Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The risk of second primary malignancies up to three decades after the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUND The 10-yr survival rate of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer exceeds 90%. These patients may be at elevated risk for secondary cancers. METHODS The risk of nonthyroid second primary malignancies after differentiated thyroid cancer was determined in 30,278 patients diagnosed between 1973 and 2002 from centers participating in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. Median follow-up was 103 months (range, 2-359 months). Risk was further assessed for the addition of radioisotope therapy, gender, latency to development of secondary cancer, and age at thyroid cancer diagnosis. RESULTS There were 2158 patients who developed a total of 2338 nonthyroid second primary malignancies, significantly more than that expected in the general population [observed/expected (O/E) = 1.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05-1.14; P < 0.05; absolute excess risk per 10,000 person-years (AER) = 6.39]. A significantly greater risk of second primary malignancies over that expected in the general population was for patients treated with radioisotopes (O/E = 1.20; 95% CI, 1.07-1.33; AER = 11.8) as well as for unirradiated patients (O/E = 1.05; 95% CI, 1.00-1.10; AER = 3.53). However, the increased risk was greater for the irradiated vs. the unirradiated cohort (relative risk = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.27; P < 0.05). Gender did not affect risk. The greatest risk of second primary cancers occurred within 5 yr of diagnosis and was elevated for younger patients. CONCLUSIONS The overall risk of second primary malignancies is increased for thyroid cancer survivors and varies by radioisotope therapy, latency, and age at diagnosis.
Risk factors for acanthamoeba keratitis in contact lens users: a case-control study

Abstract Objective: To investigate reasons for an increase in cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis related to contact lenses. Design: Case-control study. Cases were contact lens related acanthamoeba keratitis patients treated between 1 September 1989 and 31 August 1992. Controls were lens users without lens related disease who presented as new patients to the casualty department from 1 March 1992 to 31 August 1992. All subjects completed a questionnaire detailing lens use and hygiene practices. Setting: Eye hospital. Subjects: 35 cases with acanthamoeba keratitis and 378 controls. Main outcome measures: Relative risks comparing different contact lens types, socioeconomic classification, age, sex, lens use, lens wearing experience, hygiene compliance, and hygiene systems. Results: The crude relative risk for developing acanthamoeba keratitis with the use of daily wear disposable lenses was 49.45 (95% confidence interval 6.53 to 2227; P<0.001) compared with conventional soft lenses (the referent). Multivariable analysis showed that this increased risk could be largely attributed to lack of disinfection (relative risk 55.86 (10 to 302); P<0.001) and use of chlorine based disinfection (14.63 (2.8 to 76); P=0.001) compared with other chemical systems (the referent). None of the other outcome measures showed a significant association. Conclusions: Both failure to disinfect daily wear soft contact lenses and the use of chlorine release lens disinfection systems, which have little protective effect against the organism, are major risk factors for acanthamoeba keratitis. These risks have been particularly common in disposable lens use. Over 80% of acanthamoeba keratitis could be avoided by the use of lens disinfection systems that are effective against the organism. Key messages Key messages These risk factors are both more common in users of disposable daily wear soft lenses Over 80% of acanthamoeba infections could be eliminated by daily disinfection of reused lenses with systems effective against the organism Disinfection systems ineffective against acanthamoeba should not be licenced for use
Causal Inference With General Treatment Regimes

In this article we develop the theoretical properties of the propensity function, which is a generalization of the propensity score of Rosenbaum and Rubin. Methods based on the propensity score have long been used for causal inference in observational studies; they are easy to use and can effectively reduce the bias caused by nonrandom treatment assignment. Although treatment regimes need not be binary in practice, the propensity score methods are generally confined to binary treatment scenarios. Two possible exceptions have been suggested for ordinal and categorical treatments. In this article we develop theory and methods that encompass all of these techniques and widen their applicability by allowing for arbitrary treatment regimes. We illustrate our propensity function methods by applying them to two datasets; we estimate the effect of smoking on medical expenditure and the effect of schooling on wages. We also conduct simulation studies to investigate the performance of our methods.
Decentralized Traffic Control in Data Networks - A Methodological Overview

The paper reviews current algorithms for distributed, asynchronous control of data networks. Different problem formulations are considered: from the simplest shortest-path approach, without quality of service (QoS) constraints, via total flow cost minimization for given traffic quality equations, until dynamic flow control with influencing users' transmission rates through internal prices. These different formulations are presented in a unified way and compared from the possible application areas point of view.
Polaris: Lymba’s Semantic Parser

Semantic representation of text is key to text understanding and reasoning. In this paper, we present Polaris, Lymba's semantic parser. Polaris is a supervised semantic parser that given text extracts semantic relations. It extracts relations from a wide variety of lexico-syntactic patterns, including verb-argument structures, noun compounds and others. The output can be provided in several formats: XML, RDF triples, logic forms or plain text, facilitating interoperability with other tools. Polaris is implemented using eight separate modules. Each module is explained and a detailed example of processing using a sample sentence is provided. Overall results using a benchmark are discussed. Per module performance, including errors made and pruned by each module are also analyzed.
Generation of Rab‐based transgenic lines for in vivo studies of endosome biology in zebrafish

The Rab family of small GTPases function as molecular switches regulating membrane and protein trafficking. Individual Rab isoforms define and are required for specific endosomal compartments. To facilitate in vivo investigation of specific Rab proteins, and endosome biology in general, we have generated transgenic zebrafish lines to mark and manipulate Rab proteins. We also developed software to track and quantify endosome dynamics within time‐lapse movies. The established transgenic lines ubiquitously express EGFP fusions of Rab5c (early endosomes), Rab11a (recycling endosomes), and Rab7 (late endosomes) to study localization and dynamics during development. Additionally, we generated UAS‐based transgenic lines expressing constitutive active (CA) and dominant‐negative (DN) versions for each of these Rab proteins. Predicted localization and functional consequences for each line were verified through a variety of assays, including lipophilic dye uptake and Crumbs2a localization. In summary, we have established a toolset for in vivo analyses of endosome dynamics and functions. Developmental Dynamics 240:2452–2465, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Selenium Balance in the Dependent Elderly

Although trace minerals are necessary constituents of enzymes, dietary requirements of these nutrients for the elderly are unknown. This study measured selenium balance in six dependent elderly men before and after five weeks daily administration of 200 μg organically-bound selenium; dietary selenium intake averaged 62.1 ± 7 μg/day during both study periods. Selenium status was assessed not only chemically but also biologically as red cell and platelet glutathione peroxidase activities. Plasma selenium averaged 8.8 ± 0.8 μg% (normal: 10 ± 2 μg%) when intake derived from dietary sources alone and increased during medicinal supplementation to an average of 12.8 ± 1.9 μg%. The rise in plasma selenium was not associated with an increase in red cell or platelet glutathione peroxidase activity. The effect of selenium supplementation on in vivo platelet aggreg-ability was studied by measuring plasma levels of β-thrombo-globulin and platelet factor 4, two proteins secreted concomitant with aggregation, β-thromboglobulin diminished 7,5 ± 11.0 ng/ml and platelet factor 7.6 ± 11.0 ng/ml during selenium supplementation despite no change in platelet glutathione peroxidase activity. These data support the concept that selenium nutritional status should be assessed not only by blood selenium content but also by selenium-dependent enzyme activity or selenium-dependent biologic effect.
The Assembly and Intermolecular Properties of the hsp70-Hop-hsp90 Molecular Chaperone Complex*

The highly coordinated interactions of several molecular chaperones, including hsp70 and hsp90, are required for the folding and conformational regulation of a variety of proteins in eukaryotic cells, such as steroid hormone receptors and many other signal transduction regulators. The protein called Hop serves as an adaptor protein for hsp70 and hsp90 and is thought to optimize their functional cooperation. Here we characterize the assembly of the hsp70-Hop-hsp90 complex and reveal interactions that cause conformational changes between the proteins in the complex. We found that hsp40 plays an integral role in the assembly by enhancing the binding of hsp70 to the Hop complex. This is accomplished by stimulating the conversion of hsp70-ATP to hsp70-ADP, the hsp70 conformation favored for Hop binding. The hsp70-Hop-hsp90 complex is highly dynamic, as has been observed previously for hsp90 in its interaction with client proteins. Nonetheless, hsp90 binds with high affinity to Hop (K d = 90 nm), and this binding is not affected by hsp70. hsp70 binds with lower affinity to Hop (K d = 1.3 μm) on its own, but this affinity is increased (K d = 250 nm) in the presence of hsp90. hsp90 also reduces the number of hsp70 binding sites on the Hop dimer from two sites in the absence of hsp90 to one site in its presence. Hop can inhibit the ATP binding and p23 binding activity of hsp90, yet this can be reversed if hsp70 is present in the complex. Taken together, our results suggest that the assembly of hsp70-Hop-hsp90 complexes is selective and influences the conformational state of each protein.
Community Attitudes to Mental Illness

Background The baseline findings from a controlled study of the effect of a public education campaign on community attitudes to mental illness are presented. Method A census of attitudes to mental illness was conducted in two areas, prior to the opening of supported houses for the mentally ill Factor analysis of the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally III (CAMI) inventory revealed three components: Fear and Exclusion, Social Control and Goodwill. Results The only determinant of Fear and Exclusion was having children. The main determinants of Social Control were social class, ethnic origin, age, having suffered mental illness and having children. The main determinant of Goodwill was educational level The attitude factors were predictive of respondents' behavioural intentions toward the mentally ill. Respondents with children and non-Caucasians were more likely to object to the mentally ill living in their neighbourhood. Conclusions Any intervention aimed at changing attitudes to mentally ill people in the community should be targeted at people with children and non-Caucasians, as these groups are more likely to object.
An automatic and modular stereo pipeline for pushbroom images

Abstract. The increasing availability of high resolution stereo images from Earth observation satellites has boosted the development of tools for producing 3D elevation models. The objective of these tools is to produce digital elevation models of very large areas with minimal human intervention. The development of these tools has been shaped by the constraints of the remote sensing acquisition, for example, using ad hoc stereo matching tools to deal with the pushbroom image geometry. However, this specialization has also created a gap with respect to the fields of computer vision and image processing, where these constraints are usually factored out. In this work we propose a fully automatic and modular stereo pipeline to produce digital elevation models from satellite images. The aim of this new pipeline, called Satellite Stereo Pipeline and abbreviated as s2p, is to use (and test) off-the-shelf computer vision tools while abstracting from the complexity associated to satellite imaging. To this aim, images are cut in small tiles for which we proved that the pushbroom geometry is very accurately approximated by the pinhole model. These tiles are then processed with standard stereo image rectification and stereo matching tools. The specifics of satellite imaging such as pointing accuracy refinement, estimation of the initial elevation from SRTM data, and geodetic coordinate systems are handled transparently by s2p. We demonstrate the robustness of our approach on a large database of satellite images and by providing an online demo of s2p.
Novel biocatalysts for white biotechnology

White Biotechnology uses microorganisms and enzymes to manufacture a large variety of chemical products. Therefore, the demand for new and useful biocatalysts is steadily and rapidly increasing. We have developed methods for the isolation of new enzyme genes, constructed novel expression systems, and optimized existing enzymes for biotechnological applications by methods of directed evolution. Furthermore, we have isolated and characterized biocatalysts relevant for the preparation of enantiopure compounds.
CRITICAL REVIEW ON TEACHER’S BELIEF ABOUT TEACHING READING STRATEGIES AND THEIR CLASSROOM PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY OF VIET BA HIGH SCHOOL

There are four English skills that should be mastered by students, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among those four English skills, reading is mainly discussed in every field. It means that reading becomes a universal habit inspite of the language used in reading text. As one of English skills, reading is admitted as an essential skill for English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). Some teachers believe that reading is an important skill to master because if students are able to master reading, as readers they will make progress and attain greater development in their academic atmosphere. Reading involves brain activity as the information that is read will be stored in the brain. By strengthening this skill, it is possible that students will gain greater knowledge in their academic life. Moreover, English is used in many areas outside of academic like in politics, economics, technology, tourism, culture and science. Therefore English is not only a means but also a key to access and asses many sophisticated achievement yield by many countries in the world. Key words: ESL/EFL, reading skill, teacher’s belief
Effects of the Regulatory Light Chain Phosphorylation of Myosin II on Mitosis and Cytokinesis of Mammalian Cells*

Myosin plays an important role in mitosis, especially during cytokinesis. Although it has been assumed that phosphorylation of regulatory light chain of myosin (RLC) controls motility of mammalian non-muscle cells, the functional significance of RLC phosphorylation remains uninvestigated. To address this problem, we have produced unphosphorylatable RLC (T18A/S19A RLC) and overexpressed it in COS-7 cells and normal rat kidney cells. Overexpression of T18A/S19A RLC but not wild type RLC almost completely abolished concanavalin A-induced receptor cap formation. The results indicate that myosin phosphorylation is critical for concanavalin A-induced gathering of surface receptors. T18A/S19A RLC overexpression resulted in the production of multinucleated cells, suggesting the failure of proper cell division in these cells. Video microscopic observation revealed that cells expressing T18A/S19A RLC showed abnormalities during mitosis in two respects. One is that the cells produced abnormal cleavage furrows, resulting in incomplete cytokinesis, which suggests that myosin phosphorylation is important for the normal recruitment of myosin molecules into the contractile ring structure. The other is that separation of chromosomes from the metaphase plate is disrupted in T18A/S19A RLC expressing cells, thus preventing proper transition from metaphase to anaphase. These results suggest that, in addition to cytokinesis, myosin and myosin phosphorylation play a role in the karyokinetic process.
Impact of Article Language in Multi-Language Medical Journals - a Bibliometric Analysis of Self-Citations and Impact Factor

Background In times of globalization there is an increasing use of English in the medical literature. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of English-language articles in multi-language medical journals on their international recognition – as measured by a lower rate of self-citations and higher impact factor (IF). Methods and Findings We analyzed publications in multi-language journals in 2008 and 2009 using the Web of Science (WoS) of Thomson Reuters (former Institute of Scientific Information) and PubMed as sources of information. The proportion of English-language articles during the period was compared with both the share of self-citations in the year 2010 and the IF with and without self-citations. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed to analyze these factors as well as the influence of the journals‘ countries of origin and of the other language(s) used in publications besides English. We identified 168 multi-language journals that were listed in WoS as well as in PubMed and met our criteria. We found a significant positive correlation of the share of English articles in 2008 and 2009 with the IF calculated without self-citations (Pearson r=0.56, p = <0.0001), a correlation with the overall IF (Pearson r = 0.47, p = <0.0001) and with the cites to years of IF calculation (Pearson r = 0.34, p = <0.0001), and a weak negative correlation with the share of self-citations (Pearson r = -0.2, p = 0.009). The IF without self-citations also correlated with the journal‘s country of origin – North American journals had a higher IF compared to Middle and South American or European journals. Conclusion Our findings suggest that a larger share of English articles in multi-language medical journals is associated with greater international recognition. Fewer self-citations were found in multi-language journals with a greater share of original articles in English.
Epidemiology of headache in Europe

The present review of epidemiologic studies on migraine and headache in Europe is part of a larger initiative by the European Brain Council to estimate the costs incurred because of brain disorders. Summarizing the data on 1‐year prevalence, the proportion of adults in Europe reporting headache was 51%, migraine 14%, and ‘chronic headache’ (i.e. ≥15 days/month or ‘daily’) 4%. Generally, migraine, and to a lesser degree headache, are most prevalent during the most productive years of adulthood, from age 20 to 50 years. Several European studies document the negative influence of headache disorders on the quality of life, and health‐economic studies indicate that 15% of adults were absent from work during the last year because of headache. Very few studies have been performed in Eastern Europe, and there are also surprisingly little data on tension‐type headache from any country. Although the methodology and the quality of the published studies vary considerably, making direct comparisons between different countries difficult, the present review clearly demonstrates that headache disorders are extremely prevalent and have a vast impact on public health. The data collected should be used as arguments to increase resources to headache research and care for headache patients all over the continent.
Spamming in Linked Data

The rapidly growing commercial interest in Linked Data raises the prospect of "Linked Data spam", which we define as "deliberately misleading information (data and links) published as Linked Data, with the goal of creating financial gain for the publisher". Compared to conventional technologies affected by spamming, e.g. email and blogs, spammers targeting Linked Data may not be able to push information directly towards consumers, but rather may seek to exploit a lack of human involvement in automated data integration processes performed by applications consuming Linked Data. This paper aims to lay a foundation for future work addressing the issue of Linked Data spam, by providing the following contributions: i) a formal definition of spamming in Linked Data; ii) a classification of potential spamming techniques; iii) a sample dataset demonstrating these techniques, for use in evaluating anti-spamming mechanisms; iv) preliminary recommendations for anti-spamming strategies.
Performance Evaluation and Comparison of Transport Protocols for Fast Long-Distance Networks

It is well known that TCP does not fully utilize the available bandwidth in fast long-distance networks. To solve this scalability problem, several high speed transport protocols have been proposed. They include Highspeed TCP (HS-TCP), Scalable TCP (S-TCP), Binary increase control TCP (BIC-TCP), and H-TCP. These protocols increase (decrease) their window size more aggressively (slowly) compared to standard TCP (STD-TCP). This paper aims at evaluating and comparing these high speed transport protocols through computer simulations. We select six metrics that are important for high speed protocols; scalability, buffer requirement, TCP friendliness, TCP compatibility, RTT fairness, and responsiveness. Simulation scenarios are carefully designed to investigate the performance of these protocols in terms of the metrics. Results clarify that each high speed protocol successfully solves the problem of STD-TCP. In terms of the buffer requirement, S-TCP and BIC-TCP have better performance. For TCP friendliness and compatibility, HS-TCP and H-TCP offer better performance. For RTT fairness, BIC-TCP and H-TCP are superior. For responsiveness, HS-TCP and H-TCP are preferred. However, H-TCP achieves a high degree of fairness at the expense of the link utilization. Thus, we understand that all the proposed high speed transport protocols have their own shortcomings. Thus, much more research is needed on high speed transport protocols.