Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Circulating tumour cells in metastatic head and neck cancers

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer with 650,000 new cases p/a worldwide. HNSCC causes high morbidity with a 5‐year survival rate of less than 60%, which has not improved due to the lack of early detection (Bozec et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2013;270: 2745–9). Metastatic disease remains one of the leading causes of death in HNSCC patients. This review article provides a comprehensive overview of literature over the past 5 years on the detection of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in HNSCC; CTC biology and future perspectives. CTCs are a hallmark of invasive cancer cells and key to metastasis. CTCs can be used as surrogate markers of overall survival and progression‐free survival. CTCs are currently used as prognostic factors for breast, prostate and colorectal cancers using the CellSearch® system. CTCs have been detected in HNSCC, however, these numbers depend on the technique applied, time of blood collection and the clinical stage of the patient. The impact of CTCs in HNSCC is not well understood, and thus, not in routine clinical practice. Validated detection technologies that are able to capture CTCs undergoing epithelial–mesenchymal transition are needed. This will aid in the capture of heterogeneous CTCs, which can be compiled as new targets for the current food and drug administration‐cleared CellSearch® system. Recent studies on CTCs in HNSCC with the CellSearch® have shown variable data. Therefore, there is an immediate need for large clinical trials encompassing a suite of biomarkers capturing CTCs in HNSCC, before CTCs can be used as prognostic markers in HNSCC patient management.
Perception of early parenting in panic and agoraphobia

Thirty‐two patients with a DSM‐III‐R diagnosis of panic disorder (PD) were administered the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), a 25‐item self‐report questionnaire devised to evaluate parental rearing practices. Compared with 32 matched health controls, PD patients scored both their parents as being significantly less caring and more overprotective. Moreover, the consistency of parental attitudes between the 2 parents was significantly lower, indicating lesser uniformity in the rearing patterns.
Circulating hepcidin in type 2 diabetes: A multivariate analysis and double blind evaluation of metformin effects.

SCOPE Very few studies have evaluated serum hepcidin in patients with type 2 diabetes and they have reported conflicting results. In addition, the effect of antidiabetic drugs on circulating hepcidin has not been explored so far. The aims of the study were to evaluate hepcidin concentrations and hepcidin/ferritin ratio in type 2 diabetes subjects and healthy non-diabetic controls and to evaluate the effect of metformin on hepcidin concentrations. METHODS AND RESULTS Study 1: Cross-sectional multivariate study of 239 non-diabetic individuals and 65 people with type 2 diabetes. The multivariate analysis included covariates of chronic inflammation, BMI, pharmacological treatment, menopausal status and insulin resistance. Study 2: Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled 4-month trial metformin compared to placebo among 36 type 2 diabetic patients. In both groups diet was controlled by maintaining a hypocaloric intake across the trial. Hepcidin levels were significantly lower in patients with type 2 diabetes than in non-diabetic individuals either in crude or adjusted regression models (P<0.05). Hepcidin decreased in both arms of the trial (Placebo, p = 0.004; metformin, p = 0.022). CONCLUSION Circulating hepcidin was significantly and independently lower in type 2 diabetes. Metformin treatment is not associated with reductions in hepcidin but hypocaloric diet could be involved.
Author's Personal Copy Computers and Mathematics with Applications Design of Robust Sliding Mode Control with Disturbance Observer for Multi-axis Coordinated Traveling System Keywords: Coordinated Control Multi-axis-driving Traveling System Sliding Mode Control Adjacent Error Disturbance Observer

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t This paper deals with the robust control strategy for multi-axis coordinated motion system. Firstly, the adjacent cross-coupling error control method was introduced to reduce the synchronization error. Then, the sliding mode control (SMC) law based on the mathematical model of the plant was adopted for restraining parameter perturbation. Furthermore, addressing the unknown torque disturbance, a disturbance observer was proposed. The switching gain of the robust control algorithm can be set as a smaller value so that the chattering on the sliding mode plane can be decreased. The simulation results have proved the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.
Transmitted Drug Resistance in the CFAR Network of Integrated Clinical Systems Cohort: Prevalence and Effects on Pre-Therapy CD4 and Viral Load

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genomes often carry one or more mutations associated with drug resistance upon transmission into a therapy-naïve individual. We assessed the prevalence and clinical significance of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in chronically-infected therapy-naïve patients enrolled in a multi-center cohort in North America. Pre-therapy clinical significance was quantified by plasma viral load (pVL) and CD4+ cell count (CD4) at baseline. Naïve bulk sequences of HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase (RT) were screened for resistance mutations as defined by the World Health Organization surveillance list. The overall prevalence of TDR was 14.2%. We used a Bayesian network to identify co-transmission of TDR mutations in clusters associated with specific drugs or drug classes. Aggregate effects of mutations by drug class were estimated by fitting linear models of pVL and CD4 on weighted sums over TDR mutations according to the Stanford HIV Database algorithm. Transmitted resistance to both classes of reverse transcriptase inhibitors was significantly associated with lower CD4, but had opposing effects on pVL. In contrast, position-specific analyses of TDR mutations revealed substantial effects on CD4 and pVL at several residue positions that were being masked in the aggregate analyses, and significant interaction effects as well. Residue positions in RT with predominant effects on CD4 or pVL (D67 and M184) were re-evaluated in causal models using an inverse probability-weighting scheme to address the problem of confounding by other mutations and demographic or risk factors. We found that causal effect estimates of mutations M184V/I ( pVL) and D67N/G ( and pVL) were compensated by K103N/S and K219Q/E/N/R. As TDR becomes an increasing dilemma in this modern era of highly-active antiretroviral therapy, these results have immediate significance for the clinical management of HIV-1 infections and our understanding of the ongoing adaptation of HIV-1 to human populations.
A Hilbert-space formulation of and variational principle for spontaneous wiggler radiation

Within the framework of Hilbert space theory, we derive a maximum-power variational principle applicable to classical spontaneous radiation from prescribed harmonic current sources. Results are first derived in the paraxial limit, then appropriately generalized to non-paraxial situations. The techniques were developed within the context of undulator radiation from relativistic electron beams, but are more broadly applicable.
Metabolic Health Status of Transition Cows in Dried up Cauvery Delta districts of Tamilnadu, India

Transition cow health assessment study with 28 crossbreed Jersey and Holstein Friesian cows of 3 to 7-year-old were under taken. They were conventionally managed under field conditions over a period of 2 years. Two blood samples were collected from each cow and were assessed for haematological and biochemical analysis. There was significant variation (p<0.05) found between MCH, MCHC and platelet values of pre and post partum cross bred cows. The erythrocyte count in pregnant cows was significantly higher than that of postpartum cows. In the present study, no significant differences were found between the prepartum and postpartum serum metabolites of globulin, phosphorus, total calcium and non-esterified fatty acids levels except for the concentrations of chloride and ionized calcium where the prepartum value was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the postpartum values.
Generation differences in the gig economy

ABSTRACT The development of digital technology is rising. It creates favorite conditions for the workforce and increases participation in the gig economy. Online jobs are getting more approachable and convenient. For many reasons, there have been differences in generations in the gig economy. Therefore, managers need to have conversation methods and policies to attract workers of each generation to participate in the gig economy. The study has been conducted to identify, analyze, evaluate, and quantify the influence of factors on the intention of different generations to participate in the gig economy. Data was collected from 374 workers of three generations (X, Y, Z) who have not yet participated in the gig economy in Vietnam– an emerging market with both potential opportunities and challenges for managers and investors. The research hypotheses were tested by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results have shown that each generation has different intentions to participate in the gig economy. Factors include perceived risk, current income, skills, flexible working time, and platform, also differently affect these generations' intentions. Some managerial implications and future researches were suggested. Keywords: difference, gig economy, generation, intention, workers
Optimal Portfolio Liquidation with Execution Cost and Risk

We study the optimal portfolio liquidation problem over a finite horizon in a limit order book with bid-ask spread and temporary market price impact penalizing speedy execution trades. We use a continuous-time modeling framework, but in contrast with previous related papers (see, e.g., [L. C. G. Rogers and S. Singh, Math. Finance, 20 (2010), pp. 597-615] and [A. Schied and T. Schoneborn, Finance Stoch. , 13 (2009), pp. 181-204]), we do not assume continuous-time trading strategies. We consider instead real trading that occur in discrete time, and this is formulated as an impulse control problem under a solvency constraint, including the lag variable tracking the time interval between trades. A first important result of our paper is to prove rigorously that nearly optimal execution strategies in this context actually lead to a finite number of trades with strictly increasing trading times, and this holds true without assuming ad hoc any fixed transaction fee. Next, we derive the dynamic programming quasi-variational inequality satisfied by the value function in the sense of constrained viscosity solutions. We also introduce a family of value functions which converges to our value function and is characterized as the unique constrained viscosity solutions of an approximation of our dynamic programming equation. This convergence result is useful for numerical purpose but is postponed until a companion paper [F. Guilbaud, M. Mnif, and H. Pham, Numerical Methods for an Optimal Order Execution Problem, preprint, 2010].
Designing a linear pension scheme with forced savings and wage heterogeneity

Abstract This paper studies the optimal linear pension scheme when society consists of rational and myopic individuals. Myopic individuals have, ex ante, a strong preference for the present even though, ex post, they would regret not to have saved enough. While rational and myopic persons share the same ex post intertemporal preferences, only the rational agents make their savings and labor supply decisions according to these preferences. Individuals are also distinguished by their productivity. The social objective is “paternalistic”: the utilitarian welfare function depends on ex post utilities. We examine how the presence of myopic individuals affects both the size of the pension system and the degree of redistribution it operates, with and without liquidity constraints. The relationship between proportion of myopic individuals and characteristics of the pension system turns out to be much more complex than one would have conjectured. Neither the impact on the level of pensions nor the effect on their redistributive degree is unambiguous. Nevertheless, we show that under some plausible assumptions adding myopic individuals increases the level of pension benefits and leads to a shift from a flat or even targeted scheme to a partially contributory one. However, we also provide an example where the degree of redistribution is not a monotonic function of the proportion of myopic individuals.
Measles outbreak on a college campus transmitted through internet cafés.

BACKGROUND During March 2008, a college in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China, reported a measles outbreak, amid a city-wide outbreak involving >2700 cases. METHODS Suspected case patients were defined as patients with onset of fever (≥38°) and rash between 7 March and 30 April 2008. Probable case patients were defined as suspected case patients with >3 days of rash or known exposure to someone with laboratory-confirmed measles. Confirmed case patients were defined as suspected or probable case patients with Koplik spots or positive titer for immunoglobulin M antibody. We conducted a case-control investigation to identify risk factors for transmission. RESULTS We identified 162 suspected (attack rate, 1.9%), 99 probable, and 62 confirmed case patients. The epidemic curve indicated a point source initially, followed by person-to-person transmission. Approximately 63% of 90 probable case patients and 27% of 150 asymptomatic student controls randomly selected among classmates of student case patients visited internet cafés during the exposure period (odds ratio [OR], 4.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-8.0); 66% of case patients and 45% of student controls reported close contact with a measles case patient (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.3-3.9). In stratified analysis, visiting internet cafés (OR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.5-11) remained significantly associated with disease, but contact with case patients (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, .79-4.4) became nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS This measles outbreak was transmitted in internet cafés, followed by secondary transmission. Chinese universities should require proof of immunity or 2 doses of measles vaccine at college entry.
Better health while you wait: a controlled trial of a computer-based intervention for screening and health promotion in the emergency department.

STUDY OBJECTIVE We evaluate a computer-based intervention for screening and health promotion in the emergency department and determine its effect on patient recall of health advice. METHODS This controlled clinical trial, with alternating assignment of patients to a computer intervention (prevention group) or usual care, was conducted in a university hospital ED. The study group consisted of 542 adult patients with nonurgent conditions. The study intervention was a self-administered computer survey generating individualized health information. Outcome measures were (1) patient willingness to take a computerized health risk assessment, (2) disclosure of behavioral risk factors, (3) requests for health information, and (4) remembered health advice. RESULTS Eighty-nine percent (470/542) of eligible patients participated. Ninety percent were black. Eighty-five percent (210/248) of patients in the prevention group disclosed 1 or more major behavioral risk factors including current smoking (79/248; 32%), untreated hypertension (28/248; 13%), problem drinking (46/248; 19%), use of street drugs (33/248; 13%), major depression (87/248; 35%), unsafe sexual behavior (84/248; 33%), and several other injury-prone behaviors. Ninety-five percent of patients in the prevention group requested health information. On follow-up at 1 week, 62% (133/216) of the prevention group patients compared with 27% (48/180) of the control subjects remembered receiving advice on what they could do to improve their health (relative risk 2.3, 95% confidence interval 1.77 to 3.01). CONCLUSION Using a self-administered computer-based health risk assessment, the majority of patients in our urban ED disclosed important health risks and requested information. They were more likely than a control group to remember receiving advice on what they could do to improve their health. Computer methodology may enable physicians to use patient waiting time for health promotion and to target at-risk patients for specific interventions.
Prospective Comparison of Collagen Plug (Angio-Seal™) and Suture-Mediated (the Closer S™) Closure Devices at Femoral Access Sites

Objective Rapid and effective hemostasis at femoral puncture sites minimizes both the hospital stay and patient discomfort. Therefore, a variety of arterial closure devices have been developed to facilitate the closure of femoral arteriotomy. The objective of this prospective study was to compare the efficacy of two different closure devices; a collagen plug device (Angio-Seal) and a suture-mediated closure device (the Closer S). Materials and Methods From March 28, 2003 to August 31, 2004, we conducted a prospective study in which 1,676 cases of 1,180 patients were treated with two different types of closure device. Angio-Seal was used in 961 cases and the Closer S in 715 cases. The efficacy of the closure devices was assessed, as well as complications occurring at the puncture sites. Results Successful immediate hemostasis was achieved in 95.2% of the cases treated with Angio-Seal, and in 89.5% of the cases treated with the Closer S (p < 0.05). The rates of minor and major complications occurring between the two groups were not significantly different. In the Closer S group, we observed four major complications (0.6%), that consisted of one massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage (surgically explored) and three pseudoaneurysms. In the Angio-Seal group, we observed three major complications (0.3%) that consisted of one femoral artery occlusion, one case of infection treated with intravenous antibiotics and one pseudoaneurysm. Conclusion The use of Angio-Seal was found to be more effective than that of the Closer S with regard to the immediate hemostasis of the femoral puncture sites. However, we detected no significant differences in the rate at which complications occurred.
Beliefs, barriers, and promotion practices of Indian nurses’ regarding healthy eating for cancer survivors in a tertiary care hospital—A cross sectional survey

Purpose To describe the beliefs, barriers and promotion practices of Indian nurses’ regarding healthy eating (HE) behaviours amongst cancer survivors, and to gain insights into whether their educational qualifications might affect the promotion of HE. Methods Data was gathered using a validated questionnaire, 388 of the approached 400 nurses who worked at a tertiary care hospital in India gave informed consent to participate in the study. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Chi square analysis (for continuous and categorical variables respectively) were performed to carry out sub-group comparisons based on the qualification of the nurses i.e., Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc) and General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM). Results The nurses believed that dieticians/nutritionists were primarily responsible for educating the cancer survivors regarding HE. HE was promoted by nurses’ relatively equally across multiple treatment stages (“during” treatment 24.4%, “post” treatment 23.1%; and “pre” treatment 22.3%). Nurses’ believed HE practices had numerous benefits, with improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (75.7%), and mental health (73.9%) being the most frequent responses. The most frequently cited barriers by the nurses in promoting HE were lack of time (22.2%), and lack of adequate support structure (19.9%). Sub-group comparisons generally revealed no significant difference between the BSc and GNM nurses in their perceptions regarding HE promotion to cancer survivors. Exceptions were how the GNM group had significantly greater beliefs regarding whether HE can “reduce risk of cancer occurrence” (p = 0.004) and “whether or not I promote HE is entirely up to me” (p = 0.002). Conclusion The nurses in India believe in the promotion of HE practices among cancer survivors across various stages of cancer treatments. However, they do face a range of barriers in their attempt to promote HE. Overcoming these barriers might facilitate effective promotion of HE among cancer survivors and help improve survivorship outcomes. Implications for cancer survivors Indian nurses employed in the two tertiary care hospitals wish to promote HE among cancer survivors, but require further knowledge and support services for more effective promotion of HE.
Second-order sufficient optimality conditions for a semilinear optimal control problem with nonlocal radiation interface conditions

We consider a control constrained optimal control problem governed by a semilinear elliptic equation with nonlocal interface conditions. These conditions occur during the modeling of diffuse- gray conductive-radiative heat transfer. After stating first-order necessary conditions, second-order sufficient conditions are derived that account for strongly active sets. These conditions ensure local optimality in an L s -neighborhood of a reference function whereby the underlying analysis allows to use weaker norms than L ∞ .
Extrahepatic Vitamin K-Dependent Gla-Proteins–Potential Cardiometabolic Biomarkers

One mechanism to regulate pathological vascular calcification (VC) is its active inhibition. Loss or inactivation of endogenic inhibitors is a major inductor of VC. Such inhibitors are proteins rich in gamma-glutamyl residues (Gla-proteins), whose function strongly depends on vitamin K. The current narrative review is focused on discussing the role of extrahepatic vitamin K-dependent Gla-proteins (osteocalcin, OC; matrix Gla-protein, MGP; Gla-rich protein, GRP) in cardio-vascular pathology. Gla-proteins possess several functionally active forms whose role in the pathogenesis of VC is still unclear. It is assumed that low circulating non-phosphorylated MGP is an indicator of active calcification and could be a novel biomarker of prevalent VC. High circulating completely inactive MGP is proposed as a novel risk factor for cardio-vascular events, disease progression, mortality, and vitamin K deficiency. The ratio between uncarboxylated (ucOC) and carboxylated (cOC) OC is considered as an indicator of vitamin K status indirectly reflecting arterial calcium. Despite the evidence that OC is an important energy metabolic regulator, its role on global cardio-vascular risk remains unclear. GRP acts as a molecular mediator between inflammation and calcification and may emerge as a novel biomarker playing a key role in these processes. Gla-proteins benefit clinical practice as inhibitors of VC, modifiable by dietary factors.