Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Inflammation may play an important role in cancer progression, and a high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to be a poor prognostic indicator in several malignancies. Here we quantify the prognostic impact of this biomarker and assess its consistency in solid tumors. METHODS A systematic review of electronic databases was conducted to identify publications exploring the association of blood NLR and clinical outcome in solid tumors. Overall survival (OS) was the primary outcome, and cancer-specific survival (CSS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were secondary outcomes. Data from studies reporting a hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) or a P value were pooled in a meta-analysis. Pooled hazard ratios were computed and weighted using generic inverse-variance and random-effect modeling. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS One hundred studies comprising 40559 patients were included in the analysis, 57 of them published in 2012 or later. Median cutoff for NLR was 4. Overall, NLR greater than the cutoff was associated with a hazard ratio for OS of 1.81 (95% CI = 1.67 to 1.97; P < .001), an effect observed in all disease subgroups, sites, and stages. Hazard ratios for NLR greater than the cutoff for CSS, PFS, and DFS were 1.61, 1.63, and 2.27, respectively (all P < .001). CONCLUSIONS A high NLR is associated with an adverse OS in many solid tumors. The NLR is a readily available and inexpensive biomarker, and its addition to established prognostic scores for clinical decision making warrants further investigation.
Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom?

Two studies were conducted to examine teachers' perceptions of creative students. Study 1 was based on earlier works that identified personality characteristics associated with creativity. The prototypicality of these characteristics as they applied to creative children was rated by college students. Elementary school teachers were then asked to rate their favorite and least favorite students based on these characteristics, There was a significant difference between the teachers' judgments of their favorite and least favorite students on these measures. Judgments for the favorite student were negatively correlated with creativity; judgments for the least favorite student were positively correlated with creativity. Students displaying creative characteristics appear to be unappealing to teachers. Study 2 explored the conflict between the results of Study 1 and teachers' self-reports that they enjoy working with creative children. Teachers' concepts of creativity were different from concepts that have guide.
Energy harvesting small cell networks: feasibility, deployment, and operation

Small cell networks have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years due to their potential to meet the exponential growth of mobile data traffic, and the increasing demand for better quality of service and user experience in mobile applications. Nevertheless, wide deployment of small cell networks has not happened yet because of the complexity in the network planning and optimization, as well as the high expenditure involved in deployment and operation. In particular, it is difficult to provide grid power supply to all the small cell base stations in a cost-effective way. Moreover, a dense deployment of small cell base stations, which is needed to meet the capacity and coverage of next generation wireless networks, will increase operators' electricity bills and lead to significant carbon emission. Thus, it is crucial to exploit off-grid and green energy sources to power small cell networks, for which energy harvesting technology is a viable solution. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive study of energy harvesting small cell networks, and investigate important aspects, including a feasibility analysis, network deployment, and network operation issues. The advantages as well as unique challenges of energy harvesting small cell networks are highlighted, together with potential solutions and effective design methodologies.
European populations of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera are resistant to aldrin, but not to methyl‐parathion

The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is a major pest of cultivated corn in North America and has recently begun to invade Europe. In addition to crop rotation, chemical control is an important option for D. v. virgifera management. However, resistance to chemical insecticides has evolved repeatedly in the USA. In Europe, chemical control strategies have yet to be harmonized and no surveys of insecticide resistance have been carried out. We investigated the resistance to methyl‐parathion and aldrin of samples from nine D. v. virgifera field populations originating from two European outbreaks thought to have originated from two independent introductions from North America. Diagnostic concentration bioassays revealed that all nine D. v. virgifera field populations were resistant to aldrin but susceptible to methyl‐parathion. Aldrin resistance was probably introduced independently, at least twice, from North America into Europe, as there is no evident selection pressure to account for an increase of frequency of aldrin resistance in each of the invasive outbreaks in Europe. Our results suggest that organophosphates, such as methyl‐parathion, may still provide effective control of both larval and adult D. v. virgifera in the European invasive outbreaks studied.
Compact, Backward-Radiating Helical Antenna for Mesoband High-Power Applications

A mesoband, high-power microwave source system is presented that couples a compact standing-wave oscillator operating near 500 MHz to a compact helical antenna. The antenna has a turn length that is on the order of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$3\lambda /4$</tex-math></inline-formula> with a pitch of 46<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula>, and the ground plane that is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda /6$</tex-math></inline-formula> in diameter. The system radiates in the axial mode in the backward direction with a front-to-back ratio of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-$</tex-math> </inline-formula>4.6 dB. Numerical analysis of the antenna is presented to understand the design constraints, and a prototype system is built and tested to verify the numerical results. The source and antenna combination are verified at a charge voltage of 23 kV, and radiated fields in excess of 10 kV/m are measured at a range of 1 m with circular polarization.
The Arab Spring: The Revolution at the Doors of Europe

The Arab Spring of 2011—the revolutionary process that started in Tunisia and Egypt and expanded across North Africa and the Middle East—is the product of the interaction of the current world capitalist crisis with the historically accumulated contradictions in the region. The dialectic of the universal and the particular, of world crisis and social revolution is the key to a materialist understanding of the events under way. The Western imperialist powers try to block and defeat the revolution in this strategic region by means of war (Libya), repression by local despots (Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria) or by manipulating the ‘democratic transitions'. The revolution in the Middle East to be victorious has to develop as a permanent revolution. Its fate is tied to the emerging social revolutionary struggles in the crisis ridden Europe.
RENDIMIENTO ACADÉMICO: SU RELACION CON LA MEMORIA DE TRABAJO

Este articulo tiene como objetivo estudiar la relacion de los componentes de la memoria de trabajo con el desempeno academico en lengua y matematica de estudiantes de 8 y 9 anos de edad, escolarizados en 3o ano de nivel primario. Para evaluar cada una de las variables investigadas, se aplicaron, a 54 estudiantes pruebas que tendian a evaluar de forma independiente cada componente de la memoria de trabajo por medio de dos sub pruebas del test WISC III: digitos en orden directo e inverso y el test de figuras complejas de Rey. El desempeno academico se obtuvo de las notas finales de los tres trimestres, una vez finalizado el ano lectivo. Los resultados muestran que el componente ejecutivo central es el predictor significativo del desempeno en lengua (R2= .21; p = .000) y en matematicas (R2= .27; p = .000) en los estudiantes que culminan el 3o ano de nivel primario. Dichos datos se discuten en relacion con una mayor comprension del rendimiento academico y con la generacion de nuevas propuestas que ayuden a revertir la problematica del fracaso escolar. This article aims to study the relationship of the components of working memory, with academic performance in language and mathematics of 8 and 9 years old children, schooled in 3rd grade of elementary school. In order to evaluate each of the investigated variables, 54 students took a test that evaluated independently each component of the working memory through two sub tests of the WISC III test: digits in forward and reverse order and the Rey´s complex figures test. The academic performance was obtained from the final grades of the three quarters, once the school year was finished. The results show that the central executive component is the significant predictor of performance in language (R2= .21; p = .000) and mathematics (R2= .27; p = .000) in students culminating the 3rd year of primary level. These data are discussed in relation to a better understanding of academic performance and the generation of new ideas that help reverse the problem of school failure.
Lack of Pharmacokinetic Interaction between Linezolid and Antacid in Healthy Volunteers

ABSTRACT Several antibiotics show significant pharmacokinetic interactions when they are given orally concomitantly with antacids. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of antacid (containing magnesium) on the pharmacokinetics of linezolid. A single dose of 600 mg linezolid was given orally alone and 10 min after administration of the antacid Maalox 70mVal, which contains 600 mg magnesium hydroxide and 900 mg aluminum hydroxide, to nine healthy males and nine healthy females in a crossover and randomized study. Linezolid plasma concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated for both treatments. Coadministration with antacids did not change the pharmacokinetics of linezolid. The ratios (90% confidence intervals) of the individual values of the area under the concentration-time curve and the maximum concentration in plasma (Cmax) (linezolid plus antacid versus linezolid alone) were 1.01 (0.99 to 1.02) and 0.99 (0.96 to 1.02), respectively. Likewise, no significant difference in any of the other pharmacokinetic parameters was observed between the treatment groups (the time to Cmax, lag time, volume of distribution [V/F], and clearance [CL/F]). However, a significant sex difference was observed for AUC, Cmax, V/F, and CL/F; and these differences could be almost completely explained by the differences in body weight between males and females. No clinically relevant adverse effects were detected under either condition. The coadministration of antacids had no effect on the pharmacokinetics of linezolid. This demonstrates that the oral absorption of linezolid was not affected by the presence of antacids containing magnesium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide. Antacids can be safely administered together with linezolid.
Investigation of quantitative secondary electron imaging of semiconducting polymer materials using environmental scanning electron microscopy

The development of environmental scanning electron microscopy has opened the way for the examination of a wide variety of new sample types that were previously inaccessible to conventional scanning electron microscope techniques. With the advent of such a new methodology comes also the potential for new contrast mechanisms. We investigated the use of environmental scanning electron microscopy on semiconducting organic polymer materials. We observed contrast from these materials in secondary electron images, this contrast being attributed to differences in electron yield due to the polymer's electronic structure. Further study of these materials, and specifically the influence of film thickness on signal, has indicated a significant effect as the secondary electrons move through the sample. Systematic studies such as these are needed for a full understanding of the relationship between electronic properties and signal and, hence, the ability to probe structure–property relationships in greater depth.
Segmentation and classification of capnograms: application in respiratory variability analysis

Variability analysis of respiratory waveforms has been shown to provide key insights into respiratory physiology and has been used successfully to predict clinical outcomes. The current standard for quality assessment of the capnogram signal relies on a visual analysis performed by an expert in order to identify waveform artifacts. Automated processing of capnograms is desirable in order to extract clinically useful features over extended periods of time in a patient monitoring environment. However, the proper interpretation of capnogram derived features depends upon the quality of the underlying waveform. In addition, the comparison of capnogram datasets across studies requires a more practical approach than a visual analysis and selection of high-quality breath data. This paper describes a system that automatically extracts breath-by-breath features from capnograms and estimates the quality of individual breaths derived from them. Segmented capnogram breaths were presented to expert annotators, who labeled the individual physiological breaths into normal and multiple abnormal breath types. All abnormal breath types were aggregated into the abnormal class for the purpose of this manuscript, with respiratory variability analysis as the end-application. A database of 11 526 breaths from over 300 patients was created, comprising around 35% abnormal breaths. Several simple classifiers were trained through a stratified repeated ten-fold cross-validation and tested on an unseen portion of the labeled breath database, using a subset of 15 features derived from each breath curve. Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Naive Bayes classifiers were close in terms of performance (AUC of 90%, 89% and 88% respectively), while using 7, 4 and 5 breath features, respectively. When compared to airflow derived timings, the 95% confidence interval on the mean difference in interbreath intervals was ± 0.18 s. This breath classification system provides a fast and robust pre-processing of continuous respiratory waveforms, thereby ensuring reliable variability analysis of breath-by-breath parameter time series.
The relevance of the pharmacologic properties of a progestational agent to its clinical effects as a combination oral contraceptive.

Levonorgestrel (LNg) is known for its marked progestational/contraceptive activity. As shown in animal experiments, however, high doses of LNg are required to elicit an androgenic response; in contrast, considerably lower doses of LNg are required for antiovulatory (contraceptive) action. Thus, a large dose separation exists between androgenic and contraceptive activity. When LNg is combined with an estrogen, as in the contraceptive formulations, the androgenic response is attenuated or negated. The results of recent clinical trials have demonstrated that the androgenic activity of LNg is not expressed at contraceptive doses, particularly when LNg is combined with ethinyl estradiol (EE), as in the low-dose monophasic/triphasic formulations (monophasic [Nordette]: 150 mcg LNg/30 mcg EE; triphasic [Triphasil/Trinordiol]: six days, 50 mcg LNg/30 mcg EE; five days, 75 mcg LNg/40 mcg EE; ten days, 125 mcg LNg/30 mcg EE). Clinical evidence from several trials confirms that sex hormone-binding globulin levels are increased, plasma androgen levels are decreased, and acne is markedly improved with the use of Triphasil and Nordette, suggesting a non-androgenic profile. ImagesFIG. 4
An Investigation of the Information Sources Used by International Tourists of Different Age Groups in Fiji

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the relationships between the age groups of international tourists and the information sources they prefer on the island of Fiji. The study used correspondence analysis to achieve its goals. The results showed that the 18–29 age group was more likely to obtain tourism information from travel guidebooks and friends/relatives. The 30–49 age group preferred to seek travel information on websites. Older adults, 50–64 and over, primarily relied on travel agencies and tour operators. This study helps tourism industry practitioners in Fiji understand more accurately how international tourists plan their trips and how to better-predict these tourists’ behavior. It further suggests some marketing strategies to effectively communicate with existing and potential tourists.
Mechanisms of severe, immediate reactions to iodinated contrast material.

PURPOSE To measure and elucidate the mechanisms of presumed mediators of unexpected severe, immediate reactions to iodinated contrast materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS In a multicenter study, 20 patients with mild to severe reactions to iodinated contrast material and 20 control subjects without reactions were evaluated. Ionic contrast material was associated with 18 (90%) of 20 reactions. Concentrations of plasma histamine, tryptase, urinary methylhistamine, specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) against ioxitalamate or ioxaglate, and the anaphylatoxins C3a and C4a were measured with radioimmunoassays; complement C3 and C4 levels were measured with nephelometry. RESULTS Histamine levels were increased in 14 patients; tryptase levels, in 16; and methylhistamine levels, in six. Histamine and tryptase values correlated with the severity of the reaction (P < .02 and P < .004, respectively). Significantly higher levels of specific IgE against ioxaglate (P < .005) and ioxitalamate (P = .045) were found in patients. No differences were found for complement fractions. Skin test results in two patients with life-threatening reactions were positive for the administered contrast material. CONCLUSION Histamine release and mast cell triggering are related to severe reactions. An IgE-related mechanism is strongly suspected. Radiologists should be trained to identify and treat anaphylactic shock in patients who react to iodinated contrast material.
Production modeling and simulation of surface mounting technology assembly industries using distributed agent oriented Petri net

The surface mounting technology (SMT) is widely used in the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly industries. In general, the SMT assembly is categorized into the processes of chip feeding of surface mountable component (SMC), nuzzle exchange, chip pickup and chip placement. To increase the productivity and throughput, the SMT mounting machine is capable of pickup and placement of chips in the batch manner. In the case study, four nuzzles are allocated for assembly concurrently. Each nuzzle is desired for a group of SMC components with the geometry and weight considerations. In order to increase the assembly chip types of the SMT mounting machine, nuzzles are capable of automatic nuzzle change (ANC). The number of components in a batch is variable according to the nuzzle allocations of each nuzzle exchange. Finally, the components of each pickup batch are placed on the PCB board according to the chip position and direction. Therefore, the behaviors of the SMT assembly are characterized as the concurrent operations of the discrete event systems, and they can be modeled using the high level Petri nets. In this paper, the distributed agent-oriented Petri net (DAOPN) is used to model the production activities of the SMT assembly. The models of "initializing lane buffers", "allocating the ANC", "component pickup" and "component placement" are all modeled. The assembly cycle time can also calculated in terms of the simulation results.
Outsourcing HR Functions: When—and When Not—to Go Outside

Deciding whether and what to outsource is not as patently obvious as some managers might think. This paper examines issues HR executives should consider before outsourcing HR activities. The findings are based on published research and is supported by the experience of the members of the International Personnel Association, which represents 60 of the top 100 multinationals in the U.S. and Canada.
[Effects of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) on human brain functional imaging in different functional states].

OBJECTIVE To study on effects of acupuncture at a same point at physiological or pathological state on brain functional imaging. METHODS Electroacupuncture was given at Neiguan (PC 6) of the healthy senile persons (normal group) and the patients of Alzheimer's disease (AD group), and they were scanned on a 1.5 T MRI scanner and the data of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed by Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM99). The functional imaging of different brain regions were obtained from both the healthy group and the AD group. RESULTS Both the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe were activated in varying degrees by electroacupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) in the healthy group. However, the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe and the cingulate gyrus as well as the cerebellum were activated in varying degrees and other brain regions were not activated by electroacupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) in the AD group. CONCLUSION Acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) can activate functions of different brain regions in the healthy group and the AD group, indicating that acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) has different effects on functional magnetic resonance imaging in different functional states.
WeSPer: A flexible small delay defect quality metric

Testing for small delay defects (SDDs) is important due to their dominance in recent technology nodes. Unfortunately, all the SDD test quality metrics in the literature limit their assessment to the size of the delay defect tested under at-speed or slower clocks, which makes their results misleading under special cases such as faster-than-at-speed testing. Moreover, those metrics are inadequate for assessing the quality of recent SDD test methods that consider the variation of delays in a circuit. In this paper, a novel flexible SDD quality metric that can be adapted according to the available information and the applied test method is proposed. The proposed metric is named Weighted Slack Percentage (WeSPer) as it is defined by a slack ratio weighted by confidence level (CL) multipliers. The flexibility comes from the ability to model test inaccuracies or delay varying effects into the CL multipliers. This paper presents the WeSPer metric, along with a CL multiplier that penalizes overtesting to give a more accurate assessment of the quality of faster-than-at-speed testing. The metric is calculated for several benchmark circuits and compared to other SDD metrics found in the literature. The results show that WeSPer is better than other metrics at representing the quality of SDD tests, especially under faster-than-at-speed testing.