Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parental occupations of children with leukaemia in west Cumbria, north Humberside, and Gateshead.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether parental occupations and chemical and other specific exposures are risk factors for childhood leukaemia. DESIGN--Case-control study. Information on parents was obtained by home interview. SETTING--Three areas in north England: Copeland and South Lakeland (west Cumbria); Kingston upon Hull, Beverley, East Yorkshire, and Holderness (north Humberside), and Gateshead. SUBJECTS--109 children aged 0-14 born and diagnosed as having leukaemia or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in study areas during 1974-88. Two controls matched for sex and date and district of birth were obtained for each child. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Occupations of parents and specific exposure of parents before the children's conception, during gestation, and after birth. Other adults living with the children were included in the postnatal analysis. RESULTS--Few risk factors were identified for mothers, although preconceptional association with the food industry was significantly increased in case mothers (odds ratio 2.56; 95% confidence interval 1.32 to 5.00). Significant associations were found between childhood leukaemia and reported preconceptional exposure of fathers to wood dust (2.73, 1.44 to 5.16), radiation (3.23, 1.36 to 7.72), and benzene (5.81, 1.67 to 26.44); ionising radiation alone gave an odds ratio of 2.35 (0.92 to 6.22). Raised odds ratios were found for paternal exposure during gestation, but no independent postnatal effect was evident. CONCLUSION--These results should be interpreted cautiously because of the small numbers, overlap with another study, and multiple exposure of some parents. It is important to distinguish periods of parental exposures; identified risk factors were almost exclusively restricted to the time before the child's birth.
Demographic variations and clinical associations of episiotomy and severe perineal lacerations in vaginal delivery.

UNLABELLED Primiparity, birthweight, operative delivery and obstetrical complications contribute to episiotomy and severe perineal lacerations. Episiotomy correlates with Hispanics, while African Americans correlate with severe perineal lacerations. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for both episiotomy and severe perineal lacerations in a large population from a single institution. STUDY DESIGN This was a review of 66,224 vaginal deliveries of African Americans or Hispanics delivering between 25-44 gestational weeks between 1981-2001. Univariate and multiple regression analysis were done as indicated. RESULTS Independent predictors of episiotomy were: primiparity eight-fold, forceps delivery seven-fold, vacuum delivery five-fold, shoulder dystocia 3.6-fold, macrosomia 1.8-fold, epidural analgesia 1.6-fold, postdates 1.5-fold, Hispanics 1.4-fold. Independent predictors of severe perineal lacerations were; macrosomia seven-fold, episiotomy 4.5-fold, primiparity 4.4-fold, shoulder dystocia 3.6-fold, average birthweight 3.5-fold, forceps delivery 2.6-fold, vacuum delivery two-fold, epidural analgesia two-fold, African-American 1.5-fold. Nonreassuring fetal heart rate patterns, meconium and cord accidents appeared protective. CONCLUSION Primiparous women with larger babies undergoing operative delivery with epidural analgesia are at risk for both episiotomy incisions and severe perineal lacerations. Though Hispanics are more likely to have an episiotomy, they are at significantly less risk for severe perineal lacerations compared to African Americans. Even though episiotomy is independently associated with severe perineal laceration, other factors such as macrosomia and primiparity are as important.
Hindsight bias around the world.

Hindsight bias refers to the tendency to overestimate in hindsight what one has known in foresight. Recently, two experiments extended the research to include samples from different cultures (Choi & Nisbett, 2000; Heine & Lehman, 1996). Asking their participants what they would have guessed before they knew the outcome ("hypothetical design"), Choi and Nisbett (2000) found that Koreans, in comparison to North Americans, exhibited more hindsight bias. Heine and Lehman (1996), however, reported that Japanese people in comparison to Canadians showed marginally less hindsight bias. In a second study, in which participants were asked to recall what they had estimated before they knew the outcome ("memory design"), the latter authors found no difference in hindsight bias between Japanese people and Canadians. We extended these studies with 225 Internet participants, in a hypothetical design, from four different continents (Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America). Hindsight bias was large and similar for all samples except for German and Dutch participants who showed no hindsight bias at all. While the latter effect may be based on peculiarities of the material and of the participants, the former underscores the worldwide stability of the phenomenon. In addition a follow-up surprise rating (paper and pencil) in China (35 participants) and Germany (20 participants) revealed that only less surprising items led to hindsight bias while more surprising ones did not. We suggest that the basic cognitive processes leading to hindsight bias are by-products of the evolutionary-evolved capacity of adaptive learning. On top of these basic processes, individual meta-cognitions (e.g., elicited by surprise) or motives (e.g., a self-serving motive) may further moderate the amount of bias, thus explaining the diverging results of Choi and Nisbett (2000), Heine and Lehman (1996), and our own study.
Exposure to Ambient and Nonambient Components of Particulate Matter: A Comparison of Health Effects

Background: Numerous epidemiologic studies report associations between outdoor concentrations of particles and adverse health effects. Because personal exposure to particles is frequently dominated by exposure to nonambient particles (those originating from indoor sources), we present an approach to evaluate the relative impacts of ambient and nonambient exposures. Methods: We developed separate estimates of exposures to ambient and nonambient particles of different size ranges (PM2.5, PM10–2.5 and PM10) based on time-activity data and the use of particle sulfate measurements as a tracer for indoor infiltration of ambient particles. To illustrate the application of these estimates, associations between cardiopulmonary health outcomes and the estimated exposures were compared with associations computed using measurements of personal exposures and outdoor concentrations for a repeated-measures panel study of 16 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease conducted in the summer of 1998 in Vancouver. Results: Total personal fine particle exposures were dominated by exposures to nonambient particles, which were not correlated with ambient fine particle exposures or ambient concentrations. Although total and nonambient particle exposures were not associated with any of the health outcomes, ambient exposures (and to a lesser extent ambient concentrations) were associated with decreased lung function, decreased systolic blood pressure, increased heart rate, and increased supraventricular ectopic heartbeats. Measures of heart rate variability showed less consistent relationships among the various exposure metrics. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the usefulness of separating total personal particle exposures into their ambient and nonambient components. The results support previous epidemiologic findings using ambient concentrations by demonstrating an association between health outcomes and ambient (outdoor origin) particle exposures but not with nonambient (indoor origin) particle exposures.
Spontaneous recurrent network activity in organotypic rat hippocampal slices

Organotypic hippocampal slices were prepared from postnatal day 4 rats and maintained in culture for >6 weeks. Cultured slices exhibited from 12 days in vitro spontaneous events which closely resembled giant depolarizing potentials (GDPs) recorded in neonatal hippocampal slices. GDP‐like events occurred over the entire hippocampus with a delay of 30–60 ms between two adjacent regions as demonstrated by pair recordings from CA3–CA3, CA3–CA1 and interneurone–CA3 pyramidal cells. As in acute slices, spontaneous recurrent events were generated by the interplay of GABA and glutamate acting on AMPA receptors as they were reversibly blocked by bicuculline and 6,7‐dinitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione but not by dl‐2‐amino‐5‐phosphonopentaoic acid. The equilibrium potentials for GABA measured in whole cell and gramicidin‐perforated patch from interconnected interneurones–CA3 pyramidal cells were −70 and −56 mV, respectively. The resting membrane potential estimated from the reversal of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate‐induced single‐channel currents in cell‐attach experiments was −75 mV. In spite of its depolarizing action, in the majority of cases GABA was still inhibitory as it blocked the firing of principal cells. The increased level of glutamatergic connectivity certainly contributed to network synchronization and to the development of interictal discharges after prolonged exposure to bicuculline. In spite of its inhibitory action, in a minority of cells GABA was still depolarizing and excitatory as it was able to bring principal cells to fire, suggesting that a certain degree of immaturity is still present in cultured slices. This was in line with the transient bicuculline‐induced block of GDPs and with the isoguvacine‐induced increase of GDP frequency.
Phase I Trial of 131I-huA33 in Patients with Advanced Colorectal Carcinoma

Purpose: Humanized monoclonal antibody A33 (huA33) targets the A33 antigen which is expressed on 95% of colorectal cancers. A previous study has shown excellent tumor-targeting of iodine-131 labeled huA33 (131I-huA33). Therefore, we did a phase I dose escalation trial of 131I-huA33 radioimmunotherapy. Experimental Designs: Fifteen patients with pretreated metastatic colorectal carcinoma each received two i.v. doses of 131I-huA33. The first was an outpatient trace-labeled “scout” dose for biodistribution assessment, followed by a second “therapy” dose. Three patients were treated at 20, 30, and 40 mCi/m2 dose levels, and six patients at 50 mCi/m2 to define the maximum tolerated dose. Results: Hematologic toxicity was 131I dose-dependent, with one episode of grade 4 neutropenia and two episodes of grade 3 thrombocytopenia observed at 50 mCi/m2. The maximum tolerated dose was determined to be 40 mCi/m2. There were no acute infusion-related adverse events, and gastrointestinal toxicity was not observed despite uptake of 131I-huA33 in bowel. Seven patients developed pruritus or rash, which was not related to 131I dose. There was excellent tumor-targeting of 131I-huA33 shown in all patients. The serum T1/2β of 131I-huA33 was (mean ± SD) 135.2 ± 46.9 hours. The mean absorbed tumor dose was 6.49 ± 2.47 Gy/GBq. Four patients developed human anti-human antibodies. At restaging, 4 patients had stable disease, whereas 11 patients had progressive disease. Conclusion: Radioimmunotherapy using 131I-huA33 shows promise in targeting colorectal tumors, and is deliverable at a maximum tolerated dose of 40 mCi/m2. Further studies of 131I-huA33 in combination with chemotherapy are planned.
Fine needle aspiration cytology diagnosis of male breast lesions. A study of 185 cases.

OBJECTIVE To study the fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic features of male breast lesions and to determine the efficacy of FNA cytology in the diagnosis of these lesions. STUDY DESIGN During a five-year period (July 1988-June 1993), 188 males with breast lesions were investigated by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Slides were available for review in 185 of these cases. RESULTS Gynecomastia was the most common lesion (132 cases), followed by benign tumors and cysts (16 cases), carcinoma (6 cases) and inflammatory lesions (5 cases). In 26 cases the smears were considered inadequate. The cytologic features of gynecomastia included cohesive sheets of bland cells (100.0% of cases), bipolar bare nuclei (76.5%) and columnar cells (38.6%). Mild nuclear atypia was observed in seven cases. The cytologic features consisted of dyshesive groups of ductular cells with moderate to severe nuclear atypia and absence of bare nuclei as well as columnar cells. The benign tumors and cysts included lipomatous lesions (10 cases), spindle cell tumors (3 cases) and epidermal inclusion/pilar cysts (3 cases). Histology was done in 25 cases. Diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for gynecomastia, benign tumors and malignancy was 100.0%, 100.0% and 66.7%, respectively. The only discrepant case was a carcinoma, diagnosed as highly suspicious on the cytologic specimen.
Processing of Emotional Information in Major Depressive Disorder: Toward a Dimensional Understanding

Several decades of research converge on the formulation that individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit negative biases in their processing of emotional information. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that traditional between-group comparisons have obscured the substantial heterogeneity of cognitive and affective dysfunction that is associated with depressive symptomatology. In this article, we review the findings of research examining attention to and memory for negative emotional information using a more dimensional perspective on depression. Specifically, we explore studies that assess cognitive biases along a continuum of depressive symptom severity and consider the influence of co-occurring dimensions of functioning, in particular the severity of anxiety symptoms. Finally, we identify critical empirical questions and issues in this growing literature.
The crucial role of SRPK1 in IGF-1-induced EMT of human gastric cancer

In recent years, the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and serine-arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) have been reported to be implicated in the pithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in many kinds of malignancies. However, the potential roles of IGF-1-SRPK1 signaling in the EMT of gastric cancer (GC) have not been investigated. In the present study, the in-vitro assays were used to investigate the molecular role of SRPK1 in cell cycle, motility and invasiveness. We demonstrated that the expressions of SRPK1 or insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF1R) were significantly increased in GC tissues and cells than those in normal tissues and GES-1 cells, and closely associated with metastasis, stage and prognosis. Western blot analysis showed that IGF-1 treatment can induce the expression of p-AKT and EMT biomarkers (N-cadherin, MMP2 and Slug) in a dose-dependent fashion in MGC803 and BGC823 cells. On the other hand, the knockdown of SRPK1 attenuated IGF-1-induced increase of EMT biomarkers and p-AKT. Besides, in-vitro analysis showed that knockdown of SRPK1 induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, and affected cell migration and invasion. In conclusion, IGF-1-IGF1R pathway induced the expression of SRPK1 to control the progression of EMT via AKT pathway in the development of GC. Our findings lay a promising foundation for the IGF-1-IGF1R axis-targeting therapy in GC patients.
Machine Vision/GPS Integration Using EKF for the UAV Aerial Refueling Problem

The purpose of this paper is to propose the application of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) for the sensors fusion task within the problem of aerial refueling for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Specifically, the EKF is used to combine the position data from a global positioning system (GPS) and a machine vision (MV)-based system for providing a reliable estimation of the tanker-UAV relative position throughout the docking and the refueling phase. The performance of the scheme has been evaluated using a virtual environment specifically developed for the study of the UAV aerial refueling problem. Particularly, the EKF-based sensor fusion scheme integrates GPS data with MV-based estimates of the tanker-UAV position derived through a combination of feature extraction, feature classification, and pose estimation algorithms. The achieved results indicate that the accuracy of the relative position using GPS or MV estimates can be improved by at least one order of magnitude with the use of EKF in lieu of other sensor fusion techniques.
Revisiting determinants of prognosis in cutaneous melanoma

The American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for cutaneous melanoma is based on primary tumor thickness and the presence of ulceration, mitoses, lymph node spread, and distant metastases as determinants of prognosis. Although this cutaneous melanoma staging system has evolved over time to more accurately reflect patient prognosis, improvements are still needed, because current understanding of the particular factors (genetic mutation, expression alteration, host response, etc) that are critical for predicting patient outcomes is incomplete. Given the clinical and biologic heterogeneity of primary melanomas, new prognostic tools are needed to more precisely identify patients who are most likely to develop advanced disease. Such tools would affect clinical surveillance strategies and aid in patient selection for adjuvant therapy. The authors reviewed the literature on prognostic molecular and immunologic markers in primary cutaneous melanoma, their associations with clinicopathologic and survival outcomes, and their potential for incorporation into current staging models. Overall, the studies considered in this review did not define prognostic markers that could be readily incorporated into the current staging system. Therefore, efforts should be continued in these and other directions to maximize the likelihood of identifying clinically useful prognostic biomarkers for cutaneous melanoma. Cancer 2015;121:4108–4123. © 2015 American Cancer Society.
Tissue-specific tagging of endogenous loci in Drosophila melanogaster

ABSTRACT Fluorescent protein tags have revolutionized cell and developmental biology, and in combination with binary expression systems they enable diverse tissue-specific studies of protein function. However these binary expression systems often do not recapitulate endogenous protein expression levels, localization, binding partners and/or developmental windows of gene expression. To address these limitations, we have developed a method called T-STEP (tissue-specific tagging of endogenous proteins) that allows endogenous loci to be tagged in a tissue specific manner. T-STEP uses a combination of efficient CRISPR/Cas9-enhanced gene targeting and tissue-specific recombinase-mediated tag swapping to temporally and spatially label endogenous proteins. We have employed this method to GFP tag OCRL (a phosphoinositide-5-phosphatase in the endocytic pathway) and Vps35 (a Parkinson's disease-implicated component of the endosomal retromer complex) in diverse Drosophila tissues including neurons, glia, muscles and hemocytes. Selective tagging of endogenous proteins allows, for the first time, cell type-specific live imaging and proteomics in complex tissues. Summary: Here we describe an easily applicable method that allows C-terminal protein tagging at endogenous loci in a tissue- or cell type-specific manner in Drosophila melanogaster.
Comparing apples with apples? Abusive head trauma, drowning and LSVROs

Thanks very much to Richard Lichenstein et al for their report on the frequency of pedestrian injuries and deaths to victims using headphones.1 Combined with recent experimental data from our laboratory that listening to music via headphones may be even more dangerous to pedestrians than distraction from talking on the phone or text-messaging,2 we have accumulated …
FPGA implementation of fast adder

This paper proposes high data rate implementation of an adder on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). Digital Signal processing applications are characterized by the data rate or the throughput of the system. Optimal hardware implementation on FPGA is differentiated from other hardware design platforms due to its fixed fabric and routing structure. Implementation of different adder architectures has been compared based on their clock speeds and the resource utilization. Experimental results have shown that traditional hardware optimizations perform adversely after implementation on FPGAs, where the Ripple Carry Adder has shown clock speed gain of a minimum of 18.24% using 50% lesser resources for two operand multipliers. In case of multi-operand additions the Carry Save Addition compressor trees have outperformed other techniques by 7.89% increase in clock speed at the expense of 28.17% increase in hardware resources.
Cause analysis and clinical management experience of the premature rupture of membrane

Based on the retrospective study on 189 cases of premature rupture of membrane maternity, we find that PROM can result in higher risks of dystocia, cesarean birth and maternal and fetal complications, upon examining our clinical management measures and searching for a positive clinical management , we are looking for a better way to reduce PROM and the risk of mother and child, to have a better pregnancy outcome.
Estimation of the Radio Channel Parameters using the SAGE Algorithm

This paper presents the problem of estimating the parameters of a given number of superimposed signals, as is the case of the received signal in wireless com- munications. Based on the description of the received signal in the frequency domain, one version of the SAGE (Space-Alternating Generalized Expectation- Maximization) algorithm is presented, allowing the estimation, for each impinging ray, the delay, azimuth, elevation and complex amplitude. Ray retrieval results are presented in synthetic channels, using data generated with the extended Saleh-Valenzuela (ESV) model, and also in real channels.
Morphea in adults and children cohort III: nested case-control study--the clinical significance of autoantibodies in morphea.

IMPORTANCE Small studies have implicated the association of specific autoantibodies with morphea subtype or severity, but no large-scale studies have been conducted. This prospective case-control study confirmed the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) and other autoantibodies in morphea but found they are of limited significance. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of ANAs, extractable nuclear antigens such as antihistone antibodies (AHAs), and anti-single-stranded DNA antibodies (ssDNA abs) in patients with morphea vs a healthy control population and their association with clinical measures of morphea severity. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Nested case-control study, conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. Study participants included individuals enrolled in the Morphea in Adults and Children (MAC) cohort and Scleroderma Family Registry and DNA Repository. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Prevalence of ANAs, AHAs, ssDNA abs in patients with morphea vs matched controls and association of the presence of autoantibodies with clinical indicators of morphea severity. RESULTS The prevalence of ANAs, AHAs, and ssDNA abs in patients with morphea was 34%, 12%, and 8%, respectively. Antinuclear antibodies and AHAs, but not ssDNA abs, were present more frequently in cases than in controls. There was no difference in ANA prevalence among morphea subtypes. Among patients with linear morphea, the presence of autoantibodies was associated with clinical indicators of severe morphea including functional limitation (ssDNA ab, P = .005; and AHA, P = .006), extensive body surface area involvement (ssDNA ab, P = .01; and ANA, P = .005), and higher skin scores (ANA, P = .004). The presence of autoantibodies was not associated with clinical measures of morphea activity. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Our results demonstrate that ANAs and AHAs are more prevalent among patients with morphea but are of limited clinical utility except in linear morphea, where their presence, although infrequent, is associated with greater lesion burden and functional impairment.