Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glass Transition, Crystallization of Glass-Forming Melts, and Entropy

A critical analysis of possible (including some newly proposed) definitions of the vitreous state and the glass transition is performed and an overview of kinetic criteria of vitrification is presented. On the basis of these results, recent controversial discussions on the possible values of the residual entropy of glasses are reviewed. Our conclusion is that the treatment of vitrification as a process of continuously breaking ergodicity with entropy loss and a residual entropy tending to zero in the limit of zero absolute temperature is in disagreement with the absolute majority of experimental and theoretical investigations of this process and the nature of the vitreous state. This conclusion is illustrated by model computations. In addition to the main conclusion derived from these computations, they are employed as a test for several suggestions concerning the behavior of thermodynamic coefficients in the glass transition range. Further, a brief review is given on possible ways of resolving the Kauzmann paradox and its implications with respect to the validity of the third law of thermodynamics. It is shown that neither in its primary formulations nor in its consequences does the Kauzmann paradox result in contradictions with any basic laws of nature. Such contradictions are excluded by either crystallization (not associated with a pseudospinodal as suggested by Kauzmann) or a conventional (and not an ideal) glass transition. Some further so far widely unexplored directions of research on the interplay between crystallization and glass transition are anticipated, in which entropy may play—beyond the topics widely discussed and reviewed here—a major role.
Evaluation of Treatment Effect with Paired Failure Times in a Single-Arm Phase II Trial in Oncology

In early phase clinical trials of cytotoxic drugs in oncology, the efficacy is typically evaluated based on the tumor shrinkage. However, this criterion is not always appropriate for more recent cytostatic agents, and alternative endpoints have been proposed. The growth modulation index (GMI), defined as the ratio between the times to progression in two successive treatment lines, has been proposed for a single-arm phase II trials. The treatment effect is evaluated by estimating the rate of patients having a GMI superior to a given threshold. To estimate this rate, we investigated a parametric method based on the distribution of the times to progression and a nonparametric one based on a midrank estimator. Through simulations, we studied their operating characteristics and the impact of different design parameters (censoring, dependence, and distribution) on them. In these simulations, the nonparametric estimator slightly underestimated the rate and had slightly overconservative confidence intervals in some cases. Conversely, the parametric estimator overestimated the rate and had anticonservative confidence intervals in some cases. The nonparametric method appeared to be more robust to censoring than the parametric one. In conclusion, we recommend the nonparametric method, but the parametric method can be used as a supplementary tool.
Hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and associated factors in Southwest China: an update

Objectives: The study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and risk factors of hypertension in Chongqing Province in Southwest China. Methods: Multistage, stratified, random cluster sampling scheme was adopted to recruit representative samples. All of the selected study participants completed a questionnaire and physical examinations. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify the associated factors. Results: Overall, 14 420 study participants (men = 7186) above 18 years were enrolled. The overall hypertension prevalence was 23.9%, with rural residents having a higher prevalence than urban residents (26.0 vs. 21.6%, P < 0.001). The awareness, treatment, control, and control among treated patients were 44.1, 36.6, 8.5, and 23.3%, respectively. Elderly women inhabiting urban areas had better awareness and treatment. The urban and rural areas differed in control (12.9 vs. 5.1%, P < 0.001). Age, sex, alcohol consumption, family history of hypertension, overweight/obesity, visceral adipose index, and body fat percentage were identified as risk factors for hypertension in both areas. Education levels, smoking, and daily salt intake were correlated with hypertension only among rural residents, and central obesity was correlated with hypertension only among urban residents. Sex, rurality, age, education level, alcohol consumption, overweight/obesity, central obesity, visceral adipose index, and body fat percentage were identified as associated factors of awareness, treatment, and control. Conclusion: During the past decade, there is an increasing prevalence of hypertension in the general population in Chongqing Province. The levels of awareness, treatment, and control have improved, but remain extremely low. More aggressive strategies should thus be adopted.
Basic principles and current status of transcorneal and transscleral iontophoresis

ABSTRACT Introduction: Iontophoresis is an active non-invasive drug delivery technique that can increase the transport of charged and neutral molecules into and across biological membranes. Most research to-date has focused on (per)cutaneous iontophoretic drug delivery. However, recent studies illustrate its potential for drug delivery to the eye: corneal iontophoresis may enable targeted topical therapy of intracorneal diseases, whereas transscleral iontophoresis may enable non-invasive intraocular drug delivery. Areas covered: We describe iontophoretic principles in the context of ocular delivery before providing a summary of recent preclinical studies involving transcorneal and transscleral iontophoresis in vitro and in vivo. Subsequently, an overview of clinical applications with special focus on the transcorneal iontophoresis of riboflavin for corneal cross-linking and transscleral iontophoresis of corticosteroids for the treatment of posterior segment diseases is provided. Expert opinion: The feasibility of using iontophoresis for ocular drug delivery has been demonstrated. Drug formulation development and the ability to design iontophoretic applicators will now determine its success in the clinic. The specificities of the ocular globe must be taken into account; in particular, its unique morphology, and the smaller surface area available for drug diffusion and the fact that it is more susceptible to irritation and less robust than the skin.
A simple FPRAS for bi-directed reachability

Gorodezky and Pak (Random Struct. Algorithms, 2014) introduced a "cluster-popping" algorithm for sampling root-connected subgraphs in a directed graph, and conjectured that it runs in expected polynomial time on bi-directed graphs. We confirm their conjecture. It follows that there is a fully polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS) for reachability in bi-directed graphs. Reachability is the probability that, assuming each arc fails independently, all vertices can reach a special root vertex in the remaining graph. A bi-directed graph is one in which each directed arc has a parallel twin oriented in the opposite sense.
Cytokines and fever.

Fever is one of the best examples of responses to injury and infection which depends on neuroimmune interactions. Cytokines function as mediators of fever, acting locally within damaged tissues, circulating factors and the brain. The primary endogenous pyrogens. IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-alpha act at each of these sites and interact with nervous and endocrine systems to modify host defence responses. Understanding the role and mechanisms of cytokine actions in fever is relevant to many other aspects of neuroimmunology, and host responses to pathological challenges.
Epoxyeicosatrienoic acid analog attenuates the development of malignant hypertension, but does not reverse it once established: a study in Cyp1a1-Ren-2 transgenic rats

Objective: We evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness of a new, orally active epoxyeicosatrienoic acid analog (EET-A) in rats with angiotensin II (ANG II)-dependent malignant hypertension. Methods: Malignant hypertension was induced in Cyp1a1-Ren-2 transgenic rats by activation of the renin gene using indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a natural xenobiotic. EET-A treatment was started either simultaneously with I3C induction process (early treatment) or 10 days later during established hypertension (late treatment). Blood pressure (BP) (radiotelemetry), indices of renal and cardiac injury, and plasma and kidney levels of the components of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) were determined. Results: In I3C-induced hypertensive rats, early EET-A treatment attenuated BP increase (to 175 ± 3 versus 193 ± 4 mmHg, P < 0.05, on day 13), reduced albuminuria (15 ± 1 versus 28 ± 2 mg/24 h, P < 0.05), and cardiac hypertrophy as compared with untreated I3C-induced rats. This was associated with suppression of plasma and kidney ANG II levels (48 ± 6 versus 106 ± 9 and 122 ± 19 versus 346 ± 11 fmol ml−1 or g, respectively, P < 0.05) and increases in plasma and kidney angiotensin (1–7) concentrations (84 ± 9 versus 37 ± 6 and 199 ± 12 versus 68 ± 9 fmol/ml or g, respectively, P < 0.05). Remarkably, late EET-A treatment did not lower BP or improve renal and cardiac injury; indices of RAS activity were not affected. Conclusion: The new, orally active EET-A attenuated the development of experimental ANG II-dependent malignant hypertension, likely via suppression of the hypertensiogenic axis and augmentation of the vasodilatory/natriuretic axis of RAS.
Inequity in biological DMARD prescription for spondyloarthritis across the globe: results from the ASAS-COMOSPA study

Objectives The value of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in spondyloarthritis (SpA) is well recognised, but global access to these treatments can be limited due to high costs and other factors. This study explores country variation in the use of bDMARDs in SpA in relation to country-level socioeconomic factors. Methods Patients fulfilling the Assessment in SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) SpA criteria in the multinational, cross-sectional ASAS Comorbidities in Spondyloarthritis study were studied. Current use of bDMARDs or conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) was investigated in separate models, with multilevel logistic regression analysis, taking the country level into account. Contribution of socioeconomic factors, including country health expenditures, gross domestic product and human development index as independent country-level factors, was explored individually, in models adjusted for sociodemographic as well as clinical variables. Results In total, 3370 patients from 22 countries were included (mean (SD) age 43 (14) years; 66% male; 88% axial disease). Across countries, 1275 (38%) patients were bDMARD users. Crude mean bDMARD use varied between 5% (China) to 74% (Belgium). After adjustment for relevant sociodemographic and clinical variables, important variation in bDMARD use across countries remained (P<0.001). Country-level socioeconomic factors, specifically higher health expenditures, were related to higher bDMARD uptake, though not meeting statistical significance (OR 1.96; 95% CI 0.94 to 4.10). csDMARD uptake was significantly lower in countries with higher health expenditures (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.65). Similar trends were seen with the other socioeconomic variables. Conclusions There remains important residual variation across countries in bDMARD uptake of patients with SpA followed in specialised SpA centres. This is independent of well-known factors for bDMARD use such as clinical and country-level socioeconomic factors.
Fast Algorithms for Designing Multiple Unimodular Waveforms With Good Correlation Properties

In this paper, we develop new fast and efficient algorithms for designing single/multiple unimodular waveforms/codes with good auto- and cross-correlation or weighted correlation properties, which are highly desired in radar and communication systems. The waveform design is based on the minimization of the integrated sidelobe level (ISL) and weighted ISL (WISL) of waveforms. As the corresponding optimization problems can quickly grow to large scale with increasing the code length and number of waveforms, the main issue turns to be the development of fast large-scale optimization techniques. The difficulty is also that the corresponding optimization problems are non-convex, but the required accuracy is high. Therefore, we formulate the ISL and WISL minimization problems as non-convex quartic optimization problems in frequency domain, and then simplify them into quadratic problems by utilizing the majorization-minimization technique, which is one of the basic techniques for addressing large-scale and/or non-convex optimization problems. While designing our fast algorithms, we find out and use inherent algebraic structures in the objective functions to rewrite them into quartic forms, and in the case of WISL minimization, to derive additionally an alternative quartic form which allows to apply the quartic-quadratic transformation. Our algorithms are applicable to large-scale unimodular waveform design problems as they are proved to have lower or comparable computational burden (analyzed theoretically) and faster convergence speed (confirmed by comprehensive simulations) than the state-of-the-art algorithms. In addition, the waveforms designed by our algorithms demonstrate better correlation properties compared to their counterparts.
Review: Electrostatically actuated nanobeam-based nanoelectromechanical switches – materials solutions and operational conditions

This review summarizes relevant research in the field of electrostatically actuated nanobeam-based nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switches. The main switch architectures and structural elements are briefly described and compared. Investigation methods that allow for exploring coupled electromechanical interactions as well as studies of mechanically or electrically induced effects are covered. An examination of the complex nanocontact behaviour during various stages of the switching cycle is provided. The choice of the switching element and the electrode is addressed from the materials perspective, detailing the benefits and drawbacks for each. An overview of experimentally demonstrated NEM switching devices is provided, and together with their operational parameters, the reliability issues and impact of the operating environment are discussed. Finally, the most common NEM switch failure modes and the physical mechanisms behind them are reviewed and solutions proposed.
Impact of Targeted Education on Colorectal Cancer Screening Knowledge and Psychosocial Attitudes in a Predominantly Hispanic Population

Colorectal cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality, with screening behavior found to be influenced by knowledge and other psychosocial attitudes. We recruited 784 participants 50 to 70 years of age. The intervention arm received a culturally sensitive, literacy-appropriate educational intervention by a promotora. Surveys were completed at baseline and 6 months post. Our intervention significantly increased knowledge at 6 months when compared with control (0.74 vs 0.18, P < .0001). We also report increase in perceived susceptibility to colorectal cancer and perceived benefits of colorectal cancer screening while decreasing sense of fatalism. Perceived barriers to screening did significantly increase.
Anxiety and depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: Comparisons with chronic liver disease patients and the general population

Background: Studies on anxiety and depression in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) yielded inconsistent results. We compared anxiety and depression of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) controlled for sociodemographic and medical variables with age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Methods: In all, 422 IBD patients (50% females, 314 CD, 108 UC) of different settings were compared with 140 age‐ and sex‐matched patients with chronic liver diseases (CLD) of a tertiary care center and with 422 age‐ and sex‐matched persons of a representative sample of the general German population (GP). Anxiety and depression and probable mental disorder were assessed by the German version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Comparisons between CD and UC were adjusted for medical (disease activity, number of IBD‐associated diseases) and sociodemographic factors (age, gender, marital status). Results: CD and UC patients did not differ in the levels of anxiety and depression or in the frequency of a probable mental disorder. The levels of anxiety and depression of IBD patients with active disease were higher than that of the GP, but not of the IBD patients in remission. The depression score of the CLD sample was higher than that of the IBD sample (P < 0.001), but not the anxiety score. Mental disorders were more frequent in IBD patients with slight (27.7%) and moderate/severe disease activity (49.3%) compared to GP (10.4%) (P < 0.001), but not in IBD patients in remission (11.3%). Conclusions: Patients with active IBD should be screened for anxiety and depression. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2011
AP17-OLR challenge: Data, plan, and baseline

We present the data profile and the evaluation plan of the second oriental language recognition (OLR) challenge AP17-OLR. Compared to the event last year (AP16-OLR), the new challenge involves more languages and focuses more on short utterances. The data is offered by SpeechOcean and the NSFC M2ASR project. Two types of baselines are constructed to assist the participants, one is based on the i-vector model and the other is based on various neural networks. We report the baseline results evaluated with various metrics defined by the AP17-OLR evaluation plan and demonstrate that the combined database is a reasonable data resource for multilingual research. All the data is free for participants, and the Kaldi recipes for the baselines have been published online.
Tensile behavior of aluminum/carbon fiber reinforced polymer hybrid composites at intermediate strain rates

Tensile behaviors of aluminum/carbon fiber reinforced polymer hybrid composites with different carbon fiber reinforced polymer stacking sequences were measured at strain rates between 0.001/s and 100/s and properties of the hybrid composites were compared to the results of aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced polymer tested under the same conditions. In the aluminum specimen, negative strain rate sensitivity resulted in a significant decrease in the tensile strength and positive strain rate sensitivity resulted in an increase in failure strain at higher strain rates. However, in the hybrid composite specimen, both the tensile strength and the failure strain could be increased as the strain rate increased by reinforcing the aluminum with carbon fiber reinforced polymer. The differences in tensile properties and the degree of strain rate sensitivity were extensive depending on the stacking sequence of the carbon fiber reinforced polymer layer. A Weibull function with scale parameter σ0 and shape parameter β was used in order to describe the relation between stress and strain of aluminum/carbon fiber reinforced polymer hybrid composites, and the constitutive equation established by the Weibull function described the tensile behavior of the hybrid composites very well.
Clinical utility of ustekinumab in Crohn’s disease

The introduction of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy marked an important milestone in the management of moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease (CD). However, there remains a pressing demand for alternative therapeutic options for patients with primary nonresponse, secondary loss of response, or intolerable side effects to conventional treatment and TNF antagonists. Ustekinumab (UST) is a fully human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody that inhibits the p40 subunit shared by the proinflammatory cytokines, the interleukin (IL)-12 and -23. This blockade leads to dampening of the inflammatory cascade and differentiation of inflammatory T cells. The clinical development program for UST in CD includes dose finding Phase II (Crohn’s Evaluation of Response to Ustekinumab Anti-Interleukin-12/23 for Induction [CERTIFI]) and the pivotal Phase III (UNITI) trials that demonstrated both the clinical efficacy and safety in anti-TNF-naive and anti-TNF-exposed patients. Real-world evidence has further defined the role of UST in CD management. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of action of UST, describe the results of the randomized controlled trials with this agent, and review the real-world efficacy and safety data from observational cohorts. Finally, we identify areas of future research in the IL-12/23 inflammatory pathway and discuss the positioning of this novel therapeutic option in CD treatment algorithms.
Retrieving High Resolution 3-D Wind Vector Fields from Operational Radar Networks

Doppler radar systems have been instrumental to improve our understanding and monitoring capabilities of phenomena taking place in the low, middle, and upper atmosphere. Weather radars, wind profilers, and incoherent and coherent scatter radars implementing Doppler techniques are now used routinely both in research and operational applications by scientists and practitioners. This book brings together a collection of eighteen essays by international leading authors devoted to different applications of ground based Doppler radars. Topics covered include, among others, severe weather surveillance, precipitation estimation and nowcasting, wind and turbulence retrievals, ionospheric radar and volcanological applications of Doppler radar. The book is ideally suited for graduate students looking for an introduction to the field or professionals intending to refresh or update their knowledge on Doppler radar applications.
Wnt6 maintains anterior escort cells as an integral component of the germline stem cell niche

ABSTRACT Stem cells reside in a niche, a local environment whose cellular and molecular complexity is still being elucidated. In Drosophila ovaries, germline stem cells depend on cap cells for self-renewing signals and physical attachment. Germline stem cells also contact the anterior escort cells, and here we report that anterior escort cells are absolutely required for germline stem cell maintenance. When escort cells die from impaired Wnt signaling or hid expression, the loss of anterior escort cells causes loss of germline stem cells. Anterior escort cells function as an integral niche component by promoting DE-cadherin anchorage and by transiently expressing the Dpp ligand to promote full-strength BMP signaling in germline stem cells. Anterior escort cells are maintained by Wnt6 ligands produced by cap cells; without Wnt6 signaling, anterior escort cells die leaving vacancies in the niche, leading to loss of germline stem cells. Our data identify anterior escort cells as constituents of the germline stem cell niche, maintained by a cap cell-produced Wnt6 survival signal. Summary: In Drosophila ovaries, anterior escort cells, maintained by Wnt signaling, form a crucial component of the stem cell niche by promoting BMP signaling and anchoring GSCs through DE-cadherin-based junctions.