Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunogenicity and safety of a combined DTPa-IPV/Hib vaccine administered as a three-dose primary vaccination course in healthy Korean infants: phase III, randomized study

ABSTRACT We assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a three-dose primary vaccination schedule with the combined diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus/Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (DTPa-IPV/Hib) in Korean infants. In this phase III open-label, multicenter study (NCT01309646), healthy infants aged 42–69 days (randomized 1:1) received three doses of either pentavalent DTPa-IPV/Hib (DTPa-IPV/Hib group) or DTPa-IPV and Hib vaccines administered separately (DTPa-IPV+Hib group) at 2, 4, 6 months of age. The primary objective was to demonstrate non-inferiority of DTPa-IPV/Hib compared to DTPa-IPV+Hib vaccines in terms of immune responses to all vaccine antigens, 1 month post-dose 3. Solicited symptoms (local and general) were recorded during 4 days, and unsolicited adverse events (AEs) during 31 days, after each vaccination. Serious AEs (SAEs) were recorded throughout the study duration. The immunogenicity of the pentavalent DTPa-IPV/Hib vaccine was non-inferior compared to concomitant administration of DTPa-IPV+Hib vaccines. One month post-dose 3, nearly all infants had antibody levels above the seroprotective thresholds for anti-diphtheria toxoid, anti-tetanus toxoid, anti-polyribosyl-ribitol phosphate, and anti-poliovirus type 1, 2 and 3, and had antibody levels above the seropositive thresholds for anti-pertussis toxoid (PT), anti-filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) and anti-pertactin (PRN) antibodies. A vaccine response for PT, FHA and PRN was observed in at least 96.7% of study participants. Anti-PRP geometric mean concentrations appeared lower for the DTPa-IPV/Hib group (8.456 µg/mL) than for the DTPa-IPV+Hib group (18.700 µg/mL). In both groups, the most common solicited symptoms were injection site redness and irritability. Fifty-seven SAEs were reported throughout the study; none were considered to be vaccination related.
Design of A Novel Passive Binary-Controlled Variable Stiffness Joint (BpVSJ) Towards Passive Haptic Interface Application

In this paper we present the design, development and experimental validation of a novel Binary-Controlled Variable Stiffness Joint (BpVSJ) towards haptic teleoperation and human interaction manipulators applications. The proposed actuator is a proof of concept of a passive revolute joint, where the working principle is based on the recruitment of series-parallel elastic elements. The novelty of the system lies in its design topology, including the capability to involve an (n) number of series-parallel elastic elements to achieve ( $2^{n}$ ) levels of stiffness, as compared to current approaches. Accordingly, the level of stiffness can be altered at any position without the need to revert to the initial equilibrium position. The BpVSJ has low energy consumption and short switching time, and is able to rotate freely at zero stiffness without limitations. Further smart features include scalability and relative compactness. This paper details the mathematical stiffness modeling of the proposed actuator mechanism, as well as the experimentally measured performance characteristics. The experimental results matched well with the physical-based modeling in terms of stiffness variation levels. Moreover, Psychophysical experiments were also conducted using (20) healthy subjects in order to evaluate the capability of the BpVSJ to display three different levels of stiffness that are cognitively realized by the users. The participants performed two tasks: a relative cognitive task and an absolute cognitive task. The results show that the BpVSJ is capable of rendering stiffness with high average relative accuracy (Relative Cognitive Task relative accuracy is 97.3%, and Absolute Cognitive Task relative accuracy is 83%).
After obstetric fistula repair; willingness of women in Northern Nigeria to use family planning

Abstract Utilisation of modern family planning (FP) is important for women with obstetric fistula (OF). Preventing pregnancy ensures a proper healing and the success of fistula repair. In Northern Nigeria, prevalence of OF is high while the prevalence of FP utilisation is low. This study assessed the willingness to use family planning among 420 women receiving care at obstetric fistula centres in three northern Nigerian States using a semi-structured questionnaire. Concerning family planning methods, 56.7% were aware, only three (1.3%) had ever utilised any method and 63.8% were willing to use a family planning method in the near future. Age, type of marriage and the presence of surviving children were the significant predictors of willingness to use family planning among women with fistula. There is a moderate awareness of family planning with very low utilisation rates. However, a high proportion of these women are willing to use FP. Therefore, there is a need for integration of FP services with OF services. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? Obstetric fistula remains a problem of public health significance in developing countries and emphasis is being laid on surgical repair which is successful in 80–95% of cases. What do the results of this study add? The willingness of women with OF to use FP to improve repair success rate and prevent recurrence by delaying pregnancy. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? It provides a proxy for post-repair practice. It also assesses the integrated fistula repair services which include counselling and providing the use of family planning services.
Factors Associated with Satisfaction of Hospital Physicians: A Systematic Review on European Data

Background: Physician satisfaction is a multidimensional concept related to many factors. Despite the wide range of research regarding factors affecting physician satisfaction in different European countries, there is a lack of literature reviews analyzing and summarizing current evidence. The aim of the article is to synthetize the literature studying the factors associated with physician satisfaction. Methods: We searched: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library from January 2000 to January 2017. The eligibility criteria included: (1) target population: physicians working in European hospitals; (2) quantitative research aimed at assessing physician satisfaction and associated factors; (3) use of validated tools. We performed a narrative synthesis. Results: After screening 8585 records, 368 full text articles were independently checked and finally 24 studies were included for qualitative analysis. The included studies surveyed 20,000 doctors from 12 European countries. The tools and scales used in the analyzed research to measure physician satisfaction varied to a large extent. We extracted all pre-specified factors, reported as statistically significant/non-significant. Analyzed factors were divided into three groups: personal, intrinsic and contextual factors. The majority of factors are modifiable and positively associated with characteristics of contextual factors, such as work-place setting/work environment. In the group of work-place related factors, quality of management/leadership, opportunity for professional development and colleague support have been deemed statistically significant in numerous studies. Conclusions: We identified more studies appraising the effect of contextual factors (such as work environment, work-place characteristics), highlighting a positive association between those factors and physician satisfaction, compared with personal and intrinsic factors. Numerous studies confirmed statistically significant associations between physician satisfaction and quality of management, professional development and colleague support/team climate. Due to the health workforce crisis, knowledge regarding physician satisfaction and associated factors is essential to healthcare managers and policy makers for more stable human resources management.
Clinical Performance of the BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR Assay at a Tertiary Medical Center with a High Rate of Syphilis

Manual treponemal and nontreponemal serologic testing has historically been used for the diagnosis of syphilis. This approach is simple and reproducible but labor intensive. ABSTRACT Manual treponemal and nontreponemal serologic testing has historically been used for the diagnosis of syphilis. This approach is simple and reproducible but labor intensive. Recently, the FDA cleared the fully automated BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR assay for the detection of treponemal and nontreponemal antibodies. We evaluated the clinical performance of this assay at a tertiary medical center with a high syphilis prevalence. Prospective consecutively collected (n = 400) and known RPR-positive (n = 100) specimens were compared using predicate manual rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA) methods and the BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR assay. Positive and negative percent agreements (PPA and NPA, respectively) between the assays were calculated. The PPA and NPA between the manual and BioPlex 2200 RPR results for the prospective population were 85% (17/20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 69% to 100%) and 98% (373/380; 95% CI, 97% to 99%), respectively. The PPA for the manual RPR-positive population was 88% (88/100; 95% CI, 82% to 94%). Overall, the manual and BioPlex 2200 RPR titers demonstrated 78% (99/127) concordance within ±1 dilution and 94% (120/127) within ±2 dilutions. An interpretation of the syphilis serologic profile using the traditional algorithm showed a concordance of 99.5% in the prospective population and 85% in the manual RPR-positive cohort. The performance of the BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR assay is comparable to those of manual methods. The high NPA of this assay combined with the ability to automate a historically labor-intensive assay is an appealing attribute for syphilis screening in a high-volume laboratory.
Analysis of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase in oral malignant melanoma and potential prognostic significance

Oral malignant melanoma (OMM) is an aggressive tumour, and shows deep tissue invasion at initial presentation. The prognosis is worse than that for cutaneous melanoma (CM), and the overall 5-year survival rate is 10–25%. A study of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of OMM is necessary to identify new prognostic markers. In this study, we evaluated the possible role of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) in OMM. We carried out immunohistochemical analyses to evaluate the expression of NNMT in 15 OMM and 15 CM, measuring the percentage of positive cells and the value of NNMT expression intensity. Furthermore, we explored the relationship between NNMT levels and the prognostic parameters of patients with OMM. NNMT was significantly more expressed in CM compared with OMM, whereas higher staining intensity for NNMT was observed in OMM cases (P<0.05). In addition, a significant relationship was found between NNMT staining intensity and the presence of ulceration (P<0.05). Furthermore, univariate analysis showed a negative effect of NNMT expression on the disease-free survival rate (P<0.05). This study is the first to report the expression of NNMT in OMM and to compare OMM enzyme levels with those detected in CM. Data obtained seem to suggest the presence of potential molecular differences between these two tumours.
Mentoring the Mentors: Implementation and Evaluation of Four Fogarty-Sponsored Mentoring Training Workshops in Low-and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract. A growing body of evidence highlights the importance of competent mentoring in academic research. We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of four regional 2-day intensive workshops to train mid- and senior-level investigators conducting public health, clinical, and basic science research across multiple academic institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) on tools and techniques of effective mentoring. Sponsored by the Fogarty International Center, workshops included didactic presentations, interactive discussions, and small-group problem-based learning and were conducted in Lima, Peru; Mombasa, Kenya; Bangalore, India; and Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2013 to 2016. Mid- or senior-level faculty from multiple academic institutions within each region applied and were selected. Thirty faculty from 12 South America–based institutions, 29 faculty from eight East Africa–based institutions, 37 faculty from 14 South Asia–based institutions, and 36 faculty from 13 Africa-based institutions participated, with diverse representation across disciplines, gender, and academic rank. Discussions and evaluations revealed important comparisons and contrasts in the practice of mentoring, and specific barriers and facilitators to mentoring within each cultural and regional context. Specific regional issues related to hierarchy, the post-colonial legacy, and diversity arose as challenges to mentoring in different parts of the world. Common barriers included a lack of a culture of mentoring, time constraints, lack of formal training, and a lack of recognition for mentoring. These workshops provided valuable training, were among the first of their kind, were well-attended, rated highly, and provided concepts and a structure for the development and strengthening of formal mentoring programs across LMIC institutions.
Cluster Analysis to Estimate the Difficulty of Programming Problems

Programming is one of the vital skills for the next generation. Currently, there are many online platforms where programmers compete and solve programming problems. Those platforms are composed of problems with varying degree of difficulties. For expert programmers, the difficulty level is not a concern, but it is very important for novice programmers to approach programming problems based on their experience and level. Thus it is important to construct an expert system which can categorize the programming problems based on their difficulties. In our research, we have proposed an expert system which is based on fuzzy rules derivation. These fuzzy rules have been derived by performing cluster analysis on submission log data of Aizu Online judge database. Different clustering algorithms were examined based on the features of these programming problems. The performance of the expert system was compared with 3 different learning models (Decision tree, Random forest, K-nearest neighbor). A high accuracy score on the testing set proves the validity of our constructed fuzzy rules for the expert system.
Letrozole for patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract This retrospective study investigated the efficacy and safety of letrozole for patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Totally, 136 cases of infertility women with PCOS were analyzed. Of those, 68 patients received letrozole, and were assigned to Letrozole group. The other 68 cases received clomiphene, and were assigned to clomiphene group. Patients in both groups were treated up to 5 treatment cycles. The primary endpoint included infant outcomes. The secondary endpoints consisted of the number of women in conception, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, and ovulation. In addition, any kinds of adverse events were also recorded. Cases in the Letrozole group did not show better outcomes neither in primary endpoint (live birth, P = .11; birth weight, P = .95; infant gender, P = .85), nor in secondary endpoints (the number of women in conception, P = .07; pregnancy, P = .12; pregnancy loss, P = .47; pregnancy loss in first trimester, P = .70; and ovulation, P = .09), compared with cases in the clomiphene group. Moreover, no adverse events differ significantly between 2 groups. This study demonstrated that the efficacy of letrozole is not superior to the clomiphene in patients with PCOS.
Outdoor Fingerprinting Localization Using Sigfox

The Internet of Things (IoT) has caused the modern society to connect everything in our environment to a network. In a myriad of IoT applications, smart devices need to be located. This can easily be done by satellite based receivers. However, there are more energy-efficient localization technologies, especially in Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). In this research, we discuss the accuracy of an outdoor fingerprinting technique using a large outdoor Sigfox dataset which is openly available. A kNN (k Nearest Neighbors) algorithm is applied to our fingerprinting database. 31 different distance functions and four RSS data representations are evaluated. Our analysis shows that a Sigfox transmitter can be located with a mean estimation error of 340 meters.
The Intracellular Free Zinc Level Is Vital for Treg Function and a Feasible Tool to Discriminate between Treg and Activated Th Cells

The intracellular free zinc level and zinc distribution are important for cellular function. Both are highly variable and are altered due to intrinsic zinc pool fluctuation via buffering and muffling reactions. Multiple autoimmune diseases are associated with pathologically changed zinc levels, which provoke altered signal transduction leading to changed immune responses, cell differentiation, and function. For instance, immunological tolerance can be impaired, causing autoimmune diseases because of a malfunction of regulatory T cells (Tregs). We investigated the intracellular free zinc concentration of resting and activated T helper (Th) cells and Tregs in an allogeneic graft versus host disease model using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis and enlightened cell function under nontoxic zinc concentrations and zinc deficiency by detecting cytokine secretion via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We exhibited for the first time that Tregs could be explicitly discriminated from other Th cell subsets using significantly increased intracellular free zinc levels. Moreover, the intracellular free zinc level was essential in maintaining the Treg phenotype and function, since zinc deficiency favored the pro-inflammatory immune response. Therefore, we hypothesize that the intracellular free zinc level in Th cells is essential in guaranteeing proper cellular function and can be used to discriminate Tregs from other Th cell subsets.
AFAP1-AS1 Promotes Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Tumorigenesis Through Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) actin filament-associated protein1-antisense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) is overexpressed in various types of cancers and plays an important role in tumor progression and prognosis. This study investigates the role of AFAP1-AS1 in tumor progression in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We found that AFAP1-AS1 was overexpressed in TNBC tissues and cells. Overexpression of LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 was associated with poor prognosis in TNBC patients. Moreover, we demonstrated that upregulation of AFAP1-AS1 promoted cell proliferation and invasion, and inhibited cell apoptosis in vitro, while overexpression of AFAP1-AS1 promoted tumor growth in vivo. Our results also revealed that upregulation of AFAP1-AS1 activated Wnt/β-catenin pathway to promote tumorigenesis and cell invasion by increasing the expression of C-myc and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related molecules in TNBC. Collectively, AFAP1-AS1 can be an independent prognostic marker and an effective therapeutic target of triple- negative breast cancer.
Outage-Constrained Resource Allocation for Asynchronous Cognitive Radio Networks With FBMC/OFDM

We consider the downlink resource allocation for a multi-carrier-based asynchronous cognitive radio network with statistical knowledge of the channel state information of both primary and secondary systems available at the secondary base station. The problem of secondary utility maximization is investigated under primary and secondary user outage constraints and total power constraint. Analyses are provided for cases where both primary and secondary systems are utilizing either orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing or filter-bank based multi-carrier modulations. The highly complex yet challenging and non-convex joint power-subcarrier allocation problem is tackled by leveraging the principle of alternating optimization techniques. A per-carrier outage-based solution is provided for the subcarrier allocation stage. In the second stage, we introduce an upper bound to the outage constraints to ensure tractability. We propose an efficient convex approximation method to obtain near-optimal solutions of the centralized power control problem. Furthermore, to reduce computational complexity, a distributed implementation based on dual decomposition method is designed. Extensive simulation results are further provided to corroborate the validity of the theoretical findings and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Replaceability for Constraint Satisfaction Problems: Algorithms, Inference, and Complexity Patterns

Replaceability is a form of generalized substitutability whose features make it potentially of great importance for problem simplification. It differs from simple substitutability in that it only requires that substitutable values exist for every solution containing a given value without requiring that the former always be the same. This is the most general form of substitutability that allows inferences from local to global versions of this property. Building on earlier work, this study first establishes that algorithms for localized replaceability (consistent neighbourhood replaceability or CNR algorithms) based on all-solutions neighbourhood search outperform other replaceability algorithms by several orders of magnitude. It also examines the relative effectiveness of different forms of depth-first CNR algorithms. Secondly, it demonstrates an apparent complexity ridge, which does not occur at the same place in the problem space as the complexity areas for consistency or full search algorithms. Thirdly, it continues the study of methods for inferring replaceability in structured problems in order to improve efficiency. Here, it is shown that some strategies for inferring replaceable values can be extended to disjunctive constraints in scheduling problems.
Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as a predictive factor of complete pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients is of prognostic value in determining short- and mid-term outcomes. Inflammatory biomarkers, such as platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), have been proposed as predictive factors of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Currently, there are no studies in Colombian patients reporting the role of inflammatory biomarkers as response predictors in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Therefore, in this study we performed a cross-sectional study and analyzed the association between inflammatory biomarkers and pCR (pathological complete response) in patients diagnosed with breast cancer–of different molecular subtypes- and treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A total of 288 patients were included in the study, with a median age of 51 years old. Disease was locally advanced in 83% of the participants, and 77.7% had compromised lymph nodes. In our cohort, the most frequent tumor molecular subtype was luminal B/Her2- (27.8%) followed by triple negative [TN] (21.5%), luminal B/Her2+ (19.8%), Her2-enriched (16%) and luminal A (13.5%). PLR was not associated with age, menopausal status, baseline tumor size, histologic grade, axillary lymph node involvement, disease stage, estrogen receptor status, or Ki67; however, complete pathological response was significantly higher in the low PLR group (PLR<150) compared with the high PLR group (35.1% Vs. 22.2%, p = 0.03). In addition, Her2-enriched tumors achieved the highest pCR rates (65%), followed by TN (34%) tumors. Our results suggest that breast cancer patients with low platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR <150), treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy achieve higher complete pathological response, independently of primary tumor molecular subtype.