Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combination chemoprevention: future direction of colorectal cancer prevention

Recent research has drawn attention to protective effects of chemopreventive agents that reverse, suppress, or prevent the carcinogenic progression using pharmacological or nutritional agents. Aspirin and celecoxib are the promising preventive agents to effectively reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, but such agents are associated with severe gastrointestinal and cardiovascular side effects in long-term administration at high doses. Recently, the strategy that combinational use with several chemopreventive agents at low doses induces greater inhibition of carcinogenesis has become the focus. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may combine with ornithine decarboxylase inhibitors, hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors, epidermal growth factor signaling inhibitors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-&ggr; ligands, and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, to magnify the chemoprophylactic effect. It is noteworthy that the phase III trial of difluoromethylornithine combination with sulidac has shown greater and effective preventive roles, which pave the way for the use of combinations of other agents. The long-term statins and low-dose NSAIDs have also been associated with risk reduction in vitro, in vivo, and in retrospective studies; however, the data are inconsistent. Epidermal growth factor signaling inhibitors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-&ggr; ligands and tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand have been demonstrated to potentiate the preventive effects of NSAIDs in vitro and in vivo, but these combinational regimens have not yet been applied to clinical research. The major goal of this study was to review combination chemoprevention for colorectal cancer by means of combining low doses of potential preventive agents to increase their chemoprophylaxis efficacy and to minimize toxicity.
Composition and Antipathogenic Activities of the Twig Essential Oil of Chamaecyparis formosensis from Taiwan

In this study, antipathogenic activities of the twig essential oil and its constituents from Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum were evaluated in vitro against six plant pathogenic fungi. The essential oil from the fresh twigs was isolated using hydrodistillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and characterized by GC-FID and GC-MS. Twenty-five compounds were identified, representing 98.9% of the oil. The main components were β-eudesmol (25.1%), τ-muurolol (21.6%), elemol (15.0%), totarol (14.9%), and α-cadinol (12.4%). The twig oil (500 μg/mL) showed growth inhibitory activity against the phytopathogenic fungi, Fusarium oxysporum, Pestalotiopsis funereal, and Ganoderma austral, with antifungal indices of 92.7%, 71.1%, and 87.7%, respectively. In addition, the oil suppressed totally the growth of Rhizoctonia solani, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Fusarium solani. In order to ascertain the source compounds of these antipathogenic activities, the main components were individually evaluated. τ-Muurolol and α-cadinol exhibited excellent activity against F. oxysporum, R. solani, C. gloeosporioides, and F. solani, with IC50< 50 μg/mL. These compounds also efficiently inhibited the mycelial growths of P. funereal and G. austral. Thus, α-cadinol and τ-muurolol could be considered as potential natural fungicides for controlling fungal pathogens and worth.
Treatment of Proximal Superficial Caries Lesions on Primary Molar Teeth with Resin Infiltration and Fluoride Varnish versus Fluoride Varnish Only: Efficacy after 1 Year

This split-mouth study aimed to assess the efficacy of resin-infiltrated lesions covered by fluoride varnish (FV) versus FV treatment only of proximal lesions on deciduous molar teeth. The study lasted for 1 year. Children with 2 or more superficial proximal lesions on deciduous molar teeth detected on bitewing radiographs were included. After written parental consent, two lesions in each of 50 children were randomly allocated to one of two treatments: resin infiltration followed by FV (2.26% F) application (test lesion) versus only FV (control lesion). The ICDAS scores of the selected lesions were recorded by 2 clinicians before the treatments (weighted kappa for inter- and intra-examiner agreement >0.79). FV was applied to both test and control lesions 6 and 12 months after the first treatment. After 1 year ICDAS scores were obtained for 42 children and radiographs for 39. One external examiner not familiar with the study scored the radiographs twice (weighted kappa 0.88). Baseline mean age of the children was 7.17 ± (SD) 0.68 and mean def-s was 8.1 ± (SD) 6.9. After 1 year the ICDAS scores of 31% of the test lesions and 67% of the control lesions had progressed (p < 0.01). Radiographically, 23% of the test lesions and 62% of the control lesions had progressed (p < 0.01). Thus, the clinical and radiographic therapeutic effect of both resin infiltration/FV over FV alone was >35% and significant. To conclude, resin infiltration in conjunction with fluoride varnish seems promising for controlling proximal lesion progression on deciduous molar teeth.
The diurnal cycle of surface divergence over the global oceans

The diurnal cycle of surface divergence over the oceans is examined using 4 × daily data from the tandem SeaWinds satellite missions during April‐September 2003. A statistically significant diurnal cycle of surface divergence is observed over a large fraction of the tropical and subtropical oceans. The highest amplitudes are found adjacent to tropical landmasses and decrease exponentially with distance away from the coast, with a representative e‐folding distance of approximately 200 km. In most of these near‐coastal regions the surface divergence peaks at ∼15‐20 h locally and there is evidence of offshore propagation of the signal. There are regions, however, where strong cycles persist for much greater distances offshore. Over the southeast Pacific Ocean, there is evidence of a diurnal subsidence wave that propagates for over 2000 km away from the South American coast at approximately 25 m s−1. A cloud response to the subsidence wave moving westward from the Andes mountains is detected using passive microwave observations of liquid‐water path. Over the remote tropical Pacific, significant diurnal amplitude is found in and around regions of strong mean surface convergence, with a phase suggesting a surface response to the early morning diurnal maximum in precipitation and propagation away from these sources consistent with gravity waves forced by deep tropospheric heating. European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model simulations of 850 hPa subsidence show a diurnal cycle that is largely consistent with the SeaWinds divergence observations. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society
Suppressive effects of nitric oxide production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression by Calystegia soldanella methanol extract on lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW 264.7 cells

Since nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been found to be involved in various pathophysiological processes, including inflammation and carcinogenesis, the modulators of NO synthesis or expression have been considered as potential anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventive agents. In this study, to procure the iNOS inhibitors from natural products, we evaluated 57 methanol extracts of natural products including Korean indigenous plants for the inhibition of NO formation on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated mouse macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells. As a result, several extracts including those from Actinodaphne lancifolia, Calystegia soldanella, Caryratia japonica, Citrus dachibana, Dystaenia takeshimana, Erysimum aurantiacum, Hovenia undulata, Stewartia koreana and Viburnum awabuki showed potent inhibitory activities of NO production (>70% inhibition at the test concentration of 40 μg/ml). In particular, the extract of Calystegia soldanella showed a potential inhibition of NO production in a dose-dependent manner (IC50=4.3 μg/ml). Subsequent study also exhibited that the extract of Calystegia soldanella significantly suppressed iNOS protein and gene expression in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that Calystegia soldanella might be a new potential candidate for developing an iNOS inhibitor from natural products and also could be warranted for further elucidation of active principles for the development of new anti-inflammatory and/or cancer chemopreventive agents.
Prosodic annotation in the new corpus of Russian spontaneous speech CoRuSS

This paper deals with intonation of spontaneous Russian. It contains a description of the principles of prosodic annotation used in the new corpus of spontaneous speech—CoRuSS, and statistical data derived from this corpus. The prosodic annotation system was developed specially for the purpose; it is an extension and development of a well-known system of Intonation Constructions by E. A. Bryzgunova (7 ICs). Originally intended for teaching Russian as L2, Bryzgunova system proved to be insufﬁcient for a detailed and adequate description of spoken Russian speech intonation. The results of the study provide statistical data on the frequency of particular intonation patterns of spontaneous Russian speech and form the basis for comparison with existing data on Russian read speech intonation; they con-ﬁrm previously obtained information about new tendencies in the realization of Russian non-ﬁnal and question intonation by young Russian native speakers and allow us to compare the realization and frequency of particular intonation patterns across other age-groups of native Russian speakers.
Effects of "jet lag" on hormonal patterns. II. Adaptation of melatonin circadian periodicity.

The plasma melatonin concentration was measured by RIA in samples obtained at 15-min intervals during seven 24-h studies staggered over a period of 10 weeks (October to January). The five normal male volunteers underwent a 7-h westward time shift by jet preceding the second study and, 1 month later, a 7-h eastward shift preceding the fifth study. In the basal, unperturbed state, the 24-h plasma melatonin profile was characterized by a nocturnal elevation, approximately 2.5-fold above the mean daytime value, occurring at 0130 ± 0039 local time, thus 2.5 h after exposure to darkness and 1.5 h after sleep onset. Episodic fluctuations occurred throughout the entire 24-h period. A significant decrease in the 24-h sleep and daytime mean melatonin levels was observed only after the westward trip, during which the difference between sunrise and sunset (daylight duration) was 16 h rather than 10 h. Shifts in the acrophase observed on the day after the westward trip indicated partial adaptation (>2-and <5-h shift),.
Immunochemical Characterization and Developmental Expression of Shaker Potassium Channels from the Nervous System of Drosophila(*)

We have raised antisera against recombinant peptides expressed from cDNAs fragments common to all splicing variants generated at the Shaker locus of Drosophila and used them as a tool to biochemically characterize these channel proteins. This antisera succeeded in detecting the expression of multiple Shaker potassium channels (Sh Kch), proteins with variable molecular mass (65-85 kDa) and pI (5.5-7). Additionally, for first time, specific Sh proteins of 40-45 kDa most probably corresponding to some of the so-called short Sh cDNAs previously isolated by others have been identified. Using genetic criteria, it has been determined that at least a good part of this variety of proteins is generated by alternative splicing. Developmental experiments show a double wave of Sh Kch channel expression with a first pick at the third instar larvae stage, a minimum at the beginning of puparation, and the highest plateau 36 h after hatching of adult flies. The pattern of Sh splice variants changes dramatically throughout development. A detergent-resistant fraction with about 50% of Sh Kch which seems to be anchored to submembranous structures has been found. Finally, other biochemical properties of Sh Kch, like membrane fractionation and glycosylation, are also described.
Personalized PageRank in Uncertain Graphs with Mutually Exclusive Edges

Measures of node ranking, such as personalized PageRank, are utilized in many web and social-network based prediction and recommendation applications. Despite their effectiveness when the underlying graph is certain, however, these measures become difficult to apply in the presence of uncertainties, as they are not designed for graphs that include uncertain information, such as edges that mutually exclude each other. While there are several ways to naively extend existing techniques (such as trying to encode uncertainties as edge weights or computing all possible scenarios), as we discuss in this paper, these either lead to large degrees of errors or are very expensive to compute, as the number of possible worlds can grow exponentially with the amount of uncertainty. To tackle with this challenge, in this paper, we propose an efficient Uncertain Personalized PageRank (UPPR) algorithm to approximately compute personalized PageRank values on an uncertain graph with edge uncertainties. UPPR avoids enumeration of all possible worlds, yet it is able to achieve comparable accuracy by carefully encoding edge uncertainties in a data structure that leads to fast approximations. Experimental results show that UPPR is very efficient in terms of execution time and its accuracy is comparable or better than more costly alternatives.
Hospital nurses tasks and work-related musculoskeletal disorders symptoms: A detailed analysis.

BACKGROUND Hospital work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) symptoms are highly prevalent and nurses are considered the health care professional group more often affected by WRMSDs. OBJECTIVES Understanding the effects of nursing tasks on WRMSDs symptoms. METHODS Portuguese nurses answered to a modified Nordic Musculoskeletal symptoms Questionnaire. The increased likelihood of having WRMSDs symptoms was estimated from a daily working task schedule and the probability of suffering from lumbar WRMSDs symptoms intensity was also estimated. RESULTS Hospital nurses studied (n= 1.396) were mainly females (75.8%), and most of them reported more than 1 symptom (88%). Low-back pain was the most prevalent complaint (60.9%). Tasks performed more than 10 times a day, such as invasive procedures (OR = 2.142); care of hygiene and patient comfort in bed (OR = 2.484); patient mobilization in bed (OR = 2.022); and patient feeding (OR = 2.186) had an effect on dorsal and lumbar symptoms (p< 0.05). Those tasks involving invasive procedures were just the only ones producing symptoms simultaneously on every studied body part, such as lumbar, dorsal, wrist/hand and ankles/feet areas. CONCLUSIONS Tasks with a greater effect on low-back pain intensity were patient bed feeding and patient hygiene and care. We found, when analysing simultaneously the effects of every task on the likelihood of having low-back symptoms, that involving invasive procedures were that only ones affecting simultaneously the presence of almost all WRMSDs symptoms studied.
Effective intervention for expressive grammar in children with specific language impairment.

BACKGROUND Children with specific language impairment are known to struggle with expressive grammar. While some studies have shown successful intervention under laboratory conditions, there is a paucity of evidence for the effectiveness of grammar treatment in young children in community settings. AIM To evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based intervention programme for expressive grammar in 5-year-olds with specific language impairment. METHOD & PROCEDURES Thirty-four 5-year-old children attending a specialized school for children with language impairment participated in the study. Nineteen children received treatment for expressive grammar (experimental group) and 15 children received a control treatment. Treatment consisted of weekly 1-h sessions of small group activities in a classroom setting for 8 weeks. Techniques included direct instruction, focused stimulation, recasting and imitation. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Results were analysed at the group level and as a case series with each child as their own control in a single-subject design. There was a significant difference in grammatical performance pre- and post-treatment for children who received grammar treatment (Cohen's d = 1.24), but not for a group of children who received a control treatment. Further, no difference in performance was found in the equivalent time period prior to treatment, nor for an untreated target. Treatment success was more pronounced in children without articulation difficulties which interfered with their ability to produce the grammatical targets (Cohen's d = 1.66). Individual analyses indicated the treatment effect was significant for the majority of children. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Individually targeted intervention delivered in small groups in a classroom setting was effective in improving production of expressive grammatical targets in 5-year-old children with specific language impairment.
EVALUATION OF L-CYSTEINE FUNCTIONALIZED MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES AS ADSORBENT FORCD ( II ) IONS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

This study demonstrates the adsorption process of Cd (II) ions onto L-Cysteine functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The adsorption behavior of Cd (II) was studied by varying the parameters such as pH, L-MWCNT dosage, contact time and initial cadmium concentration. The adsorption rate increased with increasing adsorbent dosage and contact time. The optimum condition of the Cd (II) removal process was found at the pH=7.0, 15 mg/l L-MWCNT dosage, 6 mg/l cadmium concentration and the contact time of 60 min. The removal percent was equal to 89.56% at optimum condition. Equilibrium adsorption isotherms and kinetics were also investigated based on Cd adsorption tests. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich models of adsorption, and the results fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm. The kinetic data have been analyzed using pseudo-firstorder and pseudo-second-order equations. The experimental data fitted very well with pseudosecond-order kinetic model with correlation coefficients (R) equal to 0.998, 0.992 and 0.998 for 3, 6 and 9 mg/l of Cd concentration, respectively. The experimental data were fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model (R=0.994) and the maximum capacity of L-MWCNT was 43.47 mg/g. Overall, LMWCNT is an effective adsorbent for Cd (II) removal from aqueous solutions.
Estimating the Available Medium Access Bandwidth of IEEE 802.11 Ad Hoc Networks With Concurrent Transmissions

Concurrent transmission scheduling mechanisms can significantly improve the total throughput of IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks. What remains unaddressed, however, is how to estimate the available medium access bandwidth (AB) of a link under concurrent transmission scenarios, i.e., the maximum throughput that can be obtained without violating the quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of the existing flows. In this paper, we focus on estimating the available medium AB of IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks with the control-gap-based concurrent transmissions. We first introduce the upper bound of the AB of a link, and then, we present an algorithm to estimate the available transmission/reception duration of the node by a distributed manner. We further derive a preliminary estimation of the AB by analyzing the nonoverlap between the medium availability of the sender and recipient of a link. Finally, we refine the estimation by taking into account the transmission failures induced by hidden nodes and concurrent collisions. Extensive simulations demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed approach.
Femtosecond Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Studies of Nitropyrazoles: The Effect of Varying Nitro Groups

The technique of femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (FLIBS) was employed to investigate seven explosive molecules of nitropyrazole in three different atmospheres: ambient air, nitrogen, and argon. The FLIBS data illustrated the presence of molecular emissions of cyanide (CN) violet bands, diatomic carbon (C2) Swan bands, and atomic emission lines of C, H, O, and N. To understand the plasma dynamics, the decay times of molecular and atomic emissions were determined from time-resolved spectral data obtained in three atmospheres: air, argon, and nitrogen. The CN decay time was observed to be longest in air, compared to nitrogen and argon atmospheres, for the molecules pyrazole (PY) and 4-nitropyrazole (4-NPY). In the case of C2 emission, the decay time was observed to be the longest in argon, compared to the air and nitrogen environments, for the molecules PY, 4-NPY, and 1-methyl-3,4,5-trinitropyrazole. The intensities of the CN, C2, C, H, O, and N emission lines and various molecular/atomic intensity ratios such as CN/C2, CNsum/C2sum, CN/C, CNsum/C, C2/C, C2sum/C, (C2 + C)/CN, (C2sum + C)/CNsum, O/H, O/N, and N/H were also deduced from the LIBS spectra obtained in argon atmosphere. A correlation between the observed decay times and molecular emission intensities with respect to the number of nitro groups, the atmospheric nitrogen content, and the oxygen balance of the molecules was investigated. The relationship among the LIBS signal intensity, the molecular/atomic intensity ratios, and the oxygen balance of these organic explosives was also explored.
2nd international workshop on diversity in document retrieval (DDR 2012)

When an ambiguous query is received, a sensible approach is for the information retrieval (IR) system to diversify the results retrieved for this query, in the hope that at least one of the interpretations of the query intent will satisfy the user. Diversity is an increasingly important topic, of interest to both academic researchers (such as participants in the TREC Web and Blog track diversity tasks, or the NTCIR INTENT task), as well as to search engines professionals. In the 2nd edition of the Diversity in Document Retrieval workshop (DDR 2012), we solicited submissions both on approaches and models for diversity, the evaluation of diverse search results, and on applications of diverse search results. This workshop builds upon a successful 1st edition of DDR which was held at ECIR 2011 in Dublin, Ireland.
Automated compared to manual office blood pressure and to home blood pressure in hypertensive patients

Abstract We studied the relationships of automated blood pressure (BP), measured in the healthcare centre, with manual office BP and home BP. Stable outpatients treated for hypertension were measured automatically, seated alone in a quiet room, six times after a 5 min rest with the BpTRU device, and immediately afterwards using the auscultatory method. Home BP was measured in a subgroup during 7 days preceding the visit. The automated, office and home BP values were 131.2 ± 21.8/77.8 ± 12.1 mmHg, 146.9 ± 20.8/85.8 ± 12.4 mmHg and 137.7 ± 17.7/79.4 ± 8.2 mmHg, respectively. Limits of agreement between office and automated BP (2 SDs in Bland–Altman plots) were +42.6 to –12.6/+22.6 to –6.6 mmHg for systolic/diastolic BP; for home and automated BP they were +45.8 to –25.8/+20.8 to –12.6 mmHg. For patients with two visits, intraclass correlation coefficients of BP values measured during the first and second visits were 0.66/0.72 for systolic/diastolic automated BP and 0.68/0.74 for systolic/diastolic office BP. Automated BP was lower than home BP and no more closely related to home BP than to office BP. It did not show better repeatability than office BP. Whether automated BP and the “white-coat effect”, calculated cas the office BP–automated BP difference, have clinical and prognostic importance deserves further studies.