Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase I study of irinotecan and concurrent radiation therapy for upper GI tumors.

Irinotecan (Camptosar) is an active chemotherapeutic agent for lung, gastric, esophageal, and colorectal cancers and a potent radiosensitizer. This phase I study was designed to assess the maximum tolerated dose of weekly irinotecan combined with concurrent radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced, unresectable gastric, gastroesophageal junction, or esophageal cancer. Patients who received previous chemotherapy (excluding irinotecan) or who experienced recurrent cancer after surgery were eligible for this protocol. The total dose of radiation did not exceed 50.4 Gy (28 fractions of 1.8 Gy each). The starting dose level of irinotecan was 30 mg/m2 infused over 90 minutes given weekly for 5 weeks. Subsequent dose levels were increased in 10 mg/m2 increments to 40, 50, 60, and 70 mg/m2. Of 15 patients who have been enrolled to date, all are evaluable for toxicities and 12 for response. Major hematologic toxicities (grade 3/4) were neutropenia, chills, hemorrhage, and anemia. Grade 3/4 gastrointestinal toxicities included nausea, vomiting, dehydration, anorexia, and constipation. Other severe nonhematologic toxicities included fatigue, hypotension, and hypothermia, as well as cardiovascular toxicities. There was no severe diarrhea and no treatment-related deaths. Of the 12 evaluable patients, 7 (58%) responded, including 2 complete responses; 4 (30%) had no change and 1 had progressive disease. Survival ranged from 1 month to 15 months, with a median survival of 8 months. When the total dose of irinotecan given concurrently with radiotherapy was higher than 250 mg/m2, patients experienced significantly more severe grade 3/4 toxicities than with lower doses (P = .04), with no improvement in response rate. It was concluded that weekly doses of irinotecan of up to 60 mg/m2 with concurrent radiotherapy given over 5 weeks was feasible and demonstrated good response. This regimen did not cause severe diarrhea or pneumonitis, but neutropenia and fatigue were major toxicities. The study continues to accrue.
El modelo de comunicación del gobierno del PP en la última legislatura y en la crisis del 11-14M

El Gobierno del PP parece que puso en practica, en toda la legislatura 2000-2004 y no solo al final de esta, un modelo de comunicacion y de relaciones publicas basado en "el hacer" sin escuchar a los ciudadanos. Hubo una diversidad de temas importantes en esos cuatro anos en los que dicho gobierno demostro desconexion con la sociedad, rubricado con la entrada de Espana en la guerra de Irak. Parece probable, asimismo, que esos asuntos importantes de la legislatura terminasen por adquirir protagonismo en la conciencia de los ciudadanos debido a la percepcion de buena parte de estos de que el Gobierno podia estar mintiendo en la crisis del 1 1M. La crisis tras los atentados del 1 1M fue gestionada politica y comunicacionalmente por el Gobierno del PP con la misma falta de escucha de la opinion publica que en el resto de la legislatura. Asi que parece que no fueron los atentados del 11 de marzo de 2004 los que produjeron el vuelco electoral. Ya habia muchos electores instalados en una tendencia hacia el cambio. Por tanto, sin atentados, el PSOE probablemente hubiese formado gobierno con otros partidos, aun quizas con algun escano menos, pero con tantos votos, incluso mas, que el PP.
Linked Data Maps: Providing a Visual Entry Point for the Exploration of Datasets

Linked Data sets are an ever-growing, invaluable source of information and knowledge. However, the wide adoption of this large amount of interlinked structured data is still held back by some nontrivial obstacles. The one we tackle in this article is the difficulty users have in getting started with their work on Linked Data sources. In fact, querying, and in general dealing with such datasets, requires a deep knowledge about their specific classes, instances and properties. We believe that an entry point that eases the access to such information would significantly reduce the barriers around this technology and foster its promotion. Linked Data Maps is a method for representing RDF graphs as interactive, map-like visualizations, based on our previous work focused on the visual exploration of DBpedia. The approach is extended to deal with a wider range of Linked Data sets, and tested with a user evaluation study on two distinct RDF graphs.
The finite element method for a class of degenerate elliptic equations

Consider the degenerate elliptic operator Lδ := −∂2 x − δ x2 ∂ 2 y on Ω := (0, 1) × (0, l), for δ > 0, l > 0. We prove well-posedness and regularity results for the second-order degenerate elliptic equation Lδu = f in Ω, u|∂Ω = 0 using weighted Sobolev spaces Km a . In particular, by a proper choice of the parameters in the weighted Sobolev spaces Km a , we establish the existence and uniqueness of the solution. In addition, we show that there is no loss of Km a -regularity for the solution of the equation. We then provide an explicit construction of a sequence of finite dimensional subspaces Vn for the finite element method, such that the optimal convergence rate is attained for un ∈ Vn, i.e., ||u − un||H1(Ω) ≤ Cdim(Vn) −2 ||f ||Hm−1(Ω) with C independent of f and n.
Wilms tumor genetics: Mutations in WT1, WTX, and CTNNB1 account for only about one‐third of tumors

Wilms tumor is genetically heterogeneous, and until recently only one Wilms tumor gene was known, WT1 at 11p13. However, WT1 is altered in only ∼20% of Wilms tumors. Recently a novel gene, WTX at Xq11.1, was reported to be mutated in Wilms tumors. No overlap between tumors with mutations in WTX and WT1 was noted, suggesting that WT1 and WTX mutations could account for the genetic basis of roughly half of Wilms tumors. To assess the frequency of WTX mutations and their relationship to WT1 mutations in a larger (n = 125) panel of Wilms tumors which had been thoroughly assessed for mutations in WT1, we conducted a complete mutational analysis of WTX that included sequencing of the entire coding region and quantitative PCR to identify deletions of the WTX gene. Twenty‐three (18.4%) tumors carried a total of 24 WTX mutations, a lower WTX mutation frequency than that previously observed. Surprisingly, we observed an equivalent frequency of WTX mutations in tumors with mutations in either or both WT1 and CTNNB1 (20.0%) and tumors with no mutation in either WT1 or CTNNB1 (17.5%). WTX has been reported to play a role in the WNT/β‐catenin signaling pathway, and, interestingly, WTX deletion/truncation mutations appeared to be rare in tumors carrying exon 3 mutations of CTNNB1, encoding β‐catenin. Our findings indicate that WT1 and WTX mutations occur with similar frequency, that they partially overlap in Wilms tumors, and that mutations in WT1, WTX, and CTNNB1 underlie the genetic basis of about one‐third of Wilms tumors. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insurance Status and the Variable Management of Children Presenting to the Emergency Department With Bronchiolitis

Objective: To determine if insurance type is associated with differences in the management of children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with bronchiolitis Methods: We analyzed data from a 30-center, prospective cohort study of children younger than 2 years with bronchiolitis presenting to the ED. Insurance status was defined as private, public, and no insurance. Results: Of 1450 patients, 473 (33%) had private, 928 (64%) had public, and 49 (3%) had no insurance. Multivariable analysis found that children with public insurance were less likely to receive inhaled &bgr;-agonists (odds ratio [OR], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50-0.92) or antibiotics (OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.42-0.89) the week before the ED visit. Children without insurance were less likely to have a primary care provider (OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.04-0.57) or receive laboratory testing in the ED (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.19-0.88). The children's clinical presentation (eg, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and retractions) and ED treatments (eg, inhaled &bgr;-agonists, inhaled racemic epinephrine, systemic corticosteroids, and antibiotics) were similar. Likewise, hospital admission (multivariable OR 1.04; 95% CI, 0.45-2.42) was similar between insurance groups. Conclusions: We noted some pre-ED and ED management differences across insurance types for children presenting to the ED with bronchiolitis. Although these variations may reflect treatments with unproven benefits, all children regardless of insurance should receive similar care. Despite these management variations, there were no differences in medications delivered in the ED or admission rate.
The Role of Product Involvement, Knowledge, and Perceptions in Explaining Consumer Purchase Behaviour of Counterfeits: Direct and Indirect Effects

This research examines the direct and indirect relationships (mediator and moderator effects) between product involvement, product knowledge, and perception on purchase intention of counterfeits in the context of nondeceptive counterfeiting. Results suggest that (1) perception is not a mediator of the effects of involvement/knowledge on purchase intention, (2) evidence of involvement as a moderator does not exist, (3) involvement/knowledge has no significant influence on counterfeit purchase intention, and (4) three out of seven dimensions of counterfeit perception are significantly influential on counterfeit purchase intention, with brand personality dimension appearing to have more explanatory power than the other two dimensions.
Budgetary Participation, Motivation and Managerial Performance

This paper reports the results of an empirical study designed to assess the relationship of budgetary participation to motivation and performance among middle-level managers in three manufacturing firms. Expectancy theory provides the theoretical framework for specifying and estimating motivation. It is hypothesized that motivation mediates the effect of participation on performance. Participation and performance are found to be significantly positively related; however, the path between them through motivation explains very little of this, principally because participation's relationship with motivation is insignificant. The correlations between participation and the elements in the expectancy model show a positive relationship with the expectancies, counteracted by a negative relationship with the intrinsic valences. An interpretation of participation's potential effects on budgetary slack is offered as a possible explanation of this unexpected finding. E ARLY theoretical literature in management accounting proposed that budgetary participation, through a positive effect on motivation, would enhance managerial performance (e.g., Argyris [1952]; Becker and Green [1962]). This idea is widespread, appearing in many popular texts (e.g., Welsch [1976, p. 31]; Shillinglaw and Meyer [1983, pp. 816-817]; Moriarty and Allen [1984, pp. 296-297]). Strangely enough, to this point the proposition has not been directly tested. This paper reports the findings of an empirical study of the linkages between participation, motivation, and performance. The research framework is illustrated in Figure 1. The participationmotivation linkage is given particular attention in the study. An expectancy model is used to measure motivation, which allows an analysis of the effects of participation on the elements embodied in the model. The reason for doing this is that, despite the conventional wisdom referred to in the introductory paragraph, research evidence does not unambiguously suggest a positve relationship between participation and motivation. While numerous studies have established a positive connection between motivation and performance (P32), evidence regarding the relationship between participation and performance (p31) is mixed; jointly, these results suggest a close examination of the first stage (P21) of the intervening linkage between The authors are grateful to three anonymous referees, and to one of these in particular, for their helpful comments and advice on earlier drafts of the paper. Thanks are also due to participants in workshops at Macquarie University and the Universities of Melbourne and Queensland. The comments of Graeme Harrison, Rob Chenhall and Ken Merchant are especially acknowledged. Peter Brownell is Professor of Accounting, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia and Morris McInnes is Associate Professor ofAccounting, University of Massachusetts at Boston. Manuscript received September 1984. Revisions received August 1985 and April 1986. Accepted May 1986.
Tetracycline-inducible shRNA targeting long non-coding RNA PVT1 inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis in bladder cancer cells

Recent studies show that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may be significant functional regulators in tumor development, including bladder cancer. Here, we found that PVT1 was upregulated in bladder cancer tissues and cells. Further experiments revealed that PVT1 promoted cell proliferation and suppressed cell apoptosis. Furthermore we also used the emerging technology, synthetic biology, to create tetracycline-inducible small hairpin RNA (shRNA) vectors which silenced PVT1 in a dosage-dependent manner to inhibit the progression of bladder cancer. In conclusion, data suggest that PVT1 could be an oncogene and may be a therapeutic target in bladder cancer. Synthetic “tetracycline-on” switch system can be used to quantitatively control the expression of PVT1 in bladder cancer in response to different concentration of doxycycline to suppress the progression of bladder cancer.
Re-emission and satellite aerial maps applied to vehicle localization on urban environments

Vehicle localization in large-scale urban environments has been commonly addressed as a map-matching problem in the literature. Generally, the maps are 2D images of the world where each pixel covers a part of it. However, building maps for large-scale urban environments requires driving the vehicle along the desired path at least once. In order to simplify this task, in this work, we propose a new localization system that uses satellite aerial map-images available on the Internet to localize a vehicle in a complex urban environment. Satellite aerial map-images are compared against re-emission maps built from the infrared reflectance information of the vehicle's LiDAR. Normalized Mutual Information (NMI) is used to compare re-emission and aerial map images. A Particle Filter Localization strategy is applied for vehicle's localization. As a result, the system has an accuracy of 0.89m in a test course with 6.5km. Our system can be used continuously without losing track, and it works even in dark and partially occluded areas.
Sparse linear discriminant analysis by thresholding for high dimensional data

In many social, economical, biological and medical studies, one objective is to classify a subject into one of several classes based on a set of variables observed from the subject. Because the probability distribution of the variables is usually unknown, the rule of classification is constructed using a training sample. The well-known linear discriminant analysis (LDA) works well for the situation where the number of variables used for classification is much smaller than the training sample size. Because of the advance in technologies, modern statistical studies often face classification problems with the number of variables much larger than the sample size, and the LDA may perform poorly. We explore when and why the LDA has poor performance and propose a sparse LDA that is asymptotically optimal under some sparsity conditions on the unknown parameters. For illustration of application, we discuss an example of classifying human cancer into two classes of leukemia based on a set of 7,129 genes and a training sample of size 72. A simulation is also conducted to check the performance of the proposed method.
Neoliberal Conservation: A Brief Introduction

The growing body of work on the 'neoliberalisation of nature' does not as yet pay adequate attention to conservation policy and its impacts. Simi­larly, studies of conservation have much to learn by placing conservation policies in the context of broader social and economic changes that define neoliberalism. In this introduction, we outline and analyse the ways in which viewing conservation through a neoliberal lens adds value (if you will excuse the metaphor) to the collection of critiques we offer, placing quite different geographical areas and case studies in a comparative context. We argue that neoliberalisation involves the reregulation of nature through forms of com­modification. This, in turn, entails new types of territorialisation: the parti­tioning of resources and landscapes in ways that control, and often exclude, local people. Territorialisation is a starkly visible form of reregulation, which frequently creates new types of values and makes those values available to national and transnational elites. Finally, neoliberalisation has also coin­cided with the emergence of new networks that cut across traditional divides of state, non-governmental organisation (NGO), and for-profit enterprise. These networks are rhetorically united by neoliberal ideologies and are com­bining in ways that profoundly alter the lives of rural people in areas targeted for biodiversity conservation. The studies this collection brings together, which are all rooted in place-based detailed research, are united by their ex­perience of these processes. We argue that the disparate collection of cri­tiques on the neoliberalisation of nature needs more grounded studies like these. We conclude this introduction with some tentative recommendations for future research and policy on neoliberal conservation.
High-mobility modulation-doped SiGe-channel p-MOSFETs

A novel subsurface SiGe-channel p-MOSFET is demonstrated in which modulation doping is used to control the threshold voltage without degrading the channel mobility. A novel device design consisting of a graded SiGe channel, an n/sup +/ polysilicon gate, and p/sup +/ modulation doping is used. A boron-doped layer is located underneath the graded and undoped SiGe channel to minimize process sensitivity and maximize transconductance. Low-field hole mobilities of 220 cm/sup 2//V-s at 300 K and 980 cm/sup 2//V-s at 82 K were achieved in functional submicrometer p-MOSFETs. <<ETX>>
A new approach to on-line handwritten Chinese character recognition

By adopting several techniques of offline handwritten Chinese character recognition (HCCR), a new approach is proposed for online HCCR. First, an online handwritten Chinese character (HCC) sample library is built. Then, a five layer representation model of HCC based on attributed structural relationships among line segments is proposed. A kind of recognition device called a detector is designed to detect and identify line segments and their relationships. Finally, a recognition network composed of detectors is introduced. This approach solves the problems of stroke order variation, stroke number variation, and some kinds of connective strokes. An online HCCR system based on this approach has perfectly solved the above-mentioned problem with an average recognition rate more than 93% for unlearned handwriting and with real-time response. <<ETX>>
Assessment of Left Ventricular Torsional Deformation by Doppler Tissue Imaging: Validation Study With Tagged Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background—Left ventricular (LV) torsional deformation is a sensitive index for LV performance but difficult to measure. The present study tested the accuracy of a novel method that uses Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) for quantifying LV torsion in humans with tagged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a reference. Methods and Results—Twenty patients underwent DTI and tagged MRI studies. Images of the LV were acquired at apical and basal short-axis levels to assess LV torsion. We calculated LV rotation by integrating the rotational velocity, determined from DTI velocities of the septal and lateral regions, and correcting for the LV radius over time. LV torsion was defined as the difference in LV rotation between the 2 levels. DTI rotational and torsional profiles throughout systole and diastole were compared with those by tagged MRI at isochronal points. Rotation and torsion by DTI were closely correlated with tagged MRI results during systole and early diastole (apical and basal rotation, r=0.87 and 0.90, respectively; for torsion, 0.84; P<0.0001, by repeated-measures regression models). Maximal torsion showed even better correlation (r=0.95, P<0.0001). Conclusions—The present study has shown that DTI can quantify LV torsional deformation over time. This novel method may facilitate noninvasive quantification of LV torsion in clinical and research settings.
In the Eye of the Dragon: Women's Experience of Breast Cancer and the Occupation of Dragon Boat Racing

Background. Women with breast cancer are at risk of developing lymphedema following surgical and/or medical treatment of the disease. Recently, women have challenged traditional advice about limiting upper extremity activity to prevent lymphedema by participation in dragon boat racing. Purpose. In this qualitative pilot study, three women were interviewed about the meaningfulness of dragon boat racing in their lives. Methods. The women were interviewed twice and their interviews analyzed using thematic analysis. Results. Seven themes are discussed: attraction of dragon boat racing; physical and emotional well-being; competition; social support; transcendence/connectedness/oneness; re-occurrence of cancer; and, public awareness. Competition enabled the participants to rebuild self-confidence and to regain control over their physical health and emotional well-being. Balancing support and competition was key to finding satisfaction in this occupation. The women did not believe that dragon boat racing affected their risk for developing lymphedema. Practice Implications. People who engage in the occupation of dragon boat racing find it meaningful and develop new coping strategies. Participating in dragon boat racing can decrease stress and shift the meaning of having breast cancer to a more positive view of the experience.
Multiple energy sources monitoring system for electric vehicle

Electric vehicles (EVs) are fundamental components for a sustainable mobility. Unless a major technological breakthrough is achieved in energy storage and battery technology, EVs future will pass by multiple energy sources hybridisation, to benefit from the best characteristics of the energy sources available. In this paper, the energy and the mobility problems are introduced as well as the relevance of EVs in advanced and sustainable transportation. The EVs energy management issue is addressed together with the need for multiple energy sources hybridisation. Finally, a detailed description of the multiple energy sources monitoring system, particularly of its sensor data acquisition network, developed by the authors for their EV prototype, is presented along with collected data drawn from tests to one of the EV battery banks.