Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The landscape of medical oncology in Europe by 2020.

BACKGROUND In the United States, there will be a shortage of medical oncologists (MO) by 2020. However, this information is not available for Europe. The aim of this study was to assess the current number of MO in the 27 European Union (27-EU) countries and to predict their availability by 2020. MATERIAL AND METHODS Between June 2012 and January 2013, a survey was submitted to health authorities, medical oncology societies, and personal contacts in all 27-EU countries in order to gather annual data on the number of practicing MO. Data were collected by e-mail, telephone contact, or through research on official websites. Data regarding cancer incidence in 2008 and projections for 2015 and 2020 were obtained through Globocan. The mean annual increase in the number of MO was calculated for each country. The total number of MO by 2015 and 2020 was estimated, and the ratio of new cancer cases versus number of MO was calculated for 2008, 2015, and 2020. RESULTS Twelve countries provided sufficient data. The average mean annual increase in the total number of MO was 5.3% (range 1.8%-8.7%), with Belgium being the lowest and UK the highest. The 2008 ratio of cancer cases versus MO was lowest in Hungary (113) and highest in UK (1067). A favorable decrease in this ratio was estimated in most countries. CONCLUSION Our estimates, based on incidence and not on prevalence, indicate that MO availability will probably meet the projected need in most of the 12 countries analyzed, provided that: (i) these countries maintain their rate of annual increase in MO; and (ii) no unforeseen changes occur in cancer incidence. Unfortunately, minimal information is available for Eastern Europe. Our data call for the prospective surveillance of the cancer burden and MO availability to ensure adequate and equal care for cancer patients throughout Europe.
Recombinant Hymenoptera venom allergens

Hymenoptera venoms, instead of the previously used whole body extracts, were introduced in the late 1970s for the diagnosis and treatment of IgE-mediated allergic reactions to stings by insects of the order Hymenoptera, such as honey bees and vespids (1, 2). Insect venom allergy is often considered as a model for IgE-mediated allergy: Diagnostic tests (skin tests and radioallergosorbant assays, RAST) are thought to be reliable, and specific immunotherapy with venoms is claimed to be safe and highly effective. However on closer looks the specificity of the main diagnostic tests (prick tests or intracutaneous skin tests with insect venom extracts, and tests for venom-specific serum IgE antibodies) is far from perfect. Up to 20% of individuals with no history of systemic sting reactions have positive tests. On the other hand only 30–50% of those with positive tests will react to a subsequent sting by the respective insect (3). According to a sting provocation test during venom immunotherapy around 95% of patients allergic to vespid stings are completely protected and do not develop any generalized allergic symptoms, while the complete protection rate achieved for those allergic to honey bee venom is only 80–90% (3, 4). Systemic allergic side-effects to immunotherapy injections may occur in 20–40% of patients during immunotherapy with honey bee venom and 5–10% during immunotherapy with vespid venoms (4). There is therefore considerable potential for improvement of both diagnosis and immunotherapy of Hymenoptera venom allergy. Thanks to modern molecular biology technology, recombinant venom allergens are available today and offer several promising approaches to achieve such an improvement. Expression of various recombinant allergens from Hymenoptera venoms
The Determinants of Online Vegetables/Fruits Repurchase Intention: Stimulus-Organism-Response Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour

The aim of this study is to review of concepts, theories and models related to consumer intentions. In doing this, the objective is to explore and explain the determinants of online vegetables/fruits repurchase intention based on literature review which used Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) Model and Theory of Planned Behaviour as basic concepts approach to put forward hypotheses for next research on consumer intention. Many research in the past examined variables as antecedents and predictors of repurchase intention. This literature study refers to the repurchase intention framework with a content of reputation, emotion, perceived risk, subjective norms, attitude, and perceived behavior control. The authors explore variables on these concepts, data for this study were generated through secondary data from many sources including paper, journal, textbooks, databases, and websites, etc. The literature review found that there is a positive relationship between reputation and emotion towards online repurchase intention, and perceived risk give a negative influence to online repurchase intention. The reputation of e-retailers is very important as it has a positive impact on online repurchase intention of e-shoppers in the future. Subjective norms have a direct significant impact on buying intentions. Subjective norms influence attitudes toward buying intentions. That attitudes and perceived behavior control are better predictors of intentions when the social environment is more conducive and supportive to perform a behavior. The present study found that perceived behavioral control significantly influences willingness to online repurchase intention toward fresh vegetables or fruits. Hence, the study provides the summary of existing literature related to repurchase intention for better understanding and helps to frame the hypothesis for future research. While some outcomes may be significant to marketing practice, the overall goal of such research is to achieve a better understanding of consumer behavior.
Young children’s use of an augmented reality sandbox to enhance spatial thinking

ABSTRACT Augmented reality (AR) technology is being introduced in educational settings for its ability to overlay virtual information onto physical environments. The AR Sandbox is a conventional sandbox with depth coloured representations projected onto the sand’s surface. This research investigates how 4- and 5-year-old Australian children use an AR Sandbox to enhance their spatial thinking through play. Participants were four children, their two educators and the first author as a participant-observer researcher. Data were collected over an 8-week period during 2015 and included observation, child conferencing, photography, educators’ perspectives, and the researcher’s perspectives. Vignettes are presented to demonstrate how children’s spatial thinking was enhanced through exploration and representation in the AR Sandbox. Children’s active and dynamic manipulation of the space of the AR Sandbox, along with a range of socio-cultural contexts and tools, assisted in enhancing their spatial abilities.
Classification of histological severity of Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis by confocal laser endomicroscopy.

AIM To classify the histological severity of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection-associated gastritis by confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE). METHODS Patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms or individuals who were screened for gastric cancer were enrolled in this study. Histological severity of H. pylori infection-associated gastritis was graded according to the established CLE criteria. Diagnostic value of CLE for histological gastritis was investigated and compared with that of white light endoscopy (WLE). Targeted biopsies from the sites observed by CLE were performed. RESULTS A total of 118 consecutive patients with H. pylori infection-associated gastritis were enrolled in this study. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the sensitivity and specificity of CLE were 82.9% and 90.9% for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection, 94.6% and 97.4% for predicting gastric normal mucosa, 98.5% and 94.6% for predicting histological active inflammation, 92.9% and 95.2% for predicting glandular atrophy, 98.6% and 100% for diagnosing intestinal metaplasia, respectively. Post-CLE image analysis showed that goblet cells and absorptive cells were the two most common parameters on the CLE-diagnosed intestinal metaplasia (IM) images (P < 0.001). More histological lesions of the stomach could be found by CLE than by WLE (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION CLE can accurately show the histological severity of H. pylori infection-associated gastritis. Mapping IM by CLE has a rather good diagnostic accuracy.
Fungal empyema thoracis: an emerging clinical entity.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To analyze the clinical spectra, pathogenesis, treatment, outcome, and prognostic factors of fungal empyema thoracis. DESIGN The medical records of patients with positive fungal cultures from pleural effusions were retrospectively analyzed. SETTING A university-based tertiary care hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January 1990 through December 1997, patients diagnosed with fungal empyema were included in this study. The criteria for diagnosis of fungal empyema thoracis were as follows: (1) isolation of a fungal species from the pleural effusion; (2) significant signs of infection, such as fever (body temperature > 38.3 degrees C) and leukocytosis (white blood cell > 10,000/microL); and (3) isolation of the same mold species from pleural effusion on more than one occasion, or from pleural effusion and other specimens such as blood, sputum, or surgical wounds that showed evidence of tissue invasion. RESULTS Sixty-seven patients with fungal empyema thoracis were included. Their mean age was 54 years (range, 2 weeks to 93 years), and 64% (43 patients) were men. Fifty-seven patients (85%) had various underlying diseases, and 18 (27%) had more than one immunocompromising condition. A total of 73 fungal isolates were recovered from pleural effusion; the most commonly encountered were Candida species (47 isolates, 64%), Torulopsis glabrata (13 isolates, 18%), and Aspergillus species (9 isolates, 12%). Candida albicans (28 isolates) was the most common Candida species, followed by Candida tropicalis (13 isolates). Six patients (9%) had two fungal strains isolated, and 16 (24%) had concomitant bacterial empyema thoracis. Eighteen patients (27%) had concurrent fungemia. Most (56 patients, 84%) cases of fungal empyema thoracis were nosocomial, and many case (43 patients, 64%) were acquired in ICUs. Abdominal disease (20 patients, 30%), especially previous abdominal surgery and GI perforation (12% and 10%, respectively), was the most common cause of fungal empyema thoracis, followed by bronchopulmonary infection (15 patients, 22%) and chest surgery (12 patients, 18%). Forty-nine patients (73%) received systemic antifungal therapy, and 38 (57%) underwent closed drainage therapy. Eleven patients (16%) underwent pleural irrigation with normal saline solution, povidone-iodine solution, or antifungal agents. Six patients (9%) finally received decortication. All patients receiving surgery or pleural irrigation with antifungal agents survived. Despite the aforementioned management, the crude mortality was high (73%). Multivariate analysis showed a significantly increased risk of death in immunocompromised patients (relative risk, 1.58; p < 0.005) and those with respiratory failure (relative risk, 2.31; p < 0.001). Systemic antifungal therapy was associated with a significantly lower risk of death (relative risk, 0.69; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION These data imply an increasing incidence of fungal empyema thoracis in recent years and the necessity for aggressive treatment of patients with this disease.
Genotype distribution of angiotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism in Australian healthy and coronary populations and relevance to myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme is a key component of the renin-angiotensin system that plays an important role in cardiovascular regulation. An association between the angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and increased coronary risk has been found in some studies but not in others. To explore this further in an Australian white population, we compared the ACE genotype distribution in 550 patients aged 37 to 65 years with coronary artery disease documented by angiography with the genotype distribution in 404 healthy school children aged 6 to 13 years. We also explored associations in the patients between the angiotensin-converting enzyme I/D polymorphism and a history of myocardial infarction and coronary artery disease severity assessed by the number of major coronary arteries with more than 50% luminal obstructions and by the Green Lane coronary score. The frequencies of the angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype in the coronary artery disease patients were 0.236 for I/I, 0.395 for I/D, and 0.369 for D/D genotypes. This distribution with an excess of the D/D genotype was significantly different (chi 2 = 23.69, P < .0001) from that in the school children, in whom the genotype distribution was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (I/I, 0.21; I/D, 0.54; D/D, 0.25). There was also a significant excess of D/D genotype among patients with a history of myocardial infarction (chi 2 = 9.42, P = .009), and there was the same D/D excess in the subgroup of children (n = 60) with two or more grandparents who had had coronary artery disease. We found no associations between the angiotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism and the number of significantly stenosed coronary arteries (chi 2 = 2.069, P = .91). We conclude that the D/D genotype is a significant predictor for coronary artery disease events in the Australian white population but is not a marker for angiographically assessed coronary artery disease severity. The angiotensin-converting enzyme genotype-associated increased risk for coronary events may be mediated more by angiotensin II-induced coronary vasoconstriction than by an increase in injury-related smooth muscle cell proliferation in the coronary vasculature.
In vitro activation of hTERT-specific T cell responses in lung cancer patients following chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine chemotherapy concomitant in vitro activation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-specific T cell responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS PBMCs depleted of regulatory T cells were stimulated by peptide loaded dendritic cells (DC) matured either by application of cytokines (cDC) or a Toll-like receptor 7/8-agonist combined with a soluble CD40-ligand (ligDC). The hTERT peptide-specific T cell responses were assessed using flow cytometry for intracellular interferon-γ (IFN-γ). RESULTS After cDC activation, T cells producing IFN-γ in response to hTERT were found in PBMC samples of 4 patients. In 2 of these patients the hTERT-specific T cell responses were further increased after ligDC application. However, PBMC of 3 other patients showed little or no induction of hTERT-specific T cell responses as a result of the methods applied during this study. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate, that concomitant to chemotherapy hTERT-specific T cell responses can be activated in PBMC of NSCLC patients in vitro. This activation can be further increased by ligDC though the number of responding patients is still limited.
Measurement of back movement.

In population studies of a disease much valuable iniformation is lost if, through lack of uniformity of diagnostic criteria and survey techniques, the results of one study cannot be directly compared with another. Two conferences (Kellgren, Jeffrey, and Ball, 1963; Bennett and Burch, 1967) have suggested diagnostic criteria for ankylosing spondylitis and these are shown in Tables I and II. Both sets of criteria specify limitation of movement of the lumbar spine presumably to be measured subjectively. We have recently undertaken a population survey of ankylosing spondylitis and it was felt that, in view of the problem of observer bias and changing standards of normality, an objective test of the motion of the lumbar spine should be developed and applied.
Effects of high- and moderate-intensity training on metabolism and repeated sprints.

PURPOSE We compared the effects of high-intensity interval (HIT) and moderate-intensity continuous (MIT) training (matched for total work) on changes in repeated-sprint ability (RSA) and muscle metabolism. METHODS Pre- and posttraining, VO(2peak), lactate threshold (LT), and RSA (5 x 6-s sprints, every 30 s) were assessed in 20 females. Before and immediately after the RSA test, muscle biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis. Subjects were matched on RSA, randomly placed into the HIT (N = 10) or MIT (N = 10) group and performed 5 wk (3 d.wk(-1)) of cycle training; performing either HIT (6-10, 2-min intervals at 120-140% LT) or MIT (continuous, 20-30 min at 80-95% LT). RESULTS Both groups had significant improvements in VO(2peak) (10-12%; P < 0.05) and LT (8-10%; P < 0.05), with no significant differences between them. Both groups also had significant increases in RSA total work (kJ) (P < 0.05), with a significantly greater increase following HIT than MIT (13 vs 8.5%, respectively; P < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in resting [ATP] and an increase in postexercise [La(-)](b) for both groups, but no significant differences between them. There were no significant changes in resting or postexercise [PCr], [Cr], muscle [La(-)], or [H(+)] after the training period. CONCLUSIONS When total work is matched, HIT results in greater improvements in RSA than MIT. This results from an improved ability to maintain performance during consecutive sprints, which is not explained by differences in work done during the first sprint, aerobic fitness or metabolite accumulation at the end of the sprints.
Hydration of pectic polysaccharides.

The hydration and swelling of pectic polysaccharides was examined at different pHs and ionic strengths as a function of osmotic stress. For weakly charged pectic polysaccharides at low concentrations of a monovalent salt (20 mM), the main driving force for swelling originates from a polyelectrolyte effect due to the translational entropy of ions within the film. Swelling is reduced at higher salt concentrations and lower pHs. Polyelectrolyte collapse and minimal swelling is observed for more highly charged pectic polysaccharides. Replacement of the Na(+) counterion with Ca(2+) results in minimal swelling and the formation of network structures even for the weakly charged pectic polysaccharides.
Plant virus‐mediated induction of miR168 is associated with repression of ARGONAUTE1 accumulation

The corresponding author was initially alerted to a mistake in Figure 8A and C. The authors worked with The EMBO Journal to resolve this matter. During the investigation, the authors and the journal found two more errors. The corresponding author takes full responsibility for these mistakes and apologizes for the inconvenience. These mistakes do not influence or affect the original conclusions of the presented data. The corrections are detailed below: Figure 6A. The upper AGO1 protein Western blot panel is a composite of two gels, which is now indicated with a dotted line (see corrected figure and source data online). This does not change the scientific value of the figure. A similar gel filtration experiment showing AGO1 protein, miR168 and miR159 patterns in gel filtration experiments was published in Mol Plant Pathol (2013) 14:567–575. Figure S1. Figure 7A. In panel A, the incorrect actin loading control was displayed. The same control as used in panel C was inadvertently shown with the opposite orientation. This mistake did not alter the scientific conclusions of the figure. In the source data online, the red box indicates the proper loading control in the corrected figure. Confirmatory data are available in Mol Plant Pathol (2013) 14:567–575. Figure 4.
Towards a deployment model for emonitoring of geriatric persons in rural developing countries: Case of Kenya

The United Nations and the African Union considers a person aged 65 years and above as a geriatric person. The graying population over the past decades is showing an exponential growth rate compared to the declining fertility rate. This population in the developing countries is not boastful of active ageing (successful, independent ageing) as they are challenged by various health issues and psychosomatic conditions. They require constant care and in some cases, specialized care in familiar environments (their homes with relatives) or nursing homes (called Nyumba za Wazee in Kenya). The researchers with support from literature believe that technology can offer this specialized care (E-monitoring). This would be offered in the comfort of their homes through continuous assessment of the geriatric person relaying information to both the formal and informal caregivers. The objective of this paper is to explore, summarize and analyse the various technologies in gerontology, acceptance and adoption models, with the aim of identifying a suitable deployment model that could be adopted in the context of a developing country.
Crystal Structure of the Michaelis Complex between Tissue-type Plasminogen Activator and Plasminogen Activators Inhibitor-1*

Background: Recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is a potent fibrinolytic agent used in clinics and is inactivated by endogenous PAI-1. Results: The crystal structure of the tPA·PAI-1 Michaelis complex was determined. Conclusion: Differences of inhibition of tPA and uPA by PAI-1 are revealed. Significance: This study offers important clues to design a newer generation of tPA thrombolytics with reduced PAI-1 inactivation. Thrombosis is a leading cause of death worldwide. Recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is the Food and Drug Administration-approved thrombolytic drug. tPA is rapidly inactivated by endogenous plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Engineering on tPA to reduce its inhibition by PAI-1 without compromising its thrombolytic effect is a continuous effort. Precise details, with atomic resolution, of the molecular interactions between tPA and PAI-1 remain unknown despite previous extensive studies. Here, we report the crystal structure of the tPA·PAI-1 Michaelis complex, which shows significant differences from the structure of its urokinase-type plasminogen activator analogue, the uPA·PAI-1 Michaelis complex. The PAI-1 reactive center loop adopts a unique kinked conformation. The structure provides detailed interactions between tPA 37- and 60-loops with PAI-1. On the tPA side, the S2 and S1β pockets open up to accommodate PAI-1. This study provides structural basis to understand the specificity of PAI-1 and to design newer generation of thrombolytic agents with reduced PAI-1 inactivation.
Conservative mastectomy : a promising technique

The presence of the nipple is known to improve the body image and patient satisfaction. Conservative mastectomy is an emerging technique that couples oncological safety and cosmesis by entirely removing the breast parenchyma sparing the breast skin and nipple-areola complex (NAC). At European Institute of Oncology (IEO) we starting performing this technique in 2002 and so far we have treated 2,487 patients. We present our experience with the technique.