Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Joint Resource Allocation for Parallel Multi-Radio Access in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Heterogeneous wireless networks where several systems with different bands coexist for multimedia service are currently in service and will be widely adopted to support various traffic demand. Under heterogeneous networks, a mobile station can transmit over multiple and simultaneous radio access technologies (RATs) such as WLAN, HSPA, and WCDMA LTE. Also, cognitive radio for the efficient use of underutilized/unused frequency band is successfully implemented in some networks. In this letter, we address such operational issues as air interface and band selection for a mobile and power allocation to the chosen links. An optimal solution is sought and analyzed and a distributed joint allocation algorithm is proposed to maximize total system capacity. We investigate the benefit of multiple transmissions by multiple RATs over a single transmission by a single RAT at a time, which can be interpreted as network diversity. Numerical results validate the performance enhancement of our proposed algorithm.
Ki‐ras mutation type and the survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in Dukes' C colorectal cancer

Ki‐ras mutations are associated with an increased risk of relapse and death in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, with some mutations being more aggressive than others. The present study examined the predictive value of different Ki‐ras mutation types in a retrospective series of 430 Dukes' C stage CRC patients, of whom 208 (48%) had received adjuvant chemotherapy with 5‐fluorouracil/levamisole or 5‐fluorouracil/leucovorin. A total of 140 mutations were detected, the majority (58%, 81/140) being glycine to aspartate mutations in codons 12 and 13. Glycine to valine mutations in codon 12 (14%, 20/140) and other less frequent, non‐specified mutation types (28%, 39/140) accounted for the remaining mutations. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that both Ki‐ras wild‐type and mutant patient groups derived significant survival benefit from chemotherapy. However, when patients were stratified according to the type of mutation, those with non‐aspartate mutations appeared to gain more benefit from this treatment than those with aspartate mutations. Multivariate analysis that included other possible predictive factors in Dukes' C CRC (tumour site, patient sex, TP53 mutation) demonstrated that non‐aspartate mutations in particular were associated with a significant survival benefit from chemotherapy (HR=0.11, 95% CI: 0.04–0.30, p<0.001). These results suggest that the type of Ki‐ras mutation could be a clinically useful molecular marker for the identification of CRC subgroups that are likely to benefit from 5‐fluorouracil‐based adjuvant chemotherapy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Torsade de Pointes Tachycardia in a Patient on Dronedarone Therapy

Dronedarone is a promising, relatively new antiarrhythmic agent characterized by structural similarities to amiodarone but without amiodarone's severe organ toxicity. The proarrhythmic potential of dronedarone, however, is of increasing concern. We describe a 76‐year‐old woman who had been receiving dronedarone 400 mg twice/day to prevent recurrent atrial tachycardia with rapid ventricular response. Several months later, she came to the emergency department with decompensated congestive heart failure and episodes of atrial tachycardia; digoxin 0.5 mg and furosemide 40 mg were administered intravenously. Thereafter nonsustained torsade de pointes (TdP) tachycardia occurred. She was transferred to the intensive care unit where a dose of amiodarone 150 mg was administered intravenously by mistake. Thereafter, the patient showed sustained TdP necessitating cardiac resuscitation. Dronedarone was discontinued, and digoxin and amiodarone were not administered again. Under dronedarone a relevant QT prolongation was documented that was additionally augmented after concomitant treatment with digoxin and amiodarone. Use of the Naranjo adverse drug reaction probability scale indicated a probable adverse drug reaction to dronedarone (score of 7). To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a patient who experienced TdP tachycardias while receiving dronedarone therapy in connection with a worsening of heart failure and possible drug interactions with digoxin and amiodarone. Clinicians should be aware of this potential adverse drug reaction and perform repeated heart rate–corrected QT (QTc) interval measurements as well as screening for congestive heart failure in patients receiving dronedarone therapy.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, trace elements, and monooxygenase activity in birds nesting on the North Platte River, Casper, Wyoming, USA

Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) and house wren (Troglodytes aedon) eggs and chicks were collected near a refinery site on the North Platte River, Casper, Wyoming, USA and at a reference site 10 km upstream. Total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in swallow and wren chicks were higher at the refinery site than at the reference site. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in sediment and chick dietary samples were consistent with these findings. The general lack of methylated PAHs in sediment, diet, and bird carcasses suggested that the PAHs were derived from combustion and not from petroleum. The predominance of odd‐numbered aliphatic hydrocarbons and the low ratios (≤0.25) of pristane:n‐C17 and phytane:n‐C18 in chick and diet samples also suggested that swallow and wren chicks were not being chronically exposed to petroleum. Mean ethoxyresorufin‐O‐dealkylase and benzyloxyresorufin‐O‐dealkylase activities in tree swallow livers averaged nine times higher at the refinery site than at the reference site and were probably induced by exposure to PAHs. Trace element concentrations in eggs and livers of swallows and wrens were similar or greater at the reference site than at the refinery site. Selenium, strontium, and boron concentrations were elevated in eggs and livers of swallows and wrens at both the refinery and reference sites.
3′,4′‐Dihydroxyflavonol down‐regulates monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 in smooth muscle: role of focal adhesion kinase and PDGF receptor signalling

Background and purpose: We investigated the effects of a synthetic flavonol, 3′,4′‐dihydroxyflavonol (DiOHF) on the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1) in rat vascular smooth muscle cells.
Processing of hydrophobic pulmonary surfactant protein B in rat type II cells.

The amino acid sequence of surfactant protein B (SP-B), derived from human genomic and cDNA sequences, indicates that the active polypeptide is contained within the sequence of a preproprotein of 381 residues. Synthesis of mature SP-B, which requires proteolytic processing at both the NH2- and COOH-termini of the proprotein, was studied in primary cultures of rat alveolar type II epithelial cells. Type II cells were pulse labeled with [35S]methionine-cysteine for 15-30 min and chased for 0-18 h. SP-B proprotein (Mr = 42,000) accumulated in the medium at early time points but declined at later time points suggesting extracellular proteolysis of the proprotein. In contrast, surfactant protein A (SP-A), another surfactant protein, continued to accumulate extracellularly during this time period. A proteolytic fragment of SP-B (Mr = 25,000) accumulated in the medium with a slightly slower time course, consistent with extracellular proteolysis of the proprotein. Intracellular processing of SP-B was also detected. SP-B polypeptides of Mr 8,000 and 12,000 were detected intracellularly and in the medium at late time points. These forms of SP-B (Mr = 8,000 and 12,000) comigrated in two-dimensional isoelectric-focusing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with mature SP-B isolated from rat alveolar lavage fluid. The mature form of SP-B (Mr = 8,000), but not the Mr 42,000 and 25,000 SP-B precursors, was also detected in lamellar bodies isolated from rat lung homogenates. These experiments demonstrate complete proteolytic processing of prepro-SP-B to the alveolar Mr 8,000 form by type II epithelial cells in vitro. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Teach to Comply? Evidence from a Taxpayer Education Programme in Rwanda

The role of taxpayer education in improving tax compliance has been largely unexplored in the literature. This paper starts to fill this gap by providing the first rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of taxpayer education on knowledge, perceptions, and compliance, which took place in Rwanda. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset that combines administrative and survey data. We show that taxpayer education results in significant and large increases in knowledge, which starts from a very low level at baseline, and that it contributes to improving compliance behaviour. Our strongest result is that training new taxpayers helps bring them into the habit of filing tax declarations â€“ an obligation many fail to comply with. In terms of policy, our results show that the benefits of taxpayer education go beyond increased revenue in the short term, and include building a habit of tax compliance.
Characterization of the O‐antigen gene clusters of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and the cryptic O‐antigen gene cluster of Yersinia pestis shows that the plague bacillus is most closely related to and has evolved from Y. pseudotuberculosis serotype O:1b

One of the most virulent and feared bacterial pathogens is Yersinia pestis, the aetiologic agent of bubonic plague. Characterization of the O‐antigen gene clusters of 21 serotypes of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and the cryptic O‐antigen gene cluster of Y. pestis showed that the plague bacillus is most closely related to and has evolved from Y. pseudotuberculosis serotype O:1b. The nucleotide sequences of both gene clusters (about 20.5 kb each) were determined and compared to identify the differences that caused the silencing of the Y. pestis gene cluster. At the nucleotide sequence level, the loci were 98.9% identical and, of the 17 biosynthetic genes identified from the O:1b gene cluster, five were inactivated in the Y. pestis cluster, four by insertions or deletions of one nucleotide and one by a deletion of 62 nucleotides. Apparently, the expression of the O‐antigen is not beneficial for the virulence or to the lifestyle of Y. pestis and, therefore, as one step in the evolution of Y. pestis, the O‐antigen gene cluster was inactivated.
Does preoperative transbronchial biopsy worsen the postsurgical prognosis of lung cancer? A propensity score-adjusted analysis.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Our aim was to clarify the hypothesis that the postsurgical prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) proven by preoperative diagnostic transbronchial biopsy (TBLB) was worse than that of the patients with NSCLC determined at the time of surgery. DESIGN We entered the propensity score as a continuous variable in the Cox proportional hazards model, along with the success/failure of TBLB and other covariates that were adjusted for the bias inherent to the success/failure of the TBLB examination. PATIENTS Five hundred ninety-nine consecutive patients with NSCLC undergoing complete resection were divided into two groups. Pathologic diagnosis by TBLB was preoperatively determined in patients belonging to group 1 (n = 367). TBLB was unsuccessful and exploratory thoracotomy or thoracoscopy was followed by surgical resection in patients belonging to group 2 (n = 232). The overall recurrence-free survival rate was examined as the surgical outcomes. RESULTS The postsurgical recurrence-free rate was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1. Group 2 patients showed better prognosis than group 1 patients, even when the data between the two groups were adjusted by propensity score. When the groups were subdivided by the pathologic stage of disease, the subgroup consisting of group 2 patients with stage IA and IB lung cancer still showed a higher recurrence-free rate than those in group 1 by propensity score analysis. CONCLUSIONS The postsurgical prognosis of the patients with NSCLC was significantly better if the preoperative TBLB was unsuccessful. This result suggested that advanced NSCLC had a tendency to be diagnosed with TBLB and, possibly, that the TBLB procedure might worsen the prognosis of patients with resectable NSCLC. We suggest that intraoperative diagnosis followed by the consecutive resection of NSCLC may be beneficial for improving the surgical outcomes of NSCLC patients.
Successful granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor treatment of Crohn's disease is associated with the appearance of circulating interleukin‐10‐producing T cells and increased lamina propria plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) has proved to be a successful therapy for some patients with Crohn's disease. Given the known ability of G‐CSF to exert anti‐T helper 1 effects and to induce interleukin (IL)‐10‐secreting regulatory T cells, we studied whether clinical benefit from G‐CSF therapy in active Crohn's disease was associated with decreased inflammatory cytokine production and/or increased regulatory responses. Crohn's patients were treated with G‐CSF (5 µg/kg/day subcutaneously) for 4 weeks and changes in cell phenotype, cytokine production and dendritic cell subsets were measured in the peripheral blood and colonic mucosal biopsies using flow cytometry, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and immunocytochemistry. Crohn's patients who achieved a clinical response or remission based on the decrease in the Crohn's disease activity index differed from non‐responding patients in several important ways: at the end of treatment, responding patients had significantly more CD4+ memory T cells producing IL‐10 in the peripheral blood; they also had a greatly enhanced CD123+ plasmacytoid dendritic cell infiltration of the lamina propria. Interferon‐γ production capacity was not changed significantly except in non‐responders, where it increased. These data show that clinical benefit from G‐CSF treatment in Crohn's disease is accompanied by significant induction of IL‐10 secreting T cells as well as increases in plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the lamina propria of the inflamed gut mucosa.
Modulation of Graves' orbital fibroblast proliferation by cytokines and glucocorticoid receptor agonists.

PURPOSE Paracrine/autocrine interactions between orbital fibroblasts (OF) and infiltrating lymphocytes/macrophages are thought to play a central role in the evolution of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO). Compounds capable of stimulating the proliferation and synthetic capacities of OF may be of particular importance to these processes, because fibroblasts are known to both produce and respond to certain paracrine factors. METHODS The effects of interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-2, interleukin-4, interleukin-6, insulin-like growth factor I, transforming growth factor beta, and platelet-derived growth factor on OF monolayers derived from orbital fatty connective tissue and extraocular muscle endomysium of patients with severe GO undergoing orbital decompression (n = 3), and from connective tissue of normal persons (n = 3) were investigated. Stimulation of proliferation in growth-arrested OF was determined using immunocytochemical staining for the cell-proliferation-related nuclear antigen recognized by a monoclonal anti-Ki 67 antibody. In addition, the effects of OF coincubation with one of the aforementioned compounds and hydrocortisone (10(-7) M), the selective glucocorticoid receptor agonist RU 28362 (10(-7) M), or the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU 38486 (10(-7) M) were assessed. RESULTS Under baseline conditions (0.1% fetal bovine serum), the proportion of proliferating cells was significantly higher in GO-OF compared with normal OF (p < 0.001). Significant stimulation of GO-OF proliferation was observed with interleukin-1 alpha (10 U/ml), interleukin-4 (1 ng/ml), insulin-like growth factor I (10 ng/ml), transforming growth factor beta (10 ng/ml), platelet-derived growth factor (1 ng/ml), and 1% or 15% fetal bovine serum (all P < 0.01), but not with interleukin-2 (10 U/ml) and interleukin-6 (100 U/ml). Compared with GO-OF, proliferation of normal OF was stimulated by fetal bovine serum to a similar degree, by interleukin-4, insulin-like growth factor I, transforming growth factor beta, and platelet-derived growth factor to a significantly lesser degree (all P < 0.01), and was unaffected by interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-2, and interleukin-6. Compared with normal OF, either glucocorticoid receptor agonists, but not testosterone or progesterone, specifically inhibited the cytokine-stimulated proliferation of GO-OF to a significantly greater degree (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The enhanced proliferative capacity of GO-OF at baseline and in response to certain cytokines could play a role in the evolution of the clinical manifestations in GO. Inhibition of cytokine-activated cellular functions may be one mechanism by which glucocorticosteroids exert clinically useful effects in GO.
A Unified Approach to Optimum Frame Synchronization

In this paper, we present a unified approach for optimum frame synchronization where the observed symbols are modeled as the output of a Markov chain corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). This model encompasses many different frame synchronization situations e.g., convolutionally coded transmissions and nonlinear modulations with memory, such as continuous-phase modulation. The proposed frame synchronizer is implemented with trellis path search used for Markov chain decoding and provides better performance than conventional synchronizers because it is able to exploit coding gain. The proposed synchronizer includes many previously proposed synchronizers either as special cases or as suboptimal approximations. The numerical results show the performance gain of the proposed frame synchronizer for convolutional codes with linear modulation, transmission over known intersymbol-interference channels, and nonlinear continuous-phase modulation signals. The proposed frame synchronizer is derived for the case of continuous transmission but may also be applied to certain packet transmission scenarios
Variations in matrix metalloproteinase-1, -3, and -9 genes and the risk of acute coronary syndrome and coronary artery disease in the Chinese Han population

ObjectivesMatrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a group of endopeptidases involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and MMP gene polymorphisms may contribute toward the risk of coronary heart disease. Within this context, our aim was to examine whether MMP1, MMP3, and MMP9 gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or angiographic coronary artery disease (CAD). MethodsThe MMP1 −519 A/G, MMP3 −1171 5A/6A, and MMP9 −1562 C/T polymorphisms were evaluated in 1574 individuals. Genotypes of patients with ACS (n=660) and angiographically defined CAD (n=382) were compared with ACS-free (n=914) and non-CAD controls (n=466). ResultsThe MMP3 5A allele occurred at a higher frequency in patients with ACS than in ACS-free individuals (P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the 5A/5A genotype of MMP3 was associated with a significantly increased risk of ACS [adjusted odds ratio (OR)=2.297, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.105–4.775, P=0.026, 5A/5A vs. 6A/6A]. The CT and TT variant genotypes of MMP9 were associated with the occurrence of CAD (adjusted OR=1.425, 95% CI=1.045–1.943, P=0.025, CT+TT vs. CC). None of the MMP1 −519 A/G polymorphisms was associated with ACS or CAD. Because of linkage disequilibrium, MMP1 and MMP3 polymorphisms were combined on chromosome 11q22.3, and the 5A−1171-G−519 haplotype had a genetic risk factor for ACS (OR=1.505, 95% CI=1.219–1.857, P=0.00013), whereas the 6A−1171-G−519 haplotype had a decreased risk of ACS (OR=0.815, 95% CI=0.677–0.981, P=0.03). ConclusionTaken together, the present findings indicate that genetic variations in MMP3 and MMP9 genes may be useful genetic markers for determining susceptibility to CAD in the Chinese Han population.
Anesthesia induced in pigs by use of a combination of medetomidine, butorphanol, and ketamine and its reversal by administration of atipamezole.

OBJECTIVE To develop an IM administrable anesthetic combination for pigs. DESIGN Use of a combination of atropine, medetomidine, butorphanol, and ketamine (MB-K) was evaluated as an anesthetic regimen and compared with that of a combination of atropine, xylazine, butorphanol, and ketamine (XB-K). Cardiorespiratory effects of MB-K combination and use of atipamezole as a means of reversing anesthesia induced by MB-K were examined. ANIMALS 18 castrated, mixed-breed, specific-pathogenfree pigs, aged 8 to 15 (mean, 12.1) weeks and weighing 14.5 to 26.0 (mean, 19.6) kg. were studied. PROCEDURE Dosages of drugs used in this study were atropine, 25 micrograms/kg of body weight; medetomidine, 80 micrograms/kg; xylazine, 2 mg/kg; butorphanol, 200 micrograms/kg; ketamine, 10 mg/kg; and atipamezole, 240 micrograms/kg. RESULTS MB-K combination proved to be more effective than XB-K combination as an anesthetic combination. After quick and smooth induction by IM administration, MB-K-induced anesthesia was sustained for 98.8 +/- 22.5 minutes (mean +/- SD, 47.4 +/- 16.5 minutes by XB-K) with accompanying muscular relaxation (91 +/- 18 minutes) and loss of pedal (82 +/- 24 minutes) and laryngeal (75 +/- 19 minutes) reflexes. Loss of these reflexes was of significantly longer duration than the loss induced by XB-K, enabled tracheal intubation, and, thus, supported major surgery for at least 30 minutes after induction. Recovery from MB-K-induced anesthesia was smooth. MB-K combination had a slight stimulative effect on cardiovascular status, and a significant depressant effect on blood gas and acid-base status, but these effects were within biologically acceptable limits. Oxygen consumption of pigs under MB-K-induced anesthesia decreased significantly. MB-K-induced anesthesia could be effectively and quickly reversed by IM or IV administration of atipamezole. CONCLUSIONS The combination of medetomidine, butorphanol, and ketamine induces excellent surgical anesthesia in pigs, and results in moderate cardiorespiratory effects. A great advantage of the anesthetic regimen is that it can be effectively and quickly reversed by atipamezole. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Medetomidine, butorphanol, and ketamine-induced anesthesia is available for short-term major surgery in pigs.
Accuracy of prehospital focused abdominal sonography for trauma after a 1-day hands-on training course

Objectives To establish a training course for Prehospital Focused Abdominal Sonography for Trauma (P-FAST) and to evaluate the accuracy of the participants after the course and at the trauma scene. Methods A training programme was developed to provide medical staff with the skills needed to perform P-FAST. In order to evaluate the accuracy of P-FAST performed by the students, nine participants (five emergency doctors and four paramedics) were followed during their course and in practice after the course. An assessment was made of 200 ultrasound procedures performed during the course in healthy volunteers and in patients with peritoneal dialysis or ascites. Regular P-FAST performed on-scene by the participants commenced immediately following the course. The results for the nine participants (C-group, course group) were compared with those members of medical staff with more than 3 years of experience in FAST (P-group, professional group). A group of physicians untrained in P-FAST served as a control (I-group, indifferent group). P-FAST findings were further verified by subsequent FAST and CT scans in the emergency department. Results After the training programme the C-group performed 39 P-FAST procedures without any false negative or false positive findings (100% accuracy). In the P-group, 112 procedures were performed with one false positive case. In the I-group there were 2 false negative cases among the 46 procedures performed. Conclusion Following completion of a 1-day P-FAST course, participants were able to perform ultrasound procedures at the scene of an accident with a high level of accuracy.