Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bevacizumab and Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of First-Line Phase III Studies and a Critical Reappraisal of Available Evidence

Background. Randomized studies have shown different magnitude of bevacizumab benefit in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. Regulatory agencies have modified bevacizumab treatment indications across different regions. In this study, we perform a meta-analysis of phase III studies aiming to interrogate the magnitude of bevacizumab benefit for the treatment of first-line HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Methods. Data from studies E2100, AVADO and RIBBON-1 were used to calculate the benefit of bevacizumab in terms of tumor overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicities. Combined statistical estimates of hazard ratios (HR) and odds ratios were calculated using fixed-effects or random-effects models. Results. A total of 2,695 patients were evaluated. Combining bevacizumab with different chemotherapy backbones resulted in a 30% risk reduction of PFS events (HR = 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57–0.86) and increased ORR (odds ratio 1.81; 95% CI, 1.53–2.14). No OS benefit could be demonstrated (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.85–1.06). Bevacizumab significantly increased the incidence of adverse events such as proteinuria, hypertension and cardiovascular events. Conclusions. Bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of MBC significantly improved ORR and PFS, but also increased grade 3-4 toxicities. No significant OS advantage was observed.
Importancia, significado y participación en la escolarización en zonas rurales

This article analyzes the importance, meaning and social participation within the schooling process amongst rural settlers in a community of Michoacan, Mexico. It is actually the result of the research carried out to obtain a PhD during which the author analyzed how low-income fami- lies take part into their formal and informal education. The main discoveries of this research show that in spite of their low instruction levels, the parents use to support their children so they can achieve basic education. Nevertheless, because of their low income, only few families can support their children's schooling for further education levels. The discoveries linked with formal education show that the edu - cational service offered by the CONAFE in their community does not offer satisfaction to most of the parents, who prefer to enroll their children in the Ministry of Education (SEP)'s rural schools. The conclusions add some suggestions and advices oriented to improve the quality and pertinence of the CONAFE's Community Education Program.
Interventions to improve the management of diabetes in primary care, outpatient, and community settings: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE To review the effectiveness of interventions targeted at health care professionals and/or the structure of care in order to improve the management of diabetes in primary care, outpatient, and community settings. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A systematic review of controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of interventions targeted at health care professionals and aimed at improving the process of care or patient outcomes for patients with diabetes was performed. Standard search methods of the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care Group were used. RESULTS A total of 41 studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies identified were heterogeneous in terms of interventions, participants, settings, and reported outcomes. In all studies, the interventions were multifaceted. The interventions were targeted at health care professionals only in 12 studies, at the organization of care only in 9 studies, and at both in 20 studies. Complex professional interventions improved the process of care, but the effect on patient outcomes remained less clear because such outcomes were rarely assessed. Organizational interventions that facilitated the structured and regular review of patients also showed a favorable effect on process measures. Complex interventions in which patient education was added and/or the role of a nurse was enhanced led to improvements in patient outcomes as well as the process of care. CONCLUSIONS Multifaceted professional interventions and organizational interventions that facilitate structured and regular review of patients were effective in improving the process of care. The addition of patient education to these interventions and the enhancement of the role of nurses in diabetes care led to improvements in patient outcomes and the process of care.
Complex Cells in the Cat Striate Cortex Have Multiple Disparity Detectors in the Three-Dimensional Binocular Receptive Fields

Along the visual pathway, neurons generally become more specialized for signaling a limited subset of stimulus attributes and become more invariant to changes in the stimulus position within the receptive fields (RFs). One of the likely mechanisms underlying such invariance appears to be pooling of detectors located at different positions. Does such spatial pooling occur for disparity-selective neurons in primary visual cortex? To examine whether the three-dimensional (3D) binocular RFs are constructed by pooling detectors for binocular disparity, we investigated binocular interactions in the 3D space for neurons in the cat striate cortex. Approximately one-third of complex cells showed the spatial pooling of disparity detectors to a significant degree, whereas the majority of simple cells did not. The degree of spatial pooling of disparity detectors along the preferred orientation axis was generally larger than that along the axis orthogonal to the orientation axis. We then reconstructed 3D binocular RFs in their complete form and examined their structures. Disparity tuning curves were compared across positions along the orientation axis in the RFs. A small population of cells appeared to show a gradual shift of the preferred disparity along this axis, indicating that they can potentially signal inclination in the 3D space. However, the majority of cells exhibited a position-invariant disparity tuning. Finally, disparity tuning curves were examined for all oblique angles in addition to horizontal and vertical. Tunings were broadest along the orientation axis as the disparity energy model predicts.
Aspirin and Preeclampsia Prevention in Patients With Abnormal Uterine Artery Blood Flow

Background: Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality and morbidity. Its prevalence varies between 10-25% among high-risk pregnant patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether treatment with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) reduces the incidence of preeclampsia among pregnant women with abnormal uterine artery flow. Patients and Methods: In this double-blind, placebo controlled trial, 80 high-risk pregnant women with preeclampsia, who had abnormal findings on Doppler ultrasonography at 12-16 weeks of pregnancy (unilateral notch with RI ≥ 0.65 or bilateral notch with RI ≥ 0.55), were randomly divided into two groups; the intervention group was treated with ASA tablet 80 mg, one tablet per day, and the control group was given placebo. Then patients were followed until the end of their pregnancy period, and pregnancy outcomes, including development of preeclampsia, the intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), prematurity, type of delivery, birth weight, and Apgar score at one and five minutes were assessed. Data were analyzed using the student's t-test, chi-square or Fisher's exact test, and multivariate logistic regression. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of baseline characteristics. There was a significant difference between the ASA and placebo groups in the incidence of preeclampsia (2.5% versus 22.5%), adjusting for the neonatal and maternal covariates. Conclusions: ASA prophylaxis can be used for prevention of preeclampsia in high-risk patients with abnormal uterine artery.
Technology without heart ? Motives for use and acceptance barriers of medical systems from the perspective of artificial heart patients

In contrast to previous studies, which examine technology acceptance mainly from the perspective of healthy users in the context of information and communication technologies, this exploratory study concentrates on technology acceptance in patients suffering from coronary heart disease as well as on their demands for technical assistance. In cooperation with the Heart and Diabetes Center North Rhine-Westphalia in Bad Oeynhausen, patients’ using motives and acceptance barriers towards the usage of home care medical technology was examined.
Analyzing spatial patterns linked to the ecology of herbivores and their natural enemies in the soil

Modern agricultural systems can benefit from the application of concepts and models from applied ecology. When understood, multitrophic interactions among plants, pests, diseases and their natural enemies can be exploited to increase crop production and reduce undesirable environmental impacts. Although the understanding of subterranean ecology is rudimentary compared to the perspective aboveground, technologies today vastly reduce traditional obstacles to studying cryptic communities. Here we emphasize advantages to integrating as much as possible the use of these methods in order to leverage the information gained from studying communities of soil organisms. PCR-based approaches to identify and quantify species (real time qPCR and next generation sequencing) greatly expand the ability to investigate food web interactions because there is less need for wide taxonomic expertise within research programs. Improved methods to capture and measure volatiles in the soil atmosphere in situ make it possible to detect and study chemical cues that are critical to communication across trophic levels. The application of SADIE to directly assess rather than infer spatial patterns in belowground agroecosystems has improved the ability to characterize relationships between organisms in space and time. We review selected methodology and use of these tools and describe some of the ways they were integrated to study soil food webs in Florida citrus orchards with the goal of developing new biocontrol approaches.
A decision tree algorithm for license plate recognition based on bagging

Decision tree learning is a kind of approximation discrete function value method. It has accurate classification, and is fast-enough for performance. In this paper, a new method of license plate characters recognition is proposed. In this method, the training decision tree classifier based on the bagging theory is put forward on the basis of the license plate characters. Then, the characteristics of license plate character in the image data are extracted. After that, the decision tree classifier is designed. Finally, the extracted feature vector is used in training samples. Experimental results illustrate that the algorithm of license plate recognition is effective and can increase the recognition accuracy distinctly.
External Churning and Internal Flexibility: Evidence on the Functional Flexibility and Core-Periphery Hypotheses

Functionally flexible systems for organizing work may reduce job instability and insecurity by reducing employers' reliance on job cuts or contingent work to respond to changes in their environments. Related arguments hypothesize that contingent work allows firms to adjust labor while "buffering" their core of permanent workers from job instability. We find evidence that internally flexible work systems are associated with reduced involuntary and voluntary turnover in manufacturing but that contingent work and involuntary turnover of the permanent workforce are positively related regardless of sector, in contrast to the prediction of the core-periphery hypothesis.
Stretch effects on whole‐cell currents of guinea‐pig urinary bladder myocytes.

1. By means of two patch‐pipettes, isolated urinary bladder myocytes were longitudinally stretched up to 20% beyond slack length (delta L = 20%). 2. Experiments were conducted using both voltage and current clamp configurations. In current clamped cells at 23 degrees C, delta L depolarized the membrane from ‐50 to ca ‐15 mV, the amplitude of depolarization increasing with the extent of delta L. At 36 degrees C, delta L induced action potentials or increased the frequency of spontaneous action potentials. 3. In voltage clamped cells at a holding potential of ‐50 mV, stretch induced an inward current (Iin) and increased the input conductance. Both effects increased with delta L. They were blocked by 40 microM gadolinium, suggesting stretch activation of non‐selective cation channels (SACs) as the underlying mechanism. 4. Stretch‐induced difference currents rectified outwardly and reversed at a reversal potential (Erev) of ‐28 +/‐ 10 mV. Twenty millimolar [TEA]o suppressed the rectification and shifted Erev to 0 +/‐ 1 mV. The result suggests that stretch can activate not only SACs but also TEA‐sensitive K+ channels. 5. Stretch changed the net current due to clamp steps to 0 mV as though it increased the potassium current (IK) and reduced the calcium current (ICa). While 20 mM intracellular BAPTA did not modify the stretch‐induced whole‐cell inward current (Iin) at ‐50 mV, it suppressed the stretch effects on IK and ICa as if these effects were mediated by an increase in the subsarcolemmal Ca2+ concentration. 6. The results support the hypothesis that longitudinal stretch can activate SACs and Ca2+ influx through them. In non‐clamped cells, stretch can also modulate Ca2+ influx through L‐type Ca2+ channels via changes in membrane potential.
The effect of font size on reading performance in strabismic amblyopia: an eye movement investigation.

PURPOSE We investigated the effect of font size on reading speed and ocular motor performance in strabismic amblyopes during text reading under monocular and binocular viewing conditions. METHODS Eye movements were recorded at 250 Hz using a head-mounted infrared video eye tracker in 15 strabismic amblyopes and 18 age-matched controls while silently reading paragraphs of text at font sizes equivalent to 1.0 to 0.2 logMAR acuity. Reading under monocular viewing with amblyopic eye/nondominant eye and nonamblyopic/dominant eye was compared to binocular viewing. Mean reading speed; number, amplitude, and direction of saccades; and fixation duration were calculated for each font size and viewing condition. RESULTS Reading speed was significantly slower in amblyopes compared to controls for all font sizes during monocular reading with the amblyopic eye (P = 0.004), but only for smaller font sizes for reading with the nonamblyopic eye (P = 0.045) and binocularly (P = 0.038). The most significant ocular motor change was that strabismic amblyopes made more saccades per line than controls irrespective of font size and viewing conditions (P < 0.05 for all). There was no significant difference in saccadic amplitudes and fixation duration was only significantly longer in strabismic amblyopes when reading smaller fonts with the amblyopic eye viewing. CONCLUSIONS Ocular motor deficits exist in strabismic amblyopes during reading even when reading speeds are normal and when visual acuity is not a limiting factor; that is, when reading larger font sizes with nonamblyopic eye viewing and binocular viewing. This suggests that these abnormalities are not related to crowding.
Changes in RACK1 expression induce defects in nodulation and development in Phaseolus vulgaris

RACK1 is a scaffold protein with the ability to interact in a regulated manner with a diverse number of ligands from distinct signal-transduction pathways. This assessment allowed us to infer that it may be involved in different processes such as nodulation. In a recent study we showed by silencing, that PvRACK1 has a pivotal role in cell expansion and in symbiosome and bacteroid integrity during nodule development in Phaseolus vulgaris. On the other hand, we have also observed that its overexpression provokes a dramatic phenotype in: (a) seedlings that have been exposed to heat, in which systemic necrosis is induced; and (b) in Agrobacterium rhizogenes-transformed roots, where nodulation is strongly inhibited and nodules show early senescent symptoms. These findings indicate that PvRACK1 may be an integrator of diverse signal-transduction pathways in processes as varied as nodulation, cell expansion, heat stress responses, and systemic activation of necrosis.
Related Study on Procrastination and Parental Rearing Patterns in College Students

Objective: To examine the correlations between procrastination and parental rearing patterns.Methods: 320 college students were examined by use the Aitken Procrastination Inventory(API) and the EMBU.Results: ①Significant differences existed between the high-scoring and the low-scoring procrastination group in parents' strict-punishment,refusal-denial and warm-understanding. ②Procrastination of undergraduates was positively correlated with parents' strict-punishment and refusal-denial.But parent's warm-understanding was significantly negative correlated with procrastination. ③Stepwise regression analysis showed that mother's warm-understanding and refusal-denial were significant predictors of undergraduates' procrastination.Conclusion: Procrastinating behavior and bad parental rearing patterns of college students were closely related.
Handlungsmuster von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern beim Einsatz neuer Medien. Grundlagen eines Projekts zur empirischen Unterrichtsforschung

Ziel des vorzustellenden Projekts ist es in einem ersten Schritt, Handlungsmuster von Lehrpersonen beim Einsatz von neuen Medien im Unterricht der Facher Deutsch, Mathematik und Informatik der Sekundarstufe II zu identifizieren. Zu diesem Zweck werden Videoaufnahmen von 30 Unterrichtsstunden im Hinblick auf zugrunde liegende ‚Unterrichtsscripts’ (i.e. didaktische Routinen) analysiert und die subjektiven Theorien der Lehrkrafte zum Lehren und Lernen erhoben. Bei der Zusammensetzung der Stichprobe findet neben der Variation der Fachzugehorigkeit der Expertisegrad der Lehrpersonen bezogen auf den Einsatz neuer Medien Berucksichtigung, und zwar in zwei Abstufungen (hoch – niedrig). Auf diese Weise wird ermoglicht, in einem zweiten Schritt begrundet Hypothesen zu Zusammenhangen zwischen Handlungsmustern sowie Fach und Expertise als Kontextfaktoren zu generieren und mogliche Geltungsbereiche zu beschreiben. Uber diese Grundlagenforschung hinausgehend sollen in einem dritten Schritt anhand der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse Interventionen entwickelt werden, die eine Weiterentwicklung von Lehrerhandeln beim Einsatz neuer Medien im Unterricht ermoglichen. Hier stellt sich allerdings die Frage, wie sich Handeln grundsatzlich verandern lasst.
Self-Supporting Personality and Practical Problem Solving

In order to explore the effect of self-supporting personality on the quality of practical problem solving,practical problem solving interviewing was administered on 30 college students who were grouped as personal selfsupporting /interpersonal self-supporting high group and low group.The results showed that significant differences between personal self-supporting /interpersonal self-supporting high group and low group were found in the qualities of practical problem solving.Then the Self-Supporting Personality Scale of Adolescent Students(SSPS-AS)and Everyday Problem Solving Questionnaire were administered on 101 validity subjects.The results showed that there were significant correlations between most dimensions of self-supporting personality and abilities of practical problem solving.Some dimensions of self-supporting personality were predictive variables for abilities of practical problem solving.It could be concluded that the level of self-supporting personality could affect the quality of practical problem solving and the self-supporting personality refer to ability factors of practical problem solving.In addition,the characteristics and mechanism of this effect should be studied in future.
Epigenetics as a source of variation in comparative animal physiology – or – Lamarck is lookin' pretty good these days

Considerable variation is inherent both within and between comparative physiological data sets. Known sources for such variation include diet, gender, time of day and season of experiment, among many other factors, but a meta-analysis of physiological studies shows that surprisingly few studies report controlling for these factors. In fact, less than 3% of comparative physiological papers mention epigenetics. However, our understanding of epigenetic influences on physiological processes is growing rapidly, and it is highly likely that epigenetic phenomena are an additional ‘hidden’ source of variation, particularly in wild-caught specimens. Recent studies have shown epigenetic inheritance of commonly studied traits such as metabolic rate (water fleas Daphnia magna; emu, Dromaius novaellandiae), hypoxic tolerance, cardiac performance (zebrafish, Danio rerio), as well as numerous morphological effects. The ecological and evolutionary significance of such epigenetic inheritance is discussed in a comparative physiological context. Finally, against this context of epigenetic inheritance of phenotype, this essay also provides a number of caveats and warnings regarding the interpretation of transgenerational phenotype modification as a true epigenetic phenomenon. Parental effects, sperm storage, multiple paternity and direct gamete exposure can all be confounding factors. Epigenetic inheritance may best be studied in animal models that can be maintained in the laboratory over multiple generations, to yield parental stock that themselves are free of epigenetic effects from the historical experiences of their parents.