Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An effective low‐dose adriamycin regimen as secondary chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer patients

Sixty breast cancer patients with hormone‐resistant metastatic disease who had progressed after chemotherapy with low‐dose cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5‐fluorouracil (CMF) or with L‐phenylalanine mustard underwent treatment with a low‐dose Adriamycin regimen, i.e., 20 mg/m2, intravenously on days 1 and 8 every 28 days. Two percent of patients had complete responses; 25%, partial responses; 38%, stabilization; and 35%, progression. The time to progression for the responders was similar to that of the stabilized patients, while the responders and stabilized patients survived significantly longer than did the progressors. Responses were seen in nodal, hepatic, dermal/subcutaneous, bone, pulmonary, and peritoneal metastases. The toxicity was mild: 18% of patients had leukocyte counts of less than 3,000/mm3; 10% had platelet counts of less than 90,000/mm3; 22% experienced vomiting; and 33% had hair loss. No patient experienced local venous/subcutaneous toxicity or heart failure. Since this regimen of low‐dose Adriamycin appears to be as effective as, but less toxic than, the secondary standard‐dose of Adriamycin at 60–75 mg/m2 every three weeks, a randomized trial of low‐dose Adriamycin vs. standard‐dose Adriamycin should be conducted in metastatic breast cancer patients who have previously undergone chemotherapy. Cancer 46:433–437, 1980.
▪ Focus Issue on Lumbar Disc Herniation: Macro‐ and Microdiscectomy

&NA; This paper is based on a review, analysis, and discussion of the extensive literature on indications, technique, and complications of discectomy (macro and micro) for lumbar disc herniation. Outcomes for lumbar discectomy for disc herniation depend on patient selection. Short‐term results of discectomy are excellent when there is agreement between the clinical presentation and imaging studies. Long‐term results of surgery are only slightly better than conservative measures and the natural history of a lumbar disc herniation. A review of the literature reveals success rates for lumbar discectomy ranging from 80‐96%. The outcome of lumbar discectomy does not appear to be affected by the use of a microscope and depends more on patient selection than on surgical technique.
Patent Foramen Ovale and its Significance in the Perioperative Period

Patent foramen ovale (PFO), usually a benign and silent lesion (Fig. 1), can cause hypoxemia and embolic phenomena under circumstances when right atrial (RA) pressure exceeds left atrial (LA) pressure or when preferential flow from the inferior vena cava (IVC) toward the PFO persists, as in the prenatal circulation (1–3). These circumstances may occur during the perioperative period as a result of the effect of mechanical ventilation, thromboembolism or air embolism, the altered anatomic relationship between the IVC and interatrial septum, or an increase in intraabdominal pressure. Although not extensively studied, numerous case reports implicate PFO as a causative factor for hypoxemia and systemic thromboembolism in the perioperative period. In the following review, we describe the epidemiology, pathogenesis, modern methods of detection, and general clinical importance of PFO. In particular, we highlight the significance of PFO in the perioperative period.
SERSC Image Holistic Scene Understanding Based on Global Contextual Features and Bayesian Topic Model

Image holistic scene understanding based on global contextual features and Bayesian topic model is proposed. The model integrates three basic subtasks: the scene classification, image annotation and semantic segmentation. The model takes full advantage of global feature information in two aspects. On the one side, the performance of image scene classification and image annotation are boosted by incorporating image global contextual features; On the other side, the performance of image semantic segmentation is also boosted by new superpixel region segmentation method and new superpixel regions and patch feature representation. 1) For image scene classification and image annotation: (1) We improve the feature engineering methods by using the PHOW proposed by Vedaldi [1]; (2) Furthermore, global contextual features are learned by semantic features. 2) For semantic segmentation: (1) We improve the super-pixel segmentation method by using UCM in the literature [2]; (2)We proposed new feature representation for super-pixel region and patches by incorporating DSIFT, texton filter banks, RGB color, HOG, LBP and location features. The experiments testify that model performance has raised on all three sub-tasks.
Approximate Kernel-Based Conditional Independence Tests for Fast Non-Parametric Causal Discovery

Abstract Constraint-based causal discovery (CCD) algorithms require fast and accurate conditional independence (CI) testing. The Kernel Conditional Independence Test (KCIT) is currently one of the most popular CI tests in the non-parametric setting, but many investigators cannot use KCIT with large datasets because the test scales at least quadratically with sample size. We therefore devise two relaxations called the Randomized Conditional Independence Test (RCIT) and the Randomized conditional Correlation Test (RCoT) which both approximate KCIT by utilizing random Fourier features. In practice, both of the proposed tests scale linearly with sample size and return accurate p-values much faster than KCIT in the large sample size context. CCD algorithms run with RCIT or RCoT also return graphs at least as accurate as the same algorithms run with KCIT but with large reductions in run time.
Cost-effectiveness of evolocumab in treatment of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia in Bulgaria: measuring health benefit by effectively treated patient-years*

ABSTRACT Background: An elevated level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) constitutes one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Individuals with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (HeFH) are particularly vulnerable to CVD events. The addition of evolocumab to statins has shown marked reductions in LDL-C levels. The objective of this analysis is to demonstrate the clinical and economic value of LDL-C lowering with evolocumab from the Bulgarian public health care perspective. Methods: A disease-specific measure of health benefit was devised: Effectively treated patient-years (ETPYs) combine length of life with the likelihood of attaining best-practice recommendations on LDL-C lowering. “Effective treatment” was defined as a reduction in LDL-C levels of ≥50%. A Markov cohort state-transition model was adapted, considering a life-long treatment duration. Demographics, baseline characteristics and efficacy data were taken from the RUTHERFORD-2 trial. The model uses the relationship between LDL-C lowering and reduced CVD event rates observed in the meta-analyses conducted by the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration. Outcomes and costs (from year 2015) were discounted at an annual rate of 5%. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess uncertainty surrounding the results. Results: The total incremental costs of evolocumab added to statins versus statins alone are BGN 120,329 while adding 9.30 ETPYs over lifetime. These results imply an incremental cost per ETPY of BGN 12,937 (US$ 7,215; € 6,604). The use of evolocumab is associated with a relative reduction in the CVD event rate by 38% (18% per 1 mmol/L). Conclusions: Adding evolocumab to statins may be considered cost-effective in light of an additional expense per patient-year gained in which individuals with HeFH receive effective treatment under the terms of international prevention guidelines. ETPYs are an intuitive and clinically meaningful measure of patient benefit that, in relation to costs, can support health care decision-making that considers quality of care.
Professional Coaching as an Effective Strategy to Retaining Frontline Managers

Historically, executive coaching has been reserved only for the c-suite in healthcare organizations. Expanding this resource to directors and managers has been assumed to be cost-prohibitive. The authors describe an intervention whereby executive coaching was expanded beyond the c-suite, during a critical transition time for the organization in an attempt to positively impact management turnover, staff turnover, and employee satisfaction.
Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory-IFAM CNR Dip . di Fisica Universita ’ di Pisa and I . N . F

Recently, two novel techniques for the extraction of the phase-shift map (Tomassini et. al., Applied Optics 40 35 (2001)) and the electronic density map estimation (Tomassini P. and Giulietti A. , Optics Communication 199, pp 143-148 (2001) ) have been proposed. In this paper we apply both methods to a sample laser-plasma interferogram obtained with femtoseconds probe pulse, in an experimental setup devoted to laser particle acceleration studies.
Three-dimensional cardiac image fusion using new CT angiography and SPECT methods.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop a method of fused images of coronary CT angiography and myocardial perfusion SPECT. CONCLUSION Four patients with ischemic heart disease underwent 3D volume-rendering fused images using a conversion program and volume-rendering fusion function of a computer workstation. The fusion images clearly showed the relationship of relevant coronary arteries and the abnormal perfusion territory in all patients and were useful for the evaluation of coronary artery disease.
Attitudes of Teachers Towards the Inclusion of Children With Special Needs in Primary and Secondary Schools

Many researchers emphasize teachers’ attitudes as a decisive component in ensuring successful inclusion of students with special needs (SN students). The empirical research that is presented in the main part of this article analyzes the attitudes of primary and secondary teachers towards the inclusion of SN students with respect to the type of school, the teachers’ age, the number of SN students in the class, and the teachers’) acquired skills. A questionnaire was devised for the study, based on two previous questionnaires: the Questionnaire on Attitudes towards Integration and the Teacher Stress and Coping Questionnaire. The secondary teachers showed more positive attitudes towards SN students than did their primary colleagues, as well as towards teaching and adaptation with respect to the students’ SN and towards the psychophysical strain related to such work. The youngest group of teachers, those aged from 20 to 30, shows a higher level of agreement related to the provision of adequate support. Teachers with fewer SN students in class (up to two students) show a higher degree of support for inclusion of SN students than do other groups of teachers. Teachers without training for work with SN students in comparison with their colleagues who had it show a lower level of agreement with respect to support and assistance at educational work with SN students.
A cohort incidence study of workers exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

Objectives Determine if perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is associated with an incident disease in an occupational cohort. Methods We interviewed 3713 workers or their next of kin in 2008–2011, and sought medical records for self-reported disease. These workers were a subset of a previously studied cohort of 32 254 community residents and workers. We estimated historical PFOA serum levels via a job-exposure matrix based on over 2000 serum measurements. Non-occupational exposure from drinking water was also estimated. Lifetime serum cumulative dose (combining occupational and non-occupational exposure) was our exposure metric. We studied 17 disease outcomes with more than 20 validated cases. Results The median measured serum level was 113 ng/mL in 2005 (n=1881), compared with 4 ng/mL in the US. Ulcerative colitis (10-year lag) showed a significant trend (p≤0.05) with increasing dose (quartile rate ratios (RRs)=1.00, 3.00, 3.26, 6.57, n=28, p for trend=0.05), similar to earlier findings in the community study. Rheumatoid arthritis (no lag) showed a positive trend in a categorical trend test (RRs=1.00, 2.11, 4.08, 4.45, n=23, p for trend=0.04). Positive non-significant trends were also observed for prostate cancer, non-hepatitis liver disease and male hypothyroidism, which have been implicated in other studies. A significant negative trend was found for bladder cancer and asthma with medication. No marked trends were seen for high cholesterol, which had been seen in the community study. Conclusions Ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis were positively linked to PFOA exposure among workers. Data were limited by small numbers, under-representation of hard-to-trace decedents and few low-exposed referents.
Cardiovascular Behcet Disease: The Variable Findings of Rare Complications With CT Angiography and Conventional Angiography and Its Interventional Management

Abstract Unusual radiological manifestations of rare complications of cardiovascular Behcet disease (BD) are the following: (a) aneurysm and (b) occlusion in the aorta and its major branches, (c) pseudoaneurysms on the aortic root and coronary artery, and recurrent valvular dehiscence in the heart, (d) venous thrombosis in the deep and superficial venous system and vena cava. The initial exact diagnosis of cardiovascular BD has been extremely difficult for these rare complicated findings, especially in the absence of the florid clinical manifestations of BD. Radiologist should be aware of possibility of cardiovascular BD via familiarity with its rare imaging features, including computed tomographic angiography (and its 3-dimensional reconstructed images), conventional angiography, and with the clinical characteristics of BD because of high mortality of cardiovascular BD.
The Reaction of the Dura To Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) in Repair of Skull Defects

Trephine defects in the adult rat skull 0.8 cm in diameter, which do not spontaneously heal, were filled with a bovine bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) fraction. The defects healed not only by bony ingrowth from the trephine rim, but also by proliferation of pervascular mesenchymal-type cells (pericytes) of the dura mater. Under the influence of BMP, dural pericytes differentiated into chondroid and woven bone. Between three and four weeks postimplantation, sinusoids formed and the woven bone remodelled into lamellar bone. Concurrently, blood-borne bone marrow cells colonized the bone deposits, and the diploe were restored. Demonstrating that it is soluble in interstitial fluid, and diffusible across a nucleopore membrane (which isolated the bony margins of the skull), BMP induced new bone formation in the underlying dura and complete repair of the defect. The response of the dura to the BMP fraction produced more new bone than the response to allogeneic bone matrix. The BMP-induced repair was dose dependent; the quantity of new bone was proportional to the dose of the implanted BMP.
A 20 dBm Linear RF Power Amplifier Using Stacked Silicon-on-Sapphire MOSFETs

In this letter, a fully integrated 20-dBm RF power amplifier (PA) is presented using 0.25-mum-gate silicon-on-sapphire metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). To overcome the low breakdown voltage limit of MOSFETs, a stacked FET structure is employed, where transistors are connected in series so that each output voltage swing is added in phase. By using triple-stacked FETs, the optimum load impedance for a 20-dBm PA increases to 50Omega, which is nine times higher than that of parallel FET topology for the same output power. Measurement of a single-stage linear PA shows small-signal gain of 17.1 dB and saturated output power of 21.0dBm with power added efficiency (PAE) of 44.0% at 1.88 GHz. With an IS-95 code division multiple access modulated signal, the PA shows an average output power of 16.3 dBm and PAE of 18.7% with adjacent channel power ratio below -42dBc
Cost-Performance Tradeoffs in Fusing Unreliable Computational Units

We investigate fusing several unreliable computational units that perform the same task. We model an unreliable computational outcome as an additive perturbation to its error-free result in terms of its fidelity and cost. We analyze performance of repetition-based strategies that distribute cost across several unreliable units and fuse their outcomes. When the cost is a convex function of fidelity, the optimal repetition-based strategy in terms of incurred cost while achieving a target mean-square error (MSE) performance may fuse several computational units. For concave and linear costs, a single more reliable unit incurs lower cost compared to fusion of several lower cost and less reliable units while achieving the same MSE performance. We show how our results give insight into problems from theoretical neuroscience, circuits, and crowdsourcing.
The immune response to heterologous red cells in mice.

The effects of cyclophosphamide and cortisone acetate were examined in a model of antigenic competition between sequentially administered non-cross-reacting red cells from different species. In control mice receiving no drug, the relative immunogenic potency of heterologous red cells given with the first injection failed to determine the degree of unresponsiveness to subsequently injected unrelated cells. However, susceptibility to the suppressive action of previously administered erythrocytes was inversely related to the immunogenicity of the second antigen. Cyclophosphamide given 1 day after the initial red cell injection completely blocked competitive inhibition. On the other hand, impaired reactivity to the second of two sequentially administered antigens was further depressed by cortisone. The results are discussed in terms of targets of drug action and possible sites of antigenic interference.
Effect of Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum L.) on Biochemical Parameters and Immunity of Broiler Chicks Fed Aflatoxin B1 after Three Weeks

Background: This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of milk thistle seeds (MTSs) in counteracting the toxic effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in a contaminated diet fed to broilers. Methods: Two dietary inclusion rates of AFB1 (0, 0.250 and 500 ppb) and MTS (0, 0.5 and 1%) were tested in a 3×3 factorial manner. The effect of nine experimental treatments was assessed using 216 one-d-old Ross 308 male broiler chicks in a randomized complete design with 4 replicates of 6 birds each from one to 21 days of age. The effects of dietary AFB1 and MTS on serum biochemistry factors, antibody titer against Newcastle disease (ND) and influenza disease (ID) in broilers were evaluated at the end of this period. Results: Statistical analysis of the main effects of diets indicated no significant changes in uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL), ID, and phosphorus compared to the control (P>0.01). Also, addition of 500 ppb of dietary AFB1 into the diet was associated with significant decreases in serum glucose, calcium, high density lipoprotein (HDL), and ND compared to the control group (P<0.01). The contaminated diet significantly increased the activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P<0.05). Conclusion: Milk thistle showed protective effects and resulted in some serum enzyme activities and serum biochemical changes associated with aflatoxin toxicity.
BOX Elements Modulate Gene Expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae: Impact on the Fine-Tuning of Competence Development

ABSTRACT More than 100 BOX elements are randomly distributed in intergenic regions of the pneumococcal genome. Here we demonstrate that these elements can affect expression of neighboring genes and present evidence that they are mobile. Together, our findings show that BOX elements enhance genetic diversity and genomic plasticity in Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Coronary Vasoconstrictor Potential of Triptans: A Review of In Vitro Pharmacologic Data

This article reviews the in vitro pharmacology of the triptans in human isolated coronary arteries. As expected, based on their similar pharmacologic profiles, the triptans cannot be easily differentiated with respect to effects at human isolated coronary arteries. Furthermore, the data show that at therapeutically relevant concentrations, triptans have little potential to cause clinically significant constriction of nondiseased coronary arteries. These data, considered in the context of clinical findings reviewed elsewhere in this supplement, support the conclusion that, while all triptans have the potential to produce small contractions of human isolated coronary arteries, their craniovascular selectivity, when used at therapeutic doses, renders them unlikely to cause serious adverse coronary events in patients with healthy coronary arteries.
Radiation exposure to personnel during cardiac catheterization. A preliminary study.

The authors studied the radiation exposure to personnel in the examining room during a complete cardiac catheterization procedure. Commercial film badges and thermoluminescent LiF wafers were worn at several anatomical sites. Data on the examining physician alone indicate an exposure of 50 mrems to the trunk area during a complete cardiac procedure. Exposure levels for 2 attending physicians, a nurse, and a technician are also given.
A Department of Psychiatry Faculty Practice Plan Designed to Reward Educational and Research Productivity

ObjectiveThe authors describe a faculty practice plan that assigns a monetary value to various educational and research activities.MethodsFour years experience in the implementation of the plan are reported.ResultsDuring this four-year period, the total dollar value of grants increased 319.6% from $9,175,495 in 1998–99 to $38, 762, 499 in 2002–2003, and the number of grants increased from 23 to 61. The total number of publications increased 21.6% from 102 to 124 between June 30, 1999 and June 30, 2003.ConclusionThe authors believe that active collaboration with faculty in the development of a practice plan and its application in an objective fashion may increase faculty academic productivity, as measured by the number of publications, and research productivity as measured by the number and total dollar value of grants. Such a plan may prove equally successful for other psychiatry departments in both these areas.