Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic effect of linac-based stereotactic radiotherapy with a micro-multileaf collimator for the treatment of patients with brain metastases from lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of hypofractionated linac-based stereotactic radiotherapy with a micro-multileaf collimator (mMLC) in lung cancer patients with brain metastases. METHODS Seventy-eight lesions of brain metastases in 49 lung cancer patients treated by stereotactic radiotherapy between September 2003 and December 2006 were analyzed. In the treatment planning, the planning target volume (PTV) was defined as an enhanced lesion plus 3 mm margin. A total dose of 39-42 Gy in three fractions was delivered to the isocenters of the PTV. RESULTS The median survival time after stereotactic radiotherapy was 17.4 months. The 1- and 2-year survival rates were 61% and 32%, respectively. The presence of extracranial tumors, the pre-treatment performance status, and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group recursive partitioning analysis class were significant prognostic factors. The 1- and 2-year local recurrence rates were 14% and 17%, respectively, with no serious acute toxic effect. Injuries involving brain necrosis were observed in six patients. New brain metastases or meningeal carcinomatosis was seen in more than half of the patients following treatment with stereotactic radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Hypofactionated stereotactic radiotherapy with mMLC is considered to be an effective and safe modality for the treatment of brain metastases in lung cancer patients.
Sister chromatid telomere fusions, but not NHEJ-mediated inter-chromosomal telomere fusions, occur independently of DNA ligases 3 and 4

Telomeres shorten with each cell division and can ultimately become substrates for nonhomologous end-joining repair, leading to large-scale genomic rearrangements of the kind frequently observed in human cancers. We have characterized more than 1400 telomere fusion events at the single-molecule level, using a combination of high-throughput sequence analysis together with experimentally induced telomeric double-stranded DNA breaks. We show that a single chromosomal dysfunctional telomere can fuse with diverse nontelomeric genomic loci, even in the presence of an otherwise stable genome, and that fusion predominates in coding regions. Fusion frequency was markedly increased in the absence of TP53 checkpoint control and significantly modulated by the cellular capacity for classical, versus alternative, nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). We observed a striking reduction in inter-chromosomal fusion events in cells lacking DNA ligase 4, in contrast to a remarkably consistent profile of intra-chromosomal fusion in the context of multiple genetic knockouts, including DNA ligase 3 and 4 double-knockouts. We reveal distinct mutational signatures associated with classical NHEJ-mediated inter-chromosomal, as opposed to alternative NHEJ-mediated intra-chromosomal, telomere fusions and evidence for an unanticipated sufficiency of DNA ligase 1 for these intra-chromosomal events. Our findings have implications for mechanisms driving cancer genome evolution.
Ex Vivo‐Expanded Bone Marrow CD34+ Derived Neutrophils Have Limited Bactericidal Ability

Neutropenia as a consequence of bone marrow failure, severe infections, or intensive chemotherapy is frequently associated with life‐threatening sepsis. Ex vivo expansion of CD34+ stem cells has been shown to generate apparently functional neutrophils, and the use of autologous ex vivo‐expanded cells can reduce the duration of neutropenia. Nonetheless, the principal antimicrobial capabilities of such cells, and thus their true therapeutic potential, is unknown. Using established protocols, we derived mature neutrophils from normal human adult bone marrow (BM) CD34+ cells and compared them with freshly isolated peripheral blood neutrophils (PBN). Despite functional similarities between ex vivo‐differentiated neutrophils (EDN) and PBN in assays of respiratory burst and phagocytosis, EDN showed marked impairment in their ability to kill both Escherichia coli and Streptococcus pneumoniae compared with PBN. We found that EDN were able to detect (through Toll‐like receptor 2 [TLR2], TLR4, and CD14 expression), phagocytose, and mount a respiratory burst to microorganisms. EDN, however, were unable to release neutrophil elastase in response to formyl‐met‐leu‐phe and showed a significantly reduced expression of neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G myeloperoxidase, and LL‐37/human cathelicidin protein 18 (hCAP18) as determined by Western blotting. Ultrastructural analysis was consistent with a failure of normal granule development in EDN. Neutrophils derived from BM CD34+ cells may therefore provide apparently functional cells as assessed by common methodologies; however, important deficiencies may still limit their therapeutic potential. The results presented here suggest additional key tests that such cells may need to undergo prior to clinical use and highlight the potential challenges of using ex vivo modified stem cells in therapeutic settings.
Acoustical investigation of poly(dA).poly(dT), poly[d(A-T)], poly(A).poly(U) and DNA hydration in dilute aqueous solutions.

Apparent molar adiabatic compressibilities and apparent molar volumes of poly[d(A-T)]. poly[d(A-T)], poly(dA). poly(dT), DNA and poly(A). poly(U) in aqueous solutions were determined at 1 degree C. The change of concentration increment of the ultrasonic velocity upon replacing counter ion Cs+ by the Mg2+ ion was also determined for these polymers. The following conclusions have been made: (1) the hydration of the double helix of poly(dA). poly(dT) is remarkably larger than that of other polynucleotides; (2) the hydration of the AT pair in the B-form DNA is larger than that of the GC pair; (3) the substitution of Cs+ for Mg2+ ions as counter ions results in a decrease of hydration of the system polynucleotide plus Mg2+, and (4) the magnitude of this dehydration depends on the nucleotide sequence; the following rule is true: the lesser is a polynucleotide hydration, the larger dehydration upon changing Cs+ for Mg2+ ions in the ionic atmosphere of polynucleotide.
The Emotion Recognition System Based on Autoregressive Model and Sequential Forward Feature Selection of Electroencephalogram Signals

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is one of the useful biological signals to distinguish different brain diseases and mental states. In recent years, detecting different emotional states from biological signals has been merged more attention by researchers and several feature extraction methods and classifiers are suggested to recognize emotions from EEG signals. In this research, we introduce an emotion recognition system using autoregressive (AR) model, sequential forward feature selection (SFS) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) classifier using EEG signals during emotional audio-visual inductions. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of AR features in the classification of emotional states. To achieve this goal, a distinguished AR method (Burg's method) based on Levinson-Durbin's recursive algorithm is used and AR coefficients are extracted as feature vectors. In the next step, two different feature selection methods based on SFS algorithm and Davies–Bouldin index are used in order to decrease the complexity of computing and redundancy of features; then, three different classifiers include KNN, quadratic discriminant analysis and linear discriminant analysis are used to discriminate two and three different classes of valence and arousal levels. The proposed method is evaluated with EEG signals of available database for emotion analysis using physiological signals, which are recorded from 32 participants during 40 1 min audio visual inductions. According to the results, AR features are efficient to recognize emotional states from EEG signals, and KNN performs better than two other classifiers in discriminating of both two and three valence/arousal classes. The results also show that SFS method improves accuracies by almost 10-15% as compared to Davies–Bouldin based feature selection. The best accuracies are %72.33 and %74.20 for two classes of valence and arousal and %61.10 and %65.16 for three classes, respectively.
Growth Hormone‐Releasing Peptide‐6 Increases Insulin‐Like Growth Factor‐I mRNA Levels and Activates Akt in RCA‐6 Cells as a Model of Neuropeptide Y Neurones

Chronic systemic administration of growth hormone (GH)‐releasing peptide‐6 (GHRP‐6), an agonist for the ghrelin receptor, to normal adult rats increases insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐I mRNA and phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) levels in various brain regions, including the hypothalamus. Because neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurones of the arcuate nucleus express receptors for ghrelin, we investigated whether these neurones increase their IGF‐I and p‐Akt levels in response to this agonist. In control rats, immunoreactive pAkt was practically undetectable; however, GHRP‐6 increased p‐Akt immunoreactivity in the arcuate nucleus, with a subset of neurones also being immunoreactive for NPY. Immunoreactivity for IGF‐I was detected in NPY neurones in both experimental groups. To determine if activation of this intracellular pathway is involved in modulation of NPY synthesis RCA‐6 cells, an embryonic rat hypothalamic neuronal cell line that expresses NPY was used. We found that GHRP‐6 stimulates NPY and IGF‐I mRNA synthesis and activates Akt in this cell line. Furthermore, inhibition of Akt activation by LY294002 treatment did not inhibit GHRP‐6 induction of NPY or IGF‐I synthesis. These results suggest that some of the effects of GHRP‐6 may involve stimulation of local IGF‐I production and Akt activation in NPY neurones in the arcuate nucleus. However, GHRP‐6 stimulation of NPY production does not involve this second messenger pathway.
The Influence of Medical Insurance on Patient Access to Orthopaedic Surgery Sports Medicine Appointments Under the Affordable Care Act

Background: The goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was to expand patient access to health care. Since the rollout of the PPACA, Medicaid patients have demonstrated difficulty obtaining appointments in some specialty care settings. Purpose: To assess the effect of insurance type (Medicaid and private) on patient access to orthopaedic surgery sports medicine specialists for a semiurgent evaluation of a likely operative bucket-handle meniscus tear. The study was designed to determine whether disparities in access exist since the PPACA rollout. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: The design was to call 180 orthopaedic surgery sports medicine specialists in 6 representative states (California, Ohio, New York, Florida, Texas, and North Carolina) between June 2015 and December 2015. An appointment was requested for the caller’s fictitious 25-year-old-brother who had suffered a bucket-handle meniscus tear. Each office was called twice to assess the ease of obtaining an appointment: once for patients with Medicaid and once for patients with private insurance. For each call, data pertaining to whether an appointment was given, wait times, and barriers to receiving an appointment were recorded. Results: A total of 177 surgeons were called within the study period. Overall, 27.1% of offices scheduled an appointment for a patient with Medicaid, compared with 91.2% (P < .0001) for a patient with private insurance. Medicaid patients were significantly more likely to be denied an appointment due to lack of referral compared with private patients (40.2% vs 3.7%, P < .0001), and Medicaid patients were more likely to experience longer wait times for an appointment (15 vs 12 days, P < .029). No significant differences were found in patients’ access to orthopaedic surgery sports medicine specialists between Medicaid-expanded and -nonexpanded states. Medicaid reimbursement for knee arthroscopy with meniscus repair was not significantly correlated with appointment success rate or patient waiting periods. Conclusion: Despite the passage of the PPACA, patients with Medicaid have reduced access to care. In addition, patients with Medicaid confront more barriers to receiving appointments than patients with private insurance and wait longer for an appointment.
Impact of Systemic Normobaric Short-Term Hypoxia on Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines in Healthy Volunteers.

BACKGROUND Hypoxia has been shown to induce a microvascular inflammation, affect the cell count of different types of immune cells, and influence cytokine production in blood. In the present study, serum levels of different cytokines were investigated to achieve insights into the effect of hypoxia on the balance of inflammation and anti-inflammation. METHODS Pro- (IL-8) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines were measured in an experiment exposing 12 healthy subjects (35 ± 9 yr, 176 ± 7 cm, 73 ± 16 kg, BMI 23 ± 4 kg/m2) to systemic, normobaric hypoxia in a hypoxic chamber. In this chamber oxygen was replaced by nitrogen to reach an oxygen content of 9.9% that is equivalent to an altitude of 5500 m during 7 hours. Serum cytokine concentrations were analyzed using ELISA. RESULTS As expected, a significant decrease in peripheral oxygen saturation accompanied by a significant increase in breathing frequency and heart rate were observed in the subjects during hypoxia compared to baseline (BL). Blood leukocytes increased slightly, but significantly in the course of hypoxia. A statistically significant increase was measured for IL-8 serum level during hypoxia compared to the baseline measurements (BL 12.0 ± 1.1 pg/mL, hypoxia 16.2 ± 1.6 pg/mL, p = 0.006). For IL-10 a statistically significant decrease was measured upon hypoxia compared to baseline (BL 11.6 [6.2 - 43.31 pg/mL, hypoxia 8.3 [4.4 - 26.6] pg/mL, p = 0.016). Additionally, a significant inverse correlation was found comparing the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 with the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 (r = -0.69, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study demonstrate a hypoxia-induced increase in pro- and decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines reflecting an increased pro-inflammatory status during hypoxia.
Hirschsprung disease and use of calretinin in inadequate rectal suction biopsies.

CONTEXT Up to 17% of all rectal suction biopsies performed in the evaluation of Hirschsprung disease are considered inadequate. In most instances, inadequate biopsies contain too little submucosa or are taken within the anal transition zone. OBJECTIVES To examine the utility of calretinin stain in the workup of inadequate biopsies for patients with clinical suspicion of Hirschsprung disease. DESIGN A retrospective analysis was conducted of all rectal suction biopsies performed in the evaluation of Hirschsprung disease during the previous 12 years that were considered "inadequate. " Seventeen cases were identified, and Hirschsprung disease status was determined by clinical or surgical follow-up. Immunohistochemistry for calretinin was performed for all cases containing columnar mucosa, which were evaluated without knowledge of clinical course. RESULTS All 12 patients without Hirschsprung disease had calretinin-positive nerve fibers in the lamina propria or muscularis mucosae, and all 5 patients with Hirschsprung disease had no calretinin staining of nerves. CONCLUSIONS In this retrospective series, calretinin immunohistochemistry correctly predicted outcome in all instances. Although the gold standard for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease in rectal suction biopsies remains the evaluation of ganglion cells in a hematoxylin-eosin staining with sufficient submucosa, calretinin immunohistochemistry is quite helpful in triaging further workup based on clinical suspicion.
On‐Body Injector: An administration device for pegfilgrastim

&NA; Many chemotherapy regimens used today require the support of a granulocyte‐colony‐stimulating factor for the prevention of life‐threatening neutropenia. In March 2015, a delivery method was introduced for Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim) through an on‐body injector (Onpro®), which may eliminate the need for patients to return for injection after chemotherapy, increase workflow, and allow more patients to be seen. The purpose of this study was to monitor the implementation of the Onpro delivery system in an outpatient facility. AT A GLANCEThe administration of pegfilgrastim via an on‐body injector is a safe and effective alternative to manual injections.The use of on‐body injectors is associated with high patient satisfaction.Patient use of on‐body injectors has improved nursing unit workflow.
The impact of supervisors' cognitive styles on the quality of research supervision in management education.

BACKGROUND An aspect of teaching and learning that has been seriously overlooked in higher education is the process of research supervision. High failure rates for research dissertations in the social sciences have been partly attributed to student dissatisfaction with supervision and poor student-supervisor relationships. One personality variable that has been shown to be partly responsible for shaping the effectiveness of supervisory relationships is cognitive style. AIMS The study examined the effects of supervisor cognitive style on the quality of supervision for students undertaking a research project in the field of management education. SAMPLE Both parties in each of 118 supervisor-student dyads within a university business school in the UK participated in the study. METHOD Data were collected using the Cognitive Style Index to measure subjects on the analytic-intuitive dimension of cognitive style. A self-developed Thurstone attitude scale was used to measure students' perceptions of the quality of supervision. The scale's validity was assured by making extensive use of subjects' (N = 100) judgments from the population of interest in the scale's development. A second parallel scale was developed to test the instrument's reliability characteristics. RESULTS Findings revealed that students perceived the quality of supervision to increase significantly with the degree to which supervisors were analytic in their cognitive style. Students whose supervisors were more analytic also achieved significantly higher grades for their dissertations. CONCLUSIONS Whilst there may be many factors influencing interpersonal relationships of this nature, this study demonstrated the potential relevance of cognitive style, which may prove to be a fertile area for further investigation.
Response of laying hens to dietary flaxseed levels on performance , egg quality criteria , fatty acid composition of egg and some blood parameters

This work was performed to study the effect of providing laying hens with various levels of locally produced flaxseed (FS) on the production performance, egg quality criteria, fatty acid composition and some blood parameters. In this experiment, a total of 144 Hi-sex laying hens of 40 weeks of age were used in which divided randomly into four treatment groups and fed different diets containing 0, 5, 10 or 15% FS for twelve weeks. All birds received water and diets ad libitum and were under hygienic control. The results showed that feeding diet supplemented with FS to laying hens resulted in significant increase in egg production (EP), egg mass (EM) and feed intake (FI), whereas, egg yolk and shell percentage were not significantly different. However, albumen percentage was increased compared to the control group. But, a significant decrease in shell thickness, also egg yolk and shell percentage decreased. Adding FS to hen diets significantly increased omega-3 fatty acid in egg yolks compared to the control diet. Also, the omega-3 diets decreased the saturated the palmitic fatty acid content and increased the linolenic fatty acid content. However, FS containing diets significantly decreased the serum cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations. The serum cholesterol level of hens fed diets containing (15% FS) was lower than the control group. In conclusion, the dietary FS can be valuable additive to the layer diets, did not affect the laying performance and egg quality criteria adversely, improved unsaturated fatty acid content of the egg yolk and reduced the cholesterol of egg, so it possible to obtain yolk with amount of beneficial fatty acids by adding FS in the laying diets.
Endosome maturation Jatta Huotari

Being deeply connected to signalling, cell dynamics, growth, regulation, and defence, endocytic processes are linked to almost all aspects of cell life and disease. In this review, we focus on endosomes in the classical endocytic pathway, and on the programme of changes that lead to the formation and maturation of late endosomes/multivesicular bodies. The maturation programme entails a dramatic transformation of these dynamic organelles disconnecting them functionally and spatially from early endosomes and preparing them for their unidirectional role as a feeder pathway to lysosomes. The EMBO Journal (2011) 30, 3481–3500. doi:10.1038/emboj.2011. 286 Subject Categories: membranes & transport
An Evaluation of United Kingdom Environmental Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Risk Assessment

Abstract As a member of the group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been causally associated with a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. Given the many uncertainties on the transmission and persistence of TSE pathogens in the environment, quantitative assessment of risks to humans and animals continues to remain a public health issue. This paper reviews quantitative BSE risk assessments undertaken in the United Kingdom since 1997 to address the potential for human exposure and theoretical health risks through environmental pathways. The review focuses on how model assumptions and methodology may influence the results.
Experimentally Induced Empathy Does Not Affect Monetarily Incentivized Dictator Game Behavior

In a monetarily incentivized Dictator Game we expected Dictators’ empathy towards the Recipients to cause more pro-social allocations. Empathy was experimentally induced via a commonly used perspective taking task. Dictators (N = 476) were instructed to split an endowment of 10€ between themselves and an unknown Recipient. They could split the money 8/2 (8€ for Dictator, 2€ for Recipient) or 5/5 (5€ each). Although the empathy manipulation successfully increased Dictators’ feelings of empathy towards the Recipients, Dictators’ decisions on how to split the money were not affected. We had ample statistical power (above .99) to detect a typical social psychology effect (corresponding to r around .20). Other possible determinants of generosity in the Dictator Game should be investigated.