Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy plus concurrent weekly cisplatin with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Purpose The outcomes of locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT) using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with/without neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) were evaluated. Materials and Methods Eighty-three patients who underwent NCT followed by CCRT (49%) or CCRT with/without adjuvant chemotherapy (51%) were reviewed. To the gross tumor, 67.5 Gy was prescribed. Weekly cisplatin was used as concurrent chemotherapy. Results With a median follow-up of 49.4 months, the 5-year local control, regional control, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival rates were 94.7%, 89.3%, 77.8%, 68.0%, and 81.8%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, the American Joint Committee on Cancer stage (p = 0.016) and N stage (p = 0.001) were negative factors for DMFS and DFS, respectively. Overall, NCT demonstrated no benefit and an increased risk of severe hematologic toxicity. However, compared to patients treated with CCRT alone, NCT showed potential of improving DMFS in stage IV patients. Conclusion CCRT using IMRT resulted in excellent local control and survival outcome. Without evidence of survival benefit from phase III randomized trials, NCT should be carefully administered in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who are at high-risk of developing distant metastasis and radiotherapy-related mucositis. The results of ongoing trials are awaited.
Pushing the limit of non-rigid structure-from-motion by shape clustering

Recovering both camera motions and non-rigid 3D shapes from 2D feature tracks is a challenging problem in computer vision. Long-term, complex non-rigid shape variations in real world videos further increase the difficulty for Non-rigid structure-from-motion (NRSfM). Furthermore, there does not exist a criterion to characterize the possibility in recovering the non-rigid shapes and camera motions (i.e., how easy or how difficult the problem could be). In this paper, we first present an analysis to the "reconstructability" measure for NRSfM, where we show that 3D shape complexity and camera motion complexity can be used to index the re-constructability. We propose an iterative shape clustering based method to NRSfM, which alternates between 3D shape clustering and 3D shape reconstruction. Thus, the global reconstructability has been improved and better reconstruction can be achieved. Experimental results on long-term, complex non-rigid motion sequences show that our method outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods by a margin.
A Feature Logic with Subsorts

This paper presents a set description logic with subsorts, feature selection (the inverse of unary function application), agreement, intersection , union and complement. We deene a model theoretic open world semantics and show that sorted feature structures constitute a canon-ical model, that is, without loss of generality subsumption and consistency of set descriptions can be considered with respect to feature structures only. We show that deciding consistency of set descriptions is an NP-complete problem.
The Remuneration of British Academics

This paper examines both pay relativities and mechanisms for pay determination within the UK academic labour market drawing upon a particularly detailed data set of 635 academics from five traditional Scottish Universities. In the existing literature, the fact that in many occupations, employees are paid according to explicitly determined wage scales is mostly ignored. We employ salary, grade and spinal point information to incorporate the fixed framework of academic salaries into analysis. Our results outline the importance of individual productivity, measured through publication, grant receipt and teaching skill, in attracting financial reward. We find a large penalty associated with time out of the profession and evidence for the deregulation of established pay and promotion structures. In order to identify those academics most likely to leave the profession, analysis also considers the determinants of individuals’ reservation and deserved salary. Controlling for individual characteristics we find that lecturers hold the lowest reservation salaries in relation to their current salary level. The academic profession is therefore most at risk from loosing its staff at this grade. We find however no (self-)selection on the basis of the productivity of individuals.
The Stress Response Regulator AflSkn7 Influences Morphological Development, Stress Response, and Pathogenicity in the Fungus Aspergillus flavus

This study focused on AflSkn7, which is a stress response regulator in the aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus flavus. The ΔAflSkn7 mutants exhibited partially defective conidial formation and a complete inability to generate sclerotia, indicating AflSkn7 affects A. flavus asexual and sexual development. The mutants tolerated osmotic stress but were partially susceptible to the effects of cell wall stress. Additionally, the ΔAflSkn7 mutants were especially sensitive to oxidative stress. These observations confirmed that AflSkn7 influences oxidative stress responses rather than osmotic stress responses. Additionally, AflSkn7 was observed to increase aflatoxin biosynthesis and seed infection rates. These results indicate AflSkn7 affects A. flavus morphological development, stress response, aflatoxin production, and pathogenicity. The results of this study may facilitate the development of new methods to manage A. flavus infections.
Why are Children in the Same Family So Different? Nonshared Environment a Decade Later

Objective: To review recent developments in the study of nonshared environment; that is, the environmental influences that make children growing up in the same family different, rather than similar. Method: We review several recent influential books and papers on the subject of nonshared environment from the decade following the 1987 paper that highlighted its importance in psychological development. Results: Modest progress has been made toward identifying the specific aspects of the environment responsible for nonshared environment. Although parents treat their multiple children differently, such differential treatment accounts for only a small amount of nonshared environmental influence, once genetic factors are controlled. It has been suggested that some degree of nonshared environment may be due to the fact that siblings react differently to ostensibly shared environmental influences. Peer influence and other experiences outside the family may be more important sources of systematic nonshared environment. Conclusions: Despite the difficulties encountered in identifying specific sources of nonshared environment, the fact remains that most environmental variance affecting the development of psychological dimensions and psychiatric disorders is not shared by children growing up in the same family. More research and theory are needed to explain why such siblings are so different. Chance, in the sense of idiosyncratic experiences, also needs to be considered.
European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) Summer 10-6-2011 PUTTING VALUE CO-CREATION INTO PRACTICE : A CASE FOR ADVISORY SUPPORT

The concept of value co-creation and its notion of the customer as co-creator of value have gained much academic interest, notably in marketing and operations research. While several competing perspectives have been conceptually discussed in literature, research on the practical implications of value co-creation is scarce. Using the example of sales-oriented advisory, we show gaps between existing co-creation concepts and current practice in five problem areas. We develop four general solution perspectives on the advisor-client encounter as guidelines to overcome these gaps and discuss design requirements of their technological instantiations in advisory support systems. We present exemplary implementations of such systems in two domains: travel counseling and financial advisory. Revealing the practical implications of value co-creation on advisory encounters, these examples also demonstrate that the solution perspectives have to be implemented quite differently for individual domains.
Seafood Substitutions Obscure Patterns of Mercury Contamination in Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) or “Chilean Sea Bass”

Seafood mislabeling distorts the true abundance of fish in the sea, defrauds consumers, and can also cause unwanted exposure to harmful pollutants. By combining genetic data with analyses of total mercury content, we have investigated how species substitutions and fishery-stock substitutions obscure mercury contamination in Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), also known as “Chilean sea bass”. Patagonian toothfish show wide variation in mercury concentrations such that consumers may be exposed to either acceptable or unacceptable levels of mercury depending on the geographic origins of the fish and the allowable limits of different countries. Most notably, stocks of Patagonian toothfish in Chile accumulate significantly more mercury than stocks closer to the South Pole, including the South Georgia/Shag Rocks stock, a fishery certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as sustainably fished. Consistent with the documented geography of mercury contamination, our analysis showed that, on average, retail fish labeled as MSC-certified Patagonian toothfish had only half the mercury of uncertified fish. However, consideration of genetic data that were informative about seafood substitutions revealed a complex pattern of contamination hidden from consumers: species substitutions artificially inflated the expected difference in mercury levels between MSC-certified and uncertified fish whereas fishery stock substitutions artificially reduced the expected difference in mercury content between MSC-certified and uncertified fish that were actually D. eleginoides. Among MSC-certified fish that were actually D. eleginoides, several with exogenous mtDNA haplotypes (i.e., not known from the certified fishery) had mercury concentrations on par with uncertified fish from Chile. Overall, our analysis of mercury was consistent with inferences from the genetic data about the geographic origins of the fish, demonstrated the potential negative impact of seafood mislabeling on unwanted mercury exposure for consumers, and showed that fishery-stock substitutions may expose consumers to significantly greater mercury concentrations in retail-acquired fish than species substitutions.
Incidence of Malaria and Efficacy of Combination Antimalarial Therapies over 4 Years in an Urban Cohort of Ugandan Children

Background Combination therapies are now recommended to treat uncomplicated malaria. We used a longitudinal design to assess the incidence of malaria and compare the efficacies of 3 combination regimens in Kampala, Uganda. Methodology/Principal Findings Children aged 1–10 years were enrolled from randomly selected households in 2004–05 and 2007, and were followed at least monthly through 2008. Insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) were provided in 2006. Children were randomized upon their first episode, and then treated for all episodes of uncomplicated malaria with amodiaquine/sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (AQ/SP), artesunate/amodiaquine (AS/AQ), or artemether/lumefantrine (AL). Risks of parasitological failure were determined for each episode of uncomplicated malaria and clinical parameters were followed. A total of 690 children experienced 1464 episodes of malaria. 96% of these episodes were uncomplicated malaria and treated with study drugs; 94% were due to Plasmodium falciparum. The rank order of treatment efficacy was AL > AS/AQ > AQ/SP. Failure rates increased over time for AQ/SP, but not the artemisinin-based regimens. Over the 4-year course of the study the prevalence of asymptomatic parasitemia decreased from 11.8% to 1.4%, the incidence of malaria decreased from 1.55 to 0.32 per person year, and the prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin <10 gm/dL) decreased from 5.9% to 1.0%. No episodes of severe malaria (based on WHO criteria) and no deaths were seen. Conclusions/Significance With ready access to combination therapies and distribution of ITNs, responses were excellent for artemisinin-containing regimens, severe malaria was not seen, and the incidence of malaria and prevalence of parasitemia and anemia decreased steadily over time. Trial Registration isrctn.org ISRCTN37517549
A Novel Switched-Coupled-Inductor DC–DC Step-Up Converter and Its Derivatives

This paper presents a novel dc-dc converter configuration, which successfully integrates two technologies, including a switched capacitor and a switched coupled inductor, into one converter. By adopting a coupled inductor to charge a switched capacitor, the voltage gain can be effectively increased, and the turns ratio of the coupled inductor can be also reduced. Not only lower conduction losses but also higher power conversion efficiency is benefited from a lower part count and lower turns ratios. The proposed converter is simply composed of six components, which can be further derived to varied converters for different purposes, such as a bidirectional converter. The operating principle and steady-state analysis are discussed in this paper. A 250-W laboratory hardware prototype is completed and verified. The voltage gain is up to 11. The highest efficiency is 97.2%, and the full-load efficiency is kept at 93.6%.
Taxonomic reassessment of Hydralmosaurus as Styxosaurus: new insights on the elasmosaurid neck evolution throughout the Cretaceous

Two extremely-long necked elasmosaurids, AMNH 1495, holotype of Hydralmosaurus serpentinus, and AMNH 5835, previously referred to H. serpentinus, are here reviewed in detail. Unique features of the cervical vertebrae, which are only present on elasmosaurids from the Western Interior Seaway, are recognized based on these specimens and by comparison with penecontemporaneous taxa with biogeographic affinities. Phylogenetic analysis, bivariate graphic analysis of cervical vertebrae proportions, comparisons of different cervical vertebral types, paleobiogeographic distribution and study of the elasmosaurid axial evolution throughout the Cretaceous are here integrated. As a result, at least two separate lineages within the Elasmosauridae are identified by independently acquired extremely-long necks (over 60 cervical vertebrae). First, a still scarcely known lineage is so far represented by the lower Cenomanian Thalassomedon haningtoni, the Turonian Libonectes morgani and close relatives. A second lineage is here defined as a new clade, the Styxosaurinae, which groups the Campanian genera Terminonatator, Styxosaurus (=‘Hydralmosaurus’), Albertonectes and Elasmosaurus, the two latter forming a derived branch that includes the most extreme amniote necks known to date (more than 70 cervical vertebrae). Phylogenetic analysis supports AMNH 1495 and AMNH 5835 as being closely related to Styxosaurus snowii. Therefore, the species Styxosaurus browni is re-validated, while AMNH 1495 is here referred to Styxosaurus sp. This research also recognizes the ‘Cimoliasauridae’ (nomen dubium) as a paraphyletic group but informative of a plesiomorphic cervical vertebral morphology of elasmosaurids which was persistent throughout the whole Cretaceous and from whom aristonectines, styxosaurines and Thalassomedon and close relatives are derived. The genus Hydralmosaurus is recommended for being abandoned.
Pre- and postmortem tyrannosaurid bite marks on the remains of Daspletosaurus (Tyrannosaurinae: Theropoda) from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

Trace marks on the bones of non-avian dinosaurs may relate to feeding by large carnivores or as a result of combat. Here the cranium and mandible of a specimen of Daspletosaurus are described that show numerous premortem injuries with evidence of healing and these are inferred to relate primarily to intraspecific combat. In addition, postmortem damage to the mandible is indicative of late stage carcass consumption and the taphonomic context suggests that this was scavenging. These postmortem bites were delivered by a large bodied tyrannosaurid theropod and may have been a second Daspletosaurus, and thus this would be an additional record of tyrannosaurid cannibalism.
Performance Measurement for Parallel and Distributed Programs: A Structured and Automatic Approach

Novel approaches are presented for designing performance measurement systems for parallel and distributed programs. The first approach involves unifying performance information into a single, regular structure that reflects the structure of programs under measurement. The authors define a hierarchical model for the execution of parallel and distributed programs as a framework for the performance measurement. A complete different levels of detail in the hierarchy. The second approach is based on the development of automatic guidance techniques that can direct users to the location of performance problems in the program. Guidance information from such techniques supplies facts about problems in the program and provides possible answers for the further improvement of program efficiency. A performance measurement system, called IPS, has been developed as a prototype of the authors' model and design. Some of the test results from IPS are also discussed. >
Platform Competition under Partial Belief Advantage

This paper considers platform competition in a two-sided market that includes buyers and sellers. One of the platforms benets from a partial belief advantage, in that each side believes that it is more likely that the other side will join the advantaged platform. We nd that the degree of the platform’s belief advantage aects its decision regarding the business model (i.e., whether to subsidize buyers or sellers), the access fees and the size of the platform. A slight increase in the platform’s belief advantage may induce the advantaged platform to switch from subsidizing sellers to subsidizing buyers, or induce the disadvantaged platform to switch from subsidizing buyers to subsidizing sellers.
Auditory cortex on the human posterior superior temporal gyrus

The human superior temporal cortex plays a critical role in hearing, speech, and language, yet its functional organization is poorly understood. Evoked potentials (EPs) to auditory click‐train stimulation presented binaurally were recorded chronically from penetrating electrodes implanted in Heschl's gyrus (HG), from pial‐surface electrodes placed on the lateral superior temporal gyrus (STG), or from both simultaneously, in awake humans undergoing surgery for medically intractable epilepsy. The distribution of averaged EPs was restricted to a relatively small area on the lateral surface of the posterior STG. In several cases, there were multiple foci of high amplitude EPs lying along this acoustically active portion of STG. EPs recorded simultaneously from HG and STG differed in their sensitivities to general anesthesia and to changes in rate of stimulus presentation. Results indicate that the acoustically active region on the STG is a separate auditory area, functionally distinct from the HG auditory field(s). We refer to this acoustically sensitive area of the STG as the posterior lateral superior temporal area (PLST). Electrical stimulation of HG resulted in short‐latency EPs in an area that overlaps PLST, indicating that PLST receives a corticocortical input, either directly or indirectly, from HG. These physiological findings are in accord with anatomic evidence in humans and in nonhuman primates that the superior temporal cortex contains multiple interconnected auditory areas. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:79–92, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
HER2 signaling regulates HER2 localization and membrane retention

ErbB2/HER2/Neu is a receptor tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed in 25–30% of human breast cancers, usually associated with amplification of the ERBB2 gene. HER2 has no recognized ligands and heterodimers between HER2 and EGFR (ErbB1/HER1) or HER2 and ErbB3/HER3 are important in breast cancer. Unlike other ErbB family members, HER2 is resistant to internalization and degradation, and remains at the cell surface to signal for prolonged periods after it is activated. Although the mechanisms underlying retention of HER2 at the cell surface are not fully understood, prior studies have shown that, in order to avoid internalization, HER2 must interact with the chaperone, HSP90, and the calcium pump, PMCA2, within specific plasma membrane domains that protrude from the cell surface. In this report, we demonstrate that HER2 signaling, itself, is important for the formation and maintenance of membrane protrusions, at least in part, by maintaining PMCA2 expression and preventing increased intracellular calcium concentrations. Partial genetic knockdown of HER2 expression or pharmacologic inhibition of HER2 signaling causes the depletion of membrane protrusions and disruption of the interactions between HER2 and HSP90. This is associated with the ubiquitination of HER2, its internalization with EGFR or HER3, and its degradation. These results suggest a model by which some threshold of HER2 signaling is required for the formation and/or maintenance of multi-protein signaling complexes that reinforce and prolong HER2/EGFR or HER2/HER3 signaling by inhibiting HER2 ubiquitination and internalization.
Predicting Presidential Elections: An Evaluation of Forecasting

Over the past two decades, a surge of interest in the area of forecasting has produced a number of statistical models available for predicting the winners of U.S. presidential elections. While historically the domain of individuals outside the scholarly community  such as political strategists, pollsters, and journalists  presidential election forecasting has become increasingly mainstream, as a number of prominent political scientists entered the forecasting arena. With the goal of making accurate predictions well in advance of the November election, these forecasters examine several important election “fundamentals” previously shown to impact national election outcomes. In general, most models employ some measure of presidential popularity as well as a variety of indicators assessing the economic conditions prior to the election. Advancing beyond the traditional, non-scientific approaches employed by prognosticators, politicos, and pundits, today’s scientific models rely on decades of voting behavior research and sophisticated statistical techniques in making accurate point estimates of the incumbent’s or his party’s percentage of the popular two-party vote. As the latest evolution in presidential forecasting, these models represent the most accurate and reliable method of predicting elections to date. This thesis provides an assessment of forecasting models’ underlying epistemological assumptions, theoretical foundations, and methodological approaches. Additionally, this study addresses forecasting’s implications for related bodies of literature, particularly its impact on studies of campaign effects.