Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tolerability and outcome of once weekly liposomal amphotericin B for the prevention of invasive fungal infections in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients with graft-versus-host disease

Background Invasive fungal infections remain problematic in immunosuppressed allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients and the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of graft-versus-host-disease can increase the risk threefold. Although antifungal prophylaxis has been shown to decrease the incidence of infection, the optimal antifungal prophylactic regimen in this patient population has yet to be identified. Since early diagnosis of fungal infections might not be possible and the treatment of established fungal infections might be difficult and associated with high infection-related mortality, prevention has become an important strategy in reducing overall morbidity and mortality. While triazoles are the preferred agents, some patients are unable to tolerate them and an alternative drug is warranted. Objectives To assess the tolerability of once weekly liposomal amphotericin B as a prophylactic strategy in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation by evaluating any adverse events leading to its discontinuation. In terms of efficacy, to also compare the outcome and incidence of invasive fungal infections in patients who received amphotericin B, triazoles, and echinocandins. Results A total of 101 allogeneic transplant recipients receiving corticosteroids for the treatment of graft-versus-host-disease and antifungal prophylaxis were evaluated from August 2009 to September 2012. Liposomal amphotericin B 3 mg/kg intravenous once weekly was found to be well tolerated. The incidence of invasive fungal infections was 19%, 17%, and 7% in the liposomal amphotericin B, echinocandin, and triazole groups, respectively. Two deaths occurred in the liposomal amphotericin B group and one death occurred in the echinocandin group. None of the deaths were fungal infection related. Conclusion Antifungal prophylaxis with liposomal amphotericin B was well tolerated, but the incidence of invasive fungal infections in patients receiving liposomal amphotericin B was higher than other antifungal agents in this study. The optimal dose and schedule of liposomal amphotericin B for antifungal prophylaxis in this patient population are still not known and considering its broad spectrum activity, prospective trials in comparison to triazoles are warranted.
Design and Implementation of Programmable Nodes in Software Defined Sensor Networks

In this paper, we design and implement the programmable nodes in software-defined sensor networks. Combining the emerging software defined networking (SDN) and the existing wireless sensor networks (WSNs), we propose an SDN-based sensor network architecture, called as software defined sensor networks (SDSN), which is composed of one centralized controller node, named as SDSN programmable controller node, on the control plane and several software-defined sensor nodes, named as SDSN programmable sensor nodes, on the data plane. The centralized controller node is configured for network control, and the sensor nodes are utilized to transfer general-purpose packets. The behavior rules of the programmable nodes in the SDSN can be reconfigured through wireless communication. Hence, the goal of this paper is to design and implement SDSN programmable controller node and SDSN programmable sensor node whose behavior can be reconfigured. We develop the programmable controller node using NanoPi and CC2530 modules, and the programmable sensor nodes using CC2530 modules. Finally, the experimental results show data acquisition and transmission in the data plane, and network centralized management in the control plane. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that the programmable nodes have been designed own greater flexibility and scalability compared to traditional WSN nodes.
Cloning, Sequence Analysis and Expression of Gene alyVI Encoding Alginate Lyase from Marine Bacterium Vibrio sp. QY101

The gene (alyVI) encoding an alginate lyase of marine bacterium Vibrio sp. QY101, which was isolated from a decaying thallus of Laminaria, was cloned using a strategy of combined degenerate PCR and long range-inverse PCR (LR-IPCR), then sequenced and expressed in Escherichia coli. Gene alyVI was composed of a 1014 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding 338 amino acid residues. The calculated molecular mass of alyVI product is 38.4 kDa, but a signal peptide is cleaved off, leaving a mature protein of 34 kDa. AlyVI was purified from culture supernatants to electrophoretic homogeneity using affinity chromatography. AlyVI was most active at pH 7.5 and 40°C in the presence of 1 mM ZnCl2. A nine-amino-acid consensus region (YXRESLREM), which was only found in polyguluronate lyases, was also observed in the amino-terminal region of AlyVI. However, AlyVI could degrade both M block and G block. These results indicate that a novel alginate lyase-encoding gene has been cloned.
Bank Risk Dynamics Where Assets Are Risky Debt Claims

The structural approach views firm's equity as a call option on the value of its assets, which motivates stockholders to increase risk. However, since bank assets are risky debt claims, bank equity resembles a subordinated debt. Using this assumption, and considering the strategic interaction between a bank and its debtor, we argue that risk shifting is limited to states in which the debtor is in financial distress. Furthermore, risk shifting increases with bankruptcy costs and decreases with bank capital. Thus, increasing a bank's capital affects stability, not only through the additional capital buffer, but also by affecting the risk shifting incentive.
Landslide Volumetric Analysis Using Cartosat-1-Derived DEMs

The monitoring of landscape changes can lead to the identification of environmental hot spots, improve process understanding, and provide means for law enforcement. Digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from stereoscopic satellite data provide a systematic synoptic framework that is potentially useful to support these issues. Along-track high-resolution stereoscopic data, provided with rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs), are ideal for the fast and accurate extraction of DEMs due to the reduced radiometric differences between images. In this letter, we assess the suitability of data from the relatively new Cartosat-1 satellite to quantify large-scale geomorphological changes, using the volume estimation of the 2007 Salna landslide in the Indian Himalayas as a test case. The depletion and accumulation volumes, estimated as 0.55 × 106 and 1.43 × 106 m3, respectively, showed a good match with the volumes calculated using DEMs generated only with RPCs and without ground control points (GCPs), indicating that the volume figures are less sensitive to GCP support. The result showed that these data can provide an important input for disaster-management activities.
Complete Nucleotide Sequence of IncP-1β Plasmid pDTC28 Reveals a Non-Functional Variant of the blaGES-Type Gene

Plasmid pDTC28 was isolated from the sediments of Haihe River using E. coli CV601 (gfp-tagged) as recipient and indigenous bacteria from the sediment as donors. This plasmid confers reduced susceptibility to tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole. The complete sequence of plasmid pDTC28 was 61,503 bp in length with an average G+C content of 64.09%. Plasmid pDTC28 belongs to the IncP-1β group by phylogenetic analysis. The backbones of plasmid pDTC28 and other IncP-1β plasmids are very classical and conserved, whereas the accessory regions of these plasmids are diverse. A blaGES-5-like gene was found on the accessory region, and this blaGES-5-like gene contained 18 silent mutations and 7 missense mutations compared with the blaGES-5 gene. The mutations resulted in 7 amino acid substitutions in GES-5 carbapenemase, causing the loss of function of the blaGES-5-like gene on plasmid pDTC28 against carbapenems and even β-lactams. The enzyme produced by the blaGES-5-like gene cassette may be a new variant of GES-type enzymes. Thus, the plasmid sequenced in this study will expand our understanding of GES-type β-lactamases and provide insights into the genetic platforms used for the dissemination of GES-type genes.
Number needed to treat: a descriptor for weighing therapeutic options.

PURPOSE The utility and limitations of the number needed to treat (NNT) are described and compared with those of alternative descriptors of therapeutic yield. SUMMARY Pharmacists, physicians, and patients are more likely to launch interventions based on relative measures of therapeutic yield. The NNT is a simple way to express the absolute therapeutic yield of an intervention. It is essential to take baseline risk and length of follow-up into account when calculating and interpreting absolute or relative measures of therapeutic yield. Patients may have difficulty understanding what the NNT tells them about the benefits and harms associated with an intervention, and confidence intervals for the NNT can be difficult to interpret. Relative measures of benefits are advantageous for comparing benefits across populations with different risks. The use of absolute measures to describe therapeutic options leads to more conservative decision-making and is potentially more useful. Among the absolute measures, the absolute risk reduction may be easier to understand than the NNT. These measures are most helpful when the best options are not clear or when patient input is needed. Personal digital assistants and Web-based tools can assist with calculations. CONCLUSION The NNT is a useful measure but is influenced by numerous variables and may not be easily understood by patients.
Implementation of RFID Technology at Defence Science Library, DESIDOC : A Case Study

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) as a tool is being used for the better governance and management of libraries. A RFID system offers a complete package from security, theft detection, tracking, monitoring, inventory control, and act as an expedient in books circulation or charging and discharging of books; and, lessens the burden of librarians, who could be better redeployed to other productive activities in the service of the readers. RFID technology was implemented in Defence Science Library, Defence Scientific Information & Documentation Centre (DESIDOC), Delhi, in 2013. The study describes the process of implementation of RFID system in the Defence Science Library, at DESIDOC. It provides an overview of the work to implement the RFID system including the philosophy or the background or thought process that had gone into deciding in its implementation, the various features, technical specification of the library automation software and system itself. The constraints faced during the data migration and the visible advantages from the users’ perspective vis-a-vis manual operation are also covered. The study concludes that implementation of RFID technology has brought a bouquet of benefits to librarians, the staff and scientists or user of the Library.
The Price Elasticity of Freshman Enrollment Demand at a Historically Black College for Males: Implications for the Design of Tuition and Financial Aid Pricing Schemes that Maximize Black Male College Access

Abstract:This article explores how responsive freshman enrollment demand is to changes in the price of enrollment at a selective private all-male historically Black college. With post-admission administrative data on newly admitted freshman for the 2009-2010 academic year, the authors use a count data estimator to calculate the responsiveness of course hours taken to changes in tuition and household income at the intensive margin. The results reveal that student course hour enrollment—which translate into measures of official full-time equivalent enrollment—is inelastic with respect to price and elastic with respect to household income. The intensive margin enrollment price elasticity estimates also support a high tuition/high financial aid pricing scheme that uses tuition revenue to cross-subsidize the price of enrollment for financially needy students, which maximizes college access for Black males.
Effects of homocysteine on mesenchymal cell proliferation and differentiation during chondrogenesis on limb development

High levels of homocysteine (Hcy) are related to an increased risk of the occurrence of congenital anomalies, including limb defects. However, few evaluations about how toxic levels of Hcy affect limb development have been reported. We investigated whether Hcy can affect the cell cycle proteins and proteins involved in mesenchymal cell differentiation during limb development, in a chicken embryo model. Embryos were treated with 20 µmol d‐l Hcy/50 µl saline at embryonic day 2 and analyzed at embryonic day 6. Untreated control embryos received exclusively 50 µl saline solution. To identify cells in proliferation and cell cycle proteins, as well as Pax1/9 and Sox9 proteins, we performed immunolocalization and flow cytometry analyses using the antibodies anti‐phosphohistone H3, anti‐p53, anti‐p21, anti‐proliferating cell nuclear antigen, anti‐Pax1, anti‐Pax9 and anti‐Sox9. No significant differences in cell proliferation were observed between Hcy‐treated and untreated embryos. We observed a decrease of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen and p21 proteins, both involved in the G1 phase of cell cycle progression. On the other hand, in mesenchymal cells of the limbs, Hcy induces an increase of p53 protein, which can be activated by DNA damage. In cell differentiation, Hcy induced an increase mainly of Pax9 and Sox9 proteins. Our data indicate that the treatment with Hcy changes the mesenchymal cell dynamics during limb development, but does not change the morphology of the cartilage molds. These findings provide information to understand better the cellular basis of the toxicity of Hcy on chondrogenesis during limb development. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Service Pattern Evaluation: Studying Profitability from Perspective of Resource

The profitability, instead of technical satisfaction, becomes the core factor in service designing for Modern Service Companies. In this paper, a service pattern evaluation framework is introduced for evaluating the service's profitability service designing. Our framework takes two phases: the service pattern with resource usage situation is extracted by the service description and system log. For each resource, we study the circulation of resource by estimating the probability that the creating amount can satisfy the requirement. Besides, the funds and money, as a special resource, is studied to estimate the profitability of service. The experiment results on the real and synthetic datasets, report the efficiency and effectiveness of our approach.
Antioxidative and hypolipidemic efficacy of alcoholic seed extract of Swietenia macrophylla in streptozotocin diabetic rats

Abstract The present study was designed to examine the antioxidative potential and antihyperlipidemic activity of Swietenia macrophylla in streptozotocin diabetic rats. The experimental groups were rendered diabetic by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ; 40 mg/kg body weight, BW). Rats with glucose levels >200 mg/dL were considered diabetic and were divided into five groups. Three groups of diabetic animals were orally administered daily with seed extract (SME) at a dosage of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg BW. One group of STZ rats was treated as diabetic control and another group orally administered 600 μg/kg BW glibenclamide daily. Repeated daily oral administration of S. macrophylla significantly reduced blood glucose levels after 45 days of treatment. The lipid peroxidation products such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and lipid hydroperoxides of SME treated rats decreased in the plasma, liver and kidney. Glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activity were significantly increased in SME treated rats. Antioxidants such as reduced glutathione level in the plasma, liver and kidney and vitamins C and E levels in the plasma increased in SME treated rats. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and free fatty acids and lipoproteins levels increased. Altered lipid profile of treated rats lead to normality with treatment of S. macrophylla. Thus, our results indicate that the administration of 100 mg/kg BW SME restores near normal blood glucose, redox status and lipid profile in STZ-diabetic rats.
The relationship of vocal tract dimensions and substitution of the palatal approximant /j/ for the alveolar trill /r/

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the relationship of the vocal tract dimensions and dental arches in participants with substitution of palatal approximant /j/ for the trill variant of /r/. Method: Cephalograms and dental casts of 60 native speakers of Arabic were used for comparison. The experimental group included 30 participants with substitution of /j/ for the trill variant of /r/ (17 males and 13 females, age ranged between 15–20 years, M = 18.7 years, SD = 1.27). The control group included 30 normal speakers (15 males and 15 females, age ranged between 15–20 years, M = 18.3 years, SD = 1.67). Both groups had class I occlusion. Result: The experimental group showed significantly shorter maxillary length, p < 0.05, and narrower vocal tract dimensions compared to the control group, p < 0.05. Tongue length (TGL) and height (TGH) and soft palate length (PNSP) and thickness (MPT) were statistically significantly reduced in the experimental group compared to the control group, p < 0.05. The distance between the hyoid bone and retrognathion or C3 was significantly shorter in the experimental group compared to the control group, p < 0.05. Inter-canine widths and dental arch lengths were significantly shorter in the experimental group compared to the control group, p < 0.05. Conclusion: The substitution of /j/ for the trill variant of /r/ is associated with altered dimensions of the vocal tract. These alterations may explain the residual articulation disorder during the production of the trilled /r/ compared to other sound classes that respond to speech therapy. Orthodontic and Maxillo facial surgery consultation might be needed when providing therapy to individuals with this particular articulation disorder.
Limitations on transversal computation through quantum homomorphic encryption

Transversality is a simple and effective method for implementing quantum computation fault-tolerantly. However, no quantum error-correcting code (QECC) can transversally implement a quantum universal gate set (Eastin and Knill, {\em Phys. Rev. Lett.}, 102, 110502). Since reversible classical computation is often a dominating part of useful quantum computation, whether or not it can be implemented transversally is an important open problem. We show that, other than a small set of non-additive codes that we cannot rule out, no binary QECC can transversally implement a classical reversible universal gate set. In particular, no such QECC can implement the Toffoli gate transversally. }{We prove our result by constructing an information theoretically secure (but inefficient) quantum homomorphic encryption (ITS-QHE) scheme inspired by Ouyang {\em et al.} (arXiv:1508.00938). Homomorphic encryption allows the implementation of certain functions directly on encrypted data, i.e. homomorphically. Our scheme builds on almost any QECC, and implements that code's transversal gate set homomorphically. We observe a restriction imposed by Nayak's bound ({\em FOCS} 1999) on ITS-QHE, implying that any ITS quantum {\em fully} homomorphic scheme (ITS-QFHE) implementing the full set of classical reversible functions must be highly inefficient. While our scheme incurs exponential overhead, any such QECC implementing Toffoli transversally would still violate this lower bound through our scheme.
Combined biochemistry and histocytochemistry as a tool to investigate Ecto‐ATPase in the cardiac muscle

Ecto‐ATPase (ecto‐adenosine triphosphatase), a key enzyme of cardiac metabolism, is responsible for modulation of the concentration of extracellular nucleotides in the heart. We present methodology consisting of the combined use of biochemical and histocytochemical techniques to study its properties. Using samples from essentially the same preparation, we applied biochemistry and histocytochemistry to determine biochemical characteristics of ecto‐ATPase and an in situ localization of its reactivity. Our results indicated that detected enzyme resists fixation, depends on divalent ions, and hydrolyzes ATP, but not AMP or ADP‐β‐S. Reaction product of the enzyme activity was found confined to the extracellular surface of the plasma membrane of cardiac myocytes and endothelial cells due to the corresponding orientation of the enzyme active sites. Experiments using an inhibitor justified specificity of the reaction. When used together with molecular biological and immunocytochemical techniques, the present methodological approach should be capable of yielding important information about the actual ability of ecto‐ATPase to operate. Microsc. Res. Tech. 58:427–431, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improving oncologic outcomes for colorectal cancer at high risk for local–regional recurrence with novel surgical techniques

ABSTRACT Despite innovation in surgical technology, colorectal adenocarcinoma is a disease process with a risk of local and regional progression of disease. This article seeks to identify patients with primary disease who are at high risk for minimal residual disease from cancer spread after resection. These are the patients who will profit from novel perioperative surgical treatments that will improve the clearance and containment of cancer cells disseminated prior to or at the time of the adenocarcinoma resection. Clinical factors that identify these patients at high risk for local recurrence and peritoneal metastases are presented. Data regarding novel surgical techniques that include perioperative cancer chemotherapy to provide more optimal treatment are described. The perioperative timing of the revised surgical options is emphasized.
Cervids with different vocal behavior demonstrate different viscoelastic properties of their vocal folds

The authors test the hypothesis that vocal fold morphology and biomechanical properties covary with species‐specific vocal function. They investigate mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) vocal folds, building on, and extending data on a related cervid, the Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni). The mule deer, in contrast to the elk, is a species with relatively little vocal activity in adult animals. Mule deer and elk vocal folds show the typical three components of the mammalian vocal fold (epithelium, lamina propria and thyroarytenoid muscle). The vocal fold epithelium and the lamina propria were investigated in two sets of tensile tests. First, creep rupture tests demonstrated that ultimate stress in mule deer lamina propria is of the same magnitude as in elk. Second, cyclic loading tests revealed similar elastic moduli for the vocal fold epithelium in mule deer and elk. The elastic modulus of the lamina propria is also similar between the two species in the low‐strain region, but differs at strains larger than 0.3. Sex differences in the stress–strain response, which have been reported for elk and human vocal folds, were not found for mule deer vocal folds. The laminae propriae in mule deer and elk vocal folds are comparatively large. In general, a thick and uniformly stiff lamina propria does not self‐oscillate well, even when high subglottic pressure is applied. If the less stiff vocal fold seen in elk is associated with a differentiated lamina propria it would allow the vocal fold to vibrate at high tension and high subglottic pressure. The results of this study support the hypothesis that viscoelastic properties of vocal folds varies with function and vocal behavior. J. Morphol. , 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.