Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prophylactic use of human leukocyte interferon after allogeneic marrow transplantation.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of prophylactic interferon for prevention of cytomegalovirus infection and relapse of leukemia after allogeneic marrow transplantation. DESIGN Randomized trial with intermittent interferon administration to day 80 after transplantation. SETTING Marrow transplantation units of a cancer research center. PATIENTS Consecutive patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia in remission at the time of transplantation. Thirty-nine patients received interferon, and 40 were control patients. INTERVENTIONS Partially purified human leukocyte interferon given every 3 days beginning after marrow engraftment and continuing to day 80 after transplantation. After initial safety testing, the starting and minimum dose was 6 X 10(4) units/kg of body weight, with dose escalations determined by the circulating neutrophil count. Transplant conditioning and post-transplantation prophylaxis of graft-versus-host disease with methotrexate followed standard procedures. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS No difference was observed in the probability or severity of cytomegalovirus infection or in the probability or severity of graft-versus-host disease. Relapse of leukemia occurred in 9 interferon recipients and 21 control patients, with a minimum follow-up of 4 years among surviving patients. The probability of relapse among all interferon recipients was 0.36 (95% confidence interval [Cl], 0.56 to 0.17) and among all control patients was 0.74 (95% Cl, 0.91 to 0.58) (p = 0.04 by log-rank test). Among patients who received transplants in first or second remission, the probability of relapse among interferon recipients was 0.19 (95% Cl, 0.37 to 0.02) compared with 0.71 (95% Cl, 0.97 to 0.51) among control patients (p = 0.008 by log-rank test). Survival rates did not differ between interferon recipients and control patients. Transient decreases in leukocyte count and anorexia and nausea occurred among interferon recipients. Six interferon recipients, all of whom had received chemoradiotherapy of the central nervous system before transplantation, developed leukoencephalopathy after transplantation. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that interferon given after transplantation reduces the risk for subsequent relapse of leukemia. The effect of longer administration and of administration in patients with other underlying diseases will require additional trials. No effect was observed on cytomegalovirus infection, either because interferon was not initiated until a median of 18 days after transplantation or because of a lesser effect among marrow allograft recipients.
Requirement for Foxd3 in the maintenance of neural crest progenitors

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of stem cell maintenance is crucial for the ultimate goal of manipulating stem cells for the treatment of disease. Foxd3 is required early in mouse embryogenesis; Foxd3-/- embryos fail around the time of implantation, cells of the inner cell mass cannot be maintained in vitro, and blastocyst-derived stem cell lines cannot be established. Here, we report that Foxd3 is required for maintenance of the multipotent mammalian neural crest. Using tissue-specific deletion of Foxd3 in the neural crest, we show that Foxd3flox/-; Wnt1-Cre mice die perinatally with a catastrophic loss of neural crest-derived structures. Cranial neural crest tissues are either missing or severely reduced in size, the peripheral nervous system consists of reduced dorsal root ganglia and cranial nerves, and the entire gastrointestinal tract is devoid of neural crest derivatives. These results demonstrate a global role for this transcriptional repressor in all aspects of neural crest maintenance along the anterior-posterior axis, and establish an unprecedented molecular link between multiple divergent progenitor lineages of the mammalian embryo.
Processing of ultrathin 300 mm wafers with carrierless technology

We present a “carrierless” design for the manufacturing of ultrathin Silicon wafers, which are used in e.g. TSV (Through Silicon Via) and power chip applications. A carrierless wafer is a wafer which has a thinned inner portion, usually thinner than 150 μm, and a rim portion, which is stabilizing the wafer, so that the whole wafer can be handled without any additional support. In more detail, progress on 300 mm carrierless wafers and its compatibility with standard applications like RDL (Redistribution Layer) and bumping will be discussed.
Repeated Arterial Occlusion, Delta-Opioid Receptor (DOR) Plasticity and Vagal Transmission Within the Sinoatrial Node of the Anesthetized Dog

Brief interruptions in coronary blood flow precondition the heart, engage delta-opioid receptor (DOR) mechanisms and reduce the damage that typically accompanies subsequent longer coronary occlusions. Repeated short occlusions of the sinoatrial (SA) node artery progressively raised nodal methionine-enkephalin-arginine-phenylalanine (MEAP) and improved vagal transmission during subsequent long occlusions in anesthetized dogs. The DOR type-1 (DOR-1) antagonist, BNTX reversed the vagotonic effect. Higher doses of enkephalin interrupted vagal transmission through a DOR-2 mechanism. The current study tested whether the preconditioning (PC) protocol, the later occlusion or a combination of both was required for the vagotonic effect. The study also tested whether evolving vagotonic effects included withdrawal of competing DOR-2 vagolytic influences. Vagal transmission progressively improved during successive SA nodal artery occlusions. The vagotonic effect was absent in sham animals and after DOR-1 blockade. After completing the PC protocol, exogenously applied vagolytic doses of MEAP reduced vagal transmission under both normal and occluded conditions. The magnitude of these DOR-2 vagolytic effects was small compared to controls and repeated MEAP challenges rapidly eroded vagolytic responses further. Prior DOR-1 blockade did not alter the PC mediated, progressive loss of DOR-2 vagolytic responses. In conclusion, DOR-1 vagotonic responses evolved from signals earlier in the PC protocol and erosion of competing DOR-2 vagolytic responses may have contributed to an unmasking of vagotonic responses. The data support the hypothesis that PC and DOR-2 stimulation promote DOR trafficking, and down regulation of the vagolytic DOR-2 phenotype in favor of the vagotonic DOR-1 phenotype. DOR-1 blockade may accelerate the process by sequestering newly emerging receptors.
Consumers` knowledge, understanding and use of food label information, and how it affects purchasing decision in ho, Ghana

The main objective of the study was to assess consumers? knowledge, understanding and use of food label information. Data was collected from the capital city of Ho Municipal district in the Volta Region of Ghana using a Survey questionnaire and observation. Participants were adults, aged 18-65 years (n=600; 53%, 47%) randomly selected to assure increased response rate. Observation, reading, knowledge, understanding and use of food label- information were the main outcome measures used. Chi? square and Kruskal test were used to assess differences in participants? characteristics and use of food labeling in food purchase. Findings showed high awareness (P
Role of nucleus basalis in cholinergic control of cortical blood flow

The present investigation was designed to determine the effect of lesions localized to the nucleus basalis/ substantia innominata (NB) on resting and cholin‐ergically activated regional cerebral cortical blood flow (rCBF). Ibotenic acid (l0μg) was infused locally at 1 mm caudal to bregma, 3 mm lateral to the midline, and 8 mm below the cortical surface. Effectiveness of lesions was demonstrated by histological verification of lesion sitesand determination of choline acetyltransferase activity in cerebral cortex homogenates. rCBF was measured with the autoradiographic iodo‐14C‐antipyrine technique. Resting rCBF was similar in the hemisphere that received the NB lesion and in the contralateral (intact) side in all regions examined. Physostigmine intravenous infusion (33 μg kg −1 min −1) enhanced rCBF in frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal cortex. The increase was symmetrical, however, indicating inability of NB lesion to affect this phenomenon. It is concluded that the cortical cholinergic afferents originating in the NB are not involved in the control of rCBF.
Accuracy of self-reported exercise and the relationship with weight loss in overweight women.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare self-reported exercise to a more objective measurement of exercise (i.e., Tri-Trac Accelerometer) and to assess whether there is a difference in weight loss between individuals who under- and over-report their exercise. METHODS Fifty overweight females (BMI = 34.0 +/- 4.2 kg.m-2) who were participating in a behavioral weight control program were included in this study. Subjects were randomly assigned to a long-bout or a short-bout exercise condition, with both groups instructed to exercise 30 min.day-1 on 5 d.wk-1 for a period of 20 wk. The long-bout group was to exercise in one continuous session (e.g., one 30-min session per day), whereas the short-bout group was to divide the exercise into multiple 10-min sessions (e.g., three 10-min sessions per day). Subjects recorded their exercise in a daily exercise log and wore a Tri-Trac accelerometer for a 1-wk period to validate self-reported exercise bouts. RESULTS Results showed that approximately 45% of the women over-reported the amount of exercise that they performed, and this did not differ between the long-bout and short-bout groups. Women who over-reported their exercise had significantly poorer weight loss across the 20-wk program than women who under-reported their exercise (6.3 +/- 3.6 kg vs 9.4 +/- 5.2 kg). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that overweight women who over-report their exercise will have poorer weight loss while enrolled in a behavioral weight loss program compared with others enrolled in the program, and the Tri-Trac Accelerometer may be useful in identifying individuals who inaccurately report the amount of their exercise. The ability to classify individuals as either over- or under-reporters of their exercise may be helpful to weight loss therapists and lead to more successful treatment for obesity.
A Novel Computational Tool for Mining Real-Life Data: Application in the Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Care Setting

Background Randomized clinical trials constitute the gold-standard for evaluating new anti-cancer therapies; however, real-life data are key in complementing clinically useful information. We developed a computational tool for real-life data analysis and applied it to the metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) setting. This tool addressed the impact of oncology/non-oncology parameters on treatment patterns and clinical outcomes. Methods The developed tool enables extraction of any computerized information including comorbidities and use of drugs (oncological/non-oncological) per individual HMO member. The study in which we evaluated this tool was a retrospective cohort study that included Maccabi Healthcare Services members with mCRC receiving bevacizumab with fluoropyrimidines (FP), FP plus oxaliplatin (FP-O), or FP plus irinotecan (FP-I) in the first-line between 9/2006 and 12/2013. Results The analysis included 753 patients of whom 15.4% underwent subsequent metastasectomy (the Surgery group). For the entire cohort, median overall survival (OS) was 20.5 months; in the Surgery group, median duration of bevacizumab-containing therapy (DOT) pre-surgery was 6.1 months; median OS was not reached. In the Non-surgery group, median OS and DOT were 18.7 and 11.4 months, respectively; no significant OS differences were noted between FP-O and FP-I, whereas FP use was associated with shorter OS (12.3 month; p <0.002; notably, these patients were older). Patients who received both FP-O- and FP-I-based regimens achieved numerically longer OS vs. those who received only one of these regimens (22.1 [19.9–24.0] vs. 18.9 [15.5–21.9] months). Among patients assessed for wild-type KRAS and treated with subsequent anti-EGFR agent, OS was 25.4 months and 18.7 months for 124 treated vs. 37 non-treated patients (non-significant). Cox analysis (controlling for age and gender) identified several non-oncology parameters associated with poorer clinical outcomes including concurrent use of diuretics and proton-pump inhibitors. Conclusions Our tool provided insights that confirmed/complemented information gained from randomized-clinical trials. Prospective tool implementation is warranted.
Multiple roles of mesenchymal β-catenin during murine limb patterning

Recently canonical Wnt signaling in the ectoderm has been shown to be required for maintenance of the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) and for dorsoventral signaling. Using conditional gain- and loss-of-functionβ -catenin alleles, we have studied the role of mesenchymal β-catenin activity during limb development. Here, we show that loss of β-catenin results in limb truncations due to a defect in AER maintenance. Stabilization of β-catenin also results in truncated limbs, caused by a premature regression of the AER. Concomitantly, in these limbs, the expression of Bmp2, Bmp4 and Bmp7, and of the Bmp target genes Msx1, Msx2 and gremlin, is expanded in the mesenchyme. Furthermore, we found that the expression of Lmx1b, a gene exclusively expressed in the dorsal limb mesenchyme and involved in dorsoventral patterning, is reduced upon loss of β-catenin activity and is expanded ventrally in gain-of-function limbs. However, the known ectodermal regulators Wnt7a and engrailed 1 are expressed normally. This suggests that Lmx1b is also regulated, in part, by a β-catenin-mediated Wnt signal, independent of the non-canoncial Wnt7a signaling pathway. In addition, loss of β-catenin results in a severe agenesis of the scapula. Concurrently, the expression of two genes, Pax1 and Emx2, which have been implicated in scapula development, is lost in β-catenin loss-of-function limbs; however, only Emx2 is upregulated in gain-of-function limbs. Mesenchymal β-catenin activity is therefore required for AER maintenance, and for normal expression of Lmx1b and Emx2.
Combining Path Analysis with Time-resolved Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The Neurocognitive Network Underlying Mental Rotation

There is strong evidence to suggest that the complex cognitive process underlying mental rotation does not have a discrete neural correlate, but is represented as a distributed neural system. Although the neuroanatomical nodes of this so-called rotation network are well established, there is as yet little empirical evidence to indicate how these nodes interact during task performance. Using an optimized, event-related paradigm, this study aimed to test a previously proposed hypothetical neurocognitive network for mental rotation in female subjects with path analysis, and to examine changes in effective connections across different levels of task difficulty. Path analysis was carried out in combination with a time-resolved functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis in order to relate the observed changes on the network level to changes in specific temporal characteristics of the hemodynamic response function on the level of individual neuroanatomical nodes. Overall, it was found that the investigated sequential model did not provide an adequate fit to the data and that a model with parallel information processing was superior to the serial model. This finding challenges traditional cognitive models describing the complex cognitive process underlying mental rotation by a set of sequentially organized, functionally distinct processing stages. It was further demonstrated that the observed in interregional effective connectivity changes with the level of task demand. These changes were directly related to the time course of the experimental paradigm. The results of path analysis in fMRI should therefore only be interpreted in the light of a specific experimental design and should not be considered as general indicators of effective connections.
Towards Self-Learning Optical Music Recognition

Optical Music Recognition (OMR) is a branch of artificial intelligence that aims at automatically recognizing and understanding the content of music scores in images. Several approaches and systems have been proposed that try to solve this problem by using expert knowledge and specialized algorithms that tend to fail at generalization to a broader set of scores, imperfect image scans or data of different formatting. In this paper we propose a new approach to solve OMR by investigating how humans read music scores and by imitating that behavior with machine learning. To demonstrate the power of this approach, we conduct two experiments that teach a machine to distinguish entire music sheets from arbitrary content through frame-by-frame classification and distinguishing between 32 classes of handwritten music symbols which can be a basis for object detection. Both tasks can be performed at high rates of confidence (> 98%) which is comparable to the performance of humans on the same task.
Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi genotypes in patients with Lyme arthritis: High frequency of ribosomal RNA intergenic spacer type 1 strains in antibiotic-refractory arthritis.

OBJECTIVE Most of the Borrelia burgdorferi genotypes have been isolated from erythema migrans (EM) skin lesions in patients with Lyme disease. OspC type K strains, which are 16S-23S ribosomal RNA intergenic spacer type 2 (RST2) strains, are most commonly recovered, but a higher percentage of OspC type A strains (RST1), the next most commonly recovered type, is detectable in blood. The goal of this study was to determine the B burgdorferi genotypes in the joints of patients with Lyme arthritis. METHODS Joint fluid samples from 124 patients seen over a 30-year period were analyzed for OspC types by semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing, and for RSTs by nested PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. These results were correlated with clinical outcome. RESULTS OspC and RST genotypes were identified in 49 of the 124 joint fluid samples (40%). In these 49 samples, OspC type K strains (RST2) were identified in 21 samples (43%), OspC type A strains (RST1) were identified in 11 samples (22%), and 8 other OspC types and all 3 RSTs were identified among the remaining 17 samples (35%). However, among the 17 patients who had been treated with antibiotics according to current guidelines, all 7 patients who were infected with RST1 strains had antibiotic-refractory arthritis, compared with 4 of 6 patients infected with RST2 strains and only 1 of 4 infected with RST3 strains (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION Most of the B burgdorferi genotypes, particularly OspC type K (RST2), were identified in the joint fluid of patients with Lyme arthritis, and the genotype frequencies found in joints reflected those in EM skin lesions. However, RST1 strains were most frequent in patients with antibiotic-refractory arthritis. Our results help to further the understanding of the differential pathogenicity of strains of B burgdorferi.
Effective action for vortex dynamics in clean d -wave superconductors

We describe the influence of the gapless, nodal, fermionic quasiparticles of a two-dimensional d-wave superconductor on the motion of vortices. A continuum, functional formalism is used to obtain the effective vortex action, after the fermions have been integrated out. At zero temperture (T), the leading terms in the vortex action retain their original form, with only a finite renormalization of the vortex effective mass from the fermions. A universal "sub-ohmic" damping of the vortex motion is also found. At T>0, we find a Bardeen-Stephen viscous drag term, with a universal co-efficient which vanishes as ~T^2. We present a simple scaling interpretation of our results, in which quantum-critical Dirac fermions respond to a moving point singularity. Our results appear to differ from those of the semiclassical theory, which obtains more singular corrections to a vortex mass appearing in transport equations.
The Impact of Aesthetic Surgery on Body Image and its Implications for Mental and Physical Health.

We read with extreme interest the editorial by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal entitled “Could Aesthetic Surgery Impact Alzheimer's Risk? ”1 In this article, Dr Nahai brings to our attention the potential association between the positive outcomes of aesthetic surgery procedures and improved physical and mental health, with a special regard to the elderly population. He explains that this physical and mental health improvement can be achieved through enhanced body image associated to enhanced self-esteem and life optimism, proven benefits of cosmetic surgery. Consequently, he advocates a more aggressive role for aesthetic surgeons in investigating these findings. Accordingly, we decided to query the body of the existing literature to address the following questions: first, is there evidence that body image improvement impacts patients' overall health? Second, is there evidence that cosmetic surgery impacts body image? If so, how? A search on PubMed/Medline was performed in February 2016 using the following algorithm: (body image) AND ((aesthetic surgery) OR (cosmetic surgery)) AND ((physical health) OR (mental health)). There were no restrictions on time or language of publication. Additional articles were considered after reviewing …
Pharmacology and Phytochemistry of Isoflavonoids from Iris Species

Isoflavones are the most well-known of the phytoestrogens isolated from various species of Iris. The recognition of ‘clover disease’ in Australian sheep in the 1940s led to the investigation of estrogenic activity of isoflavones [1]). The sheep whose diet was predominately subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L., Fabaceae) suffered from a reproductive disorder that reduced the lambing rates and involved abnormal lactation, changes in the sex organs, permanent infertility, prolapsed uterus and maternal dystocia [2] Isoflavones constitute the largest group of natural isoflavonoids with large number of new structures reported in every year. The occurrence of isoflavonoids in plants of traditional medicine has promoted the increasing interest in the search for biologically active constituents from both legume and non-legume sources specially Iridaceae [3]. Isoflavones found in the family Iridaceae, in particular Iris species have a characteristic 5, 6, 7-trioxygenation pattern [4] (Figure 1) (Table 1). Figure 1: Common structure of Isoflavones. O
Extremum Seeking for Static Maps With Delays

In this paper, we address the design and analysis of multi-variable extremum seeking for static maps subject to arbitrarily long time delays. Both Gradient and Newton-based methods are considered. Multi-input systems with different time delays in each individual input channel as well as output delays are dealt with. The phase compensation of the dither signals and the inclusion of predictor feedback with a perturbation-based (averaging-based) estimate of the Hessian allow to obtain local exponential convergence results to a small neighborhood of the optimal point, even in the presence of delays. The stability analysis is carried out using backstepping transformation and averaging in infinite dimensions, capturing the infinite-dimensional state due the time delay. In particular, a new backstepping-like transformation is introduced to design the predictor for the Gradient-based extremum seeking scheme with multiple and distinct input delays. The proposed Newton-based extremum seeking approach removes the dependence of the convergence rate on the unknown Hessian of the nonlinear map to be optimized, being user-assignable as in the literature free of delays. A source seeking example illustrates the performance of the proposed delay-compensated extremum seeking schemes.