Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phenytoin as an antimanic anticonvulsant: a controlled study.

OBJECTIVE Phenytoin, a classical anticonvulsant, shares with antimanic anticonvulsants the property of blockade of voltage-activated sodium channels. The authors therefore planned a trial of phenytoin for mania. METHOD Patients with either bipolar I disorder, manic type, or schizoaffective disorder, manic type, entered a 5-week, double-blind controlled trial of haloperidol plus phenytoin versus haloperidol plus placebo. Of 39 patients, 30 completed at least 3 weeks and 25 completed 5 weeks. RESULTS Significantly more improvement was observed in the patients receiving phenytoin. Added improvement with phenytoin in scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Clinical Global Impression was seen in the patients with bipolar mania but not those with schizoaffective mania. CONCLUSIONS Blockade of voltage-activated sodium channels may be a common therapeutic mechanism of many anticonvulsants given for mania, and phenytoin may be a therapeutic option for some manic patients.
THE ORIGIN AND GENETIC BASIS OF OBLIGATE PARTHENOGENESIS IN DAPHNIA PULEX

Sex in Daphnia is environmentally determined, and some obligately parthenogenetic clones of D. pulex have retained the ability to produce males. In the present study, males from 13 such clones were crossed to sexual females from closely related cyclical parthenogens both to determine whether the males were capable of producing viable hybrids and to determine the mode of reproduction of the hybrids. A total of 178 genetically confirmed hybrids were produced, with each of the 19 attempted crosses resulting in some viable hybrids. On average, only 34% of the hybrid eggs that initiated development survived to the reproductive stage, suggesting some incompatibility between the parents. The absence of any association between survivorship and parental or hybrid genotype indicated, however, that there is no specific genetic incompatibility associated with the marker loci used. The inability of most hybrids to produce normal resting eggs is further evidence of a general genomic incompatibility between the parents.
Site-specific pharmaco-laser therapy: A novel treatment modality for refractory port wine stains

Despite extensive efforts to optimize laser therapy, i.e., the current gold standard treatment, a majority of port wine stain (PWS) patients responds suboptimally to laser therapy. This paper describes the niceties of a novel PWS treatment modality termed site-specific pharmaco-laser therapy (SSPLT). In contrast to the classic approach of enhancing the extent of intravascular photocoagulation (the photothermal response), SSPLT focuses on optimization of post-irradiation thrombus formation (i.e., the hemodynamic response) by combining conventional laser therapy with the administration of thermosensitive drug delivery systems that encapsulate prothrombotic and antifibrinolytic drugs. The aim of SSPLT is to instill complete lumenal occlusion in target vessels, which has been linked to optimal PWS blanching. Relevance for patients: The current treatment options for PWS patients are limited in efficacy. Novel therapeutic modalities are needed to more effectively treat patients with recalcitrant PWSs. SSPLT is an experimental-stage treatment modality that could serve as an adjuvant to pulsed dye laser therapy for a selected group of patients whose PWS is ill-responsive to standard treatment. The expected clinical result of SSPLT is improved lesional blanching.
A stochastic evolution algorithm for the graph covering problem and its application to the technology mapping

A stochastic evolution algorithm is applied to solve the graph covering problem in which a set of patterns that fully covers a subject graph with a minimal cost is sought. This problem is a typical constrained combinatorial optimization problem and is proven to be NP-complete. Many branch-and-bound algorithms with different heuristics have been proposed but most of them cannot handle practical sized problems like the technology mapping problem from the VLSI synthesis area. Our stochastic evolution is based on a problem-specific encoding scheme to reduce the size of the search space and incorporates the tree matching algorithm at the initial solution generation stage for speed-up. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm produces good solutions within a reasonable amount of time.
A low shear stress modular bioreactor for connected cell culture under high flow rates

A generic “system on a plate” modular multicompartmental bioreactor array which enables microwell protocols to be transferred directly to the bioreactor modules, without redesign of cell culture experiments or protocols is described. The modular bioreactors are simple to assemble and use and can be easily compared with standard controls since cell numbers and medium volumes are quite similar. Starting from fluid dynamic and mass transport considerations, a modular bioreactor chamber was first modeled and then fabricated using “milli‐molding,” a technique adapted from soft lithography. After confirming that the shear stress was extremely low in the system in the range of useful flow rates, the bioreactor chambers were tested using hepatocytes. The results show that the bioreactor chambers can increase or maintain cell viability and function when the flow rates are below 500 µL/min, corresponding to wall shear stresses of 10−5 Pa or less at the cell culture surface. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010; 106: 127–137. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Methylation-associated Silencing of microRNA-126 and its Host Gene EGFL7 in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

BACKGROUND/AIM We recently reported that miR-126 is down-regulated in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and can be combined into a 4-microRNA-classifier that can accurately diagnose MPM with high sensitivity and specificity. Herein we analyzed the epigenetic regulation of miR-126 and its host gene EGF-like domain, multiple 7 (EGFL7). MATERIALS AND METHODS Resected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded MPM tissues from 29 patients, 14 patient-matched non-neoplastic pleura (NNP) specimens, 5 MPM diagnostic biopsies (DB), and 5 samples of pneumothorax-induced benign reactive mesothelial proliferation (PTHX) were analyzed. miR-126 and EGFL7 mRNA were quantified by RT-qPCR. CpG-islands' methylation in the EGFL7 promoter was analyzed using methylation-specific PCR and in the MIR126-containing intron 7 was quantified by pyrosequencing. RESULTS Relative to NNP, EGFL7 was under-expressed more than 4-fold in MPM (p<0.001). EGFL7 mRNA and miR-126 levels correlated in MPM (p<0.01) and NNP (p<0.001). The EGFL7 promoter region was hypermethylated in 69% of MPM and 80% of DB samples, but not in NNP and PTHX samples. EGFL7 promoter hypermethylation was associated with epithelioid histology (p<0.05) and reduced patient-survival (p<0.05). CONCLUSION In MPM, DNA-hypermethylation down-regulates miR-126 and its host gene EGFL7, therefore is a poor prognostic factor, and may represent a future therapeutic target for de-methylating strategies re-establishing EGFL7 and miR-126 expression.
Classifying Nucleotide Sequences and their Positions of Influenza A Viruses through Several Kernels

In this paper, we classify nucleotide sequences and their positions of influenza A viruses by using both nucleotide sequence kernels and phylogenetic tree kernels. In the nucleotide sequence kernel, we regard a nucleotide sequence as a vector, a multiset and a string. In the phylogenetic tree kernel, we use a relabeled phylogenetic tree obtained by replacing the labels of leaves that are indices of nucleotide sequences in the reconstructed phylogenetic tree from a set of nucleotide sequences with the nucleotides at a fixed position and trimmed phylogenetic trees obtained by trimming the branches in the relabeled phylogenetic tree with same leaves as possible. Then, we observe which of kernels are effective the classification of nucleotide sequences as analyzing pandemic occurrences and regions and the classification of positions in nucleotide sequences as analyzing positions in packaging signals.
Trading Volume and Time Varying Betas

I show that increased turnover accompanies changes in stocks’ risk exposures. A one standard deviation decrease in a stock’s market beta increases turnover as much as 25%. The sensitivity of turnover to beta changes has grown over time. Market beta changes explain as much as 5% of the monthly cross-sectional variation in turnover. VAR decompositions of returns show turnover is more strongly associated with discount rate news than cash flow news. This mechanism provides a new channel for turnover combined with realized returns to predict long horizon returns and cash flow changes. Further, this mechanism can amplify many prior explored motives for trade.
First experience with using simple polymerase chain reaction-based methods as an alternative to phenotypic drug susceptibility testing for Myobacterium tuberculosis in Iraq

Context: In Iraq, the time-consuming, phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) on agar is the sole method available for detecting drug resistance in Myobacterium tuberculosis (TB). Furthermore, only single laboratory across Iraq is performing it on wide scale. Aims: To explore utility of rapid, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based systems in detection of drug resistance in under the Iraqi settings. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study. A total of 79 nonduplicated isolates were included in this study. Multiplex allele-specific PCR was used to detect mutations at positions 531, 526, and 516 of the rpoB gene. Two simplex PCR systems were used to detect mutations in katG3 15 gene and inhAP-15. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square and crosstabs by SPSS v. 20. Results: On DST, out of 69 isolates, 55 isolates were found multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB; six isolates were susceptible to both rifampin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH); two isolates were resistant to RIF but not to INH; and six isolates were resistant to INH but not RIF. RIF and INH resistance mutations were detected in 50 (90.9%), and 43 (78.2%) MDR cases, respectively. Combine resistance mutations to RIF and INH were detected in 40 MDR cases (72.7%). The most frequently mutated codon was the codon 531 in rpoB gene, mutated in 42 isolates. inhAP-15 and katG315 codons were found mutated in 23 and 25 MDR cases (54.8% and 58.1%), respectively. Among 57 RIF-resistant isolates, 52 (91.2%) were harboring mutations resistance to RIF. Conclusions: These PCR-based methods are potential diagnostic and/or screening tools to detect drug-resistance TB in Iraqi settings.
Parallel coordinates: a tool for visualizing multi-dimensional geometry

A methodology for visualizing analytic and synthetic geometry in R/sup N/ is presented. It is based on a system of parallel coordinates which induces a nonprojective mapping between N-dimensional and two-dimensional sets. Hypersurfaces are represented by their planar images which have some geometrical properties analogous to the properties of the hypersurface that they represent. A point from to line duality when N=2 generalizes to lines and hyperplanes enabling the representation of polyhedra in R/sup N/. The representation of a class of convex and non-convex hypersurfaces is discussed, together with an algorithm for constructing and displaying any interior point. The display shows some local properties of the hypersurface and provides information on the point's proximity to the boundary. Applications are discussed. <<ETX>>
Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in Peripheral Blood of Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Validation Study of the CellSearch System

Purpose: The CellSearch system (Veridex, Warren, NJ) is designed to enrich and enumerate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood. Here, we validated the analytic performance of this system for clinical use in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Experimental Design: This prospective multicenter study conducted at three independent laboratories involved samples from 92 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Intra- and inter-assay variability using controls containing defined numbers of cells (average, 50 and 1,000, respectively), cell stability based on varying storage and shipment conditions, recovery precision from samples spiked with 4 to 12 tumor cells, inter-instrument variability, and positivity of samples from metastatic breast cancer patients were tested. Results: Intra- and inter-assay precision for two sites were high: All eight positive controls analyzed in the same run and >95% of the run to run control values (n = 299) were within the specified ranges. Recovery rate of spiked samples averaged between 80% and 82%. CTCs were detected in ∼70% of metastatic breast cancer patients. CTC values of identical samples processed either immediately after blood drawing or after storage for 24, 48, or 72 h at room temperature or at 4°C did not differ significantly. Shipment of samples had no influence on CTC values. When analyzing identical samples in different centers, inter-instrument accordance was high. Conclusions: The CellSearch system enables the reliable detection of CTCs in blood and is suitable for the routine assessment of metastatic breast cancer patients in the clinical laboratory. Blood samples should be shipped at room temperature and CTC counts are stable for at least 72 h.
On Some Predictions of the Quantity Theory of Money

Recently, efforts have been made to test some of the long-term propositions implied by the quantity theory of money. Of these, two of the more interesting studies are those of Lucas [11] and Lothian [10]. Lucas, using time series data for the United States and applying Fourier transforms detrends the series and then using scatter diagrams of these detrended series finds considerable support for the proposition of one to one correspondence between rate of growth of money and the rate of inflation, and for the Fisher hypothesis. Lothian [10], following upon a suggestion of Lucas [11], uses cross-country averages of time series data for twenty O.E. C.D. countries, to test the classical neutrality hypothesis, the monetary approach to the exchange rate determination and the Fisher hypothesis. His approach consists of treating the cross-country averages to represent longterm steady state points and once again uses scatter diagrams of the appropriate variables. He reports complete support for the first two hypotheses and partial support for the Fisher hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to reexamine two of the propositions implied by the quantity theory of money, namely, the neutrality hypothesis and the Fisher hypothesis for six developed countries, by using a methodology recently proposed by Wickens and Breusch [12] which is an elaboration of an earlier work by Bewley [2]. Their methodology starts with the well known autoregressive distributed lag model which can be estimated to extract long-term parameters of interest. Wickens and Breusch's point of departure is that unlike this traditional procedure, this model can be transformed in such a way that direct estimates of the long-term parameters along with their standard errors can be obtained provided the model is estimated appropriately as explained below. Clearly, this methodology is then ideally suited for application to the issue under consideration. The outline of the paper is as follows. The hypotheses and the models are explained in section II. The estimation issues are discussed in section III. The results are presented in section IV. The paper concludes with a brief summary of the main findings.
A wavelet transform approach to adaptive extraction of partial discharge pulses from interferences

This paper is concerned with an application of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) to adaptive extraction of partial discharge signals (PDs) from unknown and variable noise. The proposed method can be applied to both on-line energized network (energized with power frequency voltage) and some offline energized network (energized with approximate power frequency voltage). This paper describes an adaptive extraction system (AES) which performs partition of original discrete sequences to more than one time-frames, implements DWT of each time-frame and identifies noise from PDs. AES tunes sets of thresholds according to obtained noise characteristics, and then it modifies DWT coefficients on different scales of DWT to separate noise from PDs. The AES approach produces a significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and almost undistorted partial discharge pulse waveshape at the output of AES. Simulation and experiment studies associated with this AES approach are presented in this paper.
Lost in Implementation: The Rise and Value of the FSB Principles for Sound Compensation Practices at Financial Institutions

We analyse the principles for sound compensation practices at financial institutions and their implementation standards (briefly PSSCPs) issued in 2009 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). We examine, first of all, the political economy of the PSSCP. We describe their formation as a result of the recent financial turmoil, and the way in which a sound compromise between the different interests at stake was reached at G20 level, with the contribution of the FSB. We then consider the roots of the PSSCP in pre-crisis best practices, their flexibility and adaptability, and their role in prudential regulation. We go on to examine post-crisis PSSCP implementation in the EU and the US, highlighting the different models that have been adopted. Our core argument is that the PSSCPs are only the first step in a complex global reform process that is currently underway at both regional and national levels. This process is, however, marked by political conflicts that have been only partially solved by the G20 and which may determine significant variations amongst the different legal systems, some of which, including EU law, are transforming the international standards into rigid and detailed prescriptions as to the mechanisms and structures of bankers’ compensation, whilst other systems either keep the flexibility of the standards in their regulations or rely mainly on a supervisory approach.
Investigating autophagy: Quantitative morphometric analysis using electron microscopy

Autophagy is a compensatory pathway involving isolation and subsequent degradation of cytosolic material and organelles in eukaryotic cells.1 The autophagic process can provide a “housekeeping” function by removing damaged proteins and organelles in a selective or nonselective fashion in order to exert a protective effect following stress.2 Remarkably, after being discovered to be much more of a targeted process than a random one, the role of autophagy became implicated in many normal cellular and disease processes.3 Several methodologies are routinely employed to monitor the entire autophagic process.4 Microtubule-associated protein light chain 3, a mammalian homolog of yeast Atg8, has been widely used as a specific marker to monitor autophagy in numerous cell types.5 While monitoring autophagic flux is extremely important, it is also beneficial to perform a detailed analysis by electron microscopy (EM) to evaluate changes in various autophagic structures, quantify the areas involved, and determine if any particular organelle(s) or area of the cell cytoplasm is being targeted for degradation.6 The following article describes methods to localize and quantify subcellular areas of autophagy using transmission EM. Also discussed are methods for subcellular localization of specific proteins by employing immunogold EM; this method becomes particularly useful in detecting early changes in cellular homeostasis that may occur before later signs of cellular insult can be observed morphologically.
Environmental Deterioration Compromises Socially Enforced Signals of Male Quality in Three‐Spined Sticklebacks

Social costs are often important in promoting the honesty of sexually selected traits. What happens, then, when social costs are relaxed? In species that breed in shallow coastal waters, increases in the frequency and severity of phytoplankton blooms may undermine the value of visual signals by reducing visibility and, in so doing, lead to dishonest signaling by relaxing the social consequences of high signaling effort for poor‐quality individuals. Here, we experimentally test the effects of algally induced water turbidity on the role of male‐male competition in facilitating reliable sexual displays in three‐spined sticklebacks. We found that males in poor condition reduced their courtship effort in the presence of competition in turbid water. This reduction, however, was to a much lesser extent than that observed in clear water. Thus, courtship under conditions of algal turbidity did not reflect male condition as honestly as courtship in clear water. Algal turbidity also influenced breeding coloration, with males in poor condition reducing their area of red nuptial coloration in turbid conditions. Our findings suggest that anthropogenic disturbance to the signaling environment can potentially reduce the evolutionary potential of sexual selection by diminishing the efficacy of visual displays and weakening socially enforced signals of male quality.
Linear and nonlinear filtering in mathematical finance : a review

The problem of estimating unobserved latent variables from observed market data arises frequently in mathematical finance. Kalman filter, first proposed in Kalman (1960), and its generalizations have been the main tools for estimating the unobserved variables from the observed ones in econometrics and in engineering for several decades and their use is now becoming common in finance. Kalman filter is a conditional moment estimator for linear Gaussian systems. It is used in calibration of time series models, forecasting of variables and also in data smoothing applications. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introductory and accessible exposition of applications of filtering in finance to operational researchers. It gives a brief overview of Kalman filtering theory and presents recent empirical results on two applications in finance. Some recent developments in approximate nonlinear filtering are also reviewed. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In section 2, basic linear Gaussian filtering methodology is described, along with its application to maximum likelihood-based calibration to time series models. Sections 3.1 and 3.2 present two case studies for applications of Kalman filtering in mathematical finance. Section 4 outlines some recent approaches for approximate filtering in nonlinear time series and also presents a brief overview of an empirical application on calibration and forecasting using a nonlinear interest rate model. Finally, section 5 summarises the contributions discussed in the paper and outlines promising directions for future research.