Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Randomized, Double-blind, 2-Period, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial of a Sustained-Release Methylphenidate in the Treatment of Fatigue in Cancer Patients

PurposeThis study assessed the efficacy of methylphenidate versus placebo for cancer-related fatigue reduction. Other objectives were to analyze cytokine levels and to determine the effects of methylphenidate on other symptoms, cognitive function, work yield, and patients’ perceptions and preferences. MethodsPatients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive methylphenidate-placebo or placebo-methylphenidate for 4 weeks. Patients crossed over after 2 weeks. Wilcoxon signed rank tests and McNemar tests were used to assess continuous and categorical variables. The primary efficacy endpoint was change in the level of worst fatigue on the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) at the end of each 2-week period. ResultsThe mean baseline BFI score was moderate (5.7). Methylphenidate treatment did not affect patients’ worst level of fatigue or other symptoms. Results from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Digit Symbol Test and the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test with BFI interference questions and BFI activity questions showed significant improvement in the methylphenidate-treated patients’ verbal learning, memory, visual perception, analysis, and scanning speed. Patients treated with methylphenidate missed significantly fewer work hours owing to health reasons and worked significantly more hours. After 4 weeks, 64% of patients reported that methylphenidate improved their cancer-related fatigue, and 58% wanted to continue treatment. Significant difference in interleukin 6R (positive), interleukin 10 (negative), and tumor necrosis factor &agr; (positive) was noted between the methylphenidate and the placebo group. ConclusionsLow-dose methylphenidate did not improve cancer-related fatigue. Patients taking methylphenidate had better cognition and were able to work more hours. Patients tolerated methylphenidate well, and the majority felt better and wanted to continue treatment.
Geographical distances and the similarity among parasite communities of conspecific host populations

The geographical distance between conspecific host populations is no doubt a key determinant of the likelihood that exchanges of parasite species occur between these populations. This variable must therefore be taken into account in studies that compare parasite species richness or similarity among host populations. This paper presents a multivariate approach, based on the permutation of matrices, that allows all pairwise geographical distances between host populations to be included as independent variables. The method is illustrated with 3 separate data sets on parasite communities of conspecific fish from different lakes. In 2 of 3 cases, geographical distances among lakes had a significant influence on the similarity of their parasite communities. The effect of geographical distance on species richness of parasite communities also proved important in 2 of the 3 case studies. These examples demonstrate the pervasive influence of distances among host populations on their parasite communities, and the need to properly control for them in statistical analyses.
Making no Bones About it: Bone Mineral Density Changes Seasonally in a Nonhibernating Alaskan Rodent

Abstract High-latitude voles and lemmings undergo strong seasonal changes in their behavior and physiology, which may lead to concurrent changes in bone mineral density (BMD). We tested whether the BMD of northern red-backed voles (Myodes rutilus) in Alaska changed seasonally, and if so, whether these changes in their weight-bearing bones were correlated with seasonal changes in photoperiod (a mediator of activity and concentrations of reproductive hormones in high-latitude voles and lemmings), body mass, body length, or a combination of these. We used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure the BMD of the femur and humerus of voles collected in different seasons. BMDs increased dramatically from the start of spring to their peak level in early summer, and then decreased gradually to their lowest point in late winter. BMDs were significantly lower in fall and winter than in spring and early summer. BMDs of long bones were significantly correlated with both body mass and photoperiod, which accounted for 46.2% and 45.7% of the variation in the BMDs of femur and humerus, respectively. The strong changes that we observed in BMD are likely to be due, in part, to the combined effects of strong seasonal changes in body mass, activity, and baseline levels of reproductive hormones.
Discovering the k Representative Skyline Over a Sliding Window

A representative skyline contains $k$ skyline points that can represent its corresponding full skyline. The existing measuring criteria of $k$ representative skylines are specifically designed for static data, and they cannot effectively handle streaming data. In this paper, we focus on the problem of calculating the $k$ representative skyline over data streams. First, we propose a new criterion to choose $k$ skyline points as the $k$ representative skyline for data stream environments, termed the $k$ largest dominance skyline ( $k$ -LDS), which is representative to the entire data set and is highly stable over the streaming data. Second, we propose an efficient exact algorithm, called Prefix-based Algorithm (PBA), to solve the $k$ -LDS problem in a 2-dimensional space. The time complexity of PBA is only $\mathcal {O}((M-k)\times k)$ where $M$ is the size of the full skyline set. Third, the $k$ -LDS problem for a $d$ -dimensional ( $d\ge 3$ ) space turns out to be very complex. Therefore, a greedy algorithm is designed to answer $k$ -LDS queries. To further accelerate the calculation, we propose a $\epsilon$ -greedy algorithm which can achieve an approximate factor of $\frac{1}{(1+\epsilon)}(1-\frac{1}{\sqrt{e}})$ . Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world data show that our $k$ -LDS significantly outperforms its competitors in data stream environments. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the proposed $\epsilon$ -greedy algorithm can solve $k$ -LDS efficiently and with a competitive accuracy.
Pathogenesis and Immune Responses in Newborn African Green Monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) Inoculated with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIVagm)

Copyright: © 2016 Kiio MN, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. *Corresponding Author: Nyamongo Onkoba, Institute of Primate Research, P.O. Box 2448100502, Karen-Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail: bwonkoba@gmail.com
Iron prevents ascorbic acid (vitamin C) induced hydrogen peroxide accumulation in copper contaminated drinking water

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) formation was measured in household drinking water and metal supplemented Milli-Q water by using the FOX assay. Here we show that ascorbic acid readily induces H2O2 formation in Cu(II) supplemented Milli-Q water and poorly buffered household drinking water. In contrast to Cu(II), iron was not capable to support ascorbic acid induced H2O2 formation during acidic conditions (pH: 3.5–5). In 12 out of the 48 drinking water samples incubated with 2 mM ascorbic acid, the H2O2 concentration exceeded 400 μM. However, when trace amounts of Fe(III) (0.2 mg/l) was present during incubation, the ascorbic acid/Cu(II)-induced H2O2 accumulation was totally blocked. Of the other common divalent or trivalent metal ions tested, that are normally present in drinking water (calcium, magnesium, zinc, cobalt, manganese or aluminum), only calcium and magnesium displayed a modest inhibitory activity on the ascorbic acid/Cu(II)-induced H2O2 formation. Oxalic acid, one of the degradation products from ascorbic acid, was confirmed to actively participate in the iron induced degradation of H2O2. Ascorbic acid/Cu(II)-induced H2O2 formation during acidic conditions, as demonstrated here in poorly buffered drinking water, could be of importance in host defense against bacterial infections. In addition, our findings might explain the mechanism for the protective effect of iron against vitamin C induced cell toxicity.
Congenital naevi treated with erbium:YAG laser (Derma K) resurfacing in neonates: clinical results and review of the literature

Background Giant congenital melanocytic naevi (CMN) are often disfiguring, potentially malignant pigmented lesions present at birth. Their management is based on two main considerations: attempt to minimize the risk of malignancy and to obtain an acceptable cosmetic result. In the past various approaches have been used to treat these naevi.
Edge Intelligence: Architectures, Challenges, and Applications

Edge intelligence refers to a set of connected systems and devices for data collection, caching, processing, and analysis in locations close to where data is captured based on artificial intelligence. The aim of edge intelligence is to enhance the quality and speed of data processing and protect the privacy and security of the data. Although recently emerged, spanning the period from 2011 to now, this field of research has shown explosive growth over the past five years. In this paper, we present a thorough and comprehensive survey on the literature surrounding edge intelligence. We first identify four fundamental components of edge intelligence, namely edge caching, edge training, edge inference, and edge offloading, based on theoretical and practical results pertaining to proposed and deployed systems. We then aim for a systematic classification of the state of the solutions by examining research results and observations for each of the four components and present a taxonomy that includes practical problems, adopted techniques, and application goals. For each category, we elaborate, compare and analyse the literature from the perspectives of adopted techniques, objectives, performance, advantages and drawbacks, etc. This survey article provides a comprehensive introduction to edge intelligence and its application areas. In addition, we summarise the development of the emerging research field and the current state-of-the-art and discuss the important open issues and possible theoretical and technical solutions.
The Association of Physician Attitudes about Uncertainty and Risk Taking with Resource Use in a Medicare HMO

Purpose. To explore the association between the attitudes of primary care physicians toward uncertainty and risk taking, as measured by a validated survey, with resource use in a Medicare HMO. Design. All primary-care internists (n = 20) in a large, multi- specialty clinic were surveyed to measure their attitudes about uncertainty and risk taking using three previously developed scales. Results were linked with administrative data for 792 consecutive patients in a recently created Medicare HMO. The patients' index visits occurred between April 1, 1995, and November 30, 1995. Analysis. Charges stemming from several claim types (primary care and subspecialty physician, laboratory, radiology, and ambulatory procedures) in the 30 days following the index visit were summed. The physician scales were dichotomized at the median to seek unadjusted associations with charges. Generalized estimation equations were used to account for the correlation of charges resulting from patients' being nested within phy sicians and adjusted for physician characteristics (age, sex, years in practice) and patient characteristics (age, sex, comorbidity). Main results. The physician response rate was 90%. Most physicians (90%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 74 years, and 69% were female. The mean cost (±SD) per patient was $621.61 ± 1,737.31. From the unadjusted analysis, high "anxiety due to uncertainty" was asso ciated with higher patient charges ($197.85 vs $158.21, p = 0.01). From the multivar iable analysis, each standard deviation increase in "anxiety due to uncertainty" (3.5 points) corresponded to a 17% increase in mean charges (p < 0.01) and each similar increase in "reluctance to disclose uncertainty to patients" (1.92 points) corresponded to a 12% increase (p = 0.03). However, increasing "reluctance to disclose mistakes to physicians" and increasing physician risk-taking propensity were associated with decreased total charges [-10% per standard deviation (1.34 points), p = 0.02, and -8% per standard deviation (3.26 points), p = 0.02, respectively]. Conclusion. Physi cian attitudes toward uncertainty were significantly associated with patient charges. Further investigation may improve prediction of patient-care charges, offer insight into the medical decision-making process, and perhaps clarify the relationship between cost, uncertainty, and quality of care. Key words: physician uncertainty; risk taking; managed care; medical charges. (Med Decis Making 1998;18:320-329)
Minimax Estimation of Conditional Moment Models

We develop an approach for estimating models described via conditional moment restrictions, with a prototypical application being non-parametric instrumental variable regression. We introduce a min-max criterion function, under which the estimation problem can be thought of as solving a zero-sum game between a modeler who is optimizing over the hypothesis space of the target model and an adversary who identifies violating moments over a test function space. We analyze the statistical estimation rate of the resulting estimator for arbitrary hypothesis spaces, with respect to an appropriate analogue of the mean squared error metric, for ill-posed inverse problems. We show that when the minimax criterion is regularized with a second moment penalty on the test function and the test function space is sufficiently rich, then the estimation rate scales with the critical radius of the hypothesis and test function spaces, a quantity which typically gives tight fast rates. Our main result follows from a novel localized Rademacher analysis of statistical learning problems defined via minimax objectives. We provide applications of our main results for several hypothesis spaces used in practice such as: reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, high dimensional sparse linear functions, spaces defined via shape constraints, ensemble estimators such as random forests, and neural networks. For each of these applications we provide computationally efficient optimization methods for solving the corresponding minimax problem (e.g. stochastic first-order heuristics for neural networks). In several applications, we show how our modified mean squared error rate, combined with conditions that bound the ill-posedness of the inverse problem, lead to mean squared error rates. We conclude with an extensive experimental analysis of the proposed methods.
Bicarbonate-regulated Adenylyl Cyclase (sAC) Is a Sensor That Regulates pH-dependent V-ATPase Recycling*

Modulation of environmental pH is critical for the function of many biological systems. However, the molecular identity of the pH sensor and its interaction with downstream effector proteins remain poorly understood. Using the male reproductive tract as a model system in which luminal acidification is critical for sperm maturation and storage, we now report a novel pathway for pH regulation linking the bicarbonate activated soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) to the vacuolar H+ATPase (V-ATPase). Clear cells of the epididymis and vas deferens contain abundant V-ATPase in their apical pole and are responsible for acidifying the lumen. Proton secretion is regulated via active recycling of V-ATPase. Here we demonstrate that this recycling is regulated by luminal pH and bicarbonate. sAC is highly expressed in clear cells, and apical membrane accumulation of V-ATPase is triggered by a sAC-dependent rise in cAMP in response to alkaline luminal pH. As sAC is expressed in other acid/base transporting epithelia, including kidney and choroid plexus, this cAMP-dependent signal transduction pathway may be a widespread mechanism that allows cells to sense and modulate extracellular pH.
Diversity Gains for Different Cooperative Schemes on Fast Fading Channels

The use of single-antenna terminals for coherent cooperative wireless communications has received more attention in literature than for non-coherent communications. But acquiring knowledge of the fading coefficients in a cooperative scheme is very challenging in a fast fading case. In this paper, we develop several cooperative schemes suited for systems which do not require channel state information at either relays or destination. We analyze the performance of these schemes in terms of diversity gain and error probability. The diversity gained with an equal gain combiner at the destination is investigated too. The proposed cooperative schemes are compared to the literature and are shown to achieve significant performance gain depending on the type of relaying protocol.
Resveratrol enhances vascular reactivity in mice following lipopolysaccharide challenge via the RhoA-ROCK-MLCP pathway

The aim of the present study was to identify whether sepsis-induced vascular hyporeactivity is associated with microcirculation disturbance and multiple organ injuries. The current study assessed the impact of resveratrol (Res) treatment on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge mediated vascular hyporeactivity. Effects of Res treatment (30 mg/kg; i.m.) at 1 h following LPS stimulation (5 mg/kg; i.v.) on the survival time, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and maximal difference of MAP (ΔMAP) to norepinephrine (NE; 4.2 µg/kg) in mice were observed. The reactivity to gradient NE of isolated mesenteric arterioles and the association with the RhoA-RhoA kinase (ROCK)-myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP) pathway were investigated by myography, and the signaling molecule protein levels were assessed using ELISA. Res treatment prolonged the survival time of mice subjected to LPS challenge, but did not prevent the LPS-induced hypotension and increase in ΔMAP. Res treatment and RhoA agonist U-46619 incubation prevented LPS-induced vascular hyporeactivity ex vivo, which were suppressed by incubation with ROCK inhibitor Y-27632. LPS-induced vascular hyporeactivity was not affected by the MLCP inhibitor okadaic acid incubation, but was further downregulated by the co-incubation of OA plus Y-27632. The inhibiting effect of Y-27632 on Res treatment was eradicated by incubation with U-46619. Furthermore, RhoA inhibitor C3 transferase did not significantly inhibit the enhancing role of Res treatment, which was further increased by U-46619 plus C3 transferase co-incubation. In addition, Res treatment eradicated the LPS-induced decreases in p-RhoA and p-Mypt1 levels and increases in MLCP levels. The results of the present study indicate that post-treatment of Res significantly ameliorates LPS-induced vascular hyporeactivity, which is associated with the activation of the RhoA-ROCK-MLCP pathway.
Determination of spectrum utilization profiles for 30 MHz–3 GHz frequency band

This paper presents major results and comparisons of radio spectrum utilization measurements that have been carried out in two different locations in Izmir, Turkey. Analyzed radio spectrum extends from 30 MHz to 3 GHz. Utilization performance and behaviors of major primary wireless communication systems within different regions and different environments are investigated. The main outcome of the study is the low utilization profiles over the frequency bands of interest. Our analyses also pick out correlations between spectrum utilization within different regions and summarize common observations and physical aspects that should be considered in the future radio spectrum management to assure efficient spectrum utilization.
Combining risk factors and demographic surveillance: Potentials of WHO STEPS and INDEPTH methodologies for assessing epidemiological transition

Aims: Demographic surveillance systems (DSSs) create platforms to monitor population dynamics. This paper discusses the potential of combining the WHO STEPwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) within ongoing DSSs, to assess changes in non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors. Methods: Three DSSs in Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Indonesia have collected NCD risk factors using WHO STEPS, focusing on self-reported lifestyle risk factors (Step 1) and measurement of blood pressure and anthropometric parameters (Step 2). Results: DSSs provide sampling frames for NCD risk factor surveillance, which reveals the distribution of risk factors and their dynamics at the population level. The WHO STEPS approach with its add-on modules is feasible and adaptable in DSS settings. Available mortality data in the DSSs enable mortality assessment by cause of death using verbal autopsy, which is relevant in estimating the impact of NCDs. DSSs as well as risk factor surveillance data may potentially be a lever for hypothesis-driven research to address specific a priori hypotheses or research questions. Conclusion: Combining DSSs with the WHO STEPS approach can potentially address basic epidemiological questions on NCDs, which can be used as a powerful advocacy tool in public health decision-making for NCD prevention.
Phase II study of gemcitabine and cisplatin as first-line chemotherapy in inoperable biliary tract carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES The prognosis for patients with unresectable biliary tract cancer is poor and existing chemotherapy is relatively ineffective. Therefore, a need exists for new, effective chemotherapeutic regimens. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety profile of gemcitabine plus cisplatin in patients with unresectable biliary tract cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) and gall bladder cancer. METHODS From December 2000 to July 2002, 43 patients received gemcitabine 1250 mg/m(2) in a 30-min i.v. infusion on d1, 8 and cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) in a 2-h i.v. infusion on d1 (with appropriate hydration), every 3 weeks. ELIGIBILITY: Normal hematologic parameters and creatinine levels; serum bilirubin < 5 mg/dl. RESULTS Forty-three patients enrolled; 40 were assessable (three patients were not assessable due to incomplete treatment; they chose to discontinue chemotherapy after the first cycle). There were 23 males and 17 females, median age 50 years (range 31-69), median Karnofsky PS 80%. Tumor types: cholangiocarcinoma (39), gall bladder cancer (1). Median number of chemotherapy courses was four (range 1-8). Overall response rate was 27.5% (PR in 11 pts), with 32.5% SD and/or minor response. Median survival time was 36 weeks. Grade 3 hematologic toxicity: anemia (4.33%), leukopenia (1.73%). Non-hematologic toxicity (i.e. rash, nausea, vomiting, neuropathy and myalgia) ranged from mild to moderate. CONCLUSIONS Gemcitabine plus cisplatin is active in biliary tract carcinoma. These data warrant further investigation of single-agent gemcitabine versus gemcitabine plus cisplatin or its derivative, i.e. oxaliplatin.