Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
K-ras and p53 mutations and overexpressions as prognostic factors in female rectal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND The present study was undertaken to determine the prognostic significance of K-ras, p53 and bcl-2 in female rectal carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS The mutations in K-ras and p53 genes were analysed using SSCP and direct sequencing. The expression of K-ras, bcl-2 and p53 proteins was determined immunohistochemically. RESULTS Mutations of K-ras and p53 genes were detected in 12% and 38% of the tumours, respectively. The prevalence of K-ras overexpression was 67%. K-ras mutations were not associated with survival. However, more favourable survival was observed for patients with K-ras overexpression than with normal expression (adjusted hazard ratio from Cox model 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.8). Mutation or overexpression of p53 were not associated with survival. CONCLUSIONS It may be possible, that the mutations and protein overexpression of K-ras and p53 in female rectal carcinoma have different clinical impact on patient survival as suggested in previous studies concerning colorectal carcinoma of both sexes.
A Comparison of Course Delivery Methods: An Exercise in Experimental Economics

This paper compares student performance in traditional and online classes using a methodological framework free from problems affecting past studies including self-selection bias that beset many earlier studies. The data employed in this study consists of 1) students' test scores in Principles of Macroeconomics courses, 2) students' academic information collected from the registrar's office, and 3) students' personal information collected from a survey completed by students involved in the study. Using a two-stage least squares model we find that the average grade for the students in the online class is almost two letter grades lower than the average grade for students in the traditional class, ceteris paribus.
PID Controllers Design Applied to Positioning of Ball on the Stewart Platform

Abstract The paper presents the design and practical implementation of PID controllers for a Stewart platform. The platform uses a resistance touch panel as a sensor and servo motors as actuators. The complete control system stabilizing the ball on the platform is realized with the Arduino microcontroller and the Matlab/Simulink software. Two processes required to acquire measurement signals from the touch panel in two perpendicular directions X and Y, are discussed. The first process includes the calibration of the touch panel, and the second process - the filtering of measurement signals with the low pass Butterworth filter. The obtained signals are used to design the algorithm of the ball stabilization by decoupling the global system into two local subsystems. The algorithm is implemented in a soft real time system. The parameters of both PID controllers (PIDx and PIDy) are tuned by the trial-error method and implemented in the microcontroller. Finally, the complete control system is tested at the laboratory stand.
Regional Differentiation of the Human Fetal Ependyma: Immunocytochemical Markers

The development of the ependyma from 6 weeks (wk) gestation to term was studied in 26 human fetuses and infants for immunocytochemical differentiation using antibodies against vimentin, several cytokeratins, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S-100 protein. Acridine orange-RNA fluorescence was uniform in all differentiated ependymal cells. Marked differences were demonstrated among various anticytokeratin antibodies. Vimentin was demonstrated in undifferentiated cells, particularly during mitosis, and persisted as the ependyma matured. It was strong in floor plate cells and processes forming the ventral median septum. Vimentin and cytokeratin CK-904 coexisted with other immunoreactive proteins but disappeared in a caudorstral gradient with maturation. At 8 wk gestation, GFAP was detected in roof plate cells and their processes forming the dorsal median septum. S-100 protein appeared as early as 6 wk and had a more restricted regional distribution than GFAP at all ages. It was strong in the basal plate ependyma of the spinal cord in young fetuses. The temporal and spatial distributions of the immunoreactive proteins studied correlate with evidence that fetal ependymal cells synthesize compounds that attract or repel axonal growth cones to prevent axons from entering the ventricles or deviating from programmed projection pathways. An additional role may be to induce the transformation of radial glial cells in the subventricular zone.
Inducible RNA Interference of brlAβ in Aspergillus nidulans

ABSTRACT An inducible RNA interference (RNAi) construct composed of inverted repeating alcA promoters flanking the developmental regulatory gene brlAβ was tested in Aspergillus nidulans. On inducing medium, the RNAi strains failed to sporulate and lacked brlAα and brlAβ expression. RNAi was specific for brlAβ, but not brlAα, silencing, indicating brlAα regulation by brlAβ.
Melanoma biomarker expression in melanocytic tumor progression: a tissue microarray study

Background: The elucidation of protein biomarkers that are differentially expressed in human melanocytic tumors during tumor progression may lead to the identification of therapeutic targets and novel diagnostic tests. In a meeting chaired by Dr Mihm, a list of biomarkers of interest in melanoma was compiled. The specialized programs of research excellence (SPORE) in skin cancer developed a melanocytic tumor progression tissue microarray (TMA) to evaluate these candidate biomarkers. In addition to markers reported elsewhere, we evaluated c‐Kit, MITF, MART1, HMB‐45 and bcl‐2.
THE DIAGNOSTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF THREE CARDINAL SYMPTOMS IN SLEEP APNEA SYNDROME WHEN ASKED ROUTINELY IN OUT-PATIENT VISITS

Aim: In this study we investigated the increase in patient referral rates and diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) by asking three cardinal symptoms. Methods: Patients who applied with different complaints to the family practice out-patient clinic between 04.01.2003 and 10.31.2003 (n=413) consisted the study group and they, along with their spouses, were asked about three cardinal symptoms of OSAS. Control group consisted 451 age and sex matched out-patients who had applied before the initiation of the study. Symptom positive patients were referred to an ear-nose-throat specialist and a sleep disorders specialist. Polysomnography was performed if indicated. Student-t test and chi-square test were used as appropriate. Results: There were no significant differences between groups about age, sex and body mass index (BMI) values. Patients diagnosed as OSAS were predominantly males. The mean BMI values for each group were classified as overweight. The rate of referral in control group was significantly lower than the study group. Out of the 413 patients three (%0.7) were diagnosed as OSAS, five (%1.2) were diagnosed as simple snoring. One of the three patients diagnosed as OSAS was female and the other two were male. Conclusions: It is our conclusion that all patients in primary care settings should be screened for cardinal symptoms of OSAS in order to prevent further complications and improve their quality of life. We started routine screening of all patients for OSAS by using three cardinal symptoms in our primary care out-patient clinic.
Relevance of the physics of off-plane transport through 2D materials on the design of vertical transistors

We propose a theoretical study of vertical transport through graphene and two-dimensional materials, using simulations based on density functional theory and on pseudo atomistic Hamiltonians. We highlight the importance of interfaces and of band structure matching between adjacent layers, showing that graphene can offer a significant barrier to electron tunneling. We also show that the energy dependence of the transmission probability of other semiconducting two-dimensional materials is strongly affected by the details of the energy dispersion relations of the barrier and of the emitter and collector regions.
Unsupervised Word Discovery from Speech using Bayesian Hierarchical Models

In this paper we demonstrate an algorithm to learn words from speech using non-parametric Bayesian hierarchical models in an unsupervised setting. We exploit the assumption of a hierarchical structure of speech, namely the formation of spoken words as a sequence of phonemes. We employ the Nested Hierarchical Pitman-Yor Language Model, which allows an a priori unknown and possibly unlimited number of words. We assume the n-gram probabilities of words, the m-gram probabilities of phoneme sequences in words and the phoneme sequences of the words themselves as latent variables to be learned. We evaluate the algorithm on a cross language task using an existing speech recognizer trained on English speech to decode speech in the Xitsonga language supplied for the 2015 ZeroSpeech challenge. We apply the learning algorithm on the resulting phoneme graphs and achieve the highest token precision and F score compared to present systems.
How have guidelines on when to start antiretroviral therapy affected survival of people living with HIV infection?

Purpose of reviewUntil recently, conflicting data led to discrepancies in guideline recommendation on ‘when to start’ antiretroviral therapy (ART) in asymptomatic HIV infection. This review focuses on evidence underpinning guidelines over the past decade and recent randomized clinical trial data in this area, which definitively informed the debate. Recent findingsIn 2015, the landmark START trial demonstrated clear clinical benefit in terms of a reduction in serious AIDS and non-AIDS-related events and death from any cause in HIV-positive individuals randomized to start ART with a CD4 count more than 500 cells/&mgr;l compared with deferring starting until CD4 count declined to 350 cells/&mgr;l. Further, randomized clinical trial data were also available from the Temprano trial in Côte D’Ivoire which also demonstrated a reduced risk of death associated with earlier ART initiation. SummaryFollowing the results of the START trial, guidelines that had previously set CD4 thresholds for treatment initiation were universally changed. This is likely to reduce mortality in people living with HIV who are diagnosed early and have immediate access to ART. However, unless HIV testing rates and ART coverage are increased globally, raising the threshold for initiation of ART in clinical guidelines may be of limited benefit in reducing mortality in HIV.
Target-dependent specification of the neurotransmitter phenotype: cholinergic differentiation of sympathetic neurons is mediated in vivo by gp130 signaling

Sympathetic neurons are generated through a succession of differentiation steps that initially lead to noradrenergic neurons innervating different peripheral target tissues. Specific targets, like sweat glands in rodent footpads, induce a change from noradrenergic to cholinergic transmitter phenotype. Here, we show that cytokines acting through the gp130 receptor are present in sweat glands. Selective elimination of the gp130 receptor in sympathetic neurons prevents the acquisition of cholinergic and peptidergic features (VAChT, ChT1, VIP) without affecting other properties of sweat gland innervation. The vast majority of cholinergic neurons in the stellate ganglion, generated postnatally, are absent in gp130-deficient mice. These results demonstrate an essential role of gp130-signaling in the target-dependent specification of the cholinergic neurotransmitter phenotype.
Research on the sustainable development of county economy based on unascertained measure model

For the characteristics of county economy development, basing on unascertained measure model, this paper will describe the modeling process of unascertained measure evaluation. For a new method of scientific evaluation, it will use unascertained measure model to build an evaluation model of sustainable development of county economy. Combine the theory with the actual case, which will verify the scientific, feasibility and practicality of the model.
Muscle force estimation with surface EMG during dynamic muscle contractions: A wavelet and ANN based approach

Human muscle force estimation is important in biomechanics studies, sports and assistive devices fields. Therefore, it is essential to develop an efficient algorithm to estimate force exerted by muscles. The purpose of this study is to predict force/torque exerted by muscles under dynamic muscle contractions based on continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and artificial neural networks (ANN) approaches. Mean frequency (MF) of the surface electromyography (EMG) signals power spectrum was calculated from CWT. ANN models were trained to derive the MF-force relationships from the subset of EMG signals and the measured forces. Then we use the networks to predict the individual muscle forces for different muscle groups. Fourteen healthy subjects (10 males and 4 females) were voluntarily recruited in this study. EMG signals were collected from the biceps brachii, triceps, hamstring and quadriceps femoris muscles to evaluate the proposed method. Root mean square errors (RMSE) and correlation coefficients between the predicted forces and measured actual forces were calculated.
Retroviral Integration at the Epi1Locus Cooperates with Nf1 Gene Loss in the Progression to Acute Myeloid Leukemia

ABSTRACT Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a disease that occurs in young children and is associated with a high mortality rate. In most patients, JMML has a progressive course leading to death by virtue of infection, bleeding, or progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). As it is known that children with neurofibromatosis type 1 syndrome have a markedly increased risk of developing JMML, we have previously developed a mouse model of JMML through reconstitution of lethally irradiated mice with hematopoietic stem cells homozygous for a loss-of-function mutation in the Nf1 gene (D. L. Largaespada, C. I. Brannan, N. A. Jenkins, and N. G. Copeland, Nat. Genet. 12:137–143, 1996). In the course of these experiments, we found that all these genetically identical reconstituted mice developed a JMML-like disorder, but only a subset went on to develop more acute disease. This result strongly suggests that additional genetic lesions are responsible for disease progression to AML. Here, we describe the production of a unique tumor panel, created using the BXH-2 genetic background, for identification of these additional genetic lesions. Using this tumor panel, we have identified a locus, Epi1, which maps 30 to 40 kb downstream of theMyb gene and appears to be the most common site of somatic viral integration in BXH-2 mice. Our findings suggest that proviral integrations at Epi1 cooperate with loss of Nf1to cause AML.
Deep Learning Reconstruction for 9-View Dual Energy CT Baggage Scanner

For homeland and transportation security applications, 2D X-ray explosive detection system (EDS) have been widely used, but they have limitations in recognizing 3D shape of the hidden objects. Among various types of 3D computed tomography (CT) systems to address this issue, this paper is interested in a stationary CT using fixed X-ray sources and detectors. However, due to the limited number of projection views, analytic reconstruction algorithms produce severe streaking artifacts. Inspired by recent success of deep learning approach for sparse view CT reconstruction, here we propose a novel image and sinogram domain deep learning architecture for 3D reconstruction from very sparse view measurement. The algorithm has been tested with the real data from a prototype 9-view dual energy stationary CT EDS carry-on baggage scanner developed by GEMSS Medical Systems, Korea, which confirms the superior reconstruction performance over the existing approaches.
Parallelly Refill SLUB Objects Freed in Slow Paths: An Approach to Exploit the Use-After-Free Vulnerabilities in Linux Kernel

Recently since exploiting vulnerabilities in user application is becoming very difficult, vulnerabilities in Linux kernel have been paid more and more attention, especially the use-after-free vulnerabilities gained the most focus. However, there lacks a completion theory to exploit use-after-free vulnerabilities. The key to exploit UAF vulnerability is how to refill the freed object, because those days that the space just freed will be occupied firstly is gone. We propose a strategy to exploit the use-after-free vulnerabilities by continuously allocating objects. And to promote the efficiency and success rate, we present a technique by parallelly refilling objects with multiple threads and monitor. We also make a simulation experiment to verify the effectiveness of our theory. At last we give some mitigations to this attack.
Pharmacological activity of three commercial Hypericum perforatum preparations in mice

St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is the main herbal species used to treat depression. The products available on the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement markets are obtained by a variety of preparation processes and their pharmacological effects may differ significantly. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate the effect of different St John's Wort commercial preparations available on the French market. Only one preparation gave significant results in the forced swimming test. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tansley review Confluence , synnovation , and depauperons in plant diversification

We review the empirical phylogenetic literature on plant diversification, highlighting challenges in separating the effects of speciation and extinction, in specifying diversification mechanisms, and in making convincing arguments. In recent discussions of context dependence, key opportunities and landscapes, and indirect effects and lag times,we seeadistinct shift away from single-point/single-cause ‘key innovation’ hypotheses toward more nuanced explanations involving multiple interacting causal agents assembled step-wise through a tree. To help crystalize this emerging perspective we introduce the term ‘synnovation’ (a hybrid of ‘synergy’ and ‘innovation’) for an interacting combination of traits with a particular consequence (‘key synnovation’ in the case of increased diversification rate), and the term ‘confluence’ for the sequential coming together of a set of traits (innovations and synnovations), environmental changes, and geographic movements along the branches of a phylogenetic tree. We illustrate these concepts using the radiation of Bromeliaceae. We also highlight the generality of these ideas by considering how rate heterogeneity associated with a confluence relates to the existence of particularly species-poor lineages, or ‘depauperons. ’Many challenges are posed by this re-purposed research framework, including difficulties associated with partial taxon sampling, uncertainty in divergence time estimation, and extinction.
Static Noise Margin of Ultrathin-Body SOI Subthreshold SRAM Cells—An Assessment Based on Analytical Solutions of Poisson's Equation

This paper investigates the static noise margin (SNM) of ultrathin-body (UTB) SOI SRAM 6T/8T cells operating in the subthreshold region using analytical solutions of Poisson's equation validated with TCAD simulations. An analytical framework to calculate the SNM for UTB SOI SRAMs operating in the subthreshold region is presented. Our results indicate that for improving both read SNM (RSNM) and write SNM (WSNM), the back-gating technique is more effective in the subthreshold region than in the superthreshold region. The 6T UTB SOI subthreshold SRAM cell with the back-gating technique by increasing the strength of the pull-up transistors and decreasing the strength of the pass-gate transistors shows comparable RSNM with the 10T bulk subthreshold SRAM and an improvement in RSNM variation. Due to better electrostatic integrity, the back-gating technique (pull-up transistors with positive back-gate bias, pull-down/pass-gate transistors with negative back-gate bias) mitigates the 6T UTB SOI SRAM RSNM variation significantly with some improvement in RSNM. Increasing cell beta-ratio shows a limited improvement on RSNM and has no benefit on the SNM variability for the subthreshold operation. The UTB SOI 8T SRAM cell exhibits RSNM 2times larger than the 6T SRAM cell in the subthreshold region. Both negative bit-line voltage (VBL) and boosted word-line voltage (VWL) are more effective than lower cell supply voltage to improve WSNM, and negative VBL shows a larger improvement in WSNM than boosted VWL.
Optimization Problems on Graphs with Independent Random Edge Weights

Optimization problems on complete graphs with edge weights drawn independently, from a fixed distribution, are considered. Several methods for analyzing these problems are discussed, including greedy methods, applications of Boole’s inequality, and exploitation of relationships with results about random unweighted graphs. These techniques are illustrated in the case in which the edge weights are drawn from a normal distribution; in particular, we investigate the expected behavior of the minimum weight clique on k vertices. We describe the asymptotic behavior (in probability and/or almost surely) of the random variable which describes the optimum; we also discuss the asymptotic behavior of its mean. Finally techniques are demonstrated by which we may determine an asymptotic description of the behavior of a greedy algorithm for this problem.
Activity Modes Selection in Project Management

In this paper, we consider the activity modes selection problem in the project management, which is also called time-cost tradeoff problem. This problem is known as strongly NP-hard. We provide a lower bound on this problem by combing the dynamic programming method and the Lagrangian relaxation. Furthermore, we develop a method to obtain an upper bound by leverage the greedy algorithm. Later on, we combine the lower bound and upper bound method together to propose a feasible solution. In most of the problems generated in our experiments shows, the gap between the proposed solution and the exact solution (got by solving integer problem) is less than 1 percent
Non-disjunction and Chromosome Loss in Gamma-Irradiated Human Lymphocytes: A Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Analysis Using Centromere-Specific Probes

Abstract Ponsa, I. , Barquinero, J. F. , Miró, R. , Egozcue, J. and Genescà, A. Non-disjunction and Chromosome Loss in Gamma-Irradiated Human Lymphocytes: A Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Analysis Using Centromere-Specific Probes. Centromere-specific DNA probes for chromosomes 4, 7 and 18 were used to simultaneously analyze chromosome loss, non-disjunction, breaks within the labeled region, and nucleoplasmic bridges induced by γ rays in binucleated human lymphocytes. The doses used were 0, 1, 2 and 4 Gy, and approximately 1000 cells were scored per dose. Micronucleus frequency increased in a linear-quadratic fashion. For chromosome loss, significant increases were observed at 2 and 4 Gy, whereas for non-disjunction significant increases were observed at 1 Gy; thus non-disjunction allowed us to detect the effects of radiation at a lower dose than chromosome loss. The use of centromere-specific probes allowed discrimination between the clastogenic and aneugenic effects of ionizing radiation. The analysis of chromosome loss, not taking fragmented signals into account, ensures the detection of an aneugenic effect, which was not possible using pancentromeric probes. The frequency of chromosome breakage within the labeled regions was higher in nuclei than in micronuclei, suggesting an increase in the engulfment of chromosomal material by nuclei as a consequence of the presence of cytochalasin B in the cultures. Chromatin filaments connecting main nuclei, the so-called nucleoplasmic bridges, were observed in irradiated samples, and are a manifestation of rearranged chromosomes producing anaphase bridges.