair taste aversion learning. In this study we show that 192IgG–saporin produces an efficient and selective cholinergic deafferentation of the rat neocortex but not the amygdala. Furthermore, a stronger relationship between severity of memory impairment after NMDA lesions and basoamygdaloid cholinergic deafferentation was found. Therefore, in a second experiment, we show that combining NMDA-induced lesions into the basolateral amygdala with 192IgG–saporin injections into the basal forebrain results in a strong disruption of taste aversion learning, whereas none of these treatments were by themselves capable of producing any detectable impairment in this learning task. The double lesion effect was only paralleled by simple NMDA lesions into the basal forebrain, suggesting that the learning deficits associated to excitotoxic lesions of the basal forebrain are the result of the simultaneous destruction of the corticopetal and basoamygdaloid interaction. A model is proposed, according to which the modulation of learning processes exerted by the basal forebrain can be redundantly performed by both the basocortical and basoamygdaloid pathway.
Randomized Comparison of Coronary Stent Implantation Under Ultrasound or Angiographic Guidance to Reduce Stent Restenosis (OPTICUS Study)

Background—Observational studies in selected patients have shown remarkably low restenosis rates after ultrasound-guided stent implantation. However, it is unknown whether this implantation strategy improves long-term angiographic and clinical outcome in routine clinical practice. Methods and Results—A total of 550 patients with a symptomatic coronary lesion or silent ischemia were randomly assigned to either ultrasound-guided or angiography-guided implantation of ≤2 tubular stents. The primary end points were angiographic dichotomous restenosis rate, minimal lumen diameter, and percent diameter stenosis after 6 months as determined by quantitative coronary angiography. Secondary end points were the occurrence rates of major adverse cardiac events (death, myocardial infarction, coronary bypass surgery, and repeat percutaneous intervention) after 6 and 12 months of follow-up. At 6 months, repeat angiography revealed no significant differences between the groups with ultrasound- or angiography-guided stent implantation with respect to dichotomous restenosis rate (24.5% versus 22.8%, P =0.68), minimal lumen diameter (1.95±0.72 mm versus 1.91±0.68 mm, P =0.52), and percent diameter stenosis (34.8±20.6% versus 36.8±19.6%, P =0.29), respectively. At 12 months, neither major adverse cardiac events (relative risk, 1.07; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.52;P =0.71) nor repeat percutaneous interventions (relative risk 1.04; 95% CI 0.64 to 1.67;P =0.87) were reduced in the ultrasound-guided group. Conclusions—This study does not support the routine use of ultrasound guidance for coronary stenting. Angiography-guided optimization of tubular stents can be performed with comparable angiographic and clinical long-term results.
17.8 A compact 130GHz fully packaged point-to-point wireless system with 3D-printed 26dBi lens antenna achieving 12.5Gb/s at 1.55pJ/b/m

Low-cost, energy efficient, high-capacity, scalable, and easy-to-deploy point-to-point wireless links at mm-waves find a variety of applications including data intensive systems (e.g., data centers), interactive kiosks, and many emerging applications requiring data pipelines. Operating above 100GHz enables compact low-footprint system solutions that can multiplex Tb/s aggregate rates for dense deployments; therefore competing with wired solution in many aspects including rate and efficiency, but much more flexible for deployment. The focus is on small-footprint fully integrated solutions, which overcome traditional packaging challenges imposed at >100GHz with commercial and low-cost solutions.
The role of dendritic cells in the pathogenesis of HIV‐1 infection

Dendritic cells are professional antigen‐presenting cells required for generation of adaptive immunity. These cells are one of the initial target cells for HIV‐1 infection or capture of virions at site of transmission in the mucosa. DCs carrying HIV‐1 will migrate to the lymphoid tissue where they can contribute to the dissemination of the virus to adjacent CD4+ T cells. In addition, HIV‐1–exposed DCs may have impaired antigen‐presenting capacity resulting in inadequate expansion of HIV‐1–specific T cell responses. Here, we review the infection of different subtypes of DCs by HIV‐1 and the relevance of these cells in the transmission and establishment of HIV‐1 disease. In addition, we discuss the mechanisms through which HIV‐1–DC interactions could be exploited to optimise the generation and maintenance of HIV‐1–specific T cell immunity.
Intervention of tilapia cage culture in the River Dakatia: Threaten or blessed to local fish diversity

The study was undertaken to represent the comparison of availability of fish species before and after intervention of Tilapia cage culture in the Dakatia River. Data were collected on the basis of surveying from local cage farmers, local fishers and fish retailer of local markets. The study was conducted in the five different cage culture areas of the River Dakatia at Chandpur Sadar Upazilla for two years from July/2014 to June/16 on monthly basis. Fishes from twenty four different families under different orders such as Pleuronectiformes, Syngnathiformes, Angulliformes, Tetraodontiformes, Cypriniformes, Clupeiformes, and Perciformes were available in those areas. Before the intervention of tilapia cage culture total numbers of available fish species were 75 and after intervention of the cage culture the number becomes 77 because two species tilapia and Nile tilapia/Nilotica were added in those areas. Higher number of fish species found under Cypriniformes and the number was forty-four which comprised 57% and family Cyprinidiae comprised 25 species which is 32% of total fish species found in this study. The feed which supplied to the cage not only used by that Tilapia and Nilotica but also other fish species that habited in those areas. Therefore, Tilapia cage culture in the Dakatia River was found not threatened to local fish diversity but it helped to increase the production of local species as well as cultured species.
Decreased lung function in one year survivors of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation conditioned with high-dose busulphan and cyclophosphamide.

Conditioning with busulphan (BU) and cyclophosphamide (CY) prior to allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an alternative to regimens that include total body irradiation (TBI). The aim of the study was to assess the occurrence and degree of lung function impairment after this treatment. Prospectively, 43 consecutive patients, aged 17-51 (median 31) yrs, were examined by lung function measurements and clinical and radiographic evaluation, prior to BMT and at 3 month intervals up to 1 yr after BMT. All patients had normal chest radiographs before BMT and at the 12 month follow-up. Mean baseline values were above 100% of predicted normal for lung volumes and above 90% for gas transfer. Excluded from the lung function follow-up analyses were nine patients who had suffered infectious pneumonia and/or developed obliterative bronchiolitis. For the remaining patients (n = 34), mean alveolar volume (VA), forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) had dropped by nearly 10% compared with baseline 3 months after BMT, but were restored within 1 yr. FEV1/FVC x 100 (FEV1%) was increased, reflecting the restrictive pattern. Hb-adjusted transfer factor of the lungs for carbon monoxide (TL,CO) had dropped by 20% after 3 months, and remained reduced by 15% after 1 year. Prior to BMT the smokers had significantly lower TL,CO than the nonsmokers, and after BMT the difference was accentuated. Reductions in lung function were independent of sex, age and type of haematological disorder. We conclude that BMT with BU/CY is associated with transient declines in lung volumes and a persistent reduction in gas transfer 1 yr after therapy. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)