Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A prospective study of serum soluble CD30 concentration and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Prediagnostic serum concentration of soluble CD30 (sCD30), a marker for chronic B-cell stimulation, has been associated with increased risk of developing AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in a recent study of HIV(+) patients. To investigate among healthy persons whether serum sCD30 is associated with NHL risk, we carried out a nested case-control study within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. There was a strong dose-response relationship between prediagnostic sCD30 concentration and NHL risk among 234 cases and 234 individually matched controls (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] for second, third, and fourth quartiles vs first quartile: 1.4 [0.8-2.6], 2.2 [1.2-4.1], 4.1 [2.2-7.8]; P(trend) < . 001), which persisted among cases diagnosed 6 to 10 years after providing a blood sample. Given that a similar relationship has been observed among HIV(+) patients, our findings suggest that chronic B-cell stimulation may be an important mechanism involved in B-cell lymphomagenesis among severely immunocompromised and healthy populations alike.
Comparison of Volunteered Geographic Information Data Contributions and Community Development for Selected World Regions

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) projects and their crowdsourced data have been the focus of a number of scientific analyses and investigations in recent years. Oftentimes the results show that the collaboratively collected geodata of one of the most popular VGI projects, OpenStreetMap (OSM), provides good coverage in urban areas when considering particular completeness factors. However, results can potentially vary significantly for different world regions. In this article, we conduct an analysis to determine similarities and differences in data contributions and community development in OSM between 12 selected urban areas of the world. Our findings showed significantly different results in data collection efforts and local OSM community sizes. European cities provide quantitatively larger amounts of geodata and number of contributors in OSM, resulting in a better representation of the real world in the dataset. Although the number of volunteers does not necessarily correlate with the general population density of the urban areas, similarities could be detected while comparing the percentage of different contributor groups and the number of changes they made to the OSM project. Further analyses show that socio-economic factors, such as income, can have an impact on the number of active contributors and the data provided in the analyzed areas. Furthermore, the results showed significant data contributions by members whose main territory of interest lies more than one thousand kilometers from the tested areas.
Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology (KSSMA) Guideline on Erectile Dysfunction

In February 2011, the Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology (KSSMA) realized the necessity of developing a guideline on erectile dysfunction (ED) appropriate for the local context, and established a committee for the development of a guideline on ED. As many international guidelines based on objective evidence are available, the committee decided to adapt these guidelines for local needs instead of developing a new guideline. Considering the extensive research activities on ED in Korea, data with a high level of evidence among those reported by Korean researchers have been collected and included in the guideline development process. The latest KSSMA guideline on ED has been developed for urologists. The KSSMA hopes that this guideline will help urologists in clinical practice.
Reflections on Heckman and Pinto's Causal Analysis After Haavelmo

Working paper. TECHNICAL REPORT R-420 November 2013 Reflections on Heckman and Pinto’s “Causal Analysis After Haavelmo” Judea Pearl University of California, Los Angeles Computer Science Department Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1596, USA judea@cs.ucla. edu Abstract This paper reflects on a recent article by Heckman and Pinto (2013) in which they discuss a formal system, called do-calculus, that operationalizes Haavelmo’s conception of policy intervention. They replace the do-operator with an equivalent operator called “fix,” highlight the capabilities of “fix,” discover limitations in “do,” and inform readers that those limitations disappear in “the Haavelmo approach. ” I examine the logic of HP’s paper, its factual basis, and its impact on econometric research and education. Introduction A forthcoming special issue of Econometric Theory, dedicated to Haavelmo’s centen- nial, will contain two papers on causation. The first is “Trygve Haavelmo and the emergence of Causal Calculus” (Pearl, 2013) and the second is “Causal Analysis After Haavelmo” by Heckman and Pinto (HP) . The HP paper is devoted almost entirely to the causal inference framework that I have summarized in (Pearl, 2013) and, in particular, to causal models that can be represented by Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) or Bayesian Networks (Pearl, 1985; Verma and Pearl, 1988) and to the do-operator that acts on, and helps draw causal and counterfactual inferences from such models (Pearl, 1993, 1994, 2009; Spirtes et al., 1993; Strotz and Wold, 1960). This note reflects on the way HP present the do- operator, and highlights key features of the do-calculus that are not described in HP’s paper.
Molecular Characterization of a Human Matrix Attachment Region Epigenetic Regulator

Matrix attachment regions (MAR) generally act as epigenetic regulatory sequences that increase gene expression, and they were proposed to partition chromosomes into loop-forming domains. However, their molecular mode of action remains poorly understood. Here, we assessed the possible contribution of the AT-rich core and adjacent transcription factor binding motifs to the transcription augmenting and anti-silencing effects of human MAR 1–68. Either flanking sequences together with the AT-rich core were required to obtain the full MAR effects. Shortened MAR derivatives retaining full MAR activity were constructed from combinations of the AT-rich sequence and multimerized transcription factor binding motifs, implying that both transcription factors and the AT-rich microsatellite sequence are required to mediate the MAR effect. Genomic analysis indicated that MAR AT-rich cores may be depleted of histones and enriched in RNA polymerase II, providing a molecular interpretation of their chromatin domain insulator and transcriptional augmentation activities.
The Social Co-Robotics Problem Space : Six Key Challenges

In order to realize the long-term vision of intelligent co-robots capable of competent proxemic interaction with humans, it is important that our research community fully define the problem space and articulate its inherent challenges. In particular, we must recognize that many problems in the space may not be computable or definable, and must determine ways to address this challenge moving forward. This paper broadly sketches six key challenges in the social co-robotics problem space and suggests several paths toward solving them, such as Wizardof-Oz constraints and problem satisfication.
Effect of anisotropy in ground movements caused by tunnelling

This paper presents closed-form analytical solutions for estimating far-field ground deformations caused by shallow tunnelling in a linear elastic soil mass with cross-anisotropic stiffness properties. The solutions describe two-dimensional ground deformations for uniform convergence (ue) and ovalisation (uδ) modes of a circular tunnel cavity, based on the complex formulation of planar elasticity and superposition of fundamental singularity solutions. The analyses are used to interpret measurements of ground deformations caused by open-face shield construction of a Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) tunnel in London Clay at a well-instrumented site in St James's Park. Anisotropic stiffness parameters are estimated from hollow-cylinder tests on intact block samples of London Clay (from the Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 project), and the selection of the two input parameters is based on a least-squares optimisation using measurements of ground deformations. The results show consistent agreement with the measured di.
Communication Processors

Communication processors are processors with specific opti mizations to support communication systems. Communication processors exist in a wide variety of fo rms and can be categorized based on the communication system, such as wired or wireless and based on the layer in the communication system, such as the physical layer, the medium access control layer o r the network layer. Communication processors can be further categorized based on the application, su ch as audio, video or data and the end system requiring the communication system such as a laptop, a cell p hone or a personal computer. As communication systems have evolved over the years, there has been an increase in data rates, increase in algorithm complexity, need for flexibility to adapt to different proto cols and environments, need to optimize over varying constraints such as area, power, performance and th e need for supporting multiple interfaces, devices and applications. In this chapter, we present a brief o utline of the different types of communication processors and the need and requirements of each of these pro cessors. We focus on the challenges in the physical layer design of communication processors with the evolution of communication systems.
Dynamics of Watermark Position in Audio Watermarked Files using Neural Networks

Previous researches on digital audio watermarking has shown that effective techniques ensure inaudibility, reliability, robustness and protection against signal degradation. Crucial to this is the appropriate position of the watermark in the files. There is a risk of perceivable distortion in the audio signal when the watermark is spread in the audio spectrum, which may result in the loss of the watermark. This paper addresses the lack of an optimal position for the watermark when spread spectrum watermarking techniques are used. In an attempt to solve this problem, we model various positions on the audio spectrum for embedding the watermark and use a neural network (feed forward neural network) to predict the best positions for the watermark in the host audio streams. We are able to determine optimal position. The result of the neural network experiment formulated within the spread spectrum watermarking technique enables us to determine the best position for embedding. After embedding, further experimental results on the strength of the watermarking technique utilizing the outcome of the neural network show a high level of robustness against a variety of signal degradations. The contribution of this work is to show that audio signals contain patterns which help determine the most appropriate points at which watermarks should be embedded.
Comparison of spike parameters from optically identified GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons in sparse cortical cultures

Primary neuronal cultures share many typical features with the in vivo situation, including similarities in distinct electrical activity patterns and synaptic network interactions. Here, we use multi-electrode array (MEA) recordings from spontaneously active cultures of wildtype and glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67)-green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic mice to evaluate which spike parameters differ between GABAergic interneurons and principal, putatively glutamatergic neurons. To analyze this question we combine MEA recordings with optical imaging in sparse cortical cultures to assign individual spikes to visually-identified single neurons. In our culture system, excitatory and inhibitory neurons are present at a similar ratio as described in vivo, and spike waveform characteristics and firing patterns are fully developed after 2 weeks in vitro. Spike amplitude, but not other spike waveform parameters, correlated with the distance between the recording electrode and the location of the assigned neuron’s soma. Cluster analysis of spike waveform properties revealed no particular cell population that may be assigned to putative inhibitory or excitatory neurons. Moreover, experiments in primary cultures from transgenic GAD67-GFP mice, which allow optical identification of GABAergic interneurons and thus unambiguous assignment of extracellular signals, did not reveal any significant difference in spike timing and spike waveform parameters between inhibitory and excitatory neurons. Despite of our detailed characterization of spike waveform and temporal spiking properties we could not identify an unequivocal electrical parameter to discriminate between individual excitatory and inhibitory neurons in vitro. Our data suggest that under in vitro conditions cellular classifications of single neurons on the basis of their extracellular firing properties should be treated with caution.
Bone-Derived Stem Cells Repair the Heart After Myocardial Infarction Through Transdifferentiation and Paracrine Signaling Mechanisms

Rationale: Autologous bone marrow–derived or cardiac-derived stem cell therapy for heart disease has demonstrated safety and efficacy in clinical trials, but functional improvements have been limited. Finding the optimal stem cell type best suited for cardiac regeneration is the key toward improving clinical outcomes. Objective: To determine the mechanism by which novel bone-derived stem cells support the injured heart. Methods and Results: Cortical bone–derived stem cells (CBSCs) and cardiac-derived stem cells were isolated from enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP+) transgenic mice and were shown to express c-kit and Sca-1 as well as 8 paracrine factors involved in cardioprotection, angiogenesis, and stem cell function. Wild-type C57BL/6 mice underwent sham operation (n=21) or myocardial infarction with injection of CBSCs (n=67), cardiac-derived stem cells (n=36), or saline (n=60). Cardiac function was monitored using echocardiography. Only 2/8 paracrine factors were detected in EGFP+ CBSCs in vivo (basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor), and this expression was associated with increased neovascularization of the infarct border zone. CBSC therapy improved survival, cardiac function, regional strain, attenuated remodeling, and decreased infarct size relative to cardiac-derived stem cells– or saline-treated myocardial infarction controls. By 6 weeks, EGFP+ cardiomyocytes, vascular smooth muscle, and endothelial cells could be identified in CBSC-treated, but not in cardiac-derived stem cells–treated, animals. EGFP+ CBSC-derived isolated myocytes were smaller and more frequently mononucleated, but were functionally indistinguishable from EGFP− myocytes. Conclusions: CBSCs improve survival, cardiac function, and attenuate remodeling through the following 2 mechanisms: (1) secretion of proangiogenic factors that stimulate endogenous neovascularization, and (2) differentiation into functional adult myocytes and vascular cells.
Behavioral mechanisms of mammalian sperm guidance

In mammals, sperm guidance in the oviduct appears essential for successful sperm arrival at the oocyte. Hitherto, three different potential sperm guidance mechanisms have been recognized: thermotaxis, rheotaxis, and chemotaxis, each of them using specific stimuli - a temperature gradient, fluid flow, and a chemoattractant gradient, respectively. Here, we review sperm behavioral in these mechanisms and indicate commonalities and differences between them.
Budget Dynamics

Introduction Budget dynamics may sound as a contradiction in terms to scholars familiar with Wildavsky and colleagues' seminal work on public budgeting (Wildavsky 1964). As stated by Davis, Dempster, and Wildavsky (1966, 529): " This year's budget is based on last year's budget, with special attention given to a narrow range of increases or decreases. " For some years this simple model was considered something of an empirical law of public budgets. However, already in the 1970s several scholars started to question the empirical validity of Wildavsky's claim. John F. Padgett (1980) argued that the linear assumptions in normal regression statistics were too resistant to non-linear variation in data. In addition to this methodological criticism, rigorous theoretical criticism has claimed that the concept of incrementalism has never been clearly defined (Dempster and Wildavsky 1979; Berry 1990). But perhaps the most serious problem is that the incrementalism description of stable public budgets simply does not seem to find support in empirical observations. Most studies find periods of stability, but they also find significant and large changes that cannot be accounted for using the incremental approach (Natchez and Bupp 1973). Although the reputation of incrementalism as a very static model of public budgeting may be a little unfair, the approach is definitely not well suited to account for large changes in public spending. Nevertheless, alternative explanations of this pattern of both stability and changes have been
Activity-Dependent Plasticity of Transmitter Release from Nerve Terminals in Rat Fast and Slow Muscles

Neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) on fast and slow muscle fibers display different transmitter release characteristics that appear well adapted to the different patterns of nerve impulses that they transmit in vivo. Here, we ask whether the release properties of such NMJs, termed fast and slow, can be transformed by chronic nerve stimulation. In young adult rats, nerve impulse conduction in the sciatic nerve was blocked by TTX, and the nerve to the fast extensor digitorum longus (EDL) or the slow soleus (SOL) muscle stimulated directly below the block with slow (20 Hz for 10 sec every 30 sec) or fast (150 Hz for 1 sec every 60 sec) stimulus patterns, respectively. After 3-4 weeks, originally fast EDL-NMJs and slow SOL-NMJs had become almost fully transformed to slow and fast NMJs, respectively, with respect to maintenance of transmitter release during tonic 20 Hz stimulation in vitro and ratio of quantal content to vesicle pool size. TTX block alone had no such transforming effect. Vesicle recycle time was unaffected by the stimulation, whereas initial quantal content and vesicle pool size were reduced (by 49% and 57% in EDL and 33% and 67% in SOL). Muscle fiber diameter also declined (by 49% in EDL and 33% in SOL vs 46% in unstimulated SOL; unstimulated EDL was not examined). We conclude that fast and slow NMJs display marked plasticity by being able to adapt important release characteristics to the impulse patterns imposed on them.
Managing Long Term Symptoms, with Complex Causes: A Survey of Patient and General Practitioner Experiences

The term ‘Medically Unexplained Symptoms’ (MUS) refers to a constellation of symptoms that have a low probability of disease pathology. It is a clinical area that General Practitioners (GPs) have frequent contact with; managing the challenge of how to reduce the reported discrepancy between patient expectation of cure and the provider approach of symptom management. The aim of this current study is to explore how patients and GPs understand MUS and its management, considering how their understandings overlap and diverge, how any differences are negotiated and how this can inform future collaborative care interventions for MUS. Six patients and four GPs were recruited from one practice, and an interview design was used to explore their experiences of managing MUS. The qualitative data were analysed using the framework approach, with patient and GP interview data being analysed separately, before being synthesised. Three conceptual themes emerged from GP and patient interviews- understanding of the symptom(s), the emotion response, the validating relationship, with one further conceptual theme present for patient interviews- deciding what gets shared in the consultation. The study results provide some support to existing research that have suggested that patients do have a complex understanding of their MUS symptoms. There was also a shared belief between participant groups that the relationship between patient and GP was important in the management of MUS, however a gap in communication between patient and GP was also highlighted. The results are considered in relation to existing interventions that are used to open up the shared dialogue between patient and GP. The clinical implications of introducing a shared decision making approach to MUS consultations are discussed, alongside implications for future research of how this intervention might be piloted.
miR‐132 mediates a metabolic shift in prostate cancer cells by targeting Glut1

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths among men worldwide. Early diagnosis increases survival rates in patients but the survival rate has remained relatively poor over the past years. Increasing evidence shows that altered metabolism is a critical hallmark in prostate cancer. There is a strong need to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer metabolism for prostate cancer therapy. Whether the aberrant expression of microRNA (miRNA) contributes to cancer metabolism is not fully known. In this study, we found that microRNA‐132 (miR‐132) expression is reduced and thus leads to a metabolic switch in prostate cancer cells. miR‐132 performs this role by increasing Glut1 expression, resulting in the enhanced rate of lactate production and glucose uptake. The altered metabolism induced by decreased miR‐132 levels confers the rapid growth of the cancer cells. These data indicate that miR‐132 is involved in regulating the Warburg effect in prostate cancer by inhibiting Glut1 expression.
Entropy-based Adaptive Supersampling

Ray tracing usually needs supersampling to reduce aliasingor noise in the final image. Not all the pixels in the image require the same quantity of rays, thusadaptive supersampling is implemented by adaptive subdivision of the sampling region, resulting in a refinement tree. We prese nt here a theoretically sound adaptive supersampling method based on entropy, an information theory approach wit h strong analogies to the decision tree problem where entropy is frequently used as a decision criterion. Ou r adaptive supersampling algorithm is implemented within a path tracing method and we show that our results comp are well to the ones obtained by a classic strategy.