Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved Tumor Targeting of Anti-HER2 Nanobody Through N-Succinimidyl 4-Guanidinomethyl-3-Iodobenzoate Radiolabeling

Nanobodies are approximately 15-kDa proteins based on the smallest functional fragments of naturally occurring heavy chain–only antibodies and represent an attractive platform for the development of molecularly targeted agents for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Because the human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) is overexpressed in breast and ovarian carcinoma, as well as in other malignancies, HER2-specific Nanobodies may be valuable radiodiagnostics and therapeutics for these diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the tumor-targeting potential of anti-HER2 5F7GGC Nanobody after radioiodination with the residualizing agent N-succinimidyl 4-guanidinomethyl 3-125/131I-iodobenzoate (*I-SGMIB). Methods: The 5F7GGC Nanobody was radiolabeled using *I-SGMIB and, for comparison, with Nε-(3-*I-iodobenzoyl)-Lys5-Nα-maleimido-Gly1-GEEEK (*I-IB-Mal-d-GEEEK), another residualizing agent, and by direct radioiodination using IODO-GEN (125I-Nanobody). The 3 labeled Nanobodies were evaluated in affinity measurements, and paired-label internalization assays were performed on HER2-expressing BT474M1 breast carcinoma cells and in paired-label tissue distribution measurements in mice bearing subcutaneous BT474M1 xenografts. Results: *I-SGMIB-Nanobody was produced in 50.4% ± 3.6% radiochemical yield and exhibited a dissociation constant of 1.5 ± 0.5 nM. Internalization assays demonstrated that intracellular retention of radioactivity was up to 1.5-fold higher for *I-SGMIB-Nanobody than for coincubated 125I-Nanobody or *I-IB-Mal-d-GEEEK-Nanobody. Peak tumor uptake for *I-SGMIB-Nanobody was 24.50% ± 9.89% injected dose/g at 2 h, 2- to 4-fold higher than observed with other labeling methods, and was reduced by 90% with trastuzumab blocking, confirming the HER2 specificity of localization. Moreover, normal-organ clearance was fastest for *I-SGMIB-Nanobody, such that tumor–to–normal-organ ratios greater than 50:1 were reached by 24 h in all tissues except lungs and kidneys, for which the values were 10.4 ± 4.5 and 5.2 ± 1.5, respectively. Conclusion: Labeling anti-HER2 Nanobody 5F7GGC with *I-SGMIB yields a promising new conjugate for targeting HER2-expressing malignancies. Further research is needed to determine the potential utility of *I-SGMIB-5F7GGC labeled with 124I, 123I, and 131I for PET and SPECT imaging and for targeted radiotherapy, respectively.
Critical Remarks on Single Link Search in Learning Belief Networks

In learning belief networks, the single link lookahead search is widely adopted to reduce the search space. We show that there exists a class of probabilistic domain models which displays a special pattern of dependency. We analyze the behavior of several learning algorithms using different scoring metrics such as the entropy, conditional independence, minireal description length and Bayesian metrics. We demonstrate that single link lookahead search procedures (employed in these algorithms) cannot learn these models correctly. Thus, when the underlying domain model actually belongs to this class, the use of a single link search procedure will result in learning of an incorrect model. This may lead to inference errors when the model is used. Our analysis suggests that if the prior knowledge about a domain does not rule out the possible existence of these models, a multilink lookahead search or other heuristics should be used for the learning process.
Novel algorithm for iris localization

With the emerging security demands, biometric identification technology has attracted more and more attention in recent years, and iris recognition is one of the most reliable biometric technologies. Iris localization is a crucial part in the iris recognition, which is quite time-consuming and easily disturbed by various noises, especially the eyelashes. A novel iris localization method is proposed in this paper. In the location of inner iris boundary, the gray curves of a row and a column with the pupil edge are used to estimate the coarse center and radius of pupil, which can reject the eyelash noises. The experiments show this coarse location method has better accuracy and speed than the common gray projection. Edge points of pupil are extracted by a gradient operator and fitted as the iris inner boundary. In the location of outer iris boundary, the image binarization is use to mark most noises, and then the outer iris boundary is extracted by integro-differential operator from the coarseness to fine. Performance experiments have been done, and the results show that about 0.175 second at speed and 99.5% at precision are reached by developed algorithm. In comparison with other classical methods, this algorithm has faster speed and better robustness.
PolyP—a polytypic programming language extension

Many functions have to be written over and over again for different datatypes, either because datatypes change during the development of programs, or because functions with similar functionality are needed on different datatypes. Examples of such functions are pretty printers, debuggers, equality functions, unifiers, pattern matchers, rewriting functions, etc. Such functions are called polytypic functions. A polytypic function is a function that is defined by induction on the structure of user-defined datatypes. This paper extends a functional language (a subset of Haskell) with a construct for writing polytypic functions. The extended language type checks definitions of polytypic functions, and infers the types of all other expressions using an extension of Jones' theories of qualified types and higher-order polymorphism. The semantics of the programs in the extended language is obtained by adding type arguments to functions in a dictionary passing style. Programs in the extended language are translated to Haskell.
Influence of protein and hormone supplementation on in vitro maturation and fertilization of domestic cat eggs.

Immature eggs were recovered from freshly excised ovaries from domestic cats, and initially 931 eggs with a compact cumulus and uniform cytoplasm were cultured in 1 of 15 treatments. Eagle's minimum essential medium containing glutamine and pyruvate was supplemented with 5% (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS), 4 mg bovine serum albumin (BSA) ml-1 or 2 mg polyvinyl alcohol ml-1 (PVA; non-protein control). Within each of these supplement groups, eggs were cultured with: no hormone; LH+FSH; LH+FSH+oestradiol; or LH+FSH+oestradiol+progesterone. After incubation for 52 h, eggs were inseminated with conspecific fresh spermatozoa, cultured and examined for stage of meiotic maturation and in vitro fertilization (IVF). There were fewer (P < 0.05) eggs maturing to metaphase II in vitro in FCS compared with BSA or PVA, the last two treatments producing similar (P < 0.05) results. Gonadotrophins in concert with oestradiol or oestradiol+progesterone improved the incidence of maturation (P < or = 0.01) compared with no added hormones. The incidence of fertilization and cleavage in vitro ranged from 5.2 to 33.9% and varied (P < 0.05) with hormone subtreatment. Adding FSH+LH+oestradiol consistently increased the incidence of IVF approximately twofold compared with controls with no added hormones. Although it inhibited the ability of eggs to reach metaphase II, FCS in the presence of gonadotrophins and oestradiol allowed > 60% of mature eggs to fertilize in vitro (P < 0.05, compared with PVA and BSA). Inhibitory effects on egg maturation were further evaluated by testing four FCS batches from three commercial sources against BSA. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Total Phenol, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Properties of Wild Macrofungi Collected from Akure Southwest Nigeria

Three wild macrofungi, Lenzites betulina (Fries), Trametes vesicolor (Lloyd) and Coriolopsis polyzona (Pers) collected in Akure southwest of Nigeria were assessed for their total phenol, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. The antioxidant and cytotoxic properties of the hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts from the fruit bodies of these macrofungi were assessed using DPPH scavenging capacity, inhibition of the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS), and the protein-binding dye sulforhodamine B (SRB) microculture assay to measure cell growth using six human cancer cell lines. Total phenol content ranged from 8. 22µgGAE/mg to 60.54 µgGAE/mg. The DPPH and inhibition of the formation of TBARS ranged between 7.97% to 91.18% at 1000µg/mL. Ethanolic extracts (LET, TET and CET) with higher phenol content exhibited better antioxidant property. The inhibition of human cancer cell lines varies from one extract to the other. However, ethanolic extract of Trametes vesicolor (TET) demonstrated the best cytotoxic activity with 100% inhibition of HCT-5, MCF-7 and SKLU-1 human cancer cell lines. The study suggests that these three wild macrofungi could be source of effective antioxidant and anticancer agents.
Stakeholder Contradictions in Early Stages of eHealth Efforts

Use of information and communication technology (ICT) in healthcare has increased substantially over the past decades. Implementation of ICT in municipal health services (eHealth) involves a variety of stakeholders, and may lead to changes in the roles of providers and patients. Coordination, communication, early identification and involvement of key stakeholders in eHealth projects have been highlighted as important. However, research often takes a narrow perspective and pays scant attention to conflicting drivers. This study used a qualitative approach to identify and investigate contradictory stakeholder interests in the early phase of a municipal eHealth project. Analysis using Stakeholder Theory (ST) and Dialectic Process Theory revealed two important contradictions; 1) effective service versus efficient service and 2) technology enthusiasm versus reluctance to change. The analysis illustrated the usefulness of combining these theories in eHealth efforts. Implications from our research suggest that stakeholder management should be considered to prevent conflicts in eHealth projects.
Pueden las escalas Likert aumentar en sensibilidad

espanolEn las investigaciones que utilizan escalas tipo Likert se aplican principalmente escalas de 5 puntos, sin una fundamentacion metodologica que lo justifique. La revision de 3 conocidas revistas permite llegar a esta conclusion. Parece ser que se hace asi por tradicion y porque es dificil poner nombre a mas de 5 opciones de respuesta. En este articulo cuestiona esta tradicion y se aportan argumentos para proponer otras alternativas. Se analiza la importancia de mejorar la sensibilidad de las escalas aumentando las opciones de respuesta; se recomienda evitar el uso de denominaciones categoricas porque stricto sensu impide su uso como escala de intervalo, ya que la convierte en nominal (categorica); se analiza el rechazo a valores extremos, etc. Como consecuencia, se recomienda la propuesta a favor de escalas de 11 puntos (de 0 a 10). EnglishFive-point scales are applied primarily in research using Likert scales without a methodological foundation for doing so. A review of three known journals allows to reach at this conclusion. It seems that this is done for tradition, and it is difficult to assign a label to more than five response options. This article puts into question this tradition and brings arguments to propose other alternatives. The importance of improving the sensitivity of scales is discussed; it is recommended to avoid the use of categorical labels, which prevents their use sensu strictu as interval scale since it becomes nominal (categorical); the rejection of extreme values is also analyzed to. As a result, the proposal is to recommend the use of eleven-point scales (from 0 to 10). catalaEn les investigacions que utilitzen escales tipus Likert s’apliquen principalment escales de 5 punts, sense una fonamentacio metodologica que ho justifiqui. La revisio de 3 conegudes revistes permet arribar a aquesta conclusio. Sembla que es fa aixi per tradicio i perque es dificil posar nom a mes de cinc opcions de resposta. En aquest article es posa en questio aquesta tradicio i s’aporten arguments per proposar altres alternatives. S’analitza la importancia de millorar la sensibilitat de les escales augmentant les opcions de resposta; es recomana evitar l’us de denominacions categoriques, que strictu sensu impedeix el seu us com a escala d’interval ja que la converteix en nominal (categorica); s’analitza el rebuig a valors extrems, etc. Com a consequencia, es recomana la proposta en favor d’escales d’onze punts (de 0 a 10).
Calibration of diffuse correlation spectroscopy with a time-resolved near-infrared technique to yield absolute cerebral blood flow measurements

A primary focus of neurointensive care is the prevention of secondary brain injury, mainly caused by ischemia. A noninvasive bedside technique for continuous monitoring of cerebral blood flow (CBF) could improve patient management by detecting ischemia before brain injury occurs. A promising technique for this purpose is diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) since it can continuously monitor relative perfusion changes in deep tissue. In this study, DCS was combined with a time-resolved near-infrared technique (TR-NIR) that can directly measure CBF using indocyanine green as a flow tracer. With this combination, the TR-NIR technique can be used to convert DCS data into absolute CBF measurements. The agreement between the two techniques was assessed by concurrent measurements of CBF changes in piglets. A strong correlation between CBF changes measured by TR-NIR and changes in the scaled diffusion coefficient measured by DCS was observed (R2 = 0.93) with a slope of 1.05 ± 0.06 and an intercept of 6.4 ± 4.3% (mean ± standard error).
BOOTSTRAP P-VALUES FOR TESTS OF NONPARAMETlUC HYPOTHESES

In this paper we consider totally nonparametric tests for location such as tests of H o : equal means, or H o : equal medians, without making any assumptions concerning nuisance parameters or distribution shapes. For a wide class of such problems and test statistics, we show how to obtain critical values using a new bootstrap approach. Asymptotic justification for the bootstrap procedures is given as well as Monte Carlo results for evidence of small sample properties. The empirical results show that the bootstrap methods compare favorably with a variety of procedures that have been proposed for use when homogeneity of variance cannot be assumed. One of the most frequently encountered statistical procedures in the Psychology and Education literature is the analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure for testing equality of means assuming common variances (and in small samples, normality). In studies with a simple design (e.g., the one-way classification), concern about validity of the common variance or normality assumptions may lead to use of a procedure more robust than AN OVA. Popular alternatives to ANOVA include, e.g., the Welch t and its k-sample extensions or the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test and the k-sample Kruskall-Wallis procedure. It is our opinion, however, that often the practitioner does not fully understand the properties of these alternatives, or the H o and H a implied by their use. For more complex designs such as 2-way or 3-way factorial designs, alternatives that are robust to variance heterogeneity are not readily available, and AN OVA may be used whether appropriate or not. Thus, in spite of the large literature on the properties of ANOVA and more robust alternatives (e.g., see Tomarken and Serlin, 1986), appropriate methods are not always employed to test for location effects. This leads to the following objectives for this paper. (i) We consider testing equality of means, or other location measures, in a totally nonparametric manner; i.e., testing H o : equal means, or H a : equal medians, without making any assumptions about nuisance parameters or distribution shapes. (ii) For testing these "totally non parametric" hypotheses, we introduce a bootstrap approach to estimate critical values. We show that this bootstrap approach works with a variety of test statistics in a wide class of such problems, including testing for main and interaction effects on location in factorial designs with unequal replication and variance heterogeneity. Before discussing the non parametric hypotheses, we review a number …
Emissive performance of wearable RF textiles made from multi-material fibers

In this work, we present the emissive performance of wearable radio-frequency (RF) textiles made from multi-material fibers, for both on-body and off-body scenarios, for body area network applications through ISM (2.4 GHz) bands. It is shown that the emissive performance of the RF textiles in terms of return loss (S11), radiation pattern, and efficiency (gain) were similar to commercial router antennas, while the center frequency shift and band broadening were reduced due in part to the small form factor of the fiber antennas. The RF textiles were fabricated by integrating unobtrusive polymer-glass-metal fiber composites into a textile host using conventional weaving process. This approach provided good RF emissive performance in compliance with safety regulations while preserving the mechanical and cosmetic properties of the garments.
Strict and vague interpretation of XML-retrieval queries

Structural hints in XML-retrieval queries can be used to specify both the granularity of the search result (the target element) and where in a document to search (support elements). These hints might be interpreted either strictly or vaguely, but does it matter if an XML search engine interprets these in one way and the user in another? The performance of all runs submitted to INEX 2005 content and structure (CAS) tasks were measured for each of four different interpretations of CAS. Runs that perform well for one interpretation of target elements do so regardless of the interpretation of support elements; but how to interpret the target element does matter. This suggests that to perform well on all CAS queries it is necessary to know how the target structure specification should be interpreted. We extend the NEXI query language to include this, and hypothesize that using this will increase the overall performance of search engines.
Solar Influences on Holocene Climatic Changes Illustrated by Correlations between Past Lake-Level Fluctuations and the Atmospheric 14C Record

Abstract Chronological correlations established at different time scales among the lake-level fluctuations in the Jura and French Subalpine ranges, glacier movements in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, and the atmospheric 14C record during the last 7 millennia show coincidences between lake-level rises, glacier advances, and high 14C production and vice versa. These correspondences suggest that the short-term 14C variations may be an empirical indicator of Holocene palaeoclimates and argue for possible origins of Holocene climatic oscillations: (1) The varying solar activity refers to secular climatic oscillations and to major climatic deteriorations showing a ca. 2300-yr periodicity. (2) A question is raised about a relationship between the earth's magnetic field and climate. First, the weak-strength periods of the earth's dipole magnetic field (between 3800 and ca. 2500 B.C.) coincide with higher climate variability, and vice versa. Second, the ca. 2300-yr periods revealed by the 14C record and also by the major climatic deteriorations re. corded in Jurassian lakes (ca. 1500 A.D., ca. 800 B.C., and ca. 3500 B.C.) coincide with the ca. 2300-yr periods revealed by the earth's nondipole geomagnetic field. The present warming induced by anthropogenic factors should be intensified during the next few centuries by natural factors of climate evolution.
Onset of thunderstorms and precipitation over Northern Nigeria

An empirical prediction scheme for the start of thunderstorms, and the onset and expected amount of rainfall for any year at Kano, Nigeria, is presented, using 8 years' upper air data. The years investigated include two drought years (1973 and 1974) and 3 years of above average rainfall (1978, 1980, and 1988). Agriculturally sufficient and reliable rainfall begins 5–6 weeks after the vertical wind shear below the African Easterly Jet, ΔUL(surface, 700 hPa), and the mid-tropospheric shear ΔUM (700–400 hPa), simultaneously satisfy the condition −20≤UL≤−5 ms−1 and 0≤UM ≤10 ms−1, as previously put forward by Omotosho. The total precipitation for any year is found to be well correlated with the total moisture anomaly (specific humidity) from the week of the above-critical wind shear to the week of rainfall onset. This makes it possible to estimate the expected rainfall total at the very onset of the rains.
Characterizing Arctic Spring Onset

AbstractThe high-latitude atmosphere experiences a rapid state transition during Arctic spring onset (ASO) with distinct warming in surface 2-m air temperature (T2m) occurring over broad geographical regions. Three methods are tested to optimally isolate this transition: The first two, the time derivative and the radius of curvature (RoC) methods, identify periods of large T2m acceleration. The third technique, the two-phase linear regression model, identifies a transition from an approximately steady winter state to a warming spring state. Although all three methods are largely successful in isolating the state transition associated with ASO, the RoC method is most effective in capturing the most rapid temperature increases and is adopted to define ASO in the study.Statistical analyses indicate that the annual ASO timing is roughly bimodal with strong interannual variability but no significant long-term trends. Composite time evolution analyses of ASO uncover a critical warming region over northern Siber.
Prostate Tumor Overexpressed 1 Is a Novel Prognostic Marker for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression and Overall Patient Survival

AbstractThe gene prostate tumor overexpressed 1 (PTOV1) was first found to be upregulated in prostate cancer. This upregulation increased tumor cell proliferation, retinoic acid resistance, and migration. This study investigated the expression and prognostic significance of PTOV1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction and western blot analysis were performed to examine PTOV1 expression in 11 HCC cell lines and 2 normal hepatic cell lines. PTOV1 expression levels were also determined in 8 pairs of tissue samples taken from primary HCC tumors and the matched adjacent noncancerous liver tissue from the same patient. Immunohistochemistry assays assessed PTOV1 protein expression in paraffin-embedded clinical samples taken from 215 HCC patients. The correlation of PTOV1 expression with the clinicopathological parameters was evaluated along with the prognostic impact of PTOV1 expression in these HCC patients.PTOV1 mRNA and protein were overexpressed in HCC cell lines compared with normal liver cell lines and were overexpressed in primary HCC samples compared with the matched noncancerous liver tissue samples. In the paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 215 HCC patients, PTOV1 protein expression was significantly correlated with T classification, N classification, clinical stage, and serum &agr;-fetoprotein. HCC patients with higher PTOV1 expression had shorter survival times than patients with lower PTOV1 expression.Our study demonstrated that PTOV1 overexpression is correlated with increased aggressiveness of HCC and could be a prognostic biomarker for patients with HCC.