Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness and Adverse Effects profile of “Burst” Ketamine in Refractory Cancer Pain: The Vcog Pm 1-00 Study

This multi-centre study of adjuvant “burst” ketamine in palliative care in-patients documents its effectiveness, duration of pain relief, and adverse effects (AE) profile. Patients received a three-to-five day continuous subcutaneous infusion (CSCI) of ketamine escalated from 100 to 300 to 500 mg/24 hours if required. When the effective or maximum tolerated dose was attained, the infusion was continued for three days and each patient assessed as a responder or non-responder using strict criteria. The response rate was 22/44 (50 percent), with 4 (9 percent) becoming pain-free. Pain relief lasting two or more weeks was documented in 50 percent of responders. AEs were documented daily using the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Toxicity Criteria 0-4 scales. There were 11 grade 3 and 4 neurological AEs. However, no responders elected to cease treatment early due to neurological AEs. We concluded that this protocol in the controlled environment of an in-patient PC unit is relatively safe and simple with reasonable effectiveness.
Suspects' resistance to constraining and coercive questioning strategies in the police interview

Discussions of institutional discourse have frequently focused on asymmetrical power relationships between participants. However, although power and control have been the focus of much critical writing in discourse studies, far less attention has been paid to resistance as an interactional resource. This article uses a qualitative Hallidayan approach to explore questions and responses in an interview between police and Dr Harold Shipman, focusing on resistance strategies employed by him in relation to the institutionally more powerful interviewer. The interviewee actively resists powerful questions through contest, correction, avoidance and refusal, whilst negotiating the costs of resistance, such as challenge to the consensus of control and flouting of the Cooperative Principle (Grice 1975) that would result in presenting an uncooperative speaker. The interview is seen as a site of resistant struggle, where agreement and disagreement are actively negotiated and where each participant attempts to produce different goals and opposing roles.
An Evolutionary Theory Celebration of Male Sexual Arousal by Females: The Foundations of Male Heterosexuality. By Marvin Siegelman, Ph.D.

liberal, but it also comes from far older traditions. Sexologists will doubtless be familiar with classical Japanese pillow books and sexually explicit shunga prints, but may be less aware of a book like Dr. Sha Kokken’s 1964 sex manual with its copious illustrations and sales over the one million mark (Sha, 1964). Manga sex instruction dates back to 1970 and Marvelous Melmo, an animated cartoon based on a manga series from the creator of modern Japanese cartooning, Osamu Tezuka (Machiyama, 2002). Many manga are of considerable interest to sexology for their frank, unique, varied, and non-Western portrayal of sexual topics. For more on this theme and some recommended titles available in English, see Cornog and Perper (2005). We suspect that Step Up Love Story is not available in English because it probably appears too pornographic to mainstream U.S. manga publishers yet not pornographic enough to interest the major purveyors of erotic manga. But for you who took French in college, and for international readers who are native in this language, we invite you to experience this blend of sex entertainment and education. Step Up Love Story is by no means the perfect sex manual. For example, there doesn’t seem to be anything so far on the clitoris. In any case, Aki’s series does illustrate how engaging and information-rich this format can be in imparting information about sexuality. The French translation of Step Up Love Story can be ordered online from the French subsidiary of Amazon, www.amazon. fr. (The Japanese original can be purchased from www.jpgupen.com; search on ‘‘Futari Ecchi.’’ For a full list, ask to view unavailable items.) Unless you are a native speaker of French, you will quickly find that you will also need a good dictionary. We recommend Harrap’s French Dictionary, unabridged edition, volume 2: French–English (Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2001), www.harrap. co.uk. There you will find those French expressions you probably didn’t learn at school, such as canon ‘‘gorgeous,’’ il y a du monde au balcon, ‘‘she’s really stacked,’’ un(e) enfoiré(e), ‘‘bastard, fucker, bitch,’’ and draguer, ‘‘hit on, come on to. ’’ Unfortunately, one of the most intriguing terms, branlettes Espagnoles from episode 63 (literally, ‘‘Spanish wanks, Spanish masturbations’’), does not appear. Our translation, working from the context and drawings, is ‘‘pearl necklace’’ or ‘‘tit fuck. ’’
From Finite Automata to Regular Expressions and Back - A Summary on Descriptional Complexity

The equivalence of finite automata and regular expressions d ates back to the seminal paper of Kleene on events in nerve nets and finite automata from 1956. In the pr esent paper we tour a fragment of the literature and summarize results on upper and lower bounds on the conversion of finite automata to regular expressions and vice versa. We also briefly recall the known bounds for the removal of spontaneous transitions (e-transitions) on non-e-free nondeterministic devices. Moreover, we report on recent results on the average case descriptional complexity bounds for the conversion of regular expressions to finite automata and brand new developments on the state elimination algorithm that converts finite automata to regular expressions.
On Temperature Dependency of Delay for Local,Intermediate, and Repeater Inserted Global Copper Interconnects

Cryogenic technologies not only improve the performance of interconnects but also the performance of transistors and consequently drivers and repeaters. Although in cryogenically cooled integrated circuits the local temperature of interconnects and transistors may be as low as 50 K, it may easily reach to 600 K in high-temperature chips. In this brief, we investigated the impact of temperature on the delay of local, intermediate, unit-repeater-inserted (URI), and cascaded repeater-inserted (CRI) global copper interconnects for minimum technology node with available transistor model (32-nm technology). Our results show that temperature variation of driver resistance could change the delay of local and intermediate interconnects, respectively, down to -33% and -28% at low temperatures, and up to +240% and 232% at high temperatures relative to the room temperature delay. Moreover, while the contribution of temperature dependency of interconnect is negligible for local and intermediate layers, the temperature dependency of repeater and interconnect could vary the delay of URI and CRI global layer interconnect down to -23% and -38% at low temperatures, and up to +116% and +200% at high temperatures, respectively.
Evaluation of pitch estimation in noisy speech for application in non-intrusive speech quality assessment

Pitch estimation has a central role in many speech processing applications. In voiced speech, pitch can be objectively defined as the rate of vibration of the vocal folds. However, pitch is an inherently subjective quantity and cannot be directly measured from the speech signal. It is a nonlinear function of the signal's spectral and temporal energy distribution. A number of methods for pitch estimation have been developed but none can claim to work accurately in the presence of high levels of additive noise or reverberation. Any system of practical importance must be robust to additive noise and reverberation as these are encountered frequently in the field of operation of voice telecommunications systems. In non-intrusive speech quality measurement algorithms, such as the P.563 and LCQA, pitch is used as a feature for quality assessment. The accuracy of this feature in noisy speech signals will be shown to correlate with the accuracy of the objective measure of the quality of the speech signal. In this paper we evaluate the performance of four established state-of-the-art algorithms for pitch estimation in additive noise and reverberation. Furthermore, we show how accurate estimation of the pitch of a speech signal can influence objective speech quality measurement algorithms.
Malaria parasite density and splenic status by ultrasonography in stable sickle-cell anaemia (HbSS) children.

BACKGROUND To determine the relationship, if any, between malaria parasitaemia, parasite density and presence/size of the spleen, using abdominal ultrasonography in stable sickle cell anaemia subjects aged 6 to 15 years. METHODS A prospective study of one hundred consecutive sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and 100 matched healthy HbAA controls aged 6 to 15 years was undertaken. The presence of malaria parasite, and parasite density were determined using thick blood film. Splenic status was determined by using abdominal ultrasound. None of the children was symptomatic for malaria. RESULTS The prevalence of autosplenectomy and splenomegaly were 20% and 27% respectively in SCA subjects compared to 0% and 4% respectively in HbAA controls. Thirty percent and 34% of the SCA and controls respectively had malaria parasitaemia. In SCA subjects, the parasite density ranged from 33 to 4000 per microl with a mean of 1071.10 +/- 895.5 per microl. In HbAA controls, the parasite density ranged from 180 to 5150 per microl with a mean of 1759 +/- 1382.87 per microl. The difference in parasite density between SCA subjects and HbAA was significant p<0.05. The parasite densities were relatively higher among SCA with splenomegaly and normal spleen sizes compared to SCA subjects with autosplenectomy. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia is lower in healthy SCA subjects than in HBAA controls. Sickle cell anaemia subjects have lower malaria parasite density. Autosplenectomy may be a positive adaptation in SCA subjects with effective innate immunity to malaria.
Growth Following Adversity and Its Relation with Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Well-Being

Studies have shown that posttraumatic growth is associated with greater well-being. However, it is not clear whether posttraumatic growth is related to subjective well-being (SWB) or psychological well-being (PWB). Whereas SWB is derived from the hedonistic tradition, PWB is derived from the eudaimonic tradition. In a sample of 125 college students who had experienced a distressing event, we found evidence that growth is related to PWB rather than SWB.
Src family kinases maintain the balance between replication stress and the replication checkpoint

Progression of DNA replication is tightly controlled by replication checkpoints to ensure the accurate and rapid duplication of genetic information. Upon replication stress, the replication checkpoint slows global DNA replication by inhibiting the late‐firing origins and by slowing replication fork progression. Activation of the replication checkpoint has been studied in depth; however, little is known about the termination of the replication checkpoint. Here, we show that Src family kinases promote the recovery from replication checkpoints. shRNA knockdown of a Src family kinase, Lyn, and acute chemical inhibition of Src kinases prevented inactivation of Chk1 after removal of replication stress. Consistently, Src inhibition slowed resumption of DNA replication, after the removal of replication blocks. The effect of Src inhibition was not observed in the presence of an ATM/ATR inhibitor caffeine. These data indicate that Src kinases promote the resumption of DNA replication by suppressing ATR‐dependent replication checkpoints. Surprisingly, the resumption of replication was delayed by caffeine. In addition, Src inhibition delayed recovery from replication fork collapse. We propose that Src kinases maintain the balance between replication stress and the activity of the replication checkpoint.
Another R-tickle

In the hope of provoking discussion, an attempt is made to combine articulatory, perceptual and acoustic considerations in relating the observed variants of R to one another. An underlying, and in itself debatable point of departure for the discussion is that is a universal non-lateral liquid from which all R variants ultimately stem.
Deposition of Lignin Droplets Produced During Dilute Acid Pretreatment of Maize Stems Retards Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose

Electron microscopy of lignocellulosic biomass following high‐temperature pretreatment revealed the presence of spherical formations on the surface of the residual biomass. The hypothesis that these droplet formations are composed of lignins and possible lignin carbohydrate complexes is being explored. Experiments were conducted to better understand the formation of these “lignin” droplets and the possible implications they might have on the enzymatic saccharification of pretreated biomass. It was demonstrated that these droplets are produced from corn stover during pretreatment under neutral and acidic pH at and above 130 °C, and that they can deposit back onto the surface of residual biomass. The deposition of droplets produced under certain pretreatment conditions (acidic pH; T > 150 °C) and captured onto pure cellulose was shown to have a negative effect (5–20%) on the enzymatic saccharification of this substrate. It was noted that droplet density (per unit area) was greater and droplet size more variable under conditions where the greatest impact on enzymatic cellulose conversion was observed. These results indicate that this phenomenon has the potential to adversely affect the efficiency of enzymatic conversion in a lignocellulosic biorefinery.
Generalized tube model: recognizing 3D elongated objects from 2D intensity images

The issue of recognizing 3D elongated objects from 2D intensity images is addressed. A tube model, locally similar to generalized cones, is developed for the class of elongated objects. A recognition strategy that combines 2D contour properties and surface shading information is used to exploit the power of the 3D model. Reliable contours provide constraints for localizing the objects of interest. The theory of optimal filters is adopted in verifying the shading of hypothesized objects. Object recognition is achieved through optimizing the signal-to-noise response with respect to model parameters. A sweeping operation is proposed as a further stage of identifying objects so that the overall performance of the system does not heavily rely on the quality of local feature detection. <<ETX>>
Impact of SLCO1B1 (OATP1B1) and ABCG2 (BCRP) genetic polymorphisms and inhibition on LDL-C lowering and myopathy of statins

Statins are the preferred class of drugs for treating patients with atherosclerosis and related coronary heart disease. Treatment with statins leads to significant low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering, resulting in reductions in major coronary and vascular events. Statins are generally well tolerated and safe; however, their use is complicated by infrequent, but often serious, muscular adverse events. For many statins, both efficacy and risk of adverse muscle events can be influenced by membrane transporters, which are important determinants of statin disposition. Genetic polymorphisms and drug–drug interactions (DDIs) involving organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1B1 and breast cancer resistance protein have shown the capacity to reduce the activity of these transporters, resulting in changes in LDL-C lowering by statins, as well as changes in the frequency of adverse muscle events associated with their use. This review presents evidence for how reduced transporter activity impacts the safety and pharmacology of statins. It expands on the scope of other recent statin reviews by providing recommendations on in vitro evaluation of statin interaction potential, discussing how reduced transporter activity impacts statin management during drug development, and proposing ideas on how to evaluate the impact of DDI on statin efficacy during clinical trials. Furthermore, the potential clinical consequences of perturbing statin efficacy via DDI are discussed.
Spouses Under Stress: Group Meetings with Spouses of Patients on Hemodialysis

A psychiatrist met regularly for eight months with a small group of spouses of patients on hemodialysis, some of whom dialyzed their marital partners themselves. The group progressed from an initial state of panic and denial to one of more openness and interaction among members. The most striking accomplishment of the group was the spouses' progressively increasing sense of emotional separateness from their partners as they lessened their reliance on denial. At the same time, the role of the psychiatrist progressed from omnipotent leader to peer.
Situation analysis for cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment in east, central and southern African countries.

OBJECTIVE To determine the factors influencing cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment in countries of East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA). METHODS Data were collected from randomly selected primary health care centres, district and provincial hospitals, and tertiary hospitals in each participating country. Health care workers were interviewed, using a questionnaire; the facilities for screening, diagnosing, and treating cervical cancer in each institution were recorded, using a previously designed checklist. FINDINGS Although 95% of institutions at all health care levels in ECSA countries had the basic infrastructure to carry out cervical cytology screening, only a small percentage of women were actually screened. Lack of policy guidelines, infrequent supply of basic materials, and a lack of suitable qualified staff were the most common reasons reported. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that there is an urgent need for more investment in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer in ECSA countries. In these, and other countries with low resources, suitable screening programmes should be established.
New Trends in Algebraic Geometry: The geometry underlying mirror symmetry

The recent result of Strominger, Yau and Zaslow relating mirror symmetry to the quantum field theory notion of T-duality is reinterpreted as providing a way of geometrically characterizing which Calabi-Yau manifolds have mirror partners. The geometric description---that one Calabi-Yau manifold should serve as a compactified, complexified moduli space for special Lagrangian tori on the other Calabi-Yau manifold---is rather surprising. We formulate some precise mathematical conjectures concerning how these moduli spaces are to be compactified and complexified, as well as a definition of geometric mirror pairs (in arbitrary dimension) which is independent of those conjectures. We investigate how this new geometric description ought to be related to the mathematical statements which have previously been extracted from mirror symmetry. In particular, we discuss how the moduli spaces of the `mirror' Calabi-Yau manifolds should be related to one another, and how appropriate subspaces of the homology groups of those manifolds could be related. We treat the case of K3 surfaces in some detail.
Do Not Beg: Moving Beyond DNT through Privacy by Design

The Do Not Track header (henceforth DNT:1) seeks to provide privacy protections against third party tracking through user request and regulation. It is our position that while DNT:1 is potentially useful as a purely informational tool for browser vendors and service providers, enforcement of the header suffers from a number of issues including covert circumvention, enforcement jurisdiction, manipulation, regulatory capture
Impaired cytotoxic T lymphocyte recognition due to genetic variations in the main immunogenic region of the human immunodeficiency virus 1 NEF protein

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces strong responses from human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). In a previous report we identified an immunodominant region (amino acids 73-144) in the NEF protein that was recognized by CD8+ class I-restricted CTL of most asymptomatic individuals. Analysis of the 73-144 region by peptide sensitization, experiments using overlapping peptides corresponding to the LAI isolate identified the peptide sequences located between residues 73 and 82 or 84 and 92 and the peptide sequence between residues 134 and 144 as cognate peptides for HLA-A11- and HLA-B18-restricted epitopes, respectively. This report describes the variable demonstrable reactivities of CTL obtained from HLA-A11 or HLA-B18 seropositive, asymptomatic patients who all had a response to the virus NEF protein, but who did not always recognize appropriate cognate peptides. The high mutation rate of HIV probably facilitates the selection of mutants that can avoid the cellular immune response. We therefore analyzed the variability of these epitopes restricted by HLA-A11 and HLA-B18. We sequenced several viral isolates from HLA-A11 and HLA-B18 donors who recognized certain HLA-peptide complexes and from those who did not. A CTL sensitization assay was used to show that some mutations led to a great reduction in CTL activity in vitro. This might be due to failure of the mutated epitope to bind major histocompatibility complex class I molecule. A simple assay was used to detect peptides that promoted the assembly of class I molecules. Some of these mutations at major anchor positions prevented HLA-A11/peptide binding, and consequently impaired recognition of the HLA-peptide complex by the T cell receptor.
The Puzzling Case of School Resources and Student Achievement

Whether additional school spending translates to overall improved student learning remains unclear. One explanation for the mixed findings in the literature is the possibility that studies confound the effects of school resources with those of unobserved variables. We show that commonly used "value-added" models are misspecified when estimated using the National Education Longitudinal Study, which raises questions about whether previous value-added studies are unbiased. We also review a more recent literature that uses instrumental variables (IV) methods to address omitted variables bias. Most IV studies suggest that additional resources typically translate to (modest) gains in test scores and that the biases associated with value-added models are large enough to be of practical importance.
A pr 2 00 2 Hydrodynamics in an external field

The methods of statistical dynamics are applied to a fluid with 5 conserved fields (the mass, the energy, and three components of momentum) moving in a given external field. When the field is zero, we recover a previously derived system of parabolic partial differential equations, called 'corrections to fluid dynamics'.
Close encounters: spatial distances between people and a robot of mechanistic appearance

This paper presents the results from two empirical exploratory studies of human-robot interaction in the context of an initial encounter with a robot of mechanistic appearance. The first study was carried out with groups of children, and the second with single adults. The analysis concentrates on the personal space zones and initial distances between robot and humans, the context of the encounters and the human's perception of the robot as a social being. We discuss the results of these observations and analyses, and also compare the child and adult data. The child groups showed a dominant response to prefer the 'social zone' distance, comparable to distances people adopt when talking to other humans. From the single adult studies a small majority preferred the 'personal zone', reserved for talking to friends. However, significant minorities deviate from this pattern. Implications for future work are discussed