Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
End Stage and Chronic Kidney Disease: Associations with Renal Cancer

There is a well known association between end stage renal disease and the development of kidney cancer in the native kidney of patients requiring renal replacement therapy. There is now emerging evidence that lesser degrees of renal insufficiency (chronic kidney disease, CKD) are also associated with an increased likelihood of cancer in general and kidney cancer in particular. Nephropathological changes are commonly observed in the non-tumor bearing portions of kidney resected at the time of partial and radical nephrectomy (RN). In addition, patients with renal cancer are more likely to have CKD at the time of diagnosis and treatment than the general population. The exact mechanism by which renal insufficiency transforms normal kidney cells into tumor cells is not known. Possible mechanisms include uremic immune inhibition or increased exposure to circulating toxins not adequately cleared by the kidneys. Surgeons managing kidney tumors must have an increased awareness of their patient’s renal functional status as they plan their resection. Kidney sparing approaches, including partial nephrectomy (PN) or active surveillance in older and morbidly ill patients, can prevent CKD or delay the further decline in renal function which is well documented with RN. Despite emerging evidence that PN provides equivalent local tumor control to RN while at the same time preventing CKD, this operation remains under utilized in the United States and abroad. Increased awareness of the bi directional relationship between kidney function and kidney cancer is essential in the contemporary management of kidney cancer.
Modelling the Spatial Properties of Group Members in the Internet UCLA CSD TR # 030011

This work focuses on measuring and modelling the distribution of members for group communications (especially multicast) in the Internet. In current literature, the spatial properties of group members has not been studied, although temporal properties have received some attention. However, the placement of members can have significant impact on the design and evaluation of multicast schemes and protocols as shown in previous studies. In our work, we identify properties of members that reflect their spatial clustering and the correlation among them (such as participation probability, and pairwise correlation). Then, we obtain values for these properties by monitoring the membership of network games, large audio-video broadcasts from IETF and NASA. Finally, we provide a comprehensive model that can generate realistic groups. We evaluate our model against the measured data with excellent results. A realistic group membership model can help us improve the effectiveness of simulations and guide the design of group-communication protocols.
A novel ant clustering algorithm based on cellular automata

Based on the principle of cellular automata in artificial life, an artificial ant sleeping model (ASM) and an ant algorithm for cluster analysis (A4C) are presented. Inspired by the behaviors of gregarious ant colonies, we use the ant agent to represent a data object. In ASM, each ant has two states: a sleeping state and an active state. The ant's state is controlled by a function of the ant's fitness to the environment it locates and a probability for the ants becoming active. The state of an ant is determined only by its local information. By moving dynamically, the ants form different subgroups adaptively, and hence the data objects they represent are clustered. Experimental results show that the A4C algorithm on ASM is significantly better than other clustering methods in terms of both speed and quality. It is adaptive, robust and efficient, achieving high autonomy, simplicity and efficiency.
Neuropsychiatric Complications of Medical and Surgical Therapies for Parkinson’s Disease

This review deals with the range of neuropsychiatric problems that may arise from the use of medical and surgical therapies in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. As new approaches emerge, these problems are diversifying. Well-recognized drug-related complications include hallucinations and psychosis and the so-called dopamine-dysregulation syndrome. The etiology of these problems has not been fully established and is not clearly dose related, while the management can be difficult and needs to be tailored to the individual patient. Cholinergic and dopaminergic drugs may both influence cognitive function. The development of pharmacogenetics could improve the therapeutic ratio of medical approaches to PD in the future. The literature relating to the neuropsychiatric issues complicating the surgical treatment of Parkinson’s disease is more recent and frequently suffers from methodological problems, lack of a systematic approach, and adequate patient follow-up. The emergence of neuropsychiatric problems in association with surgery has shed new light upon the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning these symptoms. Depression, hypo-mania, euphoria, mirth, and hypersexuality have all been described following deep brain stimulation procedures, although most studies have concentrated upon the depressive features. Anxiety has been described only rarely to date. Fortunately, permanent cognitive complications appear to be rare. The optimal management approach for surgically related neuropsychiatric problems is unknown at present. Prospective multicenter studies would contribute significantly to resolving this therapeutic uncertainty. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2004; 17:172-180)
Competing land use in the area of the W Biosphere Reserve, Benin Republic

The W Biosphere Reserve (WBR) is a nature reserve located in northern Benin and where nature, pastoralism and crop production compete for the use of land. The present study aims at assessing the extent of the competing land use inside the WBR and in its surrounding lands and to analyse the important drivers. To assess the competing land use, GIS data from 1994, 2004 and 2014 were analysed whereas to analyse the drivers, data were collected from regional statistics, community meeting and individuals interviews with pastoralists, crop farmers, members of village association for wildlife management and rangers. Food crop area and cotton cultivation area have expanded over time in the surrounding lands of the WBR while they have declined inside the WBR. It was found that the increase of cropland has been driven by population growth in combination with other factors such the increasing national and regional demand of food crop products, the institutional arrangement and infrastructures in the cotton sector and the use of animal traction in crop farming operations. So, the increase of food crop and cotton cultivation put pressure on prospective agricultural lands and grazing lands. As a result, traditional grazing lands and riverbanks are also converted to crop lands. As a consequence, pastoralists and some crop farmers moved illegally inside the park, either to sustain the feed of their animals, or to clear land for cropping. Because of the reinforcement of patrols by rangers inside the WBR, grazing lands largely diminished and the total number of livestock of pastoralists in the area has declined. Since livestock is still important for livelihood of smallholders and for sustainable food crop production, there is a need for innovative strategies to integrate crop production, livestock production and conservation.
Extended BPEL System for e-Engineering Framework Considering the Characteristics of Mechanical Engineering Services

Product development in mechanical industry can be defined as an engineering process based on the collaboration between different experts using various engineering services. The e-Engineering framework aims to integrate engineering services and mediate between them for the processing of the engineering process. The collaboration within the framework is very similar to a business process, in terms of web service composition. However, the existing web service composition system shows some limitations when dealing with engineering services. This paper presents a QoS-based web service orchestration system for the e-Engineering framework by analyzing the characteristics of engineering services which usually perform numerical analysis. The characteristics of the services are expressed in the form of constraint and selection specification.
An Overview of Video Abstraction Techniques

video abstraction, video skimming, video summarization The fast evolution of digital video has brought many new applications. Consequently, research and development of new technologies are greatly needed which will lower the costs of video archiving, cataloging and indexing, as well as improve the efficiency and accessibility of stored videos. Among all possible research areas, video abstraction is one of the most important topics, which helps to enable a quick browsing of a large collection of video data and to achieve efficient content access and representation.
The verifying compiler: A grand challenge for computing research

This contribution proposes a set of criteria that distinguish a grand challenge in science or engineering from the many other kinds of short-term or long-term research problems that engage the interest of scientists and engineers. As an example drawn from Computer Science, it revives an old challenge: the construction and application of a verifying compiler that guarantees correctness of a program before running it.
ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A 3 D PARYLENE SHEATH CORTICAL PROBE

We developed a 3D Parylene sheath cortical probe for the purpose of advancing neuronal recording reliability and longevity. Our approach is to improve probe-tissue integration through a unique 3D open-lumen probe structure and the application of biofunctional coatings to mitigate adverse immune reactions and promote neuronal growth. We present the use of electrochemical (EC) testing to confirm probe integrity and interrogate changes to electrode performance that may arise as a result of the post-fabrication 3D sheath structure modification and the application of biofunctional coatings.
Time-Dependent Alterations in mRNA Expression of Brain Neuropeptides Regulating Energy Balance and Hypothalamo-Pituitary-Adrenal Activity after Withdrawal from Intermittent Morphine Treatment

Chronic stressors alter brain function and may leave traces after their relief. We used intermittent morphine treatment to examine the relationships between stress-induced changes in energy balance and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity and the recovery thereafter. We studied the effects of morphine injections on energy balance, hormones and fat stores, brain neuropeptide expression, and the ACTH and corticosterone responses to restraint 12 hr after the final injection and 8 d later during recovery. Weight gain, food intake, and caloric efficiency decreased at morphine onset, and these were maintained throughout the morphine injections. At 12 hr, fat stores, leptin, insulin, and testosterone concentrations were reduced. Subsequently, body weight gain and food intake increased and caloric efficiency was above control during the final days. By the eighth recovery day, fat stores and peripheral hormones were no longer depressed. At 12 hr, an over-response of CRF mRNA to restraint occurred in the hypothalamus, similar to the facilitated ACTH and corticosterone responses. On day 8, the hypothalamic CRF mRNA response to restraint was still facilitated, opposite to inhibited ACTH responses. Hypothalamic CRF mRNA correlated highly with mesenteric fat weight in morphine-treated rats. We conclude that there is a prolonged recovery from chronic stressors involving interrelated changes in energy balance and HPA activity. Nonetheless, 8 d after withdrawal from morphine, rats still display facilitated central stress responses, similar to the HPA symptoms described in posttraumatic stress disorder patients. Repeated partial withdrawal associated with intermittent morphine treatment, compounded by complete withdrawal associated with termination of the treatment, is likely required for these metabolic and HPA derangements.
Intelligent integral backstepping sliding mode control using recurrent neural network for magnetic levitation system

An intelligent integral backstepping sliding mode control (IIBSMC) system using a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) recurrent neural network (RNN) is proposed to control the position of a levitated object of a magnetic levitation system considering the uncertainties in this study. First, the dynamic model of the magnetic levitation system is derived. Then, an integral backstepping sliding mode control (IBSMC) system with an integral action is proposed for the tracking of the reference trajectory. Moreover, to relax the requirements of the needed bounds and discard the switching function in IBSMC, an IIBSMC system using a MIMO RNN estimator is proposed to improve the control performance and further increase the robustness of the magnetic levitation system. The adaptive learning algorithms are derived using Lyapunov stability theorem to train the parameters of the RNN online. Finally, some experimental results of the tracking of periodic sinusoidal trajectory demonstrate the validity of the proposed IIBSMC system for practical applications.
Validity and utility of screening tests for STIs

Coordination of family planning and GUM services has the potential to boost the effectiveness of both The move towards integration of family planning and genitourinary medicine (GUM) services (that is, the reorganisation of the two specialties, strategically and in terms of setting, in a more client centred approach) has recently been gathering momentum in the United Kingdom. Providers of family planning services are increasingly being urged to adopt a broader remit in respect of their clients’ needs for STI and HIV prevention and treatment,1 as are providers of STI services in respect of their clients’ contraceptive needs. Although fully integrated sexual health services are still comparatively rare, a growing number of family planning services provide STI diagnosis and treatment and a growing number of GUM clinics provide contraceptive services.2,3 The trend may be accelerated as a result of the government’s sexual health strategy,4 in England. The systematic evaluation of three pilot “one stop shops” is likely to provide more robust evidence on the acceptability and effectiveness of integrated services which, if favourable, could provide the impetus to further expansion. In theory, the case for an integrated approach to sexual health service provision is compelling. Control of fertility and of sexually transmitted infection share common characteristics. The choice of contraceptive method may have implications for transmission of infectious agents and the presence of infection has consequences for fertility. The two services also share potential clients. Studies of GUM clinic attenders have shown a high proportion to be at risk of pregnancy5–9 and studies of family planning clinics attenders show sizeable proportions to be at risk of infection.7,10,11 There is also evidence that service users prefer a one stop service providing coordinated sexual health care.7,12,13 Advocates of integration claim that …
Pimp my taxi ride

The DEBS 2015 Grand Challenge [2] defined a stream-processing problem on data collected through the FOILing NYC's Taxi Trip Data project [1]. These data include itinerary information on all rides of over 10,000 taxis in a wide area of 150kmx150km around New York City over the whole year of 2013. The collected information includes the (anonymized) taxi ID, (anonymized) taxi license ID, pickup and dropoff coordinates, pickup and dropoff times, and the total cost of the ride divided in basic fare, tax, tolls, and tip.
Use of the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System to guide therapy in patients with insulin-treated diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To show improved glycemic control in patients with insulin-treated diabetes after adjustments to the diabetes management plan based on either continuous glucose monitoring using the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) or frequent self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) using a home blood glucose meter. PATIENTS AND METHODS From January to September 2000, patients aged 19 to 76 years with insulin-treated diabetes were assigned to insulin therapy adjustments based on either CGMS or SMBG values. At the end of the study, patients in both groups used the CGMS for 3 days; these values were used to calculate measures of hypoglycemia. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with post hoc comparisons were used to test differences in hemoglobin A1c levels and hypoglycemia between the 2 study groups. RESULTS A total of 128 patients were enrolled in the study. Nineteen discontinued study participation, leaving 51 in the CGMS group and 58 in the SMBG group. No significant differences were noted in demographics or baseline characteristics between the 2 groups. There were no significant differences in hemoglobin A1c levels between the CGMS group and the SMBG group at baseline (9.1% +/- 1.1% vs 9.0% +/- 1.0%, P = .70), and both groups showed statistically significant (P < .001) and similar (P = .95) improvement in hemoglobin A1c levels after 12 weeks of study. However, the CGMS group had a significantly shorter duration of hypoglycemia (sensor glucose, < or = 60 mg/dL) at week 12 of the study (49.4 +/- 40.8 vs 81.0 +/- 61.1 minutes per event, P = .009). CONCLUSION Use of the CGMS to guide therapy adjustments in patients with insulin-treated diabetes reduces the duration of hypoglycemia compared with therapy adjustments guided by SMBG values alone.
Optimal Rectangle Packing: New Results

We present new results on the problem of finding an enclosing rectangle of minimum area that will contain a given a set of rectangles. Many simple scheduling tasks can be modelled by this NP-complete problem. We present a new lower bound on the amount of wasted space in a partial solution, a new dominance condition that prunes many partial solutions, and extend our algorithms to packing unoriented rectangles. For our experiments, we consider the set of squares of size 1x1, 2x2,. ,NxN, and find the smallest rectangle that can contain them for a given value of N. While previously we solved this problem up to N=22, we extend this to N=25. Overall, our new program is over an order of magnitude faster than our previous program running on the same machine. We also show that for the larger problems, our optimal algorithm is faster than one that finds the best slicing solution, a popular approximation algorithm. In addition, we solve an open problem dating to 1966, concerning packing the set of consecutive squares up to 24x24 in a square of size 70x70.
Influence of control strategies on battery/supercapacitor hybrid Energy Storage Systems for traction applications

The energy storage is key issue for traction applications like Electric Vehicles (EVs) or Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). Indeed, it needs a higher power and energy density, a weak bulk and size, a long lifetime and a low cost. A hybrid Energy Storage System (ESS) using batteries and supercapacitors, seems to be a good device to answer to these constraints. The objective of the paper is to study the influence of control strategies for this hybrid ESS. Indeed, according to the used strategy, this association can be more and less interesting compared to an ESS only composed of batteries. Three control strategies are proposed.
Bayesian Stratified Sampling to Assess Corpus Utility

This paper describes a method for asking statistical questions about a large text corpus. The authors exemplify the method by addressing the question, ``What percentage of Federal Register documents are real documents, of possible interest to a text researcher or analyst? `` They estimate an answer to this question by evaluating 200 documents selected from a corpus of 45,820 Federal Register documents. Bayesian analysis and stratified sampling are used to reduce the sampling uncertainty of the estimate from over 3,100 documents to fewer than 1,000. A possible application of the method is to establish baseline statistics used to estimate recall rates for information retrieval systems.
Proteome-Wide Analysis of Disease-Associated SNPs That Show Allele-Specific Transcription Factor Binding

A causative role for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in many genetic disorders has become evident through numerous genome-wide association studies. However, identification of these common causal variants and the molecular mechanisms underlying these associations remains a major challenge. Differential transcription factor binding at a SNP resulting in altered gene expression is one possible mechanism. Here we apply PWAS (“proteome-wide analysis of SNPs”), a methodology based on quantitative mass spectrometry that enables rapid screening of SNPs for differential transcription factor binding, to 12 SNPs that are highly associated with type 1 diabetes at the IL2RA locus, encoding the interleukin-2 receptor CD25. We report differential, allele-specific binding of the transcription factors RUNX1, LEF1, CREB, and TFAP4 to IL2RA SNPs rs12722508*A, rs12722522*C, rs41295061*A, and rs2104286*A and demonstrate the functional influence of RUNX1 at rs12722508 by reporter gene assay. Thus, PWAS may be able to contribute to our understanding of the molecular consequences of human genetic variability underpinning susceptibility to multi-factorial disease.
Corporate Incentives and Nuclear Safety

Following electricity market restructuring, approximately half of all commercial US nuclear power reactors were sold by price-regulated public utilities to independent power producers. At the time of the sales, some policymakers raised concerns that these corporations would ignore safety. Others claimed that the sales would bring improved reactor management, with positive effects on safety. Using data on various safety measures and a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, I find that safety improved following ownership transfers and the removal of price regulations. Generation increased, and this does not appear to have come at the cost of public safety.
Adrenal incidentaloma: A case of pheochromocytoma with sub-clinical Cushing's syndrome

Adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) are a cluster of different pathologies, but AIs with dual functional aspects are very rare. We report a case of AI with the evidence of both pheochromocytoma and sub-clinical Cushing's syndrome. A 42-year-old female patient presented with the history of abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography revealed right adrenal mass suggestive of pheochromocytoma. On endocrine evaluation, she admitted history of intermittent headache and palpitations for 4 years and was on treatment for hypertension and diabetes. There were no signs and symptoms suggestive of Cushing's syndrome. The laboratory data demonstrated 10 times raised 24-h urinary fractionated metanephrines with non-suppressible serum cortisol after 2-day low-dose dexamethasone suppression test. She underwent right-sided adrenalectomy with subsequent resolution of both pheochromocytoma and hypercortisolism. Patient was discharged in good clinical condition.