Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of Nationwide Screening Program for Neuroblastoma in Japan

Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most malignant neoplasms in childhood. In Japan, while a nationwide screening program at six months of age was introduced in 1985, its efficacy has not been systematically evaluated before or after its introduction. The screening test was changed from a qualitative method to a quantitative method (i.e., high performance liquid chromatography, HPLC) with higher test precision around 1990. However, the Japanese government stopped the program in 2003, after reports which did not show a reduction in mortality from NB. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, a systematic large-scale epidemiological study was conducted. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the NB screening with HPLC test at 6 months of age in Japan, in comparing mortality and incidence of NB after 6 months of age between screened children and concurrent non-screened children in the same area. The study cohort was defined retrospectively as those children who were born after the introduction of HPLC test, from its earliest introduction of January 1984 to December 31, 1997, in twenty-five prefectures of Japan, which cover approximately half of the newborn population of Japan. Results: The study cohort consisted of 4.31 million. We identified 66 NB deaths in the study cohort for the analysis after 6 months. Kaplan-Meier estimate of cumulative mortality of NB per million children at 6 years was 15.33 for the screened group and 32.63 for the non-screened group, respectively. The difference of hazard between the two groups was statistically significant. The age specific mortality rate ratio of NB (95% confidence interval (CI)) was statistically lower at 1 - 3 years [0.415 (0.212 - 0.810)]. The rate ratio of NB incidence (95% CI) at the early stage (i.e., 1, 2 and 4S) between them was statistically higher at 6 months - 1 year [9.56 (4.76 - 19.23)]. That of NB incidence at the advanced stage (i.e., 3 and 4) was statistically lower at 1 - 4 years [0.40 (0.26 - 0.62)]. Conclusion: The present study showed the reduction of mortality from NB, as well as the increase of the identification of early stage of NB and the decrease of advanced stage of NB. These findings strongly suggest the effectiveness of the NB screening with HPLC test in Japan. Although there could be several biases inherent to the study design, their possibilities are considered to be relatively low from observational information and theoretical consideration.
A Preliminary Investigation Into the Influence of Customer-Firm Interface on Information Processing and Task Activities in Service Organizations

This study examined how customer-firm interface (CFI) mediates the relationship between information processing and task activities in service organizations. Data were collectedfrom 181 service clerks, 83 nurses, and 126 pilot trainers, with average ages of 27 years, 38 years, and 31 years, respectively. The subjects were selectedfrom two retail organizations, two hospitals, and a military installation. Ninety-one percent of the pilot trainers and 63% of the retail clerks were male; all the nurses were female. Information processing was measured in terms of equivocality and amount, and correlational and hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine the data. CFI was found to mediate the relationship between information equivocality and task activities. CFI and task activities were also independently related to information amount. These findings suggest an expansion of earlier research showing only a bivariate relationship between information processing and task activities.
DISSense: An adaptive ultralow-power communication protocol for wireless sensor networks

This paper presents DISSense, an adaptive, ultralow-power communication protocol for wireless sensor networks. DISSense is specifically designed for long-term environmental monitoring applications and it provides for both data collection and data dissemination services. By automatically adapting the length of its active phases, DISSense can guarantee for both a very low duty cycle and reliable data delivery. We tested the performance of DISSense on both a testbed and on the TOSSIM simulation environment. Our experimental results show that a sensor network running DISSense can provide for average data delivery ratios above 98% and at the same time achieve a lifetime of several years. Our TinyOS 2.1 implementation of DISSense is publicly available.
Spatial Biases in Motion Extrapolation for Manual Interception

The exact mechanisms by which humans control the manual interception of moving targets are currently unknown. Here, the authors explored the behaviors associated with the spatial control for manual interception. The examined task required controlling a cursor to intercept moving targets on a touch screen. They explored the effects of target motion direction, curvature and occlusion on manual interception. They observed occlusion-dependent spatial errors and arrival times for curved and diagonal trajectories (larger errors and earlier arrival of the finger at its final position with longer occlusion). These effects were particularly apparent for targets moving away from screen center at interception due to curve. In a follow-up experiment, the authors showed that the outward curve effects on spatial errors were absent because the associated trajectories appears to move toward positions that participants could expect the target to never reach. Their analyses also revealed occlusion-dependent spatial errors for diagonal trajectories, which is the well-known angle-of-approach effect. Follow-up experiments demonstrated that this effect was not due to the central initial cursor position acting as a visual reference point or the initial ocular pursuit. Most importantly, the angle-of-approach effect persisted in a judgment task. The authors thus concluded that this effect does not stem from online information-based modulations of movement speed, but from target information used to control aiming (i.e., movement direction). Moreover, processing for diagonal target motion appears to be biased toward straight downward.
Mild cool air--a risk factor for asthma exacerbations: results of a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Worldwide incidence of bronchial asthma is on rise. Infections either viral or bacterial and various environmental factors are considered as major risk factors for exacerbations in various studies. Despite of awareness and preventive strategies to risk factors, exacerbations largely remain uncontrolled, therefore the study was planned to review the existing risk factors and to find out some other risk factor/factors which could help us in understanding the other causes of exacerbations. METHODS The study was done in Ajmer, the central part of Rajasthan state, India, at Mittal Hospital & Research Centre and J. L. N. Medical college hospital by collecting data for the period of four years (January 2006 - December 2009). Monthly record of 300 regular cases of bronchial asthma was taken. This record included symptoms, history of exposure to various risk factors, and PEFR. Environmental data was also collected. On the basis of record monthly attack rate was calculated. RESULTS/OBSERVATIONS: Maximum attack rate (> 90%) was found in October, November (early winter) and February and March (spring) during all the four years studied except in October 2009. A common precipitant present during these months was mild cool air (environmental temperature of 23-27 degrees c). Attack rate was very less above and below of this temperature. No clear association was present with any other known precipitants. CONCLUSION It is concluded that inhalation of mild coolair (23-27 degrees c) may be an important risk factor besides other risk factors for asthma exacerbation.
Larval multidendrite neurons survive metamorphosis and participate in the formation of imaginal sensory axonal pathways in the notum of Drosophila.

In each hemimesothorax of Drosophila, a cluster of five larval multidendrite neurons that survives metamorphosis is described. The cell bodies of these neurons, initially grouped together, spread out over the medial heminotum during early pupal stages and extend new dendrites. Growing axons from sensory bristle neurons first appear in a defined orientation specific for each macrochaete. They subsequently contact processes from the larval multidendrite neurons and then appear to follow the preestablished axon trajectories of the latter. Ablation of the multidendrite neurons during the larval stage causes bristle axons to adopt abnormal trajectories. We suggest that the persistent larval neurons participate in guiding axons of the bristles on the medial half of the notum to the posterior dorsal mesothoracic nerve leading to the central nervous system.
Modeling and Application of Controlled-fed Perfusion Culture of CHO Cells in a Bioreactor

The controlled-fed perfusion culture, integrating the advantages of both the fed-batch and perfusion cultures, was applied in the culture of recombinant CHO cells expressing HBsAg. To control and optimize the process, a model was established to closely combine the feeding and perfusion operation on a basis of step-by-step strategy. The culture process was divided into many consecutive sections in the time dimension, and the feeding and perfusion rates in each section were calculated with the data in the former sections. The feeding operation was controlled by a feeding model to supplement with exact nutrients, while the perfusion operation was controlled by a perfusion model to keep byproduct concentration at low level. Linking by glucose, lactate and ammonia concentrations, the two separate models were integrated to globally control the cell culture process. By using this control strategy, the toxic byproducts were kept below their inhibitory concentrations, and a viable cell density of 13 · 10 cells L and the HBsAg production of 1.65 mg L were achieved in controlled-fed perfusion mode, representing an almost two-fold increase over a perfusion culture.
Synchronous presentation of invasive ductal carcinoma and mantle cell lymphoma: a diagnostic challenge in menopausal patients

Synchronous presentation of breast carcinoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a rare occurrence (Bradford PT, Freedman DM, Goldstein AM, Tucker MA. Increased risk of second primary cancers after a diagnosis of melanoma. Arch Dermatol 2010;146:265–72; Dutta Roy S, Stafford JA, Scally J, Selvachandran SN. A rare case of breast carcinoma co-existing with axillary mantle cell lymphoma. World J Surg Oncol 2003;1:27; Suresh Attili VS, Dadhich HK, Rao CR, Bapsy PP, Batra U, Anupama G et al. A case of breast cancer coexisting with B-cell follicular lymphoma. Austral Asian J Cancer 2007;6:155–6). In particular, only two reported cases on synchronous presentation of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) exist in the English literature. Owing to the rarity, there is a lack of consensus about underlying mechanism as well as optimal treatment strategy, and diagnosing both malignancies together without a delay remains a complex clinical challenge. We report a case of synchronous presentation of IDC and MCL in a 67-year-old female patient whose MCL diagnosis was delayed due to a misinterpretation of her B symptoms as postmenopausal, with a review of the literature on concurrently occurring breast carcinoma and NHL.
A dependency model for patients with Alzheimer's disease: its validation and relationship to the costs of care – the LASER-AD Study

SUMMARY Background: Loss of independence becomes more marked as Alzheimer's disease (AD) progresses and contributes significantly to its societal and economic burden. Existing measures of functional disability focus either on basic or on instrumental activities of daily living (ADL). It would be more appropriate to combine these but, using existing assessment tools, this would involve considerable quantitative analysis. Recently, a qualitative and pragmatic system of classifying AD patients according to levels of dependency has been developed in a Belgian cohort. Objectives: To validate independently, in a UK community setting, a functional classification model of AD patients and to explore the relationship between dependency and costs of care using this model. Research design and methods: Longitudinal epidemiological study of 224 AD patients. Data were collected at baseline and at 6 months on ADL, global state, cognition, behavioural dimensions, depression, quality of life and resource utilisation using validated instruments. An automatic classification algorithm was performed to allow identification of dependency clusters. The scheme was tested for validity against other simultaneously collected data including health and social care costs. The relationship between dependency and costs of care was explored using ANOVA models. Results: Analysis of the ADL assessment instruments produced three ADL sub-scores by which patients could be classified into one of three disability clusters: (‘non-dependent’, ‘non-dependent with instrumental functional disability’, and ‘dependent’). Good external validity of the classification scheme was demonstrated by correlation with simultaneously collected data. After a backward selection process on ANOVA model (at a 5% level), institutionalisation and the most dependent status were the most significant cost drivers. Conclusions: Qualitative classification of AD patients using dependency levels is a simple and validated approach. Applying this approach showed that institutionalisation and the most ‘dependent’ status were independently and significantly associated with high care cost.
A Few Lessons from my Long Experience in IB Research

AIB Insights 17 my long experIence In IB research has taught me several lessons which may resemble or differ from the experiences of other researchers. I offer some of them in order to elicit your comments and generate a discussion among us. This paper is not a summary of my research work. Rather, I wanted to reflect on what I consider a few of the major challenges and implications for IB researchers.
Measuring Tactical Behaviour Using Technological Metrics: Case Study of a Football Game

In football, the tactical behaviour of a team is related to the state of ball possession, i.e., the defensive and offensive phases. The aim of this study was to measure the tactical responses of two opposing teams in the moments with and without ball possession, thus trying to identify differences in results arising from tactical metrics such as weighted centroid position, weighted stretch index, surface area and effective area of play. The herein presented results show statistical differences in both teams, either with or without the ball possession, for the -axis centroid (p-value ≤ 0.001), -axis centroid (p-value ≤ 0.001), stretch index (p-value ≤ 0.001), surface area (p-value ≤ 0.001) and effective area of play (p-value ≤ 0.001). Such results confirm that teams react depending upon ball's possession, respecting the tactical principles of width and length, as well as the unit in the offensive phase with ball possession, and also the concentration and defensive unit in the moments without ball possession.
Wearable alertness monitoring for industrial applications

A high level of alertness is one of the most important requirements for people working in dangerous environments. We follow the approach of using wearable computers as guards. In this paperwe proposea wearablealertness monitoring guard using physiological measures - detecting eyelid closure, reaction time, head movements - to determine the wearer’s actual alertness level.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON VIOLENCE: UNIVERSALS AND PARTICULARS

The problem addressed is how to establish the nature (grounds and consequences) of culturally formulated aggressive displays, for example, Balinese cockfights. Psychological and other research suggests that aggression can be under the control of nature, culture, or both. After surveying the evidence supporting both endogenous, in particular cathartic, and exogenous processes, the paper explores what is involved in establishing which process is operative in particular ethnographic cases. Special attention is paid to institutions which show coadaptation between biological and culture-dependent processes and regulations.
Fiedler-comrade and Fiedler-Chebyshev pencils

Fiedler pencils are a family of strong linearizations for polynomials expressed in the monomial basis, that include the classical Frobenius companion pencils as special cases. We generalize the definition of a Fiedler pencil from monomials to a larger class of orthogonal polynomial bases. In particular, we derive Fiedler-comrade pencils for two bases that are extremely important in practical applications: the Chebyshev polynomials of the first and second kind. The new approach allows one to construct linearizations having limited bandwidth: a Chebyshev analogue of the pentadiagonal Fiedler pencils in the monomial basis. Moreover, our theory allows for linearizations of square matrix polynomials expressed in the Chebyshev basis (and in other bases), regardless of whether the matrix polynomial is regular or singular, and for recovery formulas for eigenvectors, and minimal indices and bases.
Dealing with uncertain input in word learning

In this paper we investigate a computational model of word learning, that is embedded in a cognitively and ecologically plausible framework. Multi-modal stimuli from four different speakers form a varied source of experience. The model incorporates active learning, attention to a communicative setting and clarity of the visual scene. The model's ability to learn associations between speech utterances and visual concepts is evaluated during training to investigate the influence of active learning under conditions of uncertain input. The results show the importance of shared attention in word learning and the model's robustness against noise.
Not so personal: The benefits of social identity ad appeals with activation in advertising

Selecting the most effective advertising appeals is a major challenge for marketers and advertisers. This research addresses this challenge by examining the moderating effect of activation, an advertising technique that invites individuals to engage in a motor activity in order to reveal the ad message, on ad appeal type (name, social identity, and general appeals) in leveraging ad evaluations. The results of three studies show that ad appeals referring to individuals' social identity, especially in the presence of activation, enhance product evaluations and actual product choices. The findings also suggest that privacy concerns play a mediating role in determining these effects.
University of Toronto Working Paper Sclerosis of the City: Inefficiency and the Assembly of Urban Land

We are extremely grateful to staffers Bulmaro Borrero, Rex Hartline, and Alan Santos at the Los Angeles County Assessors office for providing data and guidance while we endlessly assembled the dataset for this paper. We are also appreciative to the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, McGill University and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, all of which contributed funds towards the construction of the dataset. We thank Robert Inman, Jaren Pope, Raven Saks, and participants at the Lincoln Institute’s October 2010 conference for helpful suggestions. We are very grateful to the planners and developers that shared insights with us and greatly improved the paper; they are listed in the bibliography. This paper would not exist but for the superior research assistance of Brian McGuire.
B Cell Positive Selection by Soluble Self-Antigen1

It is well established that autoreactive B cells undergo negative selection. This stands in paradox with the high frequency of so-called natural autoreactive B cells producing low affinity polyreactive autoantibodies with recurrent specificities, suggesting that these B cells are selected on the basis of their autoreactivity. We previously described two transgenic mouse lines (with and without IgD) producing a human natural autoantibody (nAAb) that binds ssDNA and human Fcγ. In the absence of human IgG, nAAb-transgenic B cells develop normally. By crossing these mice with animals expressing knockin chimeric IgG with the human Fcγ, we now show that the constitutive expression of chimeric IgG promotes the increase of nAAb-expressing B cells. This positive selection is critically dependent on the presence of IgD, occurs in the spleen, and concerns all mature B cell subsets, with a relative preferential enrichment of marginal zone B cells. These data support the view that soluble self-Ags can result in positive clonal selection.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer

Center has a position available for masters level biostatistician. The successful applicant will engage in a wide variety of collaborative projects with medical investigators and statisticians. Projects involve the design and analysis and publication of clinical, laboratory or cancer prevention research. Qualifications include a masters degree in biostatistics/statistics, excellent programming skills, proficiency in database manipulation, and good verbal and written communication skills. Please email cover letter and c.v. to: EPIBIOSTATS@mskcc.org. MSKCC is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of recruiting and employment. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.
Pathogen-derived resistance to plant viruses.

Transformation of plants with portions of viral genomes frequently gives rise to lines of plants that are resistant to the virus from which the sequence was derived. This phenomenon has been termed "pathogen-derived resistance. " The nature of the resistance obtained is variable and can be either proteinor RNA-mediated. RNA-mediated resistance often protects against very high levels of inoculum but is highly specific; protein-mediated resistance generally offers lower level but broader spectrum resistance. The mechanism of protein­ mediated resistance is probably specific to the protein concerned, while RNA­ mediated resistance appears to operate by a mechanism similar to that of cosuppression. The type of resistance obtained is governed, at least in part, by the way the trans gene is inserted into the plant chromosomes.
Probability-Based Combination for Cooperative Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks

To take advantage of time-varying spectrum opportunities, a cognitive radio (CR) network monitors the dynamic usage of the licensed band through cooperative spectrum sensing. In this paper, we propose a probability-based scheme for combination of spectrum sensing information collected from several CR users. Different from conventional cooperative spectrum sensing schemes that assume synchronous local sensing information, our scheme enables combination of both synchronous and asynchronous sensing information by utilizing the statistics of licensed band occupancy. In our scheme, the amount of information from each CR user is flexible and a simplified implementation is also feasible under a symmetrical case. Simulation results demonstrate that our scheme is robust and superior in terms of detection performance.