Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of the FOLFOX4 regimen versus doxorubicin in Chinese patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a subgroup analysis of the EACH study.

BACKGROUND The EACH study assessed the efficacy of oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin (the FOLFOX4 regimen) compared with doxorubicin alone in terms of overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and safety in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We present the results of this study in Chinese patients. METHODS In a multicenter, open-label, randomized, phase III study (NCT00471965), 371 patients (279 patients from the People's Republic of China) were randomized 1:1 to receive either FOLFOX4 or doxorubicin until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, death, or surgical resection. RESULTS Baseline characteristics of the Chinese patients enrolled in the study were similar for the 2 treatment groups and in comparison with the whole EACH cohort. Median OS at the prespecified time point of treatment was 5.7 months with FOLFOX4 and 4.3 months with doxorubicin (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.98; p = .03). At the end of the follow-up period, median OS was 5.9 months with FOLFOX4 and 4.3 months with doxorubicin (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.58-0.98; p = .03). Median PFS was 2.4 months and 1.7 months in the FOLFOX4 and doxorubicin groups, respectively (HR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.45-0.78; p = .0002). The response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) were significantly higher in the FOLFOX4 group than in the doxorubicin group (RR: 8.6% vs. 1.4%, p = .006; DCR: 47.1% vs. 26.6%, p = .0004). Hematological toxicity was more frequently reported in the FOLFOX4 group. CONCLUSION For Chinese HCC patients enrolled in the EACH study, FOLFOX4 significantly improved the RR and DCR and prolonged survival compared with doxorubicin. Systemic chemotherapy with oxaliplatin-based regimens may play an important role in the treatment of Chinese patients with advanced HCC.
A Study to Evaluate Life Span of Crowns & Fixed Partial Dentures and Various Reasons of their Failures

Abstract Most patients are concerned about the anticipated length of service and reasons of replacement of fixed dental prostheses (FPDs). This study tried to find out relationship among various factors causing failures in fixed dental prostheses. Patients treated with fixed dental prostheses were examined clinically and radiographically. A group of 106 patients were evaluated for unsatisfactory restorations. These groups of patients produced records of initial treatment to ascertain the length of service of restoration. The mean survival period of fixed dental prostheses was 7.5 years. This investigation helped find causes for failures and survival period of various FPDs. Among the reasons of failures, caries was the most frequently observed (24.2%), followed by defective margin (18.2%), unsatisfactory esthetics (15.2%), retention problem (11.7%), periodontal disease (8.8%), fractured tooth (10.6%), periapical lesion (5.8%), porcelain fracture (4.2%) and others (1.3%). Causes of failures were also grouped into two groups (Mechanical & Oral diseases) for comparison. The Mechanical group showed higher failure percentage (59.9%) as compared to Oral diseases group (38.8%).
Antibiotic sensitivity of bovine staphylococcal and coliform mastitis isolates over four years

Eight hundred and forty-eight strains of Staphylococcus aureus and coliforms isolated from milk samples taken from cows with clinical or subclinical mastitis were tested for their sensitivity to a range of antibiotics, comparing strains isolated in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. The only increase in the proportion of resistant strains occurred with coliforms resistant to ampicillin and neomycin.
THE EFFECTS OF AGE, SEX, AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS ON RESPONSIVENESS TO TWO CLASSES OF VERBAL REINFORCEMENT.

The effects of two classes of verbal reinforcers, one more abstract (performance reinforcers) and the other less abstract (person), were examined among lower- and middle-class children. Previous work that had shown lower-class children to be relatively unresponsive to abstract reinforcers was not substantiated. The experiment suggested serious deficiencies in the experimental methodology (and hence in conceptualization) for examining the psychological properties of lower-class children. A second experiment examined the developmental implications of responsiveness to person and performance reinforcers. The results suggested that, in growing older, children become more sensitive to a broader band of reinforcers and particularly to abstract reinforcers, without declining in their responsiveness to concrete ones.
Endometriosis and Nonobstructive Mullerian Anomalies

We reviewed the case records of all women (N=748) who underwent Iaparoscopy for infertility in our department from 1985-1990. The patients were divided into two groups, cases and controls, according to the presence of nonobstructive mullerian anomalies (N=198) or absence of such anomalies (N=545); women with obstructive mullerian anomalies (N=5) were excluded. The patients were analyzed for the presence of endometriosis, malformation class, and reproductive history. The frequency of endometriosis was 30.8% in the women with nonobstructive mullerian anomalies, versus 38.5% in the controls (P=.209). Among the subjects with unicornuate uterus, the prevalence of endometriosis (55%) was significantly greater compared with the patients with other nonobstructive mullerian anomalies (28%) (P<.05), but not compared with the controls (38.5%). Overall, no differences were observed in the frequency of endometriosis between infertile women with and without nonobstructive mullerian anomalies. Our results seem to exclude a common pathogenetic factor underlying endometriosis and nonobstructive mullerian anomalies.
What are we making? The work-without-content in live computer music

This paper explores the nature of the work in the case of computer-mediated real-time, interactive, situated or improvised music – works often defined principally in terms of uniqueness but which constitute a common practice. The context for such an understanding derives from criticism of contemporary culture, especially Alain Badiou's call for an affirmationist art. The notion of the work without content is proposed, developed from the philosophy of Giorgio Agamben. Such works are characterised by the map of their dynamical redistribution of the materials and mechanisms whereby they inscribe a unique surface in a particular context. They must incorporate some mechanism for emergent events to transform space or discourse; modelling, simulation and the state-change of representation have crucial roles. The work without content acts as an interface between the originating impulse and a shared present. Its apparatus is understood as an economy of interactions. As a broader cultural paradigm it has implications for our understanding of music from other times and places.
Age-related differences in affective and cognitive empathy: self-report and performance-based evidence

ABSTRACT The correlation between age and empathy is not clear, with prior findings yielding mixed and inconsistent results. Here, we distinguished between two aspects of empathy and respectively investigated the effects of age on the affective and cognitive facets of empathy using a self-report measure (interpersonal reactivity index, IRI) and performance-based tasks (viewing films). The results showed that older adults manifested age-related deficits in both trait and state cognitive empathy, with the latter being positively associated with memory. Otherwise, the overall affective empathy increased in the elderly, but the age-related differences in affective empathy may be qualified by the valence of the film clips. Specifically, older participants showed more empathic concern (EC) and less personal distress (PD) to other people’s emotions than the younger participants for the distress film. Interestingly, for the amusing film, older participants demonstrated more EC and PD. Overall, the two aspects of empathy have different development trajectories.
Distinguishing acute from symptomatic chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by site-directed serology of the HCV structural proteins.

To distinguish acute from symptomatic chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, site-directed serology was done on the complete core, envelope 1, and envelope 2 proteins using multiple peptide assays. Serum samples were obtained from 7 patients with clinically confirmed acute HCV infections and from 36 patients with symptomatic chronic HCV infections. At onset of symptoms, all patients with acute infection had HCV RNA in serum, 1 had > 2 strong core peptide reactivities (A405 > 1.0), and the number of core reactivities increased with time in 6 patients. In contrast, 35 of 36 chronic-phase patients with HCV RNA in serum had 3-12 strong core reactivities (P < .001). Envelope 2 antibodies were found in 2 acute-phase and in 32 chronic-phase HCV patients (P < .01). Thus, a serum sample with HCV RNA from a patient with hepatitis can be classified as acute or chronic using site-directed serology of the HCV structural proteins.
A mutation in PLC1, a candidate phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, causes aberrant mitotic chromosome segregation

We identified a putative Saccharomyces cerevisiae homolog of a phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) gene, PLC1, which encodes a protein most similar to the delta class of PI-PLC enzymes. The PLC1 gene was isolated during a study of yeast strains that exhibit defects in chromosome segregation. plc1-1 cells showed a 10-fold increase in aberrant chromosome segregation compared with the wild type. Molecular analysis revealed that PLC1 encodes a predicted protein of 101 kDa with approximately 50 and 26% identity to the highly conserved X and Y domains of PI-PLC isozymes from humans, bovines, rats, and Drosophila melanogaster. The putative yeast protein also contains a consensus EF-hand domain that is predicted to bind calcium. Interestingly, the temperature-sensitive and chromosome missegregation phenotypes exhibited by plc1-1 cells were partially suppressed by exogenous calcium.
Taxane-based combinations as adjuvant chemotherapy of early breast cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized trials.

PURPOSE We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized trials that evaluated the efficacy of incorporating taxanes into anthracycline-based regimens for early breast cancer (EBC). We aimed to determine whether this approach improves disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) and whether benefits are maintained across relevant patient subgroups. METHODS Studies were retrieved by searching the PubMed database and the proceedings of major conferences. We extracted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CIs for DFS and OS from each trial and obtained pooled estimates using an inverse-variance model. RESULTS Thirteen studies were included in the meta-analysis (N = 22,903 patients). The pooled HR estimate was 0.83 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.87; P < .00001) for DFS and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.79 to 0.91; P < .00001) for OS. Risk reduction was not influenced by the type of taxane, by estrogen receptor (ER) expression, by the number of axillary metastases (N1 to 3 v N4+), or by the patient's age/menopausal status. Sensitivity analysis showed that taxanes given in combination with anthracyclines, unlike sequential administration, did not significantly improve OS. However, the test for interaction showed that HR did not differ between the two schedules (P = .54). Taxane administration resulted in an absolute 5-year risk reduction of 5% for DFS and 3% for OS. CONCLUSION The addition of a taxane to an anthracycline-based regimen improves the DFS and OS of high-risk EBC patients. The DFS benefit was independent of ER expression, degree of nodal involvement, type of taxane, age/menopausal status of patient, and administration schedule.
Approximate Delay Analysis and Results for Asymmetric Token-Passing and Polling Networks

Notwithstanding much effort, explicit analytical results for average message delays for asymmetric token rings are currently unavailable. We develop an excellent and relatively simple analytic approximation which readily demonstrates the effects of the many system parameters on delay-throughput performance. The approximation applies to any cyclically served network (including rings, polling networks, and unidirectional fiber optic broadcast networks) with independent time-slot arrivals and gated service. The approximation becomes exact for symmetric loading. An equation for the moment-generating function of the joint terminal service times is obtained via an imbedded Markov chain. Two matrix equations are then derived, one for the mean terminal service times of the N queues and another for the joint second central moments. A two-dimensional difference equation for the second central moments is then obtained. This difference equation together with Kleinrock's conservation law is used to approximate the mean delay at each queue. The peak approximation error is typically a few percent for various loading distributions including heavy or highly asymmetric loading, even if the statistics for message arrivals, message lengths, or walk times vary among the queues. Actual delay-throughput results are presented for various terminal loadings. Also included is a procedure to upperbound the error of our approximation for any message and walk time statistics, given the terminal utilizations.
Two-terminal transport measurements with cold atoms

In recent years, the ability of cold atom experiments to explore condensed-matter-related questions has dramatically progressed. Transport experiments, in particular, have expanded to the point in which conductance and other transport coefficients can now be measured in a way that is directly analogous to solid-state physics, extending cold-atom-based quantum simulations into the domain of quantum electronic devices. In this topical review, we describe the transport experiments performed with cold gases in the two-terminal configuration, with an emphasis on the specific features of cold atomic gases compared to solid-state physics. We present the experimental techniques and the main experimental findings, focusing on—but not restricted to—the recent experiments performed by our group. We finally discuss the perspectives opened up by this approach, the main technical and conceptual challenges for future developments, and potential applications in quantum simulation for transport phenomena and mesoscopic physics problems.
Transmission of the common cold to volunteers under controlled conditions. I. The common cold as a clinical entity.

The common cold is one of the most frequent and universal infections of man. Nevertheless, little is known regarding its specific etiology, and the diagnosis must be a clinical one. Until the infectious agent can be propagated, characterized by microbiologic and pathologic methods and consistently transmitted to experimental animals or in tissue cultures, transmission to humans appears to be the best method for study. In this manner, information can be obtained about the nature of the infection, factors that influence the susceptibility or resistance of the human host, and conditions that favor spread of the illness. During the past five years we have made observations upon more than 1000 volunteers who were challenged with infectious nasal secretions obtained from persons with a common cold or with a blank solution used as a control. The clinical findings were re- corded daily. Examination of the nose and throat was of no value
Roles of Amino Acids 161 to 179 in the PSE-4 Ω Loop in Substrate Specificity and in Resistance to Ceftazidime

ABSTRACT The PSE-4 enzyme is a prototype carbenicillin-hydrolyzing enzyme exhibiting high activity against penicillins and early cephalosporins. To understand the mechanism that modulates substrate profiles and to verify the ability of PSE-4 to extend its substrate specificity toward expanded-spectrum cephalosporins, we used random replacement mutagenesis to generate six random libraries from amino acids 162 to 179 in the Ω loop. This region is known from studies with TEM-1 to be implicated in substrate specificity. It was found that the mechanism modulating ceftazidime hydrolysis in PSE-4 was different from that in TEM-1. The specificity of class 2c carbenicillin-hydrolyzing enzymes could not be assigned to the Ω loop of PSE-4. Analysis of the percentage of functional enzymes revealed that the hydrolysis of ampicillin was more affected than hydrolysis of carbenicillin by amino acid substitutions at positions 162 to 164 and 165 to 167.
[In vitro activity of arbekacin against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus species and gram-negative bacilli].

BACKGROUND Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and some gram-negative bacilli are very prevalent nosocomial pathogens, commonly causing mixed infections, and are often resistant to multiple drugs. Arbekacin is an aminoglycoside used for the treatment of MRSA infections, but is also active against some gram-negative bacilli. The aim of this study was to determine in vitro activity of arbekacin against recent clinical isolates of staphylococci and gram-negative bacilli. MATERIALS AND METHODS The strains were isolated from clinical specimens of patients at Severance Hospital in 2003. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute agar dilution method. The following arbekacin breakpoints were used: susceptible, </=4 microg/mL; and resistant, >/=16 microg/mL . RESULTS All isolates of staphylococci tested were inhibited by </=4 microg/mL of arbekacin, regardless of their methicillin susceptibility. The MIC90s of arbekacin, 1-4 microg/mL, were 8->32-fold and >32-128-fold lower than those of amikacin and gentamicin, respectively. The resistance rates of MRSA, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) and methicillin-susceptible CNS were 0% to arbekacin, 0-54% to amikacin, and 24-79% to gentamicin. The MIC90s of arbekacin for Escherichia coli and Citrobacter freundii, 1 microg/mL and 16 microg/mL, were 2-4-fold and 8-16-fold lower than those of amikacin and gentamicin, respectively. However, The MIC90s of arbekacin for other species of gram-negative bacilli, 64->128 microg/mL, were similar to those of other aminoglycosides. CONCLUSIONS Arbekacin may be a useful alternative to glycopeptides for the treatment of monomicrobial methicillin-resistant staphylococcal infections, as well as mixed infections with gram-negative bacilli, as most isolates of E. coli, C. freundii and some other gram-negative bacilli were also susceptible to arbekacin.
Auditory Tones and Foot-Shock Recapitulate Spontaneous Sub-Threshold Activity in Basolateral Amygdala Principal Neurons and Interneurons

In quiescent states such as anesthesia and slow wave sleep, cortical networks show slow rhythmic synchronized activity. In sensory cortices this rhythmic activity shows a stereotypical pattern that is recapitulated by stimulation of the appropriate sensory modality. The amygdala receives sensory input from a variety of sources, and in anesthetized animals, neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) show slow rhythmic synchronized activity. Extracellular field potential recordings show that these oscillations are synchronized with sensory cortex and the thalamus, with both the thalamus and cortex leading the BLA. Using whole-cell recording in vivo we show that the membrane potential of principal neurons spontaneously oscillates between up- and down-states. Footshock and auditory stimulation delivered during down-states evokes an up-state that fully recapitulates those occurring spontaneously. These results suggest that neurons in the BLA receive convergent input from networks of cortical neurons with slow oscillatory activity and that somatosensory and auditory stimulation can trigger activity in these same networks.
Event‐related functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) based on craniocerebral correlations: Reproducibility of activation?

The purpose of the present study was to assess the retest reliability of cortical activation detected by event‐related functional near‐infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) based on craniocerebral correlations. Isolated functional activation was evoked in the motor cortex by a periodically performed finger‐tapping task. During 44‐channel fNIRS recording, 12 subjects performed 30 trials of right and left index finger tapping in two sessions. The retest interval was set to 3 weeks. Simple correlations of the contrast t‐values supplemented by scatterplots, channel‐wise intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), as well as reproducibility indices for the size and the location of the detected activation were calculated. The results at the group level showed sufficient single measure ICCs (up to 0.80) and excellent reproducibility of the size and the location (up to 89% were reproducible). Comparisons of the intersession group amplitudes demonstrate that the fNIRS signals were stable across time in a retest study design: the number of significant differences was less than randomly occurring false‐positive activated channels if an alpha level of 5% is chosen. Effect size analyses indicated that the intersession amplitude differences are small (mean < 0.25). For deoxyhemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin distinct statistical power profiles were revealed regarding the activation vs. baseline contrast as well as the intersession amplitude differences, indicating a higher sensitivity of deoxyhemoglobin for local hemodynamic changes. The results suggest that sensorimotor activation assessed by event‐related fNIRS based on craniocerebral correlations is sufficiently reproducible at the group level. Hum Brain Mapp, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Physical Therapy and Athletic Training 2015 Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability : A Systematic Review

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Physical Therapy and Athletic Training at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Physical Therapy and Athletic Training Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@odu.edu. Repository Citation Houston, Megan N. ; Hoch, Johanna M. ; and Hoch, Matthew C. , "Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability: A Systematic Review" (2015). Physical Therapy and Athletic Training Faculty Publications. 30. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/pt_pubs/30
Loss of Self-Similarity Detection with Second Order Statistical Model And Multi-Level Sampling Approach

Recent studies demonstrate that malicious packets introduce distribution error and perturb the self-similarity property of network traffic. Consequently, loss of self-similarity (LoSS) is detected which indicates poor Quality of Service (QoS). Previous works on LoSS detection typically estimate the selfsimilarity parameter at normal fixed sampling rate such as 10ms or 100ms. However, this is not sufficient to expose the distribution error of self-similarity model effectively hence increases false alarm rate detection. This paper proposes a multi-level sampling (MLS) approach to estimate selfsimilarity parameter in order to increase the accuracy of LoSS detection performance. The proposed LoSS detection method defines LoSS with second order self-similarity statistical (SOSS) model and estimates the self-similarity parameter using the Optimization Method (OM). The method has been tested using simulation of fractional Gaussian noise (FGN) traces and FSKSMNet datasets. The simulation results show that the MLS approach has significantly improved the LoSS detection accuracy from 50% to 100% for malicious traces and from none to 17% for legal Internet traffic traces, when compared to typical fixed sampling rate at 100ms.