Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combination of Voriconazole and Anidulafungin for Treatment of Triazole-Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in an In Vitro Model of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis

ABSTRACT Voriconazole is a first-line agent for the treatment of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Isolates with elevated voriconazole MICs are increasingly being seen, and the optimal treatment regimen is not defined. We investigated whether the combination of voriconazole with anidulafungin may be beneficial for the treatment of A. fumigatus strains with elevated voriconazole MICs. We used an in vitro model of the human alveolus to define the exposure-response relationships for a wild-type strain (voriconazole MIC, 0.5 mg/liter) and strains with defined molecular mechanisms of triazole resistance (MICs, 4 to 16 mg/liter). All strains had anidulafungin minimum effective concentrations (MECs) of 0.0078 mg/liter. Exposure-response relationships were estimated using galactomannan as a biomarker. Concentrations of voriconazole and anidulafungin were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The interaction of voriconazole and anidulafungin was described using the Greco model. Fungal growth was progressively inhibited with higher drug exposures of voriconazole. Strains with elevated voriconazole MICs required proportionally greater voriconazole exposures to achieve a comparable antifungal effect. Galactomannan concentrations were only marginally reduced by anidulafungin monotherapy. An additive effect between voriconazole and anidulafungin was apparent. In conclusion, the addition of anidulafungin does not markedly alter the exposure-response relationship of voriconazole. A rise in serum galactomannan during combination therapy with voriconazole and anidulafungin should be interpreted as treatment failure and not attributed to a paradoxical reaction related to echinocandin treatment.
Casimir effect of strongly interacting scalar fields.

The Casimir effect of nontrivial ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}^{4}$ theory is studied for a rectangular box. The scalar modes satisfy periodic boundary conditions, which corresponds to a compactification of space. Nontrivial ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\varphi}}}^{4}$ theory is obtained by an analytic continuation of the theory to negative quartic coupling. This theory is studied in a renormalization-group-invariant approach. It is found that the Casimir energy exponentially approaches the infinite volume limit, the decay rate given by the scalar condensate. This behavior is very different from the power law of a free theory. This might provide experimental access to properties of the nontrivial vacuum. At small compactification lengths the system can no longer tolerate a scalar condensate, and a first order phase transition to the perturbative phase occurs. The dependence of the vacuum energy density and the scalar condensate on the box dimensions is presented.
EXISTENCE OF POSITIVE SOLUTIONS OF A NONLINEAR SECOND-ORDER BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEM WITH INTEGRAL BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

In this article we prove the existence of at least one positive solution for a three-point integral boundary-value problem for a second-order nonlinear differential equation. The existence result is obtained by using Schauder’s fixed point theorem. Therefore, we do not need local assumptions such as superlinearity or sublinearity of the involved nonlinear functions.
Predictive Monitoring of Heterogeneous Service-Oriented Business Networks: The Transport and Logistics Case

Future service technology will provide an unprecedented access to operational data, which opens up novel opportunities for monitoring, controlling and managing service- oriented business processes. Amongst these opportunities, we consider predictive monitoring to be a major lever for increased efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability in future business networks. Predictive monitoring means that critical events, potential deviations and unplanned situations can be anticipated and proactively managed and mitigated along the execution of business processes. This paper demonstrates the potential of predictive monitoring in practice. We focus on transport & logistics as a major industry sector -- accounting for between 10% to 20% of a country's Gross Domestic Product. Based on widely adopted standards and real operational data, we empirically support the relevance of key issues faced in that industry sector, such as late cancellations of transport bookings and delayed deliveries. As a solution, we describe the design of a novel, cloud- and services-based collaboration and integration platform. Based on this platform we develop short-term prediction capabilities allowing to proactively manage and mitigate the identified issues in the transport & logistics industry, thus promising to increase business efficiency and sustainability.
Game Metrics for Evaluating Social In-game Behavior and Interaction in Multiplayer Games

This paper explores the potential and applicability of gameplay metrics to assess social behavior and interactions of players. As digital games are often played in social contexts, social phenomena and processes are an important part of game user research and supposed to have significant impact on the overall player experience. Gameplay metrics have been used as one method to measure player behavior, but have not been applied to detect social aspects of play yet. We present the conceptualization, application, and evaluation of three social gameplay metrics that aim at measuring social presence, cooperation, and leadership, respectively. A comparison of the metrics' data with scores of self-report measures addressing the same concepts shows high positive correlations, thus indicating reliability of the metrics.
Shield formation at the onset of zebrafish gastrulation

During vertebrate gastrulation, the three germ layers, ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm are formed, and the resulting progenitor cells are brought into the positions from which they will later contribute more complex tissues and organs. A core element in this process is the internalization of mesodermal and endodermal progenitors at the onset of gastrulation. Although many of the molecules that induce mesendoderm have been identified, much less is known about the cellular mechanisms underlying mesendodermal cell internalization and germ layer formation. Here we show that at the onset of zebrafish gastrulation, mesendodermal progenitors in dorsal/axial regions of the germ ring internalize by single cell delamination. Once internalized, mesendodermal progenitors upregulate E-Cadherin (Cadherin 1) expression, become increasingly motile and eventually migrate along the overlying epiblast (ectodermal) cell layer towards the animal pole of the gastrula. When E-Cadherin function is compromised, mesendodermal progenitors still internalize, but, with gastrulation proceeding, fail to elongate and efficiently migrate along the epiblast, whereas epiblast cells themselves exhibit reduced radial cell intercalation movements. This indicates that cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion is needed within the forming shield for both epiblast cell intercalation, and mesendodermal progenitor cell elongation and migration during zebrafish gastrulation. Our data provide insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying mesendodermal progenitor cell internalization and subsequent migration during zebrafish gastrulation, and the role of cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in these processes.
Conquering the odds: Cirsoid aneurysm with holocranial feeders-staged embolization, excision and grafting

Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the scalp is an uncommon entity. Its management is difficult because of its high shunt flow, complex vascular anatomy, and possible cosmetic complications. The etiology of scalp AVMs that is, cirsoid aneurysm may be spontaneous or traumatic. Clinical symptoms frequently include pulsatile mass, headache, local pain, tinnitus; and less frequently, hemorrhage and necrosis. Selective angiography is the most common diagnosis method. Surgical excision is especially effective in AVMs and the most frequently used treatment method. Here, we present one such case where staged embolization, excision, and subsequent grafting was done.
Dental Health Behaviors, Dentition, and Mortality in the Elderly: The Leisure World Cohort Study

In the last decade the effect of oral health on the general health and mortality of elderly people has attracted attention. We explored the association of dental health behaviors and dentition on all-cause mortality in 5611 older adults followed from 1992 to 2009 (median = 9 years) and calculated risk estimates using Cox regression analysis in men and women separately. Toothbrushing at night before bed, using dental floss everyday, and visiting the dentist were significant risk factors for longevity. Never brushing at night increased risk 20–35% compared with brushing everyday. Never flossing increased risk 30% compared with flossing everyday. Not seeing a dentist within the last 12 months increased risk 30–50% compared with seeing a dentist two or more times. Mortality also increased with increasing number of missing teeth. Edentulous individuals (even with dentures) had a 30% higher risk of death compared with those with 20+ teeth. Oral health behaviors help maintain natural, healthy and functional teeth but also appear to promote survival in older adults.
Syllable based DNN-HMM Cantonese Speech to Text System

This paper reports our work on building up a Cantonese Speech-to-Text (STT) system with a syllable based acoustic model. This is a part of an effort in building a STT system to aid dyslexic students who have cognitive deficiency in writing skills but have no problem expressing their ideas through speech. For Cantonese speech recognition, the basic unit of acoustic models can either be the conventional Initial-Final (IF) syllables, or the Onset-Nucleus-Coda (ONC) syllables where finals are further split into nucleus and coda to reflect the intra-syllable variations in Cantonese. By using the Kaldi toolkit, our system is trained using the stochastic gradient descent optimization model with the aid of GPUs for the hybrid Deep Neural Network and Hidden Markov Model (DNN-HMM) with and without I-vector based speaker adaptive training technique. The input features of the same Gaussian Mixture Model with speaker adaptive training (GMM-SAT) to DNN are used in all cases. Experiments show that the ONC-based syllable acoustic modeling with I-vector based DNN-HMM achieves the best performance with the word error rate (WER) of 9.66% and the real time factor (RTF) of 1.38812.
The effect of montelukast on rhinitis symptoms in patients with asthma and seasonal allergic rhinitis

SUMMARY Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate montelukast 10 mg daily as treatment for allergic rhinitis in patients with symptomatic allergic rhinitis and active asthma during the allergy season. Methods: This was a multicenter study of 831 patients (ages 15 years–85 years) with seasonal allergen sensitivity, active symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis, and active asthma. Following a single-blind, placebo run-in period of 3 days–5 days, patients were randomized to oral montelukast 10 mg (n = 415) or placebo (n = 416) daily during the 2-week, double-blind, active-treatment period. Main outcome measures: The primary endpoint was Daily Rhinitis Symptoms score, average of Daytime Nasal Symptoms and Nighttime Symptoms, as self-rated by patients on a 0–3 scale on daily diaries. Results: Montelukast reduced the Daily Rhinitis Symptoms score: difference between montelukast and placebo in mean change from baseline was –0.12 [95% CI –0.18, –0.06; p ≤ 0.001]. Similar improvements were seen in Daytime Nasal Symptoms (–0.14 [–0.21, –0.07; p ≤ 0.001]) and Nighttime Symptoms (–0.10 [–0.16,–0.04; p ≤ 0.001]). Improvements (p < 0.05) were seen in Daytime Eye Symptoms and in the secondary endpoints of Global Evaluations of AR by Patient and by Physician, and Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life. In exploratory analyses, improvement in rhinitis symptoms was numerically (though not statistically) larger in patients with greater levels of asthma at study start. Montelukast provided benefit in the Global Evaluations of Asthma by Patient and by Physician: mean differences were –0.24 [–0.41, –0.06; p = 0.008] and –0.17 [–0.33,–0.01; p = 0.037]. Similarly, as-needed β-agonist use (puffs/day) was reduced with montelukast ( p ≤ 0.005). Conclusion: Montelukast provides significant relief from symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis, while also conferring a benefit for asthma, in patients with both allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Numerical Simulation on the Gas-Phase Flow Field in 90° Curved Duct with Different Inclination Angle

Based on the large eddy simulation (LES) method, the gas-phase flow field in 90 curved ducts with different inclination angle was numerically simulated. The results indicated that the gas-phase flow field in 90 curved ducts with inclination angle was different from that without inclination angle. As the influence of inclination angle, the secondary flow was delayed and the circumfluence zone was decreased, which were help to improve the flow condition in 90 curved ducts. Additionally, the tangential velocity at the outlet of 90 curved ducts increased with the increasing inclination angle. It was implied that the particles could obtain strong centrifugal force and high separation efficiency. However, the pressure drop also increased with the increasing inclination angle and consequently it led to the energy loss of curved ducts. Hence, the inclination angle should be optimized. Keywords-curved duct; flow field; large eddy simulation(LES ); secondary flow; inclination angle
Alert Fusion Based on Cluster and Correlation Analysis

For the purpose of reducing redundant alerts and false alerts as well as recognizing complicated attack scenarios, a multilevel model of alert fusion is presented. This model fuses alerts layer upon layer through primary alert reduction, alert verification, alert clustering and alert correlation. In order to construct accurate and complete attack sensors, in the phase of alert clustering, this paper proposes alert correlation method based on the similarity between alert attributes as well as based on prerequisites and consequences of attacks. The experimental results show that the model is effective and efficient in fusing large numbers of alerts.
Comparison of Static and Dynamic Faults in 65 nm Memory Technology

This paper presents single-cell dynamic fault models for deep-submicron semiconductor memories together with their associated tests (test primitives). The test primitives are evaluated industrially, together with the traditional tests, using 65nm technology 131 Kbytes embedded SRAMs. A comparison between static faults and dynamic faults is presented and the results are reported; they show the increasing importance of dynamic faults, and the exceptional effectiveness of using back-to-back operations (with complementary data values) along bit lines during memory testing. The paper also presents a systematic approach to distinguish between the different detected faults and therefore evaluate the importance and the occurrence frequency of such faults. Keywords— static faults, dynamic faults, fault primitives, fault models, memory tests, fault coverage.
Spatiotemporal Rescue of Memory Dysfunction in Drosophila

We have developed a method for temporal and regional gene expression targeting (TARGET) in Drosophila and show the simultaneous spatial and temporal rescue of a memory defect. The transient expression of the rutabaga-encoded adenylyl cyclase in the mushroom bodies of the adult brain was necessary and sufficient to rescue the rutabaga memory deficit, which rules out a developmental brain defect in the etiology of this deficit and demonstrates an acute role for rutabaga in memory formation in these neurons. The TARGET system offers general utility in simultaneously addressing issues of when and where gene products are required.
Shrinking majority of the deep biosphere

Living microorganisms were first discovered in sediment cores from scientific ocean drilling in the late 1980s when microbiologists observed and counted DNA-stained microbial cells under the microscope. During the following decade, new observations were made from drill sites in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea (1, 2). The combined data on cell numbers from these sites showed a systematic, log-log linear decrease with depth, from approximately 109 cells⋅cm−3 near the sediment surface to 106 cells⋅cm−3 at several hundred meters below seafloor, where the sediment had been deposited many million years ago (2) (Fig. 1). In their 1998 study, Whitman et al. (3) used these data to make a grand estimate of the total number of prokaryotic cells on Earth. Their astonishing conclusion was that 55% of all microbial cells occurred in the deep seabed whereas most of the rest were found in the deep terrestrial subsurface. Even more staggering, the combined deep biospheres appeared to harbor one third of the total living biomass on Earth. The publication of Whitman et al. (3) sparked a rapidly growing interest in the deep biosphere, and the data from this study were repeatedly cited in the literature in the following years. Their biomass estimate was later supported by data on intact polar membrane lipids as indicators of living cells (4). Now, these numbers are being challenged. In PNAS, Kallmeyer et al. (5) conclude that the total cell number for the deep subseafloor biosphere is probably 12-fold lower than the earlier estimate whereas the total biomass may be 74-fold lower. Is the deep biosphere losing significance?
Arbitary direction path generation for MIMO channel emulator

MIMO channel emulation systems have been studied and developed to achieve the evaluation for the MIMO transmission technique of user equipments (UEs) with multiple antennas. The system can generate a multipath with a spatial signature by transmitting signals from multiple probe antennas set around the UE. The resolution of the emulated spatial distribution of the multipath is improved as the number of probe antennas increase, while the MIMO channel emulator controlling the transmit signals becomes complicated and expensive. This paper proposes the novel method for the MIMO channel emulator to achieve the emulation of the arbitrary multipath with the finite number of the probe antennas. The method weights the transmit signals with the criterion to minimize the vector error between the array steering vector of MIMO antenna in the desired arbitrary direction of the path and the combining weighted vectors in the directions of the probe antennas. It is verified that the proposed method with the number of the probe antenna M can achieve the evaluation for the MIMO antenna with M-1 branches under the arbitrary multipath environment.
BROADCAST NEWS STORY BOUNDARY DETECTION USING VISUAL , AUDIO AND TEXT FEATURES

News video story segmentation is vital for video summarization, story linking, and curation. We present a multimodal segmentation algorithm which fuses video, audio and text cues for story boundary detection. We show that broadcast news closed captioning is a rich and readily available source that improves story boundary detection. Furthermore, we propose an empirical distribution-based feature representation for various binary video and text features. We investigate different multimodal fusion methods for learning algorithms based on discriminative models and evaluate the performance of each set of features on more than 55 hours of three major news programs. We compare the effect of each feature and fusion method on the segmentation accuracy of each news program.
Efficacy of Exercise Interventions in Modulating Cancer-Related Fatigue among Adult Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Analysis

Background: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to explore the efficacy of exercise as a nonpharmacologic intervention to reduce cancer-related fatigue (CRF) among adult cancer survivors. We also investigated how different components of the exercise prescription (Ex Rx), methodologic considerations, and subject characteristics modulate CRF. Methods: A systematic search for randomized controlled trials was conducted using words related to cancer, exercise, and fatigue. Results: In total, 44 studies with 48 interventions qualified, including 3,254 participants of varying cancer types, stages of diagnosis, treatments, and exercise interventions. Cancer survivors in exercise interventions reduced their CRF levels to a greater extent than usual care controls, d+ = 0.31 (95% CI = 0.22–0.40), an effect that appeared to generalize across several types of cancer. CRF levels improved in direct proportion to the intensity of resistance exercise (β = 0.60, P = 0.01), a pattern that was stronger in higher quality studies (β = 0.23, P < 0.05). CRF levels also reduced to a greater extent when interventions were theoretically driven (β = 0.48, P < 0.001) or cancer survivors were older (β = 0.24, P = 0.04). Conclusions: Exercise reduced CRF especially in programs that involved moderate-intensity, resistance exercise among older cancer survivors and that were guided by theory. Impact: Our results indicate exercise interventions for adult cancer survivors should be multi-dimensional and individualized according to health outcome and cancer type. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(1); 123–33. ©2011 AACR.
Yandex School of Data Analysis Russian-English Machine Translation System for WMT14

This paper describes the Yandex School of Data Analysis Russian-English system submitted to the ACL 2014 Ninth Workshop on Statistical Machine Translation shared translation task. We start with the system that we developed last year and investigate a few methods that were successful at the previous translation task including unpruned language model, operation sequence model and the new reparameterization of IBM Model 2. Next we propose a {simple yet practical} algorithm to transform Russian sentence into a more easily translatable form before decoding. The algorithm is based on the linguistic intuition of native Russian speakers, also fluent in English.
Dynamic Output-Feedback Dissipative Control for T–S Fuzzy Systems With Time-Varying Input Delay and Output Constraints

This paper develops a new fuzzy dynamic output-feedback control scheme for Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy systems with time-varying input delay and output constraints based on <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $(Q,S,R)$</tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula> -dissipativity. The proposed controller, called a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(Q,S,R)$</tex-math> </inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula>-dissipative output-feedback fuzzy controller, takes into consideration the abstract energy, storage function, and supply rate for the disturbance attenuation and provides a unified framework that can incorporate existing results for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal {H}_{\infty }$</tex-math></inline-formula> and passivity controllers as special cases for T–S fuzzy systems with time-varying input delay and output constraints. A dynamic parallel distributed compensator is used to design the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(Q,S,R)$</tex-math></inline-formula>- <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula>-dissipative output-feedback fuzzy controller to ensure the asymptotic stability and strict <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(Q,S,R)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula> -dissipativity of closed-loop systems described by a T–S fuzzy model that satisfies some output constraints. By employing the reciprocally convex approach, a new set of delay-dependent conditions for the desired controller is formulated in terms of the linear matrix inequality. The effectiveness and the applicability of the proposed design techniques are validated by an example of control for active suspension systems for different road conditions.