Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Metastatic Osteosarcoma With the Somatostatin Analog OncoLar: Significant Reduction of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Serum Levels

Background Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has been implicated in the growth and/or metastasis of osteosarcoma (OS) and chondrosarcoma based on in vitro and experimental animal studies. Study Purpose To determine the degree of growth hormone (GH), IGF-1 axis blockade, toxicities, and antitumor effect of OncoLar (ONC) (Novartis, East Hanover, NJ, U.S.A.) in OS. Design/Methods A phase 1 study with ONC enrolled 21 OS patients (median age 19 y) in four cohorts: ONC 60 mg or 90 mg intramuscularly every 4 weeks with/without tamoxifen (TAM) 20 mg oral daily. Results There were no dose-limiting toxicities. Nineteen percent of patients had grade III drug-related toxicities including: 62% of patients showed progressive disease after two courses (8 wk). Nineteen percent received four courses. No clinical responses were observed. At weeks two and eight of therapy, IGF-1 serum levels dropped 46% (P < 0.0001, n = 21) and 53% (P = 0.003, n = 10). The difference of the area under the curve (AUC) minus baseline AUC (&Dgr;AUC) for arginine-stimulated GH serum levels at week two was lower than baseline (P < 0.01). At weeks two and eight, GH peak values were lower than baseline (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions A long-acting somatostatin analog was able to lower IGF-1 levels of OS patients. IGF-BP-3 and GH were only transiently reduced. Although ONC was well tolerated, no sustained clinical responses were observed. The pathophysiology of serum versus tissue concentrations of IGF-1 as well as the interplay of IGFs, IGF-binding proteins, and other growth factors and cytokines in osteosarcoma warrants further investigation. A better understanding of these processes should lead to a more effective exploitation of these pathways for the targeted therapy of OS.
Abnormal Profiles of Local Functional Connectivity Proximal to Focal Cortical Dysplasias

Introduction Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a congenital malformation of cortical development that often leads to medically refractory epilepsy. Focal resection can be an effective treatment, but is challenging as the surgically relevant abnormality may exceed the MR-visible lesion. The aim of the current study is to develop methodology to characterize the profile of functional connectivity around FCDs using resting-state functional MRI and in the individual patient. The detection of aberrant connectivity may provide a means to more completely delineate the clinically relevant lesion. Materials and Methods Fifteen FCD patients (age, mean±SD: 31±11 years; 11 males) and 16 matched healthy controls (35±9 years; 7 males) underwent structural and functional imaging at 3 Tesla. The cortical surface was reconstructed from the T1-weighted scan and the registered functional MRI data was spatially normalized to a common anatomical standard space employing the gyral pattern. Seed-based functional connectivity was determined in all subjects for all dysplasia locations. A single patient was excluded based on an aberrant FCD seed time series. Functional connectivity as a function of geodesic distance (along the cortical surface) was compared between the individual patients and the homotopic normative connectivity profiles derived from the controls. Results In 12/14 patients, aberrant profiles of functional connectivity were found, which demonstrated both hyper- and hypoconnectivity as well as combinations. Abnormal functional connectivity was typically found (also) beyond the lesion visible on structural MRI, while functional connectivity profiles not related to a lesion appeared normal in patients. Conclusion This novel functional MRI technique has potential for delineating functionally aberrant from normal cortex beyond the structural lesion in FCD, which remains to be confirmed in future research.
Second Language Orientation and Self-Determination Theory

The purpose of the present study is two-fold. First, the present study examines statistical similarity between the integrative and instrumental orientation and Self-Determination Theory subtypes of motivation using chi-square invariance test. Second, based on the results of the chi-square invariance test, the present study further investigates the structural relationships among factors affecting second language achievement. Results of the chi-square invariance test evidence a statistical similarity between the instrumental orientation and external regulation, whereas similarity between the integrative orientation and intrinsic motivation did not reach the point of statistical significance. Results of the structural analyses demonstrate that intrinsic motivation was the strongest determinant of learners' self-confidence and motivation to learn a second language. It is also found that intrinsic motivation was only indirectly related to second language achievement through the mediating effects of motivation and self-confidence. Pedagogical implications are discussed.
Action Science and Intervention

Individuals, programmed with Model I theories-in-use, often use reasoning processes to diagnose and invent solutions to threatening problems that they then appear to ignore when they act. Moreover, the reasoning processes they use to act contradict the ones they use to diagnose and invent their actions. Individuals, therefore, appear to be disconnected from their reasoning processes, programmed to be so, and unaware of the program that keeps them unaware. This results in behavioral environments composed of escalating error and self-sealing processes that, in turn, leave people feeling helpless. They react by distancing themselves from their personal responsibility and creating an organizational culture to support their behavior. An intervention strategy for beginning to deal with these complex phenomena is described.
Student and Faculty Beliefs about Learning in Higher Education: Implications for Teaching.

Beliefs about learning can influence whether or not a student learns course material. However, few studies in higher education have compared student and faculty beliefs about learning. In the current study, students and faculty agreed on many aspects of learning—including the definition of learning, which most hinders learning and where learning should take place—and had similar beliefs about learning styles. Though these similarities were mostly encouraging, beliefs about where learning should take place and in learning styles could undermine learning efforts. The implications of these beliefs are discussed and suggestions for promoting learning in the context of these findings are offered. Understanding how faculty and students define and view learning can have important implications for faculty course design and assessment, as well as on student outcomes. The importance of beliefs about learning and their relationship to student learning outcomes has been noted (Edmunds & Richardson, 2009; Entwistle & Peterson, 2004; Richardson, 2005;
DNA topoisomerase I inhibition by camptothecin induces escape of RNA polymerase II from promoter-proximal pause site, antisense transcription and histone acetylation at the human HIF-1α gene locus

Top1 inhibition by camptothecin (CPT) perturbs RNA polymerase II (Pol II) density at promoters and along transcribed genes suggesting an involvement of Top1 in Pol II pausing. Here, we demonstrate that Top1 inhibition favors Pol II escape from a promoter-proximal pausing site of the human HIF-1α gene in living cells. Interestingly, alternative splicing at exon 11 was markedly altered in nascent HIF-1α mRNAs, and chromatin structure was also affected with enhanced histone acetylation and reduced nucleosome density in a manner dependent on cdk activity. Moreover, CPT increases transcription of a novel long RNA (5′aHIF1α), antisense to human HIF-1α mRNA, and a known antisense RNA at the 3′-end of the gene, while decreasing mRNA levels under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The effects require Top1, but are independent from Top1-induced replicative DNA damage. Chromatin RNA immunoprecipitation results showed that CPT can activate antisense transcription mediated by cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk) activity. Thus, Top1 inhibition can trigger a transcriptional stress, involving antisense transcription and increased chromatin accessibility, which is dependent on cdk activity and deregulated Pol II pausing. A changed balance of antisense transcripts and mRNAs may then lead to altered regulation of HIF-1α activity in human cancer cells.
Principal assessment: Conceptual problem, methodological problem, or both?

Recent demands calling for increased educational accountability and the restructuring of schools to solve educational problems have focused attention on the principal's role in facilitating change to produce academic improvement. An extension of external demands for improved quality of educational systems are policy decisions aimed at holding principals directly accountable for school outcomes. Unfortunately, although the number of states that mandate formal evaluation of principals has dramatically increased over the past several years (Ebmeier & Wilson, 1989), the quality of the assessments has not substantially improved (Ebmeier, 1991; Marcoulides, 1990; Marcoulides & Heck, 1992b). In fact, there continue to be significant conceptual and methodological problems associated with establishing effective principal performance evaluation methods (Ebmeier & Wilson, 1989; Heck, Larsen, & Marcoulides, 1990; Heck & Marcoulides, 1989; Pitner & Hocevar, 1987). The systematic study of principal assessment, therefore, has been slow to develop, has not experienced a high degree of systematization, and has not been guided by firmly established theoretical considerations (Glasman & Heck, this issue). The purpose of this article is threefold: (a) to raise several conceptual and methodological issues that must be addressed in the process of developing a model of principal assessment that is theoretically
Molecular Pathways: Is AMPK a Friend or a Foe in Cancer?

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a sensor of cellular energy status expressed in essentially all eukaryotic cells. Once activated by energetic stress via a mechanism that detects increases in AMP:ATP and ADP:ATP ratios, AMPK acts to restore energy homeostasis by switching on catabolic pathways that generate ATP, while switching off ATP-consuming processes, including anabolic pathways required for cell growth and proliferation. AMPK activation promotes the glucose-sparing, oxidative metabolism utilized by most quiescent cells, rather than the rapid glucose uptake and glycolysis used by most proliferating cells. Numerous pharmacologic activators of AMPK are known, including drugs in long use such as salicylate and metformin, and there is evidence that regular use of either of the latter provides protection against development of cancer. Tumor cells appear to be under selection pressure to downregulate AMPK, thus limiting its restraining influence on cell growth and proliferation, and several interesting mechanisms by which this occurs are discussed. Paradoxically, however, a complete loss of AMPK function, which appears to be rare in human cancers, may be deleterious to survival of tumor cells. AMPK can therefore be either a friend or a foe in cancer, depending on the context. Clin Cancer Res; 21(17); 3836–40. ©2015 AACR.
Narrative Therapy, Eating Disorders and Groups: Enhancing Outcomes in Rural NSW

Abstract The present paper reports on a study conducted with seven women who identified themselves as experiencing depression as well as an eating disorder and who live in a rural region of northern New South Wales. Self-referred, the women participated in a weekly group for 10 weeks, with a mixture of topics, conducted within a narrative therapy framework. A comparison of pre- and post-group tests demonstrated a reduction in depression scores and eating disorder risk. All women reported a change in daily practices, together with less self-criticism. These findings were supported by a post-group evaluation survey that revealed that externalisation of, and disengagement from, the eating disorder strongly assisted the women to make changes in their daily practices. Although preliminary and short term, the outcomes of the present study indicate that group work conducted within a narrative therapy framework may result in positive changes for women entangled with depression and an eating disorder.
Performance analysis and comparison of optical 3R regenerators utilizing self-phase modulation in fibers

Performance of fiber-based optical signal regenerators consisting of a synchronous amplitude modulator, a highly nonlinear fiber, and an optical bandpass filter is analyzed. The regenerators are operated in two different schemes: one utilizes solitonlike pulse compression in anomalous-dispersion fiber and subsequent filtering, and the other utilizes spectrum broadening in normal-dispersion fiber and subsequent spectrum slicing. Regeneration performance is compared for the two schemes in terms of the shape of energy transfer function and abilities of noise and timing-jitter reduction. Although both types of regenerators show good regenerator performance, the one based on spectrum broadening and slicing has better ability to stabilize signal amplitude while requiring larger signal power launched into the nonlinear fiber. The effectiveness of the regenerators in single-channel quasi-linear highly dispersed pulse transmission and dispersion-managed soliton transmission is also numerically examined.
Multiple Types of Psychological Contracts: A Six-cluster Solution

The purpose of this study was to identify a variety of employment relationships based upon an economy-wide, representative sample. We turn to psychological contract studies examining different types of psychological contracts. We expand two existing typologies by incorporating multiple features or underlying dimensions of psychological contracts. Such a feature-oriented approach allows us to construct a meaningful conceptualization of employer and employee obligations across different settings and to identify multiple types of psychological contracts in which combinations of different dimensions are prevalent. Cluster analysis indicates the existence of six types of psychological contracts, all having different patterns of mutual expectations: instrumental, weak, loyal, unattached, investing and strong psychological contract. To validate the six-cluster solution, we develop cluster profiles based upon individual, job, formal contract and organizational characteristics and further differentiate between the clusters by examining their outcomes in terms of affective commitment and employability.
Neighbours: The Work of Philip Abrams

Preface Glossary: places studied which are referred to in the text Introduction: 1. Neighbours, neighbouring and neighbourhood care: the significance of the work of Philip Abrams Part I. Informal Neighbouring: 2. Defining the field 3. Making sense of neighbours and neighbouring 4. Neighbouring in six localities: the street studies 5. The sociology of informal neighbouring Bridge: 6. Altruism and reciprocity as sources of neighbouring and neighbourhood care Part II. Organised Neighbourhood Care: 7. Neighbourhood care as a form of organised care 8. Ten neighbourhood care schemes 9. Ventures in neighbourhood care: the perspectives of helpers and clients 10. Limitations of neighbourhood care 11. The relationship between formal and informal care Conclusion: 12. Neighbours and neighbourhood care: a forward look Appendix Bibliography Index.
The Relationship between Imagery and Self-Efficacy in Competitive Athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a relationship exists between self-efficacy and the use of imagery by athletes involved in individual sports. It was expected that athletes who were high in self-efficacy would more likely use imagery than those who were low in self-efficacy. Fifty varsity athletes involved in wrestling, rowing, and track and field completed both the Sport Imagery Questionnaire [1] and a self-efficacy questionnaire. Results revealed that athletes who are high in self-efficacy in competition situations tend to use more motivational imagery than their low self-efficacy counterparts. No such differences were found for cognitive imagery use in competition, or for the use of either motivational or cognitive imagery in practice.
Online multi-class LPBoost

Online boosting is one of the most successful online learning algorithms in computer vision. While many challenging online learning problems are inherently multi-class, online boosting and its variants are only able to solve binary tasks. In this paper, we present Online Multi-Class LPBoost (OMCLP) which is directly applicable to multi-class problems. From a theoretical point of view, our algorithm tries to maximize the multi-class soft-margin of the samples. In order to solve the LP problem in online settings, we perform an efficient variant of online convex programming, which is based on primal-dual gradient descent-ascent update strategies. We conduct an extensive set of experiments over machine learning benchmark datasets, as well as, on Caltech 101 category recognition dataset. We show that our method is able to outperform other online multi-class methods. We also apply our method to tracking where, we present an intuitive way to convert the binary tracking by detection problem to a multi-class problem where background patterns which are similar to the target class, become virtual classes. Applying our novel model, we outperform or achieve the state-of-the-art results on benchmark tracking videos.
Crotalus durissus terrificus Venom Interferes With Morphological, Functional, and Biochemical Changes in Murine Macrophage

Crotalus durissus terrificus venom (Cdt) is toxic for a variety of eukaryotic cells, especially at high concentrations. However its effects on host immune cells are not well known. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Cdt on functional status and the mediators production in peritoneal macrophages. The effects of Cdt were analyzed in vitro and were detected using functional status of macrophages as determined by the H2O2 release, spreading percentage, phagocytic index, vacuole formation, and mediators production. Several functional bioassays were employed: cytotoxicity was determined by taking the lyses percentage and the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in macrophages, using the horseradish peroxidase-dependent oxidation of phenol red and nitric oxide (NO) in the supernatants of macrophages by the Griess reaction. The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activity was detected by measuring its cytotoxic activity on L929 cells, and the production the level of other cytokines was assayed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In vitro studies revealed that Cdt produced (a) a discrete increase in the release of H2O2 and vacuole formation; (b) a decrease in spreading percentage and in the phagocytic index; and (c) an increment in the mediators production. More pronounced increments of IL-6 and TNF were observed after 24 and 48 hours, respectively. Maximum levels of IFN-γ and NO were observed after 96 hours. Interestingly, levels of all mediators presented a discreet decrease, as the amount of Cdt was increased. In contrast, the IL-10 levels observed for all doses studied here did not alter. The IL-6/IL-10 ratio may possibly reflect the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages, which may be manifested in the inflammatory status during the envenoming processes. Taken together, these data indicate that Cdt have a differential effect on macrophage activation and that this venom is a potent inhibitor of anti-inflammatory response.
4 Feature Binding , Attention , and Object Perception

s. Enns, J. & Rensink, R. A. 1991 Preattentive recovery of three-dimensional orientation from line drawings. Psychol. Rev. 98, 335–351. Friedman-Hill, S. R. , Robertson, L. C. & Treisman, A. 1995 Parietal contributions to visual feature binding: evidence from a patient with bilateral lesions. Science
Being adopted

English Dutch adoptive parents of 1233 children adopted from China and 412 children adopted from India reported on their children’s interest in adoption and feelings about being adopted. Girls showed more interest in adoption than boys and many children expressed the wish to look white or non-Chinese. French Les parents adoptifs hollandais de 1233 enfants adoptés en provenance de la Chine et de 412 enfants adoptés en provenance de l’Inde rendent compte de l’intérêt de leurs enfants pour l’adoption et de leurs ressentis face à l’adoption. Les filles montrent plus d’intérêt pour l’adoption que les garçons et beaucoup d’enfants ont exprimé le désir de paraître blancs ou non-chinois. Spanish Los padres adoptivos holandeses de 1233 niños de China y 412 niños de India reportaron sobre los intereses de los niños en la adopción y sus sentimientos acerca de ser adoptados. Las niñas mostraron más interés en la adopción que los niños y muchos de ellos expresaron el deseo de parecer blancos o no Chinos.
Better Pregnancy Monitoring Using Nonlinear Correlation Analysis of External Uterine Electromyography

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the novel method for analyzing the nonlinear correlation of the uterine electromyography (EMG). The application of this method may improve monitoring in pregnancy, labor detection, and preterm labor detection. Uterine EMG signals recorded from a 4 × 4 matrix of electrodes on the subjects' abdomen are used here. The propagation was analyzed using the nonlinear correlation coefficient h2. Signals from 49 women (36 during pregnancy and 13 in labor) at different gestational age were used. ROC curves were computed to evaluate the potential of three methods to differentiate between 174 contractions recorded during pregnancy and 115 contractions recorded during labor. The results indicate considerably better performance of the nonlinear correlation analysis (area under curve = 0.85) when compared to classical frequency parameters (area under curve = 0.76 and 0.66) in distinguishing labor contractions from normal pregnancy contractions. We conclude that the analysis of the propagation of the uterine electrical activity using the nonlinear correlation coefficient h2 is a promising way of improving the usefulness of uterine EMG signals for clinical purposes, such as monitoring in pregnancy, labor detection, and prediction of preterm labor.
Bakke, DeFunis, and minority admissions: The quest for equal opportunity

What do you do to start reading bakke defunis and minority admissions the quest for equal opportunity? Searching the book that you love to read first or find an interesting book that will make you want to read? Everybody has difference with their reason of reading a book. Actuary, reading habit must be from earlier. Many people may be love to read, but not a book. It's not fault. Someone will be bored to open the thick book with small words to read. In more, this is the real condition. So do happen probably with this bakke defunis and minority admissions the quest for equal opportunity.
GNAS1 mutational analysis in pseudohypoparathyroidism

Mutations of the GNAS1 gene, which is located on chromosome 20q13.11 and encodes the α‐subunit of the stimulatory GTP‐binding protein, have been identified in patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism type Ia (PHPIa) and pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (PPHP). We have undertaken studies to determine the prevalence of GNAS1 mutations and to explore methods for their more rapid detection.