Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase 1 Clinical Trials in the Elderly: Enrollment Challenges

Cancer mostly affects older adults. Despite the increased incidence of cancer among older adults, they are underrepresented in oncology clinical trials. Such trials can provide patients with early access to promising interventions. Clinical trials are changing the future of cancer treatments. This article provides advanced practitioners in oncology an understanding of potential barriers to enrollment of older adults in oncology clinical trials. This article also summarizes the literature comparing tolerance, toxicity, and clinical benefit in the elderly compared with the nonelderly. Enrollment of elderly patients is essential. It is therefore important to create strategies to increase their enrollment. Advanced practitioners, along with other members of the health-care team, play an important role to advocate for elderly patients in phase I clinical trials.
Expulsion rate of intrauterine device: mediate vs. immediate puerperium period

Objective: To evaluate the rate of expulsion of intrauterine device (IUD) inserted during the immediate and mediate puerperium. To evaluate whether the type of delivery is a predictor of expulsion of the IUD when inserted in the puerperium period. Material and Methods: This was a prospective observational study. Patients whose IUD (TCU-380 copper) was placed during the puerperal period were divided in two groups according to the time of placement: immediate and mediate puerperium. The decision regarding the time of IUD insertion was made in a non-randomized manner. Analysis was performed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Spearman’s correlation tests and logistic regression analysis. Results: The total rate of IUD expulsions was 28.8% (49/170). There was no significant association between the occurrence of expulsion and the timing of IUD insertion (immediate vs mediate puerperium; 26.6% vs 34.78%, p=0.296). Among patients experiencing expulsion, 79.6% (39/49) underwent insertion after vaginal delivery and 20.4% (10/49) during cesarean section (CS). The type of delivery was a significant predictor for IUD expulsion (p<0.0001). Vaginal delivery was fourfold more likely to be associated with IUD expulsion inserted in the puerperal period than CS (odds ratio: 4.23, 95% confidence interval: 1.94-9.25). There was no significant correlation between the period between IUD insertion and the diagnosis of expulsion in regard to number of pregnancies (r=-0.160, p=0.271) or gestational age at delivery (r=-0.058, p=0.939). Conclusion: Vaginal delivery was the most prevalent type of delivery in patients who underwent IUD insertion during the immediate and mediate puerperium. The risk of IUD expulsion after vaginal delivery was greater than CS.
A descriptive study of random forest algorithm for predicting COVID-19 patients outcome

Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that occurred in Wuhan, China, has become a global public health threat. It is necessary to identify indicators that can be used as optimal predictors for clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients. Methods The clinical information from 126 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were collected from Wuhan Fourth Hospital. Specific clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatments and clinical outcomes were analyzed from patients hospitalized for treatment from 1 February to 15 March 2020, and subsequently died or were discharged. A random forest (RF) algorithm was used to predict the prognoses of COVID-19 patients and identify the optimal diagnostic predictors for patients’ clinical prognoses. Results Seven of the 126 patients were excluded for losing endpoints, 103 of the remaining 119 patients were discharged (alive) and 16 died in the hospital. A synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) was used to correct the imbalanced distribution of clinical patients. Recursive feature elimination (RFE) was used to select the optimal subset for analysis. Eleven clinical parameters, Myo, CD8, age, LDH, LMR, CD45, Th/Ts, dyspnea, NLR, D-Dimer and CK were chosen with AUC approximately 0.9905. The RF algorithm was built to predict the prognoses of COVID-19 patients based on the best subset, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the test data was 100%. Moreover, two optimal clinical risk predictors, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Myoglobin (Myo), were selected based on the Gini index. The univariable logistic analysis revealed a substantial increase in the risk for in-hospital mortality when Myo was higher than 80 ng/ml (OR = 7.54, 95% CI [3.42–16.63]) and LDH was higher than 500 U/L (OR = 4.90, 95% CI [2.13–11.25]). Conclusion We applied an RF algorithm to predict the mortality of COVID-19 patients with high accuracy and identified LDH higher than 500 U/L and Myo higher than 80 ng/ml to be potential risk factors for the prognoses of COVID-19 patients in the early stage of the disease.
Comparison of first-line and second-line use of fingolimod in relapsing MS: The open-label EARLIMS study

Background Treatment of MS often begins with low-efficacy injectable disease-modifying therapy (iDMT). Objectives To compare the effect of fingolimod 0.5 mg/day on clinical, MRI, patient-reported, and safety outcomes, in treatment-naïve and previously treated (≥1 iDMT) patients with early MS. Methods EARLIMS was a multicentre, open-label, non-randomized, parallel-group phase 3 b/4 study in Australia and Spain. Patients with relapsing–remitting MS, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score <4.0, and ≥1–5 years since diagnosis, received daily fingolimod for 48 weeks. The primary endpoint was annualized relapse rate (ARR). Results Of 347 patients enrolled at 51 sites (treatment-naïve, 200 [57.6%]; previously treated, 147 [42.4%]), 320 completed the study (treatment-naïve, 184 [92.0%]; previously treated, 136 [92.5%]), but the study remained underpowered (planned enrolment, n = 432). Fingolimod reduced ARR to similar levels in both treatment-naïve (mean ARR [95% confidence interval], 0.21 [0.14, 0.29]) and previously treated groups (0.30 [0.20, 0.41]; p = 0.1668). There were no new safety signals. Conclusions Fingolimod appeared equally effective as first- or second-line therapy in relapsing MS. There was a trend for better outcomes with fingolimod in treatment-naïve patients than in those previously treated with >1 iDMT.
The nucleic acid chaperone activity of the HIV-1 Gag polyprotein is boosted by its cellular partner RPL7: a kinetic study

Abstract The HIV-1 Gag protein playing a key role in HIV-1 viral assembly has recently been shown to interact through its nucleocapsid domain with the ribosomal protein L7 (RPL7) that acts as a cellular co-factor promoting Gag's nucleic acid (NA) chaperone activity. To further understand how the two proteins act together, we examined their mechanism individually and in concert to promote the annealing between dTAR, the DNA version of the viral transactivation element and its complementary cTAR sequence, taken as model HIV-1 sequences. Gag alone or complexed with RPL7 was found to act as a NA chaperone that destabilizes cTAR stem-loop and promotes its annealing with dTAR through the stem ends via a two-step pathway. In contrast, RPL7 alone acts as a NA annealer that through its NA aggregating properties promotes cTAR/dTAR annealing via two parallel pathways. Remarkably, in contrast to the isolated proteins, their complex promoted efficiently the annealing of cTAR with highly stable dTAR mutants. This was confirmed by the RPL7-promoted boost of the physiologically relevant Gag-chaperoned annealing of (+)PBS RNA to the highly stable tRNALys3 primer, favoring the notion that Gag recruits RPL7 to overcome major roadblocks in viral assembly.
Cross-sectional study of paediatric case mix presenting to an emergency centre in Cape Town, South Africa, during COVID-19

Objective To describe and compare the effect of level 5 lockdown measures on the workload and case mix of paediatric patients presenting to a district-level emergency centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods Paediatric patients (<13 years) presenting to Mitchells Plain Hospital were included. The level 5 lockdown period (27 March 2020–30 April 2020) was compared with similar 5-week periods immediately before (21 February 2020–26 March 2020) and after the lockdown (1 May 2020–4 June 2020), and to similar time periods during 2018 and 2019. Patient demographics, characteristics, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) diagnosis, disposition and process times were collected from an electronic patient tracking and registration database. The χ2 test and the independent samples median test were used for comparisons. Results Emergency centre visits during the lockdown period (n=592) decreased by 58% compared with 2019 (n=1413) and by 56% compared with the 2020 prelockdown period (n=1342). The proportion of under 1 year olds increased by 10.4% (p<0.001), with a 7.4% increase in self-referrals (p<0.001) and a 6.9% reduction in referrals from clinics (p<0.001). Proportionally more children were referred to inpatient disciplines (5.6%, p=0.001) and to a higher level of care (3.9%, p=0.004). Significant reductions occurred in respiratory diseases (66.9%, p<0.001), injuries (36.1%, p<0.001) and infectious diseases (34.1%, p<0.001). All process times were significantly different between the various study periods. Conclusion Significantly less children presented to the emergency centre since the implementation of the COVID-19 lockdown, with marked reductions in respiratory and infectious-related diseases and in injuries.
A Role-based Prototyping Approach for Human-Centred Design in Fuzzy Front-End Scenarios

Developing new products is challenging due to ambiguous and uncertain requirements and unclear processes especially for novice development teams. This paper outlines a role-based prototyping approach with an evaluation of eight student design teams. The methodology places prototypes as measure of progress guiding the students on important aspects of fuzzy-front product development. It provides a template of the overall process and tools that emphasizes on slow integration of artifacts via micro logic, getting progressively complex with added methods and guidelines on prototypes and sprints.
Surgical management of battle gunshot injuries to the dural venous sinuses, combined with brain injury: an analysis of series of observations

Materials and methods. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical records and long-term outcomes in patients who were admitted to our medical center from 05/2014 to 12/2017. The study included soldiers with gunshot DVS wounds sustained in battles, who presented with the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ≥4. Upon admission, damage to the DVS was diagnosed based on spiral computed tomography (SCT) imaging and/or was identified during surgery. All the patients underwent SCT imaging on admission and 12 hours after surgery. When severe damage to the DVS was suspected, cerebral angiography (CAG) was performed. The age, initial GCS score, the Injury Severity Score, location and nature of injuries to the DVS, the location and nature of brain injury, the volume of surgical interventions and the presence of complications in a postoperative period were taken into account. The outcome data included an assessment of the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) in 6 and 12 months.
Effect of subclinical mastitis on milk yield and milk composition parameters in dairy camels

This study investigated the effects of subclinical mastitis on milk yield and milk composition parameters in dairy camels. A total of 140 camel milk samples were collected from multiparous she-camels (7-10 years old) and were subjected to bacteriological culture studies; 76 samples displayed subclinical mastitis and 64 samples were healthy. Furthermore, the samples were analyzed via standard procedures to determine the yield and composition parameters of the milk such as pH, electrical conductivity, protein, fat, lactose, and ash content. The results showed that the milk yield was significantly low (p 0.05) were observed in pH, electrical conductivity, lactose, or ash content. The results of the uninfected milk samples revealed that there was significant correlation between the protein and fat content (r = 0.781; p < 0.01) and between the lactose and ash content (r = 0.701; p < 0.01). Conversely, the infected ones showed that there was higher significant correlation between the protein and fat contents (r = 0.807; p < 0.01) and a medium correlation between the lactose and ash contents (r = 0.603; p < 0.01). In conclusion, the results suggest that subclinical mastitis is negatively associated with a reduced milk yield and lower protein and fat content. Thus, these parameters can be used to diagnose mastitis in dairy camels.
Development of limb bone laminarity in the homing pigeon (Columba livia)

Background Birds show adaptations in limb bone shape that are associated with resisting locomotor loads. Whether comparable adaptations occur in the microstructure of avian cortical bone is less clear. One proposed microstructural adaptation is laminar bone in which the proportion of circumferentially-oriented vascular canals (i.e., laminarity) is large. Previous work on adult birds shows elevated laminarity in specific limb elements of some taxa, presumably to resist torsion-induced shear strain during locomotion. However, more recent analyses using improved measurements in adult birds and bats reveal lower laminarity than expected in bones associated with torsional loading. Even so, there may still be support for the resistance hypothesis if laminarity increases with growth and locomotor maturation. Methods Here, we tested that hypothesis using a growth series of 17 homing pigeons (15–563 g). Torsional rigidity and laminarity of limb bones were measured from histological sections sampled from midshaft. Ontogenetic trends in laminarity were assessed using principal component analysis to reduce dimensionality followed by beta regression with a logit link function. Results We found that torsional rigidity of limb bones increases disproportionately with growth, consistent with rapid structural compensation associated with locomotor maturation. However, laminarity decreases with maturity, weakening the hypothesis that high laminarity is a flight adaptation at least in the pigeon. Instead, the histological results suggest that low laminarity, specifically the relative proportion of longitudinal canals aligned with peak principal strains, may better reflect the loading history of a bone.
Patinella hyalophaea Sacc. – Rediscovered in New Brunswick, Canada

Ascomycete.org, 5 (3) : 91-96. Mai 2013 Mise en ligne le 18/05/2013 Summary: Patinella hyalophaea (type species of Patinella) is redescribed from the type material from Italy and from a recent collection from Canada. Further records of this apparently rare species could not be traced. Its ecological amplitude involves decorticated branches of both angio(Fagus) and gymnosperms in montane, humid beech forests mixed with conifers. A possible adaptation to flooding by streams is discussed. The affinities of Patinella within the Helotiales are unsettled, whereas an earlier proposed relation to the Orbiliomycetes based on the capitate paraphyses is considered as quite improbable.
Domestic Livestock Resources of Turkey – Honey Bee

DOI: 10.21276/sjavs.2017. 4.10. 2 Abstract: The aim of this paper is to review traditional beekeeping in Turkey. Beekeeping is a rapidly developing part of agriculture, as it is worldwide. It provides a natural balance to the maintenance of agricultural production. Turkey has awide range of climatic and natural features and possesses millions of bee (Apis mellifera anatoliaca) colonies with a high genetic diversity. The wide range of climate environment is a great potential for bee keeping and honey production. It is said that 75% of honey plant species and varieties are in Turkey. In different regions there are plenty of honey plants which flower at different times, allowing more production than usual for bee-keeping. Turkey is currently a major country for bee-keeping for two reasons: first, bee colonies have increased in number in recent years; secondly, modern bee hives have become greater in number. Methods of bee keeping are generally traditional, and there are a few professional and migratory bee keepers among the total. Turkey is the 2nd for honey production after China and 3rd for bee colony after India and China in the World. The other honey bee products are pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom and wax which are highly helpful for not only as human food but also necessary for human health. In this review bee keeping is reviewed in the context of different regions and bee breeds.
Evaluating and Optimizing Prosodic Alignment for Automatic Dubbing

Automatic dubbing aims at replacing all speech contained in a video with speech in a different language, so that the result sounds and looks as natural as the original. Hence, in addition to conveying the same content of an original utterance (which is the typical objective of speech translation), dubbed speech should ideally also match its duration, the lip movements and gestures in the video, timbre, emotion and prosody of the speaker, and ﬁnally background noise and reverberation of the environment. In this paper, after describing our dubbing architecture, we focus on recent progress on the prosodic alignment component, which aims at synchronizing the translated transcript with the original utterances. We present empirical results for English-to-Italian dubbing on a publicly available collection of TED Talks. Our new prosodic alignment model, which allows for small relaxations in synchronicity, shows to significantly improve both prosodic alignment accuracy and overall subjective dubbing quality of previous work.
Study on Antioxidant Activity of Lithospermum erythrorhizon in vitro

Lithospermum erythrorhizon pigment(LEP) was isolated from L.erythrorhizon by means of regular reflux-extract.Moreover,the antioxidant activity of LEP was evaluated by superoxide anion(O2),1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH·) radical scavenging activity and β-carotene linoleate model system assays.The results showed that LEP had strong radical scavenging activity towards DPPH· and O2,and it owned obvious inhibition against β-carotene linoleate model system.Therefore,the results proved that the pharmacological function of L.erythrorhizon was probably related with the strong antioxidant activity of LEP.
A study on sacral index and its uses in sex determination

The human sacrum is a complex structure and provides accommodation for spinal nerves which stabilises the pelvis. Morphometric measurements of sacrum determine the sex of the individual. The measurement of sacral index using the sacrumbone is considered as one of the bestmethods for determination of sex. The aim of this study is to ind out the importance of sacral index in sexual dimorphism and to compare the indings with various age groups. 100 fully ossi ied sacral bones were collected from department of Anatomy. Average sacral length and breadth were taken by using sliding Vernier caliper and sacral index was calculated. The obtained values were tabulated against their respective parameters and then interpreted for the study. Avergae sacral index in females (109) is signi icantly greater than males (94). As per present study sacral index can reliably identify 58%ofmale sacrumand42%of female sacrum. It is therefore a quite reliable and signi icant criteria for sex determination of sacrum. Thus, regional and racial differences in sacrum along with sacral index canbeused for anatomical,medico-legal andanthropological purposes.
On Voynich Alphabet Analysis With Relation to the Old Indian Dialects

This paper is discussing our new research direction in the Voynich manuscript research. While our previous papers have been dealing with the research that has been based on fractal property analyses or graph properties analyses, where the graph has been constructed from the Voynich manuscript word sequences (Fig. 1), this paper discusses another kind of research on Voynich manuscript. This research is focused on the compassion of the letters or alphabets from Voynich manuscript with another selected alphabets from a different dialect, in that case, dialect from the Indian language. The reason is to point out the possibility that we can identify the origin of the Voynich manuscript alphabets based on the graphical conversion between letters from different dialects. Because this research is a very wide and deep topic, we publish in this paper only basic ideas, simulations and discuss all problems which have been found during those experimentation as well as outlining of the future directions of the research in an outlined way.
Muscle hypertrophy and muscle strength: dependent or independent variables? A provocative review

The question whether the muscle hypertrophy induced by resistance training, hormone administration or genetic manipulation is accompanied by a proportional increase in muscle strength is still open. This review summarizes and analyses data obtained in human and rodent muscles in studies that have monitored in parallel changes in muscle size and changes in muscle force, measured in isometric contractions in vivo, in isolated muscles ex vivo (in rodents) and in single muscle fibers. Although a general positive relation exists among the two variables, a number of studies show a clear dissociation with increase of muscle size with no change or even decrease in strength and, vice versa, increase in strength without increase in size. The possible mechanisms of such dissociation, which involves neural motor control and/or cellular and molecular adaptations of muscle fibers, are briefly discussed.
Enhanced stability of free viscous films due to surface viscosity

The stability of a thin liquid film bounded by two free surfaces is examined in the presence of insoluble surface-active agents. This study is broadly aimed at understanding enhanced stability of emulsions with the increasing surface concentration of surface-active agents. Surface-active agents not only cause gradients in surface tension but could also render surface viscosity to be significant, which could vary with surface concentration. We employ two phenomenological models for surface viscosity, a linear viscosity model and a nonlinear viscosity model. In the latter, surface viscosity diverges at a critical concentration, which is termed the “jamming” limit. We show that rupture can be significantly delayed with high surface viscosity. An analysis of the “jamming” limit reveals that Γi(nl)>3D/M provides a simple criterion for enhanced stability, where Γi(nl), D, and M are the normalized initial surfactant concentration, disjoining pressure number, and Marangoni number, respectively. Nonlinear simulations suggest that high surface viscosity renders free films remarkably stable in the jamming limit, and their free surfaces behave like immobile interfaces consistent with experimental observations. Furthermore, it is shown that rupture times can be arbitrarily increased by tuning the initial surfactant concentration, offering a fluid dynamical route to stabilization of thin films.