Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methodological issues in epidemiologic studies of endometrial cancer and exogenous estrogen.

Methodologic issues inherent in epidemiologic studies of an infrequent cancer that is putatively associated with medication of high-use prevalence are reviewed, using as example effects of endometrial cancer study designs and data interpretation which are caused by changing patterns of estrogen use or hysterectomy. Problems common to all types of epidemiologic studies include pathologic classification, data collection, indications for the therapy vs. the therapy as cause, and patient use of medical care. Specifically, problems with studying the association of endometrial cancer and estrogen use include incorrect carcinoma vs. hyperplasia diagnosis, accuracy of estrogen use information (pharmacy files are recommended), patient compliance, duration of data collection (10 years is best compromise from the ideal of a lifetime history), and type of data collected (natural vs. synthetic estrogen, progesterone content, duration of use, dosage, continuous or interrupted schedule, route of administration). Proper design of follow-up, cohort, and case-compeer studies is outlined. Cohort and follow-up studies have the major advantage of following several outcomes simultaneously. The importance of risk-benefit evaluations (e.g., value of estrogen usage for specific indications) is emphasized.
Highly compressed nano-layers in epitaxial silicon carbide membranes for MEMs sensors

Through a novel methodology for evaluating layer-by-layer residual stresses in epitaxial silicon carbide films with resolution down to 10 nm, we indicate the existence of a highly compressed interfacial nano-layer between the films and their silicon substrates. This layer is consistently present underneath all types of silicon carbide films examined herein, regardless of the extent of residual tensile stress measured in the full thickness of the films, which varies from 300 MPa up to 1300 MPa. We link this nano-layer to the carbonisation step of the film growth process and we discuss in detail the implications in terms of fracture behaviour by bulge testing of micro-machined membranes.
A cost-effectiveness analysis of a health education programme for elderly persons with age-related macular degeneration: A longitudinal study

Purpose: To analyse the cost-effectiveness of the activity-based Health Education Programme ‘Discovering New Ways’ versus a standard Individual Programme. Method: Two-hundred and twenty-nine persons were randomized to either the Health Education Programme or an Individual Programme. The present study is based on 131 persons who participated in the 28-month follow-up. Costs for the low vision clinic were documented prospectively along with external costs. A cost-effectiveness analysis was done using cases with an improved level of perceived security in daily activities as the effectiveness measure. Results: The Health Education Programme led to significantly more cases with an improved level of perceived security (45 vs. 10%, CI 95%: 21 – 49, p value < 0.001) and the total social cost per treatment was lower (28 004 vs. 36 341 SEK). Taken separately the low vision clinic costs were slightly higher due to a higher prescription of assistive devices, but external costs were lower for the Health Education Programme compared to the Individual Programme, though neither of these differences was statistically significant. Conclusion: The results suggest that replacing the standard Individual Programme with the Health Education Programme ‘Discovering New Ways’ is cost-effective as more persons experience increased security to a lesser total cost.
Scanning laser polarimetry in normal subjects and patients with myopia

AIMS To examine the changes in the retinal nerve fibre layer (NFL) thickness with age and myopia in normal population. METHODS Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness was measured with a scanning laser polarimeter (NFA-I) in 180 normal subjects of varying age (range 7–83 years) and in 110 eyes of 85 patients with myopia of varying degrees (range −1.00 to −15.00D). They were all voluntary Anatolian people. Superior to nasal (S/N), inferior to nasal (I/N), and the superior to inferior (S/I) ratios were used for the assessment of retinal NFL thickness. RESULTS The mean superior NFL ratio was 2.96 and the mean inferior NFL ratio was 2.93 in normal subjects. There was a gradual decrease in NFL ratio with increasing age (simple regression analysis, p<0.05). The mean S/I ratio was 1.01 with a large variation. In patients with myopia, the mean superior NFL ratio was 2.60 and the mean inferior NFL ratio was 2.72. Superior and inferior NFL retardations, and S/I ratio in myopic patients were significantly (15.5%, 10.8%, and 4.9% respectively) lower than that of age matched normals (ttest, p<0.05). There was also a gradual decrease in NFL thickness with increasing degree of myopia (simple regression analysis, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Nomograms we obtained for retinal NFL thickness may serve as reference points for the assessment of normal Anatolian people and myopic patients in future studies. NFL thicknesses gradually decreased with increasing age. Patients with myopia had significantly lower NFL thicknesses than normal subjects and, although weakened by wide age range of myopic group, there is a linear relation between severity of myopia and NFL thickness in myopic patients.
On the stability of symmetric quadrupedal bounding gaits via factored Poincaré maps

Reduced-order models with springy massless legs have been employed extensively in the study of legged locomotion. Due to their hybrid nonlinear dynamics, analysis of such systems is often carried out numerically. In contrast, this paper adopts an analytical approach to study conditions for stability in a sagittal-plane model of quadrupedal bounding. Exploiting time-reversal symmetries possessed by the underlying vector fields, the corresponding Poincaré map can be factored in a way that allows the analytical formulation of conditions that are necessary for stability (and sufficient for instability) for bounding gaits. The method is then applied to facilitate the design of a leg recirculation controller for bounding gaits.
Quality of Automated Program Repair on Real-World Defects

Automated program repair is a promising approach to reducing the costs of manual debugging and increasing software quality. However, recent studies have shown that automated program repair techniques can be prone to producing patches of low quality, overfitting to the set of tests provided to the repair technique, and failing to generalize to the intended specification. This paper rigorously explores this phenomenon on real-world Java programs, analyzing the effectiveness of four well-known repair techniques, GenProg, Par, SimFix, and TrpAutoRepair, on defects made by the projects’ developers during their regular development process. We find that: (1) When applied to real-world Java code, automated program repair techniques produce patches for between 10.6 and 19.0 percent of the defects, which is less frequent than when applied to C code. (2) The produced patches often overfit to the provided test suite, with only between 13.8 and 46.1 percent of the patches passing an independent set of tests. (3) Test suite size has an extremely small but significant effect on the quality of the patches, with larger test suites producing higher-quality patches, though, surprisingly, higher-coverage test suites correlate with lower-quality patches. (4) The number of tests that a buggy program fails has a small but statistically significant positive effect on the quality of the produced patches. (5) Test suite provenance, whether the test suite is written by a human or automatically generated, has a significant effect on the quality of the patches, with developer-written tests typically producing higher-quality patches. And (6) the patches exhibit insufficient diversity to improve quality through some method of combining multiple patches. We develop JaRFly, an open-source framework for implementing techniques for automatic search-based improvement of Java programs. Our study uses JaRFly to faithfully reimplement GenProg and TrpAutoRepair to work on Java code, and makes the first public release of an implementation of Par. Unlike prior work, our study carefully controls for confounding factors and produces a methodology, as well as a dataset of automatically-generated test suites, for objectively evaluating the quality of Java repair techniques on real-world defects.
Dose equivalence of two commercial preparations of botulinum neurotoxin type A: time for a reassessment?

ABSTRACT Background: The units of different preparations of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) have different potencies, and dosing recommendations for each product are not interchangeable. Historically, there has been debate concerning the dose-equivalence ratio that should be used in clinical practice. Methods: Published evidence was considered to establish an appropriate dose-conversion ratio for the two main commercially available preparations of BoNT-A – Dysport (Dp) and Botox (Bx). Results: Four key areas of evidence were identified: nonclinical and preclinical studies; studies exploring the diffusion characteristics and effects of complexing proteins; comparative experimental data from human studies; and clinical studies. Nonclinical data indicate that the principal reasons for differences in unit potency between the two products are dilution artefacts in the mouse assay. Use of saline as a diluent, at high dilutions, results in significant loss of potency in the Bx assay, whereas use of gelatin phosphate buffer in the Dp assay procedure protects the toxin during dilution. The published data on mouse assays show a Dp : Bx unit ratio range of 2.3–2.5 : 1 in saline and 1.8–3.2 : 1 in gelatin phosphate buffer. Data indicate that complexing proteins or size of the complex, which is highly pH sensitive, play no role in toxin diffusion and that Dp and Bx have similar diffusion characteristics when used at comparable doses. Randomized, controlled clinical studies indicate that 3 : 1 is more appropriate than 4 : 1, but the two products are not equivalent at this ratio. Comparative human experimental studies using the extensor digitorum brevis test, facial lines and anhidrotic action halo tests support dose-conversion ratios less than 3 : 1. Limitations: Data comparing dose equivalence ratios from the non-clinical setting should be extrapolated into the clinical setting with some caution. Conclusions: Dose-conversion ratios between Dp and Bx of 4 : 1 and greater are not supported by the recent literature.
Sclerosing inflammation of the submandibular salivary gland (Küttner tumour). A progressive plasmacellular ductitis.

Eleven cases of sclerosing inflammation of the submandibular salivary gland or Kuttner tumour were seen during the period 1965-1971. Only about 50 cases have been reported in any detail previously. Probably it is much more common than has been assumed and it deserves special interest because these cases are usually diagnosed as neoplasms. The etiology is discussed. The abundant accumulations of lymphocytes and plasma cells and the perivascular changes resembling fibrinoid degeneration noted in the histopathological examinations are tentatively attributed to autoimmunization.
Butyrate rapidly induces growth inhibition and differentiation in HT-29 cells.

Selected G1 events associated with butyrate-induced differentiation were examined in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells. [3H]Thymidine incorporation by HT-29 cells was decreased to 40% of control levels by treatment with 5 mM butyrate for 24 h, and cell numbers decreased to 21% of control levels after 48 h of treatment. Cells released from butyrate arrest entered S phase approximately 24 h after release, and serum-deprived HT-29 cells escaped growth inhibition if butyrate was added 8 h or more after serum restimulation. Northern analysis of RNA isolated from rapidly growing HT-29 cells showed a marked induction of alkaline phosphatase mRNA expression within 12 h of treatment with 5 mM butyrate. The appearance of alkaline phosphatase mRNA was temporally associated with a 5-fold increase in expression of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) mRNA. Expression of the nuclear protooncogene c-myc began to decrease 30 min after treatment with butyrate and was decreased 4.5-fold 4 h after treatment; however, expression of other immediate-early genes (nup/475 and zif/268) was not significantly affected. Histochemical staining of HT-29 monolayers showed that no cells were positive for alkaline phosphatase protein prior to treatment, and 90% were positive 48 h after treatment. TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 had no effect on HT-29 cell growth. TGF-beta 1 did not induce alkaline phosphatase mRNA or histochemical positivity. These data indicate that butyrate arrests HT-29 cell growth early in G1. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Habitat predicts reproductive superfetation and body shape in the livebearing fish Poeciliopsis turrubarensis

Superfetation, the ability of females to simultaneously carry more than one brood at different developmental stages, is an unusual reproductive strategy that has independently evolved several times in the livebearing fish family Poeciliidae. Why this strategy has evolved remains uncertain. One hypothesis is that superfetation is a response to selective pressures that constrain the physical space within a female in which her offspring can develop. This hypothesis is reasonable, because superfetation should reduce the total volume needed to house developing embryos - that is, fewer large, fully developed embryos will be held by a superfetating female (with several broods at different developmental stages) than a non-superfetating female (where all embryos reach a fully developed stage at the same time). In this study, we explore this 'morphological constraint' hypothesis of superfetation by examining the livebearing fish, Poeciliopsis turrubarensis. We found that populations vary markedly in degree of superfetation, with individuals carrying from two to four distinct broods across different geographic areas. These populations also occupy a range of habitat types: some populations occur in slow moving coastal rivers near the ocean, while other populations occur far inland in fast moving waters that drain steep mountain environments. In comparing populations from these two types of environments, we find a strong association between stream habitat type and the degree of superfetation within populations. Fish from inland populations have higher levels of superfetation than their coastal counterparts. In addition, geometric morphometric analysis revealed that inland populations are also more fusiform than fish from coastal locations. Combined, these two lines of evidence support the 'morphological constraint' hypothesis, and suggest that the life history strategy of superfetation could be driven by environmental pressures that favor a more streamlined phenotype.
Target Practice: Figuring Out Which, When, and Why to Use Systemic Therapies for Metastatic Colon Cancer

There have been many recent advances in the field of systemic chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer. Each treatment affects a different target, including thymidylate synthase, topoisomerase, DNA, the epidermal growth factor receptor, and vascular endothelial growth factor. These treatments have been used in multiple combinations, schedules, and as first-line, second-line, and third-line therapies. The current clinical trials reported can help guide the clinician to determine the appropriate timing, combination, and schedule of chemotherapy agents. Although the decision regarding colorectal cancer chemotherapy is now more complicated, our patients have certainly benefited from better response rates and most importantly, longer survival times.
Relationship Satisfaction Mediates the Link Between Partner Aggression and Relationship Dissolution

Physically and psychologically aggressive behaviors between members of a couple often lead to relationship dissatisfaction and dissolution. The current study utilized data from 346 clinical couples to investigate associations between psychological and moderate physical aggression and relationship dissolution, and whether relationship satisfaction acts as a mediator of these associations. Results from two series of Actor–Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs) were considered in which cases of severe aggression were initially removed from the analytic sample and then were included for secondary analyses. The first series of models showed that dyadic physical aggression was a weak predictor of the male partner’s steps taken to leave the relationship and was not associated with the female’s steps. Dyadic psychological aggression, however, was related to steps taken toward leaving by both partners, accounting for approximately 14% of the variance. Relationship satisfaction mediated associations between physical and psychological partner aggression and steps taken to leave. Findings from the second series of models, including cases of severe aggression, showed a significant association between dyadic physical aggression and the female’s steps toward leaving. Moreover, relationship satisfaction no longer fully mediated associations between psychological or physical aggression and relationship dissolution risk. The importance of considering severity of physical partner aggression in research and clinical practice is discussed.
SIX 1 mutations cause branchio-oto-renal syndrome by disruption of EYA 1 – SIX 1 – DNA complexes

Rainer G. Rufa,b,c, Pin-Xian Xuc,d,e, Derek Silviusd, Edgar A. Ottoa, Frank Beekmanna, Ulla T. Muerba, Shrawan Kumarf, Thomas J. Neuhausg, Markus J. Kemperg, Richard M. Raymond, Jr.a, Patrick D. Brophya, Jennifer Berkmanh, Michael Gattash, Valentine Hylandi, Eva-Maria Rufa, Charles Schwartzj, Eugene H. Changk, Richard J. H. Smithk, Constantine A. Stratakisl, Dominique Weilm, Christine Petitm, and Friedhelm Hildebrandta,e,n
Using LPP and LS-SVM for spam filtering

To efficiently deal with spam mail filtering problem, a novel spam filtering algorithm based on locality pursuit projection (LPP) and least square version of SVM(LS-SVM) is proposed in this paper. The mail message features are first extracted by the LPP algorithm, then the LS-SVM classifier is used to classify mails into spam and legitimate. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs much better than other related spam filtering algorithms.
A Neolithic Site at Ronaldsway, Isle of Man

When, in 1935, Dr Grahame Clark rediscovered the unpublished finds from a site at Glencrutchery, near Douglas in the Isle of Man, he at once realised that he had come upon the relics of a culture that was new to British archaeology. Its age and affinities were quite unknown, and in his most useful pioneer study (Clark, 1935, pp. 85–91) of the material, Dr Clark suggested that it should be assigned to a period which he called the ‘Ultimate Bronze Age’ of the Island, perhaps contemporary with the Iron Age in Britain. Investigation of material from other Manx sites subsequently made a much earlier dating seem likely, and this impression was confirmed in 1943 by the discovery of a richly-furnished dwelling site at Ronaldsway. Thanks to this chance discovery it is now apparent that we have to deal with a new facet of Neolithic civilisation in these Islands. So far it is known to us only in the Isle of Man.
The design of broadband 3D Si-based directional couplers for millimeter-wave/THz applications

Wideband directional couplers with high isolation are designed for millimeter-wave applications and implemented in two different in-house Si-based technologies processes — Si-benzocyclobutene (Si-BCB) process and LIGA-like process (lithography, electroplating, and molding). Two 3D tandem directional couplers for millimeter-wave/THz applications have been constructed using the Si-BCB process. The coupling and isolation of tandem coupler have been analyzed from circuit topology. A branch-line coupler is also constructed using the LIGA-like process. The electrical characteristics of these couplers have been simulated in 3D simulator. By comparing the results, the proposed Si-BCB process is noted to provide flexibilities in both the design and implementation of passive components.
The data acquisition system for Thomson scattering diagnostic on the GOL-3 and GDT

The data acquisition system was developed for the diagnosis of Thomson scattering systems on GOL-3 and GDT. It's include: the modules photodetectors based on the avalanche photodiodes, working in real-time mode recorder based on 12 bit 500 MSPS ADC, the synchronization system providing synchronous operation of the multiple channels of the recording system and the communication modules for the interfacing with PC by Ethernet channel 10/100.
Whose Life Am I Living? Relatives Living in the Shadow of Depression

Background: Families living with mental illness experience added burden and need information and support. Aim: This aim of this study was to explore the experiences of families living close to a depressed individual. Methods: Eighteen persons were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Data was analysed using a grounded theory-inspired methodology. Results: Most participants expressed a feeling of not living their own life, struggling to balance relationships, adapting to and re-evaluating their life circumstances, and struggling to voice their ill relatives' and their own needs. Conclusions: More can be done to help and sustain hope in the relatives of persons with depression.
Language Independent Acquisition of Abbreviations

This paper addresses automatic extraction of abbreviations (encompassing acronyms and initialisms) and corresponding long-form expansions from plain unstructured text. We create and are going to release a multilingual resource for abbreviations and their corresponding expansions, built automatically by exploiting Wikipedia redirect and disambiguation pages, that can be used as a benchmark for evaluation. We address a shortcoming of previous work where only the redirect pages were used, and so every abbreviation had only a single expansion, even though multiple different expansions are possible for many of the abbreviations. We also develop a principled machine learning based approach to scoring expansion candidates using different techniques such as indicators of near synonymy, topical relatedness, and surface similarity. We show improved performance over seven languages, including two with a non-Latin alphabet, relative to strong baselines.