Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of dabrafenib (D) and trametinib (T) in patients (pts) with BRAF V600E–mutated biliary tract cancer (BTC): A cohort of the ROAR basket trial.

187 Background: BTCs are rare, aggressive malignancies with poor prognoses. Treatment options and outcomes after first-line therapy are not well defined. Median progression-free survival (PFS) in second-line BTC is < 5 mo. Combined BRAF + MEK inhibition is efficacious in BRAF V600–mutated anaplastic thyroid cancer, melanoma, and lung cancer, but less so in BRAF V600E-mutated colorectal cancer. Activating BRAF V600E mutations have been reported in 0% to 20% of BTCs; thus, D (BRAF inhibitor) + T (MEK inhibitor) was evaluated as a treatment for pts with BRAF V600E–mutated BTC in the ROAR basket trial. Methods: In this phase II, open-label trial, pts with BRAF V600E mutations in 9 rare tumor types, including BTC, received D (150 mg BID) + T (2 mg QD) until unacceptable toxicity, disease progression, or death. Eligible pts had advanced or metastatic cancer and had been treated with ≥ 1 prior systemic therapy. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed overall response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included duration of response (DOR), PFS, overall survival (OS), biomarker correlates, and safety. Results: Thirty-three pts with BTC had enrolled at data cutoff (January 3, 2018). BRAF V600E mutations were centrally confirmed in 30 of 33 pts with BTC (91%). Median age was 58 y, and 78% had received ≥ 2 prior lines of systemic therapy. 32 of 33 pts with BTC were evaluable. Investigator-assessed ORR was 41% (13/32; 95% CI, 24%-59%), with 6 of 13 responses ongoing at data cutoff, 7 of 13 pts (54%) had a DOR ≥ 6 mo. Median PFS was 7.2 mo (95% CI, 4.6-10.1 mo), and median OS was 11.3 mo (95% CI, 7.3-17.6 mo). Grade 3/4 adverse events in ≥ 3 pts were increased γ-glutamyltransferase (n = 3 [9%]) and decreased white blood cell count (n = 3 pts [9%]). Biomarker analyses demonstrate a heterogeneous genetic landscape, and suggest a higher baseline expression of MAPK pathway genes in the pts who did not respond to D + T. Conclusions: D + T demonstrated promising efficacy in pts with BTC, with a favorable safety profile. These pts should be considered for BRAF mutation analysis, and D + T should be considered for pts with BRAF V600E-mutated BTC. Clinical trial information: NCT02034110.
Yet Another Study on Active Learning and Human Pose Estimation

Active learning has not received much attention in the ﬁeld of human pose estimation compared to image classiﬁcation and object detection tasks. In this paper, a practical active learning strategy, currently under testing in an industrial online environment, is proposed. An overview of the implemented strategy is presented along with initial results.
Whole genome sequence and genome-wide distributed single

The Black Bengal goat (BBG) is a dwarf sized heritage goat ( ) Capra hircus breed from Bangladesh and is well known for its high fertility, excellent , meat and skin quality. Here we present the first whole genome sequence and genome-wide distributed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the BBG. A total of 833,469,900 raw reads consisting of 125,020,485,000 bases were obtained by sequencing one male BBG sample. The reads were aligned to the San Clemente and the Yunnan black goat genome which resulted in 98.65% (properly paired, 94.81%) and 98.50% (properly paired, 97.10%) of the reads aligning, respectively. Notably, the estimated sequencing coverages were 48.22X and 44.28X compared to published San Clemente and the Yunnan black goat genomes respectively. On the other hand, a total of 9,497,875 high quality SNPs (Q ≥ 20) along with 1,023,359 indels, and 8,746,849 high quality SNPs along with 842,706 indels were identified in BBG against the San Clemente and Yunnan black goat genomes respectively. The dataset is publicly available from NCBI BioSample (SAMN10391846), Sequence Read Archive (SRR8182317, SRR8549413 and SRR8549904), with BioProject ID PRJNA504436 These . data might be useful genomic resources in conducting genome wide association studies, identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and functional genomic analysis of the Black Bengal goat.
Restoration of wooded meadows — a comparative analysis along a chronosequence on Öland (Sweden)

Abstract Wooded meadows on the Baltic Island of Öland result from traditional agricultural management over centuries which has led to a species‐rich vegetation with high species diversity. Today, nearly all of these meadows have been abandoned and became rapidly overgrown by deciduous shrub and tree species forming a closed canopy which resulted in a rapid and strong decrease in species numbers of the herb layer. Recent efforts aim to restore overgrown wooded meadows by cutting single shrubs and trees to open the canopy. However, the effects of abandonment as well as of any restoration management in wooded meadows have rarely been documented until now. Mechanisms driving succession after restoration such as the dispersal potential of the respective species over time and space have not been analysed yet. Therefore, a chronosequence was studied which included a traditionally managed wooded meadow, an overgrown meadow which has been abandoned for more than 100 yr and a meadow which was restored 36 yr ago by cutting and is now grazed. We analysed the soil seed bank of the 3 meadows in comparison with the established vegetation and endozoochorous seed dispersal by cattle and sheep. After abandonment 87% of the typical grassland species vanished from the established vegetation and were replaced by species characteristic of woodland and disturbed grassland communities. The mean number of species decreased from 52 species per plot (4 m2) to 18 species. Mean species number and number of seeds in the seed bank declined significantly from the traditionally managed to the overgrown meadow. Most of the grassland species were assigned to a transient seed bank type while only 1/3 could be classified as having a short‐term persistent seed bank. Thus, restoration of wooded meadows cannot rely on the soil seed bank. Endozoochorous seed dispersal by cattle and sheep was shown for 15% of the species with seed densities per 100 g air dried dung of 737 and 767, respectively. Movement of animals between ancient and restored wooded meadows is recommended since many of the species only occurred in low densities and therefore, will probably not be found in the dung samples. Nomenclature: Oberdorfer (1994).
Diameter at breast height-crown diameter prediction models for Picea orientalis.

Seven models for predicting crown diameter using diameter at breast height were tested for Picea orientalis L. (Link.) in Artvin. Data were obtained from 4208 trees measured on 117 temporary sample plots. Sample plots were grouped into categories with 20 year mean age class intervals. Similarly, sample plots were grouped into categories based on mean tree diameter at breast height (2 cm diameter class interval). Mean diameter at breast height and mean crown diameter of sample plots in age class were analyzed statistically. One linear and six non-linear diameters at breast height-crown diameter functions were selected as candidate functions to model diameters at breast height -crown diameter relationship. Regression analysis showed that there were statistically significant (P > 0.05) and strong (R 2 > 0.80) relationship between diameter at breast height and crown diameter variables in P. orientalis. The results of the study indicated that the diameter at breast height-crown diameter relationship can be described by cubic, compound, growth or exponential model because of the same R
The conclusion is an action

I need a covering. A cloak is a covering. I need a cloak. What I need, I have to make; I need a cloak. ’ He makes a cloak. And the conclusion, the ‘I must make a cloak’, is an action. He acts from a starting-point. If there is going to be cloak, there must necessarily be this first, and if this, this; and this he does at once. Now, that the action is the conclusion is clear (De Motu Animalium 7 701a18-23).
A study on the effect of PVDF on the structural and transport properties of polyaniline

Abstract The polymer composite of electrically conducting polyaniline with polyvinylidene fluoride is prepared to study the electrical conductivity and structural modifications. The electrical conductivity studies were made by varying frequency from 100 Hz to 5 MHz at room temperature. The AC conductivity remained almost constant at lower frequencies and for higher frequencies the conductivity increased. The PAni-PVDF composite exhibited better conductivity in comparison to the pure samples. The changes in dielectric properties against frequency variations were studied and exponential reduction in dielectric loss at very low frequencies was observed. The structural and morphological studies were carried out using XRD, FTIR, and SEM.
Malaysian bereaved fathers’ experiences after the traumatic death of their child

Abstract After the death of a child, bereaved fathers may experience tremendous loss. However, the experiences of bereaved fathers after the death of a child have rarely been studied within the academic literature. This qualitative study aims to explore the experiences of bereaved fathers after their loss. The sample consisted of 12 Malaysian bereaved fathers who lost their child due to accidents (n=11) and homicide (n=1). The findings reported themes which were memories that never end, challenges post-loss, and life after the loss. Subthemes emerged from the data which addressed health issues, stigma, challenges to understand spouses, feelings of emptiness and blaming, growth post-loss, and ongoing relationships. Even though Malay people accept the concept of fate is decided by God, they still have difficulty reconciling their emotions and their beliefs where bereavement is due is to traumatic death.
Practical reasoning and decision making in science: Struggles for truth

Abstract Knowledge building dynamics are central to scientific communities and involve dialog, debate, inquiry, and contested reasoning. Refining and developing knowledge is an oft missing dynamic in precollege educational programs. Practical reasoning and human decision making are essential epistemic and social dynamics in knowledge-building struggles and quests for the truth. Implications are presented for how a “Context of Development” approach can address “knowledge about science” learning goals and provide a framework for embedding struggles into the design of investigations and inquiries. The goal is providing learners/citizens with opportunities to acquire and make sense of evidence and then deploy that evidence for evaluating and explaining natural and social systems.
Multi-objective robust generalised H 2 control

A novel multi-objective robust control problem is studied for systems with norm-bounded structured uncertainty and robust generalised norms as criteria. Necessary conditions for Pareto optimality are formulated from which it follows that Pareto optimal solutions are to be among optimal solutions for scalar multi-objective costs in the form of Germeyer convolution. The upper bounds of the multi-objective costs are used to compute Pareto suboptimal controllers in terms of linear matrix inequalities, while the lower bounds to estimate a ‘difference’ between Pareto suboptimal and unavailable Pareto optimal controllers. Two-criteria robust control problem for a mathematical model of the rotor rotating in active magnetic bearings is considered as an application of this theory.
Case Study of Applied Artificial Neural Networks on Forecasting the Essential Performance in a CO 2 Enhanced Oil Recovery Process

Among various enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies, CO 2 flooding is utilized as an effective method because it can remarkably improve oil production in depleted oil fields and is environmentally associated with a geological carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for reducing carbon emissions from anthropogenic sources. The use of hybrid smart tools to predict the uncertainties of CO 2 -EOR projects has been suggested by previous research, but their use is still restricted on forecasting the overall performance during flooding processes. The objective of this work was to generate and investigate the applicability of network models to forecast the essential performance of water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection in terms of the oil recovery factor (RF), oil rate, gas oil ratio (GOR) and net CO 2 storage for a five-spot pattern scale. In total, 239 numerical samples were simulated and collected to train the networks. The abovementioned outputs were predicted after 10, 20, 30 and 40 cycles of injection in each network following changes of the initial water saturation, vertical-to-horizontal permeability ratio, WAG ratio and duration of each cycle. The generated network models for the oil recovery factor and CO 2 storage had excellent accuracy in estimations with an overall root mean square error for both models of less than 3%, while the errors for the oil rate and cumulative GOR fluctuated from approximately 5% to 7%. Because the deviation of the GOR and oil rate among cases was significantly high, it is recommended to predict the GOR after 20 injection cycles and the oil rate after 30 cycles. The relative correlation representing the physical terms between the design variables and outputs were also determined. The large difference in the dimensions of permeability was favorable for both CO 2 storage and final oil recovery; a WAG ratio lower than two was recommended for the flooding design. Unstable reaction relationships among parameters during the injection were observed, indicating a complication of evaluating a CO 2 flooding process in enhanced oil recovery.
Coronary Blood Flow Measured by I131 lodo‐antipyrine

The use of I131 antipyrine for determining coronary blood flow in intact dogs is described. The correlation with the simultaneous nitrous oxide method was 0.91 ωm 0.22. Partition coefficient and tissue equilibration were directly determined (1.04 ω 0.13). The method as applied requires only two minutes of sampling and is adaptable to direct writing methods.
Precision and Accuracy of Age and Growth Estimates Based on Fin Rays, Scales, and Mark-Recapture Information for Migratory Bull Trout

Abstract Accurate quantitative descriptions of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) growth are important for understanding life history and developing reliable stock assessments. In the absence of age validation, important steps are to review the precision of age estimation methods and evaluate whether age estimates yield growth rates consistent with known fish growth based on tag recoveries. We assessed the precision of age estimates using pelvic fin rays and scales for migratory bull trout (297–605 mm total length) from the North Fork Clearwater River, and then compared growth estimates derived from both structures with growth based on tag recoveries. Fin rays produced a lower coefficient of variation (CV = 5.84) than scales (CV = 12.56). Ages estimated from scales were higher for fish aged < 5 with fin rays and lower for fish aged ≥ 5. Comparisons of growth estimates derived from 70 tagged bull trout at large from 0.35 to 3.02 years with age-length equations based on fin ray and scale annuli indicated that ages estimated from fin rays (N = 189, predicted length of an age 3 fish = 310mm) were closely related to the apparent ages estimated from the mark-recapture model (apparent age of a 310mm fish = 2.9) whereas scales (N = 65, predicted length of an age 3 fish = 408mm) were not. This is the first study to assess the precision of structures for modeling growth of larger migratory bull trout. However validation of annuli formation from the recapture of known-age fish is recommended.
Role of auxins in the in vitro rooting and micropropagation of Holarrhena antidysenterica Wall., a woody aromatic medicinal plant, through nodal explants from mature trees

An economic and efficient procedure has been outlined for plant regeneration of an important medicinal shrub, Holarrhena antidysenterica W. using nodal explants obtained from about 20-year-old mature trees growing in the field, belonging to the family of Apocynaceae. Shoot development was maximum (90%) on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) basal medium supplemented with α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 2.0 mg/L), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, 1.0 mg/L), and KIN (1.0 mg/L) with (10.06 ± 0.24) mean number of shoots per explants and the maximum shoot length was found to be 4.01 ± 0.37. The role of auxins were instrumental as rooting of the differentiated shoots was best in MS medium with combination of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA, 1.5 mg/L) and IAA (1.5 mg/L) with 13.14 ± 0.08 mean number of roots per shoots and the mean root length was found to be 5.61 ± 0.03. Regenerated plantlets were successfully acclimated in the green house and after a hardening period of 4 weeks, 90% transplantation success was achieved under the natural condition. The established in vitro propagated plants were identical and uniform on the basis of the morphology and growth characteristics to the donor plants used in the study.
Genotypic differences in embryonic life history traits of Folsomia quadrioculata (Collembola: Isotomidae) across a wide geographical range

1. Life history traits play a central role in adaptation to specific environmental conditions. Egg development time, hatchling, and egg batch size in 10 populations of the soil‐dwelling collembolan species Folsomia quadrioculata (Tullberg, 1871) from diverse habitats across arctic and temperate regions, ranging in latitude from 43 to 81°N were studied.
Can Focal Species Planning for Landscape Connectivity Meet the Needs of South American Temperate Rainforest Endemics?

ABSTRACT: Although reliance on ‘focal species’ for conservation planning has been criticized, it is often the most practicable approach available, and its use continues to increase. We, and other researchers, have suggested the chucao tapaculo (Scelorchilus rubecula Kittlitz) as a potentially useful focal species regarding landscape connectivity for a select group of endemic understory birds and mammals in the South American Temperate Rainforest (SATR) biome. Each of these species is a forest understory specialist that is potentially dispersal limited. Because knowledge about dispersal ability for the chucao is better than for any other vertebrate in the biome, it has also been suggested as a focal species for connectivity planning at larger-scales and for a larger suite of species. While we are confident that landscapes designed to meet the connectivity requirements of the chucao would be permeable to movement by most SATR vertebrates, we caution that large-scale applicability of design strategies based on local-scale movement studies for this bird requires close examination. In the context of regional-scale conservation networks, we argue that the connection/corridor, itself, should be designed to sustain a continuous viable (meta)population. In this paper we: (1) review the body of research on landscape connectivity for the chucao and other SATR understory-birds; (2) suggest some possible strategies for scaling-up corridor designs to function at larger spatial scales, by addressing (meta)population viability in addition to habitat permeability; and (3) critically evaluate the degree to which these designs may, and in many cases may not, meet the conservation needs of other vertebrates in the SATR biome.
The performance of the EU-Rotate_N model in predicting the growth and nitrogen uptake of rotations of field vegetable crops in a Mediterranean environment

SUMMARY The EU-Rotate_N model was developed as a tool to estimate the growth and nitrogen (N) uptake of vegetable crop rotations across a wide range of European climatic conditions and to assess the economic and environmental consequences of alternative management strategies. The model has been evaluated under field conditions in Germany and Norway and under greenhouse conditions in China. The present work evaluated the model using Italian data to evaluate its performance in a warm and dry environment. Data were collected from four 2-year field rotations, which included lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck) and white cabbage (B. oleracea convar. capitata var. alba L.); each rotation used three different rates of N fertilizer (average recommended N1, assumed farmer's practice N2=N1+0·3×N1 and a zero control N0). Although the model was not calibrated prior to running the simulations, results for above-ground dry matter biomass, crop residue biomass, crop N concentration and crop N uptake were promising. However, soil mineral N predictions to 0·6 m depth were poor. The main problem with the prediction of the test variables was the poor ability to capture N mineralization in some autumn periods and an inappropriate parameterization of fennel. In conclusion, the model performed well, giving results comparable with other bio-physical process simulation models, but for more complex crop rotations. The model has the potential for application in Mediterranean environments for field vegetable production.
Sourcing starter cultures for Parkia biglobosa fermentation I: Phylogenic grouping of Bacillus species from commercial 'iru' samples

Twenty five isolates of Bacillus species were obtained from ten commercial samples of ‘iru’ (fermented African locust bean), after heat-treatment at 80°C for 30 min. All the isolates were Gram-positive, spore-former, catalase-positive, non-motile rods. The phylogenic relationship between the isolates was studied by repetitive PCR fingerprinting using the (GTG)5 primer, referred to as (GTG)5-PCR fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analyses. The (GTG)5-PCR fingerprinting resulted in grouping of the isolates into 12 phylogenetic groups. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, most of the Bacillus isolates were found to be closely related to Bacillus subtilis, while strain 8B was closely related to Bacillus licheniformis. Key words: ‘Iru’, Bacillus, starter culture, African locust bean, Parkia biglobosa fermentation, rep-PCR fingerprint, 16S rRNA sequencing.
Surfactant Free Preparation of Celecoxib Microcrystals by a Controlled Precipitation Process

Background: The antisolvent precipitation technique has evolved into an effective method to prepare microcrystals of drug. Although this method has advantages, such as cost effectiveness, the processing is significantly sensitive to stabilizer. The aim of present study was to prepare celecoxib (CLX) microcrystals via antisolvent precipitation technique without any surfactants. Methods: Acetone was used as a solvent for the CLX and water was used as an antisolvent. During the precipitation process, several experimental parameters, such as the volume ratio of antisolvent to CLX solution, the concentration of CLX solution, the temperature and the stirring speed, were investigated. Results: The results showed that external characteristics such as particle size and its distribution were strongly influenced by the process parameters, while the internal structures such as chemical composition and crystal structure were unaffected during the process. Higher volume ratio of antisolvent to CLX solution, lower temperature and more- intense stirring led to the smaller crystals. However, increasing the concentration of CLX solution resulted in aggregation of crystals and consequently formation of large crystals with more heterogeneous distribution. It was found that this effect could be prevented by using of ethanol as co-solvent with volume ratio to acetone 5:1. Under the optimum conditions, the yielded powder had a mean particle size of 7 µm and 70 % of the particles were distributed in the range of 0.3- 15 µm. Conclusion: Results of this study offer a useful starting point for a conceptual framework to guide the preparation of microcrystals without using a stabilizer.