Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dose-reduced fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab is well tolerated in older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and has preserved therapeutic efficacy

Abstract Despite its efficacy in prospective trials, full dose fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) may be too toxic for elderly patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in clinical practice. We retrospectively reviewed the impact of dose reductions in FCR therapy on the outcomes of 42 consecutive patients aged 65–87 (median 72) years. Despite a median cumulative fludarabine dose reduction of 50% from full dose, the objective response and complete response rates were 86% and 38% respectively (frontline 94%/59%; previously treated 80%/24%). Dose reductions of 25–75% were not significantly associated with inferior progression free survival compared to minimal reductions (≤25%) (p = 0.49), and did not preclude deep responses, including six cases (14%) of minimal residual disease negativity. Although hematological and infectious toxicities were common, treatment limiting adverse effects were infrequent. Dose attenuated FCR appears to have preserved efficacy and may be a viable therapeutic option for elderly patients with CLL.
Modelos teóricos para indicação e implementação de tecnologia assistiva/Theoretic models for recommendation and implementation of assistive technology

Introducao: Pesquisas internacionais buscam compreender os fatores que influenciam o uso bem sucedido dos dispositivos de tecnologia assistiva (T.A.), seja por meio de estudos de sistematizacao de avaliacoes, de causas de abandono dos dispositivos ou de modelos teoricos que abordam aspectos necessarios a implementacao dos mesmos. No Brasil, as pesquisas estao focadas no desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias, sendo ainda escassos os estudos sobre o uso bem sucedido dos dispositivos e as formas de implementacao de T.A. Objetivo: Identificar os modelos conceituais mais utilizados para a indicacao e a implementacao de dispositivos de tecnologia assistiva. Metodo: Revisao da literatura em seis bases de dados: CINAHAL, Eric, GALE, LILACS, MEDLINE e PsycInfo. Foi utilizada a analise critica descrita por Grant e Booth para avaliacao das pesquisas localizadas. Resultados: Nenhum estudo brasileiro foi encontrado e, dentre os 29 artigos internacionais selecionados, 17 apresentavam modelos conceituais utilizados na area de T.A. , sendo que, destes, 14 eram especificos de T.A. Os resultados mostraram que novos modelos conceituais de T.A. estao em desenvolvimento e que o modelo Matching Person and Technology – MPT foi o mais citado. Conclusao: Pode-se observar que as praticas envolvendo a area de T.A. no contexto internacional apresentam uma correlacao com modelos teoricos e espera-se que este estudo possa contribuir para a replicacao destes preceitos tambem no âmbito nacional.
A Comprehensive Hepatic Safety Analysis of Nevirapine in Different Populations of HIV Infected Patients*

All classes of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy have been associated with asymptomatic elevations of alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST) levels, and much less frequently with serious, and at times life threatening, clinical liver hepatotoxicity. The relationship between the risk of developing serious clinical liver injury and the rate and severity of elevated asymptomatic ALT/AST levels is poorly understood. Boehringer Ingelheim has recently completed the Viramune® Hepatic Safety Project; its primary objective was to identify risk factors for antiretroviral-associated hepatotoxicity. Data from 1731 nevirapine-treated patients and 1912 control patients who took part in Boehringer Ingelheim-controlled clinical trials as well as 814 nevirapine-treated patients in uncontrolled trials were analyzed. Risk factors for asymptomatic ALT/AST elevations during nevirapine therapy included baseline elevations of ALT/AST levels >2.5× upper limit of normal (RR = 4.3, p < .01) and co-infection with hepatitis B (RR = 2.3, p < .01) or hepatitis C (RR = 5.2, p < .01). An analysis of ALT/AST elevations >5× ULN for patients stratified by baseline CD4 cell count demonstrated that men with ≥400 CD4 cells/mm3 were at increased risk of asymptomatic transaminase elevations while taking nevirapine (RR = 1.6, p < .01). No consistent CD4 cell count cutoff could be identified in women that was associated with an increased risk of ALT/AST elevations. Analyses from five large observational cohorts (N = 8711) demonstrated no significant differences in the rate of serious hepatic events among antiretroviral regimens, including between the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors nevirapine and efavirenz. Use of nevirapine was not associated with a significantly increased risk of clinical hepatotoxic events, including liver failure or liver related death, compared to therapy with other antiretroviral drugs.
Macromolecular domains within the cell nucleus.

DNA REPLICATION . 276 TRANSCRIPTION AND PRE-mRNA PROCESSING . ) . ,. 279 Localization of Transcriptionally Active Nuclear Regions by [ HJ-Uridine Incorporation or In Situ Nick Translation . 279 Pre-mRNA Splicing . 280 An Arginine/Serine-Rich Domain Targets Proteins to Nuclear Speckles . 284 Effect of RNA Polymerase II Transcription on the Localization of Splicing Factors . ,. 285 Distribution of hnRNP Proteins . 287 Localization of Splicing Factors in the Amphibian Germinal Vesicle . 289 Localization of Splicing Factors in Yeast 290 Distribution of Poly(A)'t RNA . 291 Distribution of Specific Cellular Transcripts . 291 NUCLEOLAR ORGANIZATION . 293
A Frequency Domain Approach for Contact Type Distinction in Human–Robot Collaboration

This letter addresses the problem of distinguishing unexpected collisions from voluntary contacts during human–robot collaboration. The objective of this letter is to improve the safety of the operator during the interaction with the robot. Based on the observation that cooperation forces present different frequency characteristics from collisions, a novel model-free method is developed to distinguish contacts using the spectral derivative of the external forces measured by the robot's proprioceptive sensors. In an experimental comparison with other approaches appeared in the literature, the proposed method presents faster distinction time, in various collaborative or involuntary contacts with multiple subjects.
The Integrated Role of Desferrioxamine and Phenserine Targeted to an Iron‐Responsive Element in the APP‐mRNA 5′‐Untranslated Region

Abstract: The Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein (APP) is the metalloprotein that is cleaved to generate the pathogenic Aβ peptide. We showed that iron closely regulated the expression of APP by 5′‐untranslated region (5′‐UTR) sequences in APP mRNA. Iron modulated APP holoprotein expression by a pathway similar to iron control of the translation of the ferritin‐L and ‐H mRNAs by iron‐responsive elements in their 5′‐UTRs. APP gene transcription is also responsive to copper deficit where the Menkes protein depleted fibroblasts of copper to suppress transcription of APP through metal regulatory and copper regulatory sequences upstream of the APP 5′ cap site. APP is a copper‐zinc metalloprotein and chelation of Fe3+ by desferrioxamine and Cu2+ by clioquinol appeared to provide effective therapy for the treatment of AD in limited patient studies. We have introduced an RNA‐based screen for small APP 5′‐UTR binding molecules to identify leads that limit APP translation (but not APLP‐1 and APLP‐2) and amyloid Aβ peptide production. A library of 1200 drugs was screened to identify lead drugs that limited APP 5′‐UTR‐directed translation of a reporter gene. The efficacy of these leads was confirmed for specificity in a cell‐based secondary assay to measure the steady‐state levels of APP holoprotein relative to APLP‐1/APLP‐2 by Western blotting. Several chelators were identified among the APP 5′‐UTR directed leads consistent with the presence of an IRE stem‐loop in front of the start codon of the APP transcript. The APP 5′‐UTR‐directed drugs—desferrioxamine (Fe3+ chelator), tetrathiomolybdate (Cu2+ chelator), and dimercaptopropanol (Pb2+ and Hg2+ chelator)—each suppressed APP holoprotein expression (and lowered Aβ peptide secretion). The novel anticholinesterase phenserine also provided “proof of concept” for our strategy to target the APP 5′‐UTR sequence to identify “anti‐amyloid” drugs. We further defined the interaction between iron chelation and phenserine action to control APP 5′‐UTR‐directed translation in neuroblastoma (SY5Y) transfectants. Phenserine was most efficient to block translation under conditions of intracellular iron chelation with desferrioxamine suggesting that this anticholinesterase operated through an iron (metal)‐dependent pathway at the APP 5′‐UTR site.
Predictors of Hearing-Aid Outcomes

Over 360 million people worldwide suffer from disabling hearing loss. Most of them can be treated with hearing aids. Unfortunately, performance with hearing aids and the benefit obtained from using them vary widely across users. Here, we investigate the reasons for such variability. Sixty-eight hearing-aid users or candidates were fitted bilaterally with nonlinear hearing aids using standard procedures. Treatment outcome was assessed by measuring aided speech intelligibility in a time-reversed two-talker background and self-reported improvement in hearing ability. Statistical predictive models of these outcomes were obtained using linear combinations of 19 predictors, including demographic and audiological data, indicators of cochlear mechanical dysfunction and auditory temporal processing skills, hearing-aid settings, working memory capacity, and pretreatment self-perceived hearing ability. Aided intelligibility tended to be better for younger hearing-aid users with good unaided intelligibility in quiet and with good temporal processing abilities. Intelligibility tended to improve by increasing amplification for low-intensity sounds and by using more linear amplification for high-intensity sounds. Self-reported improvement in hearing ability was hard to predict but tended to be smaller for users with better working memory capacity. Indicators of cochlear mechanical dysfunction, alone or in combination with hearing settings, did not affect outcome predictions. The results may be useful for improving hearing aids and setting patients’ expectations.
The AGN Nature of LINER Nuclear Sources

Low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs) are specially interesting objects since not only they represent the most numerous local Active Galactic Nuclei population, but they could be the link between normal and active galaxies as suggested by their low X-ray luminosities. The origin of LINER nuclei being still controversial, our works, through a multiwavelength approach, have contributed, firstly, to confirm that a large number of nuclear LINERs in the local universe are AGN powered. Secondly, from the study of X-ray spectral variability, we found that long term variations are very common, and they are mostly related to hard energies (2-10 keV). These variations might be due to changes in the absorber and/or intrinsic variations of the source. Thirdly, Mid-infrared (MIR) imaging also indicates that LINERs are the low luminosity end of AGN towards lower luminosities, and MIR spectroscopy shows that the average spectrum of AGN-dominated LINERs with X-ray luminosities L$_X$(2-10 keV) $>$ 10$^{41}$ erg/s is similar to the average mid-IR spectrum of AGN-dominated Seyfert 2s; for fainter LINERS, their spectral shape suggests that the dusty-torus may disappear. Fourth, the extended H$\alpha$ emission of LINERs at HST resolution indicates that they follow remarkably well the Narrow Line Region morphology and the luminosity-size relation obtained for Seyfert and QSOs; HST H$\alpha$ morphology may suggest the presence of outflows, which could contribute to the line broadening, with the resulting consequences on the percentage of LINERs where the Broad Line Region is detected. This issue is being revisited by our group with a high spectral resolution set of optical data for nearby type-1 LINERs. Finally, concerning systematic studies on the role of star formation in LINERs, which are scarce, our contribution deals with the study of a sample of the most luminous, highest star formation rate LINERs in the local Universe (at z from 0.04 to 0.11), together with its comparison with both lower-redshift LINERs and luminous LINERs previously detected at z $\sim$ 0.3. Most of our sources have L$_{AGN}$ $\sim$ L$_{SF}$, suggesting co-evolution of black hole and stellar mass. The AGN luminosity of local LINERs generally is related to the position they occupy on
Body Mass Index in Male and Female Children with Infantile Autism

Morphometry, the measurement of forms, is an ancient practice. Recently, evidence has grown to support the notion that aberrant neurodevelopment may play a role in the pathophysiology of autism. Is the body, like the brain, affected by abnormal development in these patients? The aim of this study was to evaluate body mass index (BMI) of children with infantile autism, by comparing the BMI of 117 children with infantile autism with the corresponding BMI percentiles in an age- and sex-matched reference population. The BMI distribution of the male, but not female, children with infantile autism was significantly lower than that of the age-matched reference population. There was no evidence that BMI was associated with intelligence or socioeconomic status among children with infantile autism.
Competency frameworks for advanced practice nursing: a literature review.

AIM This paper describes a literature review that identified common traits in advanced practice nursing that are specific to competency development worldwide. BACKGROUND There is a lack of international agreement on the definition of advanced practice nursing and its core competencies. Despite the lack of consensus, there is an ongoing process worldwide to establish and outline the standards and competencies for advanced practice nursing roles. INTRODUCTION International agencies, such as the International Council of Nurses, have provided general definitions for advanced practice nursing. Additionally, a set of competency standards for this aim has been developed. METHODS A literature review and a directed search of institutional websites were performed to identify specific developments in advanced practice nursing competencies and standards of practice. To determine a competency map specific to international advanced practice nursing, key documents were analysed using a qualitative approach based on content analysis to identify common traits among documents and countries. RESULTS The review process identified 119 relevant journal articles related to advanced practice nursing competencies. Additionally, 97 documents from grey literature that were related to advanced practice nursing competency mapping were identified. From the text analysis, 17 worldwide transversal competency domains emerged. CONCLUSIONS Despite the variety of patterns in international advanced practice nursing development, essential competency domains can be found in most national frameworks for the role development of international advanced practice nursing. These 17 core competencies can be used to further develop instruments that assess the perceived competency of advanced practice nurses. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY The results of this review can help policy developers and researchers develop instruments to compare advanced practice nursing services in various contexts and to examine their association with related outcomes.
Automatic Illustration of Short Texts via Web Images

In this paper we propose a totally unsupervised and automatic illustration method, which aims to find onto the Web a set of images to illustrate the content of an input short text. The text is modelled as a semantic space and a set of relevant keywords is extracted. We compare and discuss different methods to create semantic representations by keyword extraction.
Molecular epidemiology of atherosclerosis

It has been hypothesized that mutational events may be involved in the atherogenetic process and that at least a portion of atherosclerotic plaques may develop according to an initiation‐promotion process of arterial smooth muscle cells, akin to benign tumors. We conducted a study to evaluate the occurrence of oxidative DNA damage and formation of DNA adducts in human atherosclerotic lesions and to assess the relationships of these promutagenic alterations with exposure to atherogenic risk factors. Pure DNA was extracted from the tunica media (composed mainly of smooth muscle cells) of abdominal aorta fragments taken at surgery from 85 patients suffering from severe atherosclerotic lesions. DNA adducts were detected by synchronous fluorescence spectrophotometry and 32P postlabeling after enrichment of adducts with either butanol or nuclease P1. 8‐Hydroxy‐2'‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OH‐dG), a typical indicator of oxidative DNA damage, was measured by HPLC/electrochemical detection. A complete questionnaire reporting general, clinical, and laboratory characteristics was available for each patient. All 84 samples tested by 32P postlabeling were positive by displaying the presence of diagonal radioactive zones and up to 9 individual DNA adducts. Of 52 samples tested, 32 (61.5%) yielded typical positive signals at synchronous fluorescence spectrophotometry. All but one of 39 samples tested had very high levels of 8‐OH‐dG, thus showing a remarkable oxidative DNA damage. Statistically significant correlations were found between the levels of molecular biomarkers and atherogenic risk factors including age, number of currently smoked cigarettes, ratio of total‐to‐high density lipoprotein blood cholesterol, blood triglycerides, and blood pressure. The DNA alterations detected in our study may be only one component of the genetic basis of atherogenesis. Moreover, no causal role in the atherogenetic process can be inferred from our results. However, DNA alterations, including oxidative damage and adduction of reactive molecules of either endogenous or exogenous source, were systematically present in the smooth muscle cells of human atherosclerotic lesions and their intensity was significantly correlated with the occurrence of atherogenic risk factors in the patients studied. —De Flora, S. , Izzotti, A. , Walsh, D. , Degan, P., Petrilli, G. L. , Lewtas, J. Molecular epidemiology of atherosclerosis. FASEB J. 11, 1021–1031 (1997)
Effects of Keemun and Dianhong Black Tea in Alleviating Excess Lipid Accumulation in the Liver of Obese Mice: A Comparative Study

The chemical compositions of black teas differ greatly and may have different health benefits; however, systematic investigations into such benefits are lacking. Here, the chemical profiles of Keemun black tea (KBT) and Dianhong black tea (DBT), two common categories of tea in China, were analyzed, and their lipid-lowering effects in male C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet (60% energy from fat) or the diet supplemented with 2% black tea powder for 15 weeks were investigated. The compounds most crucial in differentiating KBT and DBT were determined to be phenolic compounds, theanine, and D-psicose. DBT was more effective than KBT in preventing excess hepatic fat accumulation. Both black teas effectively and comparably altered the mRNA levels of hepatic lipid–metabolizing genes. DBT had more favorable effects in stimulating fecal fat excretion than did KBT. The differentiating compounds with the higher values of variable importance in the projection (VIP) might predominantly contribute to the different health benefits; however, the most essential compound or combination of compounds requires clarification. Graphical Abstract Schematic diagram of the effects of two black teas in alleviating excess hepatic lipid accumulation.
L'entretien d'explicitation

Dans de nombreux metiers (enseignant, formateur, psychologue…), on a besoin de s’informer avec precision des actions de l’autre pour pouvoir l’aider a se perfectionner, a corriger ses erreurs et lui proposer des exercices complementaires. Il est parfois necessaire d’aider l’autre a mieux prendre conscience de ce qu’il a fait, comment il s’y est pris, pour s’approprier ses competences. Cet ouvrage decrit les bases d’une technique d’entretien concue et developpee par Pierre Vermersch, qui vise a faire decrire de facon detaillee et non inductive l’action passee, autrement dit a la rendre verbalement explicite. Elle s’appuie sur une aide au rappel du vecu passe, basee sur le guidage vers la position d’evocation et le contact avec le passe, pour qu’il revienne largement comme un revecu. L’entretien d’explicitation favorise, guide, accompagne soigneusement vers la description de son propre vecu. Enfin, cette technique mobilise des grilles d’ecoute qui permettent de reperer ce qui a besoin d’etre detaille pour etre rendu intelligible, ce qui est incomplet et demande a etre rendu plus explicite, ce qui fait l’objet d’un jugement sans que l’on ait l’expression du critere sur lequel il est fonde. La mise en œuvre de ces outils est aisee, mais contre-intuitive, et demande a etre decouverte dans l’experience. Dans cet ouvrage, l’auteur pose les bases de l’entretien d’explicitation, veritable methode de travail permettant, dans tous les domaines, d’analyser son action, d’aller vers la maitrise des savoir-faire. Cette technique peut aussi bien etre utilisee dans une animation de groupe qu’en entretien individuel. Ce livre interessera donc tous ceux qui ont besoin de former, d’accompagner ou d’encadrer des personnes. Il sera aussi d’une grande utilite pour le recueil de donnees subjectives dans toutes les recherches en sciences humaines. Date de premiere edition : 1994.
Male Hispanic Immigrants Talk about Family Planning

In order to improve delivery of family planning services by better understanding the views of people affected, researchers conducted four focus groups among Hispanic men who recently migrated to a Midwestern community. Participants expressed opinions about, attitudes towards, and knowledge of such matters as family planning, birth control information and access, the influence of religion on family planning and birth control decisions, general familial relations, the prevalence of infidelity, use of and access to the health care system, and cultural differences between the U.S. and their countries of origin. The men voiced opinions and attitudes supportive of family planning and appeared knowledgeable about various methods of birth control. Understanding the attitudes held by immigrant men is important for health care providers in designing successful service interventions for this rapidly growing segment of the population.
Soluble Leptin Receptor and Leptin Levels in Pregnant Women Before and After Delivery

Soluble leptin receptor is an extracellular domain of the leptin receptor that serves as the main leptin‐binding protein and may play a role in the regulation of leptin tissue effects. The aim of our study was to assess serum concentrations of leptin, soluble leptin receptor, and other hormones involved in the regulation of leptin secretion in pregnant women before and after delivery. Serum leptin, cortisol, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) concentrations in 19 pregnant women before delivery were significantly higher than in healthy nonpregnant women (33.3 ± 21.0 vs. 7.9 ± 3.5 ng/mL, 1068.9 ± 442.2 vs. 546.6 ± 165.3 nmol/L, 4.4 ± 1.1 vs. 3.4 ± 1.2 ng/mL, respectively). In contrast, no differences between these groups were found in soluble leptin receptor levels. Delivery significantly decreased serum leptin and cortisol levels and increased soluble leptin receptor levels (12.3 ± 9.1 ng/mL, 749.6 ± 205.3 nmol/L, 23.3 ± 7.9 U/mL, respectively). Soluble leptin receptor levels after delivery became higher than in the control group. We conclude that serum leptin and serum soluble leptin‐receptor levels are significantly affected by pregnancy and delivery. The regulation of leptin levels in this group of patients appears to be distinct and independent of soluble leptin‐receptor levels.