Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eligibility for concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy of locally advanced lung cancer patients: a prospective, population-based study.

BACKGROUND Patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and limited disease small-cell lung cancer are excluded from concurrent chemoradiation mostly on the basis of comorbidity and age. The purpose of this prospective study was to get insight in what proportion of patients with locally advanced lung cancer would be suitable for concurrent chemoradiation. PATIENTS AND METHODS From 2002 to 2005, all patients with a pathological diagnosis of lung cancer and with locally advanced disease in the Maastricht Cancer Registry, the Netherlands, comorbidity were prospectively assessed. Patients were regarded as noneligible for concurrent chemoradiation if they had one or more important comorbidity or were 75 years or older. RESULTS In all, 711 patients were included, 577 with NSCLC and 134 with SCLC. Overall, 166 patients (23.3%) were 75 years or older. Of the 526 patients <75 years, comorbidities were as follows: 278 (52.9%) 0, 188 (35.7%) 1, and 56 (11.4%) 2 or more. In all, 408/686 (59%) of the whole patient group were considered as ineligible for concurrent chemoradiation. CONCLUSIONS More than half of patients with stage III lung cancer were theoretically not eligible for concurrent chemoradiation. Less toxic alternatives are needed for these patients.
Development of the cerebellum and cerebellar neural circuits

The cerebellum, a structure derived from the dorsal part of the most anterior hindbrain, is important for integrating sensory perception and motor control. While the structure and development of the cerebellum have been analyzed most extensively in mammals, recent studies have shown that the anatomy and development of the cerebellum is conserved between mammals and bony fish (teleost) species, including zebrafish. In the mammalian and teleost cerebellum, Purkinje and granule cells serve, respectively, as the major GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons. Purkinje cells originate in the ventricular zone (VZ), and receive inputs from climbing fibers. Granule cells originate in the upper rhombic lip (URL) and receive inputs from mossy fibers. Thus, the teleost cerebellum shares many features with the cerebellum of other vertebrates, and is a good model system for studying cerebellar function and development. The teleost cerebellum also has features that are specific to teleosts or have not been elucidated in mammals, including eurydendroid cells and adult neurogenesis. Furthermore, the neural circuitry in part of the optic tectum and the dorsal hindbrain closely resembles the circuitry of the teleost cerebellum; hence, these are called cerebellum‐like structures. Here we describe the anatomy and development of cerebellar neurons and their circuitry, and discuss the possible roles of the cerebellum and cerebellum‐like structures in behavior and higher cognitive functions. We also consider the potential use of genetics and novel techniques for studying the cerebellum in zebrafish. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 72: 282–301, 2012
Pursuit Compensation during Self-Motion

The pattern of motion in the retinal image during self-motion contains information about the person's movement. Pursuit eye movements perturb the pattern of retinal-image motion, complicating the problem of self-motion perception. A question of considerable current interest is the relative importance of retinal and extra-retinal signals in compensating for these effects of pursuit on the retinal image. We addressed this question by examining the effect of prior motion stimuli on self-motion judgments during pursuit. Observers viewed 300 ms random-dot displays simulating forward self-motion during pursuit to the right or to the left; at the end of each display a probe appeared and observers judged whether they would pass left or right of it. The display was preceded by a 300 ms dot pattern that was either stationary or moved in the same direction as, or opposite to, the eye movement. This prior motion stimulus had a large effect on self-motion judgments when the simulated scene was a frontoparallel wall (experiment 1), but not when it was a three-dimensional (3-D) scene (experiment 2). Corresponding simulated-pursuit conditions controlled for purely retinal motion aftereffects, implying that the effect in experiment 1 is mediated by an interaction between retinal and extra-retinal signals. In experiment 3, we examined self-motion judgments with respect to a 3-D scene with mixtures of real and simulated pursuit. When real and simulated pursuits were in opposite directions, performance was determined by the total amount of pursuit-related retinal motion, consistent with an extra-retinal ‘trigger’ signal that facilitates the action of a retinally based pursuit-compensation mechanism. However, results of experiment 1 without a prior motion stimulus imply that extra-retinal signals are more informative when retinal information is lacking. We conclude that the relative importance of retinal and extra-retinal signals for pursuit compensation varies with the informativeness of the retinal motion pattern, at least for short durations. Our results provide partial explanations for a number of findings in the literature on perception of self-motion and motion in the frontal plane.
3D reconstruction of spine from partial biplanar radiographic image data

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the human spine is very much essential in diagnosis, planning of surgery and treatment of several spinal deformities. This can be achieved using stereo-radiographic reconstruction technique that uses postereo-anterior (PA) and lateral (LAT) radiographs. Here, an uncalibrated approach is proposed in which a generic spine model is deformed according to the partial data available in these radiographs. The angle at which each vertebra oriented is automatically extracted from the biplanar radiographs. The generic model is first aligned along the spine midline and each vertebra is rotated according to the angles obtained from the PA and LAT radiographs. The projection of this 3D model is taken in frontal and lateral planes and orientation of each vertebra is compared with that of the radiographs. The difference between the angles is minimized by suitable vertebral rotations until it becomes negligible. The model is validated by comparing angle measurements and back projection of the 3D model onto the radiographs. The result obtained is superior by the fact that radiographs are uncalibrated and has minimum human intervention. The model gives a better visualization of the -deformity of the human spine without involving specialized equipment.
Randomized trial of weekly, twice-monthly, and monthly interpersonal psychotherapy as maintenance treatment for women with recurrent depression.

OBJECTIVE The authors sought to determine whether a greater frequency of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) sessions during maintenance treatment has a greater prophylactic effect than a previously validated once-a-month treatment. METHOD A total of 233 women 20-60 years of age with recurrent unipolar depression were treated in an outpatient research clinic. After participants had achieved remission with weekly IPT or, if required, with weekly IPT plus antidepressant pharmacotherapy, they were randomly assigned to weekly, twice-monthly, or monthly maintenance IPT monotherapy for 2 years or until a recurrence of their depression occurred. RESULTS Among participants who remitted with IPT alone and entered maintenance treatment (N=99), 19 (26%) of the 74 who remained in the study throughout the 2-year maintenance phase experienced a recurrence of depression. Among participants who required the addition of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor to achieve remission (N=90), 32 (36%) sustained that remission through continuation treatment and drug discontinuation and began maintenance treatment; of these, 13 (50%) of the 26 who remained in the study throughout the maintenance phase experienced a recurrence. Survival analysis of time to recurrence by randomized treatment frequency showed no effect on recurrence-free survival in either treatment subgroup. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that maintenance IPT, even at a frequency of only one visit per month, is a good method of prophylaxis for women who can achieve remission with IPT alone. In contrast, among those who require the addition of pharmacotherapy, IPT monotherapy represents a significantly less efficacious approach to maintenance treatment.
Analyzing the Training Processes of Deep Generative Models

Among the many types of deep models, deep generative models (DGMs) provide a solution to the important problem of unsupervised and semi-supervised learning. However, training DGMs requires more skill, experience, and know-how because their training is more complex than other types of deep models such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We develop a visual analytics approach for better understanding and diagnosing the training process of a DGM. To help experts understand the overall training process, we first extract a large amount of time series data that represents training dynamics (e.g., activation changes over time). A blue-noise polyline sampling scheme is then introduced to select time series samples, which can both preserve outliers and reduce visual clutter. To further investigate the root cause of a failed training process, we propose a credit assignment algorithm that indicates how other neurons contribute to the output of the neuron causing the training failure. Two case studies are conducted with machine learning experts to demonstrate how our approach helps understand and diagnose the training processes of DGMs. We also show how our approach can be directly used to analyze other types of deep models, such as CNNs.
Dual antigen target-based immunotherapy for prostate cancer eliminates the growth of established tumors in mice.

AIMS We have previously shown that immunization with an adenovirus vector carrying an individual antigen induces antigen-specific CD8 T cells actively engaged in the destruction of tumor cells expressing the cognate antigen. In order to expand the range of antitumor responses beyond an individual antigen, we designed a recombinant adenovirus type 5 (rAd5) carrying a fusion construct of two full-length antigens. We used this adenovirus vector to test the concept that multiantigenic effector T cells could be generated simultaneously following a single immunization. METHOD To perform the rAd5 constructs, we selected a combination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) genes based on their restricted distribution within the prostate tissue and their association with the development and progression of prostate cancer. RESULTS Immunization of mice with rAd5 vector carrying a fusion construct of PSA and PSCA (Ad5-PSA/PSCA) simultaneously induced the expansion of anti-PSA and anti-PSCA CD8 T cells, as measured by intracellular cytokine staining for IFN-γ. The antigen-specific T-cell responses that developed were efficient in eliminating the target cells expressing cognate antigens measured by an in vivo cytotoxic T-cell assay. The in vivo tumor growth study showed that immunization of mice with Ad5-PSA/PSCA vaccine induced strong antitumor immunity when challenged with mouse prostate tumor cell lines (RM11) expressing human PSA (RM11/PSA). To further analyze the impact on therapeutic efficacy of Ad5-PSA/PSCA vaccine against the tumor cells expressing PSA and PSCA (RM11-PSA/PSCA) antigens, we injected mice with Ad5-PSA/PSCA vaccine. The vaccine inhibited the growth of established tumors with 80% of the mice becoming tumor free. These data provide useful information that antigen-specific effector T cells can be generated simultaneously and that their additive antitumor effect has the potential to eliminate the growth of established tumors. Therefore, the immunotherapy approach of using the simultaneous targeting of dual antigens associated with prostate cancer may have important implications for human clinical trials.
A novel family of phospholipase D homologues that includes phospholipid synthases and putative endonucleases: Identification of duplicated repeats and potential active site residues

Phosphatidylcholine‐specific phospholipase D (PLD) enzymes catalyze hydrolysis of phospholipid phosphodiester bonds, and also transphosphatidylation of phospholipids to acceptor alcohols. Bacterial and plant PLD enzymes have not been shown previously to be homologues or to be homologous to any other protein. Here we show, using sequence analysis methods, that bacterial and plant PLDs show significant sequence similarities both to each other, and to two other classes of phospholipid‐specific enzymes, bacterial cardiolipin synthases, and eukaryotic and bacterial phosphatidylserine synthases, indicating that these enzymes form an homologous family. This family is suggested also to include two Poxviridae proteins of unknown function (p37K and protein K4), a bacterial endonuclease (nuc), an Escherichia coli putative protein (o338) containing an N‐terminal domain showing similarities with helicase motifs V and VI, and a Synechocystis sp. putative protein with a C‐terminal domain likely to possess a DNA‐binding function. Surprisingly, four regions of sequence similarity that occur once in nuc and o338, appear twice in all other homologues, indicating that the latter molecules are bi‐lobed, having evolved from an ancestor or ancestors that underwent a gene duplication and fusion event. It is suggested that, for each of these enzymes, conserved histidine, lysine, aspartic acid, and/or asparagine residues may be involved in a two‐step ping‐pong mechanism involving an enzyme‐substrate intermediate.
The Treatment of Critically Ill Patients With Acute Cholecystitis.

BACKGROUND Besides cholecystectomy (CC), percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) has been recommended for the management of critically ill patients with acute cholecystitis. However, solid evidence on the benefit of PC in this subgroup of patients is lacking. METHODS In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we systematically searched the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, and Scopus for relevant studies published between 2000 and 2014. Two investigators independently screened the studies included. RESULTS Six studies with a total of 337 500 patients (PC 10 045, CC 327 455) were included for meta-analysis. Significant differences in favor of CC were recorded with regard to the rate of mortality (OR 4.28, [1.72 to 10.62], p = 0.0017), length of hospital stay (OR 1.41, [1.02 to 1.95], p = 0.04), and the rate of readmission for biliary complaints (OR 2.16, [1.72 to 2.73], p<0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between both intervention arms with regard to complications (OR 0.74, [0.36 to 1.53], p = 0.42) and re-interventions (OR 7.69, [0.68 to 87.33], p = 0.10). CONCLUSION The benefit of percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) over cholecystectomy (CC) in the management of critically ill patients with acute cholecystitis could not be proven in this systematic review.
Modified All-Fiber Fabry–Perot Interferometer and Its Refractive Index, Load, and Temperature Analyses

An all-fiber Fabry-Perot (FP) interferometer is proposed and validated by the arc splicing technique. By using conventional fiber and special hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, several FP cavities were formed at the conventional fiber tip using arc discharges. As a result of the interaction between these cavities, modified FP principle operation was obtained; and temperature, refractive index, and load analyses validated this operation modification. In addition, this all-fiber interferometer presents good resolution and sensitivity in each parameter examined. The structure offers compactness, robustness, high repeatability, and stability measurement.
Planning reform and development rights in Greece: institutional persistence and elite rule in the face of the crisis

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the process of development rights allocation in Greece and the changes to that process which occurred from 2009 onward. It argues that the interaction of institutions which regulate the allocation of development rights, with social practices of formal and informal land development, gives rise to development pathways which demonstrate institutional persistence. In the case of Greece, these pathways range from ‘urban development by state organisations’, to development without planning permission on land that is not owned by the developer. The crisis was a shock to the Greek governance system, yet the analysis in this paper shows that the reforms of the development rights allocation process followed the pre-existing ‘mentality of rule’. The paper therefore argues that development pathways reflect a political arrangement between the ruling elites and other social strata. The technologies of governance and the associated institutions and practices which support elite rule, were sustained, if not reinforced, during the crisis. This analytical approach therefore offers insights of relevance to other countries in Europe and around the world which contemplate reforms to their development rights allocation system.
Gum acacia stabilized silver nanoparticles based nano-cargo for enhanced anti-arthritic potentials of hesperidin in adjuvant induced arthritic rats

Abstract Nanomedicines anticipate drug delivery to inflamed tissues in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with greater efficacy and lesser side effects. This study investigates the anti-arthritic potentials of Hesperidin (HP) loaded in gum acacia (GA) stabilized green silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Synthesized GA-AgNPs were characterized through UV–vis spectrophotometer, zetasizer and atomic force microscope (AFM). The HP and its loaded NPs were tested for RA in Complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) induced arthritis model. GA-AgNPs were found in nano-range size with negative charge, spherical shape and loaded increased HP amount. HP loaded GA-AgNPs showed minimal arthritic score exhibiting mild to moderate tissue swelling, reduced degenerative changes along with mild articular changes. Histopathological analysis revealed comparatively lesser influx of inflammatory cells and diminished granulamatous inflammation in ankle joints tissues in the presence of HP loaded GA-AgNPs. RT-PCR revealed that HP loaded GA-AgNPs significantly reduced the TLRs mRNA expression. Results validate GA stabilized green AgNPs as stable nano-cargos for targeted delivery of HP for restoring the progression of RA.
Retrenched, but Still Desired? Perceptions Regarding the Social Legitimacy of the Welfare State in Russia Compared with EU Countries

Abstract This article explores how the retrenchment of the Russian welfare state has affected Russians’ attitudes towards it. Using European Social Survey data, we find that the retrenchment has not eroded Russians’ strong preference for a comprehensive system, despite their dissatisfaction with its outcomes. Further, we find that in Russia, some of the individual socioeconomic characteristics have a different effect on people's attitudes to social welfare compared to equivalent groups in EU countries. Overall, as in the EU, attitudes are multidimensional: a positive stance towards some aspects of the welfare state coexists with a critical approach towards others.
Transformation-associated cytokine 9E3/CEF4 is chemotactic for chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells

9E3/CEF4, which is released from transformed chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF), is a member of the platelet factor 4 family of inflammatory proteins and may be the avian homolog of interleukin-8. Since the function of 9E3/CEF4 is unknown, we examined the effect of the protein on mitogenicity and chemotaxis, as well as its expression, in fibroblasts and peripheral blood cells. 9E3/CEF4 mRNA was expressed in chicken peripheral blood monocytes, and its expression was stimulated by incubation of the monocytes with lipopolysaccharide or phorbol myristic acetate. Boyden double-membrane analysis of chemotaxis showed that 9E3/CEF4 was chemotactic for chicken peripheral blood mononuclear cells, as well as for heterophils. Untransformed CEF and CEF transformed with Rous sarcoma virus also migrated to 9E3/CEF4 protein, as measured by Boyden single-membrane analysis. 9E3/CEF4 was slightly mitogenic for CEF, causing a doubling of [3H]thymidine uptake when added to serum-starved CEF.9E3/CEF4 was found associated not only with the cell and in the culture medium of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed CEF but also with the extracellular matrix. The in vivo role of 9E3/CEF4 may be involved with chemotaxis and metastasis, rather than with direct stimulation of mitogenicity.
Comparisons of service quality perceptions between full service carriers and low cost carriers in airline travel

ABSTRACT We apply latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling to a vast number of passenger-authored online reviews for airline services to compare service quality between full service carriers (FSCs) and low cost carriers (LCCs). Representing key features of airline service quality, topics are extracted from the reviews and matched to the five typical dimensions used by the SERVQUAL model. Based on the measure of word frequency statistically distributed to topics, we quantitatively determine the dimensions of service quality that are deemed as most essential by travelers. The results show that the most significant dimensions for FSCs and LCCs are tangibles and reliability, respectively. The least significant dimensions are assurance and empathy, respectively. By comparing extracted features in detail, we discover specific differences in traveler perceptions between FSCs and LCCs. Air carriers should be aware of these differences, as it would help them better differentiate themselves. Moreover, inflight meal services and seats, which have typically been regarded as tangible features, are subdivided into different topics, and the subdivisions are simultaneously matched to multiple dimensions (eg tangibles, empathy, and reliability). This suggests that research needs to reflect the diverse aspects of traveler perceptions for primary service items.
Iris detection and recognition using 2 fold technique

The objective of this paper is to introduce a new integrated methodology for iris detection and recognition using a two fold method to deduce better results as compared to the existing techniques. The methodology primarily employs the Finite Impulse Response(FIR) and Gabor wavelet transform as for computing fundamentals. The figurative classification in the proposed algorithm is on the basis of euclidean distance. Thus the proposed algorithm solely works on construing the euclidean distances of the test sample with respect to that of the samples in the data set in the either fold procedures. Further the least euclidean distance measured is considered as the perfect match for the input test sample. As a result of extensive testing and implementation of the proposed algorithm/methodology in this paper, satisfactory accuracy and results are obtained as tested on Self Generated Dataset. The proposed algorithm focus on extensively using all the data available and retrievable from the human iris, specifically the red, green and blue segments, i.e RGB scheme unlike traditional iris based recognition wiz. computation on grayscale inputs, thus on the contrary, the methodology presented in this paper employs suitable color coding pattern using FIR(Finite Impulse Response) in addition to the Gabor filter texture classification technique.