Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anxiety and Fear of Recurrence Despite a Good Prognosis: An Interview Study with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND Despite a good prognosis, fear of recurrence is prevalent, even several years after a diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). For this reason, the aim of this study was to make an in-depth exploration of anxiety, sources of anxiety, and protective strategies. METHODS In order to capture a broad description of the phenomenon, a purposeful, maximum variation sampling strategy regarding age, sex, stage of disease, educational level, and time since diagnosis was used. In total, 21 patients were included in the study. Semi-structured interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. RESULTS Patients with and without recurrences narrated a picture indicating anxiety related to their current situation; future risks and threats were central to this picture. However, they initially minimized or even denied having anxiety, but subsequently described it as a major problem at the end of the interviews. Anxiety was related to risk of recurrence and the risk of developing other cancers, but also to fears of a future situation where no further treatment options were available. Previous experiences of delayed investigations added to these fears. In order to cope, patients developed protective strategies in order to keep evasive and frightening thoughts away. Everyday life, distractions, and focusing on "the small things in life" were examples of such strategies. CONCLUSIONS Anxiety is a common, although partially hidden, problem in DTC survivors, as they tended to deny it early in the dialogues. As anxiety is clearly related to follow-up routines, these should therefore be revaluated.
Clinical trials and progress with paclitaxel in ovarian cancer

Paclitaxel is a front-line agent for ovarian cancer chemotherapy, along with the platinum agents. Derived from the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia, paclitaxel has covered significant ground from the initial discovery of its antineoplastic properties to clinical applications in many forms of human cancers, including ovarian cancer. Although much has been published about the unique mechanism of action of this agent, several issues remain to be resolved. Finding the appropriate dosage schedule for paclitaxel in chemo-naïve and recurrent ovarian cancer, defining the role of paclitaxel in maintenance chemotherapy, and elucidating the mechanisms of taxane resistance are areas of intense research. Newer forms of taxanes are being manufactured to avoid troublesome adverse effects and to improve clinical efficacy. These issues are reviewed in detail in this paper with an emphasis on clinically relevant evidence-based information.
Evaluation of the One-Step Multiplex Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR ProFlu-1 Assay for Detection of Influenza A and Influenza B Viruses and Respiratory Syncytial Viruses in Children

ABSTRACT We evaluated the one-step multiplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR ProFlu-1 assay for the detection of influenza A and influenza B viruses and respiratory syncytial viruses from 353 pediatric nasopharyngeal aspirates. As assessed by comparison with the results of immunofluorescence testing and cell culture, the specificity and the sensitivity of the ProFlu-1 assay ranged from 97% to 100%. In addition, the ProFlu-1 assay amplified 9% of samples not detected by conventional methods.
Functional Relevance of CpG Island Length for Regulation of Gene Expression

CpG islands mark CpG-enriched regions in otherwise CpG-depleted vertebrate genomes. While the regulatory importance of CpG islands is widely accepted, it is little appreciated that CpG islands vary greatly in lengths. For example, CpG islands in the human genome vary ∼30-fold in their lengths. Here we report findings suggesting that the lengths of CpG islands have functional consequences. Specifically, we show that promoters associated with long CpG islands (long-CGI promoters) are distinct from other promoters. First, long-CGI promoters are uniquely associated with genes with an intermediate level of gene expression breadths. Notably, intermediate expression breadths require the most complex mode of gene regulation, from the standpoint of information content. Second, long-CGI promoters encode more RNA polymerase II (Polr2a) binding sites than other promoters. Third, the actual binding patterns of Polr2a occur in a more tissue-specific manner in long-CGI promoters compared to other CGI promoters. Moreover, long-CGI promoters contain the largest numbers of experimentally characterized transcription start sites compared to other promoters, and the types of transcription start sites in them are biased toward tissue-specific patterns of gene expression. Finally, long-CGI promoters are preferentially associated with genes involved in development and regulation. Together, these findings indicate that functionally relevant variations of CpG islands exist. By investigating consequences of certain CpG island traits, we can gain additional insights into the mechanism and evolution of regulatory complexity of gene expression.
Proteotoxic stress reprograms the chromatin landscape of SUMO modification

Cells use SUMO-2 to stabilize chromatin-associated proteins and cope with stress. SUMO-2 to the rescue In response to various proteotoxic stresses, such as heat shock or accumulation of misfolded proteins, cells activate protective mechanisms that depend on the production and function of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and other protein chaperones. Seifert et al. found that in response to various proteotoxic stresses, chromatin-associated proteins at sites of active genes were conjugated to SUMO-2 (small ubiquitin-like modifier 2) proteins. Rather than stimulate or repress target gene expression, conjugation with SUMO-2 enhanced the stability of protein complexes at transcription start sites, thus enabling cells to first withstand the initial effects of stress and express genes encoding HSPs and the other factors required for cell survival. The small ubiquitin-like modifier 2 (SUMO-2) is required for survival when cells are exposed to treatments that induce proteotoxic stress by causing the accumulation of misfolded proteins. Exposure of cells to heat shock or other forms of proteotoxic stress induces the conjugation of SUMO-2 to proteins in the nucleus. We investigated the chromatin landscape of SUMO-2 modifications in response to heat stress. Through chromatin immunoprecipitation assays coupled to high-throughput DNA sequencing and mRNA sequencing, we showed that in response to heat shock, SUMO-2 accumulated at nucleosome-depleted, active DNA regulatory elements, which represented binding sites for large protein complexes and were predominantly associated with active genes. However, SUMO did not act as a direct transcriptional repressor or activator of these genes during heat shock. Instead, integration of our results with published proteomics data on heat shock–induced SUMO-2 substrates supports a model in which the conjugation of SUMO-2 to proteins acts as an acute stress response that is required for the stability of protein complexes involved in gene expression and posttranscriptional modification of mRNA. We showed that the conjugation of SUMO-2 to chromatin-associated proteins is an integral component of the proteotoxic stress response, and propose that SUMO-2 fulfills its essential role in cell survival by contributing to the maintenance of protein complex homeostasis.
Lightweight Composite Building Materials with Hemp (cannabis Sativa L.) Additives

Lightweight Composite Building Materials with Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.) Additives Raitis Brencis*, Stanislavs Pleiksnis, Juris Skujans, Aleksandrs Adamovics, Uldis Gross a Latvia university of Agriculture, Faculty of Environment and Civil Engineering, Akademijas st. 19, Jelgava, Latvia Latvia university of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Liela st. 2, Jelgava, Latvia Latvia university of Agriculture, Faculty of Information technologies, Liela st. 2, Jelgava, Latvia raitis.brencis@llu.lv
Comparative study regarding the methods of interpolation

An important problem between specialists is the interpolation of the surfaces determined by classics or modern techniques. Choosing the proper technique is practically a rigorous study regarding all the interpolation methods and using that method according to the needs of the project. The determination of the Digital terrain model, the digital surface model from GNSS, LiDAR or classic measurements, the determination of the surface of the quasi – geoid surface with the geometric method from GNSS and leveling observations are one of the projects that use the interpolation techniques. In this paper are shortly presented the main methods for interpolating the surfaces as: polynomial interpolation, Delaunay triangulation, nearest neighbor, natural neighbor, Kriging, inverse distance weighting (IDW) and spline functions. The study ends with a comparative study regarding the characteristics of each method presented. Key-Words: -interpolation, surface, Delaunay triangulation, Kriging, Inverse distance weighting (IDW)
Ultrasensitive Detection of Residual Pesticides Using THz Near-Field Enhancement

We present a novel type of highly sensitive and selective detection method for residual pesticide molecules including, e.g., methomyl using nanoscale metamaterials based terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) system. Nanoscale slot-antenna-based metamaterials were designed for the strong THz resonance at a certain frequency, where the specific molecule has intramolecular or intermolecular collective vibrational mode. Enhanced THz near-field via a nano-antenna metamaterial strongly increases absorption cross section, and this leads to the detection sensitivity up to parts-per-billion level even in a solution state of pesticide sample. Measured transmittance and reflectance spectrum results show excellent performances in both sensitivity and selectivity. We also imaged reflected THz signals though our THz nano-metamaterials in a nondestructive manner to simply detect the contained residual pesticide at the surface of an apple as it is, without any treatment. This observation can offer the possibility for further various applications as prompt and accurate molecule sensing tools in real time.
CA1 subfield contributions to memory integration and inference

The ability to combine information acquired at different times to make novel inferences is a powerful function of episodic memory. One perspective suggests that by retrieving related knowledge during new experiences, existing memories can be linked to the new, overlapping information as it is encoded. The resulting memory traces would thus incorporate content across event boundaries, representing important relationships among items encountered during separate experiences. While prior work suggests that the hippocampus is involved in linking memories experienced at different times, the involvement of specific subfields in this process remains unknown. Using both univariate and multivariate analyses of high‐resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, we localized this specialized encoding mechanism to human CA1. Specifically, right CA1 responses during encoding of events that overlapped with prior experience predicted subsequent success on a test requiring inferences about the relationships among events. Furthermore, we employed neural pattern similarity analysis to show that patterns of activation evoked during overlapping event encoding were later reinstated in CA1 during successful inference. The reinstatement of CA1 patterns during inference was specific to those trials that were performed quickly and accurately, consistent with the notion that linking memories during learning facilitates novel judgments. These analyses provide converging evidence that CA1 plays a unique role in encoding overlapping events and highlight the dynamic interactions between hippocampal‐mediated encoding and retrieval processes. More broadly, our data reflect the adaptive nature of episodic memories, in which representations are derived across events in anticipation of future judgments. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Monoclonal antibodies against human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV) p24 internal core protein. Use as diagnostic probes and cellular localization of HTLV

Four monoclonal antibodies, human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV) 6, 7, 8, and 9, which react with the 24,000 dalton internal core protein of HTLVI, have been developed. These monoclonal antibodies reacted with only HTLV-infected cells and not with a broad spectrum of normal, neoplastic, mitogen-stimulated, or virus-infected cells and tissues. HTLV 6, 7, 8, and 9 identified at least two different antigenic determinants on HTLV p24 that were also recognized by antibodies present in HTLV+ patient sera. Monoclonal antibodies HTLV 6, 7, 8, and 9 reacted in indirect immunofluorescence assays with HTLV p24 localized at the cell surface of 5-d cultures of HTLV-infected T cells and, as well, reacted with T cells infected with HTLVII, a new type of HTLV isolated from a patient (MO) with a T cell variant of hairy cell leukemia. Thus, HTLV 6, 7, 8, and 9 should prove to be useful diagnostic reagents in the identification of HTLV- and HTLVII-infected T cells.
Micellar Solubilization of Some Poorly Soluble Antidiabetic Drugs: A Technical Note

Poor aqueous solubility is usually a major obstacle in the development of therapeutic agents. Some of the approaches commonly used to enhance the solubility of poorly soluble drugs include use of co-solvents (1–2), selection of salt form (3–4), increase of specific surface area by reduction of particle size (5), complex formation with excipients such as hydrophilic polymers and cyclodextrins (6–8), change of crystal form (polymorphism/amorphism) (9) and preparation of solid dispersions (10–11). Micellar solubilization is a widely used alternative for the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs (12–14). Depending upon the drug hydrophobicity, it can be solubilized in the inner core of the micelle, on the surface of the micelle or at an intermediate location in the palisade layer. Solubilization of drugs by surfactant systems has been reviewed and discussed by many investigators (15–17). The antidiabetic drugs used in the present work belong to class II (poor solubility and high permeability) of the biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS). Improvement in the solubility of glyburide by solid dispersion technique has been reported (18). Ammar et al. (19) have shown that the association of water soluble polymers with glimepiride–cyclodextrin systems leads to great enhancement in the dissolution rate of the drug. Complexation with cyclodextrin has been reported to increase the solubility of gliclazide (20–21). Surfactants have also been used to enhance the solubility of antidiabetic drugs (22–23). Alkhamis et al. (22) have studied the solubilization efficiency and locus of solubilization of gliclazide for various surfactants. A hydroalcoholic surfactant solution with a relatively low alcohol and Tween-80 content buffered at pH 7.4 has been used as dissolution medium for glyburide (23). However, detailed studies on surfactant solubilization of a wide range of antidiabetic drugs have not been reported. In addition to improving solubility and bioavailability of drugs, the use of micelles as drug carriers also presents other advantages such as reduced toxicity, enhanced permeability and longer residence time in the system (16). In the present paper an attempt has been made to enhance the solubility of seven antidiabetic drugs, gliclazide, glyburide, glimepiride, glipizide, repaglinide, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone using cationic, anionic and non-ionic surfactants and their mixtures.
A pitch-contour generation method combining ANN, global variance, and real-contour selection

Pitch contours are important for synthesizing highly natural speech signal. In this paper, we study a new pitch-contour generation method. The proposed method combines ANN prediction module with global-variance matching (GVM) and real contour selection (RCS) modules. A syllable pitch contour is first analyzed and then transformed to a DCT-coefficient vector via discrete cosine transform (DCT). Each sequence of DCT vectors analyzed from a training sentence plus contextual parameters is then used to train the ANN weights and GVM parameters. In pitch-contour generation experiments, we measure variance-ratio (VR) values for objective evaluations. The modules, i.e. GVM and RCS, are shown to be helpful to promote VR values. In addition, in subjective evaluation, the pitch-contour generation method, i.e. ANN + GVM, is shown to be more natural than the method only using ANN. Moreover, the ANN + GVM + RCS method is shown to be better than ANN + GVTVL.
Network coding for efficient communication in extreme networks

Some forms of ad-hoc networks need to operate in extremely performance-challenged environments where end-to-end connectivity is rare. Such environments can be found for example in very sparse mobile networks where nodes "meet" only occasionally and are able to exchange information, or in wireless sensor networks where nodes sleep most of the time to conserve energy. Forwarding mechanisms in such networks usually resort to some form of intelligent flooding, as for example in probabilistic routing.We propose a communication algorithm that significantly reduces the overhead of probabilistic routing algorithms, making it a suitable building block for a delay-tolerant network architecture. Our forwarding scheme is based on network coding. Nodes do not simply forward packets they overhear but may send out information that is coded over the contents of several packets they received. We show by simulation that this algorithm achieves the reliability and robustness of flooding at a small fraction of the overhead.
Discriminative metric design for robust pattern recognition

Motivated by the development of discriminative feature extraction (DFE), many researchers have come to realize the importance of designing a front-end feature extraction unit with an appropriate link to backend classification. This paper proposes an advanced formalization of DFE, which we call the discriminative metric design (DMD), and elaborates on its exemplar implementation by using a simple, linear feature transformation matrix. The resulting DMD implementation is shown to have a close relationship to various discriminative pattern recognizers, including artificial neural networks. The utility of the proposed method is clearly demonstrated in speech pattern recognition experiments.
Bird composition as an ecological indicator of forest disturbance levels

Ecological indicators are needed to evaluate natural biodiversity and to estimate environmental change. I used bird community composition as an environmental indicator to evaluate forest disturbance (at the community level) in areas of Western Mexico. Surveyed bird and vegetation composition data at 79 sites within regions of the Sierra Madre del Sur and Transvolcanic Belt Provinces of Central Mexico were used. Bird species were classified into four habitat assemblages (groupings) according to their habitat preference (the habitat characteristic for their presence). Birds found primarily in late successional forests are sensitive to forest disturbance and a predominant presence of these species would indicate an undisturbed mature forest habitat. Birds tolerant to forest disturbance are characteristic of early-successional, clearcut, brushy and fragmented landscapes. Presence of predominately disturbance tolerant species would suggest a disturbed habitat. The number of species in each habitat assemblage were counted for each site and used to calculate bird community index values. The bird community index provides a value to assess the habitat disturbance on bird communities. Bird species were also classified into nesting, foraging and feeding guilds. In order to evaluate the relationship between individual species response and responses of other species of that same functional group, correlation coefficients between the presence or absence of each individual species and the number of co-occurring species from the same functional group or habitat assemblage were calculated. Binary logistic regressions were used to predict the probability of occurrence (for the dominant 4 co-occurring birds within each functional group and habitat assemblage) relative to percent canopy cover. Correlations between functional group species richness and average percent canopy cover and average stand basal area were calculated. Habitat assemblage species richness and total species richness for each site were also correlated to those same values. Bird communities on the majority of the surveyed areas were dominated by disturbance sensitive species. Only one site was dominated by disturbance tolerant species. Habitat assemblage and guild members showed internal cohesion (consistent responses to different disturbance levels) but did not show strong correlations to the canopy cover and basal area. The probability of occurrence versus canopy cover for the four top birds in each guild and habitat did not show consistent trends, indicating different responses toward vegetation metrics within the grouped species. The bird community index also did not show strong correlations to the percent cover and basal area, suggesting that the index should not be used independently in assessing bird community and forest condition. Because data on forestry and avian communities in Mexico are not readily available, bird community surveys could still serve as a good tool for assessing forest condition at the community level in this region.
DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD TO EVALUATE WRINKLING TENDENCY OF INK-JET PAPERS

DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD TO EVALUATE WRINKLING TENDENCY OF INK-JET PAPERS by Brahmananda Reddy Mulaka This thesis presents the development of an apparatus and method to characterize the propensity of papers to form wrinkles in commercial ink-jet printing. An apparatus was developed to apply ink to the paper and then capture the dynamic features of wrinkle development using Shadow Moiré fringe technique and quantify the severity of wrinkling. The developed techniques enable the study of structural and manufacturing variables of the ink-jet papers that affect the severity of wrinkling. A parametric study was carried out to evaluate the influence of specimen dimensions, width of inked region, and tensile load on wrinkling severity. From the fringe images, a set of wrinkle parameters were determined. Finally, twelve different commercial ink-jet papers were studied using the test conditions determined from the parametric study. The proposed method provides a reasonable laboratory technique to evaluate wrinkle tendency of papers. DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD TO EVALUATE WRINKLING TENDENCY OF INK-JET PAPERS A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Paper Science and Engineering by Brahmananda Reddy Mulaka Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2005 Advisor ___________________________ Dr. Douglas W. Coffin Reader ___________________________ Dr. Robert C. Peterson Reader ___________________________ Dr. Martin D. Sikora