Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cancer in adolescents and young adults (15–29 years): A population-based study in the Netherlands 1989–2009

Abstract Background. Cancer among adolescents and young adults (AYAs; 15–29 years old) is relatively rare but its incidence is increasing worldwide. To define the extent and nature of the AYA patients, this population-based study was performed to explore trends in cancer incidence, survival and risk of second primary cancers in AYAs. Material and methods. Data from all AYAs diagnosed with cancer between 1989 and 2009 were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Age-standardized incidence rates with estimated annual percentage of change (EAPC) and five-year relative survival rates were calculated. Relative survival was used as a good approximation of cause-specific survival. All analyses were stratified by gender, five-year age group and calendar period. In addition, Standardized Incidence Ratios were determined to evaluate the risk of second primary cancers. Results. 23 161 AYAs were diagnosed with cancer between 1989 and 2009. Since 1989 the cancer incidence has increased significantly from 28 to 43 per 100 000 person years in males (EAPC: 1.9) and from 30 to 40 per 100 000 person years in females (EAPC: 1.4). The most frequently diagnosed cancers in male AYAs included testicular cancer, melanoma and Hodgkin's disease, whereas in females melanoma, breast cancer and Hodgkin's disease were the most frequently occurring cancers. Five-year relative survival rates were 80% and 82% for males and females, respectively. Over time, the five-year relative survival increased from 74% to 86% and from 79% to 86% in males and females, respectively. The risk of developing a second primary cancer was increased three to six times in males and two to five times in females, depending on rules for counting second primary cancers. Conclusions. Although the overall survival has improved over time, the progress made in AYAs for specific cancers is still less compared to improvements made in children and adults. This and the increasing incidence and high risk of second primary cancers warrants further research.
Consumption Effects of Bundling: Consumer Perceptions, Firm Actions, and Public Policy Implications

The authors investigate consumer, firm, and policy implications of the fast-food marketing practice of bundling a soft drink and French fries with an entrée (i.e., “the combo meal”) and then offering these three items at a discount. The authors first demonstrate that this practice increases the customer's perceived value of the bundled items. In addition to the traditional economic rationale for consumer purchases of bundles, the authors find that consumers view the bundle as having value beyond the notion of a discount or the perception of the items as complements. The authors attribute this increased value to both the reduction in ordering costs and the promotional effects associated with purchasing the bundle. They also find that consumers become more price sensitive to all goods offered when bundled goods are offered. The authors use this knowledge to determine the impact of several public policy strategies that are focused on reducing consumers’ caloric intake. They demonstrate that proposed taxation on soft drinks has little effect on reducing overall caloric consumption when a bundle is present. They also show that it is possible to maintain profits while reducing caloric consumption by at least 10% if the industry as a whole reduces the portion sizes of drinks and fries associated with the combo meals.
The Phloem-Delivered RNA Pool Contains Small Noncoding RNAs and Interferes with Translation1[W][OA]

In plants, the vascular tissue contains the enucleated sieve tubes facilitating long-distance transport of nutrients, hormones, and proteins. In addition, several mRNAs and small interfering RNAs/microRNAs were shown to be delivered via sieve tubes whose content is embodied by the phloem sap (PS). A number of these phloem transcripts are transported from source to sink tissues and function at targeted tissues. To gain additional insights into phloem-delivered RNAs and their potential role in signaling, we isolated and characterized PS RNA molecules distinct from microRNAs/small interfering RNAs with a size ranging from 30 to 90 bases. We detected a high number of full-length and phloem-specific fragments of noncoding RNAs such as tRNAs, ribosomal RNAs, and spliceosomal RNAs in the PS of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima). In vitro assays show that small quantities of PS RNA molecules efficiently inhibit translation in an unspecific manner. Proof of concept that PS-specific tRNA fragments may interfere with ribosomal activity was obtained with artificially produced tRNA fragments. The results are discussed in terms of a functional role for long distance delivered noncoding PS RNAs.
Changed Men: The Embodied Impact of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a uniquely problematic male health issue. Findings from a study employing an ethnographic approach are presented to describe the ways in which 14 men's lives were changed as a result of this experience. The theoretical basis of the study centered on embodiment to explore the personal impact of prostate cancer, its treatment, and its side effects. The findings suggest that cancer was experienced sequentially, beginning at the time of diagnosis with the problematizing of the normally “silent” male body. This trajectory of experience progressed to emphasize the importance placed on treatment side effects, embodied vulnerability, and the impact of the cancer on men's “embodied” lives. In this article, I focus on the final phase of the illness experience and illustrate how the men confronted existential threat alongside physical changes, and the way each change resulted in a new outlook on life and its priorities following cancer.
Herpetofaunal Responses to Restoration Treatments of Longleaf Pine Sandhills in Florida

The hypothesis that habitat restoration will provide for community reestablishment and the creation of habitat heterogeneity was examined with regards to the herpetofauna of longleaf pine sandhills in northwest Florida. The herpetofaunal response to restoration was examined in fire‐suppressed, hardwood‐dominated areas treated with (1) spring fire; (2) felling or girdling; or (3) a granular form of the herbicide hexazinone. No‐treatment controls were also included. Felling or girdling and herbicide plots were burned for fuel reduction two dormant seasons after initial treatment application. Additionally, data were collected in frequently burned reference sandhills to establish the target condition or restoration goal. Vegetation variables and herpetofaunal capture rates were compared among control and treatment areas. Two similarity indices were utilized to compare treatments and controls with reference sites, to examine restoration success. Restoration treatment effects were observed through reduced hardwood densities. Litter composition varied among control and treatment plots, with leaf litter being highest in areas lacking recent fire. Capture rates of some herpetofaunal species varied significantly among treatment plots. In 1997 similarity indices showed that spring‐burned and felling or girdling plots were more similar to the reference sandhills than the other plots. Treated plots were not significantly different from controls in 1998, a year of a severe drought.
TP53 alterations in Wilms tumour represent progression events with strong intratumour heterogeneity that are closely linked but not limited to anaplasia

TP53 mutations have been associated with anaplasia in Wilms tumour, which conveys a high risk for relapse and fatal outcome. Nevertheless, TP53 alterations have been reported in no more than 60% of anaplastic tumours, and recent data have suggested their presence in tumours that do not fulfil the criteria for anaplasia, questioning the clinical utility of TP53 analysis. Therefore, we characterized the TP53 status in 84 fatal cases of Wilms tumour, irrespective of histological subtype. We identified TP53 alterations in at least 90% of fatal cases of anaplastic Wilms tumour, and even more when diffuse anaplasia was present, indicating a very strong if not absolute coupling between anaplasia and deregulation of p53 function. Unfortunately, TP53 mutations do not provide additional predictive value in anaplastic tumours since the same mutation rate was found in a cohort of non‐fatal anaplastic tumours. When classified according to tumour stage, patients with stage I diffuse anaplastic tumours still had a high chance of survival (87%), but this rate dropped to 26% for stages II–IV. Thus, volume of anaplasia or possible spread may turn out to be critical parameters. Importantly, among non‐anaplastic fatal tumours, 26% had TP53 alterations, indicating that TP53 screening may identify additional cases at risk. Several of these non‐anaplastic tumours fulfilled some criteria for anaplasia, for example nuclear unrest, suggesting that such partial phenotypes should be under special scrutiny to enhance detection of high‐risk tumours via TP53 screening. A major drawback is that these alterations are secondary changes that occur only later in tumour development, leading to striking intratumour heterogeneity that requires multiple biopsies and analysis guided by histological criteria. In conclusion, we found a very close correlation between histological signs of anaplasia and TP53 alterations. The latter may precede development of anaplasia and thereby provide diagnostic value pointing towards aggressive disease.
Rate of language evolution is affected by population size

Significance Evolutionary methods are increasingly being applied to investigating linguistic change. But does language change conform to the predictions of evolutionary theory? Here, we use data from closely related pairs of languages to show that a key prediction of evolutionary theory is met: rates of gain of new words are higher in larger populations whereas rates of word loss are greater in small populations. Our analysis provides, to our knowledge, the first statistically robust evidence of an influence of population size on rate of language change. These results demonstrate the potential for demographic factors to influence language evolution. The effect of population size on patterns and rates of language evolution is controversial. Do languages with larger speaker populations change faster due to a greater capacity for innovation, or do smaller populations change faster due to more efficient diffusion of innovations? Do smaller populations suffer greater loss of language elements through founder effects or drift, or do languages with more speakers lose features due to a process of simplification? Revealing the influence of population size on the tempo and mode of language evolution not only will clarify underlying mechanisms of language change but also has practical implications for the way that language data are used to reconstruct the history of human cultures. Here, we provide, to our knowledge, the first empirical, statistically robust test of the influence of population size on rates of language evolution, controlling for the evolutionary history of the populations and formally comparing the fit of different models of language evolution. We compare rates of gain and loss of cognate words for basic vocabulary in Polynesian languages, an ideal test case with a well-defined history. We demonstrate that larger populations have higher rates of gain of new words whereas smaller populations have higher rates of word loss. These results show that demographic factors can influence rates of language evolution and that rates of gain and loss are affected differently. These findings are strikingly consistent with general predictions of evolutionary models.
Clinical Ophthalmology Dovepress Dovepress Comparison of Keratometric and Pachymetric Parameters with Scheimpflug Imaging in Normal and Keratoconic Asian Eyes

Purpose: To evaluate the keratometric and pachymetric parameters of keratoconic corneas of Asian eyes with the Scheimpflug imaging camera. Patients and methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 22 eyes with Amsler-Krumeich stage 1 keratoconus and 48 eyes from normal subjects conducted in a tertiary eye hospital. A rotating Scheimpflug imaging system, the Pentacam, was used to evaluate all eyes for tomo-graphic parameters, as well as pachymetric progression indices (PPI) and Ambrósio relational thickness (ART). Results: All PPI and ART parameter values were significantly different between study and control groups. Cornea minimum radius of curvature, absolute distance from corneal apex to thinnest location, as well as the distance from corneal apex to thinnest location in Y-axis also demonstrated statistically significant differences. The mean ART values for keratoconus eyes were 241 µm (ART-maximum) and 352 µm (ART-average), falling within previously reported best cutoff values for detecting keratoconus. On receiver operating characteristics curve analysis, the area under the curve values were highest for PPI and ART parameters. Conclusion: There are significant differences in tomographic parameters between stage 1 keratoconic and normal Asian eyes. Pachymetric indices such as the PPI and the ART index can serve as additional tools in differentiating keratoconic from normal eyes. The findings validate the usefulness of the ART in identifying keratoconic eyes in Asians.
The murG gene of Escherichia coli codes for the UDP-N-acetylglucosamine: N-acetylmuramyl-(pentapeptide) pyrophosphoryl-undecaprenol N-acetylglucosamine transferase involved in the membrane steps of peptidoglycan synthesis

Physiological properties of the murG gene product of Escherichia coli were investigated. The inactivation of the murG gene rapidly inhibits peptidoglycan synthesis in exponentially growing cells. As a result, various alterations of cell shape are observed, and cell lysis finally occurs when the peptidoglycan content is 40% lower than that of normally growing cells. Analysis of the pools of peptidoglycan precursors reveals the concomitant accumulation of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) and UDP-N-acetylmuramyl-pentapeptide (UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide) and, to a lesser extent, that of undecaprenyl-pyrophosphoryl-MurNAc-pentapeptide (lipid intermediate I), indicating that inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis occurs after formation of the cytoplasmic precursors. The relative depletion of the second lipid intermediate, undecaprenyl-pyrophosphoryl-MurNAc-(pentapeptide)GlcNAc, shows that inactivation of the murG gene product does not prevent the formation of lipid intermediate I but inhibits the next reaction in which GlcNAc is transferred to lipid intermediate I. In vitro assays for phospho-MurNAc-pentapeptide translocase and N-acetylglucosaminyl transferase activities finally confirm the identification of the murG gene product as the transferase that catalyzes the conversion of lipid intermediate I to lipid intermediate II in the peptidoglycan synthesis pathway. Plasmids allowing for a high overproduction of the transferase and the determination of its N-terminal amino acid sequence were constructed. In cell fractionation experiments, the transferase is essentially associated with membranes when it is recovered.
On Quadratic Threshold CSPs

A predicate P:{– 1, 1}k→{0,1} can be associated with a constraint satisfaction problem $\textsc{Max CSP}{(P)}$. P is called “approximation resistant” if $\textsc{Max CSP}{(P)}$ cannot be approximated better than the approximation obtained by choosing a random assignment, and “approximable” otherwise. This classification of predicates has proved to be an important and challenging open problem. Motivated by a recent result of Austrin and Mossel (Computational Complexity, 2009), we consider a natural subclass of predicates defined by signs of quadratic polynomials, including the special case of predicates defined by signs of linear forms, and supply algorithms to approximate them as follows. In the quadratic case we prove that every symmetric predicate is approximable. We introduce a new rounding algorithm for the standard semidefinite programming relaxation of $\textsc{Max CSP}{(P)}$ for any predicate P:{– 1, 1}k→{0,1} and analyze its approximation ratio. Our rounding scheme operates by first manipulating the optimal SDP solution so that all the vectors are nearly perpendicular and then applying a form of hyperplane rounding to obtain an integral solution. The advantage of this method is that we are able to analyze the behaviour of a set of k rounded variables together as opposed to just a pair of rounded variables in most previous methods. In the linear case we prove that a predicate called “Monarchy” is approximable. This predicate is not amenable to our algorithm for the quadratic case, nor to other LP/SDP-based approaches we are aware of.
Navigational aspects of calling to the Great Harbour of Alexandria

More than ten years of archaeological surveys of the Great Harbour of Alexandria have completely changed the conception of the ancient topography of the port area of the city. The remains of ancient port structures show the high level of port's organization and well correspond to the descriptions of ancient authors. This new archaeological data permits to consider general aspects of navigation within the Great Harbour. The most probable courses of the ships calling to the Great Harbour and leaving it under sail or oars have been considered while taking into account ancient sources, hydro-meteorological factors and the performance of the rigging of the time. An important role of the alignments for the navigation within the harbour is underlined and some possible reference points are proposed. In the absence of archaeological proofs some thoughts are developed on the probable disposition of the Navy and on the location of the shipsheds for the winter storage in greco-roman times.
The Effects of System Trial on Consumer Beliefs in Marketing Software

Marketers are constantly faced with designing an appropriate level of marketing stimulus at which a potential consumer can experience a sensation. Potential consumers generally are constrained with time and energy to explore new products and services. This study attempts to investigate the effects of a system trial as a marketing stimulus on potential consumers’ beliefs. Using a web-based e-learning system, the examination reveals that targeted consumers with or without system trial experience present differences in their determinants of behavioral intentions and beliefs. Potential consumers with system trial experience form a higher perception of usefulness, their intention to use e-learning for distance education purpose is more strongly affected by system functionality, their intention to use e-learning as a supplementary learning tool is more strongly affected by perceived usefulness, and their perception of ease of use is also more strongly influenced by system response. Without system trial, potential consumers’ self-efficacy plays a more important role but only to the extent of forming a higher perception of ease of use. These findings enhance our understanding of marketing information goods to potential consumers.
Bringing Modern Hierarchical Memory Systems Into Focus: A study of architecture and workload factors on system performance

The increasing size of workloads has led to the development of new technologies and architectures that are intended to help address the capacity limitations of DRAM main memories. The proposed solutions fall into two categories: those that re-engineer Flash-based SSDs to further improve storage system performance and those that incorporate non-volatile technology into a Hybrid main memory system. These developments have blurred the line between the storage and memory systems. In this paper, we examine the differences between these two approaches to gain insight into the types of applications and memory technologies that benefit the most from these different architectural approaches. In particular this work utilizes full system simulation to examine the impact of workload randomness on system performance, the impact of backing store latency on system performance, and how the different implementations utilize system resources differently. We find that the software overhead incurred by storage based implementations can account for almost 50% of the overall access latency. As a result, backing store technologies that have an access latency up to 25 microseconds tend to perform better when implemented as part of the main memory system. We also see that high degrees of random access can exacerbate the software overhead problem and lead to large performance advantages for the Hybrid main memory approach. Meanwhile, the page replacement algorithm utilized by the OS in the storage approach results in considerably better performance on highly sequential workloads at the cost of greater pressure on the cache.
Effect of gestational diabetes on blood sugar, liver and renal function tests.

OBJECTIVE Type 2 diabetes adversely affects the liver and kidney function tests. This study was conducted to determine that either the liver and kidney functions are disturbed in the patients having gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS One hundred and three women with GDM, and 97 healthy pregnant women (HPW) in their third trimester were registered in the Obs/Gyn Unit of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar in the time period Apr-Sep 2012. Blood sugar level, glycosylated haemoglobin status HbAlc, haemoglobin concentration, platelet count, liver function tests including alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin, renal function tests including urea and creatinine were determined. RESULTS Blood glucose level and HbAlc of GDM was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than HPW. Fasting and random blood glucose and HbA1c of GDM and HPW were 110.90 +/- 9.10 vs 84.68 +/- 7.01 mg/dl, 148.53 +/- 7.21 vs 124.42 +/- 9.46 mg/dl and 6.49 +/- 1.20 vs 4.99 +/- 0.55 respectively. Haemoglobin percentage, platelet count, ALT, ALP, serum bilirubin and urea were not significantly different among the two groups. However, mean serum creatinine (0.82 +/- 0.32 mg/dl) in GDM was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in HPW (0.74 +/- 0.15 mg/dl). CONCLUSION In gestational diabetes the LFTs may not be disturbed, however serum creatinine value is increased.
Model Based Document Classification and Clustering

In this paper we develop a complete methodology for document classification and clustering. We start by investigating how the choice of document features influences the performance of a document classifier and then use our findings to develop a clustering method suitable for document collections. From our study of the effect of frequency transformation, term weighting and dimensionality reduction through principal components analysis on the performance of a simple K-nearest-neighbors classifier, we conclude that: (a) applying a logarithm or square-root transformation to the term frequencies reduces error rates; (b) term weighting of the transformed frequencies does not appear to help much; and (c) increasing the feature space dimension beyond 50 does not improve performance. We use these findings in the construction of a Gaussian Mixture Document Clustering (GMDC) algorithm. This algorithm models the data as a sample from a Gaussian mixture. The model is used to build clusters based on the likelihood of the data, and to classify documents according to Bayes rule. One main advantage of our approach is the ability to automatically select the number of clusters present in the document collection. Our experiments with the Topic Detection and Tracking Corpus demonstrates the ability of GMDC to choose a sensible number of clusters and to generate meaningful partitions of the data.