Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term survival after high-dose salvage chemotherapy for germ cell malignancies with adverse prognostic variables.

PURPOSE Independent prognostic variables for patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) as salvage modality for germ cell tumors (GCT) were previously described, and a score was created. Patients with more than 2 points had a poor prognosis. However, these data were from patients treated from 1984 to 1993, and most received a single HDCT course. In this study, we evaluated outcomes at Indiana University and determined the applicability of the Beyer score to contemporary poor-risk patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who received salvage HDCT between 1988 and 2001 and had at least one of the following characteristics: platinum-refractory or absolutely platinum-refractory GCT, primary mediastinal nonseminomatous GCT (PMNSGCT), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) > or = 1,000 mU/mL or alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > or = 1,000 ng/mL before HDCT. Primary end points were overall and 2-year failure-free survival (FFS). RESULTS Eighty patients were identified. Fifty-six were platinum refractory, 23 had a Beyer score greater than 2, and 13 had PMNSGCT. Fifty-six patients received two HDCT courses. HDCT included carboplatin and etoposide. Forty-three patients received HDCT as first salvage modality. Median overall survival was 14.7 months. The 2-year FFS was 32%. No relapses have occurred after 2 years from HDCT. Patients with greater than 2 points in the Beyer score, platinum-refractory patients, and patients with HCG > or = 1,000 mU/mL, AFP > or = 1,000 ng/mL, and PMNSGCT had 2-year FFS of 30%, 37%, 26%, 18%, and 0%, respectively. CONCLUSION Results with PMNSGCT remained poor. However, other patients with poor prognosis should not be denied an attempt at curative salvage HDCT.
Coherent Wavelength Conversion in a Quantum Dot SOA

We experimentally demonstrate wavelength conversion of coherent signals in an InAs/InGaAsP/InP columnar quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier by using low power single pump four-wave-mixing. We report highly efficient conversion, i.e., 30 nm conversion span with a conversion efficiency larger than -10 dB and output optical signal to noise ratio larger than 20 dB. Transparency to coherent modulation formats is demonstrated in a 25 nm conversion of 10 GBaud quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 8-phase shift keying (PSK) and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. We found 0.9 to 1.1 dB optical signal to noise ratio penalty at forward error correction error free limit of 2 × 10-3 bit error rate for all the signals.
Long-term results of anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy in early-stage gastric high-grade transformed MALT lymphoma.

BACKGROUND Several independent clinical studies have reported that Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy could achieve complete remission in some patients with H. pylori-positive early-stage gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. METHODS To compare the long-term results of anti-H. pylori therapy in early-stage, gastric low-grade and high-grade transformed MALT lymphoma, two multicenter prospective studies of anti-H. pylori therapy for early-stage gastric lymphoma conducted in Taiwan, one for low-grade MALT lymphoma, with 34 patients enrolled from March 1996 through April 1999, and one for high-grade transformed tumors (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with features of MALT, DLBCL[MALT] lymphoma), with 24 patients enrolled since June 1995, were directly compared. In both studies, patients generally received 2 weeks of antibiotics and had multiple sequential follow-up endoscopic examinations until complete histologic remission (CR) or disease progression; patients were monitored through January 31, 2004. CR was defined as regression of lymphoid infiltration to Wotherspoon's score of 2 or less on all pathologic sections of endoscopic biopsy specimens. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS The H. pylori-positive rate among the 34 low-grade patients was 94% (32 of 34). All 24 selected high-grade patients were H. pylori positive. H. pylori was eradicated in 97% (30 of 31) of evaluable H. pylori-positive low-grade patients and in 92% (22 of 24) of high-grade patients, which led to CR in 80% (24 of 30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 65% to 95%) and 64% (14 of 22, 95% CI = 42% to 86%) of patients, respectively. None of the five patients who were either initially H. pylori negative or had persistent H. pylori infection after antibiotics achieved CR. After median follow-up of more than 5 years in complete responders, tumor recurrence was observed in three (13%) low-grade patients but not in high-grade patients. CONCLUSIONS Anti-H. pylori therapy may be considered as one of the treatment options for early-stage H. pylori-positive gastric DLBCL(MALT), and large-scale prospective studies to validate its use as first-line therapy for such tumors should be undertaken.
Relationship between cognitive functions and hormones

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND HORMONES by Daniel C. Miao Stress has been implicated by recent research to significantly contribute towards many cognitive and physiological deficiencies. One of the most popular topics of study is the effect of stress on inhibition, the all-or-none decision about an action or inaction. However, only recently have scientists begun investigating neuroendocrine molecules that link stress and inhibitory processing. Participants included San José State University undergraduates (27 male, 63 female, 1 unstated) who were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test, an established stress task, and who were assessed before and after stress exposure for cortisol levels. Participants were also given a preand post-test using a cued Go/No-Go Task (GNGT) with 75% cue validity. Performance on the task can be used to measure how well participants can inhibit a previously prepared (i.e., “prepotent”) response. Participants were assigned to either the control group (n=47) or the stressexposure (experimental) group (n=44). The stress-exposure group was later divided according to cortisol reactivity as being either stress responders (n = 28) or stress nonresponders (n = 16). It was hypothesized that exposure to a social stressor would impair the stress responder group’s performance on the cued GNGT, whereas the stress nonresponders and the control group would have no impairments on the cued GNGT. Thus evidence for a differential impairment in the ability to inhibit responses was not found in the stress condition nor the control condition.
On estimation of loss distributions and risk measures

The estimation of certain loss distribution and analyzing its properties is a key issue in several finance mathematical and actuarial applications. It is common to apply the tools of extreme value theory and generalized Pareto distribution in problems related to heavy-tailed data. Our main goal is to study third party liability claims data obtained from Estonian Traffic Insurance Fund (ETIF). The data is quite typical for insurance claims containing very many observations and being heavytailed. In our approach the fitting consists of two parts: for main part of the distribution we use lognormal fit (which was the most suitable based on our previous studies) and a generalized Pareto distribution is used for the tail. Main emphasis of the fitting techniques is on the proper threshold selection. We seek for stability of parameter estimates and study the behaviour of risk measures at a wide range of thresholds. Two related lemmas will be proved.
Analyses Using VR/AR Visualization

Aimed at improving the design process of machine tools using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems, the Institute for Machine Tools and Production Processes (IWP) of Chemnitz University of Technology has developed new visualization methods for studying finite elements analysis (FEA) results in immersive environments along with a mobile AR system. The Institute's major goal on the software side was visualizing the direction and gradient of stress using 3D glyphs.
Information and communication technology as a tool for improving physical and social activity of the elderly

Information and communication technologies (ICT) can enrich elderly people's lives in various ways. The objective of this interventional quasi-experimental research study among elderly people in Slovenia and Finland is to present associations and relations between computer/Internet use, physical activity and social inclusion before and after a ICT interaction. The first study (before interaction) included 58 (M=72,41) and the second study (after interaction) 45 (M=72,96) elderly people. The results showed an increased level of social inclusion and physical activity by the elderly after becoming acquainted with ICT. Additionally, through ICT interaction, the elderly people developed new friendships and so expanded their social networks, which they also found easier to maintain with support from ICT.
Chemistry and toxicology of building timbers pressure‐treated with chromated copper arsenate: a review

A recent agreement between the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the wood‐treating industry will result in a phase‐out of building timbers preserved with chromated copper arsenate (CCA). This agreement was motivated by a desire to reduce exposure to arsenic in the production, utilization and disposal of such material. The leaching of chromium, copper and arsenic from CCA‐treated building timbers into water and soil and the subsequent environmental effects have been reviewed, as have the laboratory and epidemiological studies on the toxicology of CCA‐treated building timbers. The beneﬁts of the phase‐out agreement are questionable because much arsenic will remain in the environment, and the alternatives to wood preservation with CCA are not without environmental consequences. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Assessing destination images of an Olympic host city using social media

The purpose of this study was to assess destination image components of Vancouver post 2010 Olympic Winter Games. To fulfill this aim, the present investigation examined comments posted on Tourism Vancouver’s official Facebook website. An analysis of the Facebook posts using CATPAC II software revealed two clusters of image components related to Vancouver. The findings suggest that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics may not have had a substantial impact on the overall images people held of the city, or in terms of their intention to revisit the destination. We advance the position that staging a sport mega-event, by itself, will not influence destination image unless effective marketing strategies are adopted.
Children hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome-related illness in Toronto.

OBJECTIVE An outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in the greater Toronto area between February and June 2003. We describe the clinical, laboratory, and epidemiologic features of children who were admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, with a presumptive diagnosis of suspect or probable SARS. METHODS A prospective investigational study protocol was established for the management of children with a presumptive diagnosis of suspect or probable SARS. All were ultimately classified as having probable SARS, suspect SARS, or another cause on the basis of their epidemiologic exposure, clinical and radiologic features, and results of microbiologic investigations. RESULTS Twenty-five children were included; 10 were classified as probable SARS and 5 were classified as suspect SARS, and in 10 another cause was identified. The exposure consisted of direct contact with at least 1 adult probable SARS case in 11 children, travel from a World Health Organization-designated affected area in Asia in 9 children, and presence in a Toronto area hospital in which secondary SARS spread had occurred in 5 children. The predominant clinical manifestations of probable cases were fever, cough, and rhinorrhea. With the exception of 1 teenager, none of the children developed respiratory distress or an oxygen requirement, and all made full recoveries. Mild focal alveolar infiltrates were the predominant chest radiograph abnormality. Lymphopenia; neutropenia; thrombocytopenia; and elevated alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and creatine kinase were present in some cases. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens were negative for the SARS-associated coronavirus by an in-house reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in all 25 children. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that SARS is a relatively mild and nonspecific respiratory illness in previously healthy young children. The presence of fever in conjunction with a SARS exposure history should prompt one to consider SARS as a possible diagnosis in children irrespective of the presence or absence of respiratory symptoms. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis of nasopharyngeal specimens seems to be of little utility for the diagnosis of SARS during the early symptomatic phase of this illness in young children.
Race, Gender, and Juries: Evidence from North Carolina

This paper uses data from felony jury trials in North Carolina to show that the race and gender composition of the randomly selected jury pool has a significant effect on the probability of conviction, attorneys adjust peremptory-challenge strategies in accordance, and state peremptory challenges have a positive impact on the conviction rate when the defendant is a black male. Jury pools with higher proportions of white men are more likely to convict black male defendants relative to white male defendants. Jury pools with a higher proportion of black men are more likely to acquit all defendants, especially black men. Attorneys use peremptory challenges strategically in accordance with these results, which are robust to a wide set of controls, including county and judge fixed effects. Each state peremptory challenge is correlated with a 2.4–2.9-percentage-point increase in the conviction rate when the defendant is black.
Origami tubes assembled into stiff, yet reconfigurable structures and metamaterials

Significance Origami, the ancient art of folding paper, has recently emerged as a method for creating deployable and reconfigurable engineering systems. These systems tend to be flexible because the thin sheets bend and twist easily. We introduce a new method of assembling origami into coupled tubes that can increase the origami stiffness by two orders of magnitude. The new assemblages can deploy through a single flexible motion, but they are substantially stiffer for any other type of bending or twisting movement. This versatility can be used for deployable structures in robotics, aerospace, and architecture. On a smaller scale, assembling thin sheets into these tubular assemblages can create metamaterials that can be deployed, stiffened, and tuned. Thin sheets have long been known to experience an increase in stiffness when they are bent, buckled, or assembled into smaller interlocking structures. We introduce a unique orientation for coupling rigidly foldable origami tubes in a “zipper” fashion that substantially increases the system stiffness and permits only one flexible deformation mode through which the structure can deploy. The flexible deployment of the tubular structures is permitted by localized bending of the origami along prescribed fold lines. All other deformation modes, such as global bending and twisting of the structural system, are substantially stiffer because the tubular assemblages are overconstrained and the thin sheets become engaged in tension and compression. The zipper-coupled tubes yield an unusually large eigenvalue bandgap that represents the unique difference in stiffness between deformation modes. Furthermore, we couple compatible origami tubes into a variety of cellular assemblages that can enhance mechanical characteristics and geometric versatility, leading to a potential design paradigm for structures and metamaterials that can be deployed, stiffened, and tuned. The enhanced mechanical properties, versatility, and adaptivity of these thin sheet systems can provide practical solutions of varying geometric scales in science and engineering.
On Portfolio Separation Theorems with Heterogeneous Beliefs and Attitudes towards Risk

The early work of Tobin (1958) showed that portfolio allocation decisions can be reduced to a two stage process: first decide the relative allocation of assets across the risky assets, and second decide how to divide total wealth between the risky assets and the safe asset. This so called twofund separation relies on special assumptions on either returns or preferences. Tobin (1958) analyzed portfolio demand in a mean-variance setting. We revisit the fund separation in settings that allow not only for heterogeneity of preferences for higher order moments, but also for heterogeneity of beliefs among agents. To handle the various sources of heterogeneity, beliefs, and preferences, we follow the framework of Samuelson (1970) and its recent generalization by Chabi-Yo, Leisen, and Renault (2006). This generic approach allows us to derive, for risks that are infinitely small, optimal shares of wealth invested in each security that coincide with those of a Mean-Variance-Skewness-Kurtosis optimizing agent. Besides the standard Sharpe-Lintner CAPM mutual fund separation we obtain additional mutual funds called beliefs portfolios, pertaining to heterogeneity of beliefs, a skewness portfolio similar to Kraus and Litzenberger (1976), beliefs about skewness portfolios with design quite similar to beliefs portfolios, a kurtosis portfolio, and finally portfolio heterogeneity of the preferences for skewness across investors in the economy as well as its covariation with heterogeneity of beliefs. These last two mutual funds are called cross-co-skewness portfolio and cross-co-skewness-beliefs portfolios. Under various circumstances related to return distribution characteristics, cross-agent heterogeneity and market incompleteness, some of these portfolios disappear.
Stumbling on Happiness

STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS. Daniel Gilbert, 2007. NY: Vintage Books. Pp. 311. Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton (Evangel University/Springfield, MO). Harvard psychology professor, Daniel Gilbert, will make you laugh as he weaves witticisms and humorous anecdotes into a stimulating account of scientific research on happiness. Essentially, Gilbert argues in chapter one, that we spend much of our time planning and executing unsuccessful strategies to attain an elusive state of happiness. In sex sections, readers learn why such a quest often proves beyond our grasp. In part one, Gilbert provides a brief overview of the philosophical foundations for the problem of subjective appraisals of happiness. Eventually, he leads the reader to an operational definition by illustrating how common human experiences can lead to shared feelings of happiness. However, he illustrates how the elusive and subjective aspect of happiness can lead to self-deception by demonstrating how the human brain misperceives visual phenomena and similarly misperceives the imagined happiness value of a future event. Next (part two), Gilbert builds on the results of cognitive science to show how people mistakenly recall their previously recorded feelings and struggle to make affective comparisons between experiences. He concludes the section with an appropriately humble appreciation of the problems in measuring happiness. Nevertheless, he urges us to forge ahead with the indexes we have because of the dominant role feelings play in our lives. Caveats aside, Gilbert has set the foundation for the next three parts that address the attitudes of realism, presentism, and rationalization to an understanding of happiness. Realism is the focus for part three. Gilbert argues from research data that imagination provides the illusion of foresight and a sense of realism that is in fact unreal because we routinely fail to realize how many event-related details are filled in by our brains. He summarizes memory research to demonstrate how the brain forms imprecise memories of past events in such a subtle manner that people do not realize the inaccuracies. Thus, he expertly explains how our perceptual processes not only miss important details but also fill in nonexistent information based on previous experience and environmental cues. He also reviews the important dynamics of memory reconstruction especially as related to the accuracy of memories. Although many of these studies will be familiar to undergraduate psychology students, Gilbert shows how these findings are relevant to an accurate appraisal of experiences that we may or may not construe as a basis for happy feelings. In part four, readers learn about the problems people have in accurately predicting their future feelings, which are largely based on the present (hence the name Presentism for this section). Beginning with illustrations of failed predictions and humorous past images of what the future (now past) would be like, Gilbert guides readers into an appreciation for the problems of using present experience to extrapolate to the future. …
Differences in family policy and the intergenerational transmission of divorce: Comparison between the former East and West Germany

The intergenerational transmission of the risk of divorce is a well-known long-term effect of divorce that has been found in many Western societies. Less known is the extent to which different family policies and divorce laws have an effect on the intergenerational transmission of divorce. In this paper, the division of Germany into two separate states from 1949 until 1990, with the consequent development of two very different family policies, is regarded as a natural experiment that enables us to investigate the effect of family policy on the mechanisms underlying the social inheritance of divorce. Data from respondents from the former East and West Germany participating in the German Life History Study are analyzed, using multivariate event-history methods. The results indicate that the strength of the intergenerational divorce transmission, when adjusted for differences in the divorce level, was lower in the East than in the West. Differences in marriage age and the timing of first birth, which are partial indicators of family policy, as well as differences in religion, could explain this effect. Furthermore, we found a tendency towards a reduction in the dynamics of divorce transmission over time, both in East and West Germany.
The precursor of secreted aspartic proteinase Sapp1p from Candida parapsilosis can be activated both autocatalytically and by a membrane-bound processing proteinase

Abstract Opportunistic pathogens of the genus Candida produce secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps) that play an important role in virulence. Saps are synthesized as zymogens, but cell-free culture supernatants of Candida spp. contain only mature Saps. To study the zymogen conversion, the gene encoding a precursor of C. parapsilosis proteinase Sapp1p was cloned, expressed in E. coli and the product was purified. When placed in acidic conditions, the precursor was autocatalytically processed, yielding an active proteinase. The self-activation proceeded through an intermediate product and the resulting enzyme was one amino acid shorter than the authentic enzyme. This truncation did not cause changes in proteinase activity or secondary structure compared to the authentic Sapp1p. Accurate cleavage of the pro-mature junction, however, required a processing proteinase. A crude membrane fraction prepared from C. parapsilosis cells contained an enzyme with Kex2-like activity, which processed the Sapp1p precursor at the expected site. The pro-segment appeared to be indispensable for Sapp1p to attain an appropriate structure. When expressed without the pro-segment, the Sapp1p mature domain was not active and had a lower content of α-helical conformation, as measured by circular dichroism. A similar effect was observed when a His6-tag was linked to the C-terminus of Sapp1p or its precursor.