Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RET genetic screening in patients with medullary thyroid cancer and their relatives: experience with 807 individuals at one center.

BACKGROUND Germline RET gene mutations are causative of multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 2 and may be identified by genetic screening. Three different syndromes are distinguished: MEN 2A, when medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is associated with pheochromocytoma and/or parathyroid adenomas; MEN 2B, when accompanied by a marfanoid habitus and/or pheochromocytoma; and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC), when only MTC is present. PATIENTS AND METHODS During the last 13 yr, we performed RET genetic screening in 807 subjects: 481 with apparently sporadic MTC, 37 with clinical evidence of MEN 2, and 289 relatives. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood of all subjects, and exons 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16 were analyzed by direct sequencing after PCR. RESULTS We unexpectedly discovered a germline RET mutation in 35 of 481 (7.3%) apparently sporadic MTC patients. A germline RET mutation was also found in 36 of 37 patients with clinical evidence of hereditary MTC. The distribution of RET mutations in cysteine and noncysteine encoding codons was significantly different in the two groups of patients, with the prevalence of RET mutations in noncysteine codons being higher in MTC that presented as apparently sporadic (P < 0.0001). A total of 34 FMTCs (75.5% of all FMTC) arrived with apparent sporadic MTC, with no familial history of other MTC cases. According to genetic screening and clinical data, our 72 families were classified as follows: 45 FMTC (62.5%), 22 MEN 2A (30.5%), and five MEN 2B (7%). CONCLUSIONS In this large series of MTC, hereditary forms, mainly FMTC, were clinically unsuspected in 7.3% of apparently sporadic cases. As a consequence, the prevalence of FMTC in our series is higher than that previously reported (60 vs. 10%). In these cases, RET mutations were more prevalently located in noncysteine codons. Data derived from our series helped elucidate the role of RET genetic screening for the identification of all forms of MEN 2, and especially for FMTC, which are frequently clinically misdiagnosed as nonheritable, sporadic cases.
Multidisciplinary Ophthalmic Imaging Multimodal Assessment of Microscopic Morphology and Retinal Function in Patients With Geographic Atrophy

Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, California Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, University of California, Davis, Davis, California Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
A Study of Attribute-based Proxy Re-encryption Scheme in Cloud Environments

Attribute-based proxy re-encryption (ABPRE) scheme is one of the proxy cryptography, which can delegate the re-encryption capability to the proxy and re-encrypt the encrypted data by using the re-encryption key. ABPRE ex-tending the traditional proxy cryptography and attributes plays an important role. In ABPRE, users are identified by attributes, and the access policy is designed to control the user's access. Using ABPRE can have these advantages: (i) The proxy can be delegated to execute the re-encryption operation, which reduces the computation overhead of the data owner;(ii) The authorized user just uses his own secret key to decrypt the encrypted data, and he doesn't need to store an additional decryption key for deciphering;(iii) The sensitive information cannot be revealed to the proxy in re-encryption, and the proxy only complies to the data owner's command. In this paper, we survey two various access policy attribute-based proxy re-encryption schemes and analyze these schemes. Thereafter, we list the comparisons of them by some criteria.
K2-ABC: Approximate Bayesian Computation with Kernel Embeddings

Complicated generative models often result in a situation where computing the likelihood of observed data is intractable, while simulating from the conditional density given a parameter value is relatively easy. Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is a paradigm that enables simulation-based posterior inference in such cases by measuring the similarity between simulated and observed data in terms of a chosen set of summary statistics. However, there is no general rule to construct sufficient summary statistics for complex models. Insufficient summary statistics will "leak" information, which leads to ABC algorithms yielding samples from an incorrect (partial) posterior. In this paper, we propose a fully nonparametric ABC paradigm which circumvents the need for manually selecting summary statistics. Our approach, K2-ABC, uses maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) as a dissimilarity measure between the distributions over observed and simulated data. MMD is easily estimated as the squared difference between their empirical kernel embeddings. Experiments on a simulated scenario and a real-world biological problem illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Papillary Carcinoma in a Lingual Thyroid: An Unusual Presentation

A lingual thyroid is a mass of ectopic thyroid tissue located in the midline of the base of the tongue. Its estimated prevalence ranges from 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 10,000 population. We report the interesting case of a 28-year-old woman who presented with a primary papillary carcinoma in a lingual thyroid and a histologically normal thyroid gland. To the best of our knowledge, this case probably represents only the second reported case of a follicular variant of a papillary carcinoma arising in a lingual thyroid.
The Neurotic Personality of Our Time

How your personality changes as you age - BBC FutureWhat it Means to be Neurotic: The Pros and Cons of this neuroticism | psychology | BritannicaAre You Neurotic? Test - Psychologist WorldPersonality psychology - WikipediaMeasuring the Big Five Personality Domains | Personality Horney’s Theory of Neurotic Needs - Verywell MindBig Five personality traits - WikipediaBig Five Personality Traits - Simply PsychologyNeuroses and neuroticism: Differences, types, and treatment is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals.It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: construction of a coherent picture of the individual and their major psychological processes; investigation of individual psychological differences
Interaction of SH2-Bβ with RET is involved in signaling of GDNF-induced neurite outgrowth

RET receptor signalling is essential for glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)-induced survival and differentiation of various neurons such as mesencephalic neurons. To identify proteins that mediate RET-dependent signaling, yeast two-hybrid screening was performed with the intracellular domain of RET as bait. We identified a new interaction between RET and the adapter protein SH2-Bβ. Upon GDNF stimulation of PC12-GFRα1-RET cells (that stably overexpress GDNF receptor α1 and RET), wild-type SH2-Bβ co-immunoprecipitated with RET, whereas the dominant-negative SH2-Bβ mutant R555E did not. RET interacted with endogenous SH2-Bβ both in PC12-GFRα1-RET cells and in rat tissues. Mutagenesis analysis revealed that Tyr981 within the intracellular domain of RET was crucial for the interaction with SH2-Bβ. Morphological evidence showed that SH2-Bβ and RET colocalized in mesencephalic neurons. Furthermore, functional analysis indicated that overexpression of SH2-Bβ facilitated GDNF-induced neurite outgrowth in both PC12-GFRα1-RET cells and cultured mesencephalic neurons, whereas the mutant R555E inhibited the effect. Moreover, inhibition of SH2-Bβ expression by RNA interference caused a significant decrease of GDNF-induced neuronal differentiation in PC12-GFRα1-RET cells. Taken together, our results suggest that SH2-Bβ is a new signaling molecule involved in GDNF-induced neurite outgrowth.
Elterliche Unterstützung kann hilfreich sein, aber Einmischung schadet: Familiärer Hintergrund, elterliches Hausaufgabenengagement und Leistungsentwicklung

Erhalten Kinder mit gunstigem familiarem Hintergrund mehr elterliche Unterstutzung bei der Hausaufgabenerledigung? Welche Art elterlicher Unterstutzung ist leistungsfordernd? Per Fragebogen und Leistungstests wurden 1444 Schulerinnen und Schuler (52,8 % weiblich) aus 85 Schweizer Schulklassen (23 Schulen) am Anfang und Ende des 8. Schuljahrs untersucht. In Mehrebenenanalysen zeigte sich, dass die Hausaufgabenunterstutzung bei Kindern, deren Eltern lediglich uber einen obligatorischen Schulabschluss verfugten, tatsachlich etwas ungunstiger ausfiel; die Varianzaufklarung war jedoch gering. Deutliche Effekte konnten hingegen fur den Leistungsstand nachgewiesen werden: Bei Schulern mit schlechter Halbjahresnote sowie denjenigen in niedrigeren Bildungsgangen gab es mehr elterliche Einmischung und Kontrolle bei den Hausaufgaben sowie mehr Streit uber die Hausaufgaben. In Strukturgleichungsmodellen konnte daruber hinaus die Reziprozitat von Leistungsentwicklung und elterlichem Hausaufgabenverhalten nachgewiesen werden: Schlechte Schulleistungen fuhrten zu mehr elterlicher Einmischung und elterliche Einmischung ging mit einer Verschlechterung der Testleistung einher.
A parallelized design for an elliptic curve cryptosystem coprocessor

In many applications a software implementation of ECC (elliptic curve cryptography) might be inappropriate due to performance requirements, therefore hardware implementations are needed. We present some results about a novel hardware implementation for ECC, that introduces also a form of parallelism to maximize the use of function units and hence to improve the throughput. Then we propose a comprehensive comparison of this new architecture with both some RSA architectures and other ECC implementations in ASIC VLSI technology.
Effects of social networks and media on pro-environment behavior

In this study, pro-environmental behaviors are investigated by studying if one's primary information sources about environmental issues either from their social network or the media influence this behavior. Data was collected from the 2002 Detroit Area Study with a total of 267 respondents. Three indexes were constructed to separately measure all seven pro-environment behavioral items, five conservation behavioral items, and two consumption behavioral items. A complex sample model was utilized in these analyses. Findings suggest that information sources are correlated to self-reported environmental behavior. As predicted, the people whose primary information source was social network were more likely to obtain higher scores on all three separate indexes than those individuals who primarily received information about environmental issues from the media.
An application of Newton's method in wireless systems

A single tap time frequency model can be thought of as an extension of a DFT filter bank. The error introduced by a dispersive single tap time frequency channel model can be reduced by using optimized Gabor prototype frames. This problem can be formulated into a semi definite programming problem. We use a path following method to tackle this problem and resort to find the best parameters of this algorithm under Wide-Sense Stationary Uncorrelated Scattering channel conditions. Interesting outcomes result from the variation of these inner parameters. The merit of this technique is that it gives an approximate value of the objective function in less number of iterations.
Exploring Methods to Improve Pen-Based Menu Selection for Younger and Older Adults

Tablet PCs are gaining popularity, but many individuals still struggle with pen-based interaction. In a previous baseline study, we examined the types of difficulties younger and older adults encounter when using pen-based input. The research reported in this article seeks to address one of these errors, namely, missing just below. This error occurs in a menu selection task when a user’s selection pattern is downwardly shifted, such that the top edge of the menu item below the target is selected relatively often, while the corresponding top edge of the target itself is seldom selected. We developed two approaches for addressing missing just below errors: reassigning selections along the top edge and deactivating them. In a laboratory evaluation, only the deactivated edge approach showed promise overall. Further analysis of our data revealed that individual differences played a large role in our results and identified a new source of selection difficulty. Specifically, we observed two error-prone groups of users: the low hitters, who, like participants in the baseline study, made missing just below errors, and the high hitters, who, in contrast, had difficulty with errors on the item above. All but one of the older participants fell into one of these error-prone groups, reinforcing that older users do need better support for selecting menu items with a pen. Preliminary analysis of the performance data suggests both of our approaches were beneficial for the low hitters, but that additional techniques are needed to meet the needs of the high hitters and to address the challenge of supporting both groups in a single interface.
Trade‐offs and responsiveness of the single‐layer urban canopy parametrization in WRF: An offline evaluation using the MOSCEM optimization algorithm and field observations

For an increasing number of applications, mesoscale modelling systems now aim to better represent urban areas. The complexity of processes resolved by urban parametrization schemes varies with the application. The concept of fitness‐for‐purpose is therefore critical for both the choice of parametrizations and the way in which the scheme should be evaluated. A systematic and objective model response analysis procedure (Multiobjective Shuffled Complex Evolution Metropolis (MOSCEM) algorithm) is used to assess the fitness of the single‐layer urban canopy parametrization implemented in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The scheme is evaluated regarding its ability to simulate observed surface energy fluxes and the sensitivity to input parameters. Recent amendments are described, focussing on features which improve its applicability to numerical weather prediction, such as a reduced and physically more meaningful list of input parameters. The study shows a high sensitivity of the scheme to parameters characterizing roof properties in contrast to a low response to road‐related ones. Problems in partitioning of energy between turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are also emphasized. Some initial guidelines to prioritize efforts to obtain urban land‐cover class characteristics in WRF are provided. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society and Crown Copyright.
Do Phonological Representations Specify Variables? Evidence from the Obligatory Contour Principle

Mental variables are central to symbolic accounts of cognition. Conversely, according to the pattern associator hypothesis, variables are obsolete. We examine the representation of variables by investigating the Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP, McCarthy, 1986) in Hebrew. The OCP constrains gemination in Hebrew roots. Gemination is well formed at the root's end (e.g., SMM), but not in its beginning (e.g., SSM). Roots and geminates, however, are variables; hence, according to the pattern associator view, the OCP is unrepresentable. Three experiments demonstrate that speakers are sensitive to the presence of root gemination and constrain its location. In forming words from novel biconsonantal roots, speakers prefer to reduplicate the root's final over its initial radical, and they rate such outputs as more acceptable. The avoidance or rejection of root-initial gemination is independent of its position in the word and is inexplicable by the statistical frequency of root tokens. Our results suggest that linguistic representations specify variables. Speakers' competence, however, is governed by violable constraints.
PCR to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in respiratory tract samples: evaluation of clinical data

SUMMARY Tuberculosis (TB) remains as an important public health problem worldwide. Therefore, the rapid detection of M. tuberculosis is of primary importance to effectively reduce transmission in patients. The aims of this study were to evaluate two in-house molecular tests: nested PCR (nPCR) and real-time PCR (rtPCR) to detect M. tuberculosis complex directly from clinical samples. The results were compared to the culture results and to the culture results plus clinical data of patients. The rtPCR and nPCR presented high sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) (rtPCR 97·6% and 91·5%, nPCR 85·7% and 92·7%, respectively) compared to culture. When the results of the molecular tests were compared to the culture plus clinical data the Se and Sp were 90·2% and 97·3% for rtPCR and 80·4% and 98·6% for the nPCR, respectively. The results demonstrated that molecular assays of M. tuberculosis can provide a sensitive and rapid diagnostic of TB, and when used in addition to the clinical data of TB patients will help to improve the Sp of the diagnosis of pulmonary TB.
Magnetic resonance imaging-determined synovial membrane volume as a marker of disease activity and a predictor of progressive joint destruction in the wrists of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the synovial membrane volume, determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as a marker of joint disease activity and a predictor of progressive joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Twenty-six patients with RA, randomized to receive disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy alone (11 patients) or DMARDs in combination with oral prednisolone (15 patients), were followed up for 1 year with contrast-enhanced MRI of the dominant wrist (months 0, 3, 6, and 12), conventional radiography (months 0 and 12), and clinical and biochemical examinations. Bone erosion (by MRI and radiography) and synovial membrane volumes (by MRI) were assessed. RESULTS Significant synovial membrane volume reductions were observed after 3 and 6 months in the DMARD + prednisolone group, and after 6 and 12 months in the DMARD-alone group (P < 0.01-0.02, by Wilcoxon-Pratt analysis). The rate of erosive progression on MRI was highly correlated with baseline scores and, particularly, with area under the curve (AUC) values of synovial membrane volume (Spearman's sigma = 0.69, P < 0.001), but not with baseline or AUC values of local or global clinical or biochemical parameters, or with prednisolone treatment. In none of 5 wrists with baseline volumes <5 cm3, but in 8 of 10 wrists with baseline volumes > or =10 cm3, erosive progression was found by MRI and/or radiography, indicating a predictive value of synovial membrane volumes. MRI was more sensitive than radiography for the detection of progressive bone destruction (22 versus 12 new bone erosions). CONCLUSION MRI-determined synovial membrane volumes are closely related to the rate of progressive joint destruction. Quantitative MRI assessment of synovitis may prove valuable as a marker of joint disease activity and a predictor of progressive joint destruction in RA.
Likelihood ratio gradient estimation for stochastic systems

Consider a computer system having a CPU that feeds jobs to two input/output (I/O) devices having different speeds. Let &thgr; be the fraction of jobs routed to the first I/O device, so that 1 - &thgr; is the fraction routed to the second. Suppose that α = α(&thgr;) is the steady-sate amount of time that a job spends in the system. Given that &thgr; is a decision variable, a designer might wish to minimize α(&thgr;) over &thgr;. Since α(·) is typically difficult to evaluate analytically, Monte Carlo optimization is an attractive methodology. By analogy with deterministic mathematical programming, efficient Monte Carlo gradient estimation is an important ingredient of simulation-based optimization algorithms. As a consequence, gradient estimation has recently attracted considerable attention in the simulation community. It is our goal, in this article, to describe one efficient method for estimating gradients in the Monte Carlo setting, namely the likelihood ratio method (also known as the efficient score method). This technique has been previously described (in less general settings than those developed in this article) in [6, 16, 18, 21]. An alternative gradient estimation procedure is infinitesimal perturbation analysis; see [11, 12] for an introduction. While it is typically more difficult to apply to a given application than the likelihood ratio technique of interest here, it often turns out to be statistically more accurate. In this article, we first describe two important problems which motivate our study of efficient gradient estimation algorithms. Next, we will present the likelihood ratio gradient estimator in a general setting in which the essential idea is most transparent. The section that follows then specializes the estimator to discrete-time stochastic processes. We derive likelihood-ratio-gradient estimators for both time-homogeneous and non-time homogeneous discrete-time Markov chains. Later, we discuss likelihood ratio gradient estimation in continuous time. As examples of our analysis, we present the gradient estimators for time-homogeneous continuous-time Markov chains; non-time homogeneous continuous-time Markov chains; semi-Markov processes; and generalized semi-Markov processes. (The analysis throughout these sections assumes the performance measure that defines α(&thgr;) corresponds to a terminating simulation. ) Finally, we conclude the article with a brief discussion of the basic issues that arise in extending the likelihood ratio gradient estimator to steady-state performance measures.
SOME EFFECTS OF SMOKING WITHDRAWAL ON COMPLEX PERFORMANCE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

The effects of smoking withdrawal on complex (time-shared) performance and physiological responses were studied at a simulated aircraft cabin altitude of 6,500 ft. Seventeen habitual smokers, nine women and eight men, served as subjects. Time-shared performance of monitoring, tracking, mental arithmetic and problem solving tasks was measured by the Civil Aeromedical Institute Multiple Task Performance Battery (MTPB) in two 4-hour test sessions, one in which smoking was permitted at 1/2-h intervals and a no-smoking session. Corollary physiological measurements involved urinary hormones (epinephrine, norepinephrine and 17-ketogenic steroids), carboxyhemoglobin levels and heart rate. Overall composite scores for MTPB performance revealed decrements during withdrawal which were statistically significant beginning at the third 1/2-h period of withdrawal sessions. The principal sources of the withdrawal effect were a significant decrement in tracking and a tendency toward longer reaction times in one monitoring task during withdrawal. These performance decrements were associated with significantly lower heart rate and lower ratings of attentiveness during withdrawal from smoking. These findings support a cautious approach to the prohibition of smoking on the flight deck for aircrew members.