Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-invasive interventions for improving well-being and quality of life in patients with lung cancer.

BACKGROUND Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. Despite advances in treatment, outlook for the majority of patients remains grim and most face a pessimistic outlook accompanied by sometimes devastating effects on emotional and psychological health. Although chemotherapy is accepted as an effective treatment for advanced lung cancer, the high prevalence of treatment-related side effects as well the symptoms of disease progression highlight the need for high quality palliative and supportive care to minimise symptom distress and to promote quality of life. OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of non-invasive interventions delivered by healthcare professionals in improving symptoms, psychological functioning and quality of life in patients with lung cancer. SEARCH STRATEGY The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library Issue 4, 2003), MEDLINE (1966-March 2003), EMBASE (1974-March 2003), CINAHL (1982-September 2002), CancerLit (1975-October 2002), PsycINFO (1873-March 2003), reference lists of relevant articles and contact with authors. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised or quasi-randomised clinical trials assessing the effects of non-invasive interventions in improving well-being and quality of life in patients diagnosed with lung cancer. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers independently assessed relevant studies for inclusion. Data extraction and quality assessment of relevant studies was performed by one reviewer and checked by a second reviewer. MAIN RESULTS Nine trials were included and categorised into six groups. Two trials of a nursing intervention to manage breathlessness showed benefit on symptom experience, performance status and emotional functioning. Three trials assessed structured nursing programmes and found positive effects on delay in clinical deterioration, dependency and symptom distress, and improvements in emotional functioning and satisfaction with care. One trial assessing counselling showed benefit on some emotional components of the illness but findings were not conclusive. One trial assessing an exercise programme, found a beneficial effect on self-empowerment. One trial of nutritional interventions found positive effects for increasing energy intake, but no improvement in quality of life. One trial of reflexology showed some positive, but short-lasting effects on anxiety. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS Nurse follow-up programmes and a nurse intervention to manage breathlessness may produce beneficial effects. Psychotherapeutic study indicates that counselling may help patients cope more effectively with emotional symptoms, but the evidence is not conclusive. Findings from the included studies reinforce the necessity for increased training and education of healthcare professionals giving in these interventions. More research, of higher methodological quality is needed in this area to explore possible underlying explanatory mechanisms.
Lack of desmopressin (DDAVP) response in men with hemophilia A following liver transplantation

Summary. Although hemophilia A, a congenital disorder caused by defective or deficient factor VIII:C (FVIII), is cured by liver transplantation, the exact site of hepatic FVIII production is unknown. Further, while intracellular co‐localization of FVIII and von Willebrand factor (VWF) is required for in vitro FVIII secretion, whether it is required for in vivo FVIII secretion is not known. An ideal setting to study this problem is in individuals with hemophilia A following liver transplantation, as their FVIII is synthesized primarily in hepatic, but not extrahepatic endothelial cells, while VWF is synthesized primarily in extrahepatic vascular endothelium. Following liver transplantation for end‐stage liver disease, three hemophilic men showed VWF, but no FVIII response to (DDAVP) infusion. By contrast, both VWF and FVIII increased in a non‐hemophilic transplant recipient after DDAVP. These findings support a model in which intracellular co‐localization of FVIII and VWF is necessary for in vivo FVIII secretion after DDAVP.
On the Diversity, Stability and Symmetry of End-to-End Internet Routes

The diversity of end-to-end (e2e) Internet routes has been studied for over a decade, dating back to Paxson's seminal work from 1995. This paper presents a measurement study of this issue and systematically evaluate the diversity of the Internet routes, while revisiting some of the conclusions previously made. Two large scale experiments are used for evaluation, one executed in late 2006 and the second in early 2009, both employ a set of more than 100 broadly distributed vantage points, actively measuring between each other. We find that although e2e routes are quite diverse, they are relatively stable, albeit with high variance between different vantage points, with strong dependency on the network type (academic vs. commercial). We show that while routes are mostly asymmetric, at the country level, which serves as a good indication for end-to-end propagation delays, the routes are highly similar. Finally, longitudinal analysis shows consistency of the diversity and stability, indicating trade-offs between the Internet growth and changing trends in its connectivity.
Intonational Stress Patterns of Contemporary Spanish

The suggestions for pronunciation have so far been limited almost exclusively to the vowels and consonants as such, and to lexical stress, or the form of words which appears accented in vocabularies and dictionaries. However, it is evident that there are other features of spoken Spanish, bound up in its intonational patterns, which are not included in a study of isolated vowels and consonants or the lexical stress of words. Native Spanish speakers grow up using these patterns automatically, and some foreign speakers are sufficiently gifted in mimicry so that they absorb and use them over a period of time. The vast majority of students who attempt to speak Spanish, however, concentrate upon the mastery of lexical items to the exclusion of attention upon intonational features, and though they may achieve proficiency in speaking accurately, they retain a foreign "accent. " Until the sound patterns of groups of words in phrases and sentences are mastered, either by subconscious mimicry or by conscious effort, spoken Spanish will always have a "foreign" flavor. It has been demonstrated elsewhere that the prosodic features of length and pitch, as well as stress, are present in Spanish intonation.1 Each of these factors is essential to acceptable intonation of spoken Spanish, and each deserves special consideration. The purpose of the present discussion is to point out the relationship existing between these three prosodemes under certain circumstances, and to make a case for stress as the most distinctive and influential of the three. Stress seems to have a "gravitational attraction" for the other two prosodemes and to form the backbone of the rhythmic system which characterizes Spanish.2 Tomas Navarro Tomas' Manual de
Thickness Distribution of Fresh and Preserved Human Eardrums Measured with Confocal Microscopy

Hypothesis: In this study, the thickness distribution of the fresh human eardrum was measured and possible thickness changes in successive stages of preservation and preparation were studied. Methods: The thickness measurement was performed on axial fluorescence images taken perpendicularly through the membrane with a confocal microscope. The influence of fixation and preservation (in Cialit solution) on the thickness was also investigated. The same eardrum was prepared (decalcified, dehydrated, and stained) for histologic sectioning and the thickness was measured on the sections using conventional light microscopy. Results: Similar thickness distributions in the measured samples (n = 3) were observed. The pars tensa has a rather constant thickness in a central region curving as a horseshoe upward around the manubrium. The membrane thickens slightly from the inferior to the superior side. The anterior region is thicker than the posterior region. In narrow bands along the manubrium, peripheral rim, and in the region inferior to the umbo, a much larger thickness in comparison with that in the central region was found. Mean thicknesses of approximately 40, 50, and 120 μm were observed in the central region of the studied eardrums, respectively. Conclusion: Whereas the thickness distribution of the human eardrums shows similar features, the absolute thickness seems to vary a lot from one specimen to another. There is no significant difference in thickness of the same membrane in fresh, fixed, or preserved condition. Thus, human eardrums may be safely preserved in fixative for later thickness measurements. The histologic preparation process, however, causes a significant location-dependent shrinkage.
Surprise as a Facial Expression on Animation-Examples from Ghibli Studio Animated Films

The face can communicate various visual information including personal emotion, cognitive state and intentions. Basic facial expressions typically recognized by psychologists are happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise [1]. Surprise as a facial expression is by far the least discussed category among 6 basic expressions. From the psychological point of view, significant contribution has occurred in automatic recognition of facial expression [2,3,4]. A common approach of measuring facial expression is widely utilized, which is Facial Action Coding System [5]. Along with the optical motion capture technology developments; doing 3D computer facial expression became an easier task compared with the traditional hand drawing animation. In this study, several animated feature films produced by Ghibli studio are selected as the subject. 3D computer facial animation can achieve a high level of accuracy and efficiency. Surprise happened to be the most dramatic and instantaneous of all emotions. Precision to human facial expression in the sense, would somehow limit the exaggerated effect to impact viewers. Also, it's an expression that virtually impossible for an actor to perform. If it's expected, it's not surprise at all. In this paper, I will dress the main characteristics of the selected animations.
Ultra low-noise current sources

The current sources which are normally used in research laboratories are not suitable for low noise measurement systems because of the unacceptable level of low frequency noise which they introduce in the measurement chain. The most important source of low frequency noise in such instruments is the solid state device (usually a Zener diode) which is used as voltage reference. By using a novel circuital topology in which a lead battery which does not supply current is used as voltage reference, we have been able to design an ultra low noise current source characterized by a low-frequency noise level some orders of magnitude lower than that of similar commercial instrumentation. The design, realization and testing of such current source is presented.
Human Heat Shock Protein 27 Overexpressing Mice Are Protected Against Hepatic Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury

Background. Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major clinical problem during the perioperative period and occurs frequently after major hepatic resection or liver transplantation. Our laboratory previously demonstrated that exogenous A1 adenosine receptor activation protects against renal IRI by upregulation and phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27). Methods. This study used mice overexpressing human HSP27 (huHSP27 OE) to determine whether these mice are protected against liver IRI. Results. After hepatic IR, the huHSP27 OE mice had significant protection against liver injury (reduced alanine transferase) and necrosis (hematoxylin-eosin staining) compared with the HSP27 WT mice. The huHSP27 OE mice also showed less induction of proinflammatory messenger RNA MIP-2, reduced neutrophil infiltration, and decreased apoptosis (caspase 3 fragmentation and DNA laddering) compared with the HSP27 WT mice. Finally, the huHSP27 OE mice showed significantly less disruption of filamentous actin in hepatocytes and bile canaliculi of the ischemic lobes compared with the HSP27 WT mice. Depletion of Kupffer cells with gadolinium chloride provided significant protection against liver IRI in HSP27 WT mice but not in huHSP27 OE mice suggesting that the overexpression of huHSP27 in the Kupffer cells may be responsible for the hepatic protection observed in huHSP27 OE mice. Conclusions. Our results show that the overexpression of huHSP27 in Kupffer cells of the liver may be responsible for the protection against hepatic IRI in vivo by reducing necrosis and apoptosis and by stabilizing F-actin with subsequent reductions in inflammation and proinflammatory neutrophil infiltration. Harnessing the mechanisms of cytoprotection with HSP27 may lead to new therapies for the management of perioperative hepatic IRI.
Fusion inhibition--a major but costly step forward in the treatment of HIV-1.

Two studies reported in this issue of the Journal 1,2 provide heartening news of the success of a new antiretroviral drug in decreasing plasma human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA levels in patients for whom the available combination antiretroviral regimens are no longer effective. These reports are especially noteworthy in that they describe the first controlled trials of the fusion inhibitor enfuvirtide, a representative of a new class of drugs that prevent the entry of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) into the target cells of the host.3 Enfuvirtide specifically prevents the fusion of the HIV-1 transmembrane (gp41) glycoprotein with the CD4 receptor .
Arabidopsis BIRD Zinc Finger Proteins Jointly Stabilize Tissue Boundaries by Confining the Cell Fate Regulator SHORT-ROOT and Contributing to Fate Specification

Tissue boundary establishment and cell fate specification require BIRD proteins to regulate SHORT-ROOT signaling and transcriptional activities, highlighting the developmental plasticity in plants. Plant cells cannot rearrange their positions; therefore, sharp tissue boundaries must be accurately programmed. Movement of the cell fate regulator SHORT-ROOT from the stele to the ground tissue has been associated with transferring positional information across tissue boundaries. The zinc finger BIRD protein JACKDAW has been shown to constrain SHORT-ROOT movement to a single layer, and other BIRD family proteins were postulated to counteract JACKDAW’s role in restricting SHORT-ROOT action range. Here, we report that regulation of SHORT-ROOT movement requires additional BIRD proteins whose action is critical for the establishment and maintenance of the boundary between stele and ground tissue. We show that BIRD proteins act in concert and not in opposition. The exploitation of asymmetric redundancies allows the separation of two BIRD functions: constraining SHORT-ROOT spread through nuclear retention and transcriptional regulation of key downstream SHORT-ROOT targets, including SCARECROW and CYCLIND6. Our data indicate that BIRD proteins promote formative divisions and tissue specification in the Arabidopsis thaliana root meristem ground tissue by tethering and regulating transcriptional competence of SHORT-ROOT complexes. As a result, a tissue boundary is not “locked in” after initial patterning like in many animal systems, but possesses considerable developmental plasticity due to continuous reliance on mobile transcription factors.
Ascosphaera callicarpa, a New Species of Bee-Loving Fungus, with a Key to the Genus for Europe

We studied the bee specialist fungus Ascosphaera in wild solitary bees to investigate the diversity of the genus in nature and the ecology of these fungi with their bee hosts. A new morphologically distinctive species was discovered which also has a unique nrITS sequence. This new species, here named Ascosphaera callicarpa, is common on the larval feces of the solitary bee Chelostoma florisomne which nests in the Phragmites reeds of thatched roofs in Europe. Because collections of Ascosphaera from wild bees are scarce and because little is known about the ecology and distribution of the majority of the species in the genus, a key to the species thus far reported for Europe is included.
An alias-locked loop frequency synthesis architecture

This paper presents a phase-locked loop (PLL) using an aliasing divider, referred to as an alias-locked loop (ALL). The ALL architecture makes it possible to create high-speed frequency synthesis circuits without relying on a traditional divider in the feedback path. To examine the lock-in behaviour of the alias-locked loop, a nonlinear model is developed and used to simulate the architecture in the locked state. Simulation results demonstrate the existence of stable modes of operation with bounded orbits. A version of the ALL is designed in 90-nm CMOS technology and simulated.
The control strategy of grid-connected converters in microgrids with unbalanced load

A multi-loop controller for gird-connected voltage source converters with LCL filter is proposed in this paper. The controller consists of three segments - inner predictive current controller, outer voltage vector controller, and the command voltage modifier. The whole controller is applied to converters based DRs in microgrids, and regulate the load terminal voltage with zero steady-state error even under unbalanced conditions. Selected results from simulation studies conducted on the performance of the controller under balanced and unbalanced conditions both in island and grid-connected mode are presented.
GDNF and NGF family members and receptors in human fetal and adult spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia

We describe the expression of mRNA encoding ligands and receptors of members of the GDNF family and members of the neurotrophin family in the adult human spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Fetal human spinal cord and ganglia were investigated for the presence of ligands and receptors of the neurotrophin family. Tissues were collected from human organ donors and after routine elective abortions. Messenger RNA was found encoding RET, GFRα‐1, BDNF, trkB, and trkC in the adult human spinal cord and BDNF, NT‐3, p75, trkB, and trkC in the fetal human spinal cord. The percentage of adult human DRG cells expressing p75, trkA, trkB, or trkC was 57, 46, 29, and 24%, respectively, and that of DRG cells expressing RET, GFRα‐1, GFRα‐2, or GFRα‐3 was 79, 20, 51, and 32%, respectively. GFRα‐2 was expressed selectively in small, GFRα‐3 principally in small and GFRα‐1 and RET in both large and small adult human DRG neurons. p75 and trkB were expressed by a wide range of DRG neurons while trkA was expressed in most small diameter and trkC primarily in large DRG neurons. Fetal DRG cells were positive for the same probes as adult DRG cells except for NT‐3, which was only found in fetal DRG cells. Messenger RNA species only expressed at detectable levels in fetal but not adult spinal cord tissues included GDNF, GFRα‐2, NT‐3, and p75. Notably, GFRα‐2, which is expressed in the adult rat spinal cord, was not found in the adult human spinal cord. J. Comp. Neurol. 440:204–217, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
‘Paracelcus’ rediscovered: searching for the right dose of physical training

‘All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose makes a thing not a poison’. When Phillipus Aureolus Theofrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim—better known as ‘Paracelsus’—a Swiss German Renaissance physician, botanist, astrologer and philosopher coined this well-known quote about 500 years ago, he might not have thought about dose-dependent ‘toxic’ effects of regular sport. Nevertheless, these words perfectly fit a highly debated hot topic in sports cardiology: where is the upper limit of ‘healthy’ physical exercise and up from which ‘dose’ it might be even harmful? Although quite much is known about the minimal efforts of physical exercise that have to be provided to gain health benefits, so far no ‘upper limit’ has been defined.1 However, adverse longtime effects of regular strenuous endurance training (eg, in cross-country skiers and bicycle racers) could be defined: as such, a multitude of studies proved an increased rate of atrial fibrillation in endurance athletes at an older age compared with age-matched controls.2 ,3 The underlying morphological substrates are miscellaneous, consisting of inflammation, fibrosis and cavity dilation (figure 1). 3 Figure 1 The ‘Triangle of Coumel’ illustrating the interplay between different factors that promote and preserve atrial fibrillation, particularly in an athlete (adapted from Mont et al 3). Another important ‘weak spot’, particularly in ambitious endurance athletes’ hearts, is the right ventricle. As such, postrace dilation and decreased function of the right ventricle have been demonstrated impressively in cyclists, recently.4 Moreover, these changes are regressive but it might take a few weeks or months for the right ventricle to regain its …
Iterative Distributed Minimum Total MSE Approach for Secure Communications in MIMO Interference Channels

In this paper, we consider the problem of jointly designing transmit precoding (TPC) matrix and receive filter matrix subject to both secrecy and per-transmitter power constraints in the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channel, where K legitimate transmitter-receiver pairs communicate in the presence of an external eavesdropper. Explicitly, we jointly design the TPC and receive filter matrices based on the minimum total mean-squared error (MSE) criterion under a given and feasible information-theoretic degrees of freedom. More specifically, we formulate this problem by minimizing the total MSEs of the signals communicated between the legitimate transmitter-receiver pairs, while ensuring that the MSE of the signals decoded by the eavesdropper remains higher than a certain threshold. We demonstrate that the joint design of the TPC and receive filter matrices subject to both secrecy and transmit power constraints can be accomplished by an efficient iterative distributed algorithm. The convergence of the proposed iterative algorithm is characterized as well. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed algorithm, including both its secrecy rate and MSE, is characterized with the aid of numerical results. We demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the traditional interference alignment algorithm in terms of both the achievable secrecy rate and the MSE. As a benefit, secure communications can be guaranteed by the proposed algorithm for the MIMO interference channel even in the presence of a sophisticated/strong eavesdropper, whose number of antennas is much higher than that of each legitimate transmitter and receiver.