Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth suppression of ovarian cancer xenografts in nude mice by vitamin D analogue EB1089.

PURPOSE The poor response of advanced epithelial ovarian cancer to current treatments necessitates the development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Inhibition of cancer growth by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] compounds represents an innovative approach for cancer therapy. The current study evaluated the therapeutic potential of a synthetic 1,25(OH)2D3 analogue EB1089 in the treatment of ovarian cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The response of human ovarian cancer cells to 1,25(OH)2D3 and EB1089 were first compared in cell growth, gene transcription, and apoptotic assays. Then, nude mice bearing OVCAR3 tumor xenografts were treated with EB1089 at different dosages, and tumor volumes were monitored. The effect of EB1089 and 1,25(OH)2D3 on the level of serum calcium was also examined. After the treatment, tumors were excised and processed for histologic examination, Ki-67 staining, and tissue terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays to evaluate the morphologic, proliferative, and apoptotic changes induced by EB1089, respectively. RESULTS The study shows that EB1089 suppresses the in vitro growth of ovarian cancer cells and transcriptionally activates the GADD45 reporter gene more effectively than 1,25(OH)2D3. Clinically more importantly, EB1089 suppresses the growth of OVCAR3 tumor xenografts in nude mice without inducing hypercalcemia. Ki-67 staining and tissue TUNEL assays showed that both inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis contribute to the EB1089-induced tumor suppression in vivo. CONCLUSIONS This study is the first demonstration that ovarian cancer responds positively in vivo to treatment with a 1,25(OH)2D3 compound and thus supports continued development of 1,25(OH)2D3 analogues for possible use as an alternative or complementary therapy for human ovarian cancer.
The Constraint-Effects-Mitigation Involvement Loyalty Model: An Integrative Review

ABSTRACT This systematic review deliberately included studies with diverse methodologies in order to establish the general applicability of a constraint-effects-mitigation involvement loyalty model, a status which has only been indirectly accorded to it within the literature to date. Studies conducted between 1987 and the present covering 27 papers in several different settings consistently demonstrated that leisure involvement can necessitate negotiation strategies to allow individuals to form loyalty to people, leisure activities and places, whilst still facing a myriad of constraints at any given time.
Oral Health Disparities and Unmet Dental Needs among Preschool Children in Chelsea, MA: Exploring Mechanisms, Defining Solutions

Background Significant disparities exist in children’s receipt of preventive dental care (PDC) in the United States. Many of the children at greatest risk of dental disease do not receive timely PDC; when they do receive dental care, it is often more for relief of dental pain. Chelsea is a low-income, diverse Massachusetts community with high rates of untreated childhood caries. There are various dental resources available in Chelsea, yet many children do not access dental care at levels equivalent to their needs. Objective Using Chelsea as a case-study, to explore factors contributing to forgone PDC (including the age 1 dental visit) in an in-depth way. Methods We used a qualitative study design that included semi-structured interviews with parents of preschool children residing in Chelsea, and Chelsea-based providers including pediatricians, dentists, a dental hygienist and early childhood care providers. We examined: a) parents’ dental attitudes and oral health cultural beliefs; b) parents’ and providers’ perspectives on facilitators and barriers to PDC, reasons for unmet needs, and proposed solutions to address the problem. We recorded, transcribed and independently coded all interviews. Using rigorous, iterative qualitative data analyses procedures, we identified emergent themes. Results Factors perceived to facilitate receipt of PDC included Head-Start oral health policies, strong pediatric primary care/dental linkages, community outreach and advertising, and parents’ own oral health experiences. Most parents and providers perceived there to be an adequate number of accessible dental services and resources in Chelsea, including for Medicaid enrollees. However, several barriers impeded children from receiving timely PDC, the most frequently cited being insurance related problems for children and adults. Other barriers included limited dental services for children <2 years, perceived poor quality of some dental practices, lack of emphasis on prevention-based dental care, poor care-coordination, and insufficient culturally-appropriate care. Important family-level barriers included parental oral health literacy, cultural factors, limited English proficiency and competing priorities. Several solutions were proposed to address identified barriers. Conclusion Even in a community with a considerable number of dental resources, various factors may preclude access to these services by preschool-aged children. Opportunities exist to address modifiable factors through strategic oral health policies, community outreach and improved care coordination between physicians, dentists and early childhood care providers.
Intrusion detection using signatures extracted from execution profiles

An application based intrusion detection system is a security mechanism designed to detect malicious behavior that could compromise the security of a software application. Our aim is to develop such a system that operates on signatures extracted from execution profiles. These signatures are not descriptions of exploits, but instead are descriptions of the program conditions that lead to the exploitation of software vulnerabilities, i.e., they depend on the structure of the vulnerabilities themselves.
STATIONARY ANALYSIS OF TANDEM FLUID QUEUES FED BY HOMOGENEOUS ON-OFF SOURCES

We consider a fluid system composed of multiple buffers in series. The first buffer receives fluid from a finite superposition of independent identical on-off sources. The active and silent periods of sources are exponentially distributed. The ith buffer releases fluid in the (i + 1)th buffer. Assuming that the input rate of one source is greater than the service rate of the first buffer, the output process of each buffer can be modeled by an on-off source with the active period distributed as the busy period of an M/M/1 queue. For i ≥ 2, the stationary content distribution of the ith buffer is obtained by the use of generating functions which are explicitly inverted.
Aqueous catalytic polymerization of olefins

Catalytic conversions in aqueous environments by transition metal complexes have become a well-established field over the past two decades. However, the vast majority of investigations have focussed on small-molecule synthesis. This may appear somewhat surprising as water is a particularly attractive reaction medium, especially for polymerization reactions. For example, aqueous emulsion and suspension polymerization is carried out today on a large scale by noncatalytic free-radical routes. Polymer latices can be obtained as a product, that is, stable aqueous dispersions of polymer particles in the size range of 50 to 1000 nm. Such latices possess a unique property profile. Amongst other advantages, the use of water as a dispersing medium is particularly environmentally friendly. In comparison to these free-radical reactions, aqueous catalytic polymerizations of olefinic monomers have received less attention. However, considerable advances and an increased awareness of this field have emerged during the past few years. A variety of high molecular weight polymers ranging from amorphous or semicrystalline polyolefins to polar-substituted hydrophilic materials have now been prepared by catalytic polymerization of olefinic monomers in water. Polymer latices based on a number of readily available monomers are accessible and catalytic activities as high as 10 5 turnovers per hour have already been reported. As another example, materials prepared by aqueous catalytic polymerization have been investigated as protein inhibitors. A versatile field spanning colloids, polymer, and coordination chemistry has emerged.
Behavior Analysis and Testing Software ( BATS )

Analysis of model behavior is mainly conducted in a pattern-based manner in system dynamics (SD) methodology. In pattern-based evaluation of model outputs, similarity of the overall behavior pattern (e.g. S-shaped-growth, oscillations) and of specific pattern characteristics (e.g. inflection points, periods, amplitudes) are more important than point-by-point similarity measures such as sum-of-squared errors. Although some output analysis tools/software that address this special pattern focus are available, they lack usability and are fragmented. In this study, new standalone analysis software, namely Behavior Analysis and Testing Software (BATS), is developed. It integrates a pattern classification algorithm and a set of statistical methods for analysis of steady-state behaviors. Apart from enabling comparison of behaviors with these algorithms/methods, BATS includes structured processes that enable user to conduct automated hypothesis testing, behavior space exploration, and sensitivity analysis. In its current state, BATS can seamlessly communicate with SD modeling software (Vensim) and other common data sources. This study provides illustrative examples of how BATS can assist the modeler and/or analyst in various phases of modeling; indirect structure testing, output evaluation, sensitivity analysis, policy analysis. Considering its pattern-orientation, user-friendly interface, and communication with modeling software BATS can be an important contribution to the analysis toolset of SD methodology.
TAR models and real exchange rates

The recent past has seen an increased interest in piecewise linear real exchange rate models. By invoking Heckscher's (1916) 'commodity points' it has been argued that a threshold autoregressive (TAR) model should be used to study movements in the real exchange rate. This paper examines the problems of fitting TAR models to real exchange rates. We find that the power of the tests for TAR behavior can be very low for realistic parameter settings. Moreover the confidence intervalls for the threshold parameter are too wide to be used for economic analysis.
Optimization of operational conditions for air-conditioning systems with aisle capping method

The aisle capping has been attracting attention as a method for reducing power consumption of an air-conditioning (A/C) system in data centers and central offices. This method designs airflow pattern so as to confine supplied cold air to cold aisles, by encircling it with top panels and wall panels. This paper discusses optimization of operational conditions for an A/C operation with the aisle capping method, presenting experimental results conducted in consideration of a telecommunication service provider's central office environment. In the experiments, heat generation from network equipment was simulated using heat radiators. The A/C system's power was quantified and compared for various cooling conditions. Also, fault tolerance was investigated for the conditions. Through these discussions, we describe the favorable effects that the aisle capping could have.
Stochastic Homogenization for Some Nonlinear Integro-Differential Equations

In this note we prove the stochastic homogenization for a large class of fully nonlinear elliptic integro-differential equations in stationary ergodic random environments. Such equations include, but are not limited to, Bellman equations and the Isaacs equations for the control and differential games of some pure jump processes in a random, rapidly varying environment. The translation invariant and non-random effective equation is identified, and the almost everywhere in ω, uniform in x convergence of the family solutions of the original equations is obtained. Even in the linear case of the equations contained herein the results appear to be new.
Intelligibility of Speech in a Virtual 3-D Environment

In a simulated air traffic control task, improvement in the detection of auditory warnings when using virtual 3-D audio depended on the spatial configuration of the sounds. Performance improved substantially when two of four sources were placed to the left and the remaining two were placed to the right of the participant. Surprisingly, little or no benefits were observed for configurations involving the elevation or transverse (front/back) dimensions of virtual space, suggesting that position on the interaural (left/right) axis is the crucial factor to consider in auditory display design. The relative importance of interaural spacing effects was corroborated in a second, free-field (real space) experiment. Two additional experiments showed that (a) positioning signals to the side of the listener is superior to placing them in front even when two sounds are presented in the same location, and (b) the optimal distance on the interaural axis varies with the amplitude of the sounds. These results are well predicted by the behavior of an ideal observer under the different display conditions. This suggests that guidelines for auditory display design that allow for effective perception of speech information can be developed from an analysis of the physical sound patterns.
Localization of angiogenic growth factors and their receptors in the human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle and in recurrent miscarriage.

BACKGROUND Angiogenesis is a key feature of endometrial development. Inappropriate endometrial vascular development has been associated with recurrent miscarriage (RM) with increased amounts of perivascular smooth muscle cells surrounding them. METHODS In the current study, we have used immunohistochemistry to study temporal and spatial expression of a series of angiogenic growth factors (AGFs) and their receptors; vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, VEGF-R1, VEGF-R2, VEGF-R3, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB, PDGF-Rα, PDGF-Rβ, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, TGF-βRI, TGF-βRII, angiopoietin (Ang)-1, Ang-2 and Tie-2, in the proliferative, early secretory and mid-late secretory phase endometrium from control women as well as in the mid-late secretory phase of women with a history of RM. The AGFs and their receptors studied were immunostained and assessed separately in stromal, vascular smooth muscle, endothelial and glandular epithelial cells. Laser capture microdissection and real-time RT-PCR were used to confirm expression patterns observed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS Most AGFs investigated showed both temporal and spatial expression patterns in normal cycling endometrium. In addition, immunostaining intensity for several AGFs was altered in women with a history of RM, particularly in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). VSMC expression of TGF-β1, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2 was increased while expression of PDGF-BB, TGF-βRI, TGF-βRII, Ang-2, VEGF-A and VEGF-C was reduced. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that the cycling endometrium is a highly angiogenic tissue and that this process is likely to be altered in women with a history of RM and may contribute to the aetiology of this condition.
SULFHYDRYL GROUPS OF EGG ALBUMIN IN DIFFERENT DENATURING AGENTS

1. The reaction between ferricyanide and egg albumin in solutions of urea, guanidine hydrochloride, and Duponol has been investigated. 2. In neutral medium ferricyanide oxidizes all the SH groups of egg albumin that give a color reaction with nitroprusside. In neutral medium ferricyanide appears to react only with the SH groups of egg albumin. The quantity of ferrocyanide formed can accordingly be considered the equivalent of the number of SH groups in egg albumin detectable with nitroprusside. 3. In solutions of urea, guanidine hydrochloride, and Duponol sufficiently concentrated so that all the egg albumin present is denatured, the same number of SH groups are found—equivalent to a cysteine content of 0.96 per cent. 4. In denaturation of egg albumin loss of solubility (solubility not in presence of the denaturing agent, but solubility examined in water at the isoelectric point) and appearance of reactive SH groups are integral parts of the same process. As denaturation proceeds in urea, SH groups are liberated only in the egg albumin with altered solubility and in this albumin the maximum number of SH groups is liberated. In a molecule of egg albumin either all of its SH groups that give a test with nitroprusside are liberated or none of them are.
Smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, and smoking restrictions in Tijuana, Mexico.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, and smoking restrictions in the home and workplace among residents of Tijuana, one of Mexico's largest cities. METHODS This cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, during 2003 and 2004. A population-based sample of 400 Tijuana adult residents responded to a tobacco survey, and 397 of the surveys were analyzed. RESULTS About 22.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 18.7%-27.1%) of Tijuana adults reported current smoking, and 53.9% (95% CI: 48.8%-58.9%) reported chronic exposure to secondhand smoke. Approximately 44.4% (95% CI: 37.9%-50.9%) of Tijuana adults had a nonsmoking policy in their workplace, while 65.8% (95% CI: 61.0%-70.6%) of Tijuana households were smoke-free. CONCLUSIONS The results underline the need for increased tobacco control efforts, particularly stricter enforcement of existing passive smoking regulations, in order to expand protection from secondhand smoke from private settings to public ones and to curb the tobacco epidemic in Tijuana and elsewhere in Mexico.
Software defect rediscoveries: a discrete lognormal model

Corrective software maintenance, which consists of fixing defects that escape detection and manifest as field failures, is expensive, yet vital to ensuring customer satisfaction. To allocate and use maintenance resources effectively, it is necessary to understand the defect occurrence phenomenon in the field. A preliminary analysis of the defect occurrence data suggests that software defects vary in rate from corner cases, which may occur only once, to the pervasive, which occur many times. This suggests that the distribution of occurrence counts is heavy-tailed. Theoretical reasons and mounting evidence indicate that the distribution of defect occurrence rates is lognormal. We hypothesize that the distribution of occurrence rates is lognormal, and further hypothesize that the distribution of the number of occurrence counts follows the discrete-lognormal, also known as the Poisson-lognormal. We confirm that hypothesis, using a variety of data from widely used networking software. We also discuss how the Discrete-Lognormal applies to subsets of defects, where subsets are formed according to year of occurrence, products, orthogonal defect classification (ODC) age, and severities. We use straightforward interpretations of the parameters of the lognormal to understand how values differ for different types of defects and for different software characteristics
Faster sequence homology searches by clustering subsequences

Motivation: Sequence homology searches are used in various fields. New sequencing technologies produce huge amounts of sequence data, which continuously increase the size of sequence databases. As a result, homology searches require large amounts of computational time, especially for metagenomic analysis. Results: We developed a fast homology search method based on database subsequence clustering, and implemented it as GHOSTZ. This method clusters similar subsequences from a database to perform an efficient seed search and ungapped extension by reducing alignment candidates based on triangle inequality. The database subsequence clustering technique achieved an ∼2-fold increase in speed without a large decrease in search sensitivity. When we measured with metagenomic data, GHOSTZ is ∼2.2–2.8 times faster than RAPSearch and is ∼185–261 times faster than BLASTX. Availability and implementation: The source code is freely available for download at http://www.bi. cs.titech. ac.jp/ghostz/ Contact: akiyama@cs.titech. ac.jp Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Association between RAS Gene Polymorphisms (ACE I/D, AGT M235T) and Henoch-Schönlein Purpura in a Turkish Population

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a small-vessel vasculitis of autoimmune hypersensitivity, and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) regulates vascular homeostasis and inflammation with activation of cytokine release. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between HSP and ACE I/D and AGT M235T polymorphisms. Genotyping was determined by allele specific PCR and PCR-RFLP. We obtained a significant difference in genotype distribution (p = 0.003) and allele frequencies (p < 0.001) of ACE I/D polymorphism between patients and controls, while no significant association was detected in genotype distribution (p > 0.05) and allele frequencies (p > 0.05) of the AGT M235T polymorphism. Risk assessment showed significant risk for HSP in the subjects both with the ID + DD genotype (p = 0.019, OR: 2.288, 95% CI: 1.136–4.609) and D allele (OR: D vs. I: 2.0528, 95% CI: 1.3632–3.0912, p = 0.001) while no significant risk was obtained for HSP in the subjects both with the MT + TT genotype (p = 0.312, OR: 1.3905, 95% CI: 0.7326–2.6391) and T allele (OR: T vs. M: 1.065, 95% CI: 0.729–1.557, p = 0.743). Furthermore, when patients were stratified by the presence of certain systemic complications of HSP, no significant association was detected with ACE I/D, and AGT M235T polymorphisms. Our findings suggest that ACE I/D polymorphism is significantly associated with HSP susceptibility.
Sharing Multi-Secret Based on Circle Properties

A (t, n) threshold multi-secret sharing scheme based on the properties of a circle in multi-dimensional space is proposed in this paper. Only t or more shadows can reconstruct the secrets; while any less than t shadows cannot obtain any information of the secrets. One-way hash functions and a notice board are introduced to enable the secrets to be distributed efficiently. When the dealer computes or renews a participant¿s shadow, it does not need to transmit any information to the participant, but just updates the related information on the notice board. Participants can join or leave the system securely and dynamically. The proposed scheme withstands cheat attacks. Therefore, it is more flexible and secure than the other schemes based on geometric approaches for secret sharing. The experimental results show that our scheme is efficient.
Advances in asynchronous logic: From principles to GALS & NoC, recent industry applications, and commercial CAD tools

The growing variability and complexity of advanced CMOS technologies makes the physical design of clocked logic in large Systems-on-Chip more and more challenging. Asynchronous logic has been studied for many years and become an attractive solution for a broad range of applications, from massively parallel multi-media systems to systems with ultra-low power & low-noise constraints, like cryptography, energy autonomous systems, and sensor-network nodes. The objective of this embedded tutorial is to give a comprehensive and recent overview of asynchronous logic. The tutorial will cover the basic principles and advantages of asynchronous logic, some insights on new research challenges, and will present the GALS scheme as an intermediate design style with recent results in asynchronous Network-on-Chip for future Many Core architectures. Regarding industrial acceptance, recent asynchronous logic applications within the microelectronics industry will be presented, with a main focus on the commercial CAD tools available today.