Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic factors for recurrence and survival in uterine leiomyosarcoma: Korean single center experience with 50 cases

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the possible prognostic factors in patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS). Methods This study retrospectively investigated 50 patients with uterine LMS treated at the Samsung Medical Center between 2001 and 2017. To analyze the prognostic significance of factors for recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), and survival after recurrence, the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards model were used for univariate and multivariate analysis. Results Of the 50 patients, 30 (60.0%) experienced recurrence and 16 (32.0%) died within a median follow-up period of 21 (range, 3–99) months. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age, absence of residual tumor after surgery, lower mitotic count, and a history of adjuvant radiotherapy at first treatment were significantly associated with better RFS. Presence of residual tumor after surgery and severe nuclear atypia were associated with poor OS. In the analysis of survival after recurrence, hematogenous recurrence, severe nuclear atypia, and presence of residual tumor at primary surgery were significantly associated with worse prognosis. Notably, residual tumor status at primary surgery was associated with RFS, OS, and survival after recurrence. Conclusion We demonstrated the possible prognostic factors for RFS, OS, and survival after recurrence for patients with LMS. These results may provide useful information for patients with LMS.
Modular organization of murine locomotor pattern in the presence and absence of sensory feedback from muscle spindles

Locomotion on land and in water requires the coordination of a great number of muscle activations and joint movements. Constant feedback about the position of own body parts in relation to the surrounding environment and the body itself (proprioception) is required to maintain stability and avoid failure. The central nervous system may follow a modular type of organization by controlling muscles in orchestrated groups (muscle synergies) rather than individually. We used this concept on genetically modified mice lacking muscle spindles, one of the two main classes of proprioceptors. We provide evidence that proprioceptive feedback is required by the central nervous system to accurately tune the modular organization of locomotion.
Dry Immersion as a Ground-Based Model of Microgravity Physiological Effects

Dry immersion (DI) is one of the most widely used ground models of microgravity. DI accurately and rapidly reproduces most of physiological effects of short-term space flights. The model simulates such factors of space flight as lack of support, mechanical and axial unloading as well as physical inactivity. The current manuscript gathers the results of physiological studies performed from the time of the model’s development. This review describes the changes induced by DI of different duration (from few hours to 56 days) in the neuromuscular, sensory-motor, cardiorespiratory, digestive and excretory, and immune systems, as well as in the metabolism and hemodynamics. DI reproduces practically the full spectrum of changes in the body systems during the exposure to microgravity. The numerous publications from Russian researchers, which until present were mostly inaccessible for scientists from other countries are summarized in this work. These data demonstrated and validated DI as a ground-based model for simulation of physiological effects of weightlessness. The magnitude and rate of physiological changes during DI makes this method advantageous as compared with other ground-based microgravity models. The actual and potential uses of the model are discussed in the context of fundamental studies and applications for Earth medicine.
Tools and Approaches for Dissecting Protein Bacteriocin Import in Gram-Negative Bacteria

Bacteriocins of Gram-negative bacteria are typically multi-domain proteins that target and kill bacteria of the same or closely related species. There is increasing interest in protein bacteriocin import; from a fundamental perspective to understand how folded proteins are imported into bacteria and from an applications perspective as species-specific antibiotics to combat multidrug resistant bacteria. In order to translocate across the cell envelope and cause cell death, protein bacteriocins hijack nutrient uptake pathways. Their import is energized by parasitizing intermembrane protein complexes coupled to the proton motive force, which delivers a toxic domain into the cell. A plethora of genetic, structural, biochemical, and biophysical methods have been applied to find cell envelope components involved in bacteriocin import since their discovery almost a century ago. Here, we review the various approaches that now exist for investigating how protein bacteriocins translocate into Gram-negative bacteria and highlight areas of research that will need methodological innovations to fully understand this process. We also highlight recent studies demonstrating how bacteriocins can be used to probe organization and architecture of the Gram-negative cell envelope itself.
Impact of pediatric cardiac surgery regionalization on health care utilization and mortality.

OBJECTIVE Regionalization directs patients to high-volume hospitals for specialized care. We investigated regionalization trends and outcomes in pediatric cardiac surgery. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Statewide inpatient data from eleven states between 2000 and 2012. STUDY DESIGN Mortality, length of stay (LOS), and cost were assessed using multivariable hierarchical regression with state and year fixed effects. Primary predictor was hospital case-volume, categorized into low-, medium-, and high-volume tertiles. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS We used Risk Adjustment for Congenital Heart Surgery-1 (RACHS-1) to select pediatric cardiac surgery discharges. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In total, 2841 (8.5 percent), 8348 (25.1 percent), and 22 099 (66.4 percent) patients underwent heart surgeries in low-, medium-, and high-volume hospitals. Mortality decreased over time, but remained higher in low- and medium-volume hospitals. High-volume hospitals had lower odds of mortality and cost than low-volume hospitals (odds ratio [OR] 0.59, P < 0.01, and relative risk [RR] 0.91, P < 0.01, respectively). LOS was longer for high- and medium-volume hospitals, compared to low-volume hospitals (high-volume: RR 1.18, P < 0.01; medium-volume: RR 1.05, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Regionalization reduced mortality and cost, indicating fewer complications, but paradoxically increased LOS. Further research is needed to explore the full impact on health care utilization.
Ineffective Airway Clearance in Surgical Patients: Evaluation of Nursing Interventions and Outcomes.

PURPOSE To evaluate the benefits of NIC interventions in postoperative patients with ineffective airway clearance (00031). METHODS Quasi-experimental study with interrupted time-series design. A total of 101 patients were evaluated during 4 days based on the nursing outcome Respiratory Status: Airway Patency (0410). FINDINGS Interventions such as cough enhancement (3250), ventilation assistance (3390), and airway management (3140) contributed to significative improvements of the patients' airway patency. Site of surgery and patients' intrinsic characteristics were proven to have influence in the NOC ratings. CONCLUSIONS Interventions implemented during the research contributed to improvement of clinical indicators of airway patency. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE Postoperative respiratory complications can be minimized by the use of standardized nursing languages.
Delayed onset of smooth muscle cell differentiation leads to hydroureter formation in mice with conditional loss of the zinc finger transcription factor gene Gata2 in the ureteric mesenchyme

The establishment of the peristaltic machinery of the ureter is precisely controlled to cope with the onset of urine production in the fetal kidney. Retinoic acid (RA) has been identified as a signal that maintains the mesenchymal progenitors of the contractile smooth muscle cells (SMCs), while WNTs, SHH, and BMP4 induce their differentiation. How the activity of the underlying signalling pathways is controlled in time, space, and quantity to activate coordinately the SMC programme is poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence that the Zn‐finger transcription factor GATA2 is involved in this crosstalk. In mice, Gata2 is expressed in the undifferentiated ureteric mesenchyme under control of RA signalling. Conditional deletion of Gata2 by a Tbx18cre driver results in hydroureter formation at birth, associated with a loss of differentiated SMCs. Analysis at earlier stages and in explant cultures revealed that SMC differentiation is not abrogated but delayed and that dilated ureters can partially regain peristaltic activity when relieved of urine pressure. Molecular analysis identified increased RA signalling as one factor contributing to the delay in SMC differentiation, possibly caused by reduced direct transcriptional activation of Cyp26a1, which encodes an RA‐degrading enzyme. Our study identified GATA2 as a feedback inhibitor of RA signalling important for precise onset of ureteric SMC differentiation, and suggests that in a subset of cases of human congenital ureter dilatations, temporary relief of urine pressure may ameliorate the differentiation status of the SMC coat. © 2019 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
High Definition Map Based Motion Plan and Control of Autonomous Vehicle on Structured Road

A high definition (HD) map based motion plan and control method of autonomous vehicle on structured road is proposed in this paper. The system is designed in a multi-layer structure: a motion planner and a motion controller, furthermore, the motion planner is consisted of a global path planner and a local trajectory planner. The inputs of the global path planner are HD map, start and goal state, Dynamic Program (DP) is used to plan a global path that connect these two states based on the lane-level structures and traffic rules extracted from HD map. The inputs of local motion planner are the planned global path, current host vehicle state and the surrounding dynamic object information, several candidate trajectories are generated in Frenet frame, and then the optimal one is chosen by a multi-term cost function calculation. Taking the vehicle dynamics under high speed into consideration, Model Predictive Control (MPC) is used in motion controller to track the planned target trajectory. Results of the conducted simulation tests show that the designed motion plan and control method works well in velocity keeping, vehicle following, stopping and going, and vehicle passing scenarios.
Social Connections within Executive Teams and Management Forecasts

We examine the role of teamwork within the top executive teams in generating management forecasts. Using social connections within the executive team to capture the team’s interaction, cooperation, and teamwork, we find that social connections among team members are associated with higher management forecast accuracy, consistent with economic theories that information is dispersed within a firm and with sociology insights that social connections facilitate information sharing. Further analyses show that the association between social connections and forecast accuracy is stronger when the teams are just beginning to work together, when their firms face more uncertainty or adversity, and when the CEOs are less powerful. Our results hold for a subsample of executive teams that experience pseudo exogenous shocks to their social connectedness. Taken together, our results underscore the importance of teamwork among executives in the forecast generation process. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accou.
Strategic port graph rewriting: an interactive modelling framework

We present strategic port graph rewriting as a basis for the implementation of visual modelling tools. The goal is to facilitate the specification and programming tasks associated with the modelling of complex systems. A system is represented by an initial graph and a collection of graph rewrite rules, together with a user-defined strategy to control the application of rules. The traditional operators found in strategy languages for term rewriting have been adapted to deal with the more general setting of graph rewriting, and some new constructs have been included in the strategy language to deal with graph traversal and management of rewriting positions in the graph. We give a formal semantics for the language, and describe its implementation: the graph transformation and visualisation tool Porgy.
Robust feedback stabilisation of homogeneous differential inclusions

ABSTRACT The present paper is devoted to solution of the robust stabilisation problem for generalised homogeneous differential inclusions via dynamical feedback. The stability criterion is obtained. It is shown that asymptotically stable homogeneous differential inclusion is topologically equivalent to quadratically stable one via corresponding coordinate transformation. The results are supported with numerical examples of dynamical feedback design for an active suspension system.
High virulence gene diversity in Streptococcus pyogenes isolated in Central Italy

Globally, Streptococcus pyogenes poses a continuous burden on human health, causing both self-limiting and life-threatening diseases. Therefore, studying the profile of virulence genes and their combinations is essential to monitor the epidemiology and pathogenic potential of this important species. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze related genetic features of clinical strains collected in Italy in 2012 in order to obtain a valid picture of their virulence profile that could be compared to similar studies made in other countries approximately in the same period. We conducted emm typing and fibronectin-collagen-T antigen (FCT) region typing in 122 Streptococcus pyogenes strains. Furthermore, several additional virulence genes were screened by polymerase chain reaction. We found correlations between emm types and FCT region profiles. emm1 strains were mainly associated with FCT2 and FCT6, while emm89 and emm12 strains were associated with FCT4. FCT5 was mainly represented in emm4, emm6, and emm75 strains. Significantly, we defined subtypes for each FCT type based on the differences in single and double loci compared to the reference scheme used for the classification of the FCT region. In addition, new FCT-region variants with differences in multiple loci were also recorded. Cluster analysis based on virulence gene profiling showed a non-random distribution within each emm type. This study added new data to existing studies conducted worldwide and revealed new variability scores in circulating Streptococcus pyogenes strains and new assortments in well-established virulence gene signatures.
Genome-wide characterization of endogenous retroviruses in snub-nosed monkeys

Background Endogenous retroviruses (ERV) are remnants of former exogenous retroviruses that had previously invaded the germ line of the host that can be vertically transmitted across generations. While the majority of ERVs lack infectious capacity due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations, some ERVs remain active and produce potentially infectious viral particles. ERV sequences have been reported in all mammals; however, the distribution and diversity of ERVs in several primate taxa remains unclear. The aim of this study was to identify and classify the ERV sequences in the genomes of the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) and the black and white snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti), two endangered primate species that exploit high altitude (2,500–4,500 m) temperate forests in southern and central China. Methods We used a TBLASTN program to search the ERV sequences of golden snub-nosed monkey genome and the black and white snub-nosed monkey genome. We retrieved all complete accession sequences from the homology search and then used the program, RetroTector, to check and identify the ERV sequences. Results We identified 284 and 263 endogenous retrovirus sequences in R. roxellana and R. bieti respectively. The proportion of full-length sequences of all ERV was 30% in R. roxellana and 21% in R. bieti and they were described as class I and class II or gamma-retrovirus and beta-retrovirus genera. The truncation pattern distribution in the two species was virtually identical. By analyzing and comparing ERV orthologues among 6 primate species, we identified the co-evolution of ERVs with their host. We also examined ERV-like sequences and found 48 such genes in R. roxellana and 63 in R. bieti. Some of those genes are associated with diseases, suggesting that ERVs might have involved the abnormal expression of certain genes that have contributed to deleterious consequences for the host. Conclusions Our results indicate that ERV sequences are widely distributed in snub-nosed monkeys, and their phylogenetic history can mirror that of their hosts over long evolutionary time scales. In addition, ERV sequences appear to have an important influence on the evolution of host pathology.
Industry 4.0-enabled In-Store Customer Experiences – Evidence from Offline Retailing

In spite of the growing popularity of the online shopping, the offline stores still command more than 80% of the global retail sales. Going forward, the offline stores will coexist with their online cousins rather than bowing out as had been forecast in the early days of ecommerce. Delivering superior Industry 4.0 technology-enabled in-store customer experiences is the key for the survival of the offline retailers. This article briefly reviews the extant literature on the construct of in-store customer experience and then finds support for it in select cases of offline retailers using a qualitative exploratory way. It also finds that the adoption of I4.0 technologies cus across retail formats and product/service categories.
Time Frequency Signal Classification Using Continuous Wavelet Transformation

Time-frequency analysis can provide useful information in digital signal seismic data processing and interpretation. The energy concentration of the spectrum depends on the consistency of function of the time-frequency analysis and instantaneous frequency variation digital signal. In this case, we used the digital signal seismic from selected seismometer broadband which deployed in Sumatera Island. The aim of this study to classify the waveform based on the time-frequency analysis using continuous wavelet transform (CWT). The sample data used the earthquake of 20 February 2018 in North Sumatera. The result indicated the classification between the horizontal and vertical components from the seismometer broadband is different. The classification of vertical is affected by seismic source and horizontal component affected the site effect.
Risk Analysis for Large Pools of Loans

Financial institutions, government-sponsored enterprises, and asset-backed security investors are often exposed to delinquency and prepayment risk from large numbers of loans. Examples include mortgages, credit cards, and auto, student, and business loans. Because of the size of the pools, the measurement of these exposures is computationally expensive. This paper develops and tests efficient numerical methods for the analysis of large pools of loans as well as asset-backed securities backed by such pools. For a broad class of statistical and machine learning models of loan-level risk in discrete time, we prove a law of large numbers and a central limit theorem for the pool-level risk. The asymptotics are then used to construct computationally efficient approximations for a large pool. The approximations aggregate the full loan-level dynamics, making it possible to take advantage of the detailed loan-level data often available in practice. We furthermore prove a convergence rate for the approximation and .
Explaining Software Development tool Use with the Technology Acceptance Model

The increasing demand for information systems has driven the need for software developers to become more efficient and productive. In response, a wide variety of software development aids, such as new tools and techniques, have been introduced in an attempt to assist the development process. Unfortunately, the use of these software development innovations is not widespread, further exacerbating the problems in industry. Why are software development innovations, specifically software development tools, not used? To help answer the question, this study utilizes the popular Technology Acceptance Model (11). Consistent with prior studies, an exogenous variable, training, is added to the original TAM. Results from a study of one organization's early use of a custom-built software development tool (SDT) produced the following significant relationships: training → ease of use; ease of use → usefulness; and ease of use → usage. The insights provided from this study help to understand a software developer's use of SDTs.
On the Closure of English Public Libraries

ABSTRACT This article challenges the conventional assumptions about the serious decline of public libraries in England. The author asserts that, as shown by the comparative data for the United States and Australian public libraries, it has not been caused by changes in society or technology. Nor has government austerity been the driving force. The loss of public interest originated in the years from 1990 to 2010 when major alterations were made to the ethos of the service. The current budget cuts and moves to ‘hollow out’ and close library services have come because of the consequent fall in public affection.
ColumnML: Column-Store Machine Learning with On-The-Fly Data Transformation

The ability to perform machine learning (ML) tasks in a database management system (DBMS) provides the data analyst with a powerful tool. Unfortunately, integration of ML into a DBMS is challenging for reasons varying from differences in execution model to data layout requirements. In this paper, we assume a column-store main-memory DBMS, optimized for online analytical processing, as our initial system. On this system, we explore the integration of coordinate-descent based methods working natively on columnar format to train generalized linear models. We use a cache-efficient, partitioned stochastic coordinate descent algorithm providing linear throughput scalability with the number of cores while preserving convergence quality, up to 14 cores in our experiments.Existing column oriented DBMS rely on compression and even encryption to store data in memory. When those features are considered, the performance of a CPU based solution suffers. Thus, in the paper we also show how to exploit hardware acceleration as part of a hybrid CPU+FPGA system to provide on-the-fly data transformation combined with an FPGA-based coordinate-descent engine. The resulting system is a column-store DBMS with its important features preserved (e.g., data compression) that offers high performance machine learning capabilities.
Stream Frequency Over Interval Queries

Stream frequency measurements are fundamental in many data stream applications such as financial data trackers, intrusion-detection systems, and network monitoring. Typically, recent data items are more relevant than old ones, a notion we can capture through a sliding window abstraction. This paper considers a generalized sliding window model that supports stream frequency queries over an interval given at query time. This enables drill-down queries, in which we can examine the behavior of the system in finer and finer granularities. For this model, we asymptotically improve the space bounds of existing work, reduce the update and query time to a constant, and provide deterministic solutions. When evaluated over real Internet packet traces, our fastest algorithm processes items 90--250 times faster, serves queries at least 730 times quicker and consumes at least 40% less space than the best known method.