Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharyngeal transport dysfunction consequent to an organ-sparing protocol.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of a protocol of concomitant intravenous hydroxyurea and hyperfractionated, accelerated, external-beam radiation therapy on the swallowing mechanism of patients with advanced-stage head and neck cancer. DESIGN Posttreatment videofluoroscopic swallow function studies, using images of single-bolus swallows of low-density liquid barium, were analyzed in real time, slow motion, and frame by frame using an integrated system that allows objective analysis of video recordings through image processing and digitization (Kay Elemetrics Computerized Swallowing Station). Radiological descriptors were used for pharyngeal transport abnormalities, and temporal measures were obtained of structural movements. SETTING Academic, tertiary care, referral medical center. PATIENTS Fifteen consecutive patients with previously untreated, stages III and IV, nonmetastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who underwent a phase 1 study of prolonged infusion hydroxyurea therapy in combination with hyperfractionated, accelerated external-beam radiation therapy for their disease. RESULTS All patients had anterior pharyngeal segment dysfunction, characterized by no epiglottic movement and slowed laryngeal motility (1.011 +/- 0.379 seconds [mean +/- SD). Anterior pharyngeal dysfunction was more severe in patients with primary tumors of the hypopharynx than in those with cancer of the oropharynx. Twelve (80%) of our patients demonstrated posterior pharyngeal segment dysfunction characterized by impaired pharyngeal constrictor motility. All 15 patients displayed pharyngeal stage abnormalities that limited bolus transport and clearance. CONCLUSIONS Severe pharyngeal physiological abnormalities were present that led to impaired bolus transport and that were frequent and debilitating consequences of this organ-sparing protocol. Long-term follow-up of this group will be required to assess the permanence of the abnormalities.
Real-time support for HCCA function in IEEE 802.11e networks: a performance evaluation

The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless networks has been recently enhanced with the IEEE 802.11e amendment which introduces Quality of Service support. It provides differentiation mechanisms at the Medium Access Control layer, using two additional access functions: the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) function and the HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA) function. Only the HCCA mechanism is suitable for serving traffic streams with real-time requirements such as multimedia applications and Voice Over IP. The IEEE 802.11e standard does not specify a mandatory HCCA scheduling algorithm, but it offers a reference scheduler as the guideline in the resources scheduling design. In this paper we analyze four HCCA alternative schedulers to the reference one. They offer real-time guarantees proposing different solutions to the request of QoS and real-time support expressed by the increasing diffusion of multimedia applications. A performance evaluation is conducted to show the main differences between the considered schedulers, including the reference one. The results show that under several scenarios there is not a unique best scheduler, but there exists a variety of solutions depending on the specified requirements. The conclusions of the paper offer some guidelines in the choice of the scheduler tailored for a particular scenario of interest. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A 10/30 MHz Fast Reference-Tracking Buck Converter With DDA-Based Type-III Compensator

A 10/30 MHz voltage-mode controlled buck converter with a wide duty-cycle range is presented. A high-accuracy delay-compensated ramp generator using only low-speed comparators but can work up to 70 MHz is proposed. By using a differential difference amplifier (DDA), a new Type-III compensator is proposed to reduce the chip area of the compensator by 60%. Moreover, based on the unique structure of the proposed compensator, an end-point prediction (EPP) scheme is also implemented to achieve fast reference-tracking responses. The converter was fabricated in a 0.13 μm standard CMOS process. It achieves wide duty-cycle ranges of 0.75 and 0.59 when switching at 10 MHz and 30 MHz with peak efficiencies of 91.8% and 86.6%, respectively. The measured maximum output power is 3.6 W with 2.4 V output voltage and 1.5 A load current. With a constant load current of 500 mA, the up-tracking speeds for switching frequencies of 10 MHz and 30 MHz are 1.67 μs/V and 0.67 μs/V, respectively. The down-tracking speeds for 10 MHz and 30 MHz are 4.44 μs/V and 1.56 μs/V, respectively.
Antifungal drug itraconazole targets VDAC1 to modulate the AMPK/mTOR signaling axis in endothelial cells

Significance Tumors promote angiogenesis to facilitate their growth and metastasis; thus, inhibition of angiogenesis is a promising strategy for treating cancer. During angiogenesis, endothelial cells (EC) are stimulated by proangiogenic factors to proliferate and migrate, leading to the formation of new blood vessels. Understanding the mechanisms regulating EC function therefore is essential for the development of new antiangiogenic interventions. Here, we identify a novel mechanism of EC regulation by the recently discovered angiogenesis inhibitor itraconazole, mediated by direct binding to the mitochondrial protein voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). VDAC1 inhibition perturbs mitochondrial ATP production, leading to activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase pathway and subsequent inhibition of mechanistic target of rapamycin, a regulator of EC proliferation. This study suggests VDAC1 may serve as a new therapeutic target for angiogenesis inhibition. Itraconazole, a clinically used antifungal drug, was found to possess potent antiangiogenic and anticancer activity that is unique among the azole antifungals. Previous mechanistic studies have shown that itraconazole inhibits the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, which is known to be a critical regulator of endothelial cell function and angiogenesis. However, the molecular target of itraconazole that mediates this activity has remained unknown. Here we identify the major target of itraconazole in endothelial cells as the mitochondrial protein voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), which regulates mitochondrial metabolism by controlling the passage of ions and small metabolites through the outer mitochondrial membrane. VDAC1 knockdown profoundly inhibits mTOR activity and cell proliferation in human umbilical vein cells (HUVEC), uncovering a previously unknown connection between VDAC1 and mTOR. Inhibition of VDAC1 by itraconazole disrupts mitochondrial metabolism, leading to an increase in the cellular AMP:ATP ratio and activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an upstream regulator of mTOR. VDAC1-knockout cells are resistant to AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition by itraconazole, demonstrating that VDAC1 is the mediator of this activity. In addition, another known VDAC-targeting compound, erastin, also activates AMPK and inhibits mTOR and proliferation in HUVEC. VDAC1 thus represents a novel upstream regulator of mTOR signaling in endothelial cells and a promising target for the development of angiogenesis inhibitors.
Efficient Grasp Planning with Reachability Analysis

Grasping can be seen as two steps: placing the hand at a grasping pose and closing the fingers. In this paper, we introduce an efficient algorithm for grasping pose generation. Depend on the hand kinematic, boxes of different sizes are sampled. The reachability for graping is represented by the information, from where the hand can grasp the box firmly. These boxes represent real objects, which at run-time will be decomposed into such boxes, so that the grasping poses for the real object can be generated. Concrete grasps at a grasping pose will be further checked for its grasp quality. Real experiments with two different robotic hands show the efficiency and feasibility of our method.
Species abundance and asymmetric interaction strength in ecological networks

The strength of interactions among species in a network tends to be highly asymmetric. We evaluate the hypothesis that this asymmetry results from the distribution of abundance among species, so that species interactions occur randomly among individuals. We used a database on mutualistic and antagonistic bipartite quantitative interaction networks. We show that across all types of networks asymmetry was correlated with abundance, so that rare species were asymmetrically affected by their abundant partners, while pairs of interacting abundant species tended to exhibit more symmetric, reciprocally strong effects. A null model shows that abundance provides a sufficient explanation of the asymmetry structure in some networks, but suggests the role of additional factors in others. Although not universal, our hypothesis holds for a substantial fraction of networks analyzed here, and should be considered as a null model in all studies aimed at evaluating the ecological and evolutionary consequences of species interactions.
Isolation and Characterization of an Oilseed Rape Fructose-1,6-Bisphosphatase cDNA

A full-length cDNA encoding the cytosolic FBPase has been obtained from 4-d-old Brassica napus cv Jet Neuf seed-lings (Table I). The cytosolic FBPase (~-Fru-1,6-bisphos-phatase 1-phosphohydrolase [EC 3.1.3.111) catalyzes the formation of Fru 6-P and Pi from Fru-1,6-bisP. This enzyme plays an essential role in plant gluconeogenesis. The pEBPB clone was obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends-PCR (Frohman, 1990). Total RNA was isolated (Laroche and Hopkins, 1987) from cotyledons of 4-d-old seed-lings, and “A was purified using the PolyATract system (Promega). mRNA was reverse transcribed using SuperScript RNase H- reverse transcriptase (BRL) according to the man-ufacturer’s instructions using the following oligo(dT)-adapter primer: GAG TCG ACT CTA GAA GTT TTT TTT TlT TTT TIT. cDNA was amplified using fonvard, GAG AAT TCG A(C/T)G G(A/T)G C(A/C/T)C C(A/T)A T, and reverse, GAG TCG ACT CTA GAA GTT,
On the power of (even a little) flexibility in dynamic resource allocation

We study the role of partial flexibility in large-scale dynamic resource allocation problems, in which multiple types of processing resources are used to serve multiple types of incoming demands that arrive stochastically over time. Partial flexibility refers to scenarios where (a) only a small fraction of the total processing resources is flexible, or (b) each resource is capable of serving only a small number of demand types. Two main running themes are architecture and information: the former asks how a flexible system should be structured to fully harness the benefits of flexibility, and the latter looks into how information, across the system or from the future, may critically influence performance. Overall, our results suggest that, with the right architecture, information, and decision policies, large-scale systems with partial flexibility can often vastly outperform their inflexible counterparts in terms of delay and capacity, and sometimes be almost as good as fully flexible systems. Our main findings are: 1. Flexible architectures. We show that, just like in fully flexible systems, a large capacity region and a small delay can be achieved even with very limited flexibility, where each resource is capable of serving only a vanishingly small fraction of all demand types. However, the system architecture and scheduling policy need to be chosen more carefully compared to the case of a fully flexible system. (Chapters 3 and 4.) 2. Future information in flexible systems. We show that delay performance in a partially flexible system can be significantly improved by having access to predictive information about future inputs. When future information is sufficient, we provide an optimal scheduling policy under which delay stays bounded in heavy-traffic. Conversely, we show that as soon as future information becomes insufficient, delay diverges to infinity under any policy. (Chapters 5 and 6.) 3. Decentralized partial pooling. For the family of Partial Pooling flexible architectures, first proposed and analyzed by [84], we demonstrate that a decentralized scheduling policy can achieve the same heavy-traffic delay scaling as an optimal centralized longest-queue-first policy used in prior work. This demonstrates that asymptotically optimal performance can be achieved in a partially flexible system with little information sharing. Our finding, which makes use of a new technical result concerning the limiting distribution of an M/M/1 queue fed by a superposition of input processes, strengthens the result of [84], and provides a simpler line of analysis. (Chapter 7.) Thesis Supervisor: John N. Tsitsiklis Title: Clarence J. Lebel Professor of Electrical Engineering
Fast in vivo quantification of T1 and T2 MRI relaxation times in the myocardium based on inversion recovery SSFP with in vitro validation post Gd-based contrast administration.

PURPOSE A fast clinical imaging technique for quantifying myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation times after Gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast administration within a single breathhold is presented with in vitro validation. MATERIALS AND METHODS From signal intensity curves in ECG-gated segmented inversion recovery balanced steady state free precession (IR-bSSFP) images, T1 and T2 values were determined for 24 agarose samples made from solutions of Omniscan (0.25-2 mg/mL) and copper-sulfate (0.52-22.17 mg/mL). T1 and T2 were also measured using turbo spin-echo (TSE) acquisitions and compared with IR-bSSFP results. In vivo T1 and T2 values from post-contrast IR-bSSFP images of five healthy volunteers were determined for (I) the left ventricular wall, (II) the interventricular septum (IVS) and (III) the lateral wall of the left ventricle (LV). Spin system simulations were performed for selected T1 and T2 values. RESULTS Good agreement between TSE and IR-bSSFP for T1 for realistic in vivo post-contrast values (below 1,250 ms, R=0.88) and for T2 (entire range, R=0.97) was found. Spin system simulations were in good agreement with measurements. In vivo average T1 was 546±32 ms and average T2 was 59±9 ms. CONCLUSIONS A fast imaging protocol for absolute quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 post-contrast is presented, validated in vitro and consecutively applied in vivo in humans.
Genetic system of Schwanniomyces alluvius determined by diad analysis of fusion products

The genetics of Schwanniomyces alluvius, a yeast that secretes alpha-amylase, were investigated. No mating types have been detected in this haploid organism. Hybrids were produced by protoplast fusion, and these were subjected to diad analysis by using two-spored asci. Results showed that the diploidy introduced by cell fusion persists through successive spore generations. It was concluded that in this organism, sporulation is preceded by the fusion of mitotic products, regardless of the ploidy of the latter. Routine procedures for constructing novel strains would, no doubt, be hampered by this failure of the sporulation process to restore haploidy. Nevertheless, chromosomal instability of hybrids, as indicated both by heterogeneity of fusion products and by a high frequency of morbidity among their segregants, may permit the use of classical genetic techniques for strain construction.
Review of the literature on survey instruments used to collect data on hospital patients' perceptions of care.

OBJECTIVE To review the existing literature (1980-2003) on survey instruments used to collect data on patients' perceptions of hospital care. STUDY DESIGN Eight literature databases were searched (PubMED, MEDLINE Pro, MEDSCAPE, MEDLINEplus, MDX Health, CINAHL, ERIC, and JSTOR). We undertook 51 searches with each of the eight databases, for a total of 408 searches. The abstracts for each of the identified publications were examined to determine their applicability for review. METHODS OF ANALYSIS For each instrument used to collect information on patient perceptions of hospital care we provide descriptive information, instrument content, implementation characteristics, and psychometric performance characteristics. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The number of institutional settings and patients used in evaluating patient perceptions of hospital care varied greatly. The majority of survey instruments were administered by mail. Response rates varied widely from very low to relatively high. Most studies provided limited information on the psychometric properties of the instruments. CONCLUSIONS Our review reveals a diversity of survey instruments used in assessing patient perceptions of hospital care. We conclude that it would be beneficial to use a standardized survey instrument, along with standardization of the sampling, administration protocol, and mode of administration.
Obstacle avoidance method appropriate for the steep terrain of the deep seafloor

Autonomouse underwater vehicles(AUVs) are vital tools for detailed ocean survey in recent years. Amongst them, hovering-type AUVs are specialized in optical observation using cameras and travel near the seafloor avoiding obstacles. Therefore, it is important to maintain proper distance between AUV and objects which should be approached to take pictures.
Identifying Linkages among Conceptual Models of Ecosystem Degradation and Restoration: Towards an Integrative Framework

We present an ecological framework for considering ecosystem degradation and restoration, particularly in rangelands and arid environments. The framework is a synthesis of three conceptual models previously developed by several rangeland and restoration ecologists. We focus first on distinctions and connections between structural and functional components of rangeland ecosystems and then on distinctions and connections between biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. We next show that the structural/functional and biotic/abiotic distinctions can be integrated with a stepwise, positive feedback model of degradation to help explain degradation processes and restoration approaches. Finally, we relate those concepts to a threshold model of rangeland degradation. By establishing the conceptual links among these different models, this synthesis provides a broader, more integrated framework for thinking about the dynamics involved in rangeland degradation and restoration. We conclude by presenting some approaches to restoration that are motivated by the suite of concepts that are brought together in the framework.
Twenty‐five years of confirmatory adaptive designs: opportunities and pitfalls

‘Multistage testing with adaptive designs’ was the title of an article by Peter Bauer that appeared 1989 in the German journal Biometrie und Informatik in Medizin und Biologie. The journal does not exist anymore but the methodology found widespread interest in the scientific community over the past 25 years. The use of such multistage adaptive designs raised many controversial discussions from the beginning on, especially after the publication by Bauer and Köhne 1994 in Biometrics: Broad enthusiasm about potential applications of such designs faced critical positions regarding their statistical efficiency. Despite, or possibly because of, this controversy, the methodology and its areas of applications grew steadily over the years, with significant contributions from statisticians working in academia, industry and agencies around the world. In the meantime, such type of adaptive designs have become the subject of two major regulatory guidance documents in the US and Europe and the field is still evolving. Developments are particularly noteworthy in the most important applications of adaptive designs, including sample size reassessment, treatment selection procedures, and population enrichment designs. In this article, we summarize the developments over the past 25 years from different perspectives. We provide a historical overview of the early days, review the key methodological concepts and summarize regulatory and industry perspectives on such designs. Then, we illustrate the application of adaptive designs with three case studies, including unblinded sample size reassessment, adaptive treatment selection, and adaptive endpoint selection. We also discuss the availability of software for evaluating and performing such designs. We conclude with a critical review of how expectations from the beginning were fulfilled, and – if not – discuss potential reasons why this did not happen. © 2015 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Efficacy of fixed minidose warfarin prophylaxis in total hip replacement.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether a small fixed perioperative dose of warfarin would prevent deep vein thrombosis after total hip replacement. DESIGN--Prospective, randomised, double blind placebo controlled trial. SETTING--Winford Orthopaedic Hospital, Bristol. SUBJECTS--148 patients having primary total hip replacement. INTERVENTION--Warfarin 1 mg given daily for one week before and three weeks after surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Deep vein thrombosis diagnosed by the iodine-125 labelled fibrinogen uptake method. RESULTS--Deep vein thrombosis occurred in 25 (34%) of the patients given warfarin and 19 (26%) of the controls (difference 8%; 95% confidence interval -6.8% to 22.8%). CONCLUSION--Fixed minidose warfarin does not prevent deep vein thrombosis after total hip replacement.
Statistical filtering of raster map images

Filtering of raster map images or more general class of palette-indexed images can be considered as a discrete denoising problem with finite color output. Statistical features of local context are used to avoid damages of some specific but frequently occurring contexts caused by conventional filters. Several context-based approaches have been developed using either fixed context templates or context tree modeling. However, these algorithms are limited to deal with image with finite color input. In this paper, we further extended the method to a specific continuous-input-finite-output problem, in which the map images are corrupted by additive Gaussian noise instead. This extended method iteratively conducts a fusion procedure based on the probability distribution of pixels' intensity in RGB space and their conditional probabilities in the local contexts. Experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed algorithm is very efficient in filtering both impulsive and additive Gaussian noise.
FIRST ISOLATION OF TENACIBACULUM MARITIMUM IN A CAPTIVE SAND TIGER SHARK (CARCHARIAS TAURUS)

Abstract This report describes a case of the first isolation of Tenacibaculum maritimum from a captive-bred adult female sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) housed at the Cattolica Aquarium (Italy). The animal showed, between the second dorsal fin and the precaudal pit, skin lesions characterized by the presence of abundant whitish necrotic tissue. Through routine bacteriological examination, a bacterium was isolated from a skin lesion and subsequently identified as T. maritimum by phenotypic characters and species-specific polymerase chain reaction. The antimicrobial sensitivity of the isolated strain was evaluated for 11 antimicrobial agents by disk diffusion method. Antibiotic therapy was conducted with enrofloxacin at 10 mg kg−1 i.m. on alternate days for 10 days. One month after the end of treatment skin lesions showed complete resolution and the shark recovered completely. The case presented here represents the first report of infection by T. maritimum in a sand tiger shark and highlights the potential pathogenic role of this microorganism in elasmobranchs kept in an aquarium.