Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[The expression and significance of osteopontin and its receptor CD44v6 in oral squamous carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE To study the clinical significance of osteopontin (OPN) and its receptor CD44v6 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). METHODS OPN and CD44v6 expression were examined in OSCC (n=59) and normal oral mucosa (n=12) by EnVision method, the staining-grade were quantitatively studied by multiple functional image analyzer. Their expression grade of different clinical and pathological index were statistically studied. RESULTS OPN expression grade was significantly higher in OSCC than that in normal oral mucosa (P<0.05). Significant deviation of OPN expression grade was found between different clinical stages, as well as between the groups with or without cervical lymph node metastasis. The group with cervical lymphnode metastasis had higher expression than that of the group without lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). However, there was no significant deviation between the expression grade in well-differentiated group and moderate or poorly differentiated group. The expression of CD44v6 showed no correlation with that of OPN, nor any difference between OSCC and normal oral mucosa. CONCLUSION OPN over expression was found in OSCC, and the expression level has correlation with the clinical staging and with cervical lymph node metastasis status. CD44v6 expression showed no difference between OSCC and normal oral mucosa nor any correlation with that of OPN.
Affective Interaction with a Companion Robot for Hospitalized Children: a Linguistically based Model for Emotion Detection

This paper presents a system which aims at characterizing emotions in speech by only considering linguistic content. It is based on the assumption that emotions can be compound: simple lexical words have an intrinsic emotional value, while verbal and adjectival predicates act as a function on the emotional values of their arguments. The paper describes the compositional computation algorithm of the emotion, as well as the lexical emotional lexicons used by this algorithm. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the differences between system outputs and expert annotations is given, which shows satisfactory results, with a good detection of emotional valence in 82.8% of the test utterances.
Nano-transfersomal formulations for transdermal delivery of asenapine maleate: in vitro and in vivo performance evaluations

Abstract Context: Asenapine maleate (ASPM) is an antipsychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Extensive metabolism makes the oral route inconvenient for ASPM. Objective: The objective of this study is to increase ASPM bioavailability via transdermal route by improving the skin permeation using combined strategy of chemical and nano-carrier (transfersomal) based approaches. Materials and methods: Transfersomes were prepared by the thin film hydration method using soy-phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and sodium deoxycholate (SDC). Transfersomes were characterized for particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential (ZP), entrapment efficiency, surface morphology, and in vitro skin permeation studies. Various chemical enhancers were screened for skin permeation enhancement of ASPM. Optimized transfersomes were incorporated into a gel base containing suitable chemical enhancer for efficient transdermal delivery. In vivo pharmacokinetic study was performed in rats to assess bioavailability by transdermal route against oral administration. Results and discussion: Optimized transfersomes with drug:SPC:SDC weight ratio of 5:75:10 were spherical with an average size of 126.0 nm, PDI of 0.232, ZP of −43.7 mV, and entrapment efficiency of 54.96%. Ethanol (20% v/v) showed greater skin permeation enhancement. The cumulative amount of ASPM permeated after 24 h (Q24) by individual effect of ethanol and transfersome, and in combination was found to be 160.0, 132.9, and 309.3 μg, respectively, indicating beneficial synergistic effect of combined approach. In vivo pharmacokinetic study revealed significant (p < 0.05) increase in bioavailability upon transdermal application compared with oral route. Conclusion: Dual strategy of permeation enhancement was successful in increasing the transdermal permeation and bioavailability of ASPM.
Comparing Software And Hardware Schemes For Reducing The Cost Of Branches

Pipelining has become a common technique to increase throughput of the instruction fetch, instruction decode, and instruction execution portions of modern computers. Branch instructions disrupt the flow of instructions through the the pipeline, increasing the overall execution cost of branch instructions. Three schemes to reduce the cost of branches are presented in the context of a general pipeline model. Ten realistic Unix domain programs are used to directly compare the cost and performance of the three schemes and the results are in favor of the software-based scheme. For example, the software-based scheme has a cost of 1.65 cycles/branch vs. a cost of 1.68 cycles/branch of the best hardware scheme for a highly pipelined processor (11-stage pipeline). The results are 1.19 (software scheme) vs. 1.23 cycles/braiich (best hard- ware scheme) for a moderately pipelined processor (5- stage pipeline)
System-Level Modeling and Evaluation of Interference Suppression Receivers in LTE System

In this paper we study the performance of linear interference suppression receivers which estimate the interference covariance either from the data symbols or from the reference symbols. For numerical radio system-level simulation purposes, receiver algorithm models are proposed which take into account practical estimation losses caused by the channel and interference covariance estimation. These models are verified using a multi-link simulator, and finally the performance of the receivers is studied using radio system simulations. The results indicate that the algorithm based on the reference symbols can constantly outperform a receiver that assumes white inter-cell interference. Furthermore the modeling proposed in the paper can be utilized in assessing radio system performance when receivers are equipped with interference suppression receivers.
Effect of Race on the Clinical Outcomes in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation Trial

Background—In observational studies, clinical outcomes for black patients with coronary disease have been worse than for white patients. There are few data from randomized trials comparing the outcomes of coronary revascularization between black patients and white patients. Methods and Results—We analyzed data from the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation randomized trial. At study entry, the 113 black patients had significantly higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, smoking, heart failure, and abnormal left ventricular function than the 1653 white patients. Black patients had significantly higher mortality than white patients (hazard ratio, 2.16; P<0.001), which remained significant after statistical adjustment for differences in baseline clinical characteristics (hazard ratio, 1.59; P=0.003). In a substudy of economic and quality of life outcomes, the 67 black patients had similar frequency of physician visits and use of evidence-based cardiac medications but significantly worse physical function scores than the 885 white patients. The effect of random assignment to either surgery or angioplasty on clinical outcomes was not significantly modified by race (interaction probability values ≥0.18). Conclusions—Clinical outcomes of black patients after coronary revascularization were worse than those of white patients in a clinical trial setting with similar treatment and access to care. The differences in outcome between black and white patients were not completely attributable to the greater levels of comorbidity among black patients at study entry.
Evaluation of Kaolin Clotting Time for the Diagnosis of Lupus Anticoagulants by Using Different Calculation Methods

Background: Lupus anticoagulants (LA) are a group of antibodies that prolongs phospholipid-dependent coagulation assays. They are associated with a wide variety of clinical settings such as thrombosis and recurrent spontaneous abortion. Objective: To evaluate the results of kaolin clotting time (KCT) obtained from different calculation methods and cut-off values to find the optimal way of identifying of LA. Methods: Plasma samples of 38 LA positive patients and of 50 LA negative patients were analyzed. Results: For the screening test, the calculations that showed 100% in both sensitivity and specificity were KCT, ratios of KCT of test sample to mean KCT of normal pooled plasma (KCT/mNP), or to mean KCT of normal subjects (KCT/mNor). For the confirmatory test, the sensitivity of any calculation methods demonstrated wide discrepancies (23.7-89.5%), while the specificity was high (90-98%). There were variations of the results when using mean+2SD as cut-off but not with the percentiles. The difference between normal saline control and platelet neutralization procedure (NSS-PNP) was the best method for the confirmatory test. Conclusion: The appropriate calculation method of the result should be selected by careful consideration concerning the sensitivity and specificity of the test including cut-off value.
Eukaryotic microbes, species recognition and the geographic limits of species: examples from the kingdom Fungi

The claim that eukaryotic micro-organisms have global geographic ranges, constituting a significant departure from the situation with macro-organisms, has been supported by studies of morphological species from protistan kingdoms. Here, we examine this claim by reviewing examples from another kingdom of eukaryotic microbes, the Fungi. We show that inferred geographic range of a fungal species depends upon the method of species recognition. While some fungal species defined by morphology show global geographic ranges, when fungal species are defined by phylogenetic species recognition they are typically shown to harbour several to many endemic species. We advance two non-exclusive reasons to explain the perceived difference between the size of geographic ranges of microscopic and macroscopic eukaryotic species when morphological methods of species recognition are used. These reasons are that microbial organisms generally have fewer morphological characters, and that the rate of morphological change will be slower for organisms with less elaborate development and fewer cells. Both of these reasons result in fewer discriminatory morphological differences between recently diverged lineages. The rate of genetic change, moreover, is similar for both large and small organisms, which helps to explain why phylogenetic species of large and small organisms show a more similar distribution of geographic ranges. As a consequence of the different rates in fungi of genetic and morphological changes, genetic isolation precedes a recognizable morphological change. The final step in speciation, reproductive isolation, also follows genetic isolation and may precede morphological change.
Synthesis and mechanical properties of a calcium sulphoaluminate cement made of industrial wastes

Environmentally-friendly calcium sulphoaluminate clinkers were obtained from a mixture of aluminium dross, fluorgypsum, fly ash and CaCO₃ at temperatures within the range of 1100 to 1400 °C. After the heat treatments Ca₄Al₆O₁₂SO₄ was the main phase. Three different cements were prepared using the clinkers synthesized at 1250, 1350 and 1400 °C; the clinker powders were mixed with 20 wt% of hemihydrate. Cement pastes were prepared using a water/cement ratio (w/c), 0.4 followed by curing at 20 or 40 °C for periods of time ranging from 1 to 28 days. Most of the samples showed high compression strengths 40–47 MPa after 28 days, which were comparable to the strength of Portland cement. Ettringite was the main hydration product and its morphology consisted of acicular and hexagonal plates, which is typical of this phase.
Asymptotic Efficiency of Semiparametric Two-Step GMM

In this note, we characterize the semiparametric efficiency bound for a class of semiparametric models in which the unknown nuisance functions are identified via nonparametric conditional moment restrictions with possibly non-nested or over-lapping conditioning sets, and the finite dimensional parameters are potentially over-identified via unconditional moment restrictions involving the nuisance functions. We discover a surprising result that semiparametric two-step optimally weighted GMM estimators achieve the efficiency bound, where the nuisance functions could be estimated via any consistent nonparametric procedures in the first step. Regardless of whether the efficiency bound has a closed form expression or not, we provide easy-to-compute sieve based optimal weight matrices that lead to asymptotically efficient two-step GMM estimators.
Rabies in Vaccinated Raccoons from Ontario, Canada

From 1999 to 2006, 132 cases of raccoon rabies, caused by the raccoon variant of rabies virus, were confirmed in eastern Ontario, Canada. Trap-vaccinate-release (TVR) and point infection control (PIC) programs were implemented to control the disease; 43,014 raccoons (Procyon lotor) were vaccinated against rabies by injection (Imrab®3) during that period. Two vaccinated raccoons were diagnosed with rabies at 6 mo and at 2 wk postvaccination. One may have been due to a vaccination failure. The other was likely due to the animal being in the late stages of incubation for rabies at the time of vaccination. This information will be useful to wildlife rehabilitators and agencies that hold raccoons in captivity in that a vaccinated raccoon is not necessarily immune to rabies.
Using self-organizing maps to learn hybrid timed automata in absence of discrete events

Modern industrial plants become more complex and consequently monitoring them often exceeds the capabilities of human operators. Model-based diagnosis is a commonly used approach to identify anomalies and root causes within a system through the use of models, which are often times manually created by experts. However, manual modelling takes a lot of effort and is not suitable for today's fast-changing systems. Today, the large amount of sensor data provided by modern plants enables data-driven solutions and models can be learned from data, significantly reducing the manual modelling efforts. These data-driven solutions enable tasks such as condition monitoring: anomalies can be detected automatically, giving operators the chance to restore the plant to a working state before production losses occur. The choice of the model depends on a couple of factors, one of which is the type of the available signals. Hybrid timed automata are one type of model which separate the systems behaviour into different modes, e.g. ‘valve open’ or ‘motor is running’ through discrete events which are for example created from binary signals of the plant or through real-valued signal thresholds, defined by experts. The real-valued signals are then separated into the corresponding modes to improve the anomaly detection process in comparison to unseparated data. The anomaly detection for hybrid timed automata combines the detection of timing errors and sequence errors in the mode changes and the detection of anomalies in the real-valued signals. However, binary signals or expert knowledge to generate the much needed discrete events are not always available from the plant and automata can not be learned. The unsupervised, nonparametric approach presented and evaluated in this paper uses self-organizing maps and watershed transformations to allow the use of hybrid timed automata on data where learning of automata was not possible before.
Floquet analysis of the intermittence route to chaos through a pitchfork bifurcation

In this paper, the Floquet theory is combined with harmonic balance for the in-depth analysis of a Chua's family circuit, exhibiting intermittence. Floquet multipliers are calculated along the periodic solution paths obtained through harmonic balance by means of a continuation algorithm. The analysis of both the stable and unstable solution sections enhances the information about the system and permits a better understanding of the different phenomena that take place.
Rat somatosensory cerebropontocerebellar pathways: Spatial relationships of the somatotopic map of the primary somatosensory cortex are preserved in a three‐dimensional clustered pontine map

In the primary somatosensory cortex (SI), the body surface is mapped in a relatively continuous fashion, with adjacent body regions represented in adjacent cortical domains. In contrast, somatosensory maps found in regions of the cerebellar hemispheres, which are influenced by the SI through a monosynaptic link in the pontine nuclei, are discontinuous (“fractured”) in organization. To elucidate this map transformation, the authors studied the organization of the first link in the SI‐cerebellar pathway, the SI‐pontine projection. After injecting anterograde axonal tracers into electrophysiologically defined parts of the SI, three‐dimensional reconstruction and computer‐graphic visualization techniques were used to analyze the spatial distribution of labeled fibers. Several target regions in the pontine nuclei were identified for each major body representation. The labeled axons formed sharply delineated clusters that were distributed in an inside‐out, shell‐like fashion. Upper lip and other perioral representations were located in a central core, whereas extremity and trunk representations were found more externally. The multiple clusters suggest that the pontine nuclei contain several representations of the SI map. Within each representation, the spatial relationships of the SI map are largely preserved. This corticopontine projection pattern is compatible with recently proposed principles for the establishment of subcortical topographic patterns during development. The largely preserved spatial relationships in the pontine somatotopic map also suggest that the transformation from an organized topography in SI to a fractured map in the cerebellum takes place primarily in the mossy fiber pontocerebellar projection. J. Comp. Neurol. 422:246–266, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Introduction to real-world scene perception

Real-world scene perception involves sensory and cognitive processing of visual input that in some important sense is like that typically encountered during the natural course of everyday human activity. Unlike objects, which are viewed from a vantage point outside of themselves, scenes are specific views of the environment within which the viewer is embedded. Described in this way, realworld scene perception differs from perception of the visual stimuli that are often used in psychophysical and visual cognition experiments. For example, real-world scenes fill the entire visual field and produce specific wavelength, intensity, and spatial frequency profiles that are constrained by properties of the world itself. These regularities in image statistics arise in part because realworld scenes are composed of objects and backgrounds that have specific semantic and spatial constraints that in turn give rise to the semantics of the scene as a whole. Scene can be defined as a semantically coherent (and often nameable) human-scaled view of a real-world environment comprising background elements and multiple discrete objects arranged in a spatially licensed manner (Henderson & Ferreira, 2004; Henderson & Hollingworth, 1999). Background elements are larger scale, immovable surfaces and structures, and objects are smaller scale discrete entities that move or can be moved within the scene. Realworld scenes have a hierarchical spatial structure. For example, a kitchen viewed from the vantage point of the doorway would likely include floor, ceiling, and walls as background elements, and a stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher as a few prominent objects among others, spatially arranged according to the laws of physics and the constraints associated with the functions of a kitchen. But, from the vantage point of standing in front of the counter, the countertop might be considered a scene, with its surface forming most of the background and a loaf of bread, knife, peanut butter jar, and plate serving as individuated objects, themselves spatially arranged according to the same physical laws and the semantics of sandwich preparation. One way to bound the
Reported influences of backpack loads on postural deviation among school children: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, a large number of students experience spinal pain quite early in life due to heavy school bag loads. Moreover, external forces in the form of school bags may influence the normal growth, development of children and adolescents, and also maintenance of alignment of their bodies, which can pose a huge threat to postural integrity under external load. Awareness about the appropriate load and placement of backpack is thought to be important in reducing musculoskeletal complications among children's. METHODS: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to determine the influence of postural deviations due to backpack load among school children's. Electronic databases were searched, and a reference list of retrieved articles were relevant to postural changes among school children with the backpack were screened. Reviewers graded the papers according to Lloyd-Smith's hierarchy of evidence scale. Papers were quality appraised using a modified Crombie tool. RESULTS: Twelve papers were identified for inclusion in this review. Methodological difference limited our ability to collate evidence. CONCLUSION: Most of the articles recommended that backpack load limit for school children should be 10–15% of body weight. However, the appropriate load limit for school children is limited due to lack of articles, the low hierarchy of evidence, and small sample size. This review constrains the use of published literature to inform good load limit of school pack among the school children.
Mortality and the increase in length of stay attributable to the acquisition of Acinetobacter in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) acquisition in intensive care unit (ICU) patients on mortality and length of stay (LOS). DESIGN Pairwise matched 1:1 case-control study. SETTING Medical-surgical ICU in a tertiary health care institution. PATIENTS During 16 months, all patients admitted to the ICU were eligible. Case patients were defined as every patient with an AB isolation 48 hrs after ICU admission. Control patients were retrospectively selected from ICU patients without any AB isolation, according to seven matching variables. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Attributable mortality and excess LOS in the ICU were measured. Eighty-seven patients were included, with 75 pairs successfully matched. Infection was defined in 48 patients (23 respiratory). The attributable mortality rate for AB acquisition was 30% (49% vs.19%) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 23%, 37%): 43% (CI = 34%, 52%) in patients with infection (58% vs.15%) and 53% (CI = 41%, 65%) in patients with respiratory infections (70% vs.17%). The estimated risk rates for death were 2.6 (CI = 1.6, 4.5; p < .001), 4.0 (CI = 1.9, 8.3; p < .001), and 4.0 (CI = 1.6, 10.2; p < .01), respectively. The attributable excess LOS was 13 days for both AB acquisition and infection (23 vs. 10 days; p < .001) and respiratory infections (23 vs. 10 days; p < .01). In noninfected patients, no significant excess of mortality was found (33% vs. 26%), but LOS increased in 15 days. CONCLUSION AB acquisition involved an excess LOS in ICU patients and increased risk of death, but the latter could be found only in patients with proven infection.