Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system does not accurately predict survival in patients receiving multimodality therapy for esophageal adenocarcinoma.

PURPOSE In patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus who receive preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT), American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, pathologic complete response (pCR), and estimated treatment response are various means used to stratify patients prognostically after surgery. However, none of these methods has been formally evaluated. The purpose of this study was to establish prognostic pathologic variables after CRT. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective review was performed of patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma who received CRT before esophagectomy. Data collected included demographics, CRT details, pathologic findings, and survival. Statistical methods included recursive partitioning and Kaplan-Meier analyses. RESULTS Two hundred seventy-six patients were appropriate for this analysis. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicates that the current AJCC system poorly distinguishes between stages 0 to IIA (P = .52), IIB to III (P = .87), and IVA to IVB (P = .30). The presence of a pCR conferred improved survival over residual disease (P = .01). Recursive partitioning analysis indicates that involved lymph nodes and metastatic disease are the best predictors of survival and that depth of invasion and degree of treatment response are less predictive. CONCLUSION The current AJCC staging system is not a good predictor of survival after CRT. Although patients with a pCR do have improved long-term survival relative to patients with residual disease, this method places too much emphasis on residual depth of invasion and fails to identify patients with residual disease who have good long-term survival. Recursive partitioning analysis more accurately identifies nodal disease and metastatic disease as the most important prognostic variables. Degree of treatment response is less prognostic than nodal involvement.
Inflaton and time in the matter-gravity system

The emergence of time in the matter-gravity system is addressed within the context of the inflationary paradigm. A quantum minisuperspace-homogeneous minimally coupled inflaton system is studied with suitable initial conditions leading to inflation and the system is approximately solved in the limit for large scale factor. Subsequently normal matter (either non homogeneous inflaton modes or lighter matter) is introduced as a perturbation and it is seen that its presence requires the coarse averaging of a gravitational wave function (which oscillates at trans-Planckian frequencies) having suitable initial conditions. Such a wave function, which is common for all types of normal matter, is associated with a ``time density'' in the sense that its modulus is related to the amount of time spent in a given interval (or the rate of flow of time). One is then finally led to an effective evolution equation (Schroedinger Schwinger-Tomonaga) for ``normal'' matter. An analogy with the emergence of a temperature in statistical mechanics is also pointed out.
Persuading Children: Long-Lasting Influences on Children's Food Consideration Sets, Choices, and Consumption

In this paper, we discuss and present different theories and multiple empirical examples of how children develop their food preferences, how their understanding of and resistance to persuasion and marketing messaging may develop, and how their consideration and choice sets change over time. Overall, the findings we present suggest that firms, consumers, and parents can benefit from taking these changes into account when making choices that affect children and when allowing children to make their own choices.
A Stakeholder Perspective on Family Firm Performance

Through the lens of stakeholder theory, this article deepens our understanding of financial and nonfinancial performance outcomes in family firms across multiple stakeholder categories, including the family level of analysis. Based on this foundation, we develop a typology of performance relationships between performance outcomes: overlapping, causal, synergistic, and substitutional. We argue that these relationships, when used between constructive (positive) performance outcomes, are able to increase stakeholder satisfaction, which in turn increases organizational effectiveness. Through this analysis, we extend the common one-dimensional and cause-effect understanding of performance in family firms and move toward a comprehensive stakeholder performance perspective, which provides insights for increasing organizational effectiveness of family firms.
On the origin of radio emission in radio-quiet quasars

The radio emission in radio-loud quasars originates in a jet carrying relativistic electrons. In radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) the relative radio emission is ∼10 3 times weaker, and its origin is not established yet. We show here that there is a strong correlation between the radio luminosity (L R ) and X-ray luminosity (L x ) with L R ∼ 10 -5 L x , for the radio-quiet Palomar-Green (PG) quasar sample. The sample is optically selected, with nearly complete radio and X-ray detections, and thus this correlation cannot be due to direct selection biases. The PG quasars lie on an extension of a similar correlation noted by Panessa et al., for a small sample of nearby low-luminosity type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGN). A remarkably similar correlation, known as the Giidel-Benz relation, where L R /L X ∼ 10 -5 , holds for coronally active stars. The Gudel-Benz relation, together with correlated stellar X-ray and radio variability, implies that the coronae are magnetically heated. We therefore raise the possibility that AGN coronae are also magnetically heated, and that the radio emission in RQQ also originates in coronal activity. If correct, then RQQ should generally display compact flat cores at a few GHz due to synchrotron self-absorption, while at a few hundred GHz we should be able to see directly the X-ray emitting corona, and relatively rapid and large amplitude variability, correlated with the X-ray variability, is likely to be seen. We also discuss possible evidence that the radio and X-ray emission in ultraluminous X-ray sources and Galactic black holes may be of coronal origin as well.
Effects of Mild Hypohydration and Hyperthermia on Cognition and Mood in Obese and Non-Obese Females

INTRODUCTION: Information regarding effects of hypohydration (HY) and hyperthermia (HT) on cognition, mood and development of symptoms is conflicting since the two conditions often confound each other. Further, although obese individuals may have physiological impairments during heat stress, whether psychological impairments occur with HY and HT is unknown. PURPOSE: To assess the independent and combined effects of mild HY and HT on cognition, mood, and the development of symptoms in obese and non-obese females. METHODS: Twenty-two healthy females (11 non-obese, 22±2y, 61±6kg, 25±4% body fat; 11 obese, 22±2y, 80±18kg, 44±5% body fat) volunteered in two randomized, repeated-measures trials, involving passive heating. 24-h prior to heat stress, females either remained euhydrated (EU) or became HY via fluid restriction. EU individuals received fluid during heating to maintain euhydration. Percent BM change and blood osmolality along with urine osmolality and specific gravity were measured prior to and after heating. Cognition (ImPACT, VAS, NASATLX), mood (Brunel Mood Scale; BRUMS), and symptoms (visual analog scales) were measured before and after a 1.0oC increase in core temperature (TC). RESULTS: Participants started the trials within the designated cut-offs for EU and HY. All HY hydration biomarkers were significantly greater than EU at baseline and when hyperthermic (p<0.05). Further EU individuals remained EU during heat stress (p>0.05). HY at baseline impaired Visual Memory and increased temporal demand, frustration, feelings of Depression, and Total Symptom Score (p<0.05). No other variables were impaired during baseline HY (p>0.05). HT, while remaining EU, impaired Visual Memory and mental task load and led to negative symptoms and mood (p<0.05). HY did not exacerbate any heat-related effects on cognition (p>0.05). However, participants reported increased temporal demand, Anger, and negative symptoms (p<0.05). Body composition did not affect any of the above-mentioned variables in any condition (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: These data indicate that HY and HT independently impair Visual Memory, mental task load, and result in development of negative symptoms. HY did not exacerbate the effects of HT on cognition, but greater impairments to mental task load and mood and development of negative symptoms did occur. Body composition does not have an effect on cognition, mood, or the development of negative symptoms with mild HY, mild HT, or when the stressors are combined. Table of
Predicted Aerobic Capacity of Asthmatic Children: A Research Study from Clinical Origin

Objective. To compare longitudinally PAC of asthmatic children against that of healthy controls during ten months. Methods. Twenty-eight asthmatic children aged 7–15 years and 27 matched controls each performed six submaximal exercise tests on treadmill, which included a test of EIA (exercise-induced asthma). Predicted aerobic capacity (mLO2/min/kg) was calculated. Spirometry and development were measured. Physical activity, medication, and “ever asthma/current asthma” were reported by questionnaire. Results. Predicted aerobic capacity of asthmatics was lower than that of controls (P = 0.0015) across observation times and for both groups an important increase in predicted aerobic capacity according to time was observed (P < 0.001). FEV1 of the asthmatic children was within normal range. The majority (86%) of the asthmatics reported pulmonary symptoms to accompany their physical activity. Physical activity (hours per week) showed important effects for the variation in predicted aerobic capacity at baseline (F = 2.28, P = 0.061) and at the T4 observation (F = 3.03, P = 0.027) and the analyses showed important asthma/control group effects at baseline, month four, and month ten. Physical activity of the asthmatics correlated positively with predicted aerobic capacity. Conclusion. The asthmatic children had consistently low PAC when observed across time. Physical activity was positively associated with PAC in the asthmatics.
Comparative experimental investigation of broken bar fault detectability in induction motors

It has been shown in the past that the zero-sequence current spectrum can be reliably used to detect broken bar faults in induction motors. Previous work was carried out with extensive FEM analysis. Although it allows detailed study of spatial and time-dependent electromagnetic characteristics of induction motors, FEM is a heavily time-consuming tool and this limits full study. So, in this work, extensive experimental testing has been performed to validate the zero sequence current spectrum for detecting rotor asymmetries. Three identical induction motors have been used: one healthy, one with a broken rotor bar, and one with two broken rotor bars. The motors were tested under different voltage supply levels and with different mechanical loads. The zero-sequence current spectrum was calculated after measuring the three phase currents. It is for the first time experimentally shown that this approach offers greater diagnostic potential than traditional MCSA.
Fall detection system based on inertial mems sensors: Analysis design and realization

This paper presents the development and analysis of inertial MEMS sensor based system that can detect falls in real time. The system is a major part of mobile human airbag system which prevents the elderly from fall induced fractures. The fall detection system hardware was designed, which could monitor the motions of the feet and waist and detect the falls in real time. Micro Inertial Measurement Units (μ IMUs) was applied in this system with Zigbee network and the fall detection algorithm what was constituted of three sub algorithms also was developed. The system was designed based on data analysis, in order to select the optimal parts for monitoring human motion and verify the algorithm performance, performance for different parts was compared by employing the pattern recognition based sub-algorithm and performance for different combination of human body segments and joints was also compared to get the better result. A wearable motion capture device was utilized to acquire the motion data. The effective extracting features were carried out and the motion classification performance was achieved and compared using the J48 decision tree classifier. Experimental results showed that the waist is the best location for motion monitoring with detection Sensitivity of 95.5%, the Specificity of 98.8% and the overall accuracy of 97.792%. Furthermore, the combination of the waist and feet sensing data was adopted with the Sensitivity of 98.9%, the Specificity of 98.5% and the overall accuracy of 98.565%. Based on the analysis, the system was designed to monitoring the motion of the combination, and the pattern recognition based sub-algorithm was also verified.
Hyperheuristic encoding scheme for multi-objective guillotine cutting problems

Most research on Strip Packing and Cutting Stock problems are focused on single-objective formulations of the problems. However, in this work we deal with more general and practical variants of the problems, which not only seeks to optimise the usage of the raw material, but also the overall production process.The problems target the cutting of a large rectangle in a set of smaller rectangles using orthogonal guillotine cuts. Common approaches are based in the minimisation of the strip length required to cut the whole set of demanded pieces (for strip problems) and in the maximisation of the total profit obtained from the available surface (for cutting stock problems). In this work we also deal with an extra objective which seeks to minimise the number of cuts involved in the cutting process, thus maximising the efficiency of the global production process. In order to obtain solutions to these problems, we have applied some of the most-known multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, since they have shown a promising behaviour when tackling multi-objective real-world problems. We have designed and implemented hyperheuristic-based encodings as an alternative to combine heuristics in such a way that a heuristic's strengths make up for the drawbacks of another.
A fast learning algorithm for multi-layer extreme learning machine

Extreme learning machine (ELM) is an efficient training algorithm originally proposed for single-hidden layer feedforward networks (SLFNs), of which the input weights are randomly chosen and need not to be fine-tuned. In this paper, we present a new stack architecture for ELM, to further improve the learning accuracy of ELM while maintaining its advantage of training speed. By exploiting the hidden information of ELM random feature space, a recovery-based training model is developed and incorporated into the proposed ELM stack architecture. Experimental results of the MNIST handwriting dataset demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves better and much faster convergence than the state-of-the-art ELM and deep learning methods.
What Should We Mean by “Pattern of Political Violence”? Repertoire, Targeting, Frequency, and Technique

To leverage the full range of observed variation in patterns of violence toward the development and testing of theories of political violence, scholars need adequate conceptual foundations: what should we mean by a pattern of violence on the part of an armed organization? Scholars often distinguish degrees or levels or types of violence across organizations and conflicts, but definitions and measures vary sharply. We argue that patterns of violence are not reducible in ways often assumed in the literature: lethal violence is not a good proxy for the overall pattern, and differences in patterns are not well captured in the binary “terror” versus “restraint. ” To address these concerns, we provide a new conceptualization of political violence, defining an organization’s pattern of violence as the configuration of repertoire, targeting, frequency, and technique in which it regularly engages. This approach adds precision to the documentation and analysis of political violence, clarifies the evaluation of rival theories, and opens up new research questions. We demonstrate its utility through an analysis of violence against civilians in Colombia, drawing on an original database of massacres, judicial proceedings, and other sources, and show that the concept of “pattern” helps bring ideology and politics back into the analysis of organized violence.
Temporally-Controlled Site-Specific Recombination in Zebrafish

Conventional use of the site-specific recombinase Cre is a powerful technology in mouse, but almost absent in other vertebrate model organisms. In zebrafish, Cre-mediated recombination efficiency was previously very low. Here we show that using transposon-mediated transgenesis, Cre is in fact highly efficient in this organism. Furthermore, temporal control of recombination can be achieved by using the ligand-inducible CreERT2. Site-specific recombination only occurs upon administration of the drug tamoxifen (TAM) or its active metabolite, 4-hydroxy-tamoxifen (4-OHT). Cre-mediated recombination is detectable already 4 or 2 hours after administration of TAM or 4-OHT, demonstrating fast recombination kinetics. In addition, low doses of TAM allow mosaic labeling of single cells. Combined, our results show that conditional Cre/lox will be a valuable tool for both, embryonic and adult zebrafish studies. Furthermore, single copy insertion transgenesis of Cre/lox constructs suggest a strategy suitable also for other organisms.
Towers of 2-covers of hyperelliptic curves

In this article, we give a way of constructing an unramified Galois-cover of a hyperelliptic curve. The geometric Galois-group is an elementary abelian 2-group. The construction does not make use of the embedding of the curve in its Jacobian, and it readily displays all subcovers. We show that the cover we construct is isomorphic to the pullback along the multiplication-by-2 map of an embedding of the curve in its Jacobian. We show that the constructed cover has an abundance of elliptic and hyperelliptic subcovers. This makes this cover especially suited for covering techniques employed for determining the rational points on curves. In particular the hyperelliptic subcovers give a chance for applying the method iteratively, thus creating towers of elementary abelian 2-covers of hyperelliptic curves. As an application, we determine the rational points on the genus 2 curve arising from the question of whether the sum of the first n fourth powers can ever be a square. For this curve, a simple covering step fails, but a second step succeeds.
Factors Influencing Neonatal Jaundice

An investigation was planned to inquire into the aetiology of neonatal jaundice other than that proved to be due to haemolytic disease. The course of the work evolved on three lines: first, a two-year period of case collection at the Birmingham Maternity Hospital; second, a comparison with another hospital reputedly having a much higher incidence of jaundice and, third, a long-term follow-up to assess any residual brain damage. The first part is reported here. The period covered two years from December 1, 1958 to November 30, 1960, excluding short periods when holidays prevented cases being recorded adequately. Babies discharged within six days of birth (home nursing) and proved cases of Rh or ABO haemolytic disease were excluded (Table 1).
The Effect of Gamification on Elementary Students’ Spanish Language Achievement and Academic Self-Efficacy

A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, non-equivalent control group design was used to examine the effect of gamification on third and fourth grade students’ Spanish language achievement and student academic self-efficacy. In this study, the primary means of incorporating gamification into the experimental group’s Spanish language instruction was through the use of Duolingo, a computer and mobile app that uses gamification and adaptive learning technology to teach foreign languages. Students in the control group received their regularly scheduled English L1/Spanish L2 class learning activities. The study was 12 weeks in duration. Students were assessed with a 50 question, multiplechoice English to Spanish and Spanish to English pretest covering vocabulary and grammar to control for prior Spanish language achievement. Students were assessed with the Pattern of Adaptive Learning Scales’ (PALS) Academic Efficacy subscale to control for prior academic self-efficacy. The same two instruments were used as posttests with questions arranged in a different order. Analysis showed no significant difference in students’ Spanish achievement between students who used Duolingo and students who were taught with traditional means. Similarly, analysis showed no significant difference in students’ academic self-efficacy who were taught with Duolingo versus those who were taught with traditional face-to-face instruction. This demonstrates that Duolingo is a useful tool for teaching Spanish to elementary students.
The role graph model and conflict of interest

We describe in more detail than before the reference model for role-based access control introduced by Nyanchama and Osborn, and the role-graph model with its accompanying algorithms, which is one way of implementing role-role relationships. An alternative role insertion algorithm is added, and it is shown how the role creation policies of Fernandez et al. correspond to role addition algorithms in our model. We then use our reference model to provide a taxonomy for kinds of conflict. We then go on to consider in some detail privilege-privilege and and role-role conflicts in conjunction with the role graph model. We show how role-role conflicts lead to a partitioning of the role graph into nonconflicting collections that can together be safely authorized to a given user. Finally, in an appendix, we present the role graph algorithms with additional logic to disallow roles that contain conflicting privileges.
The effect of visual impairment on quality of life of children aged 3–16 years

Background It is well known that visual impairment (VI) has a detrimental effect on Quality of Life (QoL) in adults. Little is known about the effects of VI in childhood. Aims To evaluate the effects of VI on QoL of children. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study containing a comparison arm for children with VI. Methods QoL in children with VI (n=24, age 10.13±2.89, 18 male, 6 female) was compared with an age-matched comparison group (n=24, age 9.83±2.81, 18 male, 6 female) using the Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire. Factors (distance and near visual acuity and age) that could be used as predictors of QoL were assessed. These were measured with standard clinical tests. Results Children with VI had significantly lower QoL scores than the comparison group (p<0.001), resulting in a 35.6% reduction in total QoL score. QoL scores in children with VI were correlated with distance and near visual acuity (p<0.05). 38% of the variance could be predicted by these factors and age. Conclusions Consideration of the effects of this reduced QoL must be made. Further studies are needed to establish the benefit to QoL of different habilitation strategies.