Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Platinum Priority – Collaborative Review – Prostate Cancer Early Salvage Radiotherapy following Radical Prostatectomy

1. Introduction There is an increasing trend towards using surgical therapy to address locally advanced prostate cancer (PCa) as local control and oncologic outcome improve [1]. Nevertheless, the risk of recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy (RP), in particular for advanced stages and in patients with positive surgical margins (PSM), can range from 30% to 60% [2,3]. Recent studies have shown that about 50% of patients in the observation arm do not relapse [4–7]. Only in one prospective Keywords: Biochemical recurrence-free survival Early salvage radiotherapy Prostate cancer Radiotherapy Abstract Context: Depending on the pathologic tumour stage, up to 60% of prostate cancer patients who undergo radical prostatectomy will develop biochemical relapse and require further local treatment. Objectives: We reviewed the results of early salvage radiation therapy (RT), defined as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values prior to RT 0.5 ng/ml in the setting of lymph node–negative disease. Evidence acquisition: Ten retrospective studies, including one multicentre analysis, were used for this analysis. Among them, we received previously unpublished patient characteristics and updated outcome data from five retrospective single-centre trials to perform a subgroup analysis for early salvage RT. Evidence synthesis: Patients treated with early salvage RT have a significantly improved biochemical recurrence-free survival (BRFS) rate compared with those receiving salvage RT initiated after PSA values are >0.5 ng/ml. Similarly, within the cohort of patients with pre-RT PSA values <0.5 ng/ml, improved BRFS rates were noted among those with lower rather higher pre-RT PSA levels. It is possible that higher RT dose levels and the use of adjunctive androgen-deprivation therapy improve biochemical control outcomes in the salvage setting. Conclusions: Based on a literature review, improved 5-yr BRFS rates are observed for patients who receive early salvage RT compared with patients treated with salvage RT with a pre-RT PSA value >0.5 ng/ml. Whether the routine application of early salvage RT in patients with initially undetectable PSA levels will be associated with demonstrable clinical benefit awaits the results of ongoing prospective trials.
Clathrin polymerization is not required for bulk-phase endocytosis in rat fetal fibroblasts

To assess the role of clathrin in the bulk endocytic flow of rat foetal fibroblasts, the rate of internalization of fluid-phase and membrane- lipid tracers were compared, under control conditions and after inhibition of endocytic clathrin-coated pit formation. After intracellular potassium depletion or upon cell transfer into 0.35 M NaCl, the rate of internalization of receptor-bound transferrin and the residual membrane area of plasmalemmal clathrin-coated pits and vesicles were similarly decreased by approximately 90%. In contrast, the initial rate (< 5 min) of intracellular accumulation of the fluid- phase tracer HRP was not affected. Both in control and treated cells, the rate of HRP accumulation declined after approximately 5 min, and was twofold lower in treated cells, due to enhanced regurgitation. After correction for regurgitation, the endocytic rate constant was similar to measurements at shorter intervals and identical in control and treated cells. Similarly, the rate of internalization and the steady-state level of intracellular accumulation of two fluorescent lipid derivatives, 6-[N-(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4- yl)amino]hexanoylglucosylsp hingosine (C6-NBD-GlcCer) and 1-[4- (trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenylhexa-1,3,5-triene (TMA-DPH), were not affected by potassium depletion, indicating that the endocytic membrane traffic was equally preserved. Finally, the size distribution of primary endocytic particles that were accessible to HRP within 15 s before glutaraldehyde fixation was also indistinguishable in control and potassium-depleted cells. The simplest explanation is that clathrin polymerization is necessary to concentrate receptor-bound ligands in primary endocytic vesicles, but superfluous to the basic endocytic machinery in rat foetal fibroblasts.
Integration and Growth in the EU: The Role of Trade by

Using spatial econometrics techniques this paper investigates the relationship between trade and growth in the European Union (EU). We find that the EU integration process has promoted trade, especially between close neighbours, and that trade has been the channel of diffusion of interdependent growth, being this fact more important at the beginning of the integrating process than in the latter years. This result illustrates the idea that by enhancing trade, economic integration induces externalities between countries. (JEL F15, F43, O47, R11) FEDEA – D.T. 2000-20 by Maria Luz Garcia de la Vega and Jose A. Herce 2
On portfolio risk estimation

[Statement of the problem] The present work considers the problem of investment portfolio risk estimation, including dynamic adjustment for each new transaction. Any Bank portfolio has a complex structure. It consists of stocks, bonds and a set of derivative securities. A portion of bonds and loans is riskless. For some of these assets, the methods offered cannot be applied without additional consideration of the term structure of interest rates and credit risks features. The risk estimation of this part of the portfolio containing some peculiar financial tools represents a separate issue, solving which exceeds the limits of the present research. We use as an estimation of a portfolio risk the amount of probable losses that can be sustained in case of a complete asset sale, related to current market value of these assets. The investment portfolio includes a number of shares, sale of which can significantly affect the market for a brief period of time, making the calculated estimation of risk insolvent. Thus it is necessary to estimate the quantity of shares that can be sold without having a material influence on the prices dynamics. Knowing this size, it is easy to calculate a time interval during which this portfolio can be sold. Definition of the stability of the concrete market is directly concerned with its specificity. This represents a separate practical problem, which is not considered in the submitted paper. Consequently, for a portfolio risk calculation, it is necessary to estimate dynamics of price behaviour for the time period during which controllable realization of portfolio assets is possible. Such an approach is described in many papers where estimation of risk is based on studying prices dynamics of stocks included in a portfolio (VaR - 'RiskMetrics', RiskManagement+). However, forecasting such processes represents a complicated problem itself. For example, on NASDAQ the prices of the most liquid stocks have large volatility. Deviation from average value of a stock price can run up to several percent even on ordinary days. To circumvent this problem, a new approach, which is not considered earlier, is offered in the given research.
HMM-based techniques for speech segments extraction

The goal of the speech segments extraction process is to separate acoustic events of interest (the speech segment to be recognised) in a continuously recorded signal from other parts of the signal (background). The recognition rate of many voice command systems is very much dependent on speech segment extraction accuracy. This paper discusses two novel HMM based techniques that segregate a speech segment from its concurrent background. The first method can be reliably used in clean environments while the second method, which makes use of the wavelets denoising technique, is effective in noisy environments. These methods have been implemented and shown superiority over other popular techniques, thus, indicating that they have the potential to achieve greater levels of accuracy in speech recognition rates.
Common Grounds as Multiple Information States

The main goal of this paper is to show how to derive a common ground In order to do this, first we need to know what a common ground should be like. In traditional dynamic semantics, a common ground is given as a single information state which is shared by the people in the context. In this paper I am going to show that a common ground must include more than one information state, and that this is necessary to deal with conversational implicatures, which require distinction between speakers and audience. In this sense, the new common ground will be the basis for a conversational model of dynamic semantics. The traditional dynamic semantics is not appropriate for conversations, but rather a model for text processing.
Response characteristics of mammalian cochlear hair cells

Intracellular recordings were made from the low frequency region (third turn) of the guinea pig cochlea. Response characteristics are compared to gross potentials obtained from the organ of Corti fluid space. Inner hair cells (IHCs) possess relatively low (median, -32 mV) initial membrane potentials, whereas that of outer hair cells (OHCs) is higher (median, -53.5 mV). In response to tone burst stimuli, both cell types produce a combination of AC and DC responses. The latter are depolarizing for IHCs but may be of either polarity for OHCs. In terms of their AC responses, IHCs are about 12 dB more sensitive than OHCs. At low sound levels these cells are more linear than high frequency hair cells (Russell, I. J., and P. M. Sellick (1978) J. Physiol. (Lond.) 284: 261–290), judging from the relation between AC and DC response components. At high sound levels pronounced response saturation is seen. The overall tuning properties of the two hair cell types are rather similar, even though IHCs exhibit low frequency velocity dependence, whereas OHCs are displacement sensitive and the cell membrane time constant is larger for IHCs. In order to fit IHC experimental data it is necessary to assume the presence of an underdamped complex pole above the best frequency. The electrical behavior of the OHC does not disqualify it as a conveyor of auditory information to the central nervous system, even though its primary function may be that of a mechanical effector (evidence summarized by Dallos, P. (1985) in Contemporary Sensory Neurobiology, Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, pp. 207–230).
The Diversity-Weighted Living Planet Index: Controlling for Taxonomic Bias in a Global Biodiversity Indicator

As threats to species continue to increase, precise and unbiased measures of the impact these pressures are having on global biodiversity are urgently needed. Some existing indicators of the status and trends of biodiversity largely rely on publicly available data from the scientific and grey literature, and are therefore prone to biases introduced through over-representation of well-studied groups and regions in monitoring schemes. This can give misleading estimates of biodiversity trends. Here, we report on an approach to tackle taxonomic and geographic bias in one such indicator (Living Planet Index) by accounting for the estimated number of species within biogeographical realms, and the relative diversity of species within them. Based on a proportionally weighted index, we estimate a global population decline in vertebrate species between 1970 and 2012 of 58% rather than 20% from an index with no proportional weighting. From this data set, comprising 14,152 populations of 3,706 species from 3,095 data sources, we also find that freshwater populations have declined by 81%, marine populations by 36%, and terrestrial populations by 38% when using proportional weighting (compared to trends of -46%, +12% and +15% respectively). These results not only show starker declines than previously estimated, but suggests that those species for which there is poorer data coverage may be declining more rapidly.
A Robot Wrote This?

As more news articles are written via collaboration between journalists and algorithms, questions have arisen regarding how automation influences the way that news is processed and evaluated by audiences. Informed by expectancy violation theory and the MAIN model, two experimental studies were conducted that examined the effect of purported machine authorship on perceptions of news credibility. Study One (N = 129) revealed that news attributed to a machine is perceived as less credible than news attributed to a human journalist. Study Two (N = 182) also observed negative effects of machine authorship through the indirect pathway of source anthropomorphism and negative expectancy violations, with evidence of moderation by prior recall of robotics also observed. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Geometric feature selection for vehicle pose estimation on dynamic road scenes

This paper suggests classification and selection of features based on geometric properties to accomplish more accurate visual odometry. We apply billboard sweep stereo algorithm and the homogeneous disparity representation to obtain several categories of geometric labels. And we combine the classes to estimate more accurate vehicle pose. In the experiments, the distant features are useful for estimating vehicle orientation and the features on the ground plane are proper for estimating vehicle position especially in crowded road scenes.
L'évaluation participative : De la prise en compte des publics au pouvoir d'agir citoyen

La question de l’evaluation participative, ou de la participation en evaluation, tend a s’inviter fortement dans les debats relatifs aux politiques publiques et a leurs evaluations. Dans une periode ou l’on assiste a une forme de mise en debat, formalisee ou non, de l’action publique, posant notamment la question de l’acceptabilite de la decision publique au-dela de sa legalite et de sa legitimite, la question du caractere participatif de l’evaluation n’est plus une simple option parmi d’autres formes d’evaluation. Avant meme la question de l'exigence democratique, il s'agit d’efficacite compte tenu de l’implication de fait d’une grande pluralite d’acteurs dans le processus de l’action publique. Des lors il importe de preciser quelques reperes sur ces jeux d’acteurs, et c’est notamment ce a quoi va s’attacher le travail ici presente.
Effect of Diabetes on Cytosolic Free Ca2+ and Na+-K+-ATPase in Rat Aorta

We examined Na+-K+-ATPase activity and the levels of αI-, αII-, and β-subunit mRNA and protein in aortic cells of diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by streptozocin. Na+-K+-ATPase activity was significantly reduced on the 2nd day of diabetes (9.4 ± 1.3 vs. 17.5 ± 2.1 μmol NADH · mg−1 protein · h−1, P < 0.05) and remained depressed on days 7 and 14. The levels of 5.3-kilobase (kb) mRNA band of the catalytic αII-subunit of Na+-K+-ATPase were also decreased on the 2nd day of diabetes, whereas the second band, 3.4 kb, was not affected. Both bands were significantly decreased on days 7 and 14. This was followed by a reduction in the levels of αII-protein (day 14). The levels of αI- and β-subunit mRNA and alpha I- protein were not affected by diabetes. A decrease in Na+-K+-ATPase activity was accompanied by a significant (P < 0.001) increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) in diabetic aortic cells (221 α 18 nM on the 7th day and 242 ± 17 nM on the 14th day vs. 153 ± 7 nM in controls). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that decreased Na+-K+-ATPase activity and gene expression in vascular smooth muscle cells with accompanied rises in [Ca2+]i may be an important pathogenetic factor in the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis in diabetes.
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy and Safety of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Children (IPTc)

Background Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in children less than five years of age (IPTc) has been investigated as a measure to control the burden of malaria in the Sahel and sub-Sahelian areas of Africa where malaria transmission is markedly seasonal. Methods and Findings IPTc studies were identified using a systematic literature search. Meta-analysis was used to assess the protective efficacy of IPTc against clinical episodes of falciparum malaria. The impact of IPTc on all-cause mortality, hospital admissions, severe malaria and the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia was investigated. Three aspects of safety were also assessed: adverse reactions to study drugs, development of drug resistance and loss of immunity to malaria. Twelve IPTc studies were identified: seven controlled and five non-controlled trials. Controlled studies demonstrated protective efficacies against clinical malaria of between 31% and 93% and meta-analysis gave an overall protective efficacy of monthly administered IPTc of 82% (95%CI 75%–87%) during the malaria transmission season. Pooling results from twelve studies demonstrated a protective effect of IPTc against all-cause mortality of 57% (95%CI 24%–76%) during the malaria transmission season. No serious adverse events attributable to the drugs used for IPTc were observed in any of the studies. Data from three studies that followed children during the malaria transmission season in the year following IPTc administration showed evidence of a slight increase in the incidence of clinical malaria compared to children who had not received IPTc. Conclusions IPTc is a safe method of malaria control that has the potential to avert a significant proportion of clinical malaria episodes in areas with markedly seasonal malaria transmission and also appears to have a substantial protective effect against all-cause mortality. These findings indicate that IPTc is a potentially valuable tool that can contribute to the control of malaria in areas with markedly seasonal transmission.
Broad P V Absorption in the QSO PG 1254+047: Column Densities, Ionizations, and Metal Abundances in Broad Absorption Line Winds

This paper discusses the detection of P V λλ1118, 1128 and other broad absorption lines (BALs) in archival Hubble Space Telescope spectra of the low-redshift BAL QSO PG 1254+047. The P V identification is secured by excellent redshift and profile coincidences with the other BALs, such as C IV λλ1548, 1550 and Si IV λλ1393, 1403, and by photoionization calculations showing that other lines near this wavelength, e.g., Fe III λ1123, should be much weaker than P V. The observed BAL strengths imply that either (1) there are extreme abundance ratios such as [C/H] ≳ +1.0, [Si/H] ≳ +1.8, and [P/C] ≳ +2.2, or (2) at least some of the lines are much more optically thick than they appear. I argue that the significant presence of P V absorption indicates severe line saturation, which is disguised in the observed (moderate-strength) BALs because the absorber does not fully cover the continuum source(s) along our line(s) of sight. The variety of observed BAL strengths and profiles results from a complex mixture of ionization, optical depth, and coverage fraction effects, making useful determinations of the abundance ratios impossible without a specific physical model. Computed optical depths for all UV resonance lines show that the observed BALs are consistent with solar abundances if (1) the ionization parameter is at least moderately high, log U ≳ -0.6, (2) the total hydrogen column density is log NH (cm-2) ≳ 22.0, and (3) the optical depths in strong lines like C IV and O VI λλ1032, 1038 are ≳25 and ≳80, respectively. These optical depths and column densities are at least an order of magnitude larger than expected from the residual intensities in the BAL troughs, but they are consistent with the large absorbing columns derived from X-ray observations of BAL QSOs. In particular, a nominal X-ray column density of log NH (cm-2) ~ 23 could produce the observed BAL spectrum if +0.4 ≲ log U ≲ +0.7 in a simple one-zone medium. The outflowing BAL region, at velocities from -15,000 to -27,000 km s-1 in PG 1254+047, is therefore a strong candidate for the X-ray absorber in BAL QSOs.
Why Users Leave? Discussion about Users' Switching Behaviors in Social Network Sites

This study uses the switching pattern analysis to understand the switching behaviors of SNSs (social network sites) users. Users of major SNSs filled out an online questionnaire, which yielded 343 valid samples. The results show that both service quality and switching cost indirectly influence the switching intention of users through satisfaction and switching barrier, respectively. Convenience and peer pressure are the top reasons for switching SNS platforms, whereas mobile capabilities and real-time access are the top motivations for switching to mobile SNSs.
Real-time Video Mosaicing with Adaptive Parameterized Warping

This paper briefly describes a system for real-time video mosaic construction using intensity-based registration. One novel aspects of this algorithm is a dynamic selection of warping models, including similarly transforms, affine models, projective models, and quadratic models based on the complexity of the incoming imagery. A second result is a new method for subsampling the images based on the sensitivity of image pixels in template matching. By exploiting the latter, it is possible to greatly accelerate the calculation. Some real image sequence mosaicing results for different parametric models are shown in this paper. These are all processed in real-time.
Acceptance of Tinnitus: Validation of the Tinnitus Acceptance Questionnaire

The concept of acceptance has recently received growing attention within tinnitus research due to the fact that tinnitus acceptance is one of the major targets of psychotherapeutic treatments. Accordingly, acceptance-based treatments will most likely be increasingly offered to tinnitus patients and assessments of acceptance-related behaviours will thus be needed. The current study investigated the factorial structure of the Tinnitus Acceptance Questionnaire (TAQ) and the role of tinnitus acceptance as mediating link between sound perception (i.e. subjective loudness of tinnitus) and tinnitus distress. In total, 424 patients with chronic tinnitus completed the TAQ and validated measures of tinnitus distress, anxiety, and depression online. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support to a good fit of the data to the hypothesised bifactor model (root-mean-square-error of approximation = .065; Comparative Fit Index = .974; Tucker–Lewis Index = .958; standardised root mean square residual = .032). In addition, mediation analysis, using a non-parametric joint coefficient approach, revealed that tinnitus-specific acceptance partially mediated the relation between subjective tinnitus loudness and tinnitus distress (path ab = 5.96; 95% CI: 4.49, 7.69). In a multiple mediator model, tinnitus acceptance had a significantly stronger indirect effect than anxiety. The results confirm the factorial structure of the TAQ and suggest the importance of a general acceptance factor that contributes important unique variance beyond that of the first-order factors activity engagement and tinnitus suppression. Tinnitus acceptance as measured with the TAQ is proposed to be a key construct in tinnitus research and should be further implemented into treatment concepts to reduce tinnitus distress.