Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disparities in the Use of Programmed Death 1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

Amid growing excitement for immune checkpoint inhibitors of programmed death protein 1 (anti-PD1 agents), little is known about whether race- or sex-based disparities exist in their use. In this observational study, we constructed a large and mostly community-based cohort of patients with advanced stage cancers, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell carcinoma, to compare the odds of receiving systemic treatment with or without anti-PD1 agents by race and by sex. In multivariable models that adjusted for age, stage, and number of prior anticancer therapies, we found no significant race-based disparities in anti-PD1 treatment. However, among patients with NSCLC, males had significantly higher odds of receiving anti-PD1 treatment compared with females (odds ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.24, p = .02). This finding suggests that as anti-PD1 agents enter the market to transform patient care, it will be critical to monitor for disparities in the use of these drugs.
Ultrashort electromagnetic waves IV — Guided propagation

When Doctor S. A. Schelkunoff presented the material contained in this article as a lecture before the basic science group of the New York Section, he remarked that it was “nonmathematical. ” Certainly the electrical engineer will welcome any concept which allows an easier approach to the solution of certain problems involved in wave guides than the more complete equivalent field-theory method. In this fourth article in a series of six on ultrashort electromagnetic waves, Doctor Schelkunoff combines transmission-line theory with optical analogy and derives useful relations for both wave guides and cavity resonators. The three preceding articles appeared in the March, April, and May issues of “Electrical Engineering. ”
Digital Coding of Color Video Signals - A Review

This paper reviews the field of the efficient coding of color television signals. Because this paper is perhaps the first review on this topic, some background is given in the areas of colorimetry, visual perception of color and color television systems. We assume that the reader has some familiarity with luminance encoding techniques. Coding techniques themselves are divided into two broad groups: component coding methods in which each component (usually three) is coded separately, and composite coding methods in which the composite television signal with its "color" modulated subcarrier is processed as a single entity. Both approaches are covered in detail. The field is still growing, pushed primarily by the desire in the television area to find digital coding standards accepted by both broadcasters and carriers and suitable for use with NTSC, PAL and SECAM television systems. We discuss this aspect by comparing composite and component coding methods.
Effects of Exercise on Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-Third Edition Performance in Women.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a brief exercise protocol on Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-Third Edition (SCAT3) performance in amateur women athletes. DESIGN Cross-over repeated-measures design. SETTING Off-season, uninjured community amateur athletes. PARTICIPANTS We examined 87 amateur women athlete volunteers (age = 29.9, SD = 6.9 years). INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Participants were assessed using the SCAT3 under 2 conditions: at rest and after a 5-minute physical exertion protocol, completed in a counterbalanced order. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Participants' performance on the various components of the SCAT3 under the 2 conditions: at rest and after a 5-minute physical exertion protocol. RESULTS No significant differences were detected between at-rest and postexercise conditions for the balance, orientation, or cognitive components of the SCAT3. There were no significant differences in the proportion of participants who endorsed specific symptoms at rest compared with the postexercise condition (P > 0.05). However, women athletes who rated their exertion after exercise as "hard" or greater (Borg scale rating 13-20) reported significantly greater blurred vision (M = 0.25, SD = 0.62 vs M = 0.00, SD = 0.00; P = 0.006) and fatigue/low energy (M = 1.38, SD = 1.17 vs M = 0.66, SD = 0.91; P = 0.002) symptoms after exercise than those who rated their exertion as "light" or lower (Borg scale rating 6-12). CONCLUSIONS In this study of women athletes, a brief bout of exercise did not seem to adversely affect SCAT3 performance and had only small effects on self-reported symptoms. There were differences in symptom reporting, however, in the subgroup of women who rated their exertion levels as "hard" or greater; they reported more blurred vision and fatigue/low energy.
Error Probability for Multipath Fading - The "Slow and Flat" Idealization

The ideal slow and flat fading model, consisting of any number of multipaths, is revisited. In this model the assignment of specular and scatter components is arbitrary. The additive disturbance need not be Gaussian noise, certain random distortions in the receiver are permitted, and the digital system and the modems are not restricted. Under these assumptions alternative error probability relations are given between the fading and nonfading signals. Their application to practical cases is straightforward. General performance bounds are also derived which are simple functions of the specular and scatter energy ratio in the multipath signal.
Characteristic morphological changes in anti‐VEGF therapy‐induced glomerular microangiopathy

Agents targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have increasingly been used for the treatment of advanced malignancies, and have been found to induce renal thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and proteinuria. However, histomorphological changes in human biopsies in this setting and the underlying mechanism are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we collected renal biopsy cases with a history of aVEGF therapy to review and compare morphological kidney changes in this context.
Coupling of Modes in Helixes

Propagation on a. helix as a function of frequency is characterized by ranges in which there is a slow wave which can be explained as very nearly a transverse electromagnetic wave traveling along the wire, and ranges in which the helix does not propagate; these are associated with "forbidden regions" of propagation constant pointed out by Sensiper. Each mode of propagation consists of an infinite number of spatial Fourier components called spatial harmonics. The complicated behavior with frequency of the modes of a helix is explained as an effect of the coupling through spatial harmonics of the slow wave which travels with about the velocity of light along the wire to fast free-space or waveguide waves which travel with about the velocity of light along the axis. The qualitative effects of such coupling agree with a tape-helix analysis of helixes in free space and helixes surrounded by a conducting tube. The case of the bifflar helix is also treated.
Postgraduate training in psychiatry in Asia

Purpose of review To understand the current situation, needs and challenges in the area of postgraduate training in psychiatry in Asia and identify implementable solutions. Leaders in psychiatric education from nine Asia Pacific countries prepared country reports, based on a suggested list of items and met for a day to discuss and identify implementable solutions to improve the current unsatisfactory status of postgraduate training in psychiatry. Recent findings Except Japan, all the other countries have a very low number of psychiatrists per 100 000 population – far lower than the global target of 10 psychiatrist per 100 000 population. The undergraduate teaching in psychiatry in majority of the countries is restricted to 20 h of lectures given during the 4–6 semester and 2–3 weeks of clinical ward placements. The duration as well as the overall quality of postgraduate training and methods of assessment and accreditation varies widely across and within countries. Summary Numerous gaps that need to be addressed to enhance the quality of psychiatrists trained in Asia were identified. There is a need to have uniform minimum standards of training and mechanisms of mutual support, for not only training but also academics and research activities in Asia.
Envelope and phase distribution of a resonance transmission through a complex environment

A transmission amplitude is considered for quantum or wave transport mediated by a single resonance coupled to the background of many chaotic states. Such a model provides a useful approach to quantify fluctuations in an established signal induced by a complex environment. Applying random matrix theory to the problem, we derive an exact result for the joint distribution of the transmission intensity (envelope) and the transmission phase at arbitrary coupling to the background with finite absorption. The intensity and phase are distributed within a certain region, revealing essential correlations even at strong absorption. In the latter limit, we obtain a simple asymptotic expression that provides a uniformly good approximation of the exact distribution within its whole support, thus going beyond the Rician distribution often used for such purposes. Exact results are also derived for the marginal distribution of the phase, including its limiting forms at weak and strong absorption.
Strategic Location-Based Random Routing for Source Location Privacy in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are deployed in sensitive applications, such as in military and asset monitoring. In these applications, it is important to ensure good source location privacy. This is owing to the open nature of WSNs and the easiness of an adversary to eavesdrop on sensor communication and back trace the location of the source node. This paper proposes a scheme to preserve the source location privacy based on random routing techniques. To achieve high privacy, packets are randomly routed from the source to the sink node through strategically positioned mediate or diversion nodes. The random selection of mediate or diversion nodes is location-based. Depending on the location of the source node, packets are forwarded through different regions of the network. The proposed scheme guarantees that successive packets are routed through very different routing paths and adversaries find it confusing to back trace them to the source node location. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme effectively confuses the adversary and provides higher source location privacy to outperform other routing-based source location privacy schemes.
A Multilevel Analysis of Perceived Noise Pollution, Geographic Contexts and Mental Health in Beijing

With rapid urbanization and increase in car ownership, ambient noise pollution resulting from diversified sources (e.g., road traffic, railway, commercial services) has become a severe environmental problem in the populated areas in China. However, research on the spatial variation of noise pollution and its potential effects on urban residents’ mental health has to date been quite scarce in developing countries like China. Using a health survey conducted in Beijing in 2017, we for the first time investigated the spatial distributions of multiple noise pollution perceived by residents in Beijing, including road traffic noise, railway (or subway) noise, commercial noise, and housing renovation (or construction) noise. Our results indicate that there is geographic variability in noise pollution at the neighborhood scale, and road traffic and housing renovation/construction are the principal sources of noise pollution in Beijing. We then employed Bayesian multilevel logistic models to examine the associations between diversified noise pollution and urban residents’ mental health symptoms, including anxiety, stress, fatigue, headache, and sleep disturbance, while controlling for a wide range of confounding factors such as socio-demographics, objective built environment characteristics, social environment and geographic context. The results show that perceived higher noise-pollution exposure is significantly associated with worse mental health, while physical environment variables seem to contribute little to variations in self-reported mental disorders, except for proximity to the main road. Social factors or socio-demographic attributes, such as age and income, are significant covariates of urban residents’ mental health, while the social environment (i.e., community attachment) and housing satisfaction are significantly correlated with anxiety and stress. This study provides empirical evidence on the noise-health relationships in the Chinese context and sheds light on the policy implications for environmental pollution mitigation and healthy city development in China.
Research on a Research Department: An Analysis of Economic Decisions on Projects

A case study was made of the way in which economic analyses were carried out on research and development projects in a medium-sized company. The flow diagram for a typical research project is presented. Interviews with key executives in the company and the analysis of a number of discontinued or unsuccessful projects provided data on who made what economic decisions during the life of a project. Several gaps were found in the decision-making procedure and recommendations were made for improvement. A number of new management control forms were developed and adopted by the company.
Graft Regeneration and Functional Recovery in Patients with Early Allograft Dysfunction After Living-Donor Liver Transplantation

Background Successful graft regeneration is important in living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) because partial liver grafts are used. Early allograft dysfunction (EAD) is an intermediate outcome that affects the long-term postoperative course in liver transplantation. The aim of the present study was to investigate liver graft regeneration under EAD development in LDLT. Material/Methods The data of 226 patients who underwent LDLT from September 2010 to July 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into 2 groups: one with and one without EAD. Graft regeneration, functional recovery, and long-term patient survival were compared between the 2 groups. Results The grafts grew more vigorously in the EAD group than in the non-EAD group, as evidenced by the larger absolute (ALV) and relative liver volumes (RLV) of the former on postoperative days (POD) 7 and 21. The median (interquartile range) RLVs of the non-EAD group versus the EAD group were as follows: 55.2 (47.9–65.8) vs. 53.7 (46.6–64.5)% preoperatively, p>0.05; 76.1 (66.9–85.7) vs. 86.7 (73.9–96.8)% on POD 7, p<0.01; 79.6 (69.3–91.2) vs. 93.7 (79.6–101.6)%, p<0.01 on POD 21. In the early postoperative period, hepatic function, measured as total bilirubin and international normalized ratio, was higher in the EAD group; however, after EAD development, graft function recovered in these patients. In the follow-up period, overall patient survival was comparable between the 2 groups. Conclusions The liver grafts of EAD patients steadily regenerated, such that the development of EAD did not affect long-term patient survival after LDLT.
Frequency Stable LC Oscillators

A simple theory of the conditions for oscillation, and of the frequency stability of inductance-capacitance oscillators is evolved from a survey of a number of papers on this subject. As some of these papers appeared in publications which are not readily accessible, some of the material may be new to workers in the United States. The condition for oscillation is shown to depend only upon the mutual conductance of the tube and the impedances, tapped on the tuned circuit, presented to the grid and plate circuits of the tube. For linear operation, the stability depends only on the Q of the controlling circuit, and the ratio of the change of interelectrode capacitance to mutual conductance of the tube, and is independent of the LC ratio. For nonlinear operation, however, the stability depends upon the factors given above and on the LC ratio, being improved when a high LC ratio is used. The best tube for high stability is shown to be the tube having the lowest ratio of interelectrode capacitance change to mutual conductance. For highest possible stability, very low level operation with some form of automatic level control is required. A brief historical chronology is included.
Wnt/β-catenin regulates an ancient signaling network during zebrafish scale development

Understanding how patterning influences cell behaviors to generate three dimensional morphologies is a central goal of developmental biology. Additionally, comparing these regulatory mechanisms among morphologically diverse tissues allows for rigorous testing of evolutionary hypotheses. Zebrafish skin is endowed with a coat of precisely patterned bony scales. We use in-toto live imaging during scale development and manipulations of cell signaling activity to elucidate core features of scale patterning and morphogenesis. These analyses show that scale development requires the concerted activity of Wnt/β-catenin, Ectodysplasin (Eda) and Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) signaling. This regulatory module coordinates Hedgehog (HH) dependent collective cell migration during epidermal invagination, a cell behavior not previously implicated in skin appendage morphogenesis. Our analyses demonstrate the utility of zebrafish scale development as a tractable system in which to elucidate mechanisms of developmental patterning and morphogenesis, and suggest a single, ancient origin of skin appendage patterning mechanisms in vertebrates.
Wireless Chipless System for Humidity Sensing

This work describes a fully wireless sensory system where a chipless strategy is followed in the sensor part. Alternatively, to characterize only the sensing element, we present the response of the reader antenna when the sensing element is placed in its vicinity: changes in the parameter of interest are seen by the reader through inductive coupling, varying its frequency response. The sensing part consists of a LC circuit manufactured by printing techniques on a flexible substrate, whose electrical permittivity shows dependence with the moisture content. The measurement distance show significant differences in the frequency response: a change of 700 kHz is observed when the measurement is performed directly on the wireless chipless sensor between 20% and 80%RH, while this variation in frequency is reduced more than three times when measuring at the reader antenna with 5 mm distance between elements. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of the separation between reader and sensor to get a reliable measuring system.
Amyloid Beta Deposition Could Cause Corneal Epithelial Cell Degeneration Associated with Increasing Apoptosis in APPswePS1 Transgenic Mice

ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate the expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and amyloid beta (Aβ) in cornea and further explore the pathological and ultrastructural changes in corneal epithelium in APPswePS1 transgenic mice. Methods: Twelve wild type mice were grouped into control group and twelve TgAPPswePS1 mice at least 8 months old were grouped into the young experiment group (Tg-8M group), and another twelve transgenic mice at least 15 months old were selected into the aged experiment group (Tg-15M group). The pathological degeneration, ultrastructural changes, and the expression of APP, Aβ deposition, and the TUNEL reaction in corneal epithelial cells were observed. Western blot analysis was performed to determine expression levels of APP and Aβ with scraped epithelial debridement. All the results were quantified and analyzed. Results: In transgenic mice, the H&E-stained cornea sections demonstrated histopathological changes in corneal epithelial cells with irregular arrangement and the number of cell layers decreased, while normal structure observed in controls. In Tg-15M group, the corneal epithelial cell displaced a significant number of intracellular vacuoles with 1–2 cell layers left. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) further confirmed the dramatic degeneration in corneal epithelium, the microvilli suffered degenerative changes and found with typical fingerpoint-like morphology in controls; however, microspike-like in Tg-15M group, and the number of microvilli decreased considerabely. An APP-positive immunoreaction was detected with a diffuse pattern in the corneal epithelial cells layer, about 3.122 ± 0.596 and 7.372 ± 0.936 fold changes in Tg-8M and Tg-15M groups, respectively, as compared with controls. On corneal flatmount, Aβ deposition found a diffuse pattern in the cytoplasm by fluorescence staining in TgAPPswePS1 with significantly increasing as compared with the controls, but no plaque was found. The apoptosis of TUNEL cells were observed in TgAPPswePS1 mice and increased 16.329 ± 3.542 fold changes in Tg-15M group as compared with controls. Conclusion: The APP expression and Aβ deposition might cause cornea epithelial cells degeneration in TgAPPswePS1 mice, associated with apoptosis in basal lamina cells.
Impact of a culturally adapted behavioural family psychoeducational programme in patients with schizophrenia in Egypt

Abstract Objective: To study the effect of a culturally adapted, structured family intervention on symptom severity, medication attitudes and knowledge, social functioning and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: Thirty subjects with schizophrenia were selected to receive 14 sessions of a culturally adapted behavioural family psychoeducational programme (BFPEP). Another 30 subjects received standard treatment as usual (STU) for 6 months. Pre- and post-intervention outcomes were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Drug Attitude Inventory 10-item scale (DAI-10), Quality of Life Scale (QLS) and Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ). Results: There was a no significant difference between BFPEP and STU at baseline on all measures. There was a significant difference (p < .05) between pre- and post-treatment scores for BFPEP on all measures, a significant difference (p < .05) between pre- and post-treatment scores for STU on all measures (favouring pre-treatment scores) and a significant difference (p < .05) favouring BFPEP over STU on all measures post-treatment. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing family therapy psychoeducational interventions in different cultural settings, with relatively minor modifications. This may have implications for mental health policy makers to make available such programmes for patients and mental health professionals.