Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal management of adults with ALL

The cure rate of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in adults remains unsatisfactory. The remarkable progress in childhood ALL has not been replicated in adult ALL and approximately two thirds of patients younger than 60 years, and more than 90% of those over 60 years, are expected to succumb to their disease. Over 80% of adults can achieve a complete remission; however, the majority of such patients relapse. Nevertheless, significant developments have occurred over the past decade. Prognostic factors have been more clearly defined, moving cytogenetics and molecular determinants forefront, much like acute myeloid leukaemia. Studies of postremission therapy have included prospective evaluation of allogeneic transplantation in areas not previously evaluated, i.e. patients with standard risk. Most importantly, the advent of imatinib mesylate has changed the outlook for adults with Ph‐positive ALL. Much work needs to be done to further improve chemotherapy treatment and reduce the toxicity of transplants.
[Five-year follow-up of clinical and laboratory data of early liver cirrhosis patients confirmed by liver biopsy].

BACKGROUND/AIMS It is important to evaluate the general status of the liver including the structural and inflammatory aspects, as well as the functional aspects, in order to determine a patient's treatment modality and prognosis. METHODS 55 Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis patients confirmed by liver biopsy have been categorized into 4 groups based on the shunt index and p-value(Y= 3.3431-0.8160 ALT/AST ratio-0.0343 X prothrombin time+2.6963 X shunt index, p = e(y)/(e(y)+1)), which was obtained by Thallium- 201 scan; group I - shunt index less than 0.3 and p-value less than 0.7; group II - shunt index less than 0.3 and p-value more than 0.7; group III - shunt index more than 0.3 and p-value less than 0.7; and group IV - shunt index more than 0.3 and p-value more than 0.7. Statistical analyses used were ANOVA, paired t-test, and Chi-square test. RESULTS 1. The laboratory data after a 5-year follow-up also showed a significant difference between four groups. 2. In group IV, the Child-Pugh class after 5 years worsened, and complications of liver cirrhosis such as esophageal varix, ascites, and hepatic encephalopathy occurred more frequently. 3. In group II, the laboratory data after a 5-year follow-up indicated some improvement. CONCLUSION It can be seen that even early in patients with initially the same cirrhosis, the course of the illness can progress to a variety of different situations. The measurement of shunt index and the p-value of cirrhosis will be more helpful in the follow-up evaluation and predicting its prognostic index in liver cirrhosis patients.
A novel adaptive bandwidth allocation: wavelet-decomposed signal energy approach

Traffic measurements are key in the development of robust resource management and scheduling algorithms. Bandwidth allocation methods are either static or they adaptively change the bandwidth assigned to applications. Adaptive algorithms predict the near future behavior of traffic based on average queue size and utilization information to update the allocated bandwidth. This work introduces a novel feedback mechanism that uses wavelets and measures the energy of a byte counting process at the output of each dyadic subband filter. The output is then used to predict short and long term fluctuations in the incoming traffic pattern and to readjust the bandwidth allocation accordingly.
Los de arriba y los de abajo

“Es muy dificil obtener informacion acerca de los ingresos de los grupos mas ricos y mas pobres de una sociedad. Sin embargo, desde el punto de vista de la politica economica los extremos de la distribucion son los tramos mas interesantes. El extremo inferior, en el caso de que un criterio importante de politica sea garantizarle a toda la poblacion un nivel minimo de ingreso que cubra por lo menos las necesidades basicas de la familia y, el extremo superior de la distribucion, debido a que la redistribucion de una parte de los aumentos de los ingresos de este grupo podria eliminar mucha de la pobreza extrema en nuestra sociedad. Buscando datos sobre tendencias en los ingresos reales de diferentes grupos de poblacion, se encontro que la Fundacion de Investigaciones de Ecologia Humana de Cali tenia informacion sobre niveles de ingreso, calidad de la vivienda, educacion, y otros indicadores socio-economicos para un grupo de familias, que en 1970, habitaba en uno de los barrios de invasion mas pobres de Cali. Adicionalmente, y como grupo de control para la investigacion en nutricion que llevo a estudiar las condiciones de vida de estas familias pobres, los investigadores tambien siguieron el desarrollo de los ingresos e indices de bienestar de un grupo de familias de altos ingresos. La investigacion de la Fundacion de Investigaciones de Ecologia Humana ha llevado a resultados interesantes. En efecto, muestra que en 1970 entre los ninos de familias de bajos ingresos los indicios de desnutricion eran comunes y como los ninos que hicieron parte del; proyecto lograron resultados muy inferiores en examenes de habilidad cognoscitiva a los ninos de la muestra de familias de alto nivel socio-economico. "
Chemoenzymatic Route for the Synthesis of (S)-Moprolol, a Potential β-Blocker.

A biocatalytic route for the synthesis of a potential β-blocker, (S)-moprolol is reported here. Enantiopure synthesis of moprolol is mainly dependent on the chiral intermediate, 3-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-propane-1,2-diol. Various commercial lipases were screened for the enantioselective resolution of (RS)-3-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,2-diol to produce the desired enantiomer. Among them, Aspergillus niger lipase (ANL) was selected on the basis of both stereo- and regioselectivity. The optimized values of various reaction parameters were determined such as enzyme (15 mg/mL), substrate concentration (10 mM), organic solvent (toluene), reaction temperature (30 °C), and time (18 h). The optimized conditions led to achieving >49% yield with high enantiomeric excess of (S)-3-(2-methoxyphenoxy)propane-1,2-diol. The lipase-mediated catalysis showed regioselective acylation with dual stereoselectivity. Further, the enantiopure intermediate was used for the synthesis of (S)-moprolol, which afforded the desired β-blocker.
Correlation rule study of Symptom in Traditional Chinese Medicine and biological parameter

Correlate macroscopic syndrome and microscopic indexes is a very urgent and difficult problem in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The aim of this study was to establish correlative rule of Symptom in TCM and biological parameter and establish biological parameter diagnosis pattern of Symptom in TCM. Twenty-two biological parameters were detected on thirty-two unstable angina with qi deficiency syndrome patients and ten healthy people. Using decision tree, we gain a pattern made by three biological parameters which could distinguish unstable angina with qi deficiency syndrome patients from the healthy people. The diagnosis accuracy could reach 75%. The obtained patterns are validated by 3- fold cross validation. The decision tree may be a suitable data mining method for the establishment of correlative rule of Symptom in TCM and biological parameter and for the discovery of illness or symptom in TCM diagnosis pattern.
Direct Measurement of Top and Sidewall Interface Trap Density in SOI FinFETs

Conventional charge pumping is demonstrated on triple-gate silicon-on-insulator FinFET gated-diode structures with varying fin widths. A simple technique is proposed and verified allowing to independently estimate fin top and sidewall interface trap density. A higher interface state density on the sidewalls is observed, which is attributed to higher fin sidewall roughness. The methodology is also demonstrated to be sensitive to fin sidewall surface crystallographic orientation. The technique presents a straightforward means of assessing the fin sidewall and topwall interface quality, which can then be directly correlated with both processing influences and reliability effects
CHRONOTOXICOLOGY OF FLORFENICOL

Sixty 3-month-old homozygote male mice were studied for circadian rhythmicity in the toxicity of florfenicol overdose. Animals were kept under a regimen of 12h light, 12h darkness (12:12 LD) with food and water available ad libitum. The LD50 (median lethal) dose was determined in a preliminary experiment and was administered to groups of 10 mice at six different clock times (hours) after light onset (HALO): 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 HALO. Cosinor analysis verified a statistically significant (P <. 04) circadian rhythm in the toxic effect (mortality) of florfenicol. Mortality was greatest when the drug was injected 4h after the commencement of the activity span (16 HALO) and least when injected 4h after the start of the diurnal rest span (4 HALO). Mortality was 2.5 times greater when drug injection was given at 16 HALO than at 4 HALO. (Chronobiology International, 18(3), 567–572, 2001)
Trends in Quality During Medical Home Transformation

PURPOSE We describe changes over time in performance on measures of technical quality and patient experience as a group of primary care clinics transformed themselves into level III patient-centered medical homes. METHODS A group of 21 Minnesota primary care clinics achieving level III recognition as medical homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance has been tracking a variety of quality and patient satisfaction measures for years. We analyzed trends in these measures and compared them with those of other medical groups in the community to estimate what we might expect as other primary care sites gear up to achieve medical home status. RESULTS The clinics in this group achieved a 1% to 3% increase per year in patient satisfaction and a 2% to 7% increase per year in performance on quality measures for diabetes, coronary artery disease, preventive services, and generic medication use. When compared with the average for other medical groups in the region, the rates of increase were greater for satisfaction, but similar for the quality measures. CONCLUSIONS Achieving medical home recognition was associated with improvements in quality and patient satisfaction for these clinics, but the rate of improvement is slow and does not always exceed levels in the surrounding community in Minnesota (which are also improving). Expectations for large and rapid change are probably unrealistic.
Discrimination of Psychrophilic and Mesophilic Proteins Using Random Forest Algorithm

Psychrophilic organisms are those organisms which thrive at very low temperatures. In order to carry out the normal physiological and biochemical functions, these organisms produces psychrophilic proteins that have evolved through a vast amount of physicochemical adaptations at the sequence and structural levels. Our study is focussed on selecting suitable classification algorithm and appropriate input features for better discrimination of psychrophilic protein sequences from mesophilic protein sequences. We have used amino acid composition and hydrophobic residue patterns as input features and found Random Forest algorithm, a recently developed ensemble machine learning technique for better discriminating between mesophilic and psychrophilic proteins. A balanced dataset with 6000 mesophilic and 6000 psychrophilic sequences for training, and with 8432 psychrophilic and 3169 mesophilic sequences for testing was created and used for experiments. Discrimination using only the statistically significant amino acids taken from previous literature was also experimented. For the first time 70.3% testing accuracy is being reported with 71.3% correctly predicted psychrophilic and 67. % correctly predicted mesophilic proteins.
Crowdsourcing for Software Engineering

Crowdsourcing, which leverages the intelligence and contributions of a large group of people to achieve a specific goal, is disrupting business models and work practices. Because crowdsourcing approaches could have a far-reaching impact on future software development, this theme issue explores various ways developers and managers can benefit from these new opportunities. The Web Extra https://youtu.be/Z_8vWQjU7iY is an audio podcast of the introduction to the theme issue on crowdsourcing for software engineering.
Slot split ring resonators and its applications in performance enhancement of microwave filter

In this paper, slot split ring resonator (SSRR) is proposed as a suitable component for performance enhancement of microwave filters. The close-form formula for calculation of the resonance frequency of SSRR is obtained from a detailed parametric study. Firstly, SSRR has been employed for enhancing bandwidth (BW) of band stop filters (BSFs). Using the same device area, we can achieve a stop BW of 3.5GHz from the novel BSF using SSRR. Whereas conventional open stub BSF can achieve a stop BW of 1.36GHz only. Using SSRR and spurline, the stop BW is enhanced 2.57 times the conventional BSF using the same device area. Secondly, SSRR has been used for harmonic suppression of lowpass filters. Spurious harmonic passbands at 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th harmonics have been completely suppressed well below 20dB rejection level without visible changes in the passband filter characteristics. Many of the harmonic suppression techniques in the literature discuss about harmonic suppression up to 2nd and 3rd harmonics only. It has been verified both from the simulation as well as experimental results that SSRR is a viable candidate for the performance enhancement of microwave filters.
A data-driven speech enhancement method based on modeled long-range temporal dynamics

In this paper, a data-driven speech enhancement method based on modeled long-range temporal dynamics (LRTDs) is proposed. First, given speech and noise corpora, Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) of the speech and noise can be trained respectively based on the expectation-maximization (EM) algo-rithm. Then, the LRTDs are obtained from the GMM models. Next, based on the LRTDs, a noise robustness longest segment searching (NRLSS) method combined with the Vector Taylor Series (VTS) approximation algorithm is adopted to search the longest matching speech and noise segments (LMSNS) from speech and noise corpora. Finally, using the obtained LMSNS, the estimation of speech spectrum is achieved. Furthermore, a modiﬁed Wiener ﬁlter is constructed to further eliminate residual noise. The test results show that the proposed method out-performs the state-of-the-art speech enhancement methods.
VEGF production, cell proliferation and apoptosis of human IGR 1 melanoma cells under nIFN‐α/β and rIFN‐γ treatment

Abstract: The effect of natural and recombinant interferons (nIFN, rIFN) on cell growth, apoptosis and the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was investigated in the human melanoma cell line IGR 1. We determined cell proliferation, cell vitality, DNA synthesis, apoptosis, intracellular oxygen radicals (ROS) and VEGF‐mRNA as well as VEGF‐protein levels. rIFN‐γ significantly inhibited growth by decreasing DNA synthesis and increasing apoptosis. Less pronounced was the growth inhibitory effect of nIFN‐β because an increased rate of apoptosis was outweighed by enhanced DNA synthesis. nIFN‐α only had minor effects on cell growth parameters. Under long‐term incubation (144 h) nIFN‐β decreased, but rIFN‐γ increased production of the angiogen VEGF. Our data underscore the multiple effects of IFNs on melanoma cells and may contribute to the understanding of ambivalent results of melanoma therapy by IFNs. Particularly, the increased VEGF production under long‐term treatment with serum IFN levels between 100 and 1200 IU/ml should be kept in mind.
Frequency domain identification of Hammerstein models

This paper discusses Hammerstein model identification in frequency domain using the sampled input-output data. By exploring the fundamental frequency and harmonics generated by the unknown nonlinearity, we propose a frequency domain approach and show its convergence for both the linear and nonlinear subsystems in the presence of noise. No a priori knowledge of the structure of the nonlinearity is required and the linear part can be non-parametric.
Statistical Comparison of Clinical and Histologic Diagnoses of Breast Tumours in Public and Private Hospitals

Background : Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Nigerian women. Most cases present in late or advanced stages with consequent poor prognosis. There are also instances of false clinical diagnoses with resultant patient adversity. Population screening based on genetics is largely unavailable to the citizens. Therefore, early diagnosis is the immediate choice available to the health system. Methods : Retrospective data were collected including all open-breast-biopsies submitted to three histopathology laboratories. The clinical and histologic diagnoses for each sample were compared. Statistical estimate of the accuracy of clinical diagnoses of breast cancer by clinicians was calculated using histologic diagnoses as the reference standard, and by calculating the sensitivity, specificity, false rates and odds ratio. Diagnostic accuracies of clinicians working in public and private hospitals were also compared in terms of these rates. Results : Our result showed that the diagnostic accuracy of the doctors working in public hospitals is more sensitive than that of those working in private hospitals. The overall false positive rate in both hospital groups combined is found to be high. This is probably due to unavailability of modern radiodiagnostic facilities that may otherwise enhance clinical assessment and diagnoses. The doctors in the public hospital group are generally more efficient in breast cancer diagnoses than those working in private hospitals. Conclusion : The authors believe that better funding of the audited hospitals, regular training of the medical personnel and provision of modern radiodiagnostic facilities may probably enhance clinical accuracy of breast cancer diagnoses in these hospitals.
Moving up the Grades: Relationship between Preschool Model and Later School Success.

A follow-up study of children who began school at age 4 (referred to as Year 1 in this study) was conducted to examine the influence of three different preschool models on later school success. These children from an urban school district were studied again in Year 5 as they prepared to leave the primary grades and in Year 6 when they were scheduled to enter fourth grade if not previously retained. The study examined report card grades, retention rates, and special education placement of 160 children at the end of their fifth year in school and 183 children at the end of their sixth year in school. The sample was 96% African American and 54% female, with 75% of the children qualifying for subsidized school lunch and 73% living in single-parent families. Academically, girls surpassed boys at the end of Year 5, and this difference persisted into the next grade level. Children whose preschool experience was more academically directed had been retained less often than peers. No differences attributable to preschool model were found for special education placement. By the end of children's fifth year in school, there were no significant differences in academic performance of children who had experienced three different preschool models. By the end of their sixth year in school, children whose preschool experiences had been academically directed earned significantly lower grades compared to children who had attended child-initiated preschool classes. Children's later school success appears to have been enhanced by more active, child-initiated early learning experiences. Their progress may have been slowed by overly academic preschool experiences that introduced formalized learning experiences too early for most children's developmental status.
Interpreting incomplete data in studies of diet and weight loss.

The prevalence of obesity among Americans 20 to 74 years of age increased from 15 percent during the period between 1976 and 1980 to 27 percent in 19991 and continues to increase, with alarming implications for public health. At any time, about 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men in this country are actively seeking to lose weight — in most cases, to no avail.2 Thus, the public has a keen interest in diets that might help in the battle against the bulge. Although most physicians recommend low-fat diets, low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins diet have had .
Vasopressin decreases intestinal mucosal perfusion: a clinical study on cardiac surgery patients in vasodilatory shock

Background: Low to moderate doses of vasopressin have been used in the treatment of cathecholamine‐dependent vasodilatory shock in sepsis or after cardiac surgery. We evaluated the effects of vasopressin on jejunal mucosal perfusion, gastric‐arterial pCO2 gradient and the global splanchnic oxygen demand/supply relationship in patients with vasodilatory shock after cardiac surgery.
Protective immunity induced in Aotus monkeys by a recombinant SERA protein of Plasmodium falciparum: further studies using SERA 1 and MF75.2 adjuvant

We describe the third of three vaccination trials of Panamanian Aotus monkeys with a recombinant blood-stage antigen derived from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Immunization was performed with an N-terminal region of the SERA antigen (serine repeat antigen protein), SERA 1, that contains a 262-amino-acid fragment including amino acids 24 to 285 of the 989-amino-acid SERA protein. Vaccinations were carried out with the recombinant protein mixed with either Freund's, MF75.2, or MF59.2 adjuvant. A control group that did not receive SERA 1 but only MF75.2 adjuvant was included. Monkeys vaccinated with the antigen MF59.2 mixture produced low anti-SERA 1 titers and were not protected. Monkeys vaccinated with antigen and Freund's adjuvant had, in general, a higher average anti-SERA 1 titer (107,278) than did monkeys immunized with SERA 1 and MF75.2 (40, 143), yet monkeys in both groups were well protected. Monkeys that received only MF75.2 developed neither detectable anti-SERA 1 nor anti-P. falciparum antibodies prior to or 10 days after parasite challenge, yet were apparently protected against infection. Monkeys vaccinated with either SERA 1 and Freund's, SERA 1 and MF75.2, or MF75.2 alone and that had been challenged but did not develop a countable parasitemia were treated with a curative dose of mefloquine 100 days after parasite challenge and then rechallenged 40 days later. None of the five rechallenged monkeys that had originally received SERA 1 and Freund's developed a countable parasitemia. Only one of five rechallenged monkeys that originally received SERA 1 and MF75.2 developed a high countable parasitemia, while two animals developed a barely countable parasitemia. Four of the rechallenged monkeys that had originally received only MF75.2 developed a moderate to high countable parasitemia. The results indicate that vaccination with SERA 1 and either Freund's or MF75.2 adjuvant provides protection and vaccination with MF75.2 alone can provide a temporary protection unrelated to the induction of anti-SERA 1 or antimalarial antibodies.
Position Estimation on a Grid, Based on Infrared Pattern Reception Features

The location of the position of a moving target on a grid plane is studied in this paper. The estimation method is based on encountering the number of infrared patterns that arrive to the target as expected, unexpected or out of order. Since the position of the target is not determined by an analog signal intensity, no high precision sensors and measurements are required and the coordinate estimation can be carried out by a pair of transmitters and a pair of sensors on the moving target. The speed of the estimation is adjustable according to the desired accuracy. An error of less than 5% can be reached in most of the covered area. The presented system can be used in a number of automation, robotics, virtual reality and ubiquitous applications.