Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
D2 lymphadenectomy alone or with para-aortic nodal dissection for gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND Gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy is the standard treatment for curable gastric cancer in eastern Asia. Whether the addition of para-aortic nodal dissection (PAND) to D2 lymphadenectomy for stage T2, T3, or T4 tumors improves survival is controversial. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial at 24 hospitals in Japan to compare D2 lymphadenectomy alone with D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND in patients undergoing gastrectomy for curable gastric cancer. METHODS Between July 1995 and April 2001, 523 patients with curable stage T2b, T3, or T4 gastric cancer were randomly assigned during surgery to D2 lymphadenectomy alone (263 patients) or to D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND (260 patients). We did not permit any adjuvant therapy before the recurrence of cancer. The primary end point was overall survival. RESULTS The rates of surgery-related complications among patients assigned to D2 lymphadenectomy alone and those assigned to D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND were 20.9% and 28.1%, respectively (P=0.07). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the frequencies of anastomotic leakage, pancreatic fistula, abdominal abscess, pneumonia, or death from any cause within 30 days after surgery (the rate of death was 0.8% in each group). The median operation time was 63 minutes longer and the median blood loss was 230 ml greater in the group assigned to D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND. The 5-year overall survival rate was 69.2% for the group assigned to D2 lymphadenectomy alone and 70.3% for the group assigned to D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND; the hazard ratio for death was 1.03 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77 to 1.37; P=0.85). There were no significant differences in recurrence-free survival between the two groups; the hazard ratio for recurrence was 1.08 (95% CI, 0.83 to 1.42; P=0.56). CONCLUSIONS As compared with D2 lymphadenectomy alone, treatment with D2 lymphadenectomy plus PAND does not improve the survival rate in curable gastric cancer. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00149279.)
Indian residential schools

One of the greatest mistakes and legislative failures in Canadian history, categorizing residential schools â€“ public/private partnerships that sought to forcefully assimilate Indigenous children â€“ as a social innovation will challenge many observers. Â Yet the effort to integrate (assimilate) Indigenous children shares much with the language and focus of many social innovations. Â This is a cautionary tale of making decisions for a population, seeking assimilation but labelling it resilience, and reminding future social innovators of the risks of disempowering populations in the name of a common social good.
Vital Sign Monitoring and Mobile Phone Usage Detection Using IR-UWB Radar for Intended Use in Car Crash Prevention

In order to avoid car crashes, active safety systems are becoming more and more important. Many crashes are caused due to driver drowsiness or mobile phone usage. Detecting the drowsiness of the driver is very important for the safety of a car. Monitoring of vital signs such as respiration rate and heart rate is important to determine the occurrence of driver drowsiness. In this paper, robust vital signs monitoring through impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) radar is discussed. We propose a new algorithm that can estimate the vital signs even if there is motion caused by the driving activities. We analyzed the whole fast time vital detection region and found the signals at those fast time locations that have useful information related to the vital signals. We segmented those signals into sub-signals and then constructed the desired vital signal using the correlation method. In this way, the vital signs of the driver can be monitored noninvasively, which can be used by researchers to detect the drowsiness of the driver which is related to the vital signs i.e., respiration and heart rate. In addition, texting on a mobile phone during driving may cause visual, manual or cognitive distraction of the driver. In order to reduce accidents caused by a distracted driver, we proposed an algorithm that can detect perfectly a driver's mobile phone usage even if there are various motions of the driver in the car or changes in background objects. These novel techniques, which monitor vital signs associated with drowsiness and detect phone usage before a driver makes a mistake, may be very helpful in developing techniques for preventing a car crash.
Differential Effect of Intraperitoneal Albendazole and Paclitaxel on Ascites Formation and Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Ovarian Cancer Cell-Bearing Athymic Nude Mice

Objectives: The purposes of our study were to evaluate the effect of intraperitoneal albendazole on tumor growth, ascites formation, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression, and to assess the synergistic effect of paclitaxel in OVCAR-3-bearing nude mice. Methods: In all, 4 groups of mice were injected intraperitoneally with weekly albendazole (450 mg/kg per week), paclitaxel (30 mg/kg per week), albendazole plus paclitaxel, or normal saline for 4 weeks. Results: Ascitic fluid accumulation (2.47, 2.65, 2.88, and 5.90 mL, respectively) and in ascitic VEGF levels were significantly reduced in the 3 treatment groups compared to the control group (170.83, 229.16, 267, and 1625 pg/mL, respectively). However, complete tumor suppression was more prominent in the paclitaxel group, and VEGF mRNA expression was more strongly inhibited in the albendazole group (P < .05). No synergistic effect of albendazole and paclitaxel was observed. Conclusion: We demonstrated a differential effect of albendazole and paclitaxel in a xenograft model of ovarian carcinoma; albendazole suppressed ascites formation by inhibiting VEGF secretion, and paclitaxel exerted its effects by direct cytotoxicity.
Transformer-less AC-AC system using dual inductor buck converter and multi-level inverter

The Solid-State Transformer (SST), which is the substitution of conventional transformers using power electronics technique has been regarded as emerging technologies. SST is being spotlighted because it can complement the disadvantage of traditional transformers and can be applied to various applications such as renewable energy sources, DC distribution system, smart grid systems, and etc. However, even though these systems have been replacing conventional low frequency transformers, they eventually require high-frequency transformers to provide isolation to the DC-DC power conversion stage. To eliminate the high frequency transformers, this paper proposes a dual inductor buck converter, a new transformer-less topology with low leakage current required for isolated DC sources. The proposed ac-ac circuit has been simulated using PSIM simulation with 1kW.
Transmisión educativa intergeneracional en el Perú: un cálculo para las generaciones nacidas entre 1950-1989

Este estudio estima la relacion entre los anos de educacion de padres e hijos. Se observa a las generaciones nacidas entre 1950 y 1989 en el Peru, utilizando multiples anos de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares. Ello nos permite analizar con mayor detalle la evolucion general de la movilidad social en el pais, asi como la de diferentes grupos demograficos, geograficos y etnicos durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Se encuentra que la relacion entre el nivel educativo de los padres para con sus hijos es positiva y significativa a lo largo de todo el periodo analizado. Sin embargo, el coeficiente beta de transmision educativa intergeneracional disminuye marcadamente a traves de las decadas estudiadas; es decir, se observa un aumento del grado de movilidad y oportunidades de mejora educativa. El coeficiente beta de transmision es bastante elevado (0.73) para aquellos que nacieron entre 1950 y 1959, pero menor a 0.45 para aquellos que nacieron entre 1980 y 1989.
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE Original Studies Impact of Age on Access Site-related Outcomes in 469,983 Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Procedures: Insights From the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society

We investigate adoption of the TRA in different age groups and study the relationship between age and access site related outcomes in a national cohort of patients undergoing PCI in the UK. Previous studies have reported conflicting data on radial access site adoption between different age groups, with age an independent predictor of failure of procedures undertaken through the radial approach. Age and access site related outcomes (based on transradial (TRA) and transfemoral (TFA) access) were studied in 469,983 PCI procedures undertaken in the UK from 2006 to 2012 in the age groups; <60, 60–<70, 70–<80, and 80 in the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society database. We studied access site practice in 469,983 patients who underwent PCI procedures in the United Kingdom. TRA utilization increased from 17.5% to 65.6% in the age group <60, and 16.6% to 54.5% in the age group 80 between 2006 and 2012. TRA was independently associated with decreased 30-day mortality in all age groups (<60: OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.54–0.74, P < 0.0001; 60–<70: OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.57–75, P < 0.0001, 70–<80: OR 0.58 (0.52– 0.65, P < 0.0001 and 80: OR 0.65 (0.57–0.73, P < 0.0001). Adoption of the TRA for PCI has occurred least in older patients in the UK despite similar associations between TRA use and decreased 30-day mortality observed in all age groups. VC 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Gentamicin kills intracellular Listeria monocytogenes

The purpose of the experiments described here was to test whether membrane-impermeant antibiotics present in the extracellular milieu could kill bacteria within macrophages. For this, mouse macrophage hybrids and elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages first were allowed to phagocytose the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The cells were incubated with or without gentamicin, and their bactericidal activity was measured. The results show that gentamicin caused normally nonbactericidal macrophages to kill L. monocytogenes. In addition, gentamicin caused listericidal cells to kill significantly more bacteria. To determine whether gentamicin accumulated within macrophages during culture, we tested whether lysates of macrophage hybrids cultured for 72 h in gentamicin-containing medium and then washed could kill Listeria cells. When cultured with 50 to 100 micrograms of gentamicin per ml, but not when cultured with 0 to 5 micrograms of gentamicin per ml, cell lysates were extremely listericidal, demonstrating the presence of intracellular gentamicin. Because gentamicin does not penetrate cell membranes, we hypothesized that it can be internalized by the cell through pinocytosis and can enter the same intracellular compartment as does phagocytosed L. monocytogenes. To test this, macrophages which had phagocytosed L. monocytogenes were incubated with the fluorochrome lucifer yellow to trace pinocytosed medium. About half of the Listeria cells within the macrophages were surrounded by lucifer yellow, indicating delivery of pinocytosed fluid, which could contain antibiotics, to phagosomes containing bacteria. The experiments described here indicate that membrane-impermeant antibiotics can enter macrophages and kill intracellular bacteria. Thus, the use of gentamicin in macrophage bactericidal assays can interfere with the results and interpretation of experiments designed to study macrophage bactericidal activity.
Renpenning syndrome comes into focus

Renpenning syndrome represents a prototypic X‐linked mental retardation condition with full expression of the phenotype in males and little or no expression in females. The predominant clinical findings are microcephaly, long narrow face, short stature with lean body build, and small testes. Mental retardation, usually of severe degree, occurs in 95% of cases. Less than 20% of cases have major malformations, the most common being cardiac defects and cleft palate. Subsequent to the description of mutations in the polyglutamine tract binding protein 1 (PQBP1) in Sutherland–Haan syndrome, Hamel cerebropalatocardiac syndrome, MRX55, and two small XLMR families, a single nucleotide insertion has been found in the original family with Renpenning syndrome and an AGAG deletion in a second family with the Renpenning syndrome. Mutations have also been found in Golabi–Ito–Hall syndrome, Porteous syndrome, and an additional small family. It is now demonstrated that five named XLMR syndromes (Sutherland–Haan, Hamel cerebropalatocardiac, Golabi–Ito–Hall, Porteous, and Renpenning), one nonsyndromic family (MRX55), and three small XLMR families have PQBP1 mutations and are thus allelic XLMR entities. In acknowledgement of the historical importance of the original report of Renpenning syndrome [1962], we propose that the entities with PQBP1 mutations be combined under the name of Renpenning syndrome. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysis of voice fundamental frequency contours of continuing and terminating prosodic phrases in four swiss German dialects

In the present study, the F0 contours of continuing and terminating prosodic phrases of 4 Swiss German dialects are analyzed by means of the command-response model. In every model parameter, the two prosodic phrase types show significant differences: continuing prosodic phrases indicate higher phrase command magnitude and shorter durations. Locally, they demonstrate more distinct accent command amplitudes as well as durations. In addition, continuing prosodic phrases have later rises relative to segment onset than terminating prosodic phrases. In the same context, fine phonetic differences between the dialects are highlighted.
Comparative Proteome Analysis of Brucella melitensis Vaccine Strain Rev 1 and a Virulent Strain, 16M

ABSTRACT The genus Brucella consists of bacterial pathogens that cause brucellosis, a major zoonotic disease characterized by undulant fever and neurological disorders in humans. Among the different Brucella species, Brucella melitensis is considered the most virulent. Despite successful use in animals, the vaccine strains remain infectious for humans. To understand the mechanism of virulence in B. melitensis, the proteome of vaccine strain Rev 1 was analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and compared to that of virulent strain 16M. The two strains were grown under identical laboratory conditions. Computer-assisted analysis of the two B. melitensis proteomes revealed proteins expressed in either 16M or Rev 1, as well as up- or down-regulation of proteins specific for each of these strains. These proteins were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting. It was found that certain metabolic pathways may be deregulated in Rev 1. Expression of an immunogenic 31-kDa outer membrane protein, proteins utilized for iron acquisition, and those that play a role in sugar binding, lipid degradation, and amino acid binding was altered in Rev 1.
Multiple Strategies for Translesion Synthesis in Bacteria

Damage to DNA is common and can arise from numerous environmental and endogenous sources. In response to ubiquitous DNA damage, Y-family DNA polymerases are induced by the SOS response and are capable of bypassing DNA lesions. In Escherichia coli, these Y-family polymerases are DinB and UmuC, whose activities are modulated by their interaction with the polymerase manager protein UmuD. Many, but not all, bacteria utilize DinB and UmuC homologs. Recently, a C-family polymerase named ImuC, which is similar in primary structure to the replicative DNA polymerase DnaE, was found to be able to copy damaged DNA and either carry out or suppress mutagenesis. ImuC is often found with proteins ImuA and ImuB, the latter of which is similar to Y‑family polymerases, but seems to lack the catalytic residues necessary for polymerase activity. This imuAimuBimuC mutagenesis cassette represents a widespread alternative strategy for translesion synthesis and mutagenesis in bacteria. Bacterial Y‑family and ImuC DNA polymerases contribute to replication past DNA damage and the acquisition of antibiotic resistance.
Gaussian approximate filter with progressive measurement update

In this paper, under Bayesian estimation framework, a new Gaussian approximate (GA) filter with progressive measurement update is derived through approximating intermediate progressive joint probability density function (PDF) of state and measurement as Gaussian, and it provides a general framework to design progressive Gaussian filtering. In the proposed method, the continuous PDF needn't to be discretized, and the proposed GA filter has higher Gaussian approximation accuracy of joint PDF of state and measurement than standard GA filter and existing iterated Kalman type filters. The superior performance of the proposed method as compared with existing methods is illustrated in a numerical example concerning bearing only tracking.
The Natural History of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Three stages of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are recognized: the immune tolerant phase, the chronic hepatitis B phase, and the inactive hepatitis B carrier phase. Active liver disease is most often found in persons with elevated aminotransferase levels and HBV DNA levels >10(5) copies/mL. Possible risk factors for developing liver disease include older age, male gender, presence of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), HBV genotype, mutations in the precore and core promoter regions of the viral genome, and coinfection with hepatitis D (delta) virus. All persons chronically infected with HBV should be followed every 6 to 12 months with aminotransferase levels. Those with elevated levels should be tested for HBeAg and its antibody (anti-HBe) as well as HBV DNA levels to determine if they are in need of further evaluation with a liver biopsy and are candidates for antiviral therapy. Future research will help clarify the outcome of chronic HBV infection.
Characterizing the Bladder's Response to Onabotulinum Toxin Type A Using a Rat Model

Objectives The aim of this study was to characterize the response of the rat bladder neuromuscular system to intramural injection of onabotulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) over 9 weeks using in vivo cystometry (CMG) and in vitro contractility (IVC). Methods Chronic bladder catheters were implanted in female Sprague-Dawley rats, and either (1) BoNT/A (10 units in 20 &mgr;L saline) or (2) saline (20 &mgr;L) was injected in 5 × 4 &mgr;L doses throughout the bladder wall. At 1, 3, 6, and 9 weeks after injection, conscious restrained CMG was performed. At each time point, 25% of each group (8 BoNT/A and 4 controls) was euthanized and bladders harvested for IVC. We measured IVC in response to electric field stimulation, carbachol, and potassium chloride. Results In total, 47 animals were included; 31 underwent BoNT/A injection, and 16 received sham (saline). Bladder capacities did not differ significantly between groups for each time point. One week after injection BoNT/A animals exhibited significantly longer bladder contraction durations and lower voiding efficiencies compared with controls. By 3 weeks these values returned to control levels. For BoNT/A animals, contractile response to carbachol stimulation was enhanced at 3 weeks. Otherwise, there were no differences in IVC responses. Conclusions One week after BoNT/A injection, prolonged bladder contractions are noted in rats. This may reflect supraspinal compensation for denervation by increasing the duration of efferent drive during voiding. After 3 weeks postinjection, we observed no differences in either CMG or IVC responses suggesting either compensatory efferent sprouting, increased gap junction formation, or loss of BoNT/A effect.
Customer Orientation and Performance of Women‐Owned Businesses: A Configurational Approach

The present research aims to improve the current understanding of the relationship between customer orientation and performance of women‐owned businesses. This study proposed that risk‐taking and financial capital are vital moderating factors of this relationship. Additionally, the study postulates that new insights can be unearthed by combining these factors with customer orientation in a three‐way interaction model. Using a sample of 264 women entrepreneurs, the results showed that (a) customer orientation is positively associated with the performance of women‐owned businesses, (b) the association is significantly moderated by both risk‐taking and financial capital, and (c) a more detailed understanding of the association is provided by the three‐way interaction of customer orientation, risk‐taking, and financial capital.
POUX: Performance Optimization Strategy for Cloud Platforms Based on User Experience

Cloud computing has been widely used in almost every areas of our life. System virtualization is one of the key technologies in cloud computing. However, it is a great challenge to achieve a balance among the virtual machines (VMs) in different physical machines (PMs) by migrating overloaded VMs to underloaded PMs while minimizing the number of VM migrations. Most of existing performance optimization strategies only concern about the hardware parameters (i.e., CPU, memory and I/O, etc.) of VMs, but the important user experience parameters (i.e., response time and through rate, etc.) have been ignored. We propose a novel Performance Optimization strategy based on User eXperience (POUX) for the cloud platform. To obtain the parameters of user experience, we design a management architecture of the cloud platform, and define the standardized interfaces between VMs and management center. Due to the unique characteristics of load balancing in the cloud platform, performance optimization problems are often NP-hard. Therefore, we propose a heuristic for automatic performance optimization, which plays a tradeoff among hardware utilization, user experience and the number of VM migrations. We use the CloudSim simulator and our deployed small-scale real-world testbed to evaluate the performance of POUX. Various experimental results have indicated that our cloud-based management architecture and performance optimization strategy not only significantly reduce the number of VM migrations, but also ensure a better user experience.