Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Value of Restaging With Chest and Abdominal CT/MRI Scan After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

AbstractLittle was known with regard to the value of preoperative systemic restaging for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). This study was designed to evaluate the role of chest and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on preoperative restaging in LARC after neoadjuvant CRT and to assess the impact on treatment strategy.Between January 2007 and April 2013, 386 newly diagnosed consecutive patients with LARC who underwent neoadjuvant CRT and received restaging with chest and abdominal CT/MRI scan were included. Imaging results before and after CRT were analyzed.Twelve patients (3.1%) (6 liver lesions, 2 peritoneal lesions, 2 distant lymph node lesions, 1 lung lesions, 1 liver and lung lesions) were diagnosed as suspicious metastases on the restaging scan after radiotherapy. Seven patients (1.8%) were confirmed as metastases by pathology or long-term follow-up. The treatment strategy was changed in 5 of the 12 patients as a result of restaging CT/MRI findings. Another 10 patients (2.6%) who present with normal restaging imaging findings were diagnosed as metastases intra-operatively. The sensitivity, specificity accuracy, negative predictive value, and positive predictive values of restaging CT/MRI was 41.4%, 98.6%, 58.3%, and 97.3%, respectively.The low incidence of metastases and minimal consequences for the treatment plan question the clinical value of routine restaging of chest and abdomen after neoadjuvant CRT. Based on this study, a routine restaging CT/MRI of chest and abdomen in patients with rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT is not advocated, carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) -guided CT/MRI restaging might be an alternative.
The Learning Barrier: Moving from Innate to Learned Systems of Communication

Human language is a unique ability. It sits apart from other systems of communication in two striking ways: it is syntactic, and it is learned. While most approaches to the evolution of language have focused on the evolution of syntax, this paper explores the computational issues that arise in shifting from a simple innate communication system to an equally simple one that is learned. Associative network learning within an observational learning paradigm is used to explore the computational difficulties involved in establishing and maintaining a simple learned communica tion system. Because Hebbian learning is found to be sufficient for this task, it is proposed that the basic computational demands of learning are unlikely to account for the rarity of even simple learned communication systems. Instead, it is the problem of *observing* that is likely to be cen tral — in particular the problem of determining what meaning a signal is intended to convey.
Maternal intake of fatty acids during pregnancy and allergies in the offspring

Fatty acids (FA) are known to have a number of immunological effects and, accordingly, may play a role in the development of allergic diseases. We investigated the effect of maternal intake of FA during pregnancy on the risk of allergic rhinitis, wheeze and atopic eczema in children aged 5 years. The present study analysed data from the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Nutrition Study, a population-based birth cohort study with a 5-year follow-up. Complete information on maternal diet (assessed by a validated FFQ) and International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood-based allergic outcomes was available for 2441 children. Cox proportional regression and logistic regression were used for the analyses. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, high maternal consumption of butter and butter spreads (hazard ratio (HR) 1·33; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·71) and higher ratio of n-6:n-3 FA (HR 1·37; 95 % CI 1·07, 1·77) during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of allergic rhinitis in the offspring by 5 years of age. High maternal intakes of total PUFA (HR 0·71; 95 % CI 0·52, 0·96) and α-linolenic FA (HR 0·73; 95 % CI 0·54, 0·98) were associated with a decreased risk of allergic rhinitis. However, these results lost their significance after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Overall, our data suggest that maternal consumption of butter, the ratio of n-6:n-3 FA and intake of PUFA and α-linolenic FA during pregnancy may be potential determinants of allergic rhinitis in the offspring.
Differential Associative Training Enhances Olfactory Acuity in Drosophila melanogaster

Training can improve the ability to discriminate between similar, confusable stimuli, including odors. One possibility of enhancing behaviorally expressed discrimination (i.e., sensory acuity) relies on differential associative learning, during which animals are forced to detect the differences between similar stimuli. Drosophila represents a key model organism for analyzing neuronal mechanisms underlying both odor processing and olfactory learning. However, the ability of flies to enhance fine discrimination between similar odors through differential associative learning has not been analyzed in detail. We performed associative conditioning experiments using chemically similar odorants that we show to evoke overlapping neuronal activity in the fly's antennal lobes and highly correlated activity in mushroom body lobes. We compared the animals' performance in discriminating between these odors after subjecting them to one of two types of training: either absolute conditioning, in which only one odor is reinforced, or differential conditioning, in which one odor is reinforced and a second odor is explicitly not reinforced. First, we show that differential conditioning decreases behavioral generalization of similar odorants in a choice situation. Second, we demonstrate that this learned enhancement in olfactory acuity relies on both conditioned excitation and conditioned inhibition. Third, inhibitory local interneurons in the antennal lobes are shown to be required for behavioral fine discrimination between the two similar odors. Fourth, differential, but not absolute, training causes decorrelation of odor representations in the mushroom body. In conclusion, differential training with similar odors ultimately induces a behaviorally expressed contrast enhancement between the two similar stimuli that facilitates fine discrimination.
Early Palaeozoic magmatism in the English Lake District

SUMMARY The Lower Palaeozoic rocks of the Lake District record the rifting of the microcontinental terrane of Avalonia from Gondwana early in the Ordovician, its drift northwards across the Iapetus Ocean and collision with Laurentia and Baltica in the Silurian, and its Acadian deformation in Early Devonian times. Three discrete episodes of magmatism occurred during these events. In late Ordovician (Caradoc) times large volumes of magma were generated in response to subduction of Iapetus oceanic crust beneath Avalonia. Large-scale eruptions formed the basalt–andesite–rhyolite volcanic fields that are now preserved as the Eycott and Borrowdale volcanic groups. Large bodies of mainly granitic magma were emplaced beneath the Borrowdale Volcanic Group as part of the largely Ordovician Lake District batholith; these include, for example, the Eskdale and Ennerdale intrusions. Less than 10 Ma later, a brief episode of silicic volcanism is recorded within the marine sedimentary strata of the lowest part of the overlying Windermere Supergroup. A period of about 40 million years of apparent quiescence then ensued before further granitic masses, the Shap and Skiddaw plutons were emplaced around the margins of the batholith in Early Devonian times. All of these magmatic episodes were accompanied by minor intrusions. The Eycott and Borrowdale volcanic groups are rare examples in the geological record of the products of subaerial volcanism. Preservation is entirely due to subsidence keeping pace with the emplacement of new material. Subsidence resulted both from extensional tectonic processes and, locally, during the movement
ROLE OF MODIFIED EPLEY’S MANEUVER AND BRANDT-DAROFF EXERCISES IN TREATMENT OF POSTERIOR CANAL BPPV: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Background: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) defined by Dix and Hallpike is one of the most common disorders causing vertigo. BPPV is more prevalent in adults and in women. BPPV mostly develops in the posterior semicircular canal. The main symptom of BPPV is vertigo induced by a change in head position with respect to gravity. The Dix-Hallpike test is the most commonly used test to confirm the diagnosis of posterior canal BPPV. Treatment options for posterior canal BPPV are Epley’s maneuver, Liberatory maneuver and BrandtDaroff exercises. In modified epley’s maneuver few modifications were done in original epley’s maneuver without affecting outcome. Objective: To assess effectiveness of modified epley’s maneuver as well as combination of modified epley’s maneuver with Brandt-Daroff exercise in patients with posterior canal BPPV and to compare both treatment protocols. Methodology: All patients were examined by Dix-Hallpike test (D-H Test) and those suffering from posterior canal BPPV and fulfilling inclusion criteria were taken up for the study. Total thirty five patients took part in this study on a voluntary basis after signing consent form. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups. In group 1, combination of modified epley’s maneuver and Brandt-Daroff exercise were given and in group 2 only modified epley’s maneuver was given. All patients were reexamined after 1 week of treatment and were asked to come for follow up after 1 month. In follow up visits response to Dix – Hallpike maneuver and Dizziness Handicap Inventory(DHI) were assessed as outcome measures. Results: Data collected through this study showed highly significant improvement in DHI score and response to D-H test when intragroup comparison is made in both the groups after 1 week and 1 month of treatment at 1% level of significance. When intergroup comparison is made we found better improvement in group 2 after 1 week and in group 1 after 1 month of treatment. Conclusion: The conclusion of the study is that both treatment approaches are effective in reducing symptoms and improving independence level but combined approaches can give better result.
Étude des interférences entre injections multiples de CO2 dans un aquifère salin profond à l'échelle industrielle

Les injections de CO2 a l'echelle industrielle, dans les aquiferes salins profonds, vont affecter le systeme naturel en induisant des perturbations des gradients de pression a court et a moyen terme.Des etudes previsionnelles sont necessaires pour evaluer les risques de contamination (fuites de CO2, deplacement des fluides natifs) et les risques d'interferences entre projets d'injection ou entre utilisations du sous-sol.Les aquiferes salins etant generalement peu caracterises, les incertitudes geologiques sont a considerer lors de l'etude de faisabilite du stockage et des risques associes puisque les parametres geologiques influencent la reponse du systeme a l'injection.Nous nous sommes interesses aux incertitudes resultantes en termes de previsions de perturbations de pression et de migration de CO2 et a leurs consequences sur la faisabilite des projets de stockage.Dans un premier temps, les incertitudes de modelisation (changement d'echelle, resolution de la variabilite spatiale des proprietes petrophysiques) et geologiques (proprietes petrophysiques de la formation d'injection et de la couverture) ont ete etudiees sur des modeles 2D conceptuels. L'objectif etant de balayer les champ d'incertitudes pour des modeles peu couteux en temps de calcul, pour ensuite, reduire les evaluations a effectuer dans le cadre de la modelisation 3D regionale du systeme souterrain et y appliquer des methodes simplifiees, validees en deux dimensions.Des centaines de realisations stochastiques sont utilisees pour evaluer l'influence de la variabilite spatiale de la permeabilite. Pour limiter le nombre de simulations d'ecoulement a effectuer, des methodes de selection de realisations, a partir de "proxy-response" (i.e. approximation de la reponse par une methode de calcul simplifiee) ont ete testees et validees.Ensuite, les modeles 3D sont construits a partir des donnees d'un modele hydrogeologique du bassin parisien. Differents scenarios d'injection sont envisages. La sensibilite de la reponse est etudiee principalement par rapport a la variabilite spatiale de la permeabilite et a la compressibilite des pores. Cette derniere etape permet de mieux apprehender les risques d'interferences en fonction des incertitudes majeures, d'une part des parametres geologiques, et d'autre part des parametres physiques lies a l'injection.
INHIBITION OF LIPID PEROXIDATION OF FROZEN MACKEREL BY PRE-STORAGE ANTIOXIDANT SUPERFICIAL TREATMENT

DRAGOEV, S. G. , 2008. Inhibition of lipid peroxidation of frozen mackerel by pre-storage antioxidant superficial treatment. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 14: 283-289 With the help of TBARS the antioxidative effect of rosemary extract, rutin, quercetin, sodium erythrobate, BHT, α-tocopherol and a blend, containing rosemary extract, quercetin concentrate and sodium erythrobate on the lipid peroxidation of frozen mackerel, stored 360 d at -18 0 C has been studied. It is determined that the best inhibition of the lipid peroxidation of frozen mackerel is achieved when its surface is treated with solution of the composition of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) extract, quercetin concentrate from flower buds of Japanese acacia (Sophora japonica) and sodium erythrobate in concentration 200 mg.kg -1 fish. According TBARS values of frozen mackerel stored 360 d at -18 0 C the antioxidants tested are arranged in the following descending row: 200 mg.kg -1 natural antioxidants composition > 200 mg.kg -1 BHT > 30 mg.kg -1 BHT ≈ 200 mg.kg -1 rosemary extract
Étude des caractéristiques chimiques et microbiologiques des ressources en eau du bassin versant du N'zi : cas de la commune de N'zianouan (Sud de la Côte d'Ivoire)

Cette etude traite de la caracterisation chimique et microbiologique des eaux de la commune Nfzianouan. Cette commune, depourvue dfun systeme dfassainissement adequat et correctement fonctionnel est confrontee a un probleme de protection de ses ressources en eaux. Cfest pour mettre en evidence lfinfluence de la pression anthropique sur les eaux de la riviere Nfzi aux droits de cette localite et egalement sur les eaux souterraines que cette etude a ete initiee. La methode utilisee pour atteindre cet objectif repose sur des mesures de niveaux piezometriques de la nappe souterraine, des analyses physico-chimiques et microbiologiques des eaux. Les resultats de ces analyses ont ete traites a lfaide de la classification hydrochimique basee sur le diagramme de Piper et de lfanalyse statistique multivariee. La methode statistique a fait intervenir la Classification Hierarchique Ascendante (CHA) pour lfidentification des phenomenes responsables de la mineralisation des eaux de la region. Lfetude piezometrique montre que le niveau piezometrique de la nappe varie de 0,48 m a 4,52 m, avec une moyenne de 1,24 m. La temperature des eaux varie de 27,6 ‹C a 30 ‹C, avec une moyenne de 28,48 ‹C. La forte valeur de conductivite a ete observee au niveau des eaux souterraines (2487 ƒES/cm). Les plus forts taux de matieres en suspension sont observes dans les eaux de la riviere Nfzi (16 mg/L). Elles presentent une bonne saturation en oxygene dissous. Les eaux etudiees se classent en deux grands groupes. Il sfagit des eaux bicarbonatees calciques pour les eaux de la riviere Nfzi et des eaux chlorurees sodipotassiques pour les eaux souterraines. Dans ces eaux, sont egalement presentes des teneurs elevees en Elements Traces Metalliques (ETM) tels que : lfarsenic, le plomb, le chrome et le cuivre. Sur le plan microbiologique, ces eaux contiennent un fort taux de coliformes fecaux principalement lfEcherichia coli (15000 ; 12200 ; et 14500 Echerichia coli pour 100ml dfeau). Cette etude signale egalement la presence de streptocoques fecaux, de Clostridiums Perfringens et de coliformes Thermo tolerants dans les ressources en eau. Les coliformes Thermo tolerants sont les plus importants dans le milieu, avec des quantites de 24600 et de 112700 pour les eaux de la zone. Les teneurs sont plus importants au niveau des eaux souterraines (112700 coliformes Thermo tolerants/100ml) qufau niveau des eaux de surface. Lfensemble des resultats obtenus montre que les ressources en eau de Nfzianouan sont generalement soumises a une pression anthropique importante.
Subalpine Vegetation Dynamics in the Southern French Alps during the Holocene: Evidence from Plant Imprints and Charcoal Preserved in Travertine Sequences

Abstract In the Aigue Agnelle Valley (Queyras, southern French Alps), between 2200 and 2300 m a.s. l. , several travertine deposits are present. Some, containing leaf imprints and pine cones, have been dated back to the early Holocene. Others containing charcoal fragments and dating back to the middle Holocene have also been found. The study of the plant imprints and charcoal within these travertines allowed us to reconstruct the vegetation dynamics of this valley. During the early Holocene (9800 B.P.), Pinus uncinata (mountain pine) was the most common tree. It was gradually replaced by Pinus cembra (arrola pine) in association with Betula (birch) and Vaccinium sp. (berry), probably as a result of climatic warming (ca. 7600 B.P.). Since ca. 5600 B.P., Pinus cembra seems to have regressed in correlation with the development of Larix decidua/Picea abies (larch/spruce) as a consequence of fire events related to climatic and/or anthropogenic factors.
Primary Salivary Gland–Type Lung Cancer: Clinicopathological Analysis of 88 Cases from China

Introduction: Salivary gland–type cancers are rare lung neoplasms involving mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), and epithelial–myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC). Their behavior and prognostic features are not clearly defined because of their low incidence. We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathologic profiles of these tumors in a large series. Methods: Eighty-eight patients confirmed as having primary salivary gland–type lung cancer between May 2001 and January 2013 were included from the archives of two thoracic oncology center institutions in China and retrospectively evaluated. Results: Of the total 88 patients, 69 were MEC, 12 ACC, and seven EMC. Overall survival (OS) at 3, 5, and 10 years was 91.3%, 86%, and 80.6% in all cases, respectively, and disease-free survival (DFS) was 90.1%, 78.6%, and 55%, respectively. No significant difference was found among MEC, ACC, and EMC groups regarding OS (p = 0.518) and DFS (p = 0.082). Tumor-node-metastasis stage, lymph node involvement, intrathoracic invasion, and margin status were found to be related with OS (p = 0.000, 0.029, 0.000, 0.004) and DFS (p = 0.018, 0.042, 0.002, 0.002). Intrathoracic invasion was an independent predictor for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.129; p = 0.039) and DFS (HR, 1.071; p = 0.011). For patients with MEC, pathological grade also was an independent predictor of OS (HR, 0.045; p = 0.006) and DFS (HR, 0.067; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Salivary gland–type lung cancers are a group of low-aggressive entities with higher tendency to recurrence/metastasis. Intensive clinical, radiological, and pathological examinations are essential to estimation of the risk stratification and management.
Soft-tissue imprints in fossil and Recent cephalopod septa and septum formation

Several soft-tissue imprints and attachment sites have been discovered on the inside of the shell wall and on the apertural side of the septum of various fossil and Recent ectocochleate cephalopods. In addition to the scars of the cephalic retractors, steinkerns of the body chambers of bactritoids and some ammonoids from the Moroccan and the German Emsian (Early Devonian) display various kinds of striations; some of these striations are restricted to the mural part of the septum, some start at the suture and terminate at the anterior limit of the annular elevation. Several of these features were also discovered in specimens of Mesozoic and Recent nautilids. These structures are here interpreted as imprints of muscle fibre bundles of the posterior and especially the septal mantle, blood vessels as well as the septal furrow. Most of these structures were not found in ammonoids younger than Middle Devonian. We suggest that newly formed, not yet mineralized (or only slightly), septa were more tightly stayed between the more numerous lobes and saddles in more strongly folded septa of more derived ammonoids and that the higher tension in these septa did not permit soft-parts to leave imprints on the organic preseptum. It is conceivable that this permitted more derived ammonoids to replace the chamber liquid faster by gas and consequently, new chambers could be used earlier than in other ectocochleate cephalopods, perhaps this process began even prior to mineralization. This would have allowed faster growth rates in derived ammonoids.
Velocity Dispersion Profiles in Dark Matter Halos

Numerous numerical studies indicate that dark matter halos show an almost universal radial density profile. The origin of the profile is still under debate. We investigate this topic and pay particular attention to the velocity dispersion profile. To this end, we have performed high-resolution simulations with two independent codes, ART and GADGET. The radial velocity dispersion can be approximated as a function of the potential by σ = a(Φ/Φout)κ(Φout - Φ), where Φout is the outer potential of the halo. For the parameters a and κ, we find that a = 0.29 ± 0.04 and κ = 0.41 ± 0.03. We find that the power-law asymptote, σ2 ∝ Φκ, is valid out to much larger distances from the halo center than any power-law asymptote for the density profile ρ ∝ r-n. The asymptotic slope n(r → 0) of the density profile is related to the exponent κ via n = 2κ/(1 + κ). Thus, the value obtained for κ from the available simulation data can be used to obtain an estimate of the density profile below currently resolved scales. We predict a continuously decreasing n toward the halo center with the asymptotic value n ≲ 0.58 at r = 0.
SeqNLS: Nuclear Localization Signal Prediction Based on Frequent Pattern Mining and Linear Motif Scoring

Nuclear localization signals (NLSs) are stretches of residues in proteins mediating their importing into the nucleus. NLSs are known to have diverse patterns, of which only a limited number are covered by currently known NLS motifs. Here we propose a sequential pattern mining algorithm SeqNLS to effectively identify potential NLS patterns without being constrained by the limitation of current knowledge of NLSs. The extracted frequent sequential patterns are used to predict NLS candidates which are then filtered by a linear motif-scoring scheme based on predicted sequence disorder and by the relatively local conservation (IRLC) based masking. The experiment results on the newly curated Yeast and Hybrid datasets show that SeqNLS is effective in detecting potential NLSs. The performance comparison between SeqNLS with and without the linear motif scoring shows that linear motif features are highly complementary to sequence features in discerning NLSs. For the two independent datasets, our SeqNLS not only can consistently find over 50% of NLSs with prediction precision of at least 0.7, but also outperforms other state-of-the-art NLS prediction methods in terms of F1 score or prediction precision with similar or higher recall rates. The web server of the SeqNLS algorithm is available at http://mleg.cse. sc.edu/seqNLS.