Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low number of detectable circulating tumor cells in non-metastatic colon cancer.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of patients with non-metastatic colon cancer and to evaluate whether there is a diurnal variation in the CTC counts. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine the correlation between CTCs and TNM stage, other paraclinical variables and prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS Blood samples were collected from 20 consecutive patients with colon cancer TNM stage I-III at four different perioperative time points. Detection of CTCs was performed using the immunological assay CellSearch®. RESULTS CTCs were detected in 1 out of 60 preoperative blood samples, resulting in a detection rate of 1 in 20 patients (5%; 95% confidence interval = 0.1-25%). None of the postoperative blood samples had CTC levels above the cut-off value (≥ 2 CTCs/7.5 ml blood). CONCLUSION The presence of CTCs in non-metastatic colon cancer is rare and barely detectable with the only commercially available assay for detection of CTCs, the CellSearch System.
Critical Analysis of Cerebrovascular Autoregulation During Repeated Head-Up Tilt

Background and Purpose— Cerebrovascular autoregulation has been described with a phase lead of cerebral blood flow preceding changes in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), but there has been less focus on the effect of CPP on cerebral vascular resistance. We investigated these relations during spontaneous fluctuations (control) and repeated head-up tilt. Methods— Eight healthy adults were studied in supine rest and repeated tilt with 10-second supine, 10 seconds at 45° head-up tilt for a total of 12 cycles. Cerebral blood flow was estimated from mean flow velocity (MFV) by transcranial Doppler ultrasound, CPP was estimated from corrected finger pressure (CPPF), and cerebrovascular resistance index (CVRi) was calculated in the supine position from CPPF/MFV. Gain and phase relations were assessed by cross-spectral analysis. Results— In the supine position, MFV preceded CPPF, but changes in CVRi followed CPPF. Gain and phase relations for CPPF as input and MFV as output were similar in supine and repeated tilt experiments. Thus, changes in cerebrovascular resistance must have had a similar pattern in the supine and tilt experiments. Conclusions— Cerebrovascular autoregulation is achieved by changes in resistance in response to modulations in perfusion pressure whether spontaneous or induced by repeated tilt. The phase lead of MFV before CPPF is a mathematical and physiological consequence of the relation the input variable (CPPF) and the manipulated variable (cerebrovascular resistance) that should not be taken as an indication of independent control of cerebral blood flow.
A replicated Unix file system

An implementation of a replicated Unix file system for use via the NFS protocol is reported. The replication method is intended to support the following goals: when used via NFS, the system should provide the same semantics as an unreplicated NFS server, and it should be usable with whatever NFS client code exists at the client machine; the system should not depend on proprietary information; the system should continue to provide service even when one replica is crashed or inaccessible, but have only two copies of each file; the system should perform as reliably as a single, unreplicated NFS server; and the system should provide response time comparable to that provided by a single NFS server. In particular, the delay observed by the client in doing a read or write should be no greater than with a single server. The system organization, replication method, performance, and Unix issues are discussed. <<ETX>>
Bucket-handle tears of the medial and lateral menisci of the knee: value of MR imaging in detecting displaced fragments.

OBJECTIVE A bucket-handle tear of a meniscus is a longitudinal tear with an attached fragment displaced away from the meniscus. Several MR findings of bucket-handle tears have been reported previously. However, the sensitivity of MR for detecting the displaced fragment is unknown. We determined the sensitivity of MR for detecting a displaced bucket-handle tear and determined how the sensitivity varied with tears of different sizes. We also evaluated whether the three findings of a displaced fragment differed in frequency between medial and lateral tears. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the MR examinations of 39 patients with arthroscopically proven bucket-handle tears for signs of a displaced meniscal fragment. Thirty-two patients had medial meniscal bucket-handle tears, and seven had lateral tears. Two observers evaluated each examination independently, with discrepancies resolved by consensus of a third reader. Each observer evaluated for three findings of a bucket-handle tear: a double posterior cruciate ligament sign, a flipped meniscus sign, or a fragment in the intercondylar notch. A double posterior cruciate ligament sign is present when the meniscal fragment is displaced anterior to the posterior cruciate ligament, resembling two ligaments. A flipped meniscus sign occurs when the fragment is flipped anteriorly so the anterior horn of the meniscus appears to be enlarged. We tested for differences between menisci in the sensitivity for each sign using Pearson's chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. We compared the sensitivity of MR for identifying fragments when the tear involved one third, two thirds, or the entire meniscus using Spearman's rank correlation. RESULTS Overall sensitivity for a displaced fragment was only 0.64. When the bucket-handle tear involved the entire meniscus, the displaced fragment could be seen in 84% of the menisci. The double posterior cruciate ligament sign was seen in 53% of the medial and none of the lateral bucket-handle tears (p = .01). The flipped meniscus sign was noted in 44% of medial and 29% of lateral menisci (p = .68), and a fragment was identified in the intercondylar notch in 66% of medial and 43% of lateral menisci (p = .40). CONCLUSION MR is sensitive for detecting meniscal fragments in large bucket-handle tears, but is less so in small tears. The flipped meniscus sign and presence of a fragment in the notch were comparably useful findings of a displaced fragment in both medial and lateral menisci. The double posterior cruciate ligament sign was noted only in medial bucket-handle tears.
Artificial riboswitches for gene expression and replication control of DNA and RNA viruses

Significance Riboswitches are short RNA sequences for ligand-dependent modulation of gene expression in cis. This study demonstrates that an artificial riboswitch, a ligand-dependent self-cleaving ribozyme (aptazyme), can knockdown expression of an adeno- (DNA) virus early and a measles (RNA) virus structural gene, impacting biological outcomes, i.e. inhibiting viral genome replication and infectivity, respectively. It is the first report of riboswitches for replication control of human-pathogenic viruses and of their function in fully cytoplasmic (virus) systems. For future applications, aptazymes can be customized in other viruses facilitating analyses of viral gene functions or as a safety switch in oncolytic viruses. Because of their small size and RNA-intrinsic activity, we propose aptazymes as an alternative for inducible promoters in eukaryotic gene expression control. Aptazymes are small, ligand-dependent self-cleaving ribozymes that function independently of transcription factors and can be customized for induction by various small molecules. Here, we introduce these artificial riboswitches for regulation of DNA and RNA viruses. We hypothesize that they represent universally applicable tools for studying viral gene functions and for applications as a safety switch for oncolytic and live vaccine viruses. Our study shows that the insertion of artificial aptazymes into the adenoviral immediate early gene E1A enables small-molecule–triggered, dose-dependent inhibition of gene expression. Aptazyme-mediated shutdown of E1A expression translates into inhibition of adenoviral genome replication, infectious particle production, and cytotoxicity/oncolysis. These results provide proof of concept for the aptazyme approach for effective control of biological outcomes in eukaryotic systems, specifically in virus infections. Importantly, we also demonstrate aptazyme-dependent regulation of measles virus fusion protein expression, translating into potent reduction of progeny infectivity and virus spread. This not only establishes functionality of aptazymes in fully cytoplasmic genetic systems, but also implicates general feasibility of this strategy for application in viruses with either DNA or RNA genomes. Our study implies that gene regulation by artificial riboswitches may be an appealing alternative to Tet- and other protein-dependent gene regulation systems, based on their small size, RNA-intrinsic mode of action, and flexibility of the inducing molecule. Future applications range from gene analysis in basic research to medicine, for example as a safety switch for new generations of efficiency-enhanced oncolytic viruses.
Treatment Interruption in a Primary Care Antiretroviral Therapy Program in South Africa: Cohort Analysis of Trends and Risk Factors

Objective: To investigate antiretroviral treatment (ART) interruption in a long-term treatment cohort in South Africa. Methods: All adults accessing ART between 2004 and 2009 were included in this analysis. Defaulting was defined as having stopped all ART drugs for more than 30 days. Treatment interrupters were patients who defaulted and returned to care during the study, whereas loss to follow-up was defined as defaulting and not returning to care. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Poisson regression models were used to analyze rates and determinants of defaulting therapy and of treatment resumption. Results: Overall rate of defaulting treatment was 12.8 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval: 11.4 to 14.4). Risk factors for defaulting were male gender, high baseline CD4 count, recency of ART initiation, and time on ART. The probability of resuming therapy within 3 years of defaulting therapy was 42% (event rate = 21.4 per 100 person-years). Factors associated with restarting treatment were female gender, older age, and time since defaulting. Conclusions: Defaulting treatment need not be an irreversible event. Interventions to increase retention in care should target men, less immunocompromised patients, and patients during the first 6 months of treatment. Resumption of treatment is most likely within the first year of interrupting therapy.
Predicting Fault-Prone Classes in Object-Oriented Software: An Adaptation of an Unsupervised Hybrid SOM Algorithm

Many fault-proneness prediction models have been proposed in literature to identify fault-prone code in software systems. Most of the approaches use fault data history and supervised learning algorithms to build these models. However, since fault data history is not always available, some approaches also suggest using semi-supervised or unsupervised fault-proneness prediction models. The HySOM model, proposed in literature, uses function-level source code metrics to predict fault-prone functions in software systems, without using any fault data. In this paper, we adapt the HySOM approach for object-oriented software systems to predict fault-prone code at class-level granularity using object-oriented source code metrics. This adaptation makes it easier to prioritize the efforts of the testing team as unit tests are often written for classes in object-oriented software systems, and not for methods. Our adaptation also generalizes one main element of the HySOM model, which is the calculation of the source code metrics threshold values. We conducted an empirical study using 12 public datasets. Results show that the adaptation of the HySOM model for class-level fault-proneness prediction improves the consistency and the performance of the model. We additionally compared the performance of the adapted model to supervised approaches based on the Naive Bayes Network, ANN and Random Forest algorithms.
: 131 I Activity for Remnant Ablation in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer : A Systematic Review

Cancer Research UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre (A.H.), University College London, London NW1 2ND, United Kingdom; Formerly Thyroid Cancer Unit (C.H.), Royal Marsden Hospital, London SW3 6JJ, United Kingdom; Newcastle General Hospital (U.M.), Newcastle NE4 6BE, United Kingdom; Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (M.H.), London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom; and Division of Medical Sciences (J.A.F.), University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TH, United Kingdom
OUEL 2250 / 02 The Effects of Translational Misalignment in the Self-Calibration of Rotating and Zooming Cameras

Algorithms for self-calibrating cameras whose changes in calibration parameters are confined to rotation and zooming are useful since many real-world imaging situations do not permit translations — consider for instance cameras mounted on tripods and deskor wall-mounted active heads. In practice, however, the assumption of pure rotation is often violated because the optic centre of the camera and the rotation centre do not completely coincide. This work determines how such misalignments affect the estimation of the camera focal length. Expressions for the errors in focal length and recovered rotations are derived, and results are confirmed with experiments on synthetic data. We show that the approximation of pure rotation is indeed sufficient in many cases, especially since other sources of error such as noise and particularly radial distortion tend to be more detrimental.
Different effects of mirtazapine and venlafaxine on brain activation: an open randomized controlled fMRI study.

OBJECTIVE Antidepressants with different mechanisms of action might have different effects on brain functions. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate effects of 2 antidepressants on brain activation and to identify predictors for therapy response. METHOD Twenty-four untreated patients with major depressive disorder (according to Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV) were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, 4-week trial with mirtazapine and venlafaxine. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed at baseline and after 4 weeks in the patients and in 15 healthy controls. The primary outcome measure was fMRI blood-oxygen-level dependence (BOLD) activation. The patients were recruited in 2007 and 2008. RESULTS Comparison between patients and controls revealed that emotional face matching elicited enhanced activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and basal ganglia in patients. During treatment, a significant decrease of BOLD responses was seen in the hippocampus, basal ganglia, thalamus, and cerebellum of venlafaxine-treated patients, and a significant increase in BOLD responses was seen in the middle cingulate gyrus and supplementary motor area of mirtazapine-treated patients (P < .05, family wise error [FWE] cluster-level corrected). Larger BOLD responses in the left fusiform gyrus at baseline predicted a better response to venlafaxine, and smaller BOLD responses in the right rolandic operculum at baseline predicted a better response to mirtazapine (P < .05, FWE cluster-level corrected). CONCLUSIONS These fMRI results indicate that antidepressants with different mechanisms of action have different effects on brain function. It therefore seems that fMRI can be used for therapy evaluation and response prediction and can facilitate the development of new pharmaceuticals.
Economic Cycles and Their Synchronization: A Survey of Spectral Properties

The present work applies several advanced spectral methods to the analysis of macroeconomic fluctuations in three countries of the European Union: Italy, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. We focus here in particular on singular-spectrum analysis (SSA), which provides valuable spatial and frequency information of multivariate data and that goes far beyond a pure analysis in the time domain. The spectral methods discussed here are well established in the geosciences and life sciences, but not yet widespread in quantitative economics. In particular, they enable one to identify and describe nonlinear trends and dominant cycles | including seasonal and interannual components that characterize the deterministic behavior of each time series. These tools have already proven their robustness in the application on short and noisy data, and we demonstrate their usefulness in the analysis of the macroeconomic indicators of these three countries. We explore several fundamental indicators of the countries' real aggregate economy in a univariate, as well as a multivariate setting. Starting with individual single-channel analysis, we are able to identify similar spectral components among the analyzed indicators. Next, we consider combinations of indicators and countries, in order to take different effects of comovements into account. Since business cycles are cross-national phenomena, which show common characteristics across countries, our aim is to uncover hidden global behavior across the European economies. Results are compared with previous findings on the U.S. indicators (Groth et al., 2012). Finally, the analysis is extended to include several indicators from the U.S. economy, in order to examine its influence on the European market.
Local exact controllability of a 1D Bose-Einstein condensate in a time-varying box

We consider a one dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate in a in finite square-well (box) potential. This is a nonlinear control system in which the state is the wave function of the Bose Einstein condensate and the control is the length of the box. We prove that local exact controllability around the ground state (associated with a fi xed length of the box) holds generically with respect to the chemical potential ; i.e. up to an at most countable set of values. The proof relies on the linearization principle and the inverse mapping theorem, as well as ideas from analytic perturbation theory.
Optical Counterparts of X-Ray Point Sources Observed by Chandra in NGC 5128: 20 New Globular Cluster X-Ray Sources

Very Large Telescope images in BVI are used to identify the optical counterparts to bright Chandra X-ray points sources discovered by Kraft and coworkers. Of a total of 111 X-ray point sources with LX > 2 × 1036 ergs s-1 present in a 56 arcmin2 field centered on this galaxy, 58 have optical counterparts. On the basis of the sizes, optical magnitudes, and colors, 20 new globular cluster counterparts of X-ray sources are identified, and three are identified on the basis of their sizes. This brings the total number of globular cluster X-ray sources in this galaxy to 33 and establishes that 30% of the X-ray point sources in NGC 5128 are associated with globular clusters. These X-ray globular clusters occupy the brightest end of the globular cluster luminosity function, indicating that bright low-mass X-ray binaries are preferentially found in massive clusters. Most of the globular clusters with X-ray sources have red colors, with 1.0 < V-I < 1.5, indicating that low-mass X-ray binaries are preferentially formed in metal-rich clusters. The NGC 5128 X-ray globular cluster sources are brighter compared with the Milky Way sources: there are 24 globular clusters with X-ray sources of LX > 1037 ergs s-1. There is, however, no globular cluster X-ray source in NGC 5128 as bright as expected for an accreting black hole. In addition, 31 optical counterparts of X-ray point sources that are not associated with globular clusters are identified. Finally, 53 X-ray point sources (48% of the population) do not have any optical counterparts down to the faintest magnitude limits (B = 25).
Stress reactions in police officers after a disaster rescue operation

This study intended to determine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and to report subjective well-being, general distress, and social functioning among police officers 18 months after a rescue operation during a fire at a discotheque. Emotional responses, including self-reported reactions, recorded during and after the fire were analysed. Forty-one police officers participated in the study. They completed a questionnaire and a battery of self-report measures. Psychological distress was recorded using the PTSS-10, IES-R, and GHQ-28. The three scales had a high internal consistency. The police officers were not unaffected by their experiences, and a few officers were still under stress. One police officer had IES-R intrusion and an avoidance score greater than 20, suggesting a stress reaction of clinical significance. When compared with the PTSS-10 scale, two (5%) officers showed a high level of psychological distress. Measured with the GHQ-28, three officers (7%) still had a high level of psychological distress. On one of the four different subscales most of the officers show various degrees of reduced social functioning. Debriefing was carried out by the police department after the fire, and 75% thought debriefing was positive. Eighteen months after the disaster a few police officers are still under stress.
Instant Loading for Main Memory Databases

eScience and big data analytics applications are facing the challenge of efficiently evaluating complex queries over vast amounts of structured text data archived in network storage solutions. To analyze such data in traditional disk-based database systems, it needs to be bulk loaded, an operation whose performance largely depends on the wire speed of the data source and the speed of the data sink, i.e., the disk. As the speed of network adapters and disks has stagnated in the past, loading has become a major bottleneck. The delays it is causing are now ubiquitous as text formats are a preferred storage format for reasons of portability. But the game has changed: Ever increasing main memory capacities have fostered the development of in-memory database systems and very fast network infrastructures are on the verge of becoming economical. While hardware limitations for fast loading have disappeared, current approaches for main memory databases fail to saturate the now available wire speeds of tens of Gbit/s. With Instant Loading, we contribute a novel CSV loading approach that allows scalable bulk loading at wire speed. This is achieved by optimizing all phases of loading for modern super-scalar multi-core CPUs. Large main memory capacities and Instant Loading thereby facilitate a very efficient data staging processing model consisting of instantaneous load-work-unload cycles across data archives on a single node. Once data is loaded, updates and queries are efficiently processed with the flexibility, security, and high performance of relational main memory databases.