Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Update on Programmed Death-1 and Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Inhibition in the Treatment of Advanced or Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has a large worldwide prevalence with a high mortality rate. Chemotherapy has offered modest improvements in survival over the past two decades. Immune checkpoint modulation with programmed death-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibition has shown the promise of changing the future landscape of cancer therapy. This update reviews recent advances in the treatment of NSCLC with immune checkpoint modulation. Methods Publications and proceedings were identified from searching PubMed and proceedings from the annual meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society for Medical Oncology, and European Lung Cancer Conference. Results Atezolizumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab increase overall survival in second-line treatment of Stage III/IV squamous and non-squamous NSCLC when compared to docetaxel. Pembrolizumab increases progression-free survival in the first-line treatment of Stage IV NSCLC with 50% PD-L1 expression when compared to platinum-based chemotherapy. Combination therapy with chemotherapy and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors has shown promise in early trials. Conclusion Immune checkpoint modulation produces durable responses and overall survival benefits with less toxicity compared to conventional chemotherapy. Future investigations are combining PD-1/L1 inhibition with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or other immuno-oncology agents in an effort to further improve efficacy.
Nonlinear Wavelet Image Processing: Variational Problems, Compression, and Noise Removal through Wavelet Shrinkage *

This paper examines the relationship between wavelet-based image processing algorithms and variational problems. Algorithms are derived as exact or approximate minimizers of variational problems ; in particular, we show that wavelet shrinkage can be considered the exact minimizer of the following problem: given an image F defined on a square I, minimize over all g in the Besov space B 1 1 (L 1 (I)) the functional F − g 2 L 2 (I) + λg B 1 1 (L 1 (I)). We use the theory of nonlinear wavelet image compression in L 2 (I) to derive accurate error bounds for noise removal through wavelet shrinkage applied to images corrupted with i.i. d. , mean zero, Gaussian noise. A new signal-to-noise ratio, which we claim more accurately reflects the visual perception of noise in images, arises in this derivation. We present extensive computations that support the hypothesis that near-optimal shrinkage parameters can be derived if one knows (or can estimate) only two parameters about an image F : the largest α for which F ∈ B α q (Lq(I)), 1/q = α/2 + 1/2, and the norm F B α q (Lq (I)). Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that our choice of shrinkage parameters yields uniformly better results than Donoho and Johnstone's VisuShrink procedure; an example suggests, however , that Donoho and Johnstone's SureShrink method, which uses a different shrinkage parameter for each dyadic level, achieves lower error than our procedure.
Seasonal variations in the chemical composition of camel milk in Jordan

The principal chemical components of milk from the Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) were monitored in Jordan over one year. The analyses included total solids, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals and organic acids. Large seasonal variations in total solids and fat were apparent, with maxima in mid-winter of 139 and 39·0 g/l, respectively, and minima in August of 102 and 25·0 g/l. These differences may be sufficient to alter the sensory properties of the milk, and the fat: casein ratio may need standardisation for cheesemaking. The mean values of trace elements like zinc (5·8 mg/l), iron (4·4 mg/l) and manganese (0·05 mg/l) in Jordanian camel milk could provide valuable additions to the diet of urban populations, as could the mean concentration of vitamin C (33 mg/l). The levels of organic acids were generally higher than in bovine milk and, as with all the constituents of the milk, there were discernible patterns linking concentration and season of the year.
Does Optic Nerve Head Surface Topography Change Prior to Loss of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness: A Test of the Site of Injury Hypothesis in Experimental Glaucoma

Purpose To test the hypothesis that optic nerve head (ONH) deformation manifesting as changes in its mean surface height precedes thinning of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in experimental glaucoma (EG). Methods 68 rhesus macaque monkeys each had three or more baseline imaging sessions under manometric intraocular pressure (IOP) control to obtain average RNFL thickness (RNFLT) and the ONH surface topography parameter mean position of the disc (MPD). Laser photocoagulation was then applied to the trabecular meshwork of one eye to induce chronic, mild-to-moderate IOP elevation and bi-weekly imaging continued. Event analysis was applied to determine for each parameter when an ‘endpoint’ occurred (signficant change from baseline) for eight different endpoint criteria. Specificity was assessed in the group of 68 fellow control eyes. Classical signal detection theory and survival analysis were used to compare MPD with RNFLT. Results Regardless of the endpoint criterion, endpoints were always more frequent for MPD than for RNFLT. The discriminability index (d’) was 2.7 ± 0.2 for MPD and 1.9 ± 0.2 for RNFLT (p<0.0001). Endpoints were reached by MPD an average of 1-2 months earlier than by RNFLT (p<0.01). At the onset of the first specific, detectable MPD change in EG eyes, there was still no significant change in RNFLT on average (p=0.29) and only 25% of individual eyes exhibited signficant reduction. In contrast, at onset of signficant RNFLT change, MPD had already changed an average of 101 µm from baseline (p<0.0001) and 71% of the individual eyes had exhibited significant change. The magnitude of MPD change was more than could be explained on the basis of axon loss alone. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the average surface height of the ONH changes prior to any detectable loss of average peripapillary RNFL thickness in non-human primate eyes with experimental glaucoma.
Application of Multi-Classification Support Vector Machine in the B-Placenta Image Classification

In this paper, B-placenta image is classified automatically using support vector machine based on feature extraction. Firstly, artificial selected region of interest (ROI) is regarded as the object of feature extraction. Then traditional gray-scale statistical analysis is used to extract the characteristic parameters of B-placenta image as the basis data for the placenta classification. The binary tree multi-classification SVM is used to automatically classify the B-placenta image. The binary tree generation algorithm is optimized based on the ultra-radius. The experiment shows that this classifying method using binary tree multi-classification SVM in the B-placenta image classification has very high value. Keywords-support vector machine;classification;B-placenta
Impact of a Weekly Dance Class on the Functional Mobility and on the Quality of Life of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease

Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) mainly suffer from motor impairments which increase the risk of falls and lead to a decline of quality of life. Several studies investigated the long-term effect of dance for people with PD. The aims of the present study were to investigate (i) the short-term effects of dance (i.e., the effect immediately after the dance class) on motor control in individuals with PD and (ii) the long-term effects of 8 months of participation in the weekly dance class on the quality of life of the PD patients and their caregivers. The dance lessons took place in a ballet studio and were led by a professional dancer. Eleven people with moderate to severe PD (58–85 years old) were subjected to a motor and quality of life assessments. With respect to the motor assessments the unified Parkinson disease rating scale III (UPDRS III), the timed up and go test (TUG), and the Semitandem test (SeTa) before and after the dance class were used. With respect to the quality of life and well-being we applied quality of life scale (QOLS) as well as the Westheimer questionnaire. Additionally, we asked the caregivers to fill out the Questionnaire for caregivers. We found a significant beneficial short-term effect for the total score of the UPDRS motor score. The strongest improvements were in rigidity scores followed by significant improvements in hand movements, finger taps, and facial expression. No significant changes were found for TUG and for SeTa. The results of the questionnaires showed positive effects of the dance class on social life, health, body-feeling and mobility, and on everyday life competences of the PD patients. Beneficial effect was also found for the caregivers. The findings demonstrate that dance has beneficial effect on the functional mobility of individuals with PD. Further, dance improves the quality of life of the patients and their caregivers. Dance may lead to better therapeutic strategies as it is engaging and enjoyable.
Modeling Regular Polysemy: A Study on the Semantic Classification of Catalan Adjectives

We present a study on the automatic acquisition of semantic classes for Catalan adjectives from distributional and morphological information, with particular emphasis on polysemous adjectives. The aim is to distinguish and characterize broad classes, such as qualitative (gran ‘big’) and relational (pulmonar ‘pulmonary’) adjectives, as well as to identify polysemous adjectives such as econòmic (‘economic ∣ cheap’). We specifically aim at modeling regular polysemy, that is, types of sense alternations that are shared across lemmata. To date, both semantic classes for adjectives and regular polysemy have only been sparsely addressed in empirical computational linguistics.Two main specific questions are tackled in this article. First, what is an adequate broad semantic classification for adjectives? We provide empirical support for the qualitative and relational classes as defined in theoretical work, and uncover one type of adjective that has not received enough attention, namely, the event-related class. Second, how is regular polysemy best modeled in computational terms? We present two models, and argue that the second one, which models regular polysemy in terms of simultaneous membership to multiple basic classes, is both theoretically and empirically more adequate than the first one, which attempts to identify independent polysemous classes. Our best classifier achieves 69.1% accuracy, against a 51% baseline.
A manufacturable dual channel (Si and SiGe) high-k metal gate CMOS technology with multiple oxides for high performance and low power applications

Band-gap engineering using SiGe channels to reduce the threshold voltage (VTH) in p-channel MOSFETs has enabled a simplified gate-first high-к/metal gate (HKMG) CMOS integration flow. Integrating Silicon-Germanium channels (cSiGe) on silicon wafers for SOC applications has unique challenges like the oxidation rate differential with silicon, defectivity and interface state density in the unoptimized state, and concerns with Tinv scalability. In overcoming these challenges, we show that we can leverage the superior mobility, low threshold voltage and NBTI of cSiGe channels in high-performance (HP) and low power (LP) HKMG CMOS logic MOSFETs with multiple oxides utilizing dual channels for nFET and pFET.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The most common signs and symptoms of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are shortness of breath and a persistent dry, hacking cough. Many affected individuals also experience a loss of appetite and gradual weight loss. Some people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis develop widened and rounded tips of the fingers and toes (clubbing) resulting from a shortage of oxygen. These features are relatively nonspecific; not everyone with these health problems has idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Other respiratory diseases, some of which are less serious, can cause similar signs and symptoms.
No Fixed Abode: The Continuum of Policing and Incarcerating the Homeless

In the overzealous drive to criminalize and target the homeless for offences that are mostly related to their poverty status, this article makes the argument that homelessness produces targets for policing, and by extension, punishment. Drawing upon empirical evidence carried out in England, this article highlights the challenges that having no fixed abode presents within the criminal justice system. Looking at how homelessness impacts upon individual experiences in the criminal justice system, including pre-trial imprisonment, conviction and probation, this article argues that the resort to incarcerating homeless populations cannot be separated from the rise in policing and enforcement strategies that result in the disproportionate number of arrests and prosecutions of unhoused populations.
Advanced techniques for metamodelling

Due to rapid changing business requirements the complexity in developing applications which deliver business solutions is continually growing. To manage this complexity, environments providing flexible metamodelling capabilities instead of fixed metamodels has shown to be helpful. The main characteristic of such environments is that the formalism of modelling -the metamodel -can be freely defined and therefore be adapted to the problem under consideration. This paper gives an introduction into metamodelling concepts and presents a generic architecture for metamodelling platforms. Three best practice examples from industry projects applying metamodelling concepts in the area of business process modelling for e-business, e-learning, and knowledge management are presented. Finally, an outlook to future developments and research directions in the area of metamodelling is given.
Thermal properties of electrodeposited bismuth telluride nanowires embedded in amorphous alumina

Bismuth telluride nanowires are of interest for thermoelectric applications because of the predicted enhancement in the thermoelectric figure-of-merit in nanowire structures. In this letter, we carried out temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity characterization of a 40nm diameter Bi2Te3 nanowires∕alumina nanocomposite. Measured thermal diffusivity of the composite decreases from 9.2×10−7m2s−1 at 150Kto6.9×10−7m2s−1 at 300K and is lower than thermal diffusivity of unfilled alumina templates. Effective medium calculations indicate that the thermal conductivity along nanowires axis is at least an order of magnitude lower than thermal conductivity of the bulk bismuth telluride.
An overview of poultry industry in Pakistan

The poultry sector is an important and vibrant segment of agriculture in Pakistan with a significant contribution to the national GDP (1.3%). Commercial poultry production in Pakistan started in the 1960′s and has been providing a significant portion of daily proteins to the Pakistani population ever since. During its evolution the industry enjoyed promotional policies of the Government, but has faced several challenges such as disease outbreaks and retail price fluctuations. Despite its important role in the country's economy, not a single scientific study is available on its evolutionary history. The data available in this regard are scattered and lack reliability. This review is an effort to encompass the history of the overall growth of the poultry industry in Pakistan, its present status (2012 statistics) and future directions and challenges. This article may serve as the basic source of information on Pakistan's poultry industry achievements. It will also guide poultry experts and policy makers for developing strategic planning for further growth of the industry.
Tropopause trend across China from 1979 to 2016: A revisit with updated radiosonde measurements

The long‐term trend in tropopause has profound implications for the expansion of tropical zone and the variation of large‐scale circulation. However, the changes of tropopause in China have not been explicitly investigated as yet. In this study, the trend of lapse rate tropopause (LRT) height over China has been comprehensively revisited for the period of 1979–2016, using the newly released quality‐controlled radiosonde data from China Meteorological Administration. Results show that the LRT height in most parts of China shows a significant upwards trend with a rate of 370 m/decade, most likely due to global warming. The fastest increase occurs in northwest region, followed by the low‐latitude regions (15°–25°N), while the slowest increase occurs in the high‐latitude regions (45°–55°N). Overall, the LRT height varies with latitudes, exhibiting a “south high and north low” pattern. In particular, high LRT height over low latitudes is found to be expanding rapidly polewards in recent years, in contrast to almost constant LRT height over mid and high latitudes. In terms of the seasonality, tropopause height reaches the peak in summer and bottom in winter. The frequency distribution in the vertical direction exhibits a bimodal pattern with the major peak mostly occurring at around 15 km and a secondary peak occurring between 8 and 12 km. This bimodal distribution is similar to the findings revealed in previous studies. Our findings offer important circumstantial observational evidence for the polewards expansion of the Tropics under global warming.
The Endothelial Glycocalyx Prefers Albumin for Evoking Shear Stress-Induced, Nitric Oxide-Mediated Coronary Dilatation

Background: Shear stress induces coronary dilatation via production of nitric oxide (NO). This should involve the endothelial glycocalyx (EG). A greater effect was expected of albumin versus hydroxyethyl starch (HES) perfusion, because albumin seals coronary leaks more effectively than HES in an EG-dependent way. Methods: Isolated hearts (guinea pigs) were perfused at constant pressure with Krebs-Henseleit buffer augmented with 1/3 volume 5% human albumin or 6% HES (200/0.5 or 450/0.7). Coronary flow was also determined after EG digestion (heparinase) and with nitro-L-arginine (NO-L-Ag). Results: Coronary flow (9.50 ± 1.09, 5.10 ± 0.49, 4.87 ± 1.19 and 4.15 ± 0.09 ml/min/g for ‘albumin’, ‘HES 200’, ‘HES 450’ and ‘control’, respectively, n = 5–6) did not correlate with perfusate viscosity (0.83, 1.02, 1.24 and 0.77 cP, respectively). NO-L-Ag and heparinase diminished dilatation by albumin, but not additively. Alone NO-L-Ag suppressed coronary flow during infusion of HES 450. Electron microscopy revealed a coronary EG of 300 nm, reduced to 20 nm after heparinase. Cultured endothelial cells possessed an EG of 20 nm to begin with. Conclusions: Albumin induces greater endothelial shear stress than HES, despite lower viscosity, provided the EG contains negative groups. HES 450 causes some NO-mediated dilatation via even a rudimentary EG. Cultured endothelial cells express only a rudimentary glycocalyx, limiting their usefulness as a model system.
Automatic Text Summarization Based on Lexical Chains and Structural Features

The rapid growth of the Internet has resulted in enormous amounts of information that has become more difficult to access efficiently. The primary goal of this research is to create an efficient tool that is able to summarize large documents automatically. We propose concept chains to link semantically-related concepts based on Hownet knowledge database to improve the performance of text summarization and suit Chinese text. Lexical chains is a technique for identifying semantically-related terms in text. The resulting concept chains are then used to identify candidate sentences useful for extraction. Moreover, the other method based on structural features which can makes the summary of the text have more general content and more balance is also proposed. The final experimental results proved the effectiveness of our methods.
Imaging windows for long-term intravital imaging

Intravital microscopy is increasingly used to visualize and quantitate dynamic biological processes at the (sub)cellular level in live animals. By visualizing tissues through imaging windows, individual cells (e.g., cancer, host, or stem cells) can be tracked and studied over a time-span of days to months. Several imaging windows have been developed to access tissues including the brain, superficial fascia, mammary glands, liver, kidney, pancreas, and small intestine among others. Here, we review the development of imaging windows and compare the most commonly used long-term imaging windows for cancer biology: the cranial imaging window, the dorsal skin fold chamber, the mammary imaging window, and the abdominal imaging window. Moreover, we provide technical details, considerations, and trouble-shooting tips on the surgical procedures and microscopy setups for each imaging window and explain different strategies to assure imaging of the same area over multiple imaging sessions. This review aims to be a useful resource for establishing the long-term intravital imaging procedure.
Avoiding Communication in Proximal Methods for Convex Optimization Problems

The fast iterative soft thresholding algorithm (FISTA) is used to solve convex regularized optimization problems in machine learning. Distributed implementations of the algorithm have become popular since they enable the analysis of large datasets. However, existing formulations of FISTA communicate data at every iteration which reduces its performance on modern distributed architectures. The communication costs of FISTA, including bandwidth and latency costs, is closely tied to the mathematical formulation of the algorithm. This work reformulates FISTA to communicate data at every k iterations and reduce data communication when operating on large data sets. We formulate the algorithm for two different optimization methods on the Lasso problem and show that the latency cost is reduced by a factor of k while bandwidth and floating-point operation costs remain the same. The convergence rates and stability properties of the reformulated algorithms are similar to the standard formulations. The performance of communication-avoiding FISTA and Proximal Newton methods is evaluated on 1 to 1024 nodes for multiple benchmarks and demonstrate average speedups of 3-10x with scaling properties that outperform the classical algorithms.
Evolutionary Chromatographic Law Identification by Recurrent Neural Nets

Analytic chromatography is a physical process whose aim is the separation of the components of a chemical mixture, based on their different aanities for some porous medium through which they are percolated. This paper presents an application of evolutionary recurrent neural nets optimization to the identiication of the internal law of chromatography. New mutation operators involving the parameters of a single neuron are introduced. Furthermore, the strategy for using of the diierent kind of mutation takes into account the past history of the neural net at hand. The rst results for one-and two-component mixtures demonstrate the basic feasibility of the recurrent neural net approach. A strategy to improve the robustness of the results is presented .
Multi-Agent Model Predictive Control of Transportation Networks

We consider multi-agent, or distributed, control of transportation networks, like traffic, water, and power networks. These networks typically have a large geographical span, modular structure, and a large number of components that require control. We discuss the necessity of a multi-agent control setting in which multiple agents control parts of the network. As potential control methodology we consider model predictive control (MPC) in a multi-agent setting. We first outline a framework for modeling transportation networks into subsystems using external variables and then discuss issues that arise when controlling these networks with multi-agent MPC. Several approaches to these issues are structured and discussed in terms of the outlined framework