Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations Are Associated with Docetaxel Sensitivity in Lung Cancer

Introduction: A recent large randomized controlled trial revealed that patients with lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations had better prognoses when treated with the EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, gefitinib, than with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Lung cancer with EGFR mutations is highly sensitive to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The previous trial implied that EGFR mutations might be predictive of the response to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Methods: Forty-six tumor tissue specimens (32 adenocarcinomas and 14 nonadenocarcinomas) were obtained from patients with lung cancer who underwent surgical resection. EGFR mutations were detected using polymerase chain reaction-invader assay. A histoculture drug response assay was used as an in vitro drug sensitivity test. The inhibition rates of cisplatin, docetaxel (DOC), vinorelbine, and gemcitabine were measured. Results: Sensitizing EGFR mutations were detected in samples from 14 patients, all with adenocarcinomas. The inhibition rate of cisplatin in tumors with EGFR mutations (group M) was 34.8 ± 15.5%, which was significantly lower (p = 0.0153) than in wild-type tumors (group W; 46.6 ± 14.0%). The inhibition rate of DOC in group M (18.8 ± 13.4%) was also significantly lower (p = 0.0051) than in group W (35.4 ± 19.1%). There were no significant differences in inhibition rates of gemcitabine and vinorelbine between groups M and W. Inhibition rates of DOC were significantly lower in group M (p = 0.0256) than in group W (32.6 ± 18.4) in samples from patients with adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: The histoculture drug response assay indicated that lung cancers with EGFR mutations were less sensitive to DOC than EGFR wild-type tumors.
A uniform Sobolev inequality under Ricci flow

Let ${\bf M}$ be a compact Riemannian manifold and the metrics $g=g(t)$ evolve by the Ricci flow. We prove the following result. The Sobolev imbedding by Aubin or Hebey, perturbed by a scalar curvature term and modulo sharpness of constants, holds uniformly for $({\bf M}, g(t))$ for all time if the Ricci flow exists for all time; and if the Ricci flow develops a singularity in finite time, then the same Sobolev imbedding holds uniformly after a standard normalization. As a consequence, long time non-collapsing results are derived, which improve Perelman's local non-collapsing results. An application to 3-d Ricci flow with surgery is also presented.
Plant strengtheners enhance parasitoid attraction to herbivore-damaged cotton via qualitative and quantitative changes in induced volatiles.

BACKGROUND Herbivore-damaged plants release a blend of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that differs from undamaged plants. These induced changes are known to attract the natural enemies of the herbivores and therefore are expected to be important determinants of the effectiveness of biological control in agriculture. One way of boosting this phenomenon is the application of plant strengtheners, which has been shown to enhance parasitoid attraction in maize. It is unclear whether this is also the case for other important crops. RESULTS The plant strengtheners BTH [benzo (1,2,3) thiadiazole-7-carbothioic acid S-methyl ester] and laminarin were applied to cotton plants, and the effects on volatile releases and the attraction of three hymenopteran parasitoids, Cotesia marginiventris, Campoletis sonorensis and Microplitis rufiventris, were studied. After treated and untreated plants were induced by real or simulated caterpillar feeding, it was found that BTH treatment increased the attraction of the parasitoids, whereas laminarin had no significant effect. BTH treatment selectively increased the release of two homoterpenes and reduced the emission of indole, the latter of which had been shown to interfere with parasitoid attraction in earlier studies. Canonical variate analyses of the data show that the parasitoid responses were dependent on the quality rather than the quantity of volatile emission in this tritrophic interaction. CONCLUSION Overall, these results strengthen the emerging paradigm that induction of plant defences with chemical elicitors such as BTH could provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly strategy for biological control of pests by enhancing the attractiveness of cultivated plants to natural enemies of insect herbivores.
The effects of convenience and speed in m-payment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to uncover the effects of perceived transaction convenience (PTC) and perceived transaction speed (PTS) on unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in the context of m-payment. Design/methodology/approach – A predictive analysis approach was used to examine the PTC and PTS using a two-stage partial least square (PLS) and neural network (NN) analyses. Findings – The findings reveal that only effort expectancy (EE) and facilitating conditions (FC) were discovered to significantly influence BI. More importantly, PTC was found to have positive significant relationship with EE and performance expectancy (PE). Moreover, PTS also supported the positive relationship with BI and EE. Practical implications – The findings of the study provided further insights to mobile payment service providers, online banking industry players, and all decision makers and stakeholders involved. Originality/value – Despite of many attempts devoted to understand m-payment adopt.
On the Elusive Nature of Measuring Teacher Change: An Examination of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire

This study builds on the work of Bailey and Palsha (1992), which investigated the quality of data gathered from the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), an instrument based on the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) for measuring teacher concerns during a reform effort. The present study examined two hypotheses: (1) the subscales of Awareness and Refocusing lack reliability and should be removed from consideration in the SoCQ instrument; and (2) reorganising the seven-stage SoCQ into a five-stage questionnaire can provide more representative data aboutlevels of concern. Investigators examined data from two groups of teachers involved in implementing a new algebra curriculum. Primary methods of inquiry included computing measures of internal consistency and conducting confirmatory factor analyses. Results of the study supported the first hypothesis but did not support the second hypothesis. Collecting qualitative data that will identify teacher concerns more precisely is suggested as a means of validat.
Colorectal tumorigenesis.

published literature on the gastrointestinal effects of acupuncture, we were unable to find any controlled study showing the effect of acupuncture on ulcer healing.4 There have been three reports, however, of uncontrolled studies5-7 suggesting that acupuncture may be of therapeutic benefit in peptic ulcer disease and Lux et al cited one of these. It is unfortunate that Lux et al failed to recognise our own work, but more so that they did not extend our initial studies into the mechanisms participating in the inhibition of acid secretion by acupuncture. Clearly, we agree with them that further studies are needed to examine therapeutic efficacy.
B-type natriuretic peptide plasma levels are elevated in subcortical vascular dementia

High levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a serum marker of congestive heart failure, are associated with an increased risk for cognitive decline. However, no study has yet assessed this marker in different subtypes of dementia. We tested the hypothesis that BNP has a more significant association with vascular dementia than Alzheimer disease. Plasma BNP was measured in 15 patients with subcortical vascular dementia, in 19 Alzheimer patients without evidence of vascular comorbidity, and in age-matched controls. Compared with controls (28±7 ng/l), BNP was elevated in subcortical vascular dementia (63±17 ng/l; P=0.03), but not in Alzheimer disease (36±5 ng/l). In conclusion, subcortical vascular dementia is indeed associated with moderately elevated BNP levels, whereas this could not be shown for Alzheimer disease. This probably reflects the larger cardiovascular burden in patients with subcortical vascular dementia.
Development of a fatigue-compatible cohesive zone method for a copper-epoxy molding compound bimaterial interface

Interfacial fracture energy versus mode-mixity curves have been generated by researchers for various polymer / metal interfaces. The shapes of these relationships are normally reported through empirical fits. In this work an epoxy molding compound / copper interface has been characterized through a wide range of experiments and associated mode-mixities. In the current work, fracture energy test data is obtained through double-cantilever beam (DCB), four-point bend (4PB) and a dissimilar mixed mode bend (DMMB) test. Some of the commonly used mathematical forms of fracture energy vs. mode-mixity have been evaluated in the context of obtained test data. Additionally the appropriateness of linear-elastic fracture mechanics assumptions was evaluated. The mathematical form used to characterize the dependency on strain energy release rate and mode-mixity incorporates a failure criterion. Mathematical forms of the equations used to characterize the critical strain energy release rate and mode-mixity relationship are presented and linked to the options available in the ANSYS finite element cohesive-zone modeling functionality. The consequences of an inappropriate choice of mathematical form have also been considered.
Legal and political considerations of clinical practice guidelines

In the 4th century BC, Plato explored the difference between skills grounded in practical expertise and those based solely on following instructions or obeying rules. Using the clinician as his model, he set up a thought experiment: doctors would be stripped of their clinical freedom—“no longer allowed unchecked authority”—but would form themselves into councils to determine majority views about how to practise medicine in all situations.1 Plato's notion of codifying the majority decisions of panels (composed of clinical and non-clinical members) and publishing their work in order to influence (Plato says to dictate) “the ways in which the treatment of the sick is practised”1 prefigures many of the impulses which animate the clinical guidelines movement today. In Plato's view, important hallmarks of expertise include flexible responsiveness and “improvisatory ability”—an approach to practice endangered, he believed, by use of guidelines.1 However effective health care by guideline turned out to be—and Plato was prepared to concede its potential—it remained in his view a debased form of practice, firstly because guidelines presuppose an average patient rather than the particular patient whom a doctor is endeavouring to treat, and secondly because the knowledge and analysis that go into the creation of guidelines are not rooted in the mental processes of clinicians, but in the minds of guideline developers distant from the consultation. Similar concerns trouble present day clinicians (box). #### Summary points Clinical guidelines cannot offer doctors thoughtproof mechanisms for improving medical care However well linked to evidence, clinical guidelines need to be interpreted sensibly and applied with discretion Under UK common law, minimum acceptable standards of clinical care derive from responsible customary practice, not from guidelines If clinicians implement faulty guidelines it is they, rather than the authors of such guidelines, who are likely to increase their liability in negligence The NHS Executive …
Automatic summarising: factors and directions

This position paper suggests that progress with automatic summarising demands a better research methodology and a carefully focussed research strategy. In order to develop effective procedures it is necessary to identify and respond to the context factors, i.e. input, purpose, and output factors, that bear on summarising and its evaluation. The paper analyses and illustrates these factors and their implications for evaluation. It then argues that this analysis, together with the state of the art and the intrinsic difficulty of summarising, imply a nearer-term strategy c on shallow, but not surface, text analysis and on indicative summarising. This is illustrated with current work, from which a potentially productive research programme can be developed.
An optimal minimum spanning tree algorithm

We establish that the algorithmic complexity of the minimumspanning tree problem is equal to its decision-tree complexity.Specifically, we present a deterministic algorithm to find aminimum spanning tree of a graph with <i>n</i> vertices and<i>m</i> edges that runs in time<i>O</i>(<i>T</i><sup>*</sup>(<i>m,n</i>)) where<i>T</i><sup>*</sup> is the minimum number of edge-weightcomparisons needed to determine the solution. The algorithm isquite simple and can be implemented on a pointer machine.Althoughour time bound is optimal, the exact function describing it is notknown at present. The current best bounds known for<i>T</i><sup>*</sup> are <i>T</i><sup>*</sup>(<i>m,n</i>) =Ω(<i>m</i>) and <i>T</i><sup>*</sup>(<i>m,n</i>) =<i>O</i>(<i>m</i> ∙ α(<i>m,n</i>)), where α is acertain natural inverse of Ackermann's function.Even under theassumption that <i>T</i><sup>*</sup> is superlinear, we show thatif the input graph is selected from <i>G</i><sub><i>n,m</i></sub>,our algorithm runs in linear time with high probability, regardlessof <i>n</i>, <i>m</i>, or the permutation of edge weights. Theanalysis uses a new martingale for <i>G</i><sub><i>n,m</i></sub>similar to the edge-exposure martingale for<i>G</i><sub><i>n,p</i></sub>.
Cognitive Changes after Surgery in the Elderly: Does Minimally Invasive Surgery Influence the Incidence of Postoperative Cognitive Changes Compared to Open Colon Surgery?

Background: Postoperative delirium in the elderly is a growing concern. Data regarding significant differences in postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly persons undergoing laparoscopic versus open colon resection are not well established. Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare the incidence of POCD in laparoscopic versus open colon surgery in an elderly population. Design and Setting: A prospective nonrandomized pilot study was conducted at an urban tertiary care hospital. Participants: The study included patients aged 65 years and above, without documented dementia who underwent elective colon surgery. Measurements: We collected demographic and clinical data, including age, sex, polypharmacy, and comorbidities. The subjects underwent pre- and postoperative Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) testing. Worsening individual scores from the Paired Associated Learning (PAL) and Spatial Working Memory (SWM) portions of CANTAB determined the presence of POCD. Inflammatory cytokine (i.e., IL-6) levels were measured pre- and postoperatively. Results: We enrolled 44 subjects (26 laparoscopic and 18 open surgery). The two groups did not differ significantly in age, sex, polypharmacy, and comorbidities. The average incidence of POCD was 47%. PAL scores worsened in 12/23 (52%) in the laparoscopic group and in 7/15 (47%) in the open group. These group differences lacked statistical significance (p = 0.75). SWM scores worsened in 14/25 (56%) in the laparoscopic group and in 6/18 (33%) in the open group, which was also not statistically significant (p = 0.12). No age difference occurred between the ‘worsened scores' group and ‘stable scores' group, and older age was not associated with POCD. IL-6 levels were higher in the open versus the laparoscopic group (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: In this pilot study, the average incidence of POCD was not statistically different between elderly subjects undergoing open versus laparoscopic surgery. Age did not influence the occurrence of POCD. Although inflammatory markers were significantly higher in the open group, consistent with a higher degree of stress response, this group did not have higher rates of delirium. This association is worth to be investigated in a larger sample. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel
Fuzzy control of queueing systems with heterogeneous servers

We consider the problem of optimal control of queueing systems with heterogeneous servers in parallel. The system objective is to assign customers dynamically to idle servers based on the state of the system so as to minimize the average cost of holding customers. Three cases, either known in the literature or new, are studied in detail: queueing systems with server heterogeneity in-service rates, in-service functions, and both in-service rates and in-service functions. An approach is presented using fuzzy control to solve these problems. Simulation shows that this approach is efficient and promising, especially in cases where analytical solutions do not exist.
Disaggregating activities of daily living limitations for predicting nursing home admission.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether disaggregated activities of daily living (ADL) limitations better predict the risk of nursing home admission compared to conventionally used ADL disability counts. DATA SOURCES We used panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for years 1998-2010. The HRS is a nationally representative survey of adults older than 50 years (n = 18,801). STUDY DESIGN We fitted Cox regressions in a continuous time survival model with age at first nursing home admission as the outcome. Time-varying ADL disability types were the key explanatory variables. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Of the six ADL limitations, bathing difficulty emerged as the strongest predictor of subsequent nursing home placement across cohorts. Eating and dressing limitations were also influential in driving admissions among more recent cohorts. Using simple ADL counts for analysis yielded similar adjusted R(2) s; however, the amount of explained variance doubled when we allowed the ADL disability measures to time-vary rather than remain static. CONCLUSIONS Looking beyond simple ADL counts can provide health professionals insights into which specific disability types trigger long-term nursing home use. Functional disabilities measured closer in time carry more prognostic power than static measures.
Differences in sensitivity of Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula, Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae, and Nematospiroides dubius third-stage larvae to damage by the polyamine oxidase-polyamine system

The effect of the polyamine oxidase (PAO)-polyamine system on some helminths was examined in vitro. Both Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula and Dirofilaria immitis microfilariae were highly sensitive to this system, the latter more so than the former. In contrast, exsheathed third-stage larvae of Nematospiroides dubius were resistant to the effects of the PAO-polyamine system. After incubation of microfilariae with either spermine or spermidine in the presence of serum containing PAO (bovine serum or human retroplacental serum) or partially purified PAO, damage of worms occurred, compatible with our criteria for worm death. Similar results were obtained with schistosomula by using spermine. The damage seemed to be mediated by PAO products other than hydrogen peroxide because catalase did not protect either parasite. Our data demonstrate that helminths may be damaged by products of the PAO-polyamine system.
Increasing TLB reach by exploiting clustering in page translations

The steadily increasing sizes of main memory capacities require corresponding increases in the processor's translation lookaside buffer (TLB) resources to avoid performance bottlenecks. Large operating system page sizes can mitigate the bottleneck with a smaller TLB, but most OSs and applications do not fully utilize the large-page support in current hardware. Recent work has shown that, while not guaranteed, some virtual-to-physical page mappings exhibit “contiguous” spatial locality in which consecutive virtual pages map to consecutive physical pages. Such locality provides opportunities to coalesce “adjacent” TLB entries for increased reach. We observe that beyond simple adjacent-entry coalescing, many more translations exhibit “clustered” spatial locality in which a group or cluster of nearby virtual pages map to a similarly clustered set of physical pages. In this work, we provide a detailed characterization of the spatial locality among the virtual-to-physical translations. Based on this characterization, we present a multi-granular TLB organization that significantly increases its effective reach and reduces miss rates substantially while requiring no additional OS support. Our evaluation shows that the multi-granular design outperforms conventional TLBs and the recently proposed coalesced TLBs technique.
Greedy strikes back: improved facility location algorithms

A fundamental facility location problem is to choose the location of facilities, such as industrial plants and warehouses, to minimize the cost of satisfying the demand for some commodity. There are associated costs for locating the facilities, as well as transportation costs for distributing the commodities. We assume that the transportation costs form a metric. This problem is commonly referred to as theuncapacitated facility locationproblem. Application to bank account location and clustering, as well as many related pieces of work, are discussed by Cornuejols, Nemhauser, and Wolsey. Recently, the first constant factor approximation algorithm for this problem was obtained by Shmoys, Tardos, and Aardal. We show that a simple greedy heuristic combined with the algorithm by Shmoys, Tardos, and Aardal, can be used to obtain an approximation guarantee of 2.408. We discuss a few variants of the problem, demonstrating better approximation factors for restricted versions of the problem. We also show that the problem is max SNP-hard. However, the inapproximability constants derived from the max SNP hardness are very close to one. By relating this problem to Set Cover, we prove a lower bound of 1.463 on the best possible approximation ratio, assumingNP? DTIMEnO(loglogn)].
Enhancing the mechanical properties of virgin and damaged jute/polypropylene hybrid nonwoven geotextiles via mild alkali treatment of jute fibers

Nonwoven geotextiles made from hybridization of natural and synthetic fibers can potentially offer distinct advantages in terms of uniformity and improved mechanical properties. To further enhance the mechanical properties of hybrid nonwoven geotextiles, natural fibers such as jute must be treated with a minimal amount of alkali, such that the treatment process becomes scalable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Herein, we report a comparative analysis of physical and mechanical properties between the corresponding samples of untreated (UT) jute/polypropylene (PP) and mild alkali-treated (MAT) jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles in both virgin and damaged conditions. The constituent jute fibers were treated with 0.5 wt. % of sodium hydroxide solution under ambient temperature conditions for 24 h duration. Such mild treatment of jute fibers with alkali solution resulted in considerable improvement in the mechanical properties of MAT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles corresponding to the sets of UT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles. Various types of damage, including circular holes, horizontal cuts, vertical cuts and inclined cuts at an angle of 45°, were artificially induced in hybrid nonwoven geotextiles to investigate the reduction in tensile properties. Further, the Poisson's ratio in virgin and damaged states was determined to make a comparison between the UT and MAT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles. In general, lower Poisson's ratio values were observed for mechanically damaged MAT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles corresponding to the samples of UT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles. Surprisingly, the vertical cuts induced in MAT jute/PP nonwoven geotextiles yielded tensile strength comparable to that of virgin samples.