Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[The clinicopathological characteristics in renal cell carcinoma with end-stage renal disease].

OBJECTIVES The influence and the interdependence of pathological and clinical factors on prognostic differences between renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and RCC without ESRD after nephrectomy has remained unclear. We compare the clinicopathological features between RCC with and without ESRD. MATERIALS AND METHODS From June 1993 to May 2000, 150 RCC patients who underwent nephrectomy were pathologically defined to have pT1 to pT3NXM0. The patients were followed for 1 to 84 months (median 30 months) after the surgery. Total of 16 patients with ESRD and 134 patients without ESRD were studied, and the differences of clinicopathological features between two groups were statistically compared. RESULTS We compare the clinicopathological features between RCC with and without ESRD. Patients' age, tumor size, rate of incidental cancer, pathological T stage, and grade were not significantly different between two groups. The 5-year recurrence-free probability rate was significantly higher in patients without ESRD than in patients with ESRD (log-rank test: p = 0.04). The status of ESRD, patients age and pathological T stage were significant predictors of recurrence when analyzed by Cox proportional hazards analysis (p = 0.01, p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the ESRD is an independent prognostic factor in RCC patients after surgery. These results reflect that the patients with ESRD have higher risk of tumor progression. Therefore, early detection of tumors is particularly important in these patients by regular abdominal ultrasound or CT screening.
MULTICHANNEL SIGNAL REPRESENTATION IN PWGLSYNTH

This paper gives an overview of one of the most important features in our synthesis language called PWGLSynth. We will concentrate on how to represent visually multichannel signals in a synthesis patch. PWGLSynth synthesis boxes support vectored inputs and outputs. This scheme is useful as it allows to construct compound entities which are used often in sound synthesis such as banks, parallel structures, serial structures, etc. PWGLSynth provides a rich set of tools that allow to manipulate vectors. For instance vectors can mixed, modulated, merged, or split into sub-vectors.
Rosuvastatin prevents proteinuria and renal inflammation in nitric oxide–deficient rats

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of rosuvastatin on renal injury and inflammation in a model of nitric oxide deficiency. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10/group) and treated for 28 days with saline (CTRL); 30 mg/kg/day L-NAME (L-name); L-NAME and 20 mg/kg/day rosuvastatin (L-name+ROS-20); or L-NAME and 2 mg/kg/day rosuvastatin (L-name+ROS-2). Systolic blood pressure was measured by plethysmography in the central artery of the tail. The serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, nitric oxide, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha levels were analyzed. Urine samples were taken to measure the albumin∶urinary creatinine ratio. Kidneys were sectioned and stained with hematoxylin/eosin and Masson's trichrome. Immunohistochemical analysis of the renal tissue was performed to detect macrophage infiltration of the glomeruli. RESULTS: The systolic blood pressure was elevated in the L-name but not the L-name+rosuvastatin-20 and L-name+rosuvastatin-2 groups. The L-name group had a significantly reduced nitric oxide level and an increased interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha level, albumin∶urinary creatinine ratio and number of macrophages in the renal glomeruli. Rosuvastatin increased the nitric oxide level in the L-name+rosuvastatin-2 group and reduced the interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha levels, glomerular macrophage number and albumin∶urinary creatinine ratio in the L-name+rosuvastatin-20 and L-name+rosuvastatin-2 groups. CONCLUSION: Rosuvastatin treatment reduced glomerular damage due to improvement in the inflammatory pattern independent of the systolic blood pressure and serum lipid level. These effects may lead to improvements in the treatment of kidney disease.
Joint illumination and visible-Light Communication systems: Data rates and extra power consumption

Visible Light Communications (VLC) have been promoted as an energy-efficient Gb/s-technology for indoor settings, since VLC can be merged with the illumination functionality. As a result, Joint Illumination and visible-light Communication (JIC) systems are perceived as a green technology and the research on VLC mainly focuses on increasing the data rates. In this paper, we demonstrate that the communication functionality of JIC systems comes always with an extra power consumption compared to illumination-only systems due to fundamental limitations in the LED sources operation. Furthermore, our analysis shows that apart from the LED sources, the extra power consumption of JIC systems depends on the illumination pattern and the JIC drivers. Finally, by examining jointly the maximum transmission rates (communication capacity) of JIC systems and their power consumption, we are able to judge their power efficiency compared to other competing technologies and determine potential application areas.
Relationship Between Anemia and Mortality Outcomes in a National Acute Coronary Syndrome Cohort: Insights From the UK Myocardial Ischemia National Audit Project Registry

Background We aim to determine the prevalence of anemia in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients and compare their clinical characteristics, management, and clinical outcomes to those without anemia in an unselected national ACS cohort. Methods and Results The Myocardial Ischemia National Audit Project (MINAP) registry collects data on all adults admitted to hospital trusts in England and Wales with diagnosis of an ACS. We conducted a retrospective cohort study by analyzing patients in this registry between January 2006 and December 2010 and followed them up until August 2011. Multiple logistic regressions were used to determine factors associated with anemia and the adjusted odds of 30‐day mortality with 1 g/dL incremental hemoglobin increase and the 30‐day and 1‐year mortality for anemic compared to nonanemic groups. Analyses were adjusted for covariates. Our analysis of 422 855 patients with ACS showed that 27.7% of patients presenting with ACS are anemic and that these patients are older, have a greater prevalence of renal disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and previous acute myocardial infarction, and are less likely to receive evidence‐based therapies shown to improve clinical outcomes. Finally, our analysis suggests that anemia is independently associated with 30‐day (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.22‐1.35) and 1‐year mortality (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.27‐1.35), and we observed a reverse J‐shaped relationship between hemoglobin levels and mortality outcomes. Conclusions The prevalence of anemia in a contemporary national ACS cohort is clinically significant. Patients with anemia are older and multimorbid and less likely to receive evidence‐based therapies shown to improve clinical outcomes, with the presence of anemia independently associated with mortality outcomes.
An Unsupervised Method for Discovering Lexical Variations in Roman Urdu Informal Text

We present an unsupervised method to find lexical variations in Roman Urdu informal text. Our method includes a phonetic algorithm UrduPhone, a featurebased similarity function, and a clustering algorithm Lex-C. UrduPhone encodes roman Urdu strings to their phonetic equivalent representations. This produces an initial grouping of different spelling variations of a word. The similarity function incorporates word features and their context. Lex-C is a variant of k-medoids clustering algorithm that group lexical variations. It incorporates a similarity threshold to balance the number of clusters and their maximum similarity. We test our system on two datasets of SMS and blogs and show an f-measure gain of up to 12% from baseline systems.
Highly Constrained Intergenic Drosophila Ultraconserved Elements Are Candidate ncRNAs

Eukaryotes contain short (∼80–200 bp) regions that have few or no substitutions among species that represent hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary divergence. These ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are candidates for containing essential functions, but their biological roles remain largely unknown. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of UCEs from 12 sequenced Drosophila species. We identified 98 elements ≥80 bp long with very high conservation across the Drosophila phylogeny. Population genetic analyses reveal that these UCEs are not present in mutational cold spots. Instead we infer that they experience a level of selective constraint almost 10-fold higher compared with missense mutations in protein-coding sequences, which is substantially higher than that observed previously for human UCEs. About one-half of these Drosophila UCEs overlap the transcribed portion of genes, with many of those that are within coding sequences likely to correspond to sites of ADAR-dependent RNA editing. For the remaining UCEs that are in nongenic regions, we find that many are potentially capable of forming RNA secondary structures. Among ten chosen for further analysis, we discovered that the majority are transcribed in multiple tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. We conclude that Drosophila species are rich with UCEs and that many of them may correspond to novel noncoding RNAs.
Normative data for neurodiagnostic Auditory Brainstem Response testing (ABR)

Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) tests are procedures routinely performed to assess auditory function from the peripheral auditory system to the level of the lower brainstem. The ABR is used as a neurodiagnostic tool to detect retrocochlear pathologies of the auditory system, such as space occupying lesions, tumors, auditory neuropathy, and multiple sclerosis that effect the structures located above the level of the cochlea. An ABR consists of eliciting and recording waveforms. These waveform recordings elicited are compared to normative data to determine normal versus abnormal (retrocochlear lesion) responses. Generalized normative data is available for ABR test results; however, research states it is important for each audiological clinical facility to develop its own set of standardized norms for each piece of testing equipment. Normative data has not been developed for the Nicolet Testing System, which is currently being used for ABR testing at Louisiana Tech University Speech and Hearing Center. This study consisted of developing normative data for the Nicolet Testing System. In this study, ABR testing was performed on ten adult males and ten adult females. Ail participants were between the ages of 18-35 years. All participants also had normal outer and middle ear function and normal hearing sensitivity. Normative data was developed for the male group, the female group, and both groups combined. Means and standard
Dynamic module partitioning for library based placement on heterogeneous FPGAs

Library based design and IP reuse have been previously proposed to speed up the synthesis for large-scale FPGA designs. However, previous library based design flow faces several unresolved challenges. Firstly, they may result in large waste area between the modules due to the difference in module sizes. While utilizing multiple ratio modules can help to reduce the waste area, pre-synthesis each module for different ratios is time consuming and would require a large library. Secondly, when the targeting FPGA architecture changes, a new library is needed to best fit the targeting architecture. Re-synthesizing the library for different architectures is not feasible. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose a dynamic module partitioning approach for the library based design flow to dynamically generate the appropriate shape of modules based on single-ratio modules in the library while efficiently utilizing the pre-placement module information. A set of rules are developed to select the most suitable module and determine the partition to minimize the area and delay of the placement without increasing much of the synthesis time. The proposed approach can adapt to different architectures and also address the fixed-outline constraint. Experiment results show that our approach can reduce the area by up to 10% with reasonably increased delay under acceptable runtime.
Cytokines and Type 1 Diabetes: A Numbers Game

Cytokines are protein mediators of intercellular stress communication with autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine modes of action. Hormones differ from cytokines by being produced in specialized glandular organs, by not all being proteins, and by their homeostatic properties. Virtually all nucleated cells produce and respond to cytokines under defined conditions, mainly in response to stress signals and in parallel to their differentiated functions. The cytokine group of molecules encompasses several hundred individual protein moieties, including 37 interleukins (ILs) and a multitude of chemokines. Many of these molecules have redundant functions whereas others elicit specific cellular reactions. It is debated whether cytokines also have homeostatic properties, i.e., contribute to the maintenance of normal cellular physiology. Cytokines are central mediators of inflammation by controling innate and adaptive immune responses as well as tissue damage, defense, repair, and remodeling. Type 1 diabetes is an inflammatory disease of the pancreatic islet, in which insulin-producing β-cells are preferentially destroyed to varying degrees by the concerted action of autoreactive T-cells and monocytic cells (1). Despite huge research efforts over the past 40 years, no therapy targeting pathogenetic events in type 1 diabetes has attained routine clinical utility. A number of cytokines have been shown to be important for the development of type 1 diabetes both at the level of the immune system and at the level of the target β-cells (2,3). The actual mechanism of β-cell destruction is still unclear, and classical T-cell effector pathways as well as many proinflammatory cytokines have been proven dispensable in transgenic animal models. Only a few …
Hand2 Loss-of-Function in Hand1-Expressing Cells Reveals Distinct Roles in Epicardial and Coronary Vessel Development

Rationale: The basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors Hand1 and Hand2 are essential for embryonic development. Given their requirement for cardiogenesis, it is imperative to determine their impact on cardiovascular function. Objective: To deduce the role of Hand2 within the epicardium. Method and Results: We engineered a Hand1 allele expressing Cre recombinase. Cardiac Hand1 expression is largely limited to cells of the primary heart field, overlapping little with Hand2 expression. Hand1 is expressed within the septum transversum, and the Hand1 lineage marks the proepicardial organ and epicardium. To examine Hand factor functional overlap, we conditionally deleted Hand2 from Hand1-expressing cells. Hand2 mutants display defective epicardialization and fail to form coronary arteries, coincident with altered extracellular matrix deposition and Pdgfr expression. Conclusions: These data demonstrate a hierarchal relationship whereby transient Hand1 septum transversum expression defines epicardial precursors that are subsequently dependent on Hand2 function.
Killing two birds with one stone

It is shown that the problem of finding the biconnected components of an undirected graph is, in a certain sense, a special case of the problem of finding the strongly connected components of a directed graph. Therefore, the linear-time algorithm for the former can be derived from the linear-time algorithm for the latter.
Smoking cessation in methadone maintenance.

AIMS To evaluate relapse prevention (relapse prevention) and contingency management (contingency management) for optimizing smoking cessation outcomes using nicotine replacement therapy for methadone-maintained tobacco smokers. DESIGN Experimental, 2 (relapse prevention)x2 (contingency management) repeated measures design using a platform of nicotine replacement therapy featuring a 2-week baseline period, followed by randomization to 12 weeks of treatment, and 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. SETTING Three narcotic treatment centers in Los Angeles. PARTICIPANTS One hundred and seventy-five participants who met all inclusion and no exclusion criteria. INTERVENTION Participants received 12 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy and assignment to one of four conditions: patch-only, relapse prevention + patch, contingency management + patch and relapse prevention + contingency management + patch. MEASUREMENTS Thrice weekly samples of breath (analyzed for carbon monoxide) and urine (analyzed for metabolites of opiates and cocaine) and weekly self-reported numbers of cigarettes smoked. FINDINGS Participants (73.1%) completed 12 weeks of treatment. During treatment, those assigned to receive contingency management showed statistically higher rates of smoking abstinence than those not assigned to receive contingencies (F3,4680=6.3, P=0.0003), with no similar effect observed for relapse prevention. At follow-up evaluations, there were no significant differences between conditions. Participants provided more opiate and cocaine-free urines during weeks when they met criteria for smoking abstinence than during weeks when they did not meet these criteria (F1,2054=14.38, P=0.0002; F1,2419=16.52, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Contingency management optimized outcomes using nicotine replacement therapy for reducing cigarette smoking during treatment for opiate dependence, although long-term effects are not generally maintained. Findings document strong associations between reductions in cigarette smoking and reductions in illicit substance use during treatment.
Inteligência e aprendizagem:: Dos seus relacionamentos à sua promoção

A investigacao tradicional em Psicologia sobre inteligencia toma esta como uma caracteristica interna e abstrata da mente e a sua relacao com o desempenho escolar num unico sentido, ou seja, da inteligencia para o rendimento. As teorias sobre os estilos cognitivos e as variaveis socio-cognitivas do desempenho, ilustram-nos a importância das estrategias cognitivas e das variaveis pessoais na explicacao do funcionamento cognitivo. Estes aspectos, assim como o conhecimento do proprio impacto das aprendizagens escolares na inteligencia, permitem-nos defender uma pratica pedagogica e uma pratica psicologica mais orientadas para a promocao do desenvolvimento cognitivo dos alunos. Finalmente,apresentam-se os fundamentos teoricos, a estrutura, as atividadese os procedimentos inerentes a um programa de treino cognitivo que esta a ser aplicado em Portugal, junto dos alunos do 7° ao 9° ano de escolaridade.
Who can replace Xavi? A passing motif analysis of football players

Traditionally, most of football statistical and media coverage has been focused almost exclusively on goals and (ocassionally) shots. However, most of the duration of a football game is spent away from the boxes, passing the ball around. The way teams pass the ball around is the most characteristic measurement of what a team's "unique style" is. In the present work we analyse passing sequences at the player level, using the different passing frequencies as a "digital fingerprint" of a player's style. The resulting numbers provide an adequate feature set which can be used in order to construct a measure of similarity between players. Armed with such a similarity tool, one can try to answer the question: Who might possibly replace Xavi at FC Barcelona?
Dose-Response Effects of Intravenous Clonidine on Stress Response During Induction of Anesthesia in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Patients

This study was designed to evaluate the dose-response effects of different doses of clonidine on the stress response to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation. In a randomized, double-blind study, 48 coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients received 0, 2, 4, or 6 micro gram/kg clonidine as an intravenous (IV) infusion during a 15-min period 30 min prior to induction of anesthesia with etomidate (0.3 mg/kg), fentanyl (5-7 micro gram/kg), and pancuronium (0.1 mg/kg). Sedation was assessed prior to induction of anesthesia. Cardiovascular variables and catecholamine plasma levels were measured at predefined intervals. Additional bolus doses of etomidate and fentanyl for suppression of stress-induced reactions were administered if predefined limits of heart rate and blood pressure were exceeded. Clonidine 4 and 6 micro gram/kg significantly attenuated hemodynamic and adrenergic reactions to stress, reduced pharmacologic interventions, and increased sedation. However, clonidine 6 micro gram/kg was not more effective than 4 micro gram/kg, and clonidine 2 micro gram/kg was equally effective as placebo. We conclude that clonidine 4 micro gram/kg IV is the appropriate dose to attenuate the stress response to laryngoscopy in CABG patients. Side effects limiting the use of IV clonidine were not observed. (Anesth Analg 1995;80:263-8)
Business ethics and the role of context: institutionalism, history and comparisons in the Asia Pacific region

Abstract The role of business ethics is important and key to organizations and management. To what extent business ethics are actually new or fashionable or universally applicable is an interesting question. Business ethics can usefully use the explanatory power of New Institutionalism and Modes of Exchange as Asia has been a rich ground of contests between competing economic and ethical views of how economic norms and institutions are organized. Explaining the evolutionary similarities and differences of institutionalizing business ethics in this region was the context of history and comparisons to better ground business ethics literature, both empirically and theoretically.
Photosynthetic carbon reduction pathway is absent in chloroplasts of Vicia faba guard cells.

Four cell types from Vicia faba Linnaeus "Long Pod" leaflets were assayed for three enzymes unique to the photosynthetic carbon reduction pathway. The enzymes were ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase [3-phospho-D-glycerate carboxy-lyase (dimerizing), EC 4.1. 1.39], phosphoribulokinase (ATP:D-ribulose-5-phosphate 1-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.19), and glyceraldehyde-phosphate dehydrogenase (NADP(+)) (phosphorylating) [D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate:NADP(+) oxidoreductase (phosphorylating), EC 1.2. 1.13]. On a dry weight basis, these enzyme activities were about twice as high in palisade as in spongy parenchyma. Two of the enzymes were not detected in epidermal cells and the other was present in only a trace amount. In guard cells, these enzyme activities were absent or present at les than 1% of the amount in palisade cells. Immunoelectrophoresis showed that ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase was absent in extracts of guard cell protoplasts. Microscopy confirmed the abundance of typical guard cell chloroplasts. These results demonstrate the absence of the photosynthetic carbon reduction pathway in guard cell chloroplasts. This is the only chloroplast type known to be deficient in this pathway in plants whose primary CO(2) acceptor is ribulose bisphosphate. Possible reasons for the absence of this pathway in guard cells are discussed.