Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are we making progress in the war on cancer?

Traveling around the USA and, indeed, the world in 2004–2005 as President of the American Cancer Society (ACS), I was frequently asked to address the issue of whether there has been measurable ‘progress in the war on cancer. ’ In the mid-1990s, the ACS established strategic directions and set the following 2015 goals for the USA: (1) to reduce age-adjusted cancer mortality by 50%; (2) to reduce age-adjusted cancer incidence by 25%; and (3) to measurably improve the quality of life for cancer survivors. It was estimated at that time that, if the goals were achieved, there would be 5 million fewer deaths and 6 million fewer cancers, while having a significant impact on quality of life for those afflicted with cancer. A recent interim analysis has been completed, which well informs the question at hand [1]. From 1991 to 2001, cancer mortality decreased in the USA by 9.1%. Projection of the mortality curve out to 2015 estimated that there would be a 23.1% overall ageadjusted mortality rate reduction by 2015, if the current trends were to remain unchanged. Thus, if the analysis were to hold true, the USA would only reach about onehalf of the goal for the nation to reduce cancer mortality by 50%. Even though the mortality reduction was below goal, the decrease of 9.1% from 1991 to 2001 meant that over 250,000 Americans were home for dinner instead of being dead from cancer. In 2006, the most common causes of cancer mortality were estimated to be lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer in men and lung, breast, and colorectal cancer in women. A review of the mortality data from these cancers provides instructive insight into the future program of work in cancer control.
Vaccination against Chlamydia Genital Infection Utilizing the Murine C. muridarum Model

ABSTRACT Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection is a worldwide public health problem, and considerable effort has been expended on developing an efficacious vaccine. The murine model of C. muridarum genital infection has been extremely useful for identification of protective immune responses and in vaccine development. Although a number of immunogenic antigens have been assessed for their ability to induce protection, the majority of studies have utilized the whole organism, the major outer membrane protein (MOMP), or the chlamydial protease-like activity factor (CPAF). These antigens, alone and in combination with a variety of immunostimulatory adjuvants, have induced various levels of protection against infectious challenge, ranging from minimal to nearly sterilizing immunity. Understanding of the mechanisms of natural infection-based immunity and advances in adjuvant biology have resulted in studies that are increasingly successful, but a vaccine licensed for use in humans has not yet been brought to fruition. Here we review immunity to chlamydial genital infection and vaccine development using the C. muridarum model.
Bio-inspired algorithms for optimal feature subset selection

Feature subset selection is one of the most important tasks for the success of pattern classification, data mining or machine learning applications. The basic objective of feature subset selection is to reduce the dimensionality of the problem while retaining the most discriminatory information necessary for accurate classification. Thus it is necessary to evaluate feature subsets for their ability to discriminate different classes of pattern. Now the fact that “two best features do not comprise the best feature subset of two features” demands evaluation of all possible subset of features to find out the best feature subset. If the number of features increases, the number of possible feature subsets grows exponentially leading to a combinatorial optimization problem. Biologically inspired evolutionary algorithms are known to be well suited for optimization problems and recently research in this direction is gaining momentum. In this talk, I am going to present an overview of proposed feature subset selection algorithms based on biologically inspired approaches, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and their hybrids.
Design and Evaluation of a Team Mutual Awareness Toolkit for Digital Interfaces of Nuclear Power Plant Context

ABSTRACT In the teamwork of nuclear power plants (NPPs), the maintenance of mutual awareness enables the operators to have an up-to-the-moment understanding of each other’s work and makes the collaboration more efficient. Providing interface support for mutual awareness is proven to be an effective way to enhance the operators’ mutual awareness in digital systems. What mutual awareness-relevant information to provide and how to present the information on the display are two questions worth studying. This research focused on the above two questions and provided a newly designed mutual awareness toolkit on the context of digital interfaces in NPPs. The usability of the designed toolkit was evaluated through a laboratory experiment. The influence of the mutual awareness toolkit on team performance and its interaction effect with task complexity was further examined under incident scenarios. The results showed that the designed mutual awareness toolkit improved the operators’ mutual awareness, while it did not decrease their individual situation awareness (SA) or impose extra mental workloads. In team diagnosis tasks, the teams using the mutual awareness toolkit more thoroughly discussed the incident scenarios and identified more key points of the incidents. The diagnosis correctness, perhaps moderated by other factors besides mutual awareness, was not significantly improved.
Hierarchical Probabilistic Forecasting of Electricity Demand With Smart Meter Data

Abstract Decisions regarding the supply of electricity across a power grid must take into consideration the inherent uncertainty in demand. Optimal decision-making requires probabilistic forecasts for demand in a hierarchy with various levels of aggregation, such as substations, cities, and regions. The forecasts should be coherent in the sense that the forecast of the aggregated series should equal the sum of the forecasts of the corresponding disaggregated series. Coherency is essential, since the allocation of electricity at one level of the hierarchy relies on the appropriate amount being provided from the previous level. We introduce a new probabilistic forecasting method for a large hierarchy based on UK residential smart meter data. We find our method provides coherent and accurate probabilistic forecasts, as a result of an effective forecast combination. Furthermore, by avoiding distributional assumptions, we find that our method captures the variety of distributions in the smart meter hierarchy. Finally, the results confirm that, to ensure coherency in our large-scale hierarchy, it is sufficient to model a set of lower-dimension dependencies, rather than modeling the entire joint distribution of all series in the hierarchy. In achieving coherent and accurate hierarchical probabilistic forecasts, this work contributes to improved decision-making for smart grids. Supplementary materials for this article, including a standardized description of the materials available for reproducing the work, are available as an online supplement.
Nonexponential relaxation in spin glasses and glassy systems.

We discuss nonexponential relaxation in spin glasses and glasses above the ordering temperature ${T}_{g}$ in terms of the morphology of the set of available states in configuration space. Data from simulations on Ising spin glasses and from experiments on a variety of real glassy systems (spin glasses, a polymer, a molten salt, an organic liquid, and an ionic conductor) show behavior very similar to that suggested by the model.
Understanding the Communication through Visible Light and its Application

Wireless optical technology like visible light communication is a new approach in terms of security, speed, usability, bandwidth and flexibility for data communication. More and more people with their devices access wireless internet today, due to which clogged airwaves are going to make transmission slow and is full of interference. The solution to this problem of slow speed is that data is to transmitted through light i.e. through" illumination" which means taking the fibre out of fibre optic and sending data through an LED light bulb that varies in intensity very quickly. It uses the similar idea that is used in infrared remote controls. Transmission through light is more powerful. This paper is the study of the transmission of data through light emitting diode i.e. visible light communication and its applications.
Self‐Similarity and the Species‐Area Relationship

Self‐similar distributions of species across a landscape have been proposed as one potential cause of the well‐known species‐area relationship. The best known of these proposals is in the form of a probability rule for species occurrence. The application of this rule to the number of species occurring in primary well‐shaped rectangles within the landscape gives rise to a discrete power law for species‐area relationships. However, this result requires a specific scheme for bisecting the landscape to generate the rectangles. Some additional, more general consequences of the probability rule are presented here. These include the result that the number of species in a well‐shaped rectangle depends on its location, not just on its area. In addition, a self‐similar landscape contains well‐shaped rectangles that are, in fact, not self‐similar. The probability rule in general produces testable predictions about how and where species are distributed that are independent of the power law.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: Mechanisms, Clinical Application and Evidence

• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive, inexpensive, self-administered technique to relieve pain. • There are few side effects and no potential for overdose so patients can titrate the treatment as required. • TENS techniques include conventional TENS, acupuncture-like TENS and intense TENS. In general, conventional TENS is used in the first instance. • The purpose of conventional TENS is to selectively activate large diameter non-noxious afferents (A-beta) to reduce nociceptor cell activity and sensitization at a segmental level in the central nervous system. • Pain relief with conventional TENS is rapid in onset and offset and is maximal when the patient experiences a strong but non-painful paraesthesia beneath the electrodes. Therefore, patients may need to administer TENS throughout the day. • Clinical experience suggests that TENS may be beneficial as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for acute pain although systematic reviews are conflicting. Clinical experience and systematic reviews suggest that TENS is beneficial for chronic pain.
Identification of responders and reactive domains to rivastigmine in Alzheimer's disease

Presently, it is unclear which patients suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (AD) respond to rivastigmine and if rivastigmine acts on specific cognitive domains. The aims of this study are thus to investigate treatment effects of rivastigmine on specific cognitive domains and to find possible responsive subpopulations to rivastigmine cognitive effects.
Synthesis of progesterone in Schwann cells: regulation by sensory neurons

In peripheral nerves, progesterone synthesized by Schwann cells has been implicated in myelination. In spite of such an important function, little is known of the regulation of progesterone biosynthesis in the nervous system. We show here that in rat Schwann cells, expression of the 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and formation of progesterone are dependent on neuronal signal. Levels of 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA and synthesis of [3H]progesterone from [3H]pregnenolone were low in purified Schwann cells prepared from neonatal rat sciatic nerves. However, when Schwann cells were cultured in contact with sensory neurons, both expression and activity of the 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase were induced. Regulation of 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase expression by neurons was also demonstrated in vivo in the rat sciatic nerve. 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA was present in the intact nerve, but could no longer be detected 3 or 6 days after cryolesion, when axons had degenerated. After 15 days, when Schwann cells made new contact with the regenerating axons, the enzyme was re‐expressed. After nerve transection, which does not allow axonal regeneration, 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA remained undetectable. The regulation of 3β‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase mRNA after lesion was similar to the regulation of myelin protein zero (P0) and peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) mRNAs, supporting an important role of locally formed progesterone in myelination.
Atomistic to continuum limits for computational materials science

The present article is an overview of some mathematical results, which provide elements of rigorous basis for some multiscale computations in materials science. The emphasis is laid upon atomistic to continuum limits for crystalline materials. Various mathematical approaches are addressed. The setting is stationary. The relation to existing techniques used in the engineering literature is investigated.
Young unwed fathers of afdc children: do they provide support?

We examine the support provided by fathers of children born to disadvantaged teenage mothers. Our sample includes the fathers of 6,009 children born over a two-year period to 3,855 teenage mothers receiving AFDC in three economically depressed inner cities. These fathers provide little social and economic support to their children. Support declines as their children age from infants to toddlers and as fathers’ relationships with the mothers grow more distant. Fathers’ employment status and educational attainment positively affect the amount of economic support that they provide but do not strongly influence the amount of social support they provide.
Recovery of gold from computer circuit board scrap using aqua regia

Computer circuit board scrap was first treated with one part concentrated nitric acid and two parts water at 70°C for 1 h. This step dissolved the base metals, thereby liberating the chips from the boards. After solid—liquid separation, the chips, intermixed with some metallic flakes and tin oxide precipitate, were mechanically crushed to liberate the base and precious metals contained within the protective plastic or ceramic chip cases. The base metals in this crushed product were dissolved by leaching again with the same type of nitric acid—water solution. The remaining solid constituents, crushed chips and resin, plus solid particles of gold, were leached with aqua regia at various times and temperatures. Gold was precipitated from the leachate with ferrous sulphate.
Galectin-3 Phosphorylation Is Required for Its Anti-apoptotic Function and Cell Cycle Arrest*

Galectin-3, a β-galactoside-binding protein, is implicated in cell growth, adhesion, differentiation, and tumor progression by interactions with its ligands. Recent studies have revealed that galectin-3 suppresses apoptosis and anoikis that contribute to cell survival during metastatic cascades. Previously, it has been shown that human galectin-3 undergoes post-translational signaling modification of Ser6 phosphorylation that acts as an “on/off” switch for its sugar-binding capability. We questioned whether galectin-3 phosphorylation is required for its anti-apoptotic function. Serine to alanine (S6A) and serine to glutamic acid (S6E) mutations were produced at the casein kinase I phosphorylation site in galectin-3. The cDNAs were transfected into a breast carcinoma cell line BT-549 that innately expresses no galectin-3. Metabolic labeling revealed that only wild type galectin-3 undergoes phosphorylation in vivo. Expression of Ser6 mutants of galectin-3 failed to protect cells from cisplatin-induced cell death and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase from degradation when compared with wild type galectin-3. The non-phosphorylated galectin-3 mutants failed to protect cells from anoikis with G1 arrest when cells were cultured in suspension. In response to a loss of cell-substrate interactions, only cells expressing wild type galectin-3 down-regulated cyclin A expression and up-regulated cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, i.e.p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1 expression levels. These results demonstrate that galectin-3 phosphorylation regulates its anti-apoptotic signaling activity.
Diltiazem in the treatment of hypertension and ischemic heart disease

Treatment of patients with hypertension and ischemic heart disease should be focused not only on the control of overall cardiovascular risk factors, particularly blood pressure, but also on eliminating anginal symptoms, or at least reducing them, as angina symptoms have a crucial prognostic value. Although the amount of blood pressure reduction, rather than the choice of antihypertensive drug, is the major determinant of reduction of cardiovascular risk, some drugs such as β-blockers should be preferably used in patients with angina. However, β-blockers are contraindicated or produce intolerable side effects in many patients. Although, in the last years, new drugs for the treatment of stable angina have emerged, diltiazem should remain as a good alternative in the treatment of these patients. In this article, available evidence regarding diltiazem in the treatment of hypertension and ischemic heart disease is updated.
Optimisation de la locomotion de robots bas coût à pattes. (Optimizing locomotion on low-cost legged robots)

A promise of legged robots is being able walking on irregular or uneven oor. It is already used nowadays in education and entertainment applications. We introduce the Metabot platform, an open-source quadruped robot developped for education. This takes place in current technological context which allows, thanks to an access to fast prototyping and o -shelf components, building legged robots that were formerly only present in laboratories. This platform was used for teaching in secondary schools, allowing students to discover robotics, and especially programming. We then describe an environment designed to study legged robots locomotion, extending the expert controller designed for Metabot. We realized some physics simulation experiments and analyzed it to get a better understanding of the legged locomotion underlying rules. At last, we get a closer look at biped locomotion, for which stability problems arise. When developping our Sigmaban platform, a small-sized humanoid robot created to participate in RoboCup soccer, we designed foot pressure sensors that allow us to estimate the robot center of pressure. We exploit these sensors to improve the lateral stability on the robot, creating a closed-loop walk. Optimisation de la locomotion de robots bas coût à pattes iii
Expression of chondrocyte markers by cells of normal and degenerate intervertebral discs

Aims: To investigate the phenotype of cells in normal and degenerate intervertebral discs by studying the expression of molecules characteristic of chondrocytes in situ. Methods: Human intervertebral discs taken at surgery were graded histologically, and classified on this basis as normal or degenerate. Eighteen of each type were selected, and in situ hybridisation was performed for the chondrocytic markers Sox9 and collagen II using 35S labelled cDNA probes. Aggrecan was located by immunohistochemistry, using the monoclonal antibody HAG7E1, and visualised with an avidin–biotin peroxidase system. Results: In the normal discs, strong signals for Sox9 and collagen II mRNA, and strong staining for the aggrecan protein were seen for the cells of the nucleus pulposus (NP), but reactions were weak or absent over the cells of the annulus fibrosus (AF). In degenerate discs, the Sox9 and collagen II mRNA signals remained visible over the cells of the NP and were again absent in the AF. Aggrecan staining was not visible in the NP cells, and was again absent in the AF. Conclusions: Cells of the normal NP showed expression of all three markers, clearly indicating a chondrocytic phenotype. In degeneration, there was evidence of a loss of aggrecan synthesis, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of disc degeneration. AF cells showed no evidence of a chondrocytic phenotype in either normal or degenerate discs.
Nef Stimulates Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication in Primary T Cells by Enhancing Virion-Associated gp120 Levels: Coreceptor-Dependent Requirement for Nef in Viral Replication

ABSTRACT The Nef protein enhances human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication through an unknown mechanism. We and others have previously reported that efficient HIV-1 replication in activated primary CD4+ T cells depends on the ability of Nef to downregulate CD4 from the cell surface. Here we demonstrate that Nef greatly enhances the infectivity of HIV-1 particles produced in primary T cells. Nef-defective HIV-1 particles contained significantly reduced quantities of gp120 on their surface; however, Nef did not affect the levels of virion-associated gp41, indicating that Nef indirectly stabilizes the association of gp120 with gp41. Surprisingly, Nef was not required for efficient replication of viruses that use CCR5 for entry, nor did Nef influence the infectivity or gp120 content of these virions. Nef also inhibited the incorporation of CD4 into HIV-1 particles released from primary T cells. We propose that Nef, by downregulating cell surface CD4, enhances HIV-1 replication by inhibiting CD4-induced dissociation of gp120 from gp41. The preferential requirement for Nef in the replication of X4-tropic HIV-1 suggests that the ability of Nef to downregulate CD4 may be most important at later stages of disease when X4-tropic viruses emerge.
Environmental and Social Influences on Skin Test Results in Children

Skin test with 13 inhalant allergens were performed in 788 children with respiratory allergy. Positive reactions were common to animal danders (65%), to grass pollens (55%) and to tree pollens (44%) but rare to moulds (13%) and to house dust mite (12%). Children exposed to cows, dogs or horses at home more often had skin test reactions to the these allergens than the children not expose, but reactions to cat dander occured as frequently in children exposed to cat home as to those not exposed. Reactions to tree pollens occured most often in children from upper social classes and from urban and reactions to house dust mite occured most often in children from rural area. Children with positive reactions to house dust mite came from larger families than children with negative test results.
The exploitation of plant resources by Neanderthals in Amud Cave (Israel): The evidence from phytolith studies

The depositional environments of Amud Cave indicate that phytolith assemblages retrieved from the cave's sediments are an integral part of the Middle Palaeolithic sequence. As such, they provide direct evidence for plant use. The Amud Neanderthals emphasized both wood and grass exploitation. Ligneous parts of trees and shrubs were used mainly for fuel. Herbaceous plants were used for bedding, possibly fuel, and for food. There is clear and repetitive evidence for the exploitation of mature grass panicles, inferred to have been collected for their seeds. These findings suggest that, as with the pattern recently discerned for faunal resources, a broad spectrum of plants has been exploited from at least the end of the Middle Palaeolithic. Phytolith analysis now provides a tool for testing models explaining subsistence and mobility patterns during the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic and for better understanding the role of vegetal resources in shaping these patterns.