Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurosurgical Issues Related to Bevacizumab Use in the Management of Glioblastoma

Bevacizumab (BV) is a monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which has demonstrated great promise in the management of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) and other solid metastatic tumors. It improves progression free survival, decreases tumor vascularization, contrast enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging, and symptoms of cytotoxic cerebral edema. The potential benefit of BV has led to a more widespread use in patients with GBM recurrence. However, given the possibility that BV may also be indicated as first-line therapy, neurosurgeons are likely to encounter a substantially larger number of patients being considered for repeat craniotomy and resection who have recently been exposed to this drug. This agent is associated with a number of side effects such as hypertension, hemorrhage, thrombosis, wound healing complications, thrombocytopenia, etc. Hence, it is imperative for neurosurgeons to be aware of issues surrounding this drug as it may affect surgical outcomes and can lead to postoperative complications. In this review, we will discuss several salient points specific to BV use in GBM, mechanisms of action, side effects, and presurgical considerations surrounding this novel agent.
The Functional Independence Measure: Validity of selected assessment methods applied to stroke survivors

This study examines the validity of two methods, using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) of assessing the functional performance of stroke survivors (N = 89): (1) the structured interview with the stroke survivor (method 1) and (2) the structured interview with the nursing staff (method 2). In the criterion validation study, high sensitivity (0.79 to 0.94) and specificity (0.67 to 1.00) values were obtained for assessment methods 1 and 2. This indicated that the FIM structured interviews with stroke survivors and nursing staff concur with the results of the gold standard: the direct observation of functional performance (method 3). The results of the convergent validation study indicated that the FIM structured interviews (methods 1 and 2) are in agreement according to the Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) of the first four sections of the FIM (items A-M) (0.70 and 0.80). The ICCs of neuropsychologic (items N-R) FIM items were weaker (R = 0, 56 to 0, 65). FIM questionnaires (methods 1 and 2) are considered to be valid when applied to stroke survivors. It is not suggested that the interviews should replace clinical observation. These alternatives could, however, be examined more deeply to reduce time of assessment among clinical settings. Further validation studies on the FIM assessment methods are needed with a larger sample of stroke survivors.
Development and Preliminary Testing of a Meaning-Centered Program for Young Adults With Advanced-Stage Cancer

Palliative care is a holistic approach that improves the quality of life of patients and family members facing life-threatening illness. Advanced-stage cancer patients often express existential concerns about the meaning, purpose, and meaninglessness of life. This study was designed and implemented to develop a meaning-centered program based on Frankl’s logotherapy. Preliminary testing was conducted to assess its potential effects in young adults with advanced-stage cancer. The developmental process was undertaken in 4 distinct phases: planning, design, construction, and evaluation. For preliminary testing, 12 participants were recruited at a cancer hospital in South Korea. Meaning of life and quality of life were measured and analyzed using descriptive statistics and the paired t-test. A meaning-centered program was entitled “Meaning of My Life. ” The 5 individual sessions of the program were named as follows: “Essence of human mind,” “Creative work,” “Experience of love and values,” “Changing one’s attitude,” and “Selection and responsibility. ” Meaning of life (t = 5.52, P < .001) and quality of life (t = 4.62, P = .001) mean scores were significantly different between before and after the program. The study shows that the meaning-centered program could be used as an effective intervention for young adult patients faced with life-threatening disease.
Design of Spur-Free ΣΔ Frequency Tuning Interface for Digitally Controlled Oscillators

Within the framework of a radio-frequency all- digital phase-locked loop, the frequency tuning of a digitally con- trolled oscillator (DCO) is realized using switchable capacitors (varactors). The minimum feature size and lithographic mismatch of these varactors limit the physical frequency resolution of the DCO to tens of kilohertz. To satisfy the fine frequency resolution of hundreds of hertz in wireless cellular and connectivity standards, high-speed sigma-delta (ΣΔ) frequency dithering is convention- ally employed to improve the time-averaged DCO resolution by at least two orders of magnitude. Unfortunately, the dithering characteristics of the ΣΔ modulator vary depending on its frac- tional frequency input and the physical and timing mismatches in the mapping of the multibit digital output to the frequency. This brief investigates the dithering mechanisms that are a potential source of the spurious corruption of the DCO output spectrum and proposes a set of enhancements to mitigate them. Furthermore, the spurious sensitivity to design parameters, such as device mis- match, as well as rise/fall, duty-cycle, and skew timing mismatches, is theoretically analyzed and verified by behavioral simulations.
Evaluation of malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Preoperative cross-sectional imaging, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, plays a key role in differentiating between benign and malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms. This article reviews the imaging features associated with malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm, as well as the recent studies validating the 2012 international consensus guidelines. This review also compared the diagnostic performance of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in differentiating malignant from benign intraductal papillary
Proceedings of the 2006 international conference on Compilers, architecture and synthesis for embedded systems

We welcome you to CASES 2006 -- The IEEE International Conference on Compilers, Architecture, and Synthesis for Embedded Systems. CASES has established itself as a leading forum for research in computer architectures for embedded computing.This year, the program committee received 100 submissions; of those, 41 were accepted for presentation at the conference and publication in this proceedings. The submitted papers came from around the world: 3 from Taiwan, 4 from India, 1 from Brazil, 5 from China, 1 from Austria, 4 from Sweden, 1 from Belgium, 1 from Portugal, 1 from Italy, 1 from Canada, 2 from Australia, 2 from Singapore, 6 from the Netherlands, 1 from Ireland, 5 from France, 1 from Spain, 4 from Japan, 8 from Germany, 8 from Korea, 3 from the United Kingdom, and the rest from the USA. We would like to thank all the contributors for their submissions.This year, CASES is co-located with Embedded Systems Week, which is being held in Seoul, Korea in October, 2006. Embedded Systems Week was established last year as an umbrella organization for the co-location of embedded systems conferences. Last year, CODES+ISSS and EMSOFT formed Embedded Systems Week along with their satellite conferences. This year, CASES joins EMSOFT and CODES+ISSS. This event proved to be very exciting for attendees last year and we expect that the addition of CASES will make this year's ES Week even more useful and interesting. We would like to the Embedded Systems Week steering committee for their help and support.
An innovative method of hamstring graft preparation and a new concept of intratunnel tendon fixation: biomechanical evaluation

BackgroundCurrent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using hamstrings (HS) grafts still entails difficulties for adequate graft fixation. A new technique for hamstring ACL graft fixation called the tape locking screw (TLS, FH Orthopedics, Heimsbrunn, France) recently has been described.1,2 We proposed to evaluate the mechanical properties of this new fixation method by performing a controlled laboratory study. MethodsIn a laboratory environment, we performed a series of three tests on 10 human semitendinosus grafts, assessing their load-to-failure before and after application of different cyclical loads. We also tested the new fixation device in isolation for its load-to-failure before and after cyclical loading as well as the complex graft-fixation (CGF) for both load-to-failure before and after application of cyclical loads. ResultsAfter 1500 cycles loading, the mean ultimate failure load (UFL) and stiffness were, respectively, 1916 N and 605 N/mm for the graft in isolation, 1535 N and 452 N/mm for the fixation device, 1568 N and 232 N/mm for the CGF, which remained similar after 33600 cycles (1553 N and 223 N/mm). After 1500 cycles loading, the mean fixation's lengthening was negligible (0.6 mm). The CGF lengthening was, respectively, 6 mm and 7.6 mm after 1500, and 33600 cycles, but only 1.2 mm and 2.6 mm after preconditioning. ConclusionsThe TLS system provides outstanding mechanical characteristics; however, a preconditioning process is mandatory.
Emerging novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of patients with prurigo nodularis

Prurigo nodularis (PN) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by intractably itchy nodules that often become excoriated and can ulcerate. PN has a significant burden of disease, reducing quality of life and contributing to sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression (1). Currently, there are no FDA approved drugs for PN. Multiple topical agents are employed but often are ineffective, leading to trial of systemic or immunosuppressive therapies that also have variable effectiveness but come with potentially severe, toxic side effects (1,2). Thus, there are multiple ongoing efforts for the development of novel drugs. We conduct a systematic review of drugs in the pipeline for PN, as well as FDA-approved drugs newly used off-label for PN. We searched PubMed for articles published by September 1, 2019 using the words ‘prurigo’ and ‘treatment,’ and we examined company websites as well as the US and European clinical trial registries. Drugs in clinical trials and off-label drugs, reported for PN in the last year, were included. We reviewed studies for chronic prurigo, the description used in Europe, which includes PN. A total of 26 relevant studies were included, namely 4 RCTs, 14 other completed studies, and 8 studies without reported results or currently ongoing. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow chart is shown in Figure 1. The level of evidence for each study was determined using the Oxford Center for Evidence-based Medicine Levels of Evidence (Table 1). Overall, the drugs in development have shown promising safety profiles with mild-to-moderate adverse events, but limited efficacy over placebo. The placebo response may be in part due to the psychogenic component of the disease, which has been previously demonstrated in meta-analyses for chronic itch as well (3). The similar incidence of adverse events in both treatment and placebo groups may be a reflection of the burden of disease rather than a true adverse event of treatment. Our review identified an important area for improvement in the ongoing development for PN drugs. Among the analyzed studies, there were over 14 different outcome measures (Table 1), which included itch scores and clinical morphology scores. Most outcomes were patient-reported, which can contribute to the high placebo response observed (4,5). Standardized selection of validated outcomes is important for improving comparisons among drugs and capturing clinically significant results. Studies should consider incorporating at least
Phase 1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Vaccine Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of HIV Subtype C DNA and MF59-Adjuvanted Subtype C Envelope Protein

Abstract Background The Pox-Protein Public-Private Partnership is performing a suite of trials to evaluate the bivalent subtype C envelope protein (TV1.C and 1086.C glycoprotein 120) vaccine in the context of different adjuvants and priming agents for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 (HIV-1) prevention. Methods In the HIV Vaccine Trials Network 111 trial, we compared the safety and immunogenicity of DNA prime followed by DNA/protein boost with DNA/protein coadministration injected intramuscularly via either needle/syringe or a needle-free injection device (Biojector). One hundred thirty-two healthy, HIV-1–uninfected adults were enrolled from Zambia, South Africa, and Tanzania and were randomized to 1 of 6 arms: DNA prime, protein boost by needle/syringe; DNA and protein coadministration by needle/syringe; placebo by needle/syringe; DNA prime, protein boost with DNA given by Biojector; DNA and protein coadministration with DNA given by Biojector; and placebo by Biojector. Results All vaccinations were safe and well tolerated. DNA and protein coadministration was associated with increased HIV-1 V1/V2 antibody response rate, a known correlate of decreased HIV-1 infection risk. DNA administration by Biojector elicited significantly higher CD4+ T-cell response rates to HIV envelope protein than administration by needle/syringe in the prime/boost regimen (85.7% vs 55.6%; P = .02), but not in the coadministration regimen (43.3% vs 48.3%; P = .61). Conclusions Both the prime/boost and coadministration regimens are safe and may be promising for advancement into efficacy trials depending on whether cellular or humoral responses are desired. Clinical Trials Registration South African National Clinical Trials Registry (application 3947; Department of Health [DoH] no. DOH-27–0715–4917) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02997969).
Single-step, acid-based fabrication of homogeneous gelatin-polycaprolactone fibrillar scaffolds intended for skin tissue engineering

Blends of natural and synthetic polymers have recently attracted great attention as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications due to their favorable biological and mechanical properties. Nevertheless, phase-separation of blend components is an important challenge facing the development of electrospun homogeneous fibrillar natural-synthetic polymers scaffolds; phase-separation can produce significant detrimental effects for scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning. In the present study, blends of gelatin (Gel; natural polymer) and polycaprolactone (PCL; synthetic polymer), containing 30 and 45 wt% Gel, were prepared using acetic acid as a ‘green’ sole solvent to straightforwardly produce appropriate single-step Gel-PCL solutions for electrospinning. Miscibility of Gel and PCL in the scaffolds was assessed and the morphology, chemical composition and structural and solid-state properties of the scaffolds were thoroughly investigated. Results showed that the two polymers proved miscible under the single-step solution process used and that the electrospun scaffolds presented suitable properties for potential skin tissue engineering applications. Viability, metabolic activity and protein expression of human fibroblasts cultured on the Gel-PCL scaffolds were evaluated using LIVE/DEAD (calcein/ethidium homodimer), MTT-Formazan and immunocytochemistry assays, respectively. In vitro results showed that the electrospun Gel-PCL scaffolds enhanced cell viability and proliferation in comparison to PCL scaffolds. Furthermore, scaffolds allowed fibroblasts expression of extracellular matrix proteins, tropoelastin and collagen Type I, in a similar way to positive controls. Results indicated the feasibility of the single-step solution process used herein to obtain homogeneous electrospun Gel-PCL scaffolds with Gel content ≥30 wt% and potential properties to be used as scaffolds for skin tissue engineering applications for wound healing.
The potential value of recycling municipal household solid waste in Shanghai, China

ABSTRACT The recycling of municipal household solid waste (MHSW) is important for the environmental preservation and wellbeing of the society. In recent decades, continuous efforts in research, policy-making and municipal administration have led to improvements toward more sustainable MHSW recycling. However, MHSW recycling remains a major challenge for China. This paper analyzes the current value and potential value of MHSW recycling in order to guide residents to recycle MHSW effectively and to reduce the amount of recycle-worthy materials missing recycling. A multivariate probit model is developed to ascertain the current value and potential value of MHSW recycling. Results from a case study of Shanghai reveal that waste glass has low current value and low potential value, and waste plastics has low current value but high potential value. The results also indicate that the waste metal has high current value and high potential value, whereas waste paper has high current value but low potential value. These findings provide policymakers with useful information and rationale for directing efforts to achieve a better or optimal MHSW recycling practice. Implications: Be a multivariate probit model is developed to calculate the current value and potential value of MHSW recycling in order to guide residents to recycle MHSW and reduce an amount of miss-recycling materials. Our results have shown that waste glass has a low current value and a low potential value, waste plastics have a low current value and a high potential value. Regarding the waste metal, they have a high current value and a high potential value. For waste papers, the result indicates that it has a high current value and a low potential value.
Efficacy of fully covered self‐expandable metal stents for the management of pancreatic duct strictures in chronic pancreatitis: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Recently, there has been burgeoning interest in the utilization of fully covered self‐expandable metal stents (FCSEMSs) for managing main pancreatic duct strictures (MPDS) in chronic pancreatitis (CP). The primary aim was to investigate stricture resolution and recurrence rates of FCSEMS placement in patients with symptomatic CP complicated with MPDS.
Three-dimensional CoM energetics, pelvis and lower limbs joint kinematics of uphill treadmill running at high speed

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of slope on three-dimensional running kinematics at high speed. Thirteen male sprinters ran at high speed (7.5 m/s) on a motorised treadmill in each a level and a 5.0% slope condition. Three-dimensional motion analysis was conducted to compare centre of mass (CoM) energetics, pelvis segment and lower limb joints kinematics. We found that contact time was not affected by the slope, whereas flight time and step length were significantly shorter in uphill compared to level running. Uphill running reduced negative CoM work and increased positive CoM work compared to level running. Ankle, knee and hip joints were more flexed at initial ground contact, but only the knee was more extended at the end of stance in uphill compared to level running. Additionally, the hip joint was more abducted, and the free leg side of the pelvis was more elevated at the end of stance in uphill running. Our results demonstrate that joint motion must be developed from a more flexed/adducted position at initial contact through a greater range of motion compared to level running in order to meet the greater positive CoM work requirements in uphill running at high speed.
Population-level human secretor status is associated with genogroup 2 type 4 norovirus predominance.

BACKGROUND Noroviruses are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis. Genogroup 2 type 4 (GII.4) has been the dominant norovirus genotype worldwide since its emergence in the mid-1990s. Individuals with a functional fucosyltransferase-2 gene, known as secretors, have increased susceptibility to GII.4 noroviruses. We hypothesized that this individual-level trait may drive GII.4 norovirus predominance at the human population level. METHODS We conducted a systematic review for studies reporting norovirus outbreak or sporadic case genotypes and merged this with data on proportions of human secretor status in various countries from a separate systematic review. We used inverse variance-weighted linear regression to estimate magnitude of the population secretor-GII.4 proportion association. RESULTS 219 genotype and 112 secretor studies with data from 38 countries were included in the analysis. Study-level GII.4 proportion among all noroviruses ranged from 0% to 100%. Country secretor proportion ranged from 43.8% to 93.9%. We observed a 0.69% (95% CI: 0.19, 1.18) increase in GII.4 proportion for each percent increase in human secretor proportion, controlling for Human Development Index. CONCLUSIONS Norovirus evolution and diversity may be driven by local population human host genetics. Our results may have vaccine development implications including whether specific antigenic formulations would be required for different populations.
Xylem form and function under extreme nutrient limitation: an example from California's pygmy forest.

•Xylem anatomy and function have large implications for plant growth as well as survival during drought, but the impact of nutrient limitation on xylem is not fully understood. This study examines the pygmy forest in California, a plant community that experiences negligible water stress but is severely stunted by low-nutrient and acidic soil, to investigate how nutrient limitation affects xylem function. •Thirteen key anatomical and hydraulic traits of stems of four species were compared between pygmy forest plants and nearby conspecifics growing on richer soil. •Resistance to cavitation (P50), a critical trait for predicting survival during drought, had highly species-specific responses: in one species, pygmy plants had a 26% decrease in cavitation resistance compared to higher-nutrient conspecifics, while in another species, pygmy plants had a 56% increase in cavitation resistance. Other traits responded to nutrient limitation more consistently: pygmy plants had smaller xylem conduits and higher leaf-specific conductivity (KL) than conspecific controls. •Edaphic stress, even in the absence of water stress, altered xylem structure and thus had substantial impacts on water transport. Importantly, nutrient limitation shifted cavitation resistance in a species-specific and unpredictable manner; this finding has implications for the assessment of cavitation resistance in other natural systems.