Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pre-treatment metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis are useful prognostic factors for esophageal squamous cell cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES To study application of the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) with 18F-FDG PET/CT for predicting prognosis of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESC) patients. METHODS Eighty-six patients with ESC staged from I to IV were prospectively enrolled. Cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) or palliative chemoradiotherapy were the main treatment methods and none received surgery. 18F-FDG PET/CT scans were performed before the treatment. SUVmax, MTV, and TLG were measured for the primary esophageal lesion and regional lymph nodes. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) were generated to calculate the P value of the predictive ability and the optimal threshold. RESULTS MTV and TLG proved to be good indexes in the prediction of outcome for the ESC patients. An MTV value of 15.6 ml and a TLG value of 183.5 were optimal threshold to predict the overall survival (OS). The areas under the curve (AUC) for MTV and TLG were 0.74 and 0.70, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed an MTV less than 15.6 ml and a TLG less than 183.5 to indicate good media survival time (p value <0.05). In the stage III-IV patient group, MTV could better predict the OS (P < 0.001), with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.80 and 0.67, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Pre-treatment MTV and TLG are useful prognostic factors in non- surgical ESC.
Torque control for IPMSM in the high speed range based on voltage angle

In a motor control, a voltage saturation is a serious problem as a motor speed increases. To solve the problem, various field weakening methods were studied for a long time. The field weakening methods with PI current controllers are normally used, however the voltage angle control without PI current controllers is receiving attention because of its simple implementation. In this work, the field weakening method is proposed based on the voltage angle control. A inner d-axis current loop is added for stability and the root locus is utilized to verify stability according to loop gains and loop structures. Moreover, a six-step operation is applied to expand the voltage utilization in this paper. Various simulations and experiments were conducted to verify the proposed method.
Tackling inequalities: are secondary prevention therapies for reducing post-infarction mortality used without disparities?

Background: Mortality due to coronary heart disease has been declining as a result of better clinical patient management, including secondary prevention with the aid of effective drugs. The clinical challenge remains how to improve adherence to evidence-based cardiac care for all patients who can benefit from it. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of drug use after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in reducing total medium-term mortality and to establish whether there are disparities in prescribing all therapies of demonstrated effectiveness. Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study between 2002 and 2009 using a record linkage database, considering 1327 patients discharged after AMI. Methods: Cox’s regression models were used for the survival analysis with time-dependent variables. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the inequalities in the actual use of therapies found significantly associated with a lower mortality in the survival analyses. Results: Therapies independently associated with a lower all-cause mortality risk were antiplatelet drugs, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and statins. Gender-related differences in prescriptions were seen for statins and antiplatelet drugs; age-related differences emerged for all drugs. Associated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease reduced the likelihood of patients taking the effective treatments. Conclusion: The present study revealed disparities in the use of treatments for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease unjustifiable on the strength of clinical evidence.
Long‐Term Experience with Topiramate as Adjunctive Therapy and as Monotherapy in Patients with Partial Onset Seizures: Retrospective Survey of Open‐Label Treatment

Summary: Because initial studies of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are add‐on trials in refractory patient populations, their effectiveness as monotherapy is usually not apparent until relatively later in their development programs. The novel AED topiramate (TPM) has been found efficacious as adjunctive therapy in controlled, randomized trials in adults with partial onset seizures. We report a retrospective analysis of TPM as AED monotherapy in 214 patients from five centers who received TPM in investigational trials. Of this total, 136 (64%) were still receiving TPM at the time of the analysis, with a mean treatment duration of 2.5 years. One‐third of the patients have been successfully converted to TPM monotherapy, and 62% of those converted have been seizure‐free for at least 3 months. The results of this analysis suggest that TPM may prove to be a valuable new AED for both monotherapy and add‐on therapy in partial onset epilepsy.
Functional programming and graph algorithms

This thesis is an investigation of graph algorithms in the non-strict purely functional language Haskell. Emphasis is placed on the importance of achieving an asymptotic complexity as good as with conventional languages. This is achieved by using the monadic model for including actions on the state. Work on the monadic model was carried out at Glasgow University by Wadler, Peyton Jones, and Launchbury in the early nineties and has opened up many diverse application areas. One area is the ability to express data structures that require sharing. Although graphs are not presented in this style, data structures that graph algorithms use are expressed in this style. Several examples of stateful algorithms are given including union/find for disjoint sets, and the linear time sort binsort. The graph algorithms presented are not new, but are traditional algorithms recast in a functional setting. Examples include strongly connected components, biconnected components, Kruskal's minimum cost spanning tree, and Dijkstra's shortest paths. The presentation is lucid giving more insight than usual. The functional setting allows for complete calculational style correctness proofs - which is demonstrated with many examples. The benefits of using a functional language for expressing graph algorithms are quantified by looking at the issues of execution times, asymptotic complexity, correctness, and clarity, in comparison with traditional approaches. The intention is to be as objective as possible, pointing out both the weaknesses and the strengths of using a functional language.
Photoacoustic diagnosis of burns in rats.

BACKGROUND Accurate burn depth assessment is important for determining the appropriate treatment plan for severe burn patients. However, conventional methods of diagnoses, such as visual observation and pinprick test, are often inaccurate. We previously proposed a new method for burn diagnosis in which photoacoustic signals originating from the blood in healthy tissue under the injured tissue are measured. In this study, we investigated the validity of this method by an experiment using rat scald burn models. METHODS Superficial dermal burns (SDBs), deep dermal burns (DDBs), and deep burns (DBs) were made in the dorsal skin of rats by using a Walker-Mason template. Wounds were irradiated with low-energy, 550-nm, nanosecond pulsed light, and photoacoustic signals induced were measured with a piezoelectric film as a function of postburn time. Measurement in normal skin as a control was also performed. Temporal profiles of the photoacoustic signals were converted into depth profiles using sound velocity of tissue, and for each profile, a peak showing highest signal intensity was selected. For this peak, the depth at which the signal rose (signal rise depth) and the depth that gave a peak value (signal peak depth) were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed to clarify the difference in depth information of signals between burn groups. RESULTS Depth profiles of photoacoustic signals showed unique features depending on the degree of burn; pronounced peaks shifted to deeper tissue as the burn severity increased. This indicates that the zone of stasis formed due to injuries can be monitored. There were significant differences in both the signal rise depth and the peak depth between the control and SDB groups, SDB and DDB groups, and DDB and DB groups (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION SDBs, DDBs, and DBs can be differentiated by photoacoustic signals, suggesting that the method proposed is useful for diagnosing burn injuries.
Quantitative transplantation assays of spontaneous tumors of the C3H mouse as allografts in athymic NCr/Sed-nu/nu nude mice and isografts in C3Hf/Sed mice.

Three spontaneous tumors of the C3H mouse have been used in a comparison of their transplantability and radiation response (local control) in syngeneic C3Hf/Sed mice and in allogeneic athymic NCr/Sed-nu/nu nu nude mice. The tumors were: MCaIV, a moderately well-differentiated mammary carcinoma; FSaII, a poorly differentiated fibrosarcoma; and SCCVII, a moderately well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. The tumors were studied as fourth to seventh generation transplants. Assays to determine the number of tumor cells that, on the average, transplant the tumor to half of the recipients or transplant sites (TD50) demonstrated that these 3 tumors transplanted into the s.c. tissue of the NCr/Sed-nu/nu as readily as of C3Hf/Sed mice. The TD50 for MCaIV was slightly but significantly lower in 4-week-old NCr/Sed-nu/nu mice which had received 6 Gy whole body irradiation (WBI) 24 h before transplantation, namely, 5.8 x 10(4) (95% confidence limits, 4.5-7.6) versus 7.8 x 10(4) (6.0-10.0). The 6-Gy WBI did not affect the TD50 for 8- to 10-week-old mice. Similarly, the TD50 for SCCVII was lower in 6-Gy WBI NCr/Sed-nu/nu recipients (1.5 x 10(4) versus 3.9 x 10(4)). The TD50 for FSaII was not affected by 6-Gy WBI. Further, the TD50 for FSaII following i.v. injection of tumor cells (transplant to lung) was the same for C3Hf/Sed and NCr/Sed-nu/nu mice (this obtained for normal or 6-Gy WBI-treated subjects). The radiation doses which on the average achieve control of half of the MCaIV, FSaII, and SCCVII tumors were lower, higher, and the same in NCr/Sed-nu/nu than in C3Hf/Sed mice, respectively. The radiation doses which achieve control of half of the MCaIV and SCCVII tumors were not affected by 6-Gy WBI before transplantation.
Intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy: an evolving paradigm for the treatment of peritoneal surface malignancies

Unfortunately, advanced colorectal cancer is often present at the time the disease is diagnosed. Many intra-abdominal malignancies spread throughout the peritoneal cavity, which is known as carcinomatosis. Peritoneal carcinomatosis is uniformly a terminal disease with a median survival of 6 months. Systemic chemotherapy is palliative and generally provides limited improvement in survival. Conventional surgery has typically been limited to ileostomy, colostomy or intestinal bypass procedures. Cytoreductive surgery alone has long been used to treat macroscopic disease, with limited success. However, cytoreductive surgery combined with intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy (IPHC) has evolved into a novel approach for peritoneal surface malignancy. IPHC was initially described in a canine model by Spratt. Although the first clinical series of peritoneal perfusion were small, Japanese trials, which utilized IPHC for prophylaxis in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma, Fujimoto was the first to report an improvement in survival for established gastric cracinomatosis. This early work provided the proof-of-principle for what has evolved into current management with aggressive cytoreduction and IPHC. The present review will outline the rationale, current practice and future directions of IPHC in the management of peritoneal surface malignancies.
R‐ and B‐cadherin expression defines subpopulations of glial cells involved in axonal guidance in the optic nerve head of the chicken

Glial cells play a crucial role in the organization and function of the nervous system. Cell‐cell adhesion receptors of the cadherin family have been shown to participate in distinct morphogenetic processes throughout the development of the CNS, but little is known about glial expression of cadherins. Applying immunofluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we investigated R‐ and B‐cadherin expression in relation to the glial cell differentiation in the optic nerve head and pecten oculi of developing chicken. Throughout embryonic development, R‐ and B‐cadherin were expressed in distinct cell populations, which differentiated into distinct subtypes of glial cells. R‐cadherin was located in the glia limitans perivascularis et superficialis of the optic nerve and in cells bordering the optic nerve head, where it comes in contact with the retina. B‐cadherin was located in the glia limitans perivascularis et superficialis of the pecten oculi and in a subset of cells at the retinal border. R‐cadherin‐expressing cells differentiated unequivocally into a glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)‐positive but glutamine synthetase (GS)‐negative phenotype, whereas B‐cadherin‐expressing glia developed into a GS‐positive but GFAP‐negative phenotype. In addition, the B‐cadherin‐positive population developed into a highly pigmented cell type, which was consistently associated with pecten‐type capillaries. By contrast, the R‐cadherin‐positive glia remained unpigmented and surrounded normal brain‐phenotype capillaries. These data suggest that glial cells, like neurons, may use the expression of different cadherins to segregate and differentiate into distinct subtypes, which goes hand in hand with their involvement in special functions and morphogenetic processes. To address this issue, we selectively lysed both glial subtypes in developing embryos by microinjection of R‐ and B‐cadherin antibodies with complement. First evidence is presented for R‐cadherin‐positive glial cells as crucial to the organization of the optic nerve and axonal guidance at its lateral margin. B‐cadherin‐positive cells are involved in the axonal guidance at the pecteneal margin, avoiding the ingrowth of axons into the pecten. GLIA 31:131–143, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Examining Breast Cancer Screening Barriers Among Central American and Mexican Immigrant Women: Fatalistic Beliefs or Structural Factors?

Researchers have examined “cancer fatalism” (the belief that cancer is predetermined, beyond individual control, and necessarily fatal) as a major barrier to breast cancer screening among Latinas. The authors examine perceptions of breast cancer, its causes, and experiences with screening among Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Mexican, and Bolivian immigrant women in Washington, DC. Two salient themes emerged: (a) perceptions of breast cancer causes and breast cancer screening; and (b) structural factors are the real barriers to breast cancer screening. Findings demonstrate participants’ awareness and motivation to get screened and elucidate structural barriers that are obscured by the discourse of fatalism and hinder breast cancer screening.
Food Media: exploring interactive entertainment over telepresent dinner

Families have strong desires to have fun together, even at a distance. "Food Media" is an exploration of appropriating food and food activities as a medium for family communication and entertainment, across generations and over a distance. Traditionally, food has always been a social hub which brings people together for communication and entertainment. As the chances for remote families to enjoy shared entertainment are decreasing greatly nowadays, we propose "Food Media" as an intuitive multimodal interaction platform to engage remote people into social communication and entertainment within the telepresent family dinner context. Rather than fancy multimedia or computerized social games, this system breathes interactive entertainment into domestic routine activities of family dining, introduces multi-sensory interactions like touch, smell and taste to support enriched experience of interaction, connects and entertains people over a natural and playful eating experience.
Generic application driven situation awareness via ontological situation recognition

Situation recognition and interpretation based on multisensor data is an important research challenge in the situation awareness field. Existing research has developed techniques concerned with accurate and reliable situation recognition via sensor driven detection of events in an environment. However, real world applications of situation awareness require perception of a situation's meaning, knowledge of expected changes and their relevance to environments inhabitants. Recognizing the significance and implications of situations in complex real world scenarios is challenging, but is essential for designing applications for real world environments. This paper presents a novel knowledge driven approach to situation awareness. Within it we extend established data driven methods of situation recognition by utilizing domain knowledge across the entire situation life cycle. We utilize ontologies for explicit representation of environmental and application context as well as situation modeling. We explore the link between low-level environment context and high-level application knowledge using a generic situation model. We exploit semantic reasoning to provide situation recognition and interpretation and demonstrate delivery of application oriented situation awareness in a smart environment. Finally, a case study-based scenario is utilized in order to demonstrate the system's operation.
A cyanobacterial serine protease of Plasmodium falciparum is targeted to the apicoplast and plays an important role in its growth and development

The prokaryotic ATP‐dependent protease machineries such as ClpQY and ClpAP in the malaria parasite may represent potential drug targets. In the present study, we show that the orthologue of cyanobacterial ClpP protease in Plasmodium falciparum (PfClpP) is expressed in the asexual blood stages and possesses serine protease activity. The PfClpP was localized in the apicoplast using a GFP‐targeting approach, immunoelectron microscopy and by immunofluorescence assays. A set of cell permeable β‐lactones, which specifically bind with the active site of prokaryotic ClpP, were screened using an in vitro protease assay of PfClpP. A PfClpP‐specific protease inhibitor was identified in the screen, labelled as U1‐lactone. In vitro growth of the asexual stage parasites was significantly inhibited by U1‐lactone treatment. The U1‐treated parasites showed developmental arrest at the late‐schizont stage. We further show that the U1‐lactone treatment resulted in formation of abnormal apicoplasts which were not able to grow and segregate in the parasite progeny; these effects were also evident by blockage in the replication of the apicoplast genome. Overall, our data show that the PfClpP protease has confirmed localization in the apicoplast and it plays important role in development of functional apicoplasts.
The relationship between EEG and binaural beat stimulation in meditation

The difficulty to understand meditation is the lack of exact methodology, replication of mind condition and depends on individual meditative practice. From these reasons, this research focuses on a relationship between meditation and EEG. The Quantitative EEG will be analyzed and observed in absolute power of each EEG rhythm. Coherence was also analyzed after participants practice meditation during binaural beat stimulation in both eyes-closed and opened four beat frequencies were selected, 5 Hz, 8Hz, 12Hz, and 18Hz respectively. The binaural beat stimulation will be classified into two groups which are pure beat and meta-music that combined binaural beat with other music. The result demonstrates that coherence is the significant index that shown the relationship between EEG and meditation. Theta and lower alpha absolute power also show the significant relationship which increase at frontal-midline. This research demonstrates that, coherence and absolute power are indices which can explain a meditation practice during binaural beat stimulation.
ASSET PRICING MODELS: STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY AND INFORMATION-BASED APPROACHES

ASSET PRICING MODELS: STOCHASTIC VOLATILITY AND INFORMATION-BASED APPROACHES Nilufer Caliskan M.Sc., Department of Financial Mathematics Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azize Hayfavi February 2007, 94 pages We present two option pricing models, both different from the classical BlackScholes-Merton model. The first model, suggested by Heston, considers the case where the asset price volatility is stochastic. For this model we study the asset price process and give in detail the derivation of the European call option price process. The second model, suggested by Brody-Hughston-Macrina, describes the observation of certain information about the claim perturbed by a noise represented by a Brownian bridge. Here we also study in detail the properties of this noisy information process and give the derivations of both asset price dynamics and the European call option price process.
Structural Domains Required for Caenorhabditis elegans G Protein-coupled Receptor Kinase 2 (GRK-2) Function in Vivo*

Background: GRKs phosphorylate activated GPCRs to terminate signaling. Results: Disrupting residues required for GPCR phosphorylation and Gβγ and phospholipid binding eliminated Ce-GRK-2 chemosensory function. Conclusion: These interactions are required for Ce-GRK-2 function in vivo and support a recently proposed universal model for GRK activation. Significance: This is the first study to systematically determine the residues required for GRK function in live animals. G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) are key regulators of signal transduction that specifically phosphorylate activated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to terminate signaling. Biochemical and crystallographic studies have provided great insight into mammalian GRK2/3 interactions and structure. However, despite extensive in vitro characterization, little is known about the in vivo contribution of these described GRK structural domains and interactions to proper GRK function in signal regulation. We took advantage of the disrupted chemosensory behavior characteristic of Caenorhabditis elegans grk-2 mutants to discern the interactions required for proper in vivo Ce-GRK-2 function. Informed by mammalian crystallographic and biochemical data, we introduced amino acid substitutions into the Ce-grk-2 coding sequence that are predicted to selectively disrupt GPCR phosphorylation, Gαq/11 binding, Gβγ binding, or phospholipid binding. Changing the most amino-terminal residues, which have been shown in mammalian systems to be required specifically for GPCR phosphorylation but not phosphorylation of alternative substrates or recruitment to activated GPCRs, eliminated the ability of Ce-GRK-2 to restore chemosensory signaling. Disrupting interaction between the predicted Ce-GRK-2 amino-terminal α-helix and kinase domain, posited to stabilize GRKs in their active ATP- and GPCR-bound conformation, also eliminated Ce-GRK-2 chemosensory function. Finally, although changing residues within the RH domain, predicted to disrupt interaction with Gαq/11, did not affect Ce-GRK-2 chemosensory function, disruption of the predicted PH domain-mediated interactions with Gβγ and phospholipids revealed that both contribute to Ce-GRK-2 function in vivo. Combined, we have demonstrated functional roles for broadly conserved GRK2/3 structural domains in the in vivo regulation of organismal behavior.