Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Apatinib enhances chemosensitivity of gastric cancer to paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil

Background and aim: Paclitaxel (PTX) plus 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) has become the standard chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer (GC). Apatinib, a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, improves outcomes in GC patients as a third-line treatment. However, its impact on the chemosensitivity of GC remains to be determined. Hence, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with chemotherapy in vivo and in vitro. Methods: The MGC803 cell viability was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and the interactions between apatinib and conventional cytotoxic agents revealed by combination index values were calculated using Calcusyn 2.0 software. We also used a zebrafish embryo xenograft model to validate the synergistic interactions. Furthermore, 4 patients with late-stage GC were enrolled to explore the efficacy and safety of PTX/Tegafur Gimeracil Oteracil Potassium (S1) (PS) chemotherapy plus apatinib in conversion surgery. Results: Apatinib showed synergistic interactions with both PTX and 5-Fu in vivo. The zebrafish embryo xenograft model also demonstrated that apatinib significantly enhanced the antitumor activity of PTX and 5-Fu. Apatinib plus PS chemotherapy was well tolerated before surgery. Objective response to preoperative SPA treatment was achieved in all 4 patients. No postoperative bleeding events or wound-healing complications were observed. No postperative morbidity occurred and no morbidity was encountered. Pathological examination showed that all patients had grade Ib pathological response. Conclusion: The experimental data suggested that apatinib improves the efficacy of PTX and 5-Fu both in vitro and in vivo. Clinical evidence showed that a combination of PS chemotherapy with apatinib may be an efficient and acceptable safety treatment for late-stage GC, especially in conversion surgery.
PALEOLIMNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS AND ORGANIC ACCUMULATION OF THE NENJIANG FORMATION IN THE SOUTHEASTERN SONGLIAO BASIN, CHINA

Thick layers of dark lacustrine mudstone in the Nenjiang Forma- tion record the evolution of local depositional environments in the Songliao Basin. This evolution in lake water is accurately reflected in variations in trace element compositions in sedimentary rocks. In this study, element geo- chemistry and clay mineralogy in successive cores were investigated to have a closer insight into the paleolimnological environment and organic accumulation during the Nenjiang epoch. Analysis of the contents of Mn, Ca and Ti, as well as Rb/Sr and Sr/Cu revealed that paleoclimate cycled between warm and humid to semi-arid and hot. The study of Sr/Ba ratios, clay minerals and stable isotopes indicated that both high and low salinity existed in two stages, and that high salinity in Member 1 of the Nenjiang Formation is likely correlated with transgressive events. Analysis of the ratios of V/V + Ni, Ni/V and Th/U suggested that the paleolimnological environment was reducing. The investigation of paleotemperature demonstrated that the Nenjiang Formation was deposited in a warm water environment, analysis of carbon and oxygen isotopes revealed its deposition in open paleolake. High paleoproductivity and salinity as well as redox potentials represent the most favorable environment for oil shale enrichment.
An Analysis of Scope Economies and Specialisation Efficiencies Among Thai Shrimp and Rice Smallholders

Smallholders increasingly combine shrimp culture with the more traditional rice enterprise in regions of Thailand suitable for raising shrimps. They can exploit cost complementarities in production by combining activities in these enterprises within their farming systems. At the same time, it makes them more susceptible to on-farm negative externalities between rice and shrimp production, in both directions, causing scope diseconomies. A stochastic input distance model is estimated using data on shrimp and rice production by 52 smallholder households. Results from the estimated model are used to establish whether scope economies or diseconomies exist and whether specialisation in either shrimp or rice production significantly influences technical efficiency on the sampled smallholdings. Significant scope economies were found to exist between the two enterprises among best-practice smallholders but they were offset by diversification inefficiencies beneath the frontier. Hence, specialisation in one of the two enterprises has two effects on productivity that operate in opposite directions. The first effect is a negative impact on productivity via loss of scope economies. The second effect is an increase in productivity by reaping specialisation efficiencies or, put another way, avoidance of diversification inefficiencies. If on-farm negative externalities between rice and shrimp production do exist, they appear to be strongly outweighed by cost complementarities on the frontier. It is likely that 'best-practice' smallholders are able to 'internalise' the negative externalities in both directions to a substantial degree. They achieve this 'internalisation' by regular use of fresh water in a semi-closed pond system of shrimp production that minimises pond contamination and protects them from the activities of surrounding producers who discharge effluent into the waterways or whose shrimp suffer from diseases. In addition to the degree of enterprise specialisation, the level of schooling of the household head and the tenure system in shrimp and rice production were identified as variables that significantly influence technical inefficiency. As expected, higher education is associated with lower technical inefficiency. Tenancy is also associated with lower technical inefficiency. Results indicate that a small but significant level of technical inefficiency exists, which means there is limited opportunity to expand crop output without resort to greater use of factor inputs or the introduction of improved production technologies.
Effects of smoking cessation on pulmonary function and quality of life

Background: Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem and is the most important cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study shows the importance of smoking cessation for improvement in respiratory function and quality of life and brings out the potential usage of pharmacological and behavioural therapy for the same. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 50 male smokers at Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai. During the treatment only 43 patients were continued till the end of follow up. During the period, varenicline treatment was given for three months as per schedule, regular periodic counselling was given to these patients and followed up for a period of 1 year. Forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), COPD assessment test (CAT) scoring, 6 min walk test (6MWD), BODE index, was taken before starting therapy and on 3 rd month and at the end of one year of follow-up. All the values obtained were analysed statistically. Results: The mean age of the 43 patients was 44.7±7.34, mean BMI was 22.27±4.24. The mean difference between pre and post treatment scores of CAT, 6MWD and BODE index were found to be statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusions: Combined behavioural counseling and pharmacotherapy with varenicline significantly improved the odds of achieving tobacco abstinence in the participants by the end of one year of treatment.
Towards "Intelligent Compression" in Streams: A Biased Reservoir Sampling based Bloom Filter Construction

With the explosion of information stored world-wide, data intensive computing has become a central area of research. Efficient management and processing of this massively exponential amount of data from diverse sources, such as telecommunication call data records, telescope imagery, online transaction records, web pages, stock markets, medical records (monitoring critical health conditions of patients), climate warning systems, etc., has become a necessity. Removing redundancy from such huge (multi-billion records) datasets resulting in resource and compute efficiency for downstream processing constitutes an important area of study. “Intelligent compression” or deduplication in streaming scenarios, for precise identification and elimination of duplicates from the unbounded data stream is a greater challenge given the real-time nature of data arrival. Stable Bloom Filters (SBF) address this problem to a certain extent. However, SBF suffers from a high false negative rate (FNR) and slow convergence rate, thereby rendering it inefficient for applications with low FNR tolerance. In this paper, we present a novel Reservoir Sampling based Bloom Filter, (RSBF ) data structure, based on the combined concepts of reservoir sampling and Bloom filters for approximate detection of duplicates in data streams. Using detailed theoretical analysis we prove analytical bounds on its false positive rate (FPR), false negative rate (FNR) and convergence rates. We show that our FN and convergence rate are better than those of SBF. Using empirical analysis on real-world datasets (3 million records) and synthetic datasets with around 1 billion records, we demonstrate upto 2× improvement in FNR with better convergence rates as compared to SBF, while exhibiting comparable FPR. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to integrate reservoir sampling method with Bloom filters for deduplication in streaming scenarios.
Running head: BEHAVIOURAL ACTIVATION FOR WELLBEING 1 A preliminary evaluation of a single session behavioural activation intervention to improve wellbeing and prevent depression in carers

Background: Major depressive disorder is predicted to be the lead cause of disease burden by 2030. Despite evidence suggesting that major depressive disorder can be prevented, little attention has been paid to developing interventions for this purpose. Since research suggests that high levels of subjective wellbeing may protect against depression, an intervention that can enhance and maintain subjective wellbeing may assist in preventing major depressive disorder. Behavioural activation is a promising intervention that has been observed to both effectively treat depression and also enhance subjective wellbeing, even in a single-session. Method: A randomised control design was used to investigate the efficacy of a single session of behavioural activation to boost wellbeing and reduce distress in a community sample of carers (N = 13), who may be at increased risk of major depressive disorder. Outcome measures assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and wellbeing, and the lifestyle factors of perceived environmental reward and the extent to which individuals lived in accordance with their personal values. Results: Generalised linear mixed modelling revealed significant Group x Time interactions for stress scores and valued living, indicating a treatment effect on these outcomes. Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of a single session BA intervention to improve outcomes of carers.
Strengthening customer retention in the service sector:Can value co-creation help? : A case study

The goal of this research is to explore possible ways and strategies to implement co-creation in the service industry to support companies with their customer retention. Here, value co-creation process of the service dominant logic is taken into account. Thereby, actions are investigated in order to strengthen the customer retention in the service sector. The focus lies on advertising agencies which act as the service provider in this research. In order to get an overview of the theoretical principles service dominant logic and co-creation in the service sector, a structured literature review is conducted. Advertising agencies are selected as the focus is on service providers and for the case study an agency from Munster, Germany is chosen. The case study of an advertising agency from Munster is carried out not only by means of semi-structured interviews with employees, but also with clients belonging to the existing customer base of the agency. The findings reveal that in today’s business environment customer value co-creation is increasingly important. Digitalization enables easier ways of communication between service providers and their clients. Due to that, customers want the special feeling of being in good hands at any touchpoint with the company. Nevertheless, current customer relationships with existing customers lack the relevant attributes. To keep the existing customers and to maximize the loyalty towards the company, co-creation can be integrated wisely to a certain degree. From the academic perspective, this research complements existing literature on customer retention in the service sector. Even if the existing theory implies actions for integrating co-creation in the service sector, this research further presents suggestions for customer retention within advertising agencies. Moreover, the service dominant logic acts as the main pillar in order to strengthen customer satisfaction and thereby customer retention. The resulting possibilities to integrate co-creation in the customer retention progress and recommendations to strengthen the customer retention should help service companies to keep existing customers more efficiently and to redefine their customer marketing strategy. The in-depth analysis of the chosen agency provides insights on to what extent value co-creation can help in maintaining existing customers or why the co-creation process is not applicable for some customers.
Multifunctional human serum albumin-modified reduced graphene oxide for targeted photothermal therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancer worldwide, and has a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and treatment of HCC would significantly improve clinical outcomes. Near infrared (NIR) laser and photo-absorbing agent-based photothermal therapy (PTT) is an emerging therapeutic hyperthermia approach, and has been suggested as a minimally invasive and highly efficient therapeutic method. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is one of the most typical photothermal agents. Compared with other materials, rGO possesses some advantages, such as simple synthesis, low cost, high photo-stability and large surface area for drug loading. However, rGO exhibits poor dispersibility and difficult modification due to loss of the hydrophilic functional groups during the reduction process. Thus, the modification processes of rGO are always complicated, time-consuming, and require some expensive polymers. In this paper, human serum albumin (HSA) was functionalized with indocyanine green (ICG) and lactobionic acid (LA) to prepare multifunctional human serum albumin (mfHSA), which could be used for the modification of rGO. This approach is simple and highly efficient, and not only improves the stability and the biocompatibility of rGO, but also makes it exhibit an enhanced photothermal conversion efficiency and targeting specificity towards HCC cells. The low cytotoxicity and the high PTT therapeutic efficacy at both the cellular and animal levels indicated that the prepared multifunctional nanomaterials could serve as a highly effective therapeutic agent for HCC.
Barkhausen noise in soft amorphous magnetic materials under applied stress

We report experimental measurements of Barkhausen noise on a Fe64Co21B15 amorphous alloy under tensile stress. We interpret the scaling behavior of the noise distributions in terms of the depinning transition of the domain walls. We show that stress induced anisotropy enhances the effect of short-range elastic interactions that dominate over long-range dipolar interactions. The universality class is thus different from the one usually observed in Barkhausen noise measurements and is characterized by the exponents τ≃1.3 and α≃1.5, for the decay of the distributions of jump sizes and durations.
Social Equality as Groundwork for Sustainable Schooling: The Free Lunch Issue

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to discuss the way of organizing free lunch at public schools as an important precondition for social equality and sustainability in school, by revealing acute forms of social disjunction in Lithuanian schools as a major incongruity with Children Rights, and an obstacle to the achievement of general education goals. The objective of the study: to study the experience of pupils subject to free lunch in public schools, as well as the experience and viewpoints of pedagogues involved in the organization of free lunch in relation to social equality and sustainable schooling. A qualitative research was conducted in several Lithuanian schools focusing on the experience of the pupils, who had the privilege of having cost-free lunch at schools, as well as the pedagogues involved in organizing free lunch. The research data indicated the violation of children’s rights to healthy nutrition, as the respondents complained about the quality and the way of implementation of free lunch in schools. The research data revealed some discriminatory practices of separate queues to provide dishes to pupils from needy families, and limited or lacking opportunities for them to choose dishes. The analysis of the research data led to the recommendation to professionally assess the correspondence of the organization of free meals in the aspects of effectiveness, legal regulation and ethics with children’s needs.
Merging binary stars and the magnetic white dwarfs

A magnetic dynamo driven by differential rotation generated when stars merge can explain strong fields in certain classes of magnetic stars, including the high field magnetic white dwarfs (HFMWDs). In their case the site of the differential rotation has been variously proposed to be within a common envelope, the massive hot outer regions of a merged degenerate core or an accretion disc formed by a tidally disrupted companion that is subsequently incorporated into a degenerate core. We synthesize a population of binary systems to investigate the stellar merging hypothesis for observed single HFMWDs. Our calculations provide mass distribution and the fractions of white dwarfs that merge during a common envelope phase or as double degenerate systems in a post common envelope phase. We vary the common envelope efficiency parameter alpha and compare with observations. We find that this hypothesis can explain both the observed incidence of magnetism and the mass distribution of HFMWDs for a wide range of alpha. In this model, the majority of the HFMWDs are of the Carbon Oxygen type and merge within a common envelope. Less than about a quarter of a per cent of HFMWDs originate from double degenerate stars that merge after common envelope evolution and these populate the high-mass tail of the HFMWD mass distribution.
The Effect of Maternal Factors on Prenatal Attachment

Maternal factors, including attachment history, current attachments, level of education, religion, social support, age, marital status, and trimester were examined in relation to prenatal attachment scores. Data from 32 women at various points in their pregnancy was analyzed using three 2 x 2 x 2 ANOV As and one 2 x 2 x 3 ANOV A. Factors that appear to individually increase prenatal attachment include low parental overprotection, high social support, being non-religious, and low anxiety and dependence in terms of current attachments. Further, interactions of maternal variables produced several significant findings. These results suggest that future research in prenatal attachment should not be limited to correlations or main effects. Rather, studying maternal variables in combinations may provide more consistency and clarity in this important area of research.
Using Dimensionality Reduction to Analyze Protein Trajectories

In recent years the analysis of molecular dynamics trajectories using dimensionality reduction algorithms has become commonplace. These algorithms seek to find a low-dimensional representation of a trajectory that is, according to a well-defined criterion, optimal. A number of different strategies for generating projections of trajectories have been proposed but little has been done to systematically compare how these various approaches fare when it comes to analysing trajectories for biomolecules in explicit solvent. In the following paper, we have thus analyzed a molecular dynamics trajectory of the C-terminal fragment of the immunoglobulin binding domain B1 of protein G of Streptococcus modeled in explicit solvent using a range of different dimensionality reduction algorithms. We have then tried to systematically compare the projections generated using each of these algorithms by using a clustering algorithm to find the positions and extents of the basins in the high-dimensional energy landscape. We find that no algorithm outshines all the other in terms of the quality of the projection it generates. Instead, all the algorithms do a reasonable job when it comes to building a projection that separates some of the configurations that lie in different basins. Having said that, however, all the algorithms struggle to project the basins because they all have a large intrinsic dimensionality.
Desire for improved disclosure, community and bonding among young adults with perinatally acquired HIV

Abstract The increasing number of patients with PHIV transitioning into adulthood in high-income countries over the last decade or so has provided health care providers with opportunities to learn about unique obstacles and challenges faced by this population. To better understand the lived experiences of youth with PHIV, we conducted comprehensive interviews with nine patients with PHIV, between 19 and 30 years of age, at the Yale New Haven Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Program. Our interviews aimed to provide youth with PHIV a forum to share their views about: (1) what comprises a good quality of life (QoL), (2) their personal experiences with HIV disclosure, and (3) challenges they faced growing up and transitioning into adulthood. We derived supporting data on the resilience and QoL of our participants from responses to The Brief Resilience Scale and WHOQOL-HIV BREF surveys. Common themes that emerged included: desire for improved disclosure of HIV status, fear of stigma, and anger against biological mothers. Anger against biological mothers appeared to worsen feelings of isolation and adherence to medication. Our findings suggest that forums to enhance sharing of experiences and improve age-appropriate HIV knowledge are potentially important in caring for patients with PHIV.