Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical and angiographical follow-up after implantation of a 6--12 microCi radioactive stent in patients with coronary artery disease.

AIMS This study is the contribution by the Thoraxcenter, Rotterdam, to the European(32)P Dose Response Trial, a non-randomized multicentre trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the radioactive Isostent in patients with single coronary artery disease. METHODS AND RESULTS The radioactivity of the stent at implantation was 6--12 microCi. All patients received aspirin indefinitely and either ticlopidine or clopidogrel for 3 months. Quantitative coronary angiography measurements of both the stent area and the target lesion (stent area and up to 5 mm proximal and distal to the stent edges) were performed pre- and post-procedure and at the 5-month follow-up. Forty-two radioactive stents were implanted in 40 patients. Treated vessels were the left anterior descending coronary artery (n=20), right coronary artery (n=10) or left circumflex artery (n=10). Eight patients received additional non-radioactive stents. Lesion length measured 10+/-3 mm with a reference diameter of 3.07+/-0.69 mm. Minimal lumen diameter increased from 0.98+/-0.53 mm pre-procedure to 2.29+/-0.52 mm (target lesion) and 2.57+/-0.44 mm (stent area) post-procedure. There was one procedural non-Q wave myocardial infarction, due to transient thrombotic closure. Thirty-six patients returned for angiographical follow-up. Two patients had a total occlusion proximal to the radioactive stent. Of the patent vessels, none had in-stent restenosis. Edge restenosis was observed in 44%, occurring predominantly at the proximal edge. Target lesion revascularization was performed in 10 patients and target vessel revascularization in one patient. No additional clinical end-points occurred during follow-up. The minimal lumen diameter at follow-up averaged 1.66+/-0.71 mm (target lesion) and 2.12+/-0.72 (stent area); therefore late loss was 0.63+/-0.69 (target lesion) and 0.46+/-0.76 (stent area), resulting in a late loss index of 0.65+/-1.15 (target lesion) and 0.30+/-0.53 (stent area). CONCLUSION These results indicate that the use of radioactive stents is safe and feasible, however, the high incidence of edge restenosis makes this technique currently clinically non-applicable.
Gene Expression, Single Nucleotide Variant and Fusion Transcript Discovery in Archival Material from Breast Tumors

Advantages of RNA-Seq over array based platforms are quantitative gene expression and discovery of expressed single nucleotide variants (eSNVs) and fusion transcripts from a single platform, but the sensitivity for each of these characteristics is unknown. We measured gene expression in a set of manually degraded RNAs, nine pairs of matched fresh-frozen, and FFPE RNA isolated from breast tumor with the hybridization based, NanoString nCounter (226 gene panel) and with whole transcriptome RNA-Seq using RiboZeroGold ScriptSeq V2 library preparation kits. We performed correlation analyses of gene expression between samples and across platforms. We then specifically assessed whole transcriptome expression of lincRNA and discovery of eSNVs and fusion transcripts in the FFPE RNA-Seq data. For gene expression in the manually degraded samples, we observed Pearson correlations of >0.94 and >0.80 with NanoString and ScriptSeq protocols, respectively. Gene expression data for matched fresh-frozen and FFPE samples yielded mean Pearson correlations of 0.874 and 0.783 for NanoString (226 genes) and ScriptSeq whole transcriptome protocols respectively, p<2x10-16. Specifically for lincRNAs, we observed superb Pearson correlation (0.988) between matched fresh-frozen and FFPE pairs. FFPE samples across NanoString and RNA-Seq platforms gave a mean Pearson correlation of 0.838. In FFPE libraries, we detected 53.4% of high confidence SNVs and 24% of high confidence fusion transcripts. Sensitivity of fusion transcript detection was not overcome by an increase in depth of sequencing up to 3-fold (increase from ~56 to ~159 million reads). Both NanoString and ScriptSeq RNA-Seq technologies yield reliable gene expression data for degraded and FFPE material. The high degree of correlation between NanoString and RNA-Seq platforms suggests discovery based whole transcriptome studies from FFPE material will produce reliable expression data. The RiboZeroGold ScriptSeq protocol performed particularly well for lincRNA expression from FFPE libraries, but detection of eSNV and fusion transcripts was less sensitive.
Spatial Variation in Osteonal Bone Properties Relative to Tissue and Animal Age

Little is known about osteonal bone mineral and matrix properties, although these properties are of major importance for the understanding of bone alterations related to age and bone diseases such as osteoporosis. During aging, bone undergoes modifications that compromise their structural integrity as shown clinically by the increase of fracture incidence with age. Based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis from baboons between 0 and 32 yr of age, consistent systematic variations in bone properties as a function of tissue age are reported within osteons. The patterns observed were independent of animal age and positively correlated with bone tissue elastic behavior measured by nano‐indentation. As long as tissue age is expressed as a percentage of the entire osteon radius, osteonal analyses can be used to characterize disease changes independent of the size of the osteon. These mineral and matrix analyses can be used to explain bone fragility. The mineral content (mineral‐to‐matrix ratio) was correlated with the animal age in both old (interstitial) and newly formed bone tissue, showing for the first time that age‐related changes in BMC can be explain by an alteration in the mineralization process itself and not only by an imbalance in the remodeling process.
Unexpectedly High Levels of Cryptic Diversity Uncovered by a Complete DNA Barcoding of Reptiles of the Socotra Archipelago

Few DNA barcoding studies of squamate reptiles have been conducted. Due to the significance of the Socotra Archipelago (a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site and a biodiversity hotspot) and the conservation interest of its reptile fauna (94% endemics), we performed the most comprehensive DNA barcoding study on an island group to date to test its applicability to specimen identification and species discovery. Reptiles constitute Socotra’s most important vertebrate fauna, yet their taxonomy remains under-studied. We successfully DNA-barcoded 380 individuals of all 31 presently recognized species. The specimen identification success rate is moderate to high, and almost all species presented local barcoding gaps. The unexpected high levels of intra-specific variability found within some species suggest cryptic diversity. Species richness may be under-estimated by 13.8–54.4%. This has implications in the species’ ranges and conservation status that should be considered for conservation planning. Other phylogenetic studies using mitochondrial and nuclear markers are congruent with our results. We conclude that, despite its reduced length (663 base pairs), cytochrome c oxidase 1, COI, is very useful for specimen identification and for detecting intra-specific diversity, and has a good phylogenetic signal. We recommend DNA barcoding to be applied to other biodiversity hotspots for quickly and cost-efficiently flagging species discovery, preferentially incorporated into an integrative taxonomic framework.
Working Paper No . 12 / 14 Uncertainty Shocks and Unemployment Dynamics in U . S . Recessions

We investigate the effects of uncertainty shocks on unemployment dynamics in the postWWII U.S. recessions via non-linear (Smooth-Transition) VARs. The relevance of uncertainty shocks is found to be much larger than that predicted by standard linear VARs in terms of (i) magnitude of the reaction of the unemployment rate to such shocks, and (ii) contribution to the variance of the prediction errors of unemployment at business cycle frequencies. We discuss the ability of different classes of DSGE models to replicate our results. JEL classification: C32, E32, E52
B { GOP } : An Adaptive Algorithm for Coverage Problems in Wireless Sensor Networks

To achieve power-efficient monitoring of targets in a terrain covered by a sensor network, it is sensible to divide the sensors into cover sets and make each of these sets responsible for covering the targets for a certain period of time. Generating the maximum number of such cover sets, has been proved to be an NP-complete problem, and thus algorithms producing suboptimal solutions have been proposed. In this paper we propose a centralised heuristic algorithm, that efficiently generates cover sets, each one capable of monitoring all targets. Our simulation findings demonstrate an improvement against existing methods, with results close to the optimal solution.
Comparison of methods for determining pulse arrival time from Doppler and photoplethysmography signals

The aim of this study was to compare three foot-finding methods applied to ultrasound Doppler and photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals: maximum 1st derivative, maximum 2nd derivative and an `intersecting tangents' method. The pulse arrival times of each method were compared. Also the precision of each method was evaluated by comparing instantaneous cardiac periods derived using each method from simultaneous Doppler and PPG with a reference measurement: the R-R interval calculated from a simultaneously recorded ECG. The results show that the maximum 1st derivative method produced significantly larger pulse arrival times than the other two methods. The intersecting tangents method produced greatest precision for cardiac periods compared with ECG than maximum 1st or 2nd derivatives for both Doppler (r2 = 0.975) and PPG (r2 = 0.987) signals.
Promoting metalinguistic awareness in a classroom to improve reading comprehension: Examples from Roald Dahl’s novel The BFG

It is widely recognised that successful reading involves the interaction of a number of different cognitive skills and strategies in order to achieve compre-hension of the text (Baker, 2002). These skills and strategies are generally considered to be controlled by a global process called ‘metacognition’ (Kuhn & Dean, 2004). In this paper, I suggest that a large part of metacognition when reading has a (meta)linguistic component and hence time should be devoted to raising (meta)linguistic awareness when teaching and honing reading skills and strategies. Tasks based around a short extract from Roald Dahl’s (1982[2013]) novel The BFG are presented and discussed in order to illustrate how metalinguistic awareness might be raised in a classroom. Such tasks not only help to improve reading comprehension but have a number of additional benefits: they enhance and support the metacognitive toolkit, improve vocabulary acquisition and growth, and can bring a love of language and the fun of language play into the classroom.Keywords: metalinguistic awareness, reading comprehension, vocabulary, classroom activities, Roald DahlÅ fremme metalingvistisk bevissthet i et klasserom for å forbedre leseforståelse: eksempler fra Roald Dahls roman The BFGSammendragDet er bred enighet om at vellykket lesing trekker veksler på flere forskjellige kognitive ferdigheter og strategier tilknyttet tekstforståelse (Baker, 2002). Disse ferdighetene og strategiene hører inn under den globale prosessen ‘metakog-nisjon’ (Kuhn & Dean, 2004). I denne artikkelen argumenterer jeg for at en stor del av metakognisjonen i lesing har en (meta)lingvistisk komponent, og følgelig at tid bør vies til å utvikle (meta)lingvistisk bevissthet i undervisningen av leseferdigheter og strategier. Arbeidsoppaver basert på et kort utdrag fra Roald Dahls (1982[2013]) The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant / SVK – Store Vennlige Kjempe) presenteres og diskuteres for å illustrere hvordan metalingvistisk bevissthet kan utvikles i klasserommet. Slike arbeidsoppgaver hjelper ikke bare med å forbedre leseforståelsen, men har også flere andre fordeler: de forsterker og støtter den metakognitive verktøykassen, forbedrer både innlæring og utvidelse av ordforrådet, kan øke språkgleden og oppmuntre til lek med språk i klasserommet. Nøkkelord: metalingvistisk bevissthet, leseforståelse, vokabular, klasseroms-aktiviteter, Roald Dahl
Remnant of a “Wet” Merger: NGC 34 and Its Young Massive Clusters, Young Stellar Disk, and Strong Gaseous Outflow

This paper presents new images and spectroscopic observations of NGC 34 (Mrk 938) obtained with the du Pont 2.5 m and Baade 6.5 m telescopes at Las Campanas, plus photometry of an archival V image obtained with Hubble Space Telescope. This MV = -21.6 galaxy has often been classified as a Seyfert 2, yet recently published infrared spectra suggest a dominant central starburst. We find that the galaxy features a single nucleus, a main spheroid containing a blue central disk and much outer fine structure, and tidal tails indicative of two former disk galaxies. At present these galaxies appear to have completed merging. The remnant shows three clear optical signs that the merger was gas-rich ("wet") and accompanied by a starburst: (1) It sports a rich system of young star clusters, of which 87 have absolute magnitudes -10.0 ≥ MV ≥ -15.4. Five clusters with available spectra have ages in the range 0.1-1.0 Gyr and photometric masses of 2 × 106 M⊙ ≲ M ≲ 2 × 107 M⊙; they are gravitationally bound young globular clusters. (2) The blue central disk appears to be young. It is exponential, can be traced to ≳10 kpc radius, and has a smooth structure and colors suggesting that its optical light is dominated by a ∼400 Myr old poststarburst population. And (3), the center of NGC 34 drives a strong outflow of cool, neutral gas, as revealed by broad blueshifted Na I D lines. The center-of-line velocity of this gas is -620 km s-1, while the maximum detected outflow velocity reaches -1050 km s-1. Assessing all available evidence, we suggest that NGC 34 stems from two recently merged gas-rich disk galaxies with an estimated mass ratio of 1/3 ≲ m/M ≲ 2/3. The remnant seems to have first experienced a galaxy-wide starburst that then shrank to its current central and obscured state. The strong gaseous outflow came last.
The VIMOS VLT deep survey - Computing the two point correlation statistics and associated uncertainties

We are presenting in this paper a detailed account of the methods used to compute the three-dimensional two-point galaxy correlation function in the VIMOS-VLT deep survey (VVDS). We investigate how instrumental selection effects and observational biases affect the measurements and identify the methods to correct them. We quantify the accuracy of our correction method using an ensemble of fifty mock galaxy surveys generated with the GalICS semi-analytic model of galaxy formation which incorporate the same selection biases and tiling strategy as the real data does. We demonstrate that we are able to recover the real-space two-point correlation function xi(s) to an accuracy better than 10% on scales larger than 1 h^{-1} Mpc, and of about 30% on scales below 1 h^{-1} Mpc, with the sampling strategy used for the first epoch VVDS data. The projected correlation function w_p(r_p) is recovered with an accuracy better than 10% on all scales 0.1 <= r <= 10 h^{-1} Mpc. There is a tendency for a small but systematic under-estimate of the correlation length derived from w_p(r_p) of 6% on average, remaining after our correction process. The large number of simulated surveys allows us to provide a reliable estimate of the cosmic error on the measurements of the correlation length r_0, of about 15-20% for the first epoch VVDS observation (Le Fevre et al.2004, astro-ph/0409133). The error estimation and measurement techniques outlined in this paper are being used in several studies which investigate in detail the clustering properties of galaxies in the VVDS data.
Is the Early Development of Girls with Rett Disorder Really Normal?

An apparently normal early development was one of the initial criteria for classical Rett syndrome. However, several investigators considered Rett syndrome to be a developmental disorder manifesting very soon after birth. Videos of 22 Rett cases were assessed carefully for movements, posture, and behavior during the first 6 mo of life. All signs that deviated from the normal standard were recorded meticulously. Special attention was paid to the face, the hands, and body movements. A detailed analysis clearly demonstrated an abnormal quality of general movements (100%), tongue protrusion (62%), postural stiffness (58%), asymmetric eye opening and closing (56%), abnormal finger movements (52%), hand stereotypies (42%), bursts of abnormal facial expressions (42%), bizarre smile (32%), tremor (28%), and stereotyped body movements (15%). Our study is the first to apply specific standardized measures of early spontaneous movements to Rett infants, proving conclusively that the disorder is manifested within the first months of life. Although not necessarily specific, the signs that we have observed will be of value in alerting clinicians to the possibility of the diagnosis at an early stage, when intervention is likely to be most effective.
A Neural Basis for Social Cooperation expertise , information , opportunities , and a host of ma -

altruism is rare in the rest of the animal kingdom and has only been convincingly demonstrated for a handful In attempting to provide an explanation for its scarcity, evolutionary biologists have theorized that two or more preconditions must be satisfied for Summary reciprocal altruism to evolve in a species: (1) individuals must interact repeatedly with social partners over the Cooperation based on reciprocal altruism has evolved course of their lifetime, and (2) individuals must be able in only a small number of species, yet it constitutes to recognize conspecifics and discriminate against the core behavioral principle of human social life. The those who do not reciprocate altruism (Axelrod and iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game has been used to Hamilton, 1981; Trivers, 1971). As an additional precon-model this form of cooperation. We used fMRI to scan dition, there must also be a mechanism that enables 36 women as they played an iterated Prisoner's Di-individuals to inhibit the temptation to accept but not lemma Game with another woman to investigate the reciprocate altruism; a mechanism that weights long-neurobiological basis of cooperative social behavior. term rewards and punishments over immediate and Mutual cooperation was associated with consistent transient, short-term gains (Frank, 1988). Only with such activation in brain areas that have been linked with a mechanism can the long-term benefits of sustained reward processing: nucleus accumbens, the caudate mutual cooperation be realized. nucleus, ventromedial frontal/orbitofrontal cortex, and The iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game has been used rostral anterior cingulate cortex. We propose that acti-by investigators from a wide range of disciplines to vation of this neural network positively reinforces remodel social relationships based on reciprocal altruism ciprocal altruism, thereby motivating subjects to resist To elucidate the neural sub-favors. strates of the emotional and cognitive processes that support cooperative, reciprocally altruistic relationships, Introduction we investigated game-related neural activations with fMRI as subjects played an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Evolutionary biologists have long theorized about how Game with other subjects outside the scanner. In this altruistic behavior can exist, given that natural selection game, two players independently choose to either coop-is based primarily on the differential survival and repro-erate with each other or not, and each is awarded a sum ductive success of individual organisms rather than of money that depends upon the interaction of both groups of organisms. W.D. Hamilton's kin selection the-players' choices in that round. There are four possible ory nicely accounts for altruism among …
Detection of early lung impairment with aerosol bolus dispersion.

The broadening of inhaled aerosol boluses (aerosol bolus dispersion) during respiration provides a noninvasive measure of convective gas mixing in the lungs. In this study, the sensitivity and specificity of this technique for the diagnosis of early lung impairment due to cigarette smoking was evaluated. Two hundred and sixteen randomly selected subjects (126 smokers and 90 nonsmokers) were investigated with aerosol dispersion in comparison to conventional lung function tests. The cumulative cigarette consumption of the subjects was quantified by "pack-years" (PY). Smokers were classified into the following groups: 0 < PY < or = 10; 10 < PY < or = 20; 20 < PY < or = 30; and PY > 30. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), maximal expiratory flow at 25, 50 and 75% vital capacity (MEF25, MEF50 and MEF75) decreased significantly with increasing cigarette consumption. In comparison to nonsmokers, FEV1 was significantly reduced in smokers of 10 < PY < or = 30, and MEF75 was significantly reduced in smokers of PY > 20. Aerosol bolus dispersion increased with increasing PY. For all groups of smokers, even those with PY < 10, bolus dispersion was significantly increased in comparison to lifelong nonsmokers, indicating alterations in convective gas mixing in the lungs. Calculation of receiver operating characteristics for the lung function parameters under consideration showed that bolus dispersion has a higher sensitivity and specificity than conventional lung function parameters. Hence, the aerosol bolus dispersion test could be a promising epidemiological tool to study early abnormalities in intrapulmonary gas mixing due to environmental factors.
HER2 Protein Overexpression and Gene Amplification in Plasmacytoid Urothelial Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder

Aim. HER2 overexpression has been reported in a minority of urothelial carcinomas, but little is known about HER2 protein expression and gene alterations in plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma, a rare and aggressive variant. The aim of this study was to clarify the HER2 status in plasmacytoid urothelial carcinomas. Methods. Six cases of plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma were included, in which we evaluated HER2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and HER2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Results. The patients' ages ranged from 57 to 83 years (mean age, 71 years). Five patients were male and one was female. The ratio of the plasmacytoid component ranged from 30% to 100% (mean, 77%). HER2 expression score was 3+ in 4 cases, 2+ in one case, and negative in one case. HER2 gene amplification was positive in 3 cases, of which 2 cases showed a 3+ HER2 IHC score but one case was negative for HER2 IHC. Another 2 cases showed equivocal HER2 FISH results, and one remaining case was negative for HER2 FISH. Conclusion. Our observation that plasmacytoid urothelial carcinomas frequently demonstrated HER2 protein overexpression provides supporting evidence that HER2 may be a potential therapeutic target for plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma.