Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Accuracy as Determined by 2 Independent Observers

The accurate detection of lung carcinoma and the determination of its stage remain significant clinical problems. 18F-FDG PET has been shown to improve detection and staging of lung cancer and to prevent unnecessary invasive procedures. Positron imaging with dual-head gamma cameras may not be as sensitive as PET, but recent studies have shown good results with these cameras. Methods: In the present study, we investigated 100 patients, 76 of whom were male and 24 female (mean age SD, 60.7 9.4 y), with suspected non‐small cell lung cancer. 18F-FDG scanning was performed using a dualhead coincidence camera 1 h after the intravenous injection of 185 MBq of 18F-FDG. For 46 patients, attenuation correction was also performed. Two independent observers unaware of clinical status analyzed all imaging studies. TNM classification was assigned after surgical staging. Results: In 44 patients with clinically suspected bronchogenic carcinoma, no evidence of malignancy was found. However, in 56 patients a pulmonary neoplasm was demonstrated. At interobserver analysis, a value of 0.94 (P 0.0001) was found for detection of the primary tumor and a value of 0.63 (P 0.0001) was found for mediastinal staging. A sensitivity of 96%, a specificity of 93%, and an accuracy of 95% were found for detection of pulmonary neoplasm. Assessment of lymph node involvement showed a sensitivity of 50%, a specificity of 92%, and an accuracy of 77%. The sensitivity of CT in assessing lymph node involvement was 36%, the specificity was 86%, and the accuracy was 67%. Attenuation correction provided more anatomic information, but no differences were seen between attenuation-corrected and non‐attenuation-corrected images for detecting lesions or lymph node involvement. Conclusion: The present study confirms earlier data showing that 18 F-FDG scans obtained with dual-head coincidence cameras are useful in the detection of non‐small cell lung cancer and less suitable for staging of lymph node involvement, with accuracy comparable to that of CT.
Involvement of GABA and cholinergic receptors in the nucleus accumbens on feedback control of somatodendritic dopamine release in the ventral tegmental area

The objectives of the present study were to examine the involvement of GABA and cholinergic receptors within the nucleus accumbens (ACB) on feedback regulation of somatodendritic dopamine (DA) release in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Adult male Wistar rats were implanted with ipsilateral dual guide cannulae for in vivo microdialysis studies. Activation of the feedback system was accomplished by perfusion of the ACB with the DA uptake inhibitor GBR 12909 (GBR; 100 µm). To assess the involvement of GABA and cholinergic receptors in regulating this feedback system, antagonists (100 µm) for GABAA (bicuculline, BIC), GABAB (phaclofen, PHAC), muscarinic (scopolamine, SCOP), and nicotinic (mecamylamine, MEC) receptors were perfused through the probe in the ACB while measuring extracellular DA levels in the ACB and VTA. Local perfusion of the ACB with GBR significantly increased (500% of baseline) the extracellular levels of DA in the ACB and produced a concomitant decrease (50% of baseline) in the extracellular DA levels in the VTA. Perfusion of the ACB with BIC or PHAC alone produced a 200–400% increase in the extracellular levels of DA in the ACB but neither antagonist altered the levels of DA in the VTA. Co‐perfusion of either GABA receptor antagonist with GBR further increased the extracellular levels of DA in the ACB to 700–800% of baseline. However, coperfusion with BIC completely prevented the reduction in the extracellular levels of DA in the VTA produced by GBR alone, whereas PHAC partially prevented the reduction. Local perfusion of the ACB with either MEC or SCOP alone had little effect on the extracellular levels of DA in the ACB or VTA. Co‐perfusion of either cholinergic receptor antagonist with GBR markedly reduced the extracellular levels of DA in the ACB and prevented the effects of GBR on reducing DA levels in the VTA. Overall, the results of this study suggest that terminal DA release in the ACB is under tonic GABA inhibition mediated by GABAA (and possibly GABAB) receptors, and tonic cholinergic excitation mediated by both muscarinic and nicotinic receptors. Activation of GABAA (and possibly GABAB) receptors within the ACB may be involved in the feedback inhibition of VTA DA neurons. Cholinergic interneurons may influence the negative feedback system by regulating terminal DA release within the ACB.
Training Strategies In Small Service Sector Firms: Employer and Employee Perspectives

Brian Abbott, who is a Research Assistant in the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University, examines both employer and employee views towards the level and character of training provision in small service sector firms. He challenges the widely held belief that small firms universally offer inferior levels of training and demonstrates that the level and character of training are largely dependent on the industrial sector in which the firm is located. He goes on to examine the implications of employers’ views on the newly established Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs).
Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business Macroeconomic impact of FDI in Romania

The paper analyses the impact of FDI in Romania on macroeconomic aggregates of GDP, exports, imports, trade balance, current account and, balance of external payments, focusing on the relationship between main determinants of FDI efficiency for host and origine countries. A special attention is paid to the role of reinvested and expatriated profits of spillovers, transfer, prices and struct under the circumstances of current economic and financial crisis, in an international comparative context. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business local organization
Ifosfamide - etoposide chemotherapy in patients with advanced adult soft tissue sarcomas.

9062 Background: Doxorubicin and ifosfamide are considered to be the two most active agents in the treatment of adult soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Etoposide has substantial activity in wide range of malignancies and is highly active against sarcomas in children and young adults when combined with ifosfamide. There are several conflicting data about the effect of ifosfamide - etoposide combination chemotherapy in adult patients with STS. The objective of current study was to determine the efficacy of this combination in advanced adult STS. METHODS Patients who had histologically confirmed advanced non-small round cell STS were enrolled. At least 4 weeks interval was present since previous chemotherapy. Patients received 5-day cycles of ifosfamide (1.8g/m2/day) and etoposide (100mg/m2/day). Etoposide was administered over 2 hours and followed immediately by ifosfamide infused over 2 hours. Mesna uroprotection (60% dose of ifosfamide) was given. The response was evaluated after at least two chemotherapy courses. RESULTS Twenty-two patients (15-69 years, median 41) with advanced adult STS were enrolled onto this study. Histological diagnoses comprised 6 synovial sarcoma, 5 MFH, 5 MPNST, 2 liposarcoma, 2 leiomyosarcoma, and 2 others. Primary sites were extremity in 14 and trunk in 8. Evaluation sites were metastatic disease in 13, local recurrence in 5 and inoperable primary tumor in 4. Six patients achieved partial response, 14 had stable disease and 2 had progressive disease, with an overall response rate of 27%. Of 8 patients who had received previous anthracycline containing chemotherapy, two responded. Two of five patients with MPNST and MFH had objective tumor regression. Treatment was well tolerated except for neutropenic fever that occurred in 10% of the courses. CONCLUSIONS Etoposide has minimal activity in advanced adult STS when combined with ifosfamide using this administration regimen. Considering the schedule dependency of etoposide, the contribution of prolonged infusion of etoposide combining with ifosfamide should be further investigated. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Insect glutathione transferases and insecticide resistance

Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are a diverse family of enzymes found ubiquitously in aerobic organisms. They play a central role in the detoxification of both endogenous and xenobiotic compounds and are also involved in intracellular transport, biosynthesis of hormones and protection against oxidative stress. Interest in insect GSTs has primarily focused on their role in insecticide resistance. GSTs can metabolize insecticides by facilitating their reductive dehydrochlorination or by conjugation reactions with reduced glutathione, to produce water‐soluble metabolites that are more readily excreted. In addition, they contribute to the removal of toxic oxygen free radical species produced through the action of pesticides. Annotation of the Anopheles gambiae and Drosophila melanogaster genomes has revealed the full extent of this enzyme family in insects. This mini review describes the insect GST enzyme family, focusing specifically on their role in conferring insecticide resistance.
Mannich Curcuminoids as Potent Anticancer Agents

A series of novel curcuminoids were synthesised for the first time via a Mannich‐3CR/organocatalysed Claisen–Schmidt condensation sequence. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies were performed by applying viability assays and holographic microscopic imaging to these curcumin analogues for anti‐proliferative activity against A549 and H1975 lung adenocarcinoma cells. The TNFα‐induced NF‐κB inhibition and autophagy induction effects correlated strongly with the cytotoxic potential of the analogues. Significant inhibition of tumour growth was observed when the most potent analogue 44 was added in liposomes at one‐sixth of the maximally tolerated dose in the A549 xenograft model. The novel spectrum of activity of these Mannich curcuminoids warrants further preclinical investigations.
International trade and economic convergence: the credit channel

In this paper, we examine a particular mechanism by which international trade accelerates economic convergence. We develop a model of growth under credit constraints in which international trade expands access to credit. We show in numerical simulations that reasonable values for openness generate convergence rates that match well the empirical estimates. We econometrically investigate a key prediction of the model--that more open economies exhibit greater debt to output ratios--and find substantial support in the data for this claim. This remains true even when we control for a host of additional factors and conduct robustness checks. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.
Implications of the Discreteness of Observed Stock Prices

Stock prices on the organized exchanges are restricted to be divisible by 1/8. Therefore, the "true" price usually differs from the observed price. This paper examines the biases resulting from the discreteness of observed stock prices. It is shown that the natural estimators of the variance and all of the higher order moments of the rate of returns are biased. An approximate set of correction factors is derived and a procedure is outlined to show how the correction can be made. The natural estimators of the "beta" and of the variance of the market portfolio, on the other hand, are "nearly" unbiased. THE BEHAVIOR OF STOCK PRICES has been an issue of interest to the financial economist for many years. This interest resulted in a growing number of empirical studies which attempt to estimate this behavior (e.g., Blattberg and Gonedes [2], Fama [6], Fama and Roll [7, 8], Barnea and Downes [1]). To date, stock price behavior is estimated under the assumption that the observed trading price is the "true" equilibrium price. However, observed stock prices and stock price changes on the organized exchanges are restricted to multiples of 1/8 of a dollar.1 Therefore, if the "true" distribution of stock prices is continuous, an observed trading price can be different from the "true" price. This paper examines the biases in estimating the moments of stock price changes caused by the discreteness of observed stock prices. The major focus of the paper is in noting this problem, providing a model which explains the source of these biases, and quantifying their size. Section I demonstrates that due to the discrete nature of observed stock prices the natural estimators for the variance and for the higher order moments of the rate of returns are biased upward. This bias is larger for stocks with lower prices and smaller standard deviation. For instance, assuming that the standard deviation, a, is 0.001, the stock price is one dollar, the "true" probability distribution of stock prices is lognormal, and the observed prices are as close as possible to the "true" prices, then the natural estimator of r has expectation 0.01400; hence, it is biased upward by 1300%. Significant biases have important implications in option pricing. We derive an approximate set of correction factors which can be applied to the
Image Processing Technique for Traffic Density Estimation

— Various techniques for the traffic density estimation in heavy traffic have been developed widely. However, most of them suffer from any drawbacks, especially for traffic fulfilling all kinds of vehicles. In the present study, a new technique of traffic density estimation using a macroscopic approach has been developed. This technique used a background construction and a traffic density estimation algorithm. The first algorithm detects parts of the image containing no moving vehicle in front of or behind the moving vehicle using inter-frame difference. After that, an edge detector detects the edge of image part and classifies whether the image can be used as a part of the background image or not. Meanwhile the second algorithm estimates the traffic density by calculating a ratio between the road area covered by vehicle and the total road area. As a result, this technique has a higher accuracy for determining the traffic density compared with the previous techniques.
Nearly Balanced Work Partitioning for Heterogeneous Algorithms

The architectural trend towards heterogeneity has pushed heterogeneous computing to the fore of parallel computing research. Heterogeneous algorithms, often carefully handcrafted, have been designed for several important problems from parallel computing such as sorting, graph algorithms, matrix computations, and the like. A majority of these algorithms follow a work partitioning approach where the input is divided into appropriate sized parts so that individual devices can process the “right” parts of the input. However, arriving at a good work partitioning is usually non-trivial and may require extensive empirical search. Such an extensive empirical search can potentially offset any gains accrued out of heterogeneous algorithms. Other recently proposed approaches too are in general inadequate.In this paper, we propose a simple and effective technique for work partitioning in the context of heterogeneous algorithms. Our technique is based on sampling and therefore can adapt to both the algorithm used and the input instance. Our technique is generic in its applicability as we will demonstrate in this paper. We validate our technique on three problems: finding the connected components of a graph (CC), multiplying two unstructured sparse matrices (spmm), and multiplying two scalefree sparse matrices. For these problems, we show that using our method, we can find the required threshold that is under 10% away from the best possible thresholds.
A new methodology for cost allocation of transmission systems in interconnected energy markets

This paper presents a new methodology for allocating transmission system costs in single or interconnected energy markets. Initially, the proposed method allows the decomposition of the total transmission cost into two components: the first corresponds to the utilized network capacity, estimated at a specified operating condition, and the second refers to the transmission capacity available but not used in the system. A technique for decomposing nodal tariffs per subsystem guarantees the applicability of the method to interconnected markets. From the proposed procedure, it is possible to determine the responsibility of each participant (or group of participants) in the use of any specified set of transmission elements. The flexibility of this method allows the establishment of criteria based on economic and technical aspects for cost allocation of internal circuits of each subsystem, as well as of the tie elements between the subsystems. Important characteristics of the proposed methodology, such as transparency, impartiality, and flexibility, are analyzed and illustrated based on numerical applications with the IEEE Reliability Test System. Experience with the Brazilian transmission network is also discussed.
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN THE PERIPHERAL REGIONS: THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL INSTITUTIONS

Радикальные социально-экономические реформы в постсоветской России дают богатый фактический материал для исследований институциональных изменений. Российский хозяйственных порядок характеризуется неоднородностью экономического и институционального развития регионов, особенно в координатах центр–периферия. При исследовании институциональных изменений может использоваться синтез подходов новой (в нортовской традиции) и оригинальной (старой) институциональной экономической теории. Переход от естественного государства к порядку открытого доступа во многом зависит от действий групп специальных интересов и качества социального капитала. В периферийных регионах Северного Кавказа качество социального капитала и институциональной системы во многом определяется доминированием церемониальных ценностей. Роль государства в современных хозяйственных порядках изменяется как в качественном, так и в количественном отношениях, что придает особую важность политике, направленной на накопление человеческого капитала, формирование неперсонифицированных социальных сетей, постиндустриальной формы солидарности и развитие инструментарных ценностей. Такая политика, реализуемая на федеральном и региональном уровнях, позволит задать вектор изменений, направленных на модернизацию гражданских институтов в периферийных регионах.
Abandoned Mergers and the Market for Corporate Control

This paper investigates the financial performance cf a sample of UK firms involved in abandoned mergers during the period 1977–81. Predictions derived from a broadly neoclassical theory of merger activity are tested empirically and implications for the theory of the firm are discussed. Using an extension of discriminant analysis for firms in our samples we cannot find any evidence to suggest that the market for corporate control exercises discipline in completed mergers or in abandoned ones. In the latter case we suggest that the motives for takeovers tend to reflect managerial rather than shareholder interests.
Recombinant Multiepitope Protein for Diagnosis of Leptospirosis

ABSTRACT Leptospirosis is an emerging infectious disease and is considered to be the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world. It can be misdiagnosed because manifestations of this febrile disease vary from mild flu-like symptoms to severe illness involving vital organs such as the liver and lungs. Therefore, accurate diagnosis for differentiation of leptospirosis from other pyrogenic infections prevailing in the same locality is imperative for proper treatment. Here, we report a customized recombinant leptospirosis multiepitope protein (r-LMP) that can specifically detect the immunoglobulin class of anti-leptospirosis antibodies in patient sera. Immunodominant epitopes from leptospire outer membrane proteins OmpL1, LipL21, and LipL32 were predicted and confirmed using phage display and immunity reaction. On the basis of the sequences of the identified epitopes, five major immunodominant epitopes were selected to construct a synthetic gene, recombinant lmp. The recombinant lmp gene was doubled and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was purified and used as an antigen to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of special immunoglobulin M (IgM) or IgG in sera from patients with leptospirosis or other febrile illnesses and healthy subjects. The results showed that the r-LMP protein recognized IgG and IgM in all the sera that were microscope agglutination test positive, and there were no cross-reactions with other patient sera. This approach of creating customized antigens coupled to overexpression and simple purification offers a promising alternative option for leptospirosis diagnosis, with the potential to circumvent the drawbacks of whole-leptospirosis-antigen-based assays.
Author’s response to reviews Title: Association between Socioeconomic Status and Post-stroke Functional Outcome in Deprived Rural Southern China: a Population-based Study Authors:

Title: Association between Socioeconomic Status and Post-stroke Functional Outcome in Deprived Rural Southern China: a Population-based Study Authors: Fubing Ouyang (ouyangfubing@163.com) Ying Wang (wy8401@sina.com) Weixian Huang (516929138@qq.com) Yicong Chen (xiaoyicong89@163.com) Yuhui Zhao (zhaoyh7@mail2.sysu.edu.cn) Ge Dang (dgq220@163.com) Chunbo Zhang (369193500@qq.com) Yang Lin (linyangqx@163.com) Jinsheng Zeng (zengjs@pub.guangzhou.gd.cn) Version: 1 Date: 04 Jan 2018 Author’s response to reviews: January 5, 2018 Benjamin Ragen, Editor BMC Neurology
Human diaphragmatic endurance during different maximal respiratory efforts.

1. This study assessed human diaphragmatic endurance under two conditions: during maximal inspiratory efforts (with minimal elevation of abdominal pressure) and during maximal expulsive efforts (with minimal elevation of pleural pressure). Performance was compared with that of the flexors of the elbow. 2. In series of eighteen sustained maximal efforts begun near functional residual capacity the decline in trans‐diaphragmatic pressure was significantly greater during the expulsive than the inspiratory efforts (P less than 0.01). Diaphragmatic endurance was greater than that of the flexors of the elbow. 3. Electromyograms recorded during maximal and submaximal expulsive contractions indicated that the relatively rapid decline in abdominal pressure during the series of expulsive contractions reflected fatigue of the diaphragm rather than the abdominal muscles. Supramaximal phrenic nerve stimulation was used to check that complete activation of the phrenic motoneurone pool could be achieved during series of maximal expulsive efforts. 4. It is concluded that the reduced endurance capacity of the diaphragm during expulsive efforts did not reflect peripheral failure of the abdominal muscles or an inability to activate the diaphragm fully during those maximal efforts. 5. The deterioration in diaphragmatic performance when abdominal pressure is elevated may be due to an impairment of muscle perfusion.