Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One-hour paclitaxel plus carboplatin for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.

We report here the preliminary results of a large phase II multicenter study done in the community setting, using paclitaxel (Taxol) (given by 1-hour infusion) plus carboplatin (Paraplatin) to treat patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, 155 chemotherapy-naive patients with stage IIIB, stage IV, or recurrent metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer received the two drugs in 21-day cycles. Paclitaxel 225 mg/m² was given by 1-hour intravenous infusion followed immediately by carboplatin at a targeted area under the concentration-time curve of 6.0 (calculated according to the Calvert formula). Colony-stimulating factors were not used routinely. Objective responses occurred in 53 of 155 patients (34%) (53 of 144 [36%] evaluable patients) including three complete responses and 50 partial responses. Fifty-two other patients had stable disease at initial reevaluation. The median survival among all 155 patients was 8 months; the 1-year survival rate was 42%, and the 2-year survival rate was 20%. Leukopenia and cumulative peripheral neuropathy occurred consistently but rarely were severe or affected the course of therapy. One patient died due to sepsis. Other grade 3 and grade 4 toxicities were uncommon. This paclitaxel-carboplatin combination chemotherapy appears to be a relatively convenient, safe, and active regimen in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. [ONCOLOGY 12(Suppl 2):71-73, 1998]
Fe b 20 03 CERN-TH / 2002-264 , SLAC-PUB-9604 Present Status of Inclusive Rare B Decays

We give a status report on inclusive rare B decays, highlighting recent developments and open problems. We focus on the decay modes B → Xs,dγ, B → Xsll and B → Xsνν̄ and on their role in the search for new physics. Most of the inclusive rare B decays are important modes of flavour physics due to the small hadronic uncertainties. They can be regarded as laboratories to search for new physics. We collect the experimental data already available from CLEO and the B factories BABAR and BELLE. We review the NLL and NNLL QCD calculations of the inclusive decay rates that were recently completed, and discuss future prospects, especially the issue of the charm mass scheme ambiguity. Finally, we analyse the phenomenological impact of these decay modes, in particular on the CKM phenomenology and on the indirect search for supersymmetry. We also briefly discuss direct CP violation in inclusive rare B decays, as well as the rare kaon decays K+ → π+νν̄ and KL → π0νν̄, which offer complementary theoretically clean information. Invited Contribution to Reviews of Modern Physics
Serum vitamin D level, measured by two methods, in a sample of normal subjects in Basrah

Background: Low vitamin D levels had been reported to be common in normal subjects worldwide. Studies in the Middle East had reported extremely low levels of serum vitamin D, despite high exposure to sunlight. Aim: To estimate vitamin D serum concentration in a sample of apparently healthy subjects from Basrah, by 2 methods (chemiluminescent and fluorescent assays). Methods: The study was carried out on apparently healthy subjects during the period from September 2018 to February 2019. Quantitative determination of the total 25-hydroxy vitamin D in serum was made using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay and enzyme-linked fluorescent assay. Other parameters (calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate and body mass index) were also measured. Results: The mean level of vitamin D measured by the two methods, was 11.57±6.63 ng/ml and 13.31±6.52 ng/ml by chemiluminescent and fluorescent assays respectively. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was high, where more than 80% of the 57 subjects had vitamin D level below 20 ng/ml. If the cut-off point of vitamin D deficiency was taken as 10 ng/ml, around 46% of the subjects were found deficient in both methods. Although the two methods of vitamin D assay were well correlated with each other, fluorescent assay gave, on average, a significantly higher levels compared with the chemiluminescent method. Serum parathyroid hormone, showed a negative correlation with vitamin D serum levels. After excluding children and females, no significant difference was found between adult smokers and non-smokers when vitamin D was measured by both methods. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is common (> 80%) among normal subjects. The enzyme-linked fluorescent assay resulted in higher mean level than chemiluminescent assay. The use of a deficiency cutoff point of 10 ng/ml may be more appropriate.
High School Teaching Practice With Young People From the Periphery: A Study of the “Good Teacher”

The article discusses the teaching performance of high school teachers in a school attended by to youths of popular sectors. The objective was to identify the teaching practices of the teachers identified by students as “good teachers”. The research was conducted in a public school in the periphery of the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The data was collected using questionnaires, observations and interviews. We identified a teaching practice marked by relational and motivational dimensions, characterizing a new professionality of the high school teacher. It turns out a "good teacher" is a relationship professional, sense builder and catalyst of the learning process of young.
THE IMPACT OF NANO CHITOSAN AND NANO SILICON COATINGS ON THE QUALITY OF CANINO APRICOT FRUITS DURING COLD STORAGE

This work was carried out during 2016 and 2017 seasons in post-harvest Lab. Pomology Dept. Cairo University, Egypt. The quality and internal (physical and chemical) changes in apricot fruits (Prunus armeniaca L.) coated with different treatments of Nano chitosan and Nano silicon were studied after different storage periods of cold storage at 1°C and 90-95% (RH). Nano chitosan was prepared with 0.5% concentration and Nano silicon was prepared with 2% concentration, each of them was tested individuallyor in combination with Thiabendazole (TBZ). The changes in fruit firmness, weight loss, discarded fruit percentage, fruit panel, total acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), and ascorbic content (Vitamin C) at intervals were estimated during 7 weeks. The results of the two successive seasons indicated that the application of Nano chitosan and silicon coatings maintained fruit firmness compared with the control (dipped in TBZ) without significant differences. The application with 0.5% Nano chitosan + TBZ treatment maintained higher firmness values. On the other hand, Nano-chitosan coating + TBZ treatment maintained fruit acidity, fruit panel test and Vitamin C content more than the uncoated control and other treatments without significant differences. While, all coating treatments increased TSS values and discarded fruit percentage compared with the control without significant differences. The lowest value for each of TSS and fresh weight loss percentage was achieved by Nano chitosan 0.5% + TBZ treatment. Similarly, that treatment significantly decreased fresh weight loss percentage compared with the other treatments.
A Comparison between the Safety and Efficacy of IV Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) and IV Ibuprofen in Treating Premature Neonates with Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Background: Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) is a common congenital heart disease (CHD) that can lead to infant mortality. This study compared the impact of two treatment approaches (i.e. intravenous acetaminophen and ibuprofen) on the closure rate of PDA. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 30 infants with PDA were divided into two groups based on the applied treatment approaches (IV acetaminophen and IV ibuprofen). The two groups were compared with each other in terms of primary outcomes including post-intervention PDA grades, length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, and patient outcomes (i.e. death or discharge). Results: Based on the results, none of the participants had a moderate or large-sized PDA after the intervention. The post-intervention PDA closure rates in the acetaminophen and ibuprofen groups were 87.5% and 92.1%, respectively (p = 0.626). The mortality rate in the acetaminophen and ibuprofen groups were 12.5% and 14.3%, respectively (p = 0.886). In addition, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of the length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation (P-value > 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the efficacy of IV acetaminophen was similar to that of IV ibuprofen in the treatment of PDA. However, authors recommend conducting randomized multicenter clinical trials with larger sample sizes to confirm the replacement of IV ibuprofen by acetaminophen.
THE POST-AUSTERITY YOUTH. POLITICAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

The economic crisis transformed the way in which European citizens relate to politics in general but particularly affected young people. The crisis resulted in decreased levels of trust in political institutions and increased levels of political protest. But little attention has been paid to the postcrisis period. Ten years on, what are young people’s attitudes and behaviour? This article examines the potential long term consequences of the economic crisis on young people’s political interest, political trust and political participation. In examining political behaviour we use a classification of types of participants that allows us to compare young people to adults, and young people before, during and after the economic crisis. Empirically, we use a descriptive approach using survey data from the European Social Survey, covering a considerable period of time (2002-2016) and 16 European countries. The comparison is threefold: young people over time, young people to adults, and young people across countries. The results support the idea of the emergence of a post-crisis youth that is more engaged and participative than adults and young people before the crisis. However the results do not show radical differences among countries that were affected by the economic crisis in varying degrees.
Dose-Dependent Chemopreventive Effect of Methanol Extract of Carica papaya Seed on Potassium Bromate- Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats

Aim: To investigate the effect of Carica papaya seed extract on KBrO3 - induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Renal toxicity was induced by a single oral dose of 100 mg/kg body weight of KBrO3. Study Design: Thirty (30) male albino rats were divided into six groups, five rats per group; normal control, KBrO3 control, papaya control and KBrO3 group administered with methanol seed extract of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg body weight for 48 hours. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, from April 2018 to August 2018. Methodology: Serum urea, creatinine, uric acid and electrolytes were determined using kits from randox laboratories. Furthermore, activities of renal brush border membrane marker enzymes namely γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), maltase (Mal) and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and some parameters of oxidative stress including catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined in homogenates prepared from renal cortex and medulla of the kidney of rats using colorimetric methods. Results: Administration of KBrO3 significantly (P<0.05) increases the serum levels of urea, creatinine, uric acid and all electrolytes studied in a dose-dependent fashion from 200mg/kg to 400mg/kg and 600mg/kg in that order. Furthermore, the activities of GGT, ALP, Mal and LAP decrease in renal homogenates with KBrO3 administration. Also the activities of CAT, SOD, GPx and level of GSH decreases while the level of MDA significantly (P<0.05) increases however concurrent administration of Carica papaya seed extract prevented all the KBrO3- induced changes in the biochemical parameters studied . Conclusion: It was suggested that methanol seed extract of Carica papaya possess nephroprotective effect against KBrO3 –induced renal toxicity and oxidative stress, and the most effective dose was 600 mg/kg body weight.
Comparative study of synovial fluid and serum protein electrophoretic pattern of river buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Ahvaz

Electrophoresis is a meticulous method in para-clinical science but has received less attention. In this study, the protein profile of synovial fluid of carpal joint and blood serum in buffalo was detected. Sampling was performed by arthrocentesis of 80 left and right forelimbs and obtaining blood serums of 40 Bubalus bubalis in Ahvaz industrial slaughterhouse. Samples were stratified by gender, age and left and right forelimbs. At first, the health of samples was confirmed by measuring the physical parameters of synovial fluid such as color, viscosity, transparency, and quality of mucin clot. Then, total protein was measured by Biuret method. Separating of synovial fluid protein fractions (include: albumin, alpha globulin, beta globulin, gamma globulin) was performed by electrophoresis method with cellogel kit. Statistical analysis showed that total protein, albumin, alpha globulin, beta globulin, gamma globulin in synovial fluid were significantly lower than the serum (P<0.05). The statistical analysis showed that the measured parameters in relation to age, gender and the limbs had no significant difference. Although synovial fluid, like all other biological fluid, is structurally similar to serum but is slightly different following disorders and diseases, nature and quantity of some these proteins change and analysis of the fluid can be used to identify trends of disease, prediction of the development and evaluation of the treatment processes.
Effect of an educational program about acute pancreatitis patients outcomes

Background: Acute Pancreatitis is defined as a reversible inflammation of pancreatic parenchyma which is characterized by the presence of interstitial edema, acute inflammatory cell infiltrates and varies degree of cellular apoptosis, necrosis and hemorrhage. Nursing care for patients with acute pancreatitis must be directed at preventing complications, and optimizing patients’ outcomes. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate effect of an educational program about acute pancreatitis on patients' outcomes. Design: A quasi-experimental research design was used to conduct this research. Setting: The study was conducted in the intensive care unit at Assiut University, Rajhy Hospital for Liver. Subjects: A convenience sample of 60 adult patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. Tools: Data were collected using: tool I patients' assessment sheet, Tool II patients' outcomes sheet. Results revealed that the majority patients of pre and post program ranged between 18-77 years with mean of (42.37±18.4), most of them female, there was statistically significant difference regarding ascites (p=<0.001**) between patients` group pre and post program. Conclusion: The incidence of acute pancreatitis complications for patients cared by nurses who received education program was decreased. Recommendation: Replication of this research on a larger probability sample acquired from different geographic area in Arab republic of Egypt for generalization.
Safe adaptive traversability learning for mobile robots

In mobile robotics it is necessary to predict a robot pose on a terrain to guarantee its stability when traversing an obstacle. Usual methods are based on an exact simulation of a robot-surface interaction, but this requires a precise physical model, which can be hard to solve or can be too much complex. The aim of this thesis is to propose and experimentally evaluate an algorithm, based on machine learning methods, which predicts attitude of the robot (roll and pitch angles) in natural environment. The main contribution of this work lies in development and evaluation of models, which can be used for predicting the safety of robot states and actions while interacting with the environment. Three models based on different multidimensional regression methods (linear, piecewise constant and Gaussian process) were trained and compared. As a part of this work, testing dataset was created and will be relased for the robotic community. Abstrakt V mobilní robotice je nezbytné předpovídat postoj robota vůči terénu, aby se zaručila jeho stabilita při překonávání překážek. Běžně používané metody jsou založeny na přesné simulaci interakce mezi robotem a povrchem, ale vyžadují precizní fyzikální modely, které může být těžké spočítat, nebo mohou být příliš komplexní. Cílem této práce je navrhnout a experimentálně ověřit algoritmus založený na metodách strojového učení, který bude předpovídat polohové úhly robota (náklon a sklon) v přirozeném prostředí. Hlavním přínosem této práce je vytvoření a ověření modelů, které mohou být požity k predikci bezpečných stavů a akcí při interakci robota s prostředím. Úspěšně byly naučeny a porovnány tři modely založené na rozdílných vícerozměrných regresních metodách (lineární, po částech konstantní a pomocí Gausovských procesů). Součástí této práce bylo rovněž vytvoření testovacího datasetu, který bude uvolněn pro robotickou komunitu. Acknowledgements I would gladly like to thank my supervisor Ing. Michal Reinštein, Ph.D. for his knowledge support and permanent flogging me to labour. I also want to express special thanks to Ing. Karel Zimmermann, Ph.D., for writing the skeleton of regression pipeline used in this work, and to Ing. Petr Zuzánek, for its extension and many datasets used in this work. I would also like to thank my family and girlfriend for their patience, soothing and support.
Rapid detection of Potato virus S using antibody-coated gold nanoparticles.

In spite of existing of several methods for detection of viruses, time consuming is major limitation of them. So, developing faster and real time method is important to certificate the plant materials in quarantine stations and virus management. In the recent research, nanotechnology was employed to detect Potato virus S (PVS) using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Colloidal AuNPs were prepared through citrate reduction and conjugated to a specific antibody against PVS coat protein. Conjugation was optimized by changing the pH of AuNPs and antibody concentration. Antibody coated nanoparticles were used to detect different concentrations of antigen using spectrophotometry. After binding the antibody to the gold nanoparticles which cause an increase in particle size, the SPR peak was displaced in range of 4-5 nm and shifted from 524 to 530 nm. The binding of the antigen to the nanoparticle also caused a change in the particle size and an increase maximum absorbance from 530 to 539 nm. No spectral change were seen when PVY and CMV used as controls. This study is the first attempt of nanoparticle usage in quick and easy detection of PVS.
Hardware Resource Analysis in Distributed Training with Edge Devices

When training a deep learning model with distributed training, the hardware resource utilization of each device depends on the model structure and the number of devices used for training. Distributed training has recently been applied to edge computing. Since edge devices have hardware resource limitations such as memory, there is a need for training methods that use hardware resources efficiently. Previous research focused on reducing training time by optimizing the synchronization process between edge devices or by compressing the models. In this paper, we monitored hardware resource usage based on the number of layers and the batch size of the model during distributed training with edge devices. We analyzed memory usage and training time variability as the batch size and number of layers increased. Experimental results demonstrated that, the larger the batch size, the fewer synchronizations between devices, resulting in less accurate training. In the shallow model, training time increased as the number of devices used for training increased because the synchronization between devices took more time than the computation time of training. This paper finds that efficient use of hardware resources for distributed training requires selecting devices in the context of model complexity and that fewer layers and smaller batches are required for efficient hardware use.
Chemical Components, DPPH Radical Scavenging Activity and Inhibitory Effects on Nitric Oxide Production in Allium hookeri Cultivated under Open Field and Greenhouse Conditions

To enhance the utilization of Allium hookeri (AH) as a food, characteristics of AH roots and leaves cultivated under open field and greenhouse conditions were investigated. The moisture content of the roots and leaves were 81.05 to 84.18% and 88.85 to 90.12%, respectively. The moisture content of AH cultivated in the open field was 2 to 3% lower than the moisture content of AH cultivated in the greenhouse for both roots and leaves. The content of nitrogen-free extract, carbohydrates, was 13.49 to 16.20% in the roots and 7.08 to 7.79% in the leaves. The main mineral generated from both open field and greenhouse cultivation was potassium, at 503.98 to 512.08 mg% in leaves. The free sugar content of roots cultivated in the open field was four times higher than the content in the leaves, and roots cultivated in the greenhouse contained three times lower free sugar than the leaves. In particular, the fructose content of roots cultivated in the open field was about 12 times higher than roots cultivated in the greenhouse. The crude saponin and total polyphenol content was higher in leaves than roots, and was higher in the open field than the greenhouse. The IC50 for DPPH radical scavenging activity was highest, 2.74 mg/mL, in 70% MeOH extracts of AH leaves cultivated in the greenhouse. Water and 70% MeOH extracts of AH leaves cultivated in the greenhouse showed no cytotoxicity to RAW 264.7 cells. Water extracts of AH leaves cultivated in the open field markedly inhibited the production of the inflammatory mediator nitric oxide. These results suggest that AH may be used as the material of health functional food.
Purification and properties of a (3Z):(2E)-enal isomerase from Manduca sexta’s oral secretion

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Towards Effective 2-bit Quantization: Pareto-optimal Bit Allocation for Deep CNNs Compression

State-of-the-art quantization methods can compress deep neural networks down to 4 bits without losing accuracy. However, when it comes to 2 bits, the performance drop is still noticeable. One problem in these methods is that they assign equal bit rate to quantize weights and activations in all layers, which is not reasonable in the case of high rate compression (such as 2-bit quantization), as some of layers in deep neural networks are sensitive to quantization and performing coarse quantization on these layers can hurt the accuracy. In this paper, we address an important problem of how to optimize the bit allocation of weights and activations for deep CNNs compression. We first explore the additivity of output error caused by quantization and find that additivity property holds for deep neural networks which are continuously differentiable in the layers. Based on this observation, we formulate the optimal bit allocation problem of weights and activations in a joint framework and propose a very efficient method to solve the optimization problem via Lagrangian Formulation. Our method obtains excellent results on deep neural networks. It can compress deep CNN ResNet-50 down to 2 bits with only 0.7% accuracy loss. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that reports 2-bit results on deep CNNs without hurting the accuracy.