Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gemcitabine plus best supportive care (BSC) vs BSC in inoperable non-small cell lung cancer – a randomized trial with quality of life as the primary outcome

Three hundred patients with symptomatic, locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC not requiring immediate radiotherapy were enrolled into this randomized multicentre trial comparing gemcitabine + BSC vs BSC alone. Patients allocated gemcitabine received 1000 mg/m2on days 1, 8 and 15 of a 28-day cycle, for a maximum of six cycles. The main aim of this trial was to compare patient assessment of a predefined subset of commonly reported symptoms (SS14) from the EORTC QLQ-C30 and LC13 scales. The primary end-points were defined as (1) the percentage change in mean SS14 score between baseline and 2 months and (2) the proportion of patients with a marked (≥ 25%) improvement in SS14 score between baseline and 2 months sustained for ≥4 weeks. The secondary objectives were to compare treatments with respect to overall survival, and multidimensional QL parameters.The treatment groups were balanced with regard to age, gender, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) and disease stage (40% had metastatic disease). The percentage change in mean SS14 score from baseline to 2 months was a 10% decrease (i.e. improvement) for gemcitabine plus BSC and a 1% increase (i.e. deterioration) for BSC alone (P = 0.113, two-sample t -test). A sustained (≥ 4 weeks) improvement (≥25%) on SS14 was recorded in a significantly higher proportion of gemcitabine + BSC patients (22%) than in BSC alone patients (9%) (P = 0.0014, Pearson's chi-squared test). The QLQ-C30 and L13 subscales showed greater improvement in the gemcitabine plus BSC arm (in 11 domains) than in the BSC arm (one symptom item). There was greater deterioration in the BSC alone arm (six domains/items) than in the gemcitabine + BSC arm (three QL domains). Tumour response occurred in 19% (95% CI 13–27) of gemcitabine patients. There was no difference in overall survival: median 5.7 months (95% CI 4.6–7.6) for gemcitabine + BSC patients and 5.9 months (95% CI 5.0–7.9) (log-rank, P = 0.84) for BSC patients, and 1-year survival was 25% for gemcitabine + BSC and 22% for BSC. Overall, 74 (49%) gemcitabine + BSC patients and 119 (79%) BSC patients received palliative radiotherapy. The median time to radiotherapy was 29 weeks for gemcitabine + BSC patients and 3.8 weeks for BSC. Patients treated with gemcitabine + BSC reported better QL and reduced disease-related symptoms compared with those receiving BSC alone. These improvements in patient-assessed QL were significant in magnitude and were sustained. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign
Cell-specific proteomic analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans

Significance The emergence of mass spectrometry-based proteomics has revolutionized the study of proteins and their abundances, functions, interactions, and modifications. However, it is difficult to monitor dynamic changes in protein synthesis in a specific cell type within its native environment. Here we describe a method that enables the metabolic labeling, purification, and analysis of proteins in specific cell types and during defined periods in live animals. Using Caenorhabditis elegans, we show that labeling can be restricted to body wall muscles, intestinal epithelial cells, neurons, pharyngeal muscle, and cells that respond to heat shock. By coupling our methodology with isotopic labeling, we successfully identify proteins—including proteins with previously unknown expression patterns—expressed in targeted subsets of cells. Proteomic analysis of rare cells in heterogeneous environments presents difficult challenges. Systematic methods are needed to enrich, identify, and quantify proteins expressed in specific cells in complex biological systems including multicellular plants and animals. Here, we have engineered a Caenorhabditis elegans phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase capable of tagging proteins with the reactive noncanonical amino acid p-azido-l-phenylalanine. We achieved spatiotemporal selectivity in the labeling of C. elegans proteins by controlling expression of the mutant synthetase using cell-selective (body wall muscles, intestinal epithelial cells, neurons, and pharyngeal muscle) or state-selective (heat-shock) promoters in several transgenic lines. Tagged proteins are distinguished from the rest of the protein pool through bioorthogonal conjugation of the azide side chain to probes that permit visualization and isolation of labeled proteins. By coupling our methodology with stable-isotope labeling of amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), we successfully profiled proteins expressed in pharyngeal muscle cells, and in the process, identified proteins not previously known to be expressed in these cells. Our results show that tagging proteins with spatiotemporal selectivity can be achieved in C. elegans and illustrate a convenient and effective approach for unbiased discovery of proteins expressed in targeted subsets of cells.
Does Changing the Legal Drinking Age Influence Youth Behaviour?

This paper examines the impact of a reduction in the legal drinking age in New Zealand from 20 to 18 on alcohol use, and alcohol-related hospitalisations and vehicular accidents among teenagers. We use both a difference-in-differences approach and a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to examine the impact of the law change. Our main findings are that lowering the legal drinking age did not appear to have led to, on average, an increase in alcohol consumption or binge drinking among 15-17 or 18-19 year-olds. However, there is evidence that the law change led to a significant increase in alcohol-related hospital admission rates for 18-19 year-olds, as well as for 15-17 year-olds. While these increases are large in relative magnitude, they are small in the absolute number of affected teenagers. Finally, we find no evidence for an increase in alcohol-related vehicular accidents at the time of the law change for any teenagers. In an important methodological contribution, we show that one approach commonly used to estimate the impact of changing the legal drinking age on outcomes, an RDD that compares individuals just younger than the drinking age to those just older, has the potential to give misleading results. Overall, our results support the argument that the legal drinking age can be lowered without leading to large increases in detrimental outcomes for youth.
Body size, physical activity, and breast cancer hormone receptor status: results from two case-control studies.

We evaluated whether our previous reports of increased postmenopausal breast cancer risk with higher body mass index (BMI) or of reduced premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer risk with higher physical activity levels varied according to the tumor's estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status. Participants enrolled in either of two population-based case-control studies in Los Angeles County, California: one of premenopausal women (ages < or = 40 years), and one of postmenopausal women (ages 55-64 years). Case participants were diagnosed for the first time with in situ or invasive breast cancer from 7/1/83 through 12/31/88 (premenopausal women) or from 3/1/87 through 12/31/89 (postmenopausal women). Joint ER/PR status was collected for 424 premenopausal and 760 postmenopausal case participants. The analysis included 714 premenopausal and 1091 postmenopausal age-matched, race-matched (white or Hispanic), parity-matched (premenopausal women only), and residential neighborhood-matched control participants. Among the postmenopausal women, obesity was associated with an increased odds of ER+/PR+ breast cancer (odds ratio, 2.45 for women in the highest versus the lowest body mass index quartile; 95% confidence interval, 1.73-3.47). Body mass index was associated with neither ER-/PR- tumors among the postmenopausal women nor with any ER/PR subgroup among the premenopausal women. For both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, higher recreational physical activity levels (> or = 17.6 MET-hours/week versus no activity) were associated with a 30-60% reduction in risk of nearly all ER/PR subtypes, although the associations were generally of borderline statistical significance. Examining these potentially modifiable breast cancer risk factors by tumor ER and PR status may provide us with greater insight into breast cancer etiology and the mechanisms underlying the risk factor associations.
Square Formation by Asynchronous Oblivious Robots

A fundamental problem in Distributed Computing is the Pattern Formation problem, where some independent mobile entities, called robots, have to rearrange themselves in such a way as to form a given figure from every possible (non-degenerate) initial configuration. In the present paper, we consider robots that operate in the Euclidean plane and are dimensionless, anonymous, oblivious, silent, asynchronous, disoriented, non-chiral, and non-rigid. For this very elementary type of robots, the feasibility of the Pattern Formation problem has been settled, either in the positive or in the negative, for every possible pattern, except for one case: the Square Formation problem by a team of four robots. Here we solve this last case by giving a Square Formation algorithm and proving its correctness. Our contribution represents the concluding chapter in a long thread of research. Our results imply that in the context of the Pattern Formation problem for mobile robots, features such as synchronicity, chirality, and rigidity are computationally irrelevant.
A simple algebraic formulation for the scalar linear network coding problem

In this work, we derive an algebraic formulation for the scalar linear network coding problem as an alternative to the one presented by Koetter et al in. Using an equivalence between network information flow and group-valued circulations, we derive a system of polynomial equations that algebraically represents the scalar linear network coding problem. Surprisingly, this system of polynomials has a maximum degree of 2. We illustrate our formulation and its advantages through example networks drawn from the literature.
lrs : A Revised Implementation of the Rev rse Search Vertex Enumeration Algorithm

This paper describes an impro ved implementation of the re v rse search v ertex enumeration/con vex hull algorithm ford-dimensional con vex polyhedra. The implementation uses a lexicographic ratio test to resolv degeneracy, works on bounded or unbounded polyhedra and uses e xact arithmetic with all integer pi voting. It can also be used to compute the volume of the con vex hull of a set of points. For a polyhedron withm inequalities ind variables and known e xtreme point, it finds all bases in time O(md) per basis. This implementation can handle problems of quite lar ge size, especially for simple polyhedra (where each basis corresponds to a v ertex and the comple xity reduces toO(md) per vertex). Computational e xperience is included in the paper , including a comparison with an earlier implementation.
The Behavior of Flexible MIL-53(Al) upon CH4 and CO2 Adsorption

The use of the osmotic thermodynamic model, combined with a series of methane and carbon dioxide gas adsorption experiments at various temperatures, has allowed shedding some new light on the fascinating phase behavior of flexible MIL-53(Al) metal−organic frameworks. A generic temperature-loading phase diagram has been derived; it is shown that the breathing effect in MIL-53 is a very general phenomenon, which should be observed in a limited temperature range regardless of the guest molecule. In addition, the previously proposed stress model for the structural transitions of MIL-53 is shown to be transferable from xenon to methane adsorption. The stress model also provides a theoretical framework for understanding the existence of lp/np phase mixtures at pressures close to the breathing transition pressure, without having to invoke an inhomogeneous distribution of the adsorbate in the porous sample.
Cognitive evaluation of uncertainty visualization methods for decision making

Uncertainty constitutes a major obstacle to effective decision making. This work presents perceptual and cognitive principles from Tufte, Chambers and Bertin as well as results from user experiments for the theoretical evaluation of uncertainty visualization techniques that aid decision making. These principles can be used in future theoretical evaluations of existing or newly developed uncertainty visualization methods before usability testing with actual users.
Improvements in Video-based Automated System for Iris Recognition (VASIR)

Video-based Automated System for Iris Recognition (VASIR) performs two-eye detection, best quality image selection by adapting human vision and edge density methods, and iris verification for identifying a person. A new method of iris segmentation is implemented and evaluated that uses a combination of contour processing and Hough transform algorithms along with a new approach to eyelid detection. User-interaction is reduced by using automatic threshold selection to detect the pupil and by defining it to be a minimum boundary radius of the iris. VASIR's performance is evaluated with the MBGC datasets which were captured under unconstrained environments. The results show that the new method significantly improves the segmentation of the iris region and consequently the matching results. Our method also demonstrates that automated best image selection is nearly equivalent to human selection.
The Extended Family and Intrahousehold Allocation: Inheritance and Investments in Children in the Rural Philippines

This paper examines the role of the extended family on investments in children, using data from a retrospective survey of three generations in the rural Philippines. Econometric results show that interactions between grandparent characteristics and child gender significantly affect the distribution of proposed land bequests between sons and daughters. However, grandparents significantly affect gender-specific investments in children's education only in resource-constrained families. Family-specific effects are more important in determining the pattern of investment in children within the nuclear family, while individual heterogeneity rather than family-specific unobservables dominates the extended family results. Interactions between parent characteristics and child gender are important determinants of both land transfers to, and educational investments in, children. Sons are clearly favored in terms of land inheritance, although daughters of better educated fathers, and with better educated grandfathers, may also have an advantage. The secular expansion of education has contributed much to the increased educational attainment of women. Better educated fathers favor daughters in terms of education, while mothers with more land favor sons. These patterns are consistent with both equity and efficiency objectives, investment in children under resource constraints, and parents' risk-diversification strategies.
The influence of intraocular pressure on the transscleral diffusion of high-molecular-weight compounds.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of intraocular pressure on the permeability of the human sclera to high-molecular-weight compounds. METHODS Human transscleral permeability to FITC-albumin (70 kDa) and 70-kDa and 150-kDa FITC-dextran was determined at transscleral pressures from 0 to 60 mm Hg. For each compound at each pressure, six to eight experiments were performed. Scleral sections were mounted in a two-compartment perfusion chamber. Temperature was maintained at 37 degrees C. Fractions of choroidal perfusate were collected, and fluorescence was measured with a spectrofluorometer. From these data, scleral permeability K(trans) (in centimeters per second) was calculated. RESULTS Permeability to FITC-albumin was decreased by approximately one half when pressure was elevated from 0 to 30 mm Hg (P < 0.05). No significant differences in permeability to 70-kDa FITC-dextran were observed at pressures from 0 to 60 mm Hg. Permeability to 150-kDa FITC-dextran decreased by a little more than one half when transscleral pressure was raised from 0 to 15 mm Hg and was approximately 10 times lower at 60 mm Hg than at 0 mm Hg (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Human sclera was permeable to compounds with a molecular weight of up to 150 kDa at transscleral pressures ranging from 0 to 60 mm Hg. Transscleral diffusion was relatively unaffected by the pressure gradient, although for 150-kDa FITC-dextran at 60 mm Hg a 10-fold decrease was observed compared with that at 0 mm Hg. These experiments suggest that high-molecular-weight compounds (e.g., immunoglobulins and oligonucleotides) could be effectively delivered transsclerally to the intraocular tissues under circumstances of physiological or elevated intraocular pressure.
Efficient viewshed computation on external memory DEM terrains

Many GIS applications require efficient algorithms to manipulate huge volume of data about terrains stored in external memory. One of these applications is the viewshed computation which consists in obtaining the points that can be viewed by a given point. In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm to compute the viewshed on huge terrains stored in external memory.
The existential concern of the humanities R.S. Peters’ justification of liberal education

Abstract Richard Stanley Peters was one of the founding fathers of analytic philosophy of education in the twentieth century. After reviewing Peters’ disentanglement of the ambiguities of liberal education, I reconstruct his view on the status and the existential foundations of the humanities. What emerges from my reconstruction is an original justificatory argument for the value of liberal education as general education in the sense of initiation into the heritage of the humanities. To close, I evaluate the scope and power of this argument from the existential concern of the humanities.
Inflammatory changes, recovery and recurrence at COPD exacerbation

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are associated with increased airway and systemic inflammation, though relationships between exacerbation recovery, recurrent exacerbation and inflammation have not been previously reported. In the present study, inflammatory changes at COPD exacerbations were related to clinical nonrecovery and recurrent exacerbations within 50 days. Serum interleukin (IL)-6, C-reactive protein (CRP), sputum IL-6 and IL-8 were measured in 73 COPD patients when stable, at exacerbation and at 7, 14 and 35 days post-exacerbation. In 23% of patients, symptoms did not recover to baseline by day 35. These patients had persistently higher levels of serum CRP during the recovery period. A total of 22% of the patients who had recurrent exacerbations within 50 days had significantly higher levels of serum CRP at day 14, compared with those without recurrences: 8.8 mg·L−1 versus 3.4 mg·L−1. Frequent exacerbators had a smaller reduction in systemic inflammation between exacerbation onset and day 35 compared with infrequent exacerbators. Nonrecovery of symptoms at chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation is associated with persistently heightened systemic inflammation. The time course of systemic inflammation following exacerbation is different between frequent and infrequent exacerbators. A high serum C-reactive protein concentration 14 days after an index exacerbation may be used as a predictor of recurrent exacerbations within 50 days.
Influence of carbon sources and their concentrations on rooting and hyperhydricity of apple rootstock MM.106.

Influence of fructose, sucrose, glucose, sorbitol and maltose carbon sources at various concentrations on rooting and hyperhydricity apple rootstock MM106 was investigated. Type and concentration of sugars had a significant effect on rooting percentage, mean root number, mean root length, hyperhydricity, as well as survival rate. The in vitro cultures produced the higher rooting percentage, mean root number, mean root length, when grown on media containing 90 mM sucrose. Shoots failed to root when fructose and maltose were used. The percentage of hyperhydric shoots was significantly higher at 60 mM maltose and 30 mM sorbitol and was less at 90 or 120 mM sorbitol, 90 mM sucrose and fructose and 120 mM maltose. Regenerated plantlets were acclimatized and successfully transplanted to soil with 90% survival.
A hybrid neural network model for the dynamics of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

A hybrid approach consisting of two neural networks is used to model the oscillatory dynamical behavior of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KS) equation at a bifurcation parameter α=84.25. This oscillatory behavior results from a fixed point that occurs at α=72 having a shape of two-humped curve that becomes unstable and undergoes a Hopf bifurcation at α=83.75. First, Karhunen-Loeve (KL) decomposition was used to extract five coherent structures of the oscillatory behavior capturing almost 100% of the energy. Based on the five coherent structures, a system offive ordinary differential equations (ODEs) whose dynamics is similar to the original dynamics of the KS equation was derived via KL Galerkin projection. Then, an autoassociative neural network was utilized on the amplitudes of the ODEs system with the task of reducing the dimension of the dynamical behavior to its intrinsic dimension, and a feedforward neural network was usedto model the dynamics at a future time. We show that by combining KL decomposition and neural networks, a reduced dynamical model of the KS equation is obtained.
Identification of human transcription factor binding sites by comparative genomics

Understanding transcriptional regulation of gene expression is one of the greatest challenges of modern molecular biology. A central role in this mechanism is played by transcription factors (TF) which typically bind to specific, short DNA sequence motifs which are usually located in the upstream region of the regulated genes. We discuss here a simple and powerful approach for the identification of these cis−regulatory motifs based on human−mouse genomic comparison. By using the catalogue of conserved upstream sequences collected in the CORG database [1] we construct sets of genes sharing the same overrepresented motif in their upstream regions both in human and in mouse. We perform this construction for all possible words from 5 to 8 nucleotides in length and then filter the resulting sets looking for two types of evidence for coregulation: first, we analyse the Gene Ontology annotation of the genes in the set looking for statistically significant common annotation; second, we analyse the expression profiles of the genes in the set as measured by microarray experiments, looking for evidence of coexpression. The sets which pass one or both these filters are conjectured to contain a significant fraction of coregulated genes, and the upstream motifs characterizing the sets are thus good candidates to be the binding sites of the TF’s involved in such regulation. In this way we find various known motifs (which we use to validate our approach) and also some new candidate binding sites.