Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urinary excretion of norepinephrine, epinephrine and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid by children with neuroblastoma.

This study concerns the urinary excretion of norepinephrine (NE), cpinephrine (E) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxymandelic acid (VMA) in 5 infants and children with neuroblastomata and 1 child with a ganglioneuroblastoma. Prior to treatment by surgery, radiation or hemotherapy (alone, or in combination), 3 of the patients excreted increased amounts of both NE and VMA. One patient excreted slightly increased amounts of NE, but VMA output was very high. Another had a normal output of VMA, but a greatly elevated output of NE. In the remaining patient, both NE and VMA excretions were normal. The output of epinephrine was not increased in any of the cases. In general, clinical improvement following therapy was associated with a drop in the urinary excretion of NE and VMA. With progression of the disease, the excretion of these compounds again increased. These findings indicate that there may be biochemical differences among neuroblastomata, even though the tumors may be of similar histologic appearance. Delineation of .
Clinical and virological survey of patients with hepatitis B surface antigen in an Italian region: Clinical considerations and disease burden

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in an Italian region, Liguria (1,572,000 inhabitants), by means of a network of 12 referral centers for liver diseases. All patients with HBV surface antigen followed throughout 2006 were included. Personal data, infectious status with risk factors, other non‐infectious risk factors for liver disease, clinical status, and treatment were the questionnaire. Four hundred forty‐five patients (71% male) were evaluated. Their median age was 48 years (range 5–84), and 83.4% were of Italian origin. Community‐acquired infection was the principal mode of HBV transmission (82.5%), followed by previous intravenous drug use (9.4%), perinatal transmission (6.3%), and transfusion‐associated transmission (1.8%). Hepatitis B e‐antigen was present in 20.4% of the patients, while co‐infections with hepatitis D virus and/or hepatitis C virus and/or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were observed in 18.7% of the patients. Chronic active hepatitis was present in 62.5% of the patients, cirrhosis in 13.5%, hepatocellular carcinoma in 2.2%, and 21.8% of the patients were inactive carriers of HBV. In all, 42.5% of the patients were treated with interferon or lamivudine and/or adefovir‐dipivoxil. Forty‐nine patients were co‐infected with HIV (86% on highly active antiviral therapy). Nevertheless, this study identified only 2.2% of the expected patients with HBV. Hence, it has to be reasoned that few potential infectious or treatable patients are referred to liver disease centers. HBV infection is still an underestimated health problem, and few potential infectious or treatable patients are referred to tertiary centers. J. Med. Virol. 81:1882–1886, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Localization based on multiple visual-metric maps

This paper presents a fusion of monocular camera-based metric localization, IMU and odometry in dynamic environments of public roads. We build multiple vision-based maps and use them at the same time in localization phase. For the mapping phase, visual maps are built by employing ORB-SLAM and accurate metric positioning from LiDAR-based NDT scan matching. This external positioning is utilized to correct for scale drift inherent in all vision-based SLAM methods. Next in the localization phase, these embedded positions are used to estimate the vehicle pose in metric global coordinates using solely monocular camera. Furthermore, to increase system robustness we also proposed utilization of multiple maps and sensor fusion with odometry and IMU using particle filter method. Experimental testing were performed through public road environment as far as 170 km at different times of day to evaluate and compare localization results of vision-only, GNSS and sensor fusion methods. The results show that sensor fusion method offers lower average errors than GNSS and better coverage than vision-only one.
Mutations in Hydin impair ciliary motility in mice

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii hydin is a central pair protein required for flagellar motility, and mice with Hydin defects develop lethal hydrocephalus. To determine if defects in Hydin cause hydrocephalus through a mechanism involving cilia, we compared the morphology, ultrastructure, and activity of cilia in wild-type and hydin mutant mice strains. The length and density of cilia in the brains of mutant animals is normal. The ciliary axoneme is normal with respect to the 9 + 2 microtubules, dynein arms, and radial spokes but one of the two central microtubules lacks a specific projection. The hydin mutant cilia are unable to bend normally, ciliary beat frequency is reduced, and the cilia tend to stall. As a result, these cilia are incapable of generating fluid flow. Similar defects are observed for cilia in trachea. We conclude that hydrocephalus in hydin mutants is caused by a central pair defect impairing ciliary motility and fluid transport in the brain.
The meaning of (quality of) life in patients with eating disorders: a comparison of generic and disease-specific measures across diagnosis and outcome.

OBJECTIVE Compare general and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among female patients with an eating disorder (ED). METHOD Female patients (n = 221; 95.3% Caucasian; 94.0% never married) completed the Medical Outcome Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Eating Disorders Quality of Life (EDQoL) as part of a study of treatment outcomes. Multivariate regression models were used to compare HRQoL differences across initial ED diagnosis (85 AN-R, 19 AN-B/P, 27 BN, 90 EDNOS) and ED diagnostic classification at time of outcome assessment (140 no ED, 38 subthreshold ED, 43 full threshold ED). RESULTS There were no significant differences across ED diagnosis at initial assessment on either of the SF-36 Component Summary scores. However, patients with AN-B/P scored poorer on the work/school EDQoL subscales than other ED diagnoses, and on the psychological EDQoL subscale compared to AN-R and EDNOS. At outcome assessment, comparisons across full threshold, subthreshold and no ED classification indicated that those with no ED reported better HRQoL than those with full threshold ED on the SF-36 Mental Components Summary and three of four EDQoL subscales. Furthermore, those with no ED reported better psychological HRQoL than those with subthreshold ED. DISCUSSION Disease-specific HRQOL measures are important to use when comparing HRQoL in ED patients across treatment and outcome, and may have the sensitivity to detect meaningful differences by diagnosis more so than generic instruments. EDQoL scores from patients remitted from symptoms approach but do not reach scores for unaffected college females; thus, treatment should continue until quality of life is restored.
Visual Security for Wireless Handheld Devices

Everyday, passwords are used to access devices. Traditionally, passwords are alphanumeric, consisting of letters, numbers and symbols. Often, passwords are lengthy and have to be changed every few months to ensure computer security. This makes retention and recall difficult. Due to this problem, graphical passwords have been developed. This paper discusses a graphical password system designed and implemented as a summer project. In this system, passwords are made of pictures or symbols. Studies have shown that pictures are recalled more easily than words. Our research emphasizes that the linking of text to an image will enhance retention and therefore improve recall.
A Study of Java Networking Performance on a Linux Cluster

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) provides a common high-level Application Programming Interface (API) to implement parallel programs on commodity off-the-shelf (COTS) clusters. Recently, increasing attention has been shown in using Java-based MPI implementations. The reason for this growing interest is that the Java language offers a potentially machine-independent method of distributing the same code to perform computation on heterogeneous computer platforms. However, the communication between parallel Java programs is a critical issue for these types of application. Consequently, the Java communication performance issues must be addressed in order to provide an efficient Java based message-passing system. This paper focuses on the communication performance of Java and evaluates its at the lower-levels. We emphasize both methodology and evaluation guidelines in order to ensure reproducibility and consistent interpretations. Additionally, we also consider tuning the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to improve the communication performance.
Autonomous Storage Management for Personal Devices with PodBase

People use an increasing number of personal electronic devices like notebook computers, MP3 players and smart phones in their daily lives. Making sure that data on these devices is available where needed and backed up regularly is a time-consuming and error-prone burden on users. In this paper, we describe and evaluate PodBase, a system that automates storage management on personal devices. The system takes advantage of unused storage and incidental connectivity to propagate the system state and replicate files. PodBase ensures the durability of data despite device loss or failure; at the same time, it aims to make data available on devices where it is useful. PodBase seeks to exploit available storage and pairwise device connections with little or no user attention. Towards this goal, it relies on a declarative specification of its replication goals and uses linear optimization to compute a replication plan that considers the current distribution of files, availability of storage, and history of device connections. Results from a user study in ten real households show that, under a wide range of conditions, PodBase transparently manages the durability and availability of data on personal devices.
Genetic Analysis of Chromosomal Regions ofLactococcus lactis Acquired by Recombinant Lytic Phages

ABSTRACT Recombinant phages are generated when Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis harboring plasmids encoding the abortive type (Abi) of phage resistance mechanisms is infected with small isometric phages belonging to the P335 species. These phage variants are likely to be an important source of virulent new phages that appear in dairy fermentations. They are distinguished from their progenitors by resistance to Abi defenses and by altered genome organization, including regions of L. lactis chromosomal DNA. The objective of this study was to characterize four recombinant variants that arose from infection of L. lactis NCK203 (Abi+) with phage φ31. HindIII restriction maps of the variants (φ31.1, φ31.2, φ31.7, and φ31.8) were generated, and these maps revealed the regions containing recombinant DNA. The recombinant region of phage φ31. 1, the variant that occurred most frequently, was sequenced and revealed 7.8 kb of new DNA compared with the parent phage, φ31. This region contained numerous instances of homology with various lactococcal temperate phages, as well as homologues of the lambda recombination protein BET andEscherichia coli Holliday junction resolvase Rus, factors which may contribute to efficient recombination processes. A sequence analysis and phenotypic tests revealed a new origin of replication in the φ31. 1 DNA, which replaced the φ31 origin. Three separateHindIII fragments, accounting for most of the recombinant region of φ31. 1, were separately cloned into gram-positive suicide vector pTRK333 and transformed into NCK203. Chromosomal insertions of each plasmid prevented the appearance of different combinations of recombinant phages. The chromosomal insertions did not affect an inducible prophage present in NCK203. Our results demonstrated that recombinant phages can acquire DNA cassettes from different regions of the chromosome in order to overcome Abi defenses. Disruption of these regions by insertion can alter the types and diversity of new phages that appear during phage-host interactions.
Energy yield evaluation for field operation of solar cells in Singapore: GaAs/GaAs tandem vs. GaAs single-junction solar cells

Tandem solar cells are one of the most promising ways to exceeding the one-sun efficiency limit of single-junction (SJ) solar cells. However, compared to SJ solar cells, tandem solar cells often experience larger energy yield losses in the field, due to variations in operating conditions (i.e. spectrum, irradiance and operating temperature). We determine the energy yield losses of dual-junction and SJ GaAs solar cells, which are potential candidates for thin-film on silicon tandem solar cells. Our measurements show that a GaAs SJ cell has an annual energy yield of 3.0% more than with standard testing conditions (STC), whereas the investigated GaAs/GaAs dual-junction cell has an annual energy yield loss of 11.2% compared with STC.
Improving patient safety via automated laboratory-based adverse event grading

The identification and grading of adverse events (AEs) during the conduct of clinical trials is a labor-intensive and error-prone process. This paper describes and evaluates a software tool developed by City of Hope to automate complex algorithms to assess laboratory results and identify and grade AEs. We compared AEs identified by the automated system with those previously assessed manually, to evaluate missed/misgraded AEs. We also conducted a prospective paired time assessment of automated versus manual AE assessment. We found a substantial improvement in accuracy/completeness with the automated grading tool, which identified an additional 17% of severe grade 3–4 AEs that had been missed/misgraded manually. The automated system also provided an average time saving of 5.5 min per treatment course. With 400 ongoing treatment trials at City of Hope and an average of 1800 laboratory results requiring assessment per study, the implications of these findings for patient safety are enormous.
Learning to set up numerical optimizations of engineering designs

Gradient-based numerical optimization of complex engineering designs offers the promise of rapidly producing better designs. However, such methods generally assume that the objective function and constraint functions are continuous, smooth, and defined everywhere. Unfortunately, realistic simulators tend to violate these assumptions, making optimization unreliable. Several decisions that need to be made in setting up an optimization, such as the choice of a starting prototype and the choice of a formulation of the search space, can make a difference in the reliability of the optimization. Machine learning can improve gradient-based methods by making these choices based on the results of previous optimizations. This paper demonstrates this idea by using machine learning for four parts of the optimization setup problem: selecting a starting prototype from a database of prototypes, synthesizing a new starting prototype, predicting which design goals are achievable, and selecting a formulation of the search space. We use standard tree-induction algorithms (C4.5 and CART). We present results in two realistic engineering domains: racing yachts and supersonic aircraft. Our experimental results show that using inductive learning to make setup decisions improves both the speed and the reliability of design optimization.
Treatment of primary CNS lymphoma with methotrexate and deferred radiotherapy: a report of NABTT 96-07.

PURPOSE A multicenter, phase II study of single-agent, intravenous methotrexate in newly diagnosed non-AIDS-related primary CNS lymphoma was conducted in the New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy (NABTT) CNS Consortium. METHODS Methotrexate (8 g/m(2)) was initially administered every 2 weeks. The primary end point was radiographic CR or PR, as defined by standard radiographic criteria, and secondary end points were survival and drug-related toxicity. RESULTS Twenty-five patients were enrolled with a mean age of 60 years and median Karnofsky Performance Score of 80. Three of 14 patients who underwent lumbar puncture had malignant cells on CSF cytopathology, and five of 25 patients had ocular involvement. Two patients could not be evaluated for the primary end point because of the absence of measurable disease in one and death before radiologic imaging in another. All patients have completed the treatment program or progressed. Among 23 patients, there were 12 CR (52%), five PR (22%), one (4%) with stable disease, and five progressions (22%) while on therapy. Seven patients died of tumor progression, and two died of other causes. Median progression-free survival was 12.8 months. Median overall survival for the entire group had not been reached at 22.8+ months. The toxicity of this regimen was modest, with no grade 3 or 4 toxicity in 13 of 25 patients, grade 3 toxicity in eight of 25 patients, and grade 4 toxicity in four of 25 patients after 287 cycles of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION These results indicate that high-dose methotrexate is associated with modest toxicity and a radiographic response proportion (74%) comparable to more toxic regimens.
Electrophysiological study of peroneal palsy

The diagnostic yield of different electrophysiological criteria was examined to establish whether a peroneal palsy was due to compression of the nerve in the region of the capitulum fibulae. Slowing of sensory conduction along the segment of the nerve across the capitulum fibulae localized the lesion in 64% of 47 consecutive patients with a history indicating or suggesting compression of the nerve in the vicinity of the capitulum fibulae and there were no false positive findings in 18 patients whose peroneal palsy was not due to compression at the capitulum fibulae. In 20% of the patients with slowing along the segment across the capitulum, conduction velocity was normal when measured from the superior retinaculum to the popliteal fossa. Slowing along motor fibres (m. extensor digitorum brevis) localized the site of the lesion in one-third of the patients. Differences in amplitude and in split-up of the sensory responses recorded in the popliteal fossa as compared with those recorded distal to the capitulum fibulae were of limited diagnostic value because of many false positive findings among patients whose peroneal palsy was not due to compression of the nerve at the capitulum fibulae.
Practical aspects of DSS design for commodities transportation during special events

Transport firms that daily pickup or deliver commodities encounter a plethora of problems relating to their Vehicle Routing and Scheduling (VRS) activities. To make decisions about Routing and Scheduling during special events is even more complicated process. During the Athens Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, the Vehicle Routing and Scheduling problem was very keen. Actually, the commodities transportation had to be done within strictly defined time-periods and under many security and traffic restrictions [2], [8]. "Xenios" is a specific DSS that was developed to assist the daily VRS activities of Greek transport firms during special events. This system incorporated essential functions of GIS, database systems and model management techniques to support overall routing, scheduling and decision-making processes for VRS problems encountered during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (ATHENS 2004). Our work aimed at the successful setting up of DSS "Xenios" so that it could cover a wide range of variations of the VRS problem, especially problems with hard time-windows in the route generation [15], [17]. The first step in the development of any specific DSS is the identification of the applying problem dimensions [3], [7], [10]. In order to make easier the development procedure, we tried to classify the most significant VRS problem dimensions that have common characteristics in groups. According to our consideration, this work could accelerate and ease the development of the specific DSS.
The cerebral hemispheres cooperate to perform complex but not simple tasks.

Three experiments were designed to examine whether task complexity determines the degree to which a division of processing across the hemispheres (i.e., across-hemisphere processing) underlies performance when within- and across-hemisphere processing are equally possible. When task complexity was relatively low, performance in a midline condition that allowed for either within- or across-hemispheric processing resembled within-hemisphere performance (Experiments 1 and 2). However, when task complexity was high, performance in a midline condition (Experiments 1 and 2) and a lateralized condition, which also allowed for either within- or across-hemisphere processing (Experiment 3), resembled across-hemisphere performance. Results complement and extend prior work (e.g., M. T. Banich & A. Belger, 1990) by indicating that the degree to which interhemispheric cooperation underlies performance changes with the complexity of the task being performed. This finding suggests that the hemispheres dynamically couple or uncouple their processing as a function of task complexity.
Classification for Collections Mapping and Query Expansion

Dewey Decimal Classification has been used to organize materials owned by the three scientific libraries at the University of Pavia, and to allow integrated browsing in their union catalogue through SciGator, a home built web-based user interface. Classification acts as a bridge between collections located in different places and shelved according to different local schemes. Furthermore, cross-discipline relationships recorded in the system allow for expanded queries that increase recall. Advantages and possible improvements of such a system are discussed.
Stronger diversity effects with increased environmental stress: A study of multitrophic interactions between oak, powdery mildew and ladybirds

Recent research has suggested that increasing neighbourhood tree species diversity may mitigate the impact of pests or pathogens by supporting the activities of their natural enemies and/or reducing the density of available hosts. In this study, we attempted to assess these mechanisms in a multitrophic study system of young oak (Quercus), oak powdery mildew (PM, caused by Erysiphe spp.) and a mycophagous ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata). We assessed ladybird mycophagy on oak PM in function of different neighbourhood tree species compositions. We also evaluated whether these species interactions were modulated by environmental conditions as suggested by the Stress Gradient Hypothesis. We adopted a complementary approach of a field experiment where we monitored oak saplings subjected to a reduced rainfall gradient in a young planted forest consisting of different tree species mixtures, as well as a lab experiment where we independently evaluated the effect of different watering treatments on PM infections and ladybird mycophagy. In the field experiment, we found effects of neighbourhood tree species richness on ladybird mycophagy becoming more positive as the target trees received less water. This effect was only found as weather conditions grew drier. In the lab experiment, we found a preference of ladybirds to graze on infected leaves from trees that received less water. We discuss potential mechanisms that might explain this preference, such as emissions of volatile leaf chemicals. Our results are in line with the expectations of the Natural Enemies Hypothesis and support the hypothesis that biodiversity effects become stronger with increased environmental stress.