Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chemotherapy with laparoscope-assisted continuous circulatory hyperthermic intraperitoneal perfusion for malignant ascites.

AIM To investigate the procedure, feasibility and effects of laparoscope-assisted continuous circulatory hyperthermic intraperitoneal perfusion chemotherapy (CHIPC) in treatment of malignant ascites induced by peritoneal carcinomatosis from gastric cancers. METHODS From August 2006 to March 2008, the laparoscopic approach was used to perform CHIPC on 16 patients with malignant ascites induced by gastric cancer or postoperative intraperitoneal seeding. Each patient underwent CHIPC three times after laparoscope-assisted perfusion catheters placing. The first session was completed in operative room under general anesthesia, 5% glucose solution was selected as perfusion liquid, and 1500 mg 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 200 mg oxaliplatin were added in the perfusion solution. The second and third sessions were performed in intensive care unit, 0.9% sodium chloride solution was selected as perfusion liquid, and 1500 mg 5-FU was added in the perfusion solution alone. CHIPC was performed for 90 min at a velocity of 450-600 mL/min and an inflow temperature of 43 +/- 0.2 degrees C. RESULTS The intraoperative course was uneventful in all cases, and the mean operative period for laparoscope-assisted perfusion catheters placing was 80 min for each case. No postoperative deaths or complications related to laparoscope-assisted CHIPC occurred in this study. Clinically complete remission of ascites and related symptoms were achieved in 14 patients, and partial remission was achieved in 2 patients. During the follow-up, 13 patients died 2-9 mo after CHIPC, with a median survival time of 5 mo. Two patients with partial remission suffered from port site seeding and tumor metastasis,and died 2 and 3 mo after treatment. Three patients who are still alive today survived 4, 6 and 7 mo, respectively. The Karnofsky marks of patients (50-90) increased significantly (P < 0.01) and the general status improved after CHIPC. Thus satisfactory clinical efficacy has been achieved in these patients treated by laparoscopic CHIPC. CONCLUSION Laparoscope-assisted CHIPC is a safe, feasible and effective procedure in the treatment of debilitating malignant ascites induced by unresectable gastric cancers.
Blast Response in Concrete Walls

The finite element analyses discussed in this article provide an approach to the blast analysis of lightly reinforced concrete walls that is supported by the available test data. These models should provide the basis for the development of consistent, risk-based explosive limits for 12 inch (305 mm) concrete SDWs (substantial dividing walls). By calculating explosive storage limits than limit debris velocities to levels consistent with acceptor munition or explosive sensitivities, the risk of propagation from explosive accidents can be defined in a rationally defensible manner. More importantly, the overall safety of explosive manufacturing and storage operations will be significantly enhanced.
Diagnostic tests for bacterial infection from birth to 90 days—a systematic review

AIM To determine the clinical value of common diagnostic tests for bacterial infection in early life. METHODS A Medline search (1966–95) was undertaken to identify studies that reported the assessment of a diagnostic “test,” predicting the presence or absence of bacterial infection in infants up to 90 days of age. The quality of each selected study was assessed using defined criteria. Data were extracted twice to minimise errors. RESULTS Six hundred and seventy articles were identified. Two independent investigators agreed that 194 studies met the inclusion criteria (κ = 0.85), 52 of which met primary quality criteria; 23 studies reported data on (a) haematological indices, (b) C reactive protein evaluation, and (c) surface swab assessment. For haematological indices, the likelihood ratios for individual tests ranged from 20.4 (95% confidence interval 7.3 to 56.8) for a white cell count < 7000/mm3 to 0.12 (0.04 to 0.37) for an immature:total (I:T) white cell ratio < 0.2. For C reactive protein evaluation, the likelihood ratios ranged from 12.56 (0.79 to 199.10) for a value of > 6 mg/l to 0.22 (0.08 to 0.65) for a negative value. For surface swab assessment, the likelihood ratios ranged from 33.6 (2.1 to 519.8) for a positive gastric aspirate culture to 0.08 (0.006 to 1.12) for microscopy of ear swab material that did not show any neutrophils. Likelihood ratios for combinations of these individual tests ranged from 10.17 (3.64 to 28.41) to 0.47 (0.22 to 1.00). CONCLUSIONS The methodological quality of studies assessing the accuracy of diagnostic tests is generally poor. Even in rigorous studies, the reported accuracy of the tests varies enormously and they are of limited value in the diagnosis of infection in this population.
Tumor Associated Macrophages Protect Colon Cancer Cells from TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis through IL-1β- Dependent Stabilization of Snail in Tumor Cells

Background We recently reported that colon tumor cells stimulate macrophages to release IL-1β, which in turn inactivates GSK3β and enhances Wnt signaling in colon cancer cells, generating a self-amplifying loop that promotes the growth of tumor cells. Principal Findings Here we describe that macrophages protect HCT116 and Hke-3 colon cancer cells from TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Inactivation of IL-1β by neutralizing IL-1β antibody, or silencing of IL-1β in macrophages inhibited their ability to counter TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Accordingly, IL-1β was sufficient to inhibit TRAIL-induced apoptosis. TRAIL-induced collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ) and activation of caspases were prevented by macrophages or by recombinant IL-1β. Pharmacological inhibition of IL-1β release from macrophages by vitamin D3, a potent chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer, restored the ability of TRAIL to induce apoptosis of tumor cells cultured with macrophages. Macrophages and IL-1β failed to inhibit TRAIL-induced apoptosis in HCT116 cells expressing dnIκB, dnAKT or dnTCF4, confirming that they oppose TRAIL-induced cell death through induction of Wnt signaling in tumor cells. We showed that macrophages and IL-1β stabilized Snail in tumor cells in an NF-κB/Wnt dependent manner and that Snail deficient tumor cells were not protected from TRAIL-induced apoptosis by macrophages or by IL-1β, demonstrating a crucial role of Snail in the resistance of tumor cells to TRAIL. Significance We have identified a positive feedback loop between tumor cells and macrophages that propagates the growth and promotes the survival of colon cancer cells: tumor cells stimulate macrophages to secrete IL-1β, which in turn, promotes Wnt signaling and stabilizes Snail in tumor cells, conferring resistance to TRAIL. Vitamin D3 halts this amplifying loop by interfering with the release of IL-1β from macrophages. Accordingly, vitamin D3 sensitizes tumor cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, suggesting that the therapeutic efficacy of TRAIL could be augmented by this readily available chemopreventive agent.
On the geometry of graphs with a forbidden minor

We study the topological simplification of graphs via random embeddings, leading ultimately to a reduction of the Gupta-Newman-Rabinovich-Sinclair (GNRS) L1 embedding conjecture to a pair of manifestly simpler conjectures. The GNRS conjecture characterizes all graphs that have an O(1)-approximate multi-commodity max-flow/min-cut theorem. In particular, its resolution would imply a constant factor approximation for the general Sparsest Cut problem in every family of graphs which forbids some minor. In the course of our study, we prove a number of results of independent interest.
A1 and A3 adenosine receptors alter glutathione status in an organ-specific manner and influence the changes after inhibition of γ-glutamylcysteine ligase

Adenosine levels are increased in stress and act as anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory mediators by binding to 4 G-protein-coupled receptors. Using genetically modified mice lacking A1 and A3 adenosine receptors, treated with ip buthionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine injections to inhibit γ-glutamylcysteine ligase, the question was addressed whether these receptors modulate the responses to the stress related to altered glutathione levels. This study determined organ glutathione levels and expression of two sub-units of γ-glutamylcysteine ligase and the cationic xc-transporter and found that deletion of one or both adenosine receptors influenced the responses in an organ-specific manner. The lack of A1 and A3 adenosine receptors is related to decreased basal glutathione content and down-regulation of γ-glutamylcysteine ligase sub-units in several organs. Moreover, responses to buthionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine were different. For example, the lack of A3 adenosine receptors, or their blockade of A3 by MRS 1191, caused a marked increase in gene expression, which was not observed in mice lacking both A1 and A3 receptors. The results indicate that A1 and A3 adenosine receptors play a role in antioxidant responses and their role differs in an organ-specific way.
Effects of Sanguis Draconis on Perforator Flap Survival in Rats

Sanguis draconis, a resin known to improve blood circulation, relieve pain, stimulate tissue regeneration, and heal wounds, is widely used in clinical practice. In this study, we prepared an ethanol extract of sanguis draconis (EESD) containing 75.08 mg/g of dracorhodin. The experiment was carried out on 20 rats that were divided into two groups, a control group (n = 10) and an EESD group (n = 10). All the rats underwent a perforator flap surgery, after which post-operative abdominal compressions of EESD were given to the EESD group for seven days, while the control group received saline. Flap survival percentages were determined after seven days, and were found to be significantly higher in the EESD group than in the control group. Results of laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) showed that perforator flaps in the EESD group had higher perfusion values than those of the control group. The flap tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, followed by immunohistochemical evaluation. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) expression and micro-vessel development markedly increased in the EESD group, while malondialdehyde (MDA) levels decreased. This is the first study to investigate the effect of sanguis draconis on perforator flap survival. Our results demonstrate that sanguis draconis can improve perforator flap survival in rats by promoting microvessel regeneration and blood perfusion.
Study on Molding Pressure of X-truss/Foam Sandwich Structures

X-truss/foam sandwich structure with prominent compression and shear strength has broad application prospects as primary structure in aircraft, truck, and other fields. But unsuitable molding pressure usually causes quality defects such as poor skin—core adhesion or broken Z-pins, which seriously decreases the structure’s mechanical property and induces too much thickness error. In order to obtain a suitable molding pressure, the hot pressing process was analyzed. It was found that the suitable molding pressure is mainly determined by the property of the foam core, the resisting force of Z-pin inserting into the face sheets, as well as Z-pin inserting angle and density. In the calculated suitable molding pressure, X-truss/ foam sandwich structures were successfully fabricated using carbon fiber Z-pins and face sheets together with polymethacrylimide foam core. The thickness of sandwich structures and final inserting angle of Z-pins were basically consistent with the calculations.
Experimental Investigation on Chip Deformation in Drilling 1Cr18Ni9Ti

It is difficult to study the chip deformation due to the complexity of the chip formation process in drilling. The chip deformation has a direct effect on the drilling forces, drilling temperature and surface quality. The austenitic stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti belongs to the hard-to-cut material, so it is necessary to investigate the chip deformation of 1Cr18Ni9Ti in drilling. An experimental investigation of the chip transformation process on the cutting edges using quick-stop of the drilling processes is carried out. Results indicate that the chip deformation increases with the increment of drilling velocity and decreases with the increment of the distance to chisel edge on cutting edge and the feed rate in drilling 1Cr18Ni9Ti; the chip deformation decreases with the increment of drilling velocity, and decreases with the increment of the distance to chisel edge on cutting edge and the feed rate in drilling AISI 1045; the chip deformation in drilling 1Cr18Ni9Ti is larger than that in drilling AISI 1045.
Mechanics of engineering materials

Preface to second edition. Preface to first edition. Notation. 1. Statically Determinate Force Systems. 2. Statically Determinate Stress Systems. 3. Stress-Strain Relations. 4. Statically Indeterminate Stress Systems. 5. Torsion. 6. Bending Stress. 7. Bending: Slope and Deflection. 8. Statically Indeterminate Beams. 9. Energy Methods. 10. Buckling Instability. 11. Stress and Strain Transformations. 12. Yield Criteria and Stress Concentration. 13. Variation of Stress and Strain. 14. Application of the Equilibrium and Strain-Displacement. 15. Elementary Plasticity. 16. Thin Plates and Shells. 17. Finite Element Method. 18. Tension, Compression, Torsion and Hardness. 19. Fracture Mechanics. 20. Fatigue. 21. Creep and Viscoelasticity.
Optimal Average-Complexity Ideal-Security Order-Preserving Encryption

Order-preserving encryption enables performing many classes of queries -- including range queries -- on encrypted databases. Popa et al. recently presented an ideal-secure order-preserving encryption (or encoding) scheme, but their cost of insertions (encryption) is very high. In this paper we present an also ideal-secure, but significantly more efficient order-preserving encryption scheme. Our scheme is inspired by Reed's referenced work on the average height of random binary search trees. We show that our scheme improves the average communication complexity from O(n log n) to O(n) under uniform distribution. Our scheme also integrates efficiently with adjustable encryption as used in CryptDB. In our experiments for database inserts we achieve a performance increase of up to 81% in LANs and 95% in WANs.
A differential detection scheme for transmit diversity

We present a transmission scheme for exploiting diversity given by two transmit antennas when neither the transmitter nor the receiver has access to channel state information. The new detection scheme can use equal energy constellations and encoding is simple. At the receiver, decoding is achieved with low decoding complexity. The transmission provides full spatial diversity and requires no channel state side information at the receiver. The scheme can be considered as the extension of differential detection schemes to two transmit antennas.
An Efficient Checkpointing Scheme in Cloud Computing Environment †

Cloud computing has changed the traditional computing model. With integrating a large number of virtual machines, cloud computing has a great computing capacity. In this paper, a combination of virtualization technology checkpoint recovery framework is proposed to enhance system availability for traditional distributed computing applications running in cloud environments. The framework realized in a transparent manner to the applications and their running operating system, with small overhead.
CELL CULTURE CONDITIONS AFFECT LPS INDUCIBILITY OF THE INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS IN J774A.1 MURINE MACROPHAGES

Peripheral blood monocytes and tissue macrophages contribute significantly to the inflammatory response. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has profound effects on these cells including, but not limited, to differentiation into macrophages, production of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Herein, we describe a variant of the J774A.1 murine macrophage line that is reversibly resistant to multiple effects of LPS when cultured in different types of media. J774A.1 cells are adherent and spread out when cultured in DMEM/F12; however, when cultured in RPMI 1640, the cells are rounded and relatively non-adherent. Different types of tissue culture plates, sera, and media supplements were not responsible for these changes. We examined LPS-induced reactive nitrogen species using the Greiss reagent. J774A.1 cells cultured in RPMI exhibit a 5-fold increase in nitrites in culture supernatants after LPS stimulation whereas those in DMEM/F12 do not. Zinc staining of total cellular protein of cells in RPMI and DMEM/F12 electrophoresed on a SDS-PAGE showed noticeable banding differences. LPS-induced cytokine gene expression was studied by RT-PCR. LPS induced TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β, and sIL-1Ra in cells cultured in RPMI but not those cultured in DMEM/F12 with the exception of TNFα. This report shows that environmental factors contained in the culture medium alone can reversibly alter the biochemical nature of monocytes and macrophages.
Clobetasol propionate shampoo 0.05% is efficacious and safe for long-term control of moderate scalp psoriasis

Abstract We evaluated in this study the efficacy and safety of an alternate regimen using clobetasol propionate 0.05% shampoo (CP shampoo) for long-term control of scalp psoriasis. Patients with moderate scalp psoriasis (Global Severity Score [GSS] of 3 on a 0–5 scale) first received CP shampoo once daily for 4 weeks. Patients with a GSS ≤ 2 were then randomized into the maintenance phase, receiving CP shampoo or vehicle twice weekly. When relapse (GSS > 2) occurred, patients received the 4-week daily CP shampoo treatment. Patients who had a GSS ≤ 2 afterwards reinitiated the twice-weekly maintenance according to the original randomization scheme. Among the 168 patients enrolled, 141 (83.9%) had a GSS ≤ 2 after the initial phase. The median time to first relapse was 141 days with CP shampoo, almost 4 months later than with vehicle (30.5 days;p < 0.0001). After 6 months, the percentage of patients who had no relapse was significantly higher with CP shampoo (40.3%) than with vehicle (11.6%;p < 0.001). CP shampoo was also safe during the 7-month study period, without leading to more cases of skin atrophy, telangiectasia, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis suppression or adverse events compared to vehicle. The alternate treatment regimen with CP shampoo is efficacious and safe for long-term management of moderate scalp psoriasis.
Using the online cross-entropy method to learn relational policies for playing different games

By defining a video-game environment as a collection of objects, relations, actions and rewards, the relational reinforcement learning algorithm presented in this paper generates and optimises a set of concise, human-readable relational rules for achieving maximal reward. Rule learning is achieved using a combination of incremental specialisation of rules and a modified online cross-entropy method, which dynamically adjusts the rate of learning as the agent progresses. The algorithm is tested on the Ms. Pac-Man and Mario environments, with results indicating the agent learns an effective policy for acting within each environment.
Statistical Process Control

The deployment of statistical process control (SPC) in manufacturing environments is a prominent globa l phenomenon. Statistical Process Control is largely used in industries for m onitoring the process parameters. It is a standard method for visualizing and controlling processes on the basis of measurements of randomly selected samples. The decisions about w hat needs to be improved, the possible methods to improve it, and the steps to ta ke after getting results from the charts are all ma de by humans and based on wisdom and experience. The statistical process con trol described in this paper gives the details abou t the SPC, its advantages and limitation, applications and information regarding the control charts.
Magnetic Properties and Microstructures of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)-Coated Cobalt Ferrite (CoFe2O4) Nanoparticles Synthesized by Coprecipitation Method

Magnetic nanoparticles of cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) have been synthesized by co-precipitation method with various synthesis temperatures, concentration of NaOH and stirring duration. The results showed that nanoparticles have well crystallized structure with various grain sizes which depend on synthesis parameters. The grain size increased with increasing synthesis temperature, decreasing concentration of NaOH and decreasing stirring duration. Magnetic characterization of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles measured by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) showed that coercive field was decrease with the decreasing of particle size. The saturation and remnant magnetization showed increasing when crystallinity increased. However, it also depends on presence of α-Fe2O3 phases and their grain size. Based on magnetic characterization analysis, sample with parameter of synthesis temperature 80°C, concentration of NaOH 5 M and stirring duration 120 minutes have been selected to be modified using polyethylene glycol (PEG)-4000. XRD and TEM analysis showed that surface modification with PEG-4000 could increase the crystallinity of nanoparticles, decrease agglomeration and control the shape to more spherical. VSM analysis showed that modification PEG-4000 could decrease the saturation magnetization which is due to the existence of α-FeO(OH) and γ-FeO(OH) phases from bonds at interface of CoFe2O4 as confirmed by XRD and Furrier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) analysis. Keywords: magnetic nanoparticles, CoFe2O4, copresipitation, PEG-4000
Eurographics Symposium on Geometry Processing (2007) Reconstruction of Deforming Geometry from Time-varying Point Clouds

In this paper, we describe a system for the reconstruction of deforming geometry from a time sequence of unstructured, noisy point clouds, as produced by recent real-time range scanning devices. Our technique reconstructs both the geometry and dense correspondences over time. Using the correspondences, holes due to occlusion are filled in from other frames. Our reconstruction technique is based on a statistical framework: The reconstruction should both match the measured data points and maximize prior probability densities that prefer smoothness, rigid deformation and smooth movements over time. The optimization procedure consists of an inner loop that optimizes the 4D shape using continuous numerical optimization and an outer loop that infers the discrete 4D topology of the data set using an iterative model assembly algorithm. We apply the technique to a variety of data sets, demonstrating that the new approach is capable of robustly retrieving animated models with correspondences from data sets suffering from significant noise, outliers and acquisition holes.
Powers of ten thousand: navigating in large information spaces

How would you interactively browse a <italic>very</italic> large display space, for example, a street map of the entire United States? The traditional solution is <italic>zoom</italic> and <italic>pan</italic>. But each time a zoom-in operation takes place, the context from which it came is visually lost. Sequential applications of the zoom-in and zoom-out operations may become tedious. This paper proposes an alternative technique, the <italic>macroscope</italic>, based on zooming and planning in multiple translucent layers. A macroscope display should comfortably permit browsing continuously on a single image, or set of images in multiple resolutions, on a scale of at least 1 to 10,000.