Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survival in small cell lung cancer in India: prognostic utility of clinical features, laboratory parameters and response to treatment.

BACKGROUND Predictors of survival and response to treatment in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) are ill-defined and unclear. In an attempt to assess the impact of common presenting symptoms and laboratory values on survival, we undertook this retrospective review of patients with SCLC. To our knowledge, there is no study on survival in SCLC patients from the Indian subcontinent. DESIGN Retrospective Cohort study. MATERIALS AND METHODS All newly diagnosed small cell lung cancer cases from December 2001 through December 2004, were identified and clinical data on presenting symptoms and laboratory findings from their hospital records, noted. The influence of various pretreatment factors on survival was investigated using Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox multivariate regression model. RESULTS 76 subjects were included (84% males, 91% smokers). 57% patients had five or more symptoms at presentation. Cumulative symptom burden was strongly associated with survival (P =0.02). Survival was also significantly related with Karnofsky performance status (KPS) (P =0.04), disease extent (P =0.03) and symptomatic response to treatment (P< 0.001). Patients with higher hemoglobin (P =0.02), serum sodium (P =0.04) and serum globulin (P =0.02), survived significantly longer. By multivariate regression analysis, hemoglobin, KPS and brain metastases, were significant predictors of survival (P =0.01, P =0.02, P< 0.01 respectively). CONCLUSION Cumulative symptom burden, KPS, disease extent and symptomatic assessment of improvement after treatment, are useful predictors of survival. This has important clinical implications, keeping in view, the infrastructure and cost involved in more objective tests like CT scan, for evaluation of disease extent and prognosis. These findings can provide a simple basis for predicting prognosis in small cell lung cancer, especially in developing countries like ours.
Model Averaging via Penalized Regression for Tracking Concept Drift

A supervised learning algorithm aims to build a prediction model using training examples. This paradigm typically has the assumptions that the underl ying distribution and the true input–output dependency do not change. However, these assumptions often fail to hold, especially in data streams. This phenomenon is known as concept drift. We propose a new model combining algorithm for tracking concept drift in data streams. The final predictive ensemble model has a form of a weighted average and ridge regression combiner. The coefficients of the combiner are determined by ridge regression with the constraints such that the coefficients are nonnegative and sum to 1. The proposed algorithm is devised via a new measure of concept drift, the angle between the estimated weights from data and the optimal weight vector obtained under no concept drift. It is shown that the ridge tuning parameter plays a crucial role of forcing the proposed algorithm to adapt to concept drift. Our main findings include (i) the proposed algorithm can achieve the optimal weights in the case of no concept drift if the tuning parameter is sufficiently large, and (ii) the angle is monotonically increasing as the tuning parameter decreases. These imply that if the tuning parameter is well-controlled, the algorithm can produce weights which reflect the degree of concept drift measured by the angle. Using various numerical examples, it is shown that the proposed algorithm can track concept drift better than other existing ensemble methods. Supplemental materials, computer code and R-package, are available online.
Mechanisms of early Drosophila mesoderm formation.

Several morphogenetic processes occur simultaneously during Drosophila gastrulation, including ventral furrow invagination to form the mesoderm, anterior and posterior midgut invagination to create the endoderm, and germ band extension. Mutations changing the behaviour of different parts of the embryo can be used to test the roles of different cell populations in gastrulation. Posterior midgut morphogenesis and germ band extension are partly independent, and neither depends on mesoderm formation, nor mesoderm formation on them. The invagination of the ventral furrow is caused by forces from within the prospective mesoderm (i.e. the invaginating cells) without any necessary contribution from other parts of the embryo. The events that lead to the cell shape changes mediating ventral furrow formation require the transcription of zygotic genes under the control of twist and snail. Such genes can be isolated by molecular and genetic screens.
Return to play and risk of repeat concussion in collegiate football players: comparative analysis from the NCAA Concussion Study (1999–2001) and CARE Consortium (2014–2017)

Objective We compared data from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Concussion Study (1999–2001) and the NCAA-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research and Education (CARE) Consortium (2014–2017) to examine how clinical management, return to play (RTP) and risk of repeat concussion in collegiate football players have changed over the past 15 years. Methods We analysed data on reported duration of symptoms, symptom-free waiting period (SFWP), RTP and occurrence of within-season repeat concussion in collegiate football players with diagnosed concussion from the NCAA Study (n=184) and CARE (n=701). Results CARE athletes had significantly longer symptom duration (CARE median=5.92 days, IQR=3.02–9.98 days; NCAA median=2.00 days, IQR=1.00–4.00 days), SFWP (CARE median=6.00 days, IQR=3.49–9.00 days; NCAA median=0.98 days, IQR=0.00–4.00 days) and RTP (CARE median=12.23 days, IQR=8.04–18.92 days; NCAA median=3.00 days, IQR=1.00–8.00 days) than NCAA Study athletes (all p<0.0001). In CARE, there was only one case of repeat concussion within 10 days of initial injury (3.7% of within-season repeat concussions), whereas 92% of repeat concussions occurred within 10 days in the NCAA Study (p<0.001). The average interval between first and repeat concussion in CARE was 56.41 days, compared with 5.59 days in the NCAA Study (M difference=50.82 days; 95% CI 38.37 to 63.27; p<0.0001). Conclusion Our findings indicate that concussion in collegiate football is managed more conservatively than 15 years ago. These changes in clinical management appear to have reduced the risk of repetitive concussion during the critical period of cerebral vulnerability after sport-related concussion (SRC). These data support international guidelines recommending additional time for brain recovery before athletes RTP after SRC.
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTY OF FATIGUE SEVERITY SCALE AND CORRELATION WITH DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN CIRRHOTICS.

BACKGROUND Fatigue is a common complaint in cirrhotic patients and may be considered a debilitating symptom with negative impact on quality of life. Research on its etiology and treatment has been hampered by the lack of relevant and reproducible measures of fatigue. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) in cirrhotic patients and to correlate with depressive symptomatology and quality of life. METHODS Cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 106 cirrhotic patients, aged between 18 and 70 years, both genders, literate, pre and post liver transplantation in outpatient follow-up. Internal consistency, reproducibility, discriminant validity, criterion validity, construct validity, responsiveness criterion, depressive symptomatology and quality of life were evaluated through questionnaires between January and October 2015. RESULTS The mean age was 54.75±9.9 years, 65.1% male and 32.1% of the sample had cirrhosis due to hepatitis C virus. The mean FSS score was 4.74±1.64. Cronbach's alpha was 0.93, and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was 0.905 (95% CI: 0.813-0.952). For discriminant validity, FSS differentiated scores from different groups (P=0.009) and presented a correlation with the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (r=0.606, P=0.002). FSS correlated significantly and positively with depressive symptomatology and correlated negatively with the SF-36 domains for construct validity. For responsiveness, no significant changes were observed in the fatigue scores in the pre and post-liver transplantation periods (P=0.327). CONCLUSION FSS showed good psychometric performance in the evaluation of fatigue in patients with cirrhosis. Fatigue presented a strong correlation with depressive symptomatology and quality of life.
Look-From Camera Control for 3D Terrain Maps

We introduce three lightweight interactive camera control techniques for 3D terrain maps on touch devices based on a look-from metaphor (Discrete Look-From-At, Continuous Look-From-Forwards, and Continuous Look-From-Towards). These techniques complement traditional touch screen pan, zoom, rotate, and pitch controls allowing viewers to quickly transition between top-down, oblique, and ground-level views. We present the results of a study in which we asked participants to perform elevation comparison and line-of-sight determination tasks using each technique. Our results highlight how look-from techniques can be integrated on top of current direct manipulation navigation approaches by combining several direct manipulation operations into a single look-from operation. Additionally, they show how look-from techniques help viewers complete a variety of common and challenging map-based tasks.
Genetic manipulation of endothelial cells by viral vectors

Summary The need for uncovering molecular mechanisms in endothelial cell biology has tremendously increased in the last decades as it became more and more clear that the endothelium is an important target in nearly all diseases and treatments (drug delivery) and plays a central role in regeneration processes. One of the critical methods generally applied in cell biology research to uncover structural and functional aspects is the modulation of protein expression by over-expression, expression of mutant variants or gene silencing. This strategy, however, requires genetic manipulation of the respective cells. The classical gene transfer by chemical transfection techniques works pretty well in a large variety of cultured cells but fails for most endothelial cell types. Insufficient transfection rates and gene expression levels as well as the sensitivity of the endothelium against chemical transfection reagents limits utilisation of this technique for endothelial cell biology research. This holds true not only for primary endothelial cell cultures and endothelial cells in vivo but also for endothelial cell lines, e.g. endothelioma cells. The development of viral vectors originally designed for gene therapy approaches has significantly improved the methodological spectrum in endothelial cell research. Two viral vector systems, based on retroviruses and adenoviruses, deliver transgenic information highly efficient into both cultured endothelial cells and in endothelial cells in vivo, respectively. This review aims to give a comprehensive overview of these two vector systems that appear to be reliable and efficient tools for gene delivery into endothelial cell types.
Accumulation and Activation-Induced Release of Preformed Fas (CD95) Ligand During the Pathogenesis of Experimental Graft-Versus-Host Disease1

Fas (CD95/APO-1) ligand (FasL)-mediated cytotoxicity has been implicated in tissue destruction in a variety of diseases, including acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD). In this study, we have analyzed FasL expression and regulation during the course of experimental murine acute GVHD. Although activation-induced FasL-mediated cytotoxicity in control T cells was sensitive to the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A, we observed that functional FasL expression of GVHD T cells became increasingly cyclosporin A unresponsive. This was found to be the result of a massive in vivo accumulation and intracellular storage of FasL protein and its release in a transcription- and protein synthesis-independent manner. Immunohistochemistry analysis of FasL expression in situ revealed accumulation of FasL-expressing cells in the spleen, the liver, and small intestine, with a typical cytoplasmic and granular expression pattern. Thus, we conclude that the release of preformed FasL by infiltrating donor T cells may contribute to recipient tissue damage during the pathogenesis of acute GVHD.
Early growth and death from cardiovascular disease in women.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether the link suggested between growth in utero and during infancy and death from cardiovascular disease in men is also present in women. DESIGN--Follow up study of women and men whose birth weight and weight at 1 year of age had been recorded. SETTING--Hertfordshire, England. SUBJECTS--5585 women and 10,141 men born during 1911-30. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Standardised mortality ratios for cardiovascular disease. RESULTS--Among women and men death rates from cardiovascular disease fell progressively between the low and high birth weights groups (chi 2 = 4.3, p = 0.04 for women, chi 2 = 8.5, p < 0.005 for men). Cardiovascular deaths in men but not women were also strongly related to weight at 1 year, falling progressively between the low and high weight groups (chi 2 = 27.5, p < 0.0001). The highest cardiovascular death rates in women were among those with below average birth weight but above average weight at 1 year. In men the highest rates were among those with below average birth weight and below average weight at 1 year. CONCLUSION--Relations between cardiovascular disease and birth weight are similar in men and women. In men cardiovascular disease is also related to weight gain in infancy.
Giant components in Kronecker graphs

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Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent-shunt insufficiency and the role of diabetes mellitus

Background/aims Maintenance of long-term patency of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent-shunts (TIPSS) has proved problematic. Various prognostic variables have been assessed as predictors, but the role of diabetes mellitus, which induces vascular endothelial cell dysfunction, has not been assessed. Methods We analysed the records of 248 patients who underwent TIPSS between July 1991 and July 1997, followed-up through to August 1998. Patients with at least one shunt assessment by portography and available blood glucose levels were eligible (177 patients; median follow-up, 15.0 months). Fourteen patients had a pre-procedural diagnosis of diabetes (one insulin dependent, seven oral hypoglycaemic treated and six diet controlled). In another 14 patients, diabetes was diagnosed at TIPSS insertion, giving a 28/177 (15.8%) prevalence of diabetes in our patients. Fifty-nine patients were excluded from the final analysis (including five diabetics), as they either died or had early shunt insufficiency (within 1 month of stent placement), leaving 118 patients (including 23 diabetics) to be included in the final analysis. Results Mean age, sex distribution, median follow-up (months) and pre-shunt portal pressure gradient were comparable in the two groups (diabetics versus non-diabetics). Child–Pugh classes A and B were more common in the diabetic group (P < 0.01), and the mean inserted stent diameter was larger in the diabetic group (P < 0.05). The presence of diabetes was associated with a higher incidence of delayed shunt insufficiency (P = 0.02), but there was no evidence of an association between presence of diabetes and variceal haemorrhage post TIPSS. Kaplan–Meier analyses revealed earlier insufficiency in diabetic patients compared with those without diabetes (P = 0.04). Age, gender and presence of diabetes are included in the final logistic regression model. Individuals who have diabetes are more likely to experience shunt insufficiency independent of age and gender. Conclusions Diabetes mellitus is common in patients undergoing TIPSS and is associated independently with increased incidence of primary delayed shunt insufficiency.
Disturbance rejection and feedback control algorithm for active suspension plant

Suspension system in a vehicle is used for passenger comfort, road handling and ride control, and is essentially a spring-damper system. An Active Suspension system employs an external force, in addition to the damper force, calculated using a control algorithm. In this paper, a study has been done to implement a PID based controller by disturbance rejection and vibration isolation principle. This was further extended to a state feedback controller with modified cost functions that are optimized catering to various performance criteria. A study has been done on how those different cost functions reflect on the performance measurements and how this can be extended to deliver any required output. The limits imposed on calculating the necessary state feedback matrix was decided by the hardware constraints available to us. Finally, the design was tested in real time, using hardware and it was observed that our design was able to control the system in the desired way.
Noise power estimation for effective de-noising in a video encoder

This paper presents a noise estimation algorithm using multiresolution motion estimation in a video encoder. Firstly, the motion estimator finds minimum block-matching errors at the finest resolution and the middle resolution for each macroblock. Secondly, if the minimum block-matching error at the finest resolution of a certain macroblock is less than a particular threshold, the variance of the inter-macroblock is computed. And then, we employ the square of the minimum block-matching error at the middle resolution as a predictor of the variance of the desired inter-macroblock without noise. The noise variance in the macroblock can be estimated by subtracting the predictor from the variance of the inter-macroblock. Finally, the noise variances estimated only for the well-motion-compensated macroblocks are averaged in each frame. Experimental results show that the proposed noise estimation is very accurate with negligible computational cost.
Pigmented villonodular synovitis of joints

The objective of this study is to present two series of cases of pigmented villonodular disease of joints (PVNS) treated at different periods. The 215 cases from our hospital are current (1972–2009) and those 62 from the Jaffe collection from 1920 to 1968.
omparison of survival outcomes among standard radiotherapy egimens in limited-stage small cell lung cancer patients receiving oncurrent chemoradiation harles

Objectives: The optimal radiotherapy dose in concurrent chemoradiation (CRT) for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is controversial. We compared the effectiveness of several high-dose chemoradiation regimens using a large national dataset. Materials and methods: Patients with non-metastatic SCLC treated with concurrent CRT were identified in the National Cancer Database base. Overall survival (OS) of patients receiving dose-fractionation regimens, matching those in the ongoing CALGB 30610 trial [45 Gy in 30 fractions (Fx) (45 Gy/30Fx), 70 Gy in 35 fractions (70 Gy/35Fx), and 61.2 Gy in 34 fractions (61.2 Gy/34Fx)], were compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results: We included 1228 patients treated between 1998 and 2006 with CRT. Mean age was 62 years and 50% of patients were women. Radiotherapy dose-fractionation was 45 Gy/30Fx in 707 (57.6%), 70 Gy/35Fx in 53 (4.3%), and 61.2 Gy/34Fx in 468 (38.1%). Overall survival was similar among patients treated with 45 Gy/30Fx, 70 Gy/35Fx, and 61.2 Gy/34Fx, with median survival times of 21.5, 21.5, and 20.2 months, respectively (p = 0.438). Older age, male sex, larger tumor size, and more advanced stage were associated with inferior OS on Kaplan–Meier (all p < 0.001). Cox proportional hazards modeling adjusting for these factors demonstrated similar OS among patients receiving these three dose-fractionation regimens (p = 0.815). Conclusions: We observed equivalent OS among patients with limited-stage SCLC being treated with three dose-fractionation regimens of concurrent CRT. This supports the use of any one of these regimens while awaiting the results of ongoing randomized trials. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Depression, demoralization and control over psychotic illness: a comparison of depressed and non-depressed patients with a chronic psychosis

Synopsis This paper explores the hypothesis that depression in chronic schizophrenia is in part a psychological response to an apparently uncontrollable life-event, namely the illness and its long-term disabilities. It is suggested that depression is linked to patients' perception of controllability of their illness and absorption of cultural stereotypes of mental illness. Clinically and operationally diagnosed schizophrenic and manic-depressive patients receiving long-term maintenance treatment were studied. The cross-sectional prevalence of depression in schizophrenics was 29% and 11% for patients with bipolar affective illness. The hypothesis was supported. Multivariate analyses revealed that patients' perception of controllability of their illness powerfully discriminated depressed from non-depressed psychotic patients. Although those patients who accepted their diagnosis reported a lower perceived control over illness and an external locus of control, label acceptance was not associated with lowered depression, self-esteem or unemployment. The cross-sectional nature of the study makes the direction of causality and the role of intrinsic illness variables difficult to ascertain; however, the results set the scene for prospective and intervention studies and the various possibilities are discussed.
THE ROLE OF THE ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGE IN THE CLEARANCE OF BACTERIA FROM THE LUNG

Pulmonary clearance of bacteria was studied using histologic, bacteriologic, and radiotracer methods. When mice were exposed to an aerosol of P32-tagged Staphylococcus aureus or Proteus mirabilis, and the rate of disappearance of viable bacteria compared with the rate of their mechanical removal, it was found that bacterial viability declined 80 to 90 per cent in 4 hours, whereas radioactivity declined by only 14 to 20 per cent. The marked disparity in these rates indicated that mechanical removal comprised a relatively small fraction of the total clearing process. The in situ bactericidal action of the lung predominated over the mechanical removal process in achieving clearance of the inhaled bacteria. By immunofluorescent methods, the inhaled bacteria were found to be localized in the alveolar spaces and within alveolar macrophages. These observations suggest that the bactericidal action of the bronchopulmonary tree is due primarily to the phagocytic activity of the alveolar macrophages, and that the action of the mucociliary stream, in relation to bacterial particles, may be largely related to the transport from the lung of phagocytes containing material of bacterial origin.