Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interval Between Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy and Surgery for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Thoracic Esophagus: Does Delayed Surgery Have an Impact on Outcome?

Objective:Aim of this study was to evaluate whether delayed surgery after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) affects postoperative outcomes in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the thoracic esophagus. Background:Esophagectomy is usually recommended within 4 to 6 weeks after completion of neoadjuvant CRT. However, the optimal timing of surgery is not clearly defined. Methods:A total of 129 consecutive patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, treated between 1998 and 2007, were retrospectively analyzed using prospectively collected data. Patients were divided into 3 groups on the basis of timing to surgery: group 1, ⩽30 days (n = 17); group 2, 31 to 60 days (n = 83); and group 3, 61 to 90 days (n = 29). Subsequently, only 2—numerically more consistent—groups were studied, using the median value of timing intervals as a cutoff level: group A, ⩽46 days (n = 66); and group B, >46 days (n = 63). Results:Groups were comparable in terms of patient and tumor characteristics, type of neoadjuvant regimen, toxicity, postoperative morbidity and mortality rates, tumor downstaging, and pathologic complete responses. The overall 5-year actuarial survival rate was 0% in group 1, 43.1% in group 2, and 35.9% in group 3 (P = 0.13). After R0 resection (n = 106), the 5-year actuarial survival rate was 0%, 51%, and 47.3%, respectively (P = 0.18). Tumor recurrence after R0 resection seemed to be inversely related, even if not significantly (P = 0.17), to the time interval between chemoradiation and surgery: 50% in group 1, 40.6% in group 2, and 21.7% in group 3. When considering only 2 groups, the overall 5-year survival was 33.1% in group A and 42.7% in group B (P = 0.64); after R0 resection, the 5-year survival was 37.8% and 56.3%, respectively (P = 0.18). The rate of tumor recurrence was significantly lower in group B (25%) than in group A (48.3%) (P = 0.02). Conclusion:Delayed surgery after neoadjuvant chemoradiation does not compromise the outcomes of patients with locally advanced SCC of the esophagus. Delaying surgery up to 90 days offers relevant advantages in the clinical management of the patients, can reduce tumor recurrences, and may improve prognosis after complete R0 resection surgery.
Fumaric acid derivatives evoke a transient increase in intracellular free calcium concentration and inhibit the proliferation of human keratinocytes

Systemic administration of fumaric acid (FA) derivatives was originally an empirical antipsoriatic treatment, which showed promising clinical results. In the present study, FURA‐2‐loaded suspensions of cultured normal keratinocytes and SV40‐transformed keratinocytes (SVK‐14 cells) were used to study the effects of FA derivatives on the intracellular free calcium concentration ([ca2+]i). Monomethylfumarate (MMF), dimethylfumarate (DMF) and monoethylfumarate (MEF) induced a rapid, transient [ca2+]i increase in both cell types. This immediate increase reached maximal values of 396 nmol/1 10 s after addition of MMF, and fell to basal values within 90–120 s (173 nmol/1 for normal keratinocytes and 68 nmol/1 for transformed keratinocytes). This increase was not affected by the prior addition of EGTA, indicating that FA derivatives released Ca2+ mainly from intracellular stores into the sytoplasm. Subsequently, dose‐dependent inhibitory effects of FA derivatives on keratinocyte proliferation were demonstrated. The results of these experiments revealed that DMF was the most potent. MMF and MEF intermediate, and FA and malonic acid the least potent growth inhibitors. These antiproliferative effects of FA derivatives might be linked to the observed, transient [Ca2+]i elevations.
Anti‐desmin vs. anti‐actin for quantifying the area density of prostate smooth muscle

Anti‐desmin and anti‐actin are commercially available antibodies that bind to smooth muscle. The present study was designed to compare the staining properties of anti‐desmin and anti‐actin in the human prostate in order to determine the optimal antibody for quantifying the smooth muscle content of the human prostate. Nineteen male subjects with symptomatic BPH underwent needle biopsy of the prostate. Double‐immunoenzymatic staining was performed with peroxidase‐anti‐peroxidase (PAP) and alkaline phosphatase‐anti‐alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) techniques. Rabbit anti‐desmin:mouse anti‐human prostatic acid phosphatase and mouse anti‐actin:rabbit anti‐human prostatic acid phosphatase were utilized. Computer assisted color image analysis was performed using the Bioquant image analysis system. The percent area density of stroma and epihtelium was independent of the antibodies used. The percent area density of smooth muscle in the anti‐actin stained tissue sections was twofold greater than the anti‐desmin stained tissue sections. A direct relationship was observed for the area density of smooth muscle (r = 0.71; P = 0.0006) and the area density of connective tissue (r = 0.82; P < 0.001) determined from anti‐desmin and anti‐actin stained tissue sections. Anti‐actin represents the optimal antibody for quantifying the area density of prostate smooth muscle. The reproducibility of the immunoenzymatic staining technique is inferred from the direct relationship observed for area density of epithelium between the different staining techniques.
Outcome and Predictors of Kidney Disease Progression in Puerto Ricans With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Initially Presenting With Mild Renal Involvement

Objectives:The aims of this study were to determine the outcomes and predictors of renal disease progression in Puerto Ricans with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) initially presenting mild renal involvement. Methods:A retrospective cohort of 61 patients with SLE (per American College of Rheumatology classification) with mild renal involvement was studied. Mild renal disease was defined as glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 90 mL/min or higher in the presence of proteinuria (>0.25 g/d, but <3.5 g/d), hematuria, and/or urinary cellular casts. Demographic parameters, clinical manifestations, serologic markers, comorbidities, pharmacologic treatments, disease activity, and damage accrual were determined at onset of renal disease. Factors associated with renal disease progression were evaluated using recurrent event survival analysis. Results:Of 61 patients, 55 (90.2%) were women. The mean (SD) age at renal onset was 29 (11.2) years, and the mean (SD) follow-up period was 5.1 (3.4) years. Thirty-eight patients had a decline in GFR. Thirty-two had a mild decline (GFR = 60-89 mL/min), 5 developed moderate to severe renal insufficiency (GFR = 15-59 mL/min), and 1 evolved to end-stage renal disease (GFR < 15 mL/min). In the Cox model, low C4 levels and proteinuria greater than 0.5 g/d were associated with an earlier decline in GFR. Conclusions:Most Puerto Rican patients with SLE initially presenting with mild renal involvement had a decrease in GFR after an average of 5 years of kidney disease, although most had a mild dysfunction. Low C4 levels and proteinuria were predictors of an earlier decline in GFR. We emphasize that awareness of these factors may contribute to early identification of individuals at risk for renal deterioration.
Children's Competence for Assent and Consent: A Review of Empirical Findings

This narrative review summarizes the empirical literature on children's competence for consent and assent in research and treatment settings. Studies varied widely regarding methodology, particularly in the areas of participant sampling, situational context studied (e.g., psychological versus medical settings), procedures used (e.g., lab-based vs. real-world approaches), and measurement of competence. This review also identified several fundamental dilemmas underlying approaches to children's informed consent. These dilemmas, including autonomy versus best interests approaches, legal versus psychological or ethical approaches, child- versus family-based approaches, and approaches that emphasize consent versus those that emphasize assent, have implications for the measurement of children's competence and interpretation of findings. Recommendations for future research in the area of children's informed consent include the use of diverse samples and control groups, development of multidimensional and standardized measures of competence, utilization of observational methods and longitudinal designs, examination of noncognitive aspects of children's competence, and comparison of children's competence for treatment and research decisions.
Self-regulated star formation and the black hole-galaxy bulge relation

We show that star formation in galaxy bulges is self-regulating through momentum feedback, limiting the stellar bulge mass to Mb ∝ σ 4 . Together with a black hole mass MBH ∝ σ 4 set by active galactic nucleus (AGN) momentum feedback, this produces a linear MBH–Mb relation. At low redshift this gives MBH/Mb ∼ 10 −3 , close to the observed ratio. We show that AGN feedback can remove any remaining gas from the bulge and terminate star formation once the central black hole reaches the MBH–σ value, contrary to earlier claims. We find a mild upward deviation from the σ 4 law at higher redshift and at higher σ .
Thermoregulation, Hydration and Performance over 6 Days of Trail Running in the Tropics

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate thermal response, hydration and performance over a 6-day, 142-km trail running race in tropical conditions. 9 participants competed in the 2011 Gwadarun (30°C±2.4°C and 82±4% RH). Data were collected on days 1, 4 and 6. Gastrointestinal temperature (Tgi) and heart rate (HR) were measured using portable telemetry units, whereas blood samples were collected for hematocrit, osmolarity, plasma concentrations, alkaline reserves and creatine phosphokinase. The performances expressed in speed were correlated with both total body water and body mass loss per hour (TBWL.h−1 and ∆BM.h−1), HR and changes in Tgi per hour (∆Tgi.h−1): the more water and mass the participants lost, the higher the HR and the greater the Tgi change, and the better the performance. The ∆ Tgi.h−1 was significantly correlated with ∆BM.h−1, and the participants who lost the most mass had the greatest increases in Tgi. None of the blood parameters demonstrated significant changes. The present study showed that well-trained acclimated runners performing a 6-day trail race in a tropical environment and drinking ad libitum did not demonstrate heat-related illness or severe dehydration. Moreover, high performance was associated with increases in Tgi, TBW and BM losses per hour.
Rapid Quantitative Serological Test for Detection of Infection with Mycobacterium leprae, the Causative Agent of Leprosy

ABSTRACT Leprosy remains an important health problem in a number of regions. Early detection of infection, followed by effective treatment, is critical to reduce disease progression. New sensitive and specific tools for early detection of infection will be a critical component of an effective leprosy elimination campaign. Diagnosis is made by recognizing clinical signs and symptoms, but few clinicians are able to confidently identify these. Simple tests to facilitate referral to leprosy experts are not widely available, and the correct diagnosis of leprosy is often delayed. In this report, we evaluate the performance of a new leprosy serological test (NDO-LID). As expected, the test readily detected clinically confirmed samples from patients with multibacillary (MB) leprosy, and the rate of positive results declined with bacterial burden. NDO-LID detected larger proportions of MB and paucibacillary (PB) leprosy than the alternative, the Standard Diagnostics leprosy test (87.0% versus 81.7% and 32.3% versus 6.5%, respectively), while also demonstrating improved specificity (97.4% versus 90.4%). Coupled with a new cell phone-based test reader platform (Smart Reader), the NDO-LID test provided consistent, objective test interpretation that could facilitate wider use in nonspecialized settings. In addition, results obtained from sera at the time of diagnosis, versus at the end of treatment, indicated that the quantifiable nature of this system can also be used to monitor treatment efficacy. Taken together, these data indicate that the NDO-LID/Smart Reader system can assist in the diagnosis and monitoring of MB leprosy and can detect a significant number of earlier-stage infections.
Increase of myocardial salvage and left ventricular function recovery with intracoronary abciximab downstream of the coronary occlusion in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with primary coronary intervention

In this prospective randomized trial on patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), we hypothesized that abciximab administered intracoronarily, downstream of the coronary occlusion, leads to a greater degree of myocardial salvage and better left ventricular function recovery compared with the usual abciximab administration. Forty‐five consecutive patients with first AMI and infarct‐related artery TIMI flow 0–1 undergoing primary PCI were enrolled. Twenty‐two patients were randomly assigned to the intracoronary treatment and 23 to the usual treatment. The initial perfusion defect, final infarct size, myocardial salvage, salvage index, and left ventricular function recovery were assessed by serial scintigraphic scans performed at admission and 7 days and 1 month after PCI. Angiographic myocardial blush grade, corrected TIMI frame count, and electrocardiographic ST segment elevation reduction were also assessed as markers of myocardial reperfusion. Final infarct size was significantly smaller (P = 0.043) and salvage index significantly higher (P = 0.003) in the intracoronary treatment group as a result of a greater degree of myocardial salvage (P = 0.0001). The increase of left ventricular ejection fraction at 1 month was significantly higher in the intracoronary treatment patients (P = 0.013). The markers of myocardial reperfusion were also significantly better in the intracoronary treatment group. In patients with AMI and occluded infarct‐related artery treated with primary PCI, intracoronary abciximab given just before PCI downstream of the occlusion is associated to a greater degree of myocardial salvage than the usual abciximab protocol. This benefit is mainly related to a substantial reduction in final infarct size, which leads to an improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2004;62:186–192. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Short-Term Temporal Variability in Airborne Bacterial and Fungal Populations

ABSTRACT Airborne microorganisms have been studied for centuries, but the majority of this research has relied on cultivation-dependent surveys that may not capture all of the microbial diversity in the atmosphere. As a result, our understanding of airborne microbial ecology is limited despite the relevance of airborne microbes to human health, various ecosystem functions, and environmental quality. Cultivation-independent surveys of small-subunit rRNA genes were conducted in order to identify the types of airborne bacteria and fungi found at a single site (Boulder, CO) and the temporal variability in the microbial assemblages over an 8-day period. We found that the air samples were dominated by ascomycete fungi of the Hypocreales order and a diverse array of bacteria, including members of the proteobacterial and Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides groups that are commonly found in comparable culture-independent surveys of airborne bacteria. Bacterium/fungus ratios varied by 2 orders of magnitude over the sampling period, and we observed large shifts in the phylogenetic diversity of bacteria present in the air samples collected on different dates, shifts that were not likely to be related to local meteorological conditions. We observed more phylogenetic similarity between bacteria collected from geographically distant sites than between bacteria collected from the same site on different days. These results suggest that outdoor air may harbor similar types of bacteria regardless of location and that the short-term temporal variability in airborne bacterial assemblages can be very large.
Alternative method to calculate the magnetic field of permanent magnets with azimuthal symmetry

The magnetic field of a permanent magnet is calculated analytically for different geometries. The cases of a sphere, cone, cylinder, ring and rectangular prism are studied. The calculation on the axis of symmetry is presented in every case. For magnets with cylindrical symmetry, we propose an approach based on an expansion in Legendre polynomials to obtain the field at points off the axis. The case of a cylinder magnet was analyzed with this method by calculating the force between two magnets of this shape. Experimental results are presented too, showing a nice agreement with theory
A statistical model of competing motivations affecting relative clause extraposition in German

Relative clauses in German and other languages are usually realized integrated in the noun phrase that they modify but they can also be separated from their antecedent by intervening material and occur further to the right in extraposed position, mostly at the end of the matrix clause. It is usually assumed that the integrated and extraposed variants of relative clauses are semantically equivalent. Relative clause extraposition has mostly been studied within generative grammar using introspective data (e.g. Baltin, 2006). Although a few corpus studies have also been published (Shannon, 1992; Uszkoreit et al., 1998; Hawkins, 2004), they have mostly concentrated on individual factors and have not tried to account for relative clause extraposition as a syntactic alternation using an integrated (statistical) model as proposed, for example, for the English dative alternation by Bresnan et al. (2007). Authors working within a formal generative paradigm like Baltin (2006) have identi ed di erent factors a ecting (relative clause) extraposition than authors working within a functional and/or corpuslinguistic paradigm such as Hawkins (2004) and Shannon (1992); cf. the lists in (1). Generative linguists have also traditionally regarded constraints as categorical, whereas functionally oriented linguists have tended to regard proposed factors as gradient or probabilistic.
User-Level Runtime Security Auditing for the Cloud

Cloud computing is emerging as a promising IT solution for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, and on-demand accesses to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. However, the widespread adoption of cloud is still being hindered by the lack of transparency and accountability, which has traditionally been ensured through security auditing techniques. Auditing in cloud poses many unique challenges in data collection and processing (e.g., data format inconsistency and lack of correlation due to the heterogeneity of cloud infrastructures), and in verification (e.g., prohibitive performance overhead due to the sheer scale of cloud infrastructures and need of runtime verification for the dynamic nature of cloud). To this end, existing runtime auditing techniques do not offer a practical response time to verify a wide-range of user-level security properties for a large cloud. In this paper, we propose a runtime security auditing framework for the cloud with special focus on the user-level including common access control and authentication mechanisms e.g., RBAC, ABAC, SSO, and we implement and evaluate the framework based on OpenStack, a widely deployed cloud management system. The main idea towards reducing the response time to a practical level is to perform the costly operations only once, which is followed by significantly more efficient incremental runtime verification. Our experimental results show that runtime security auditing in a large cloud environment is realistic under our approach (e.g., our solution performs runtime auditing of 100,000 users within 500 milliseconds).
Childhood epilepsy: knowledge and attitude of primary school teachers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to determine the knowledge of primary school teachers in Port Harcourt metropolis of epilepsy, their knowledge of the management of an attack of epilepsy and the attitude of these teachers towards epilepsy in children. METHODS This is a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study of 118 school teachers from five randomly selected primary schools in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria. RESULTS Ten percent (12) of the 118 teachers were graded "Good", 45% (54) "Fair" and 43% (52) "Poor" in overall knowledge score. Sixty six teachers (56%) accept applying crude oil on the body as useful in stopping epileptic attacks in children. There was no significant association between overall knowledge score and sex, year of experience as a teacher and experience with a child with epilepsy. Only 10% of the teachers studied were classified as having overall good knowledge of epilepsy. Sixty nine teachers (58.5%) were graded as having good knowledge of cause of epilepsy. Only 38 (32%) disagree that the saliva drooled during an epileptic attack is contagious; one hundred (84.8%) and 65 (55.1%) agree that some childhood illnesses can cause epilepsy and that it runs in families respectively. Overall, 54 teachers (45.8%) had a cumulative score of negative attitude towards epilepsy. Eighty three teachers (73.3%) would want all children with epilepsy put in a special school whilst 57 (48%) agree that children with epilepsy should be withdrawn from schools. The longer the teacher's professional experience, the more the likelihood of positive attitude towards epilepsy but the association did not reach statistically significant level (p = 0.076). Attitude was not statistically associated with sex and educational qualification. CONCLUSIONS The overall knowledge of primary school teachers in Port Harcourt metropolis of epilepsy and the first-aid management of an epileptic attack is poor. The attitude of these teachers towards epilepsy is negative. Education of the primary school teacher and general public on epilepsy is recommended.
A quantitative assessment of a terrestrial biosphere model's data needs across North American biomes

Terrestrial biosphere models are designed to synthesize our current understanding of how ecosystems function, test competing hypotheses of ecosystem function against observations, and predict responses to novel conditions such as those expected under climate change. Reducing uncertainties in such models can improve both basic scientific understanding and our predictive capacity, but rarely are ecosystem models employed in the design of field campaigns. We provide a synthesis of carbon cycle uncertainty analyses conducted using the Predictive Ecosystem Analyzer ecoinformatics workflow with the Ecosystem Demography model v2. This work is a synthesis of multiple projects, using Bayesian data assimilation techniques to incorporate field data and trait databases across temperate forests, grasslands, agriculture, short rotation forestry, boreal forests, and tundra. We report on a number of data needs that span a wide array of diverse biomes, such as the need for better constraint on growth respiration, mortality, stomatal conductance, and water uptake. We also identify data needs that are biome specific, such as photosynthetic quantum efficiency at high latitudes. We recommend that future data collection efforts balance the bias of past measurements toward aboveground processes in temperate biomes with the sensitivities of different processes as represented by ecosystem models. ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.