Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An intergroup phase III comparison of standard radiation therapy and two schedules of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresectable squamous cell head and neck cancer.

PURPOSE The Head and Neck Intergroup conducted a phase III randomized trial to test the benefit of adding chemotherapy to radiation in patients with unresectable squamous cell head and neck cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eligible patients were randomly assigned between arm A (the control), single daily fractionated radiation (70 Gy at 2 Gy/d); arm B, identical radiation therapy with concurrent bolus cisplatin, given on days 1, 22, and 43; and arm C, a split course of single daily fractionated radiation and three cycles of concurrent infusional fluorouracil and bolus cisplatin chemotherapy, 30 Gy given with the first cycle and 30 to 40 Gy given with the third cycle. Surgical resection was encouraged if possible after the second chemotherapy cycle on arm C and, if necessary, as salvage therapy on all three treatment arms. Survival data were compared between each experimental arm and the control arm using a one-sided log-rank test. RESULTS Between 1992 and 1999, 295 patients were entered on this trial. This did not meet the accrual goal of 362 patients and resulted in premature study closure. Grade 3 or worse toxicity occurred in 52% of patients enrolled in arm A, compared with 89% enrolled in arm B (P <.0001) and 77% enrolled in arm C (P <.001). With a median follow-up of 41 months, the 3-year projected overall survival for patients enrolled in arm A is 23%, compared with 37% for arm B (P =.014) and 27% for arm C (P = not significant). CONCLUSION The addition of concurrent high-dose, single-agent cisplatin to conventional single daily fractionated radiation significantly improves survival, although it also increases toxicity. The loss of efficacy resulting from split-course radiation was not offset by either multiagent chemotherapy or the possibility of midcourse surgery.
Radiological follow-up study of rheumatoid wrists after radio-lunate limited arthrodesis with ulnar head resection

Radio-lunate limited arthrodesis (RLA) is an established surgical intervention for damaged rheumatoid arthritis (RA) wrists. The goal of RLA is to conserve the range of motion (ROM) and level of activities of daily life (ADL) by delaying more extensive fusion. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the outcome of RLA with ulnar head resection (UHR) in terms of pain score, ROM, and radiographic parameters, including carpal height ratio, ulnar translation ratio, and palmar subluxation. The clinical factors, such as dose of corticosteroids per day and laboratory examination data before surgery, including C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and rheumatoid factor (RF), did not influence the results of the surgery. The changes in these clinical factors were also statistically analyzed in relation to the Schulthess classification of preoperative radiographs of wrists reported by Simmen and Huber: Type I (ankylosis type), Type II (osteoarthritis type), and Type III (disintegration type). This study hypothesized that RLA with UHR would provide no significant improvement in Type III wrists. The results showed that RLA with UHR resulted in stable wrists with excellent pain relief and with limited, but temporary, functional ROM, suggesting that this procedure seems to be applicable for all types of wrists within this group of patients.
EKSISTENSI DAN IMPLIKASI RECAAP TERHADAP PENGUATAN KEAMANAN MARITIM DI KAWASAN ASIA TENGGARA

ReCAAP was founded with an aim to fight against sea-piracy and armed robbery that affected Southeast Asia maritime security. In doing so, ReCAAP helped by providing important information, increasing coordination between focal points, and enhancing the members’ ability to adapt with piracy and armed robbery at sea. However, there were challenges for ReCAAP to ensure the maritime security, including law enforcement ability and measurement on suspected individuals. On the other hand, ReCAAP had political influences in terms of states relationship in the region, and strategically, empowering maritime security. This led to a more complex situation in order to achieve stability, particularly when there was a possible hinder of good relationship between neighboring states in the region.
Analisis Pola Konsumsi Pangan Daerah Perkotaan Dan Pedesaan Serta Keterkaitannya Dengan Karakteristik Sosial Ekonomi Di Provinsi Kalimantan Timur

Abstract :This study aimed to analyze the interaction of socio economic characteristics in influencing patterns of food consumption by the typology of the area (rural and urban) and educational level of household head how the response changes in food consumption of households as a result of changes in prices and income (elasticity) that occurred in East Kalimantan Province. The analytical method used is descriptive and econometric analysis uses data Susenas 2015 with Linear Approximation of Almost Ideal Demand System models (LA / AIDS) were estimated by the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) through the procedure of Generalized Least Square (GLS). The author conducted data aggregation to overcome bias selectivity using instrumental variables to address the simultanity bias price, quality effect and quantity premium. It also conducted a restriction symmetry, homogenity and adding-up in order to function in accordance with the theory of demand. In general, commodity prices have a significant effect on the level of consumption of commodity groups, although there are some variables that are not significant. Revenues proxy for general expenses are all significantly influence the level of consumption of food commodity groups. Generally, socio economic characteristics influence significantly affect the level of consumption, although there are some that are not significant. In general, the age of household head and the number of families does not significantly influence the level of household consumption. All commodity groups in general are normal goods and almost all commodity groups included in the category of necessities goods, except food groups of vegetables / fruits and cigarette groups are considered as luxury goods. Keywords: LA-AIDS, Elasticity, Rural, Urban, Socio Economic Characteristic.
[Attention process training application within an intervention project on attentional processes in children with cancer].

INTRODUCTION Childhood cancer treatments have made a spectacular advance in recent years, obtaining survival rates of about 70%. These survival rates have permitted many children to reach adulthood, but also involve the appearance of previously unknown neurocognitive sequelae because of high mortality. DEVELOPMENT Neuropsychological evaluation allows the detection of these deficits and the design of intervention. In children, rather than a loss of function there is a loss of the capacities that should develop in comparison with his/her peers. To obtain a base line to determine the affected and altered areas, it is equally vital to assess the acute and long term effects so as to evaluate the success of the intervention program. Attention Process Training (APT) is an individualized application program of attentional exercises of varying complexity in sustained, selective, alternating and divided attention. This program combines methods and techniques of cerebral damage rehabilitation, as well as educational and clinical psychology. It is completed with a self instruction training which is applied in situations of daily life. CONCLUSIONS Child cancer treatment continues to carry long term neurocognitive sequelae. Neuropsychological evaluation is basic for its detection, allowing relevant information to be offered to parents and teachers, so as to facilitate design of individualized rehabilitation procedures. Attention training is basic for this type of population with generalized damage related to white matter, and forms part of a wider rehabilitation process that enhance the ecological validity of the program.
The NADH-binding subunit of the energy-transducing NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase of Paracoccus denitrificans: gene cloning and deduced primary structure.

The NADH dehydrogenase complex isolated from Paracoccus denitrificans is composed of approximately 10 unlike polypeptides and contains noncovalently bound FMN, non-heme iron, and acid-labile sulfide [Yagi, T. (1986) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 250, 302-311]. The NADH-binding subunit (Mr = 50,000) of this enzyme complex was identified by direct photoaffinity labeling with [32P]NADH [Yagi, T. , & Dinh, T.M. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 5515-5520]. Primers were synthesized on the basis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of this polypeptide, and these primers were used to synthesize an oligonucleotide probe by the polymerase chain reaction. This probe was utilized to isolate the gene encoding the NADH-binding subunit from a genomic library of P. denitrificans. The nucleotide sequence of the gene and the deduced amino acid sequence of the entire NADH-binding subunit were determined. The NADH-binding subunit has 431 amino acid residues and a calculated molecular weight of 47,191. The encoded protein contains a putative NAD(H)-binding and an iron-sulfur cluster-binding consensus sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of the Paracoccus NADH-binding subunit shows remarkable similarity to the alpha subunit of the NAD-linked hydrogenase of Alcaligenes eutrophus H16. When partial DNA sequencing of the regions surrounding the gene encoding the NADH-binding subunit was carried out, sequences homologous to the 24-, 49-, and 75-kDa polypeptides of bovine complex I were detected, suggesting that the structural genes of the Paracoccus NADH dehydrogenase complex constitute a gene cluster.
A new role for primary care teams in the United States after “Obamacare:” Track and improve health insurance coverage rates

Maintaining continuous health insurance coverage is important. With recent expansions in access to coverage in the United States after “Obamacare,” primary care teams have a new role in helping to track and improve coverage rates and to provide outreach to patients. We describe efforts to longitudinally track health insurance rates using data from the electronic health record (EHR) of a primary care network and to use these data to support practice-based insurance outreach and assistance. Although we highlight a few examples from one network, we believe there is great potential for doing this type of work in a broad range of family medicine and community health clinics that provide continuity of care. By partnering with researchers through practice-based research networks and other similar collaboratives, primary care practices can greatly expand the use of EHR data and EHR-based tools targeting improvements in health insurance and quality health care.
The use of risk measures and its applications in portfolio optimisation

The use of risk measures and its applications in portfolio optimisation Resham Sivnarain Magister Scientiae In the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics University of Pretoria 2017 Supervisor: Prof. E. Maré In this dissertation, we study the application of risk measures to portfolio optimisation. A risk measure is a functional over the set of random portfolio returns mappings . We present the various risk measures in this dissertation within an axiomatic framework. Although Value-at-Risk (VaR) has been widely used, the Conditional-Value-at-Risk (CVaR) has become the more popular risk measure since it is a coherent and convex risk measure. We solve a CVaR based optimisation model that is used for portfolio optimisation and hedging a target portfolio. Additionally, we solve a CVaR based optimisation model with cost considerations included in the objective function. Further, we include alternative risk measures such as distortion, spectral, drawdown and coherent-distortion risk measures (CDRM) and develop optimisation problems for each risk measure as either the objective function or as a constraint in a linear programming problem. Since the 2008 crisis era, it has become important to note the universal agreement that financial assets have fat tails and that financial and investment managers must be able to account for it in their risk management strategies. We present fat-tail analysis for CVaR optimisation problems and perfom emperical risk analysis on the FTSE/JSE ALSI index. X→ ρ X ( )∈!
Antihyperalgesic efficacy of 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in capsaicin and sunburn pain models – two randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover trials in healthy volunteers

Objective: The aim of this research is to analyze analgesic efficacy of the 5% lidocaine medicated plaster in two randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover studies in 16 healthy volunteers using capsaicin and sunburn pain models. Methods: Lidocaine and placebo plasters were simultaneously applied to forearms and thighs at contralateral body sites for three alternating 12-h plaster-on/plaster-off periods. Between the second and third plaster-on period, 4.2-cm circular spots on both pretreated thighs were irradiated with three times the individual minimal erythema dose of UVB light. After the last plaster-on period, 20 μl of 0.1% capsaicin was injected intradermally into both forearms. The study was repeated using a single 12-h plaster application. Results: The area of pinprick hyperalgesia was diminished by 53% (p < 0.003) in the capsaicin model and by 84% (p < 0.0001) in the sunburn model; the intensity of mechanical hyperalgesia to rigid filaments (8 – 512 mN) was reduced in both models. Cold pain perception threshold was reduced (19.7°C ± 8.0 vs 21.8°C ± 6.8 for placebo, p < 0.05, sunburn). Similar effects were observed in the 12-h exposure study. No effect was seen on capsaicin-induced spontaneous pain and flare size, or blood flow in the sunburn area, and heat hyperalgesia in either study. Conclusions: Lidocaine plaster effectively treats mechanical hyperalgesia and cold pain.
Wing geometric morphometrics and molecular assessment of members in the Albitarsis Complex from Colombia

Malaria parasites are transmitted to humans by female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. The Albitarsis Complex harbours at least eight species not readily differentiable by morphology. This complicates the determination of those species involved in malaria transmission and the implementation of targeted and effective vector control strategies. In Colombia, there is little information about the identity and distribution of the Albitarsis Complex members. In this work, COI DNA barcoding was used to assign specimens Anopheles albitarsis s.l. to any of the previously designated species of the Albitarsis Complex. Two molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), differentially distributed in Colombia, were detected, A. albitarsis I in the NW and NE, and A. albitarsis F, E and NE Colombia. In contrast, nuclear white gene and ITS2 sequence analyses did not allow differentiating between the MOTUs. Wing landmark‐based geometric morphometrics applied to explore intertaxa phenotypic heterogeneity showed a subtle but significant difference in size, while shape did not allow the separation of the MOTUs. In general, the multiple marker analysis was not supportive of the existence in Colombia of more than one species of the Albitarsis Complex.
Percolation on trees as a Brownian excursion: From Gaussian to Kolmogorov-Smirnov to exponential statistics.

We calculate the distribution of the size of the percolating cluster on a tree in the subcritical, critical, and supercritical phase. We do this by exploiting a mapping between continuum trees and Brownian excursions, and arrive at a diffusion equation with suitable boundary conditions. The exact solution to this equation can be conveniently represented as a characteristic function, from which the following distributions are clearly visible: Gaussian (subcritical), Kolmogorov-Smirnov (critical), and exponential (supercritical). In this way we provide an intuitive explanation for the result reported in Botet and Płoszajczak, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 185702 (2005)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.95. 185702 for critical percolation.
The Comparative Dynamics of Developed and Emerging Stock Markets: A Long Memory Perspective

The paper explores the difference in efficiency between developed and emerging stock market from a long memory perspective for the period 2000 to 2015. Ten developed, and ten emerging countries were selected for the study based on Morgan Stanley Capital International’s classification. We used both rescaled range and detrended fluctuation analysis and supplemented the findings with estimates of the fractionally integrated parameter for stock market return, its volatility as well as its absolute return using spectral regression. Findings are supportive of the absence of long memory in returns but support presence of long memory in absolute returns and volatility. We conclude that co-movement and spillover between stock markets have affected the market efficiencies and the efficiency of the emerging stock markets is no longer very different from that of the developed stock markets.
Online Participatory Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges for Enriching Participatory Planning

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Planning organizations are increasingly using online technologies for public engagement, but there is dispute about their value in enriching public engagement. We explore an interdisciplinary literature on the capability of online participatory tools (OPTs) to respond to the goals of participatory planning. Proponents argue that OPTs can help attract more citizens, engage a more diverse population, disseminate information more broadly, gather local knowledge, and facilitate consensus building. Skeptics argue that OPTs can intensify social injustice and an unequal distribution of power as well as create or exacerbate privacy, security, and data management issues. We critically examine the pros and cons of OPTs, assess their potential role in facilitating public engagement, and provide guidelines for their implementation. These results are time sensitive because of the rapidly changing environment of digital technologies. Takeaway for practice: There are still many unresolved questions about the benefits of OPTs. Research suggests that they can at times be effective in addressing goals of public participation, such as inclusive planning, consensus building, learning from local knowledge, and mobilizing social action. Their effectiveness depends significantly on implementation, however. Integrating online participation strategies with the overall participation process and other digital infrastructures within the organization may foster their effectiveness. Planners collaborating with formal or informal learning networks or related professionals can facilitate the effective use of OPTs within their own organizations. Additional information is needed on which OPTs are most appropriate in which planning environments, how well OPTs meet a range of major participatory objectives, how to make trade-offs between OPTs and face-to-face methods, and the best managerial structures for ensuring their effective use.
Phosphorylation of CDC25B by Aurora-A at the centrosome contributes to the G2–M transition

Aurora-A protein kinase, which is the product of an oncogene, is required for the assembly of a functional mitotic apparatus and the regulation of cell ploidy. Overexpression of Aurora-A in tumour cells has been correlated with cancer susceptibility and poor prognosis. Aurora-A activity is required for the recruitment of CDK1-cyclin B1 to the centrosome prior to its activation and the commitment of the cell to mitosis. In this report, we demonstrate that the CDC25B phosphatase, an activator of cyclin dependent kinases at mitosis, is phosphorylated both in vitro and in vivo by Aurora-A on serine 353 and that this phosphorylated form of CDC25B is located at the centrosome during mitosis. Knockdown experiments by RNAi confirm that the centrosome phosphorylation of CDC25B on S353 depends on Aurora-A kinase. Microinjection of antibodies against phosphorylated S353 results in a mitotic delay whilst overexpression of a S353 phosphomimetic mutant enhances the mitotic inducing effect of CDC25B. Our results demonstrate that Aurora-A phosphorylates CDC25B in vivo at the centrosome during mitosis. This phosphorylation might locally participate in the control of the onset of mitosis. These findings re-emphasise the role of the centrosome as a functional integrator of the pathways contributing to the triggering of mitosis.
The physical environment mediates male harm and its effect on selection in females

Recent experiments indicate that male preferential harassment of high-quality females reduces the variance in female fitness, thereby weakening natural selection through females and hampering adaptation and purging. We propose that this phenomenon, which results from a combination of male choice and male-induced harm, should be mediated by the physical environment in which intersexual interactions occur. Using Drosophila melanogaster, we examined intersexual interactions in small and simple (standard fly vials) versus slightly more realistic (small cages with spatial structure) environments. We show that in these more realistic environments, sexual interactions are less frequent, are no longer biased towards high-quality females, and that overall male harm is reduced. Next, we examine the selective advantage of high- over low-quality females while manipulating the opportunity for male choice. Male choice weakens the viability advantage of high-quality females in the simple environment, consistent with previous work, but strengthens selection on females in the more realistic environment. Laboratory studies in simple environments have strongly shaped our understanding of sexual conflict but may provide biased insight. Our results suggest that the physical environment plays a key role in the evolutionary consequences of sexual interactions and ultimately the alignment of natural and sexual selection.
N-Terminal Pro–B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Testing Improves the Management of Patients With Suspected Acute Heart Failure: Primary Results of the Canadian Prospective Randomized Multicenter IMPROVE-CHF Study

Background— The diagnostic utility of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in heart failure has been documented. However, most of the data were derived from countries with high healthcare resource use, and randomized evidence for utility of NT-proBNP was lacking. Methods and Results— We tested the hypothesis that NT-proBNP testing improves the management of patients presenting with dyspnea to emergency departments in Canada by prospectively comparing the clinical and economic impact of a randomized management strategy either guided by NT-proBNP results or without knowledge of NT-proBNP concentrations. Five hundred patients presenting with dyspnea to 7 emergency departments were studied. The median NT-proBNP level among the 230 subjects with a final diagnosis of heart failure was 3697 compared with 212 pg/mL in those without heart failure (P<0.00001). Knowledge of NT-proBNP results reduced the duration of ED visit by 21% (6.3 to 5.6 hours; P=0.031), the number of patients rehospitalized over 60 days by 35% (51 to 33; P=0.046), and direct medical costs of all ED visits, hospitalizations, and subsequent outpatient services (US $6129 to US $5180 per patient; P=0.023) over 60 days from enrollment. Adding NT-proBNP to clinical judgment enhanced the accuracy of a diagnosis; the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve increased from 0.83 to 0.90 (P<0.00001). Conclusions— In a universal health coverage system mandating judicious use of healthcare resources, inclusion of NT-proBNP testing improves the management of patients presenting to emergency departments with dyspnea through improved diagnosis, cost savings, and improvement in selected outcomes.