Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Progress and Challenges in Screening for Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer*

Ovarian cancer is characterize by few early symptoms, presentation at an advanced stage, and poor survival. As a result, it is the most frequent cause of death from gynecological cancer. During the last decade, a research effort has been directed toward improving outcomes for ovarian cancer by screening for preclinical, early stage disease using both imaging techniques and serum markers. Numerous biomarkers have shown potential in samples from clinically diagnosed ovarian cancer patients, but few have been thoroughly assessed in preclinical disease and screening. The most thoroughly investigated biomarker in ovarian cancer screening is CA125. Prospective studies have demonstrated that both CA125 and transvaginal ultrasound can detect a significant proportion of preclinical ovarian cancers, and refinements in interpretation of results have improved sensitivity and reduced the false-positive rate of screening. There is preliminary evidence that screening can improve survival, but the impact of screening on mortality from ovarian cancer is still unclear. Prospective studies of screening are in progress in both the general population and high-risk population, including the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS), a randomized trial involving 200,000 postmenopausal women designed to document the impact of screening on mortality. Recent advances in technology for the study of the serum proteome offer exciting opportunities for the identification of novel biomarkers or patterns of markers that will have greater sensitivity and lead time for preclinical disease than CA125. Considerable interest and controversy has been generated by initial results utilizing surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization (SELDI) in ovarian cancer. There are challenging issues related to the design of studies to evaluate SELDI and other proteomic technology, as well as the reproducibility, sensitivity, and specificity of this new technology. Large serum banks such as that assembled in UKCTOCS, which contain preclinical samples from patients who later developed ovarian cancer and other disorders, provide a unique resource for carefully designed studies of proteomic technology. There is a sound basis for optimism that further developments in serum proteomic analysis will provide powerful methods for screening in ovarian cancer and many other diseases.
DD-PLAC: Preserving Privacy with Encrypted Cloud Database

Cloud database services assure the high availability and scalability, but there are many issues about data privacy and confidentiality. The online applications are also vulnerable to attack that gain access to the sensitive data as the attacker can easily exploit software bug. Hence the security and privacy of the sensitive data stored on the cloud is the biggest challenge today. Storing critical and sensitive data in the hands of cloud service provider will not guarantee the privacy of data. Several ways are available for storage services , but the data privacy and confidentiality solutions for cloud database are still in research. The data privacy and confidentiality can be maintained by combining encryption of data with SQL operations. The application that uses SQL database can be secured by using DD-PLAC architecture which provides confidentiality of the data stored on cloud. DD-PLAC (Distributed Database with Proxy-less architectures that store meta data in the cloud) architecture combines data encryption, key management and access control policies which addresses the issues related to typical threat for cloud database.
Psychoneuroimmunology-Based Stress Management during Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer

Objective. In a randomized trial of women with early stage breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy, two stress management interventions, tai chi training and spiritual growth groups, were compared to a usual care control group, to evaluate psychosocial functioning, quality of life (QOL), and biological markers thought to reflect cancer- and treatment-specific mechanisms. Method. The sample consisted of 145 women aged 27–75 years; 75% were Caucasian and 25% African American. A total of 109 participants completed the study, yielding a 75% retention rate. Grounded in a psychoneuroimmunology framework, the overarching hypothesis was that both interventions would reduce perceived stress, enhance QOL and psychosocial functioning, normalize levels of stress-related neuroendocrine mediators, and attenuate immunosuppression. Results. While interesting patterns were seen across the sample and over time, the interventions had no appreciable effects when delivered during the period of chemotherapy. Conclusions. Findings highlight the complex nature of biobehavioral interventions in relation to treatment trajectories and potential outcomes. Psychosocial interventions like these may lack sufficient power to overcome the psychosocial or physiological stress experienced during the chemotherapy treatment period. It may be that interventions requiring less activity and/or group attendance would have enhanced therapeutic effects, and more active interventions need to be tested prior to and following recovery from chemotherapy.
Trends in sexual risk behavior and unprotected sex among high school students, 1991-2005: the role of substance use.

OBJECTIVES To determine the trends in sexual activity and unprotected sex among substance-using youth, we examined data from the 1991-2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys on drug and alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors. METHOD We examined the association of alcohol and illicit drug use with recent sexual activity and unprotected sex. We assessed linear trends in behaviors and assessed logistic regression models to examine the relationship of alcohol and illicit drug use on trends in the behavioral outcomes. RESULTS Strong associations exist between recent sexual activity and alcohol and illicit drug use from 1991 to 2005. In the multivariate model, the odds ratio of having sex in the past 3 months for lifetime illicit drug users compared with nonusers was 3.84 (CI = 3.48-4.23). Among past-month alcohol users compared to nonusers, the odds ratio was 3.23 (CI = 2.93-3.58). Overall, the trend in sexual activity was downward but not for users of alcohol and illicit drugs. Among the sexually active, unprotected sex was not associated with alcohol use over this time period but was associated with illicit drug use. CONCLUSIONS Illicit drug and alcohol use have a strong association with being recently sexually active. Trends in reported sexual activity declined during 1991-2005, but the trends among alcohol and drug users have not. Many youth remain at dual risk from both substance use and sexual behaviors.
Coronary blood flow autoregulation and flow heterogeneity in the stunned heart.

We used an anesthetized swine model of regionally "stunned" myocardium to determine the effect of stunning on coronary autoregulation and blood flow heterogeneity. In 18 domestic swine, stunning was accomplished by reducing blood flow to the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) by approximately 75% of baseline for 15 min and restoring it to normal for 1 hour. We quantified coronary autoregulation using both the slope of coronary pressure-flow curves and an autoregulation index. We quantified blood flow heterogeneity using radioactive microspheres to determine the variability in flow (dispersion index) among forty 200 mg segments of myocardium from the center of the stunned, LAD-perfused left ventricle. Before and after stunning, we measured autoregulation, myocardial blood flow and flow heterogeneity, as well as hemodynamic indices of myocardial oxygen demand. Fifteen min of ischemia and 1 hour of reperfusion produced both a 46% reduction in mechanical function, and a 7% drop in systemic arterial pressure, but not change in heart rate or rate pressure product. Myocardial oxygen consumption was 15% reduced and myocardial blood flow 16% reduced in the stunned myocardium when measured at one hour of reperfusion. Fifteen min after reperfusion, the slope of the coronary pressure flow plots and the coronary venous oxygenation were increased whereas the autoregulation index decreased. These findings all indicate reduced autoregulation during early reperfusion. However, after one hour of reperfusion, the slope of the coronary pressure-flow relation (0.41 +/- 0.19 vs. 0.48 +/- 0.26 ml.100 g-1.min-1.mmHg-1) and the autoregulation index (0.43 +/- 0.16 vs. 0.30 +/- 0.32) were unchanged from control measurements (p > 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
SNAREing a new cause of neutropenia.

In this issue of Blood , Stepensky et al identify mutations of VPS45 as a new cause of congenital neutropenia and primary myelofibrosis. [1][1] ! [Figure][2] Genetic causes of congenital neutropenia. Neutrophilic granulopoiesis occurs primarily in the bone marrow through the stepwise
Impaired homocysteine metabolism: A risk factor in young adults with atherosclerotic arterial occlusive disease of the leg

To assess the prevalence of impaired homocysteine metabolism in young adults with arterial occlusive disease, 80 consecutive patients under 45 years old were screened. Various laboratory blood investigations and a standardized methionine loading test were performed. In the first 52 patients plasma levels of free homocysteine were determined; thereafter the levels of total homocysteine (a more sensitive measure of impaired homocysteine metabolism) were measured. The methionine loading test was abnormal in 15 patients (19 per cent) who did not differ from the other 65 with respect to prevalence of other risk factors, clinical characteristics, and electrocardio‐graphic and angiographic findings. Blood levels of glucose, vitamins B6 and B12, folate, protein C and protein S, fibrinogen and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol did not differ significantly between the two groups. The prevalence of impaired homocysteine metabolism in young patients with arterial occlusive disease is greater than the 1–2 per cent found in the normal population.
Revised road map to the phylum Firmicutes

Starting with the Second Edition of Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, the arrangement of content follows a phylogenetic framework or “road map” based largely on analyses of the nucleotide sequences of the ribosomal small-subunit RNA rather than on phenotypic data (Garrity et al., 2005). Implicit in the use of the road map are the convictions that prokaryotes have a phylogeny and that phylogeny matters. However, the reader should be aware that phylogenies, like other experimentally derived hypotheses, are not static but may change whenever new data and/or improved methods of analysis become available (Ludwig and Klenk, 2005). Thus, the large increases in data since the publication of the taxonomic outlines in the preceding volumes have led to a re-evaluation of the road map. Not surprisingly, the taxonomic hierarchy has been modified or newly interpreted for a number of taxonomic units of the Firmicutes. These changes are described in the following paragraphs. The taxonomic road map proposed in Volume 1 and updated and emended in Volume 2 was derived from phylogenetic and principal-component analyses of comprehensive datasets of smallsubunit rRNA sequences. A similar approach is continued here. Since the introduction of comparative rRNA sequencing (Ludwig and Klenk, 2005; Ludwig and Schleifer, 2005), there has been a continuous debate concerning the justification and power of a single marker molecule for elucidating and establishing the phylogeny and taxonomy of organisms, respectively. Although generally well established in taxonomy, the polyphasic approach cannot be currently applied for sequence-based analyses due to the lack of adequate comprehensive datasets for alternative marker molecules. Even in the age of genomics, the datasets for non-rRNA markers are poor in comparison to more than 300,000 rRNA primary structures available in general and special databases (Cole et al., 2007; Pruesse et al., 2007). Nevertheless, the data provided by the full genome sequencing projects allow defining a small set of genes representing the conserved core of prokaryotic genomes (Cicarelli et al., 2006; Ludwig and Schleifer, 2005). Furthermore, comparative analyses of the core gene sequences globally support the small-subunit rRNA derived view of prokaryotic evolution. Although the tree topologies reconstructed from alternative markers differ in detail, the major groups (and taxa) are verified or at least not disproved (Ludwig and Schleifer, 2005). Consequently, the structuring of this volume is based on updated and curated (http://www.arb-silva.de; Ludwig et al., 2004) databases of processed small-subunit rRNA primary structures.
Nucleic Acids Research

During the analysis of the in vitro alternative splicing of the natural ElA transcript of adenovirus, other minor reactions were detected (Schmitt et al., 1987, Cell 50,31-39). We report here their characterization. The first reaction concerns the excision of a 216 nucleotide intron delineated by the 9S 5' splice site and a 3' splice site 216 nucleotides downstream. It can occur on the premRNA transcript and the 13S and 12S mRNA species. Strikingly, the reaction uses one of 3 branch points located 51, 55 or 59 residues upstream of the 3' splice site, a distance which is unusually long since all the branch points mapped up to now are located between 18-37 nucleotides of the 3' splice site. The dramatic accumulation of the corresponding lariat intermediates, likely related to this long spacing indicates that the second splicing step is relatively unefficient. The second kind of reaction analysed is a cryptic splicing which uses a 3' splice site generated by the junction of the 13S mRNA exons, and leads to the formation of *12S and *9S mRNAs. In vitro, this reaction occurs only from a 13S mRNA transcript, and not from the 13S mRNA newly formed in the splicing assay, consistent with what has been observed in vivo. Thus, both the well known alternative and the minor reactions occurring in vivo from ElA premRNA and mRNAs are detected in vitro, implying that most of the alternative splicing machinery is reconstituted in the in vitro system. INTRODUCTION Development of faithful and efficient in vitro splicing systems has greatly facilitated the general comprehension of the premRNA splicing reaction in higher eukaryotes (1-3). A two-step mechanism has been proposed for premRNA splicing. The first step is a cleavage at the 5' splice site and a concomitant formation of a lariat by joining the 5' end of the IVS to an A residue, some 18-37 nucleotides upstream of the 3' splice site (4-6). The second step involves the release of the intron as a lariat by cleavage at the 3' splice site and the ligation of the exons. The splicing of premRNA occurs in a large multicomponent complex (7,8) termed spliceosome (9). Small nuclear ribonucleoproteins particles (snRNPs) are required for premRNA splicing and they are important components of the spliceosome (for reviews, 10,11). © RL Press Limited, Oxford, England. 2389 Nucleic Acids Research Volume 16 Number 6 1988
Code offloading on opportunistic computing

Although mobile smart devices are becoming more and more resourceful, they cannot compete with higher-end devices in terms of computational capabilities. Therefore, it is generally advantageous to offload computationally intensive tasks. While cloud-based offloading is popular, it has a non-negligible impact on the energy consumption of mobile devices. Our solution is a novel approach based on locally opportunistic code offloading that leverages the local availability of higher-end devices. We aim to demonstrate the benefits of our approach with respect to a widely adopted benchmark: face recognition.
The Ypt1 GTPase is essential for the first two steps of the yeast secretory pathway

Small GTPases of the rab family are involved in the regulation of vesicular transport. The restricted distribution of each of these proteins in mammalian cells has led to the suggestion that different rab proteins act at different steps of transport (Pryer, N. K., L. J. Wuestehube, and R. Sheckman. 1992. Annu Rev. Biochem. 61:471-516; Zerial, M., and H. Stenmark. 1993. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 5:613-620). However, in this report we show that the Ypt1-GTPase, a member of the rab family, is essential for more than one step of the yeast secretory pathway. We determined the secretory defect conferred by a novel ypt1 mutation by comparing the processing of several transported glycoproteins in wild-type and mutant cells. The ypt1-A136D mutant has a change in an amino acid that is conserved among rab GTPases. This mutation leads to a rapid and tight secretory block upon a shift to the restrictive temperature, and allows for the identification of the specific steps in the secretory pathway that directly require Ypt1 protein (Ypt1p). The ypt1-A136D mutant exhibits tight blocks in two secretory steps, ER to cis-Golgi and cis- to medial-Golgi, but later steps are unaffected. Thus, it is unlikely that Ypt1p functions as the sole determinant of fusion specificity. Our results are more consistent with a role for Ypt1/rab proteins in determining the directionality or fidelity of protein sorting.
Social Signal Processing: Understanding Nonverbal Communication in Social Interactions

This paper provides a short overview of Social Signa l Processing, the domain aimed at bridging the social intelligence gap between people and machines. The focus of Social Signal Processing is on nonverbal behavioral cues that human sciences (psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc.) have identified as conveying social signals, i.e. relational attitudes towards others and social situations. The rationale is that such cues are the physical, machine detectable and synthesizable evidence of phenomena nonotherwise accessible to computers such as empathy, roles, dominance, personality, (dis-)agreement, interest, etc. After providing a brief state-of-the-art of the domain, the paper outlines its future perspectives and some of its most promising applications. Author Keywords
A Review of Animal Models of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Pathophysiology, Regeneration, and Translation to the Clinic

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Discogenic pain secondary to intervertebral disc degeneration is a significant cause of low back pain. Disc degeneration is a complex multifactorial process. Animal models are essential to furthering understanding of the degenerative process and testing potential therapies. The adult human lumbar intervertebral disc is characterized by the loss of notochordal cells, relatively large size, essentially avascular nature, and exposure to biomechanical stresses influenced by bipedalism. Animal models are compared with regard to the above characteristics. Numerous methods of inducing disc degeneration are reported. Broadly these can be considered under the categories of spontaneous degeneration, mechanical and structural models. The purpose of such animal models is to further our understanding and, ultimately, improve treatment of disc degeneration. The role of animal models of disc degeneration in translational research leading to clinical trials of novel cellular therapies is explored.
School Leadership Development

Since the early 1990s, the status of education in the Asia-Pacific region has changed dramatically. Once an afterthought of government policy-makers, education has assumed centre-stage in recent years. The result has been the passage of significant legislation aimed at aligning educational policies and practices with evolving social, political and economic aims (Caldwell, 1998; Cheng & Townsend, 2000; Hallinger, 1998; Rahimah, 1998). This global love affair with educational reform has not, however, been without disappointments. With the ever-increasing rate and scope of global changes, governments are finding it ever more difficult to put their new policies into practice (Cheng & Townsend, 2000; Dimmock & Walker, 1998; Hallinger, 1998; Lam, in press). The implementation of change in educational practice that is directed by policy decisions demands effective leadership of schools and educational institutions. This article considers trends and directions for future research and development in the field of school leadership in the Asia-Pacific region.
High-speed VLSI architecture for parallel Reed-Solomon decoder

This paper presents high-speed parallel RS(255,239) decoder architecture using a modified Euclidean algorithm for the high-speed fiber optic systems. Pipelining and parallelizing allow inputs to be received at very high fiber optic rates and outputs to be delivered at correspondingly high rates with minimum delay. Parallel processing architecture results in a speed-ups of as much as or more than 10 Gbits/s, since the maximum achievable clock frequency is generally bounded by the critical path of the modified Euclidean algorithm block. The parallel RS decoders have been designed and implemented with the 0.1 3-/spl mu/m CMOS standard cell technology in a supply voltage of 1.1V. It is suggested that a parallel RS decoder, which can keep up with optical transmission rates, i.e., 10 Gbits/s and beyond, could be implemented. The proposed channel=4 parallel RS decoder operates at a clock frequency of 770 MHz and has a throughput of 26.6 Gbits/s.
Comparison of Chamber 6.6-h Exposures to 0.04–0.08 PPM Ozone via Square-wave and Triangular Profiles on Pulmonary Responses

It has become increasingly well realized that laboratory simulations of air pollution risk assessment need to employ O3 concentration profiles that more accurately mimic those encountered during summer daylight ambient air pollution episodes. The present study was designed to compare the pulmonary function and symptoms of breathing discomfort responses to a 6.6-h square-wave 0.08-ppm O3 chamber exposure to those observed in a triangular O3 exposure profile (mean of 0.08 ppm), as well as to both a 0.06-ppm square-wave and triangular mean 0.06-ppm exposure, and to those observed during a triangular mean 0.04-ppm exposure and to a filtered air (FA) square-wave exposure. Thirty young adults (15 of each gender) served as subjects, each completing all exposures. While the 6.6-h postexposure responses to the acute triangular exposure to a mean O3 concentration of 0.08 ppm did not differ significantly from those observed in the square-wave exposure, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV)1.0 and total symptoms severity (TSS) were significantly different from preexposure at 4.6 h (when O3 concentration was 0.15 ppm) in the triangular exposure, but not until 6.6 h in the square-wave exposure. Thus, significant pulmonary function and symptoms responses were observed over a longer period in the triangular exposure protocol at a mean O3 concentration of 0.08 ppm. These results support previous evidence that O3 concentration has a greater singular effect in the total inhaled O3 dose than do VE and exposure duration. Subtracting pulmonary function effects consequent to O3 exposure to existent 8-h average background levels (e.g., ∼0.04 ppm, rather than those observed in FA exposures) from those observed at higher concentrations (e.g., ∼0.08 ppm) represents a means of focusing the regulatory effort on effects that can be controlled. The greatest pulmonary function and symptoms responses observed for a 0.04-ppm triangular exposure were nearly the same as those for the FA square-wave exposure. Thus, results of the present study show that calculating the net pulmonary function effect of exposure to 0.08 ppm with “correction” for FA response, or for that incurred for 0.04 ppm O3, does not result in any statistically significant difference.