Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical observation on recombinant human endostatin combined with chemotherapy for advanced gastrointestinal cancer.

OBJECTIVE To explore the clinical efficacy and toxic and side effects of recombinant human endostatin (rh- endostatin/endostar) combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 70 patients with advanced gastrointestinal adenocarcioma confirmed by histopathology and/or cytological examination were divided into group A (37 patients) and group B (33 patients). Patients in group A were given intravenous drip of 15 mg endostar added into 500 mL normal saline, once every other day until the cessation of chemotherapy or patients' maximal tolerance to chemotherapy. Patients in group B received chemotherapy alone. Two groups selected the same chemotherapy regimens. FOLFIRI scheme: 90-min intravenous drip of 180 mg/m2 irinotecan, intravenous drip of 200 mg/m2 calcium folinate (CF) and 400 mg/m2 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) on d1, and continuous intravenous pumping of 2 400 mg/m2 5-Fu for 46 h. FOLFOX4 scheme: intravenous injection of 85 mg/m2 oxaliplatin (L-OHP), 200 mg/m2 calcium folinate (CF) and 400 mg/m2 5-FU on d1 for 2 h, and then continuous intravenous pumping of 2 400 mg/m2 5-Fu for 46 h. XELOX scheme: oral administration of 1 500 mg/m2 xeloda (or tegafur 50~60 mg) in twice during d1~14 and intravenous drip of 135 mg/m2 L-OHP on d1 for 2 h. The modified FOLFOX scheme: intravenous injection of 135 mg/m2 L-OHP on d1 for 2 h, 200 mg/m2 CF and 1.0 g tegafur during d1~5. Whereas, control Group B received chemotherapy regimens which were same as Group A, but no addition of endostar. Before chemotherapy, patients were given intravenous injection of 8 mg ondansetron, intramuscular injection of 10 mg metoclopramide and 20 mg diphenhydramine for prevention of vomiting, protection of liver and stomach as well as symptomatic supportive treatment. One cycle was 21 d, 4~6 cycles in total. The efficacy was evaluated every 2 cycles. RESULTS 32 patients in Group A could be evaluated, and the response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 59.38% and 78.13%, respectively. 31 patients in Groups could be evaluated, and the RR and DCR were 32.26% and 54.84%, respectively. The differences between 2 groups were significant. The toxic effects include myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reaction, fatigue, cardiotoxicity and peripheral neurotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary observations show that endostar (once every other day) combined with chemotherapy is effective in the treatment of advanced gastrointestinal cancer, with low toxic effects, good tolerance, deserving further study.
Achieving greater Explanatory Power and Forecasting Accuracy with Non-uniform spread Fuzzy Linear Regression

Fuzzy regression models have been applied to several Operations Research applications viz., forecasting and prediction. Earlier works on fuzzy regression analysis obtain crisp regression coefficients for eliminating the problem of increasing spreads for the estimated fuzzy responses as the magnitude of the independent variable increases. But they cannot deal with the problem of non-uniform spreads. In this work, a three-phase approach is discussed to construct the fuzzy regression model with non-uniform spreads to deal with this problem. The first phase constructs the membership functions of the least-squares estimates of regression coefficients based on extension principle to completely conserve the fuzziness of observations. They are then defuzzified by the centre of area method to obtain crisp regression coefficients in the second phase. Finally, the error terms of the method are determined by setting each estimated spread equal to its corresponding observed spread. The Tagaki-Sugeno inference system is used for improving the accuracy of forecasts. The simulation example demonstrates the strength of fuzzy linear regression model in terms of higher explanatory power and forecasting performance.
Validation of ocean tide models around Antarctica using onshore GPS and gravity data

[1] Ocean tide models around Antarctica are presently only sparsely tested against independent data. Ocean tide modeling errors, along with subsequent ocean tide loading (OTL) displacement modeling errors, alias into altimetry and time variable gravity (e.g., Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)) time series, for example. To validate various ocean tide models around Antarctica, GPS data from 15 sites have been used to derive three-dimensional displacement estimates at eight diurnal and semidiurnal tidal frequencies. Using hundreds of days of GPS data, harmonic parameters were estimated on a daily basis then combined. These were then compared with OTL displacement estimates derived from global and regional ocean tide models. In East Antarctica, where the tides are well defined, submillimeter differences are demonstrated in each coordinate component with the lunar N2 and Q1 constituents in closest agreement. As found in other studies, K1 and, especially, K2 agree less well. The spatial variation in the misfits for these two constituents indicates a site dependency, with the K2 errors also suggesting an interaction with satellite-dependent effects. In West Antarctica, where sites are nearer the largest ice shelves, agreement with the older models (CSR3 and TPXO.2) and NAO.99b is poor for all constituents. Modeled tidal gravity variations were also compared with gravity measurements at the South Pole. Overall the GPS and gravity data agree best with newer tide models, namely, TPXO.6, CADA00.10, FES99, and CATS02.01. However, validation data are lacking at the southern extents of the large ice shelves, and hence some uncertainty still exists in all ocean tide models in these regions.
Quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis.

UNLABELLED Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have to live with the perspective of a potential disability, which may lead in time to impaired quality of life (QoL). In order to fully understand the impact of IBD on patients and their careers we need to quantify the QoL. AIM To evaluate HRQol in ulcerative colitis patients as opposed to the general population and to identify the significant changes of HRQoL in accordance with the specific progression of UC. METHODS The prospective study (January 2010 - December 2012), included 105 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Disease activity was quantified by means of the Truelove and Witts score (mild, moderate and severe). All patients were administered a self-completed IBD questionnaire (IBDQ). Lower scores were related to a worse QoL. Statistical analysis was performed and di fferences were considered significant when p < or = 0.05. RESULTS Ninety-one percent (91%) were admitted with a flare, while they were asked to fill in the IBDQ. Proctitis was met in 2.94% of the cases, left-sided colitis in 71.1% and pancolitis in 26%. There were 32 patients with mild activity, 62 with moderate activity and only 3 with severe activity. The range score for QoL was 90-180. In proctitis: 80-190, in left-side colitis: 120-200, in pancolitis: 70-160 (p>0.05). The patients with severe form had a lower score (50-140) than patients in remission (130-180) (p<0.01). CONCLUSION Patients with UC have significantly influenced the QoL as compared to the general population. We found no significant differences regarding the extension of the lesions. The severity of the flare had a significant impact on the QoL.
Unique parameter identification of a cardiovascular system model using feedback control

Lumped parameter differential equation models are a common approach to modeling the cardiovascular system. However, there are highly non-linear valve dynamics inherent in these models which makes parameter identification difficult. Standard methods for parameter identification rely on gradient descent, which can often converge to wrong solutions, particularly as the number of parameters increases. This paper presents a new concept of parameter identification, applied to a 2 chamber model of the left ventricle systemic system. The changes in the parameters are treated as an actuation force into a feed back control system, where the reference output is taken to be steady state values of measured volume and pressure. The major advantage of the method is that when it converges, it must be at the global minimum, so that the correct solution is always found. The method is validated in both simulation and on a porcine model of pulmonary embolism. Very accurate matches to clinically measured left ventricle volume/pressure and aortic pressure waveforms are achieved, and the method gives considerable flexibility in capturing any required geometrical feature in the waveforms.
Physical activity and bone mineral density in adolescents with vitamin D deficiency.

INTRODUCTION Studies have shown that physical activity (PA) is superior to many other environmental factors in determining bone mineral density (BMD), but none has examined the independent relationship between PA and vitamin D status. PURPOSE The aim of this study was to assess the relationship among amount of PA, vitamin D (25(OH)D), and BMD. METHODS A total of 166 female ballet dancers and sedentary adolescents were divided by tertiles of serum levels of 25(OH)D (< 11.3, 11.3-14.9, and > or = 15 ng·mL(-1)). Diet, PA, and menstruation were assessed by questionnaires; BMD was measured in three sites by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS Across 25(OH)D tertiles, there were no differences in mean participant age, weight, height, PA, calcium and energy intake, BMD, or parathyroid hormone. PA was positively associated with BMD in participants with vitamin D deficiency. Multivariable regression analysis, controlling for age, body mass index, parathyroid hormone, and bone turnover markers, showed that total body, femoral neck, and lumbar spine BMD were all positively related to PA, with regression coefficients increasing as vitamin D levels dropped across tertiles. CONCLUSIONS PA is positively related to BMD in vitamin D-deficient female adolescents and with increasing magnitude as serum vitamin D levels drop. These findings suggest that PA may counteract the detrimental effect of marked vitamin D deficiency on bone mass.
Molecular Identification and Characterization of Novel Membrane-bound Metalloprotease, the Soluble Secreted Form of Which Hydrolyzes a Variety of Vasoactive Peptides*

One class of zinc metalloproteases, represented by neutral endopeptidase 24.11 and endothelin-converting enzyme, has been shown to be involved in proteolytic activation or inactivation of many regulatory peptides. Here, we report molecular cloning and characterization of a novel member of this type II membrane-bound metalloprotease family, termed soluble secreted endopeptidase (SEP). Alternative splicing results in the generation of another transcript, SEPΔ, which lacks a 69-base pair nucleotide segment following the transmembrane helix. Both SEP and SEPΔmRNA are detected in all mouse tissues examined. Transfection of an SEP cDNA expression construct resulted in the expression of the membrane-bound form of SEP in the early secretory pathway as well as the soluble secreted form of the enzyme in the culture medium. In contrast, transfection of the SEPΔ cDNA only results in the expression of the membrane-bound form. In vitroenzymological analysis of the recombinant soluble form of SEP demonstrated that it hydrolyzes a variety of vasoactive peptides, including endothelin-1, atrial natriuretic peptide, and angiotensin I. This activity of SEP was inhibited by phosphoramidon and the neutral endopeptidase 24.11 specific inhibitor thiorphan, but it was only partially inhibited by the endothelin-converting enzyme specific inhibitor FR901533. These findings suggest that SEP is a novel metalloprotease that possesses a broad substrate specificity and that it may be involved in the metabolism of biologically active peptides intracellulary as well as extracellularly.
Identification of diapycnal mixing through optimum multiparameter analysis: 1. Test of Feasibility and Sensitivity

The ability of optimum multiparameter (OMP) analysis to identify regions where diapycnal mixing is prominent is examined. OMP analysis and isopycnal analysis are applied to synthetic data sets constructed with predetermined mixing regimes and ratios. Oceanic conditions are modeled by including random noise representative of environmental variability found in the eastern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Comparison of results from OMP and isopycnal analysis verifies that in the absence of environmental variability, OMP analysis can isolate regions with moderate diapycnal mixing. When environmental variability is included, the effects of diapycnal mixing have to be strong enough to be detected without ambiguity. It is shown that this is the case in the eastern Indian Ocean and, most probably, also in the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
STAT2 signaling and dengue virus infection

Dengue virus (DENV) is an important human pathogen whose byzantine relationship with the immune response is poorly understood. DENV causes dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome, diseases for which palliative care is the only treatment. DENV immunopathogenesis studies are complicated by the lack of an immunocompetent small-animal model, and this has hindered anti-DENV drug and vaccine development. This review describes strategies that DENV uses to evade the type I interferon response and focuses on how data gained from the study of DENV NS5-mediated STAT2 degradation may be used to create immunocompetent DENV mouse models and design anti-DENV therapeutics.
Vegetation attenuation: modelling and measurements at millimetric frequencies

Several measurements have been made to determine the extent of attenuation of millimetre-wave signals when propagated through vegetation. Methods for predicting such attenuation exist, but are either deterministic in form and therefore complex to implement completely empirical and take no account measurement geometry. A new semi-empirical model is presented which is based on measurements of vegetation attenuation presented previously, and has some account of the measurement geometry. This model is compared with measured data and is shown to give considerably better agreement than that given by previous models. Further indoor measurements (at 35, 37.5 and 4 GHz) have been made of the attenuation through three types of trees have also been made and the results are presented.
Modeling the Impact on HIV Incidence of Combination Prevention Strategies among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Beijing, China

Objective To project the HIV/AIDS epidemics among men who have sex with men (MSM) under different combinations of HIV testing and linkage to care (TLC) interventions including antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Beijing, China. Design Mathematical modeling. Methods Using a mathematical model to fit prevalence estimates from 2000–2010, we projected trends in HIV prevalence and incidence during 2011–2020 under five scenarios: (S1) current intervention levels by averaging 2000–2010 coverage; (S2) increased ART coverage with current TLC; (S3) increased TLC/ART coverage; (S4) increased condom use; and (S5) increased TLC/ART plus increased condom use. Results The basic reproduction number based upon the current level of interventions is significantly higher than 1 ( confidence interval (CI), 1.83–2.35), suggesting that the HIV epidemic will continue to increase to 2020. Compared to the 2010 prevalence of 7.8%, the projected HIV prevalence in 2020 for the five prevention scenarios will be: (S1) Current coverage: 21.4% (95% CI, 9.9–31.7%); (S2) Increased ART: 19.9% (95% CI, 9.9–28.4%); (S3) Increased TLC/ART: 14.5% (95% CI, 7.0–23.8%); (S4) Increased condom use: 13.0% (95% CI, 9.8–28.4%); and (S5) Increased TLC/ART and condom use: 8.7% (95% CI, 5.4–11.5%). HIV epidemic will continue to rise () for S1–S4 even with hyperbolic coverage in the sensitivity analysis, and is expected to decline () for S5. Conclusion Our transmission model suggests that Beijing MSM will have a rapidly rising HIV epidemic. Even enhanced levels of TLC/ART will not interrupt epidemic expansion, despite optimistic assumptions for coverage. Promoting condom use is a crucial component of combination interventions.
Image Segmentation and Classification Based on a 2 D Distributed Hidden Markov Model

In this paper, we propose a two-dimensional distributed hidden Markov model (2D-DHMM), where dependency of the state transition probability on any state is allowed as long as causality is preserved. The proposed 2D-DHMM model is result of a novel solution to a more general non-causal two-dimensional hidden Markov model (2D-HMM) that we proposed. Our proposed models can capture, for example, dependency among diagonal states, which can be critical in many image processing applications, for example, image segmentation. A new sets of basic image patterns are designed to enrich the variability of states, which in return largely improves the accuracy of state estimations and segmentation performance. We provide three algorithms for the training and classification of our proposed model. A new Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm suitable for estimation of the new model is derived, where a novel General Forward-Backward (GFB) algorithm is proposed for recursive estimation of the model parameters. A new conditional independent subset-state sequence structure decomposition of state sequences is proposed for the 2D Viterbi algorithm. Application to aerial image segmentation shows the superiority of our model compared to the existing models.
The effects of small interfering RNA–targeting tissue factor on an in vitro model of neovascularization

Purpose Tissue factor (TF) plays an important role in neovascularization (NV). This study aimed to determine whether small interfering RNA–targeting TF (TF-siRNA) could knock down TF expression and inhibit cell proliferation, cell migration, and tube formation in an in vitro model of NV. Methods Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to stimulate human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) lines to express TF and mimic certain phenotypes of NV in vitro. HUVECs were transfected with TF-siRNAs and control siRNAs using LipofectamineTM 2000. The inhibitory effect of the siRNAs on the expression of TF mRNA and protein was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. The effects on the cell viability, migration, and tube formation of siRNA-treated cells were examined by MTT assay, wound-healing assay, and Matrigel-induced capillary tube formation. Results Lipopolysaccharide treatment increased the expression of TF. TF-siRNAs effectively knocked down TF expression, with the most efficient TF-siRNA reducing 78.9% of TF expression. TF protein was also notably curtailed by TF-siRNA. The MTT and wound-healing assays showed that the TF-siRNA substantially inhibited the proliferation and migration of HUVECs. Tube formation was decreased by 47.4% and 59.4% in cells treated with the TF-siRNA and vascular endothelial growth factor–siRNA, respectively, compared with the blank control. Conclusions TF-siRNA can knockdown TF expression and inhibit cell proliferation, migration, and tube formation in vitro. TF-siRNA may provide a novel therapeutic candidate for NV-related diseases.
Causes of exceptional atmospheric circulation changes in the Southern Hemisphere

We demonstrate that recent observed trends in the annual and austral summer Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) are unlikely to be due to internal climate variability, since they exceed any equivalent‐length trends in a millennial General Circulation Model (GCM) control run with constant forcings. In contrast we show that observed trends in the SAM are consistent with the combined effects of anthropogenic and natural forcings in GCM simulations. As these trends begin prior to stratospheric ozone depletion we challenge the assertion that this process is primarily responsible for changes in the SAM. Moreover, anthropogenic forcings have a larger effect on the austral summer SAM in combination with natural forcings than when acting in isolation.
Permeable coral reef sediment dissolution driven by elevated pCO2 and pore water advection

Ocean acidification (OA) is expected to drive the transition of coral reef ecosystems from net calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitating to net dissolving within the next century. Although permeable sediments represent the largest reservoir of CaCO3 in coral reefs, the dissolution of shallow CaCO3 sands under future pCO2 levels has not been measured under natural conditions. In situ, advective chamber incubations under elevated pCO2 (~800 µatm) shifted the sediments from net precipitating to net dissolving. Pore water advection more than doubled dissolution rates (1.10 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1) when compared to diffusive conditions (0.42 g CaCO3 m−2 d−1). Sediment dissolution could reduce net ecosystem calcification rates of the Heron Island lagoon by 8% within the next century, which is equivalent to a 25% reduction in the global average calcification rate of coral lagoons. The dissolution of CaCO3 sediments needs to be taken into account in order to address how OA will impact the net accretion of coral reefs under future predicted increases in CO2.
Seasonal and interannual variability of tropospheric ozone over an urban site in India: A study based on MOZAIC and CCM vertical profiles over Hyderabad

This study is based on the analysis of Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In‐Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) data measured over Hyderabad, India during the years 2006–2008. Tropospheric profiles of O3 show clear seasonality with high and low values during the premonsoon and monsoon seasons, respectively. Analysis of back trajectory and fire count data indicates major roles for long‐range transport and biomass burning in the seasonal variation of O3. Typically, lower levels of O3 in the monsoon season were due to the flow of marine air and negligible regional biomass burning, while higher levels in other seasons were due to transport of continental air. In the upper troposphere, relatively low levels of O3 during the monsoon and postmonsoon seasons were associated with deep convection. In the free troposphere, levels of O3 also show year‐to‐year variability as the values in the premonsoon of 2006 were higher by about 30 ppbv compared to 2008. The year‐to‐year variations were mainly due to transition from El Niño (2006) to La Niña (2008). The higher and lower levels of O3 were associated with strong and weak wind shears, respectively. Typically, vertical variations of O3 were anticorrelated with the lapse rate profile. The lower O3 levels were observed in the stable layers, but higher values in the midtroposphere were caused by long‐range transport. In the PBL region, the mixing ratio of O3 shows strong dependencies on meteorological parameters. The Chemistry Climate Model (CCM2) reasonably reproduced the observed profiles of O3 except for the premonsoon season.