Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distance to health services affects local-level vaccine efficacy for pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) among rural Filipino children

Significance Although pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are widely available in industrialized nations, the cost of these vaccines and the strategy of universal vaccination of infants, as endorsed by the World Health Organization, are daunting obstacles to the adoption of these vaccines in developing countries. Using spatial epidemiological methods to examine the spatial variation in vaccine efficacy (VE) in an 11-valent PCV trial in Bohol, Philippines, we suggest an alternative strategy to universal vaccination. Our main finding suggests that areas with poor access to healthcare have the highest VE. An alternative vaccination strategy could target vaccination to areas where children are most likely to benefit, rather than focus on nationwide immunization. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have demonstrated efficacy against childhood pneumococcal disease in several regions globally. We demonstrate how spatial epidemiological analysis of a PCV trial can assist in developing vaccination strategies that target specific geographic subpopulations at greater risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind vaccine trial that examined the efficacy of an 11-valent PCV among children less than 2 y of age in Bohol, Philippines. Trial data were linked to the residential location of each participant using a geographic information system. We use spatial interpolation methods to create smoothed surface maps of vaccination rates and local-level vaccine efficacy across the study area. We then measure the relationship between distance to the main study hospital and local-level vaccine efficacy, controlling for ecological factors, using spatial autoregressive models with spatial autoregressive disturbances. We find a significant amount of spatial variation in vaccination rates across the study area. For the primary study endpoint vaccine efficacy increased with distance from the main study hospital from −14% for children living less than 1.5 km from Bohol Regional Hospital (BRH) to 55% for children living greater than 8.5 km from BRH. Spatial regression models indicated that after adjustment for ecological factors, distance to the main study hospital was positively related to vaccine efficacy, increasing at a rate of 4.5% per kilometer distance. Because areas with poor access to care have significantly higher VE, targeted vaccination of children in these areas might allow for a more effective implementation of global programs.
ESTIMATING THE BENEFITS OF TOURISM

Travel cost and contingent valuation methods are applied to the problem of estimating the potential consumer surpltrs avai! abfe to international nature tourists from a rain forest conservation project in Madagascar. Data are derived from srrrveys of nature tourists in Madagascar and international, nature tolrrism professionals in the U.S. and Europe. Typical trip travel cost models are used to estimate changes in nature tourists’ consumer surplus when a new national park is developed for nature tourism. The results are compared with contingent valuation analysis of the willingness-to-pay of nature tourists to inclttde the new national park in their current trip to Madagascar.
PROGNOSTIC FACTORS FOR RADIOSURGERY TREATMENT OF TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA

OBJECTIVETrigeminal neuralgia treatment results are thought to be highly dependent upon selection criteria. We retrospectively analyzed a series of patients to determine the likelihood of treatment success for patients treated with radiosurgery. METHODSA retrospective analysis of 82 patients treated with linear accelerator radiosurgery was undertaken with a median follow-up period of 18 months. Patients were evaluated with a standard inventory using the Barrow Neurological Institute pain scale as the primary means of outcome measurement. Patients were treated with a linear accelerator using a single isocenter plan delivered via a 4-mm collimator, typically with seven noncoplanar arcs to a peak dose of 85 or 90 Gy in primary treatments and 60 Gy in retreatments. The primary target was the cisternal component of the trigeminal nerve. Posttreatment outcomes were analyzed in light of pretreatment patient characteristics, including age, sex, anticonvulsant responsiveness, quality and pattern of pain, length of disease, number of previous procedures, and radiation dose exposure to the root entry zone. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to determine the prognostic significance of various pretreatment variables. RESULTSGood results as defined by a Barrow Neurological Institute outcome score of IIIb or better were seen in 85.3% of patients. Excellent results as defined by a Barrow Neurological Institute outcome score of I were seen in 49% of patients. The median time to satisfactory improvement of pain was 4 weeks. Only one variable, sensitivity to anticonvulsant medication, was found to be statistically significant in both univariate (P = 0.003) and multivariate analysis (P = 0.025). All other variables analyzed failed to reach statistical significance. Complications were not common, with seven patients (8.5%) developing new-onset hypoesthesia and two patients (2%) developing dry eye symptoms. CONCLUSIONAnticonvulsant responsiveness is the single most important prognostic indicator of treatment success for patients presenting with facial pain. Other predictive factors generally failed to reach statistical significance. Linear accelerator radiosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia is a safe and effective treatment for well-selected patients, with results similar to those obtained with gamma unit radiosurgery.
Retionic Acid and Its Receptors Are Required for Expression of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor mRNA and Embryonic Development of Blood Vessel and Bone in the Medaka Fish, Oryzias latipes

Abstract Retinoic acid (RA), the active derivative of vitamin A, is essential for normal embryonic development of vertebrates because both the lack and excess of RA result in developmental malformations. We previously reported that aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is also required for vascular and bone formation by regulating cytochrome P450 expression. However, little is known about the roles of retinoic acid receptors (RAR) and retinoid X receptors (RXR) in the embryonic development of blood vessels and molecular cross-talk between RAR/RXR and AHR. We report for the first time that RA and RAR/RXR are required for expression of AHR mRNA and the embryonic development of blood vessel and bone. The embryonic organogenesis of medaka fish was specifically inhibited by an inhibitor of RA synthesis (diethylaminobenzaldehyde), antagonists of RAR (Ro41-5253) and RXR (Ro71-4595), agonist (β-naphthoflavone) and antagonist (α-naphthoflavone) of AHR, and excess RA. These reagents are useful for future studies to elucidate molecular mechanisms for vascular and bone formation in the medaka embryogenesis. Our results also show that medaka embryos may be useful for screening inhibitors of vascular formation for anti-cancer drugs.
Academic Clustering: A Longitudinal Analysis of a Division I Football Program

As NCAA Division I coaches feel greater pressure to produce winning teams while ensuring that athletes remain eligible and progress toward degrees to avoid sanctions under the NCAA’s academic reform initiatives, concerns regarding the clustering of athletes into limited numbers of academic majors has increased. Academic clustering occurs when 25% or more of the members of one team share a single academic major (Case, Greer, & Brown, 1987). Recent studies have extended the analysis of clustering to include the disparate impact on white and minority football players in a single athletic conference (Fountain & Finley, 2009), as well as consideration of female basketball players throughout Division I (Paule, 2010). To date, these studies have provided a snapshot of teams for a given season. This study extends the understanding of clustering by examining one football program over a period of ten years, which allowed for greater understanding of the movement of players into and out of majors, especially the movement into a clustered major midway through their academic experience. Media guides from one BCS football program were used to track the listed majors of 349 players, from 2000 through 2009. Results indicated that players migrated into a single clustered major over time and that a significant number of touted recruits and National Football League draftees selected the clustered major. Further, players who had listed general education (University Studies) in their first media guide appearances frequently selected the clustered major.
Análisis del comportamiento bursátil de las principales bolsas financieras en el mundo usando el análisis multivariado (análisis de componentes principales PCA) para el periodo de 2011 a 2014

The objective of this research is to analyze the stock performance of 27 stock markets around the world, using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). This method allows grouping the correlated variables together, obtaining an orthogonal basis where the analysis and interpretation of data is easier. The data used was collected from the official website of Wall Street every day, at “close trading”, from 27 financial markets for the period 2011 - 2014. Then, the database was saved in excel, and after that the PCA method was applied in Matlab software. The Principal components are plotted in an orthogonal basis to represent the formation of groups based on their market performance. Among the results, the Singapore stock stands out due to its decreasing trend, while the Argentina stock protrudes for its rising trend. Both markets are distant from the container sets from other stock markets
Integrating Local Neighborhood Congestion and Path Stability into QoS Routing for Tactical Networks

Routing protocols for wireless Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) have been explored extensively in recent years. However, most of the work thus far has focused on finding a feasible route from a source to a destination in a timely and efficient manner without considering the impact on the transport performance of existing application traffic or the newly added flows. As a result, parts of the network become saturated with no means of adaptively compensating for or routing traffic around the overloaded areas, thereby lowering network efficiency. While this limitation may be acceptable for best-effort or delay-tolerant data transfers, real-time applications often require a certain level of Quality-of-Service (QoS) from the network. A comprehensive QoS-enabled MANET solution benefits from a QoS-aware routing scheme that considers the application's transport requirements and the data transport conditions of available paths. We propose a distributed multi-path QoS-aware routing scheme that leverages common MANET characteristics (e.g., neighborhood congestion and path stability) to meet the transport service requirements of real-time applications. The QoS routing scheme implements a method of superimposing distributed neighborhood congestion, neighborhood density, link stability and delay information over multiple discovered paths when calculating the next hop decision. In addition, the solution increases overall network capacity by using otherwise idle network resources. In this paper, we discuss multi-path discovery, the associated QoS metric calculations, and the QoS-aware path selection process.
Clinical features and treatment outcomes of advanced stage primary hepatic angiosarcoma.

BACKGROUND Primary hepatic angiosarcoma is a very rare malignancy with a poor prognosis. While surgical resection has been validated as curative choice, most cases are diagnosed too late for resection. Nonetheless, treatment protocols have not been established and also there are very few reports on the clinical features and treatment outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS Among 11,939 patients diagnosed with primary hepatic tumors from January 1985 to December 2007 at two centers, five patients were diagnosed with primary hepatic angiosarcoma. We analyzed patients' demographics, tumor characteristics, treatment modality, and outcomes using imaging, serology, and pathology. RESULTS All five patients were diagnosed at advanced stage with distant metastases. The most common symptom was abdominal pain. The levels of the tumor markers were within the normal range and serological tests were negative for hepatitis B and C viruses. Two of four patients who received chemotherapy died <3 months after diagnosis, but the other two patients survived >6 months. CONCLUSIONS A combination of chemotherapy resulted in an improved outcome for two of four patients, suggesting the potential usefulness of palliative chemotherapy to improve survival. This case study may aid in planning chemotherapy for patients with advanced hepatic angiosarcoma.
Genetic Diversity of the Japanese Wood Pigeon, Columba janthina, Endemic to Islands of East Asia, Estimated by Newly Developed Microsatellite Markers

The Japanese wood pigeon Columba janthina is endemic to islands of East Asia and is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). One subspecies, C. janthina nitens, in particular, is at the greatest risk of extinction due to its small population size. To reduce the extinction risk of C. janthina, it is important to understand the species' present genetic status and to develop an appropriate conservation plan based on genetic data. We developed seven new microsatellite markers for two subspecies of C. janthina: C. janthina janthina and C. janthina nitens. We also confirmed the cross-use of one microsatellite marker developed for Columba livia var. domestica. Seven loci were polymorphic in C. janthina janthina, while two loci were polymorphic in C. janthina nitens. Using the markers, we performed preliminary analysis of genetic diversity and genetic structure within each subspecies. The expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.64 in C. janthina janthina and from 0.00 to 0.08 in C. janthina nitens. Each subspecies and each population within C. janthina janthina had different allele frequencies. C. janthina nitens exhibited far lower genetic diversity than C. janthina janthina. Furthermore, C. janthina nitens appears to have experienced strong genetic drift from a common ancestral population, inferred by STRUCTURE analysis. The markers described here may be useful for investigating genetic diversity and genetic structure of C. janthina populations, and could be used to estimate appropriate evolutionary significant unit and to guide development of a captive breeding program based on genetic information.
Seismic borehole tomography&#8212;Measurement system and field studies

A system for seismic tomographic measurements is presented, and both hardware and software are described. The system is intended to operate in the distance range 100-1000 m. An explosive source is used to generate signals which are picked up by receivers at the surface and in boreholes. Tomographic results from two field experiments are presented. The first experiment concerns mapping of an ore body in a mine, whereas the second concerns rock quality determination.
Capturing heritage value through innovative mechanisms

Cultural heritage (CH) is a public good which is not traded in the market, thus market fails to indicate the true value of the CH, giving the impression that CH has zero or minimal economic value. Furthermore, the public good nature of CH has made the consumption of most CH to be FOC or at the minimum price; thus the revenues generated from consumption of CH is insufficient to maintain, what more to finance conservation of the CH. Without strong supports from government and public subsidy, the conservation of many important cultural assets are neglected or at best given lip service. People obtain significant benefits from CH in many forms, yet CH is threatened with degradation and destruction. Although several techniques to capture the economic value of the changes in CH, which are external to the market, have been developed but the validity and reliability of the values are often questioned. The present paper will discuss the use of the stated preference approach (CVM) to assess the economic value of CH and to deliberate on the issues and limitation of the approach. New innovative techniques are being further developed that take into account preferences for cultural assets that have wider ranging multifaceted concepts and different motivational concerns.
Origins of breath nitric oxide in humans.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Nitric oxide (NO) exists in the human breath, but little is known about its site of origin or enzyme source. The aims of this study were to locate the main site of NO release into human breath and to decide whether the inducible isoform of NO synthase (iNOS) and nasal bacteria contribute to breath NO. DESIGN Using a chemiluminescence assay, NO levels were measured in air exhaled from the nose, mouth, trachea, and distal airway. The susceptibility of breath NO to treatment with a topical corticosteroid (to inhibit iNOS; intranasal beclomethasone dipropionate for 2 weeks) and with antibiotics (systemic amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid and intranasal bacitracin zinc, 5 to 10 days) was also tested. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-one healthy subjects, 9 intubated patients, and 7 patients undergoing bronchoscopy. All subjects were nonsmokers free of pneumonia, rhinitis, and bronchitis. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Breath NO levels, collected in the gas sampling bags, were greater (p < 0.05) in the nose (25 +/- 2 parts per billion [ppb]) than in the mouth (6 +/- 1 ppb), trachea (3 +/- 1 ppb), or distal airway (1 +/- 2 ppb). Similar results were obtained when NO was sampled directly by cannula from nose or mouth during resting breathing. Nasal breath NO signal increased sharply during 30 s of breath-holding. Beclomethasone, but not antibiotics, decreased nasal NO levels without changing oral breath NO. CONCLUSIONS Most NO in normal human breath derives locally from the nose where it can reach high levels during breath-holding. NO is synthesized, at least in part, by a steroid-inhibitable, nonbacterial, NO synthase, presumably iNOS.
Nanomaterial translocation–the biokinetics, tissue accumulation, toxicity and fate of materials in secondary organs–a review

Engineered nanomaterials (NMs) offer great technological advantages but their risks to human health are still not fully understood. An increasing body of evidence suggests that some NMs are capable of distributing from the site of exposure to a number of secondary organs. The research into the toxicity posed by the NMs in these secondary organs is expanding due to the realisation that some materials may reach and accumulate in these target sites. The translocation to secondary organs includes, but is not limited to, the hepatic, central nervous, cardiovascular and renal systems. Current data indicates that pulmonary exposure is associated with low (inhalation route–0.00001–1% of total applied dose–24 h) translocation of virtually insoluble NMs such as iridium, carbon black, gold and polystyrene, while slightly higher translocation has been observed for NMs with either slow (e.g. silver, cerium dioxide and quantum dots) or fast (e.g. zinc oxide) solubility. The translocation of NMs following intratracheal, intranasal and pharyngeal aspiration is higher (up to 10% of administered dose), however the relevance of these routes for risk assessment is questionable. Uptake of the materials from the gastrointestinal tract seems to follow the same pattern as inhalation translocation, whereas the dermal uptake of NMs is generally reported to be low. The toxicological effects in secondary organs include oxidative stress, inflammation, cytotoxicity and dysfunction of cellular and physiological processes. For toxicological and risk evaluation, further information on the toxicokinetics and persistence of NMs is crucial. The overall aim of this review is to outline the data currently available in the literature on the biokinetics, accumulation, toxicity and eventual fate of NMs in order to assess the potential risks posed by NMs to secondary organs.
III–V Multiple-Gate Field-Effect Transistors With High-Mobility $\hbox{In}_{0.7}\hbox{Ga}_{0.3}\hbox{As}$ Channel and Epi-Controlled Retrograde-Doped Fin

We report an In<sub>0.7</sub>Ga<sub>0.3</sub>As n-channel multiple-gate field-effect transistor (MuGFET), featuring a lightly doped high-mobility channel with 70% indium and an epi-controlled retrograde-doped fin structure to suppress short-channel effects (SCEs). The retrograde well effectively reduces subsurface punch-through in the bulk MuGFET structure. The multiple-gate structure achieves good electrostatic control of the channel potential and SCEs in the In<sub>0.7</sub>Ga<sub>0.3</sub>As n-MuGFETs as compared with planar In<sub>0.7</sub>Ga<sub>0.3</sub>As MOSFETs. The In<sub>0.7</sub>Ga<sub>0.3</sub>As n-MuGFET with 130-nm channel length demonstrates a drain-induced barrier lowering of 135 mV/V and a drive current exceeding 840 μA/μm at V<sub>DS</sub> = 1.5 V and V<sub>GS</sub> - V<sub>T</sub> = 3 V.
AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Hani Alesaimi for the degree of Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering presented on December 4, 2013. Title: Energy-Efcient Routing for Delay-Constrained Data Trafc in Linear \ireless Sensor Networks Abstract approved:

approved: Bechir Hamdaoui Linear wireless sensor networks (L\SN) are special class of wireless sensor networks where sensor nodes are deployed in a straight line. Monitoring industrial pipelines, railroads, tunnels, power lines, and borders are applications of L\SNs. \ireless sensors are tiny devices with limited energy resources; therefore, efcient energy routing in L\SNs is critical. In this work, contention-aware routing schemes for lifetime maximization in time-sensitive and rate-constrained L\SNs are proposed. Furthermore, a L\SN is simulated and the behavior of lifetime against various network parameters is analyzed. © Copyright by Hani Alesaimi December 4, 2013 All Rights Reserved Energy-Efcient Routing for Delay-Constrained Data Trafc in Linear Wireless Sensor Networks by Hani Alesaimi A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented December 4, 2013 Commencement June 2014 Master of Science thesis of Hani Alesaimi presented on December 4, 2013.
Bone fractures associated with luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone agonists used in the treatment of prostate carcinoma

Luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone agonists (LHRH‐a) have become an established treatment for certain patients with prostate carcinoma. LHRH‐a are known to decrease bone mineral density. The purpose of this study was to determine the risk of bone fracture in men receiving LHRH‐a for prostate carcinoma.
Sailing the Seven Seas, a Blue Ocean of the Internet of Things

Over the past decade, the world has been swimming in an ocean of technology, opening the doors for many opportunities as industrial boundaries continue to change. Blue Oceans have opened their waters for new industries such as social networking, smart technology, mobility, and big data. Looking forward, new trends such as Internet of Things and technology advancements towards 5G mobile technology are paving the way for new markets and industries along with further advancements in Big Data. The invited panelists will discuss these emerging topics and the Blue Oceans that are changing the world.