Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time course of tumor metabolic activity during chemoradiotherapy of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and response to treatment.

PURPOSE To evaluate the time course of therapy-induced changes in tumor glucose use during chemoradiotherapy of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to correlate the reduction of metabolic activity with histopathologic tumor response and patient survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-eight patients with histologically proven intrathoracic ESCC (cT3, cN0/+, cM0) scheduled to undergo a 4-week course of preoperative simultaneous chemoradiotherapy followed by esophagectomy were included. Patients underwent positron emission tomography with the glucose analog fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) before therapy (n = 38), after 2 weeks of initiation of therapy (n = 27), and preoperatively (3 to 4 weeks after chemoradiotherapy; n = 38). Tumor metabolic activity was quantitatively assessed by standardized uptake values (SUVs). Results Mean tumor FDG uptake before therapy was 9.3 +/- 2.8 SUV and decreased to 5.7 +/- 1.9 SUV 14 days after initiation of chemoradiotherapy (-38% +/- 18%; P <.0001). The preoperative scan showed an additional decrease of metabolic activity to 3.3 +/- 1.1 SUV (P <.0001). In histopathologic responders (< 10% viable cells in the resected specimen), the decrease in SUV from baseline to day 14 was 44% +/- 15%, whereas it was only 21% +/- 14% in nonresponders (P =.0055). Metabolic changes at this time point were also correlated with patient survival (P =.011). In the preoperative scan, tumor metabolic activity had decreased by 70% +/- 11% in histopathologic responders and 51% +/- 21% in histopathologic nonresponders. CONCLUSION Changes in tumor metabolic activity after 14 days of preoperative chemoradiotherapy are significantly correlated with tumor response and patient survival. This suggests that FDG-PET might be used to identify nonresponders early during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, allowing for early modifications of the treatment protocol.
Point mutations within the betaG-betaH loop of foot-and-mouth disease virus O1K affect virus attachment to target cells

The amino acid sequence Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) is a highly conserved region located on the P1D protein of most sero- and subtypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV)and participates in binding of FMDV to their target cells. In order to analyze the role of the RGD sequence in FMDV infection of cells in more detail, 13 mutations within or near the RGD sequence of virus type O1Kaufbeuren were designed by using a full-length cDNA plasmid. Transfection of baby hamster kidney cells (BHK-21) with in vitro-transcribed cRNAs containing mutations bordering the RGD sequence led to the production of infectious virus in most cases. In contrast, almost all of the mutants containing changes within the RGD sequence produced noninfectious viral particles indistinguishable from wild-type virus by electron microscopy. In order to demonstrate that these noninfectious progeny from the RGD mutants were defective only in their cell adsorption, the respective cRNAs were cotransfected together with a cRNA expressing the wild-type P1 protein. The resulting virus particles were able to infect BHK-21 cells. These results demonstrate the important role of the RGD sequence in FMDV binding to cells but also emphasize the influence of other amino acids in the bordering region.
The Negative Predictive Value of Electrical Impedance Scanning in BI-RADS Category IV Breast Lesions

Objectives:We sought to prospectively assess the value of electrical impedance scanning (EIS) in discriminating benign from malignant lesions classified as BI-RADS category IV in mammography in comparison with ultrasound (US), with a special focus on negative prediction. Materials and Methods:EIS was performed on 128 BI-RADS category IV lesions in 121 women (mean, 51.8 years). The newly developed EIS software 2.67 calculates a BI-RADS-like level of suspicion (LOS) on a 5-grade scale. LOS 1, 2, and 3 were considered negative; LOS 4 and 5 were considered positive. Histopathologic results were obtained in all lesions. Results:Histology proved 37 lesions malignant, 91 benign. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of EIS compared with US were 94.6%, 74.7%, 80.5%, 60.3%, 97.1% versus 90.5%, 33.8%, 47.2%, 29.7%, 92.0%, respectively. In 43 lesions sized ≤10 mm, EIS demonstrated better sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV of 100%, 83.3%, 90.7%, 82.6%, and 100%, respectively. Although NPV was also high, US showed no sufficient results in 39 (30.5%) lesions because of microcalcifications. Receiver operating curve analysis revealed best results for a combined use of US and EIS. Conclusions:With a NPV of 97.1% of EIS in BI-RADS category IV breast lesions, a negative result in these lesions could be firm indication to manage them as BI-RADS-category III and refer patients for a 6-month short-interval follow-up rather than performing a biopsy. The best adjunctive diagnostic performance can be achieved by a combination of US and EIS. Costs and patient morbidity could be minimized.
Power quality disturbance analysis using wavelet transforms

This paper presents an approach that is able to provide the detection and location of power quality disturbances and the identification of type of power quality problems. Wavelet transformation (WT) is a mathematical tool used for signal processing which is better than short time Fourier transforms (STFT). The proposed algorithm uses different kind of wavelets, each for a particular class of disturbance[1]. The given signal is decomposed through wavelet transform and any change in the smoothness of the signal can be detected at the finer wavelet transform resolution levels. Each power quality disturbance has unique deviations from the pure sinusoidal waveform and this is adopted to provide a reliable classification of the type of disturbance. A qualitative comparison of results will show the advantages and drawbacks of each wavelet when applied to the detection of the disturbances. This method is tested for a large class of test conditions simulated in MATLAB. A few power signals with power quality disturbances have been analyzed to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Power quality monitoring with the ability of the proposed algorithm to classify the disturbances will be a powerful tool for the power system engineers.
Subspace selection to suppress confounding source domain information in AAM transfer learning

Active appearance models (AAMs) have seen tremendous success in face analysis. However, model learning depends on the availability of detailed annotation of canonical landmark points. As a result, when accurate AAM fitting is required on a different set of variations (expression, pose, identity), a new dataset is collected and annotated. To overcome the need for time consuming data collection and annotation, transfer learning approaches have received recent attention. The goal is to transfer knowledge from previously available datasets (source) to a new dataset (target). We propose a subspace transfer learning method, in which we select a subspace from the source that best describes the target space. We propose a metric to compute the directional similarity between the source eigenvectors and the target subspace. We show an equivalence between this metric and the variance of target data when projected onto source eigenvectors. Using this equivalence, we select a subset of source principal directions that capture the variance in target data. To define our model, we augment the selected source subspace with the target subspace learned from a handful of target examples. In experiments done on six public datasets, we show that our approach outperforms the state of the art in terms of the RMS fitting error as well as the percentage of test examples for which AAM fitting converges to the ground truth.
The Concurrent Validity and Reliability of a Low-Cost, High-Speed Camera-Based Method for Measuring the Flight Time of Vertical Jumps

Abstract Balsalobre-Fernández, C, Tejero-González, CM, del Campo-Vecino, J, and Bavaresco, N. The concurrent validity and reliability of a low-cost, high-speed camera-based method for measuring the flight time of vertical jumps. J Strength Cond Res 28(2): 528–533, 2014—Flight time is the most accurate and frequently used variable when assessing the height of vertical jumps. The purpose of this study was to analyze the validity and reliability of an alternative method (i.e., the HSC-Kinovea method) for measuring the flight time and height of vertical jumping using a low-cost high-speed Casio Exilim FH-25 camera (HSC). To this end, 25 subjects performed a total of 125 vertical jumps on an infrared (IR) platform while simultaneously being recorded with a HSC at 240 fps. Subsequently, 2 observers with no experience in video analysis analyzed the 125 videos independently using the open-license Kinovea 0.8. 15 software. The flight times obtained were then converted into vertical jump heights, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland-Altman plot, and Pearson correlation coefficient were calculated for those variables. The results showed a perfect correlation agreement (ICC = 1, p < 0.0001) between both observers' measurements of flight time and jump height and a highly reliable agreement (ICC = 0.997, p < 0.0001) between the observers' measurements of flight time and jump height using the HSC-Kinovea method and those obtained using the IR system, thus explaining 99.5% (p < 0.0001) of the differences (shared variance) obtained using the IR platform. As a result, besides requiring no previous experience in the use of this technology, the HSC-Kinovea method can be considered to provide similarly valid and reliable measurements of flight time and vertical jump height as more expensive equipment (i.e., IR). As such, coaches from many sports could use the HSC-Kinovea method to measure the flight time and height of their athlete's vertical jumps.
Evaluation of Aromatic Plants and Compounds Used to Fight Multidrug Resistant Infections

Traditional medicine plays a vital role for primary health care in India, where it is widely practiced to treat various ailments. Among those obtained from the healers, 78 medicinal plants were scientifically evaluated for antibacterial activity. Methanol extract of plants (100 μg of residue) was tested against the multidrug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Forty-seven plants showed strong activity against Burkholderia pseudomallei (strain TES and KHW) and Staphylococcus aureus, of which Tragia involucrata L. , Citrus acida Roxb. Hook.f. , and Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa ex Roxb. showed powerful inhibition of bacteria. Eighteen plants displayed only a moderate effect, while six plants failed to provide any evidence of inhibition against the tested bacteria. Purified compounds showed higher antimicrobial activity than crude extracts. The compounds showed less toxic effect to the human skin fibroblasts (HEPK) cells than their corresponding aromatic fractions. Phytochemical screening indicates that the presence of various secondary metabolites may be responsible for this activity. Most of the plant extracts contained high levels of phenolic or polyphenolic compounds and exhibited activity against MDR pathogens. In conclusion, plants are promising agents that deserve further exploration. Lead molecules available from such extracts may serve as potential antimicrobial agents for future drug development to combat diseases caused by the MDR bacterial strains as reported in this study.
Sensing policy assessment for distributed Channel selection for Cognitive MANET in presence of Intentional Jamming

Military wireless networks are used for exchange of constantly growing amount of data. The result is an increasing number of radio networks and required bandwidth both in civilian and military ones. It also causes a lot of interferences so coexistence between networks becomes a demand, because there is a lot of different sources of various interferences. Our radio systems are the mainly a source of interferences during the mission but the radio system must be ready to deal with an electronic warfare - with the intentional jamming. A solution can be the Cognitive Radio (CR), that has some autonomy to make decisions about the spectrum usage, that can be useful to ensure information exchange in the presence of intentional and accidental interferences. Efficient spectrum use is based on electromagnetic situation awareness, that can be obtained by spectrum sensing. We evaluate various sensing polices to optimize CR work against fast types of jammers. The operational assessment of different types of missions realization efficiency by service utility function is difficult and not always unequivocally shows changes introduced by a new policy implementation. So we propose to use Channel Ranking List Alteration Factor as a novel way of CR network capability evaluation and its ability to meet the information exchange requirements with required quality.
Peristomal Moisture–Associated Skin Damage in Adults With Fecal Ostomies: A Comprehensive Review and Consensus

Approximately 1 million persons living in North America have an ostomy, and approximately 70% will experience stomal or peristomal complications. The most prevalent of these complications is peristomal skin damage, and the most common form of peristomal skin damage occurs when the skin is exposed to effluent from the ostomy, resulting in inflammation and erosion of the skin. Despite its prevalence, research-based evidence related to the assessment, prevention, and management of peristomal moisture-associated skin damage is sparse, and current practice is largely based on expert opinion. In order to address current gaps in clinical evidence and knowledge of this condition, a group of WOC and enterostomal therapy nurses with expertise in ostomy care was convened in 2012. This article summarizes results from the panel's literature review and summarizes consensus-based statements outlining best practices for the assessment, prevention, and management of peristomal moisture-associated dermatitis among patients with fecal ostomies.
Measuring by marking; the multimedia annotation tool ELAN

ELAN is a multimedia annotation tool developed by “The Language Archive” [1, 2], a unit of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. It is applied in a variety of research areas in which audio and/or video recordings are the basis for qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of different modalities of communication. This paper aims at presenting a general overview of the tool with an emphasis on the most recent developments.
Specific Contacts between Residues in the DNA-Binding Domain of the TyrR Protein and Bases in the Operator of thetyrP Gene of Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT In the presence of tyrosine, the TyrR protein of Escherichia coli represses the expression of the tyrP gene by binding to the double TyrR boxes which overlap the promoter. Previously, we have carried out methylation, uracil, and ethylation interference experiments and have identified both guanine and thymine bases and phosphates within the TyrR box sequences that are contacted by the TyrR protein (J. S. Hwang, J. Yang, and A. J. Pittard, J. Bacteriol. 179:1051–1058, 1997). In this study, we have used missing contact probing to test the involvement of all of the bases within the tyrP operator in the binding of TyrR. Our results indicate that nearly all the bases within the palindromic arms of the strong and weak boxes are important for the binding of the TyrR protein. Two alanine-substituted mutant TyrR proteins, HA494 and TA495, were purified, and their binding affinities for the tyrP operator were measured by a gel shift assay. HA494 was shown to be completely defective in binding to the tyrP operator in vitro, while, in comparison with wild-Type TyrR, TA495 had only a small reduction in DNA binding. Missing contact probing was performed by using the purified TA495 protein, and the results suggest that T495 makes specific contacts with adenine and thymine bases at the ±5 positions in the TyrR boxes.
The effect of growth and starvation on the lysis of the ruminal cellulolytic bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes

Growing cultures of Fibrobacter succinogenes assimilated more ammonia than could be accounted for by cellular protein, RNA, or DNA and released large amounts of nonammonia nitrogen. The difference between net and true growth was most dramatic at low dilution rates, but mathematical derivations indicated that the lysis rate was a growth rate-independent function. The lysis rate was sevenfold greater than the true maintenance rate (0.07 h-1 versus 0.01 h-1). Because slowly growing cells had as much proton motive force and ATP as fast-growing cells, lysis was not a starvation response per se. Stationary-phase cells had a lysis rate that was 10-fold less than that of growing cells. Rapidly growing cells were not susceptible to phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, but phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride increased the lysis rate of the cultures when they reached the stationary phase. This latter result indicated that autolysins of stationary-phase cells were being inactivated by a serine proteinase. When growing cells were treated with the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetate, the proteinase-dependent transition to the stationary phase was circumvented, and the rate of lysis could be increased by as much as 50-fold.
Current thyroglobulin autoantibody (TgAb) assays often fail to detect interfering TgAb that can result in the reporting of falsely low/undetectable serum Tg IMA values for patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.

CONTEXT Specimens have thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) measured prior to thyroglobulin (Tg) testing because the qualitative TgAb status (positive or negative) determines risk for Tg assay interference, and the quantitative TgAb concentration serves as a surrogate tumor marker for differentiated thyroid cancer. OBJECTIVE This study assessed the reliability of four TgAb methods to detect interfering TgAb [as judged from abnormally low Tg immunometric assay (IMA) to Tg RIA ratios] and determine whether between-method conversion factors might prevent a change in method from disrupting TgAb monitoring. METHODS Sera from selected and unselected TgAb-negative and TgAb-positive differentiated thyroid cancer patients had serum Tg measured by both IMA and RIA and TgAb measured by a reference method and three additional methods. RESULTS The Tg IMA and Tg RIA values were concordant when TgAb was absent. Tg IMA to Tg RIA ratios below 75% were considered to indicate TgAb interference. Manufacturer-recommended cutoffs were set in the detectable range, and when used to determine the presence of TgAb misclassified many specimens displaying Tg interference as TgAb negative. False-negative misclassifications were virtually eliminated for two of four methods by using the analytical sensitivity (AS) as the detection limit for TgAb. Relationships between values for different specimens were too variable to establish between-method conversion factors. CONCLUSIONS Many specimens with interfering TgAb were misclassified as TgAb negative using manufacturer-recommended cutoffs. It is recommended that assay AS limits be used to detect TgAb to minimize false-negative misclassifications. However, for two of four assays, AS limits failed to detect interfering TgAb in 20-30% of cases. TgAb methods were too qualitatively and quantitatively variable to establish conversion factors that would allow a change in method without disrupting serial TgAb monitoring.
COLON CARCINOMA ANTIGENS IN THE RAT *

Gastrointestinal (GI) carcinomas can be induced in various experimental animals by a variety of chemical carcinogens.I Some of these animal tumors appear to be closely similar to their human counterparts and their immunological features are therefore of particular interest as models for human GI neoplasms. Chemically induced animal neoplasms have generally been shown to bear individually distinct “private” antigens that function as tumor rejection antigens (TRA) and that can be detected by various in vitro assays.3 Some of these neoplasms have additional, common antigens detectable in vitro 4 . and occasionally in vivo6 and some of them seem to cross-react with embryonal antigens. ~ * Urinary bladder papillomas and carcinomas induced with methylcholanthrene in mice and rats have common antigens, which are not shared with sarcomas induced in the bladder wall by the same agents.5 These common antigens may be analogous to the tissue-type-specific antigens of corresponding human carcinomas. It appears that, in general, human neoplasms of the same histological type have common tissue-type-specific tumor antigens against which lymphocyte-mediated immune reactions can be demonstrated in vitro. ‘J This presentation will summarize the results of studies of the antigenicity of rat colo-rectal carcinomas,1n-12 which indicate that these tumors are particularly interesting as models for the corresponding human tumor type.
Ultrasensitive Pd–Ag/ZnO/Nickel Alloy-Based Metal–Insulator-Metal Methane Sensor on Micromachined Silicon Substrate

A novel Pd-Ag/ZnO/Nickel alloy Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) sensor on micromachined silicon platform, for efficient methane detection, is reported in this letter. The co-planar microheater and lower electrode of the MIM sensor were fabricated using an alloy (called DilverP1) of nickel. The Ni-alloy was found to offer an Ohmic contact with ZnO sensing layer. Nanostructured ZnO was deposited on lower electrode by a low temperature chemical process and Pd-Ag (70%) was used as the top catalytic electrode to ZnO. A study of the current-voltage characteristics of the MIM structure in pure N2 with the presence and absence of desired concentration of methane revealed that the device can be used as a low-temperature methane sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity and fast response. The response magnitude and response/recovery time were studied at different temperatures (100, 130, 160, 190, and 220°C) for different methane concentrations. 190°C was found to be the optimum temperature for maximum response of ~316% and minimum time of response of 18 s at 1% methane in N2.
Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor. Respondent empathy levels were moderate to high and were positively correlated with the belief that mental and behavioral metrics should be a factor in assessing horse welfare. Respondents indicated the inhumane practices that most often occur at stock-type shows include excessive jerking on reins, excessive spurring, and induced excessive unnatural movement. Additionally, respondents indicated association rules, hired trainers, and hired riding instructors are the most influential regarding the decisions they make related to their horses' care and treatment.