Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas

Aims The microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A) is an essential component of the autophagic vacuoles, forming a reliable marker of autophagic activity. In a previous study, the authors showed that LC3A immunohistochemistry renders three patterns of autophagic expression in breast carcinomas: diffuse cytoplasmic, perinuclear and ‘stone-like’ intracellular structures (SLS), each with a distinct prognostic relevance. Methods Tumour tissues from 155 patients with stage IIA–III colorectal adenocarcinomas, treated with surgery alone, were assessed immunohistochemically for LC3A. Median values were used as cut-off points to separate groups into low and high autophagic activity. Associations with prognosis and with lactate dehydrogenase-5 (LDH5) were sought. Results High SLS counts were associated with metastases and poor prognosis, while the prominence of the perinuclear pattern was linked to localised disease and good prognosis. The cytoplasmic pattern was irrelevant. Furthermore, patients with increased SLS numbers, but suppressed perinuclear expression, were associated with LDH5 overexpression and had an extremely poor prognosis (3-year survival 16.5%). The prognosis improved considerably when high SLS counts were accompanied by intense perinuclear expression (3-year survival 67%) and were optimal when SLS numbers dropped below median values, irrespective of perinuclear status (3-year survival 94–100%). Multivariate analysis showed that SLS and perinuclear patterns were independent predictors of death events. Conclusions Perinuclear LC3A accumulation in colorectal tumour cells is a marker of good prognosis, presumably reflecting a basal autophagic activity. An abnormal or excessive autophagic response, as indicated by increased numbers of SLS, is linked to metastasis and poor prognosis.
A contender-aware backoff algorithm for CSMA based MAC protocol for Wireless Sensor Network

Existing contention based nonpersistent medium access control protocols in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) do not perform well in high contention. Their performances are affected by occurrence of collision due to uniform probability distribution in choosing Time Slot (TS) during backoff period. To address this issue nonuniform probability distribution was proposed. However success rate still drops for higher number of contenders. In this paper we propose CSMA/s (Collision Sense Multiple Access /per Slot based), a new approach in nonuniform contender-aware probability distribution for choosing TS in the backoff period. Rather than taking a premeditated fixed value for contender population size, our proposed scheme embeds neighborhood population size into its bedrock to automatically converge to the actual number of contenders which enables the contender to adaptively choose TS in the backoff period for reducing collision. This method produces better success rate and lower latency for even very high number of contenders.
The role of "colonization pressure" in the spread of vancomycin-resistant enterococci: an important infection control variable.

OBJECTIVE The spread of nosocomial multiresistant microorganisms is affected by compliance with infection control measures and antibiotic use. We hypothesized that "colonization pressure" (ie, the proportion of other patients colonized) also is an important variable. We studied the effect of colonization pressure, compliance with infection control measures, antibiotic use, and other previously identified risk factors on acquisition of colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). METHODS Rectal colonization was studied daily for 19 weeks in 181 consecutive patients who were admitted to a single medical intensive care unit. A statistical model was created using a Cox proportional hazards regression model including length of stay in the medical intensive care unit until acquisition of VRE, colonization pressure, personnel compliance with infection control measures (hand washing and glove use), APACHE (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation) 11 scores, and the proportion of days that a patient received vancomycin or third-generation cephalosporins, sucralfate, and enteral feeding. RESULTS With survival until colonization with VRE as the end point, colonization pressure was the most important variable affecting acquisition of VRE (hazard ratio [HR], 1.032; 95% confidence interval [C1], 1.012-1.052; P=.002). In addition, enteral feeding was associated with acquisition of VRE (HR, 1.009; 95% CI, 1.000-1.017; P=.05), and there was a trend toward association of third-generation cephalosporin use with acquisition (HR, 1.007; 95% CI, 0.999-1.015; P=.11). The effects of enteral feeding and third-generation cephalosporin use were more important when colonization pressure was less than 50%. Once colonization pressure was 50% or higher, these other variables hardly affected acquisition of VRE. CONCLUSIONS Acquisition of VRE was affected by colonization pressure, the use of antibiotics, and the use of enteral feeding. However, once colonization pressure was high, it became the major variable affecting acquisition of VRE.
Price Dynamics in Biological Production Processes Exposed to Environmental Shocks

This paper demonstrates a mechanism by which environmental shocks in biological production processes can lead to extreme price movements and thus be a contributing factor to short-term food price volatility. In biological production processes, environmental shocks can lead to a stock-out when the harvest transitions to a new stock (year class) with a different marginal value. The result in the market is a temporary price spike, or bubble, bounded by the marginal value of the new stock. We highlight this phenomenon in a cohort, or year class, biological production setting. Each year class in the model is a finite “non-renewable” capital stock, and capital theory is used to solve for the stochastic dynamic competitive equilibrium. The model is parameterized to be representative of the Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry. Results suggest that the model can replicate much of the observed patterns in price, harvest, and capital stock dynamics, including the infrequent occurrence of extremely high prices in the market.
How important is treatment? One-year outcomes of treated and untreated alcohol-dependent individuals.

AIMS To compare representative treatment and untreated samples of alcohol-dependent individuals in rates of abstinence and non-problematic use at 1-year follow-up. PARTICIPANTS AND DESIGN A total of 482 alcohol-dependent adults in a northern California county identified through a probability survey of problem drinkers in the general population (n = 111) or a survey of consecutive admissions to public and private substance abuse programs (n = 371) were interviewed in person at baseline and by telephone at 1 year. MEASUREMENTS Logistic regression models were used to predict 30-day abstinence and 12-month non-problematic alcohol use. RESULTS At follow-up, alcohol-dependent individuals in the treatment sample had higher abstinence rates and non-problematic use outcomes than those in the untreated general population sample. In logistic regression models of the merged samples, being in the treatment sample was related strongly and positively to abstinence and non-problematic use. Having more drug users and heavy drinkers in one's social network, higher psychiatric comorbidity, and more social consequences were inversely related to abstinence and non-problematic use in the treatment sample. The number of drug users and heavy drinkers in one's social network was also inversely related to abstinence in both the treatment and untreated general population samples. Results predicting non-problematic use were similar. CONCLUSIONS These results are consistent with other studies that examine treatment effectiveness in the absence of a controlled trial. Although natural recovery also occurs, alcohol-dependent individuals benefit from treatment. Co-occurring psychiatric problems continue to be major barriers to treatment effectiveness. An emphasis on changing social networks to be conducive to recovery could heighten both clinical effectiveness and prevention efforts within communities.
Noise analysis of high-gain, low-noise column readout circuits for CMOS image sensors

The temporal read noise on the signal path of a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensor is analyzed to investigate the effectiveness of high-gain column amplifiers in enhancing sensor sensitivity. The signal path examined includes a pixel source follower, a switched-capacitor, noise-cancelling, high-gain amplifier, and a sample-and-hold circuit in each column. It is revealed that the total random readout noise consists of a component due to noise charge sampled and held at the charge summation node of the amplifier and transferred to the output, and a direct noise component sampled at the sample-and-hold stage at the output of the column amplifier. The analysis suggests that the direct noise components can be greatly reduced by increasing the column amplifier gain, indicating that an extremely low-noise readout circuit may be achievable through the development of a double-stage noise-cancelling architecture.
Progressive Loss of Retinal Ganglion Cells and Axons in Nonoptic Neuritis Eyes in Multiple Sclerosis: A Longitudinal Optical Coherence Tomography Study.

PURPOSE To examine the rate of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) changes in nonoptic neuritis (NON) eyes of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, and to find a specific imaging parameter useful for identifying disease progression. METHODS Forty-five consecutive RRMS patients and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled. All patients were followed up for 3 years with annual optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans, which included a peripapillary ring scan protocol for RNFL analysis and a macular radial star-like scan to obtain RGC/inner plexiform layer (IPL) thickness measures. Healthy controls were scanned twice, 3 years apart. RESULTS Retinal ganglion cell/inner plexiform layer and temporal RNFL (tRNFL) demonstrated highly significant thinning (P < 0.01), but all nasal segments and global RNFL (gRNFL) were not significantly different from normal controls. While receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis showed no advantage of RGC/IPL over tRNFL in cross-sectional detection of thinning, cut-off point based of fifth percentile in healthy controls demonstrated higher rate of abnormality for RGC/IPL. There was a significant progressive loss of RGC/IPL and tRNFL during the follow-up period. The largest thickness reduction was observed in tRNFL. ROC analysis demonstrated that tRNFL provided better sensitivity/specificity for detecting change over time than RGC/IPL (area under the curve [AUC] 0.78 vs. 0.52), which was confirmed by higher detection rate when 95th percentile of progression in healthy controls was used as a cut-off. CONCLUSIONS This study confirmed significant thinning of RGC/IPL and tRNFL in NON eyes of RRMS patients. Progressive losses were more apparent on tRNFL, while RGC/IPL showed less change over the follow-up period.
Efficacy of bilateral prophylactic mastectomy in BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation carriers.

BACKGROUND In women with a family history of breast cancer, bilateral prophylactic mastectomy is associated with a decreased risk of subsequent breast cancer of approximately 90%. We examined the association between bilateral prophylactic mastectomy and breast cancer risk in women at high risk for breast cancer who also had mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. METHODS We obtained blood samples from 176 of the 214 high-risk women who participated in our previous retrospective cohort study of bilateral prophylactic mastectomy. We used conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis and direct sequence analysis of the blood specimens to identify women with mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. The carriers' probabilities of developing breast cancer were estimated from two different penetrance models. RESULTS We identified 26 women with an alteration in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Eighteen of the mutations were considered to be deleterious and eight to be of uncertain clinical significance. None of the 26 women has developed breast cancer after a median of 13.4 years of follow-up (range, 5.8-28.5 years). Three of the 214 women are known to have developed a breast cancer after prophylactic mastectomy. For two of these women, BRCA1 and BRCA2 screening was negative, and no blood specimen was available for the third. Estimations of the effectiveness of prophylactic mastectomy were performed, considering this woman as both a mutation carrier and a noncarrier. These calculations predicted that six to nine breast cancers should have developed among the mutation carriers, which translates into a risk reduction, after bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, of 89.5%-100% (95% confidence interval = 41.4% to 100%). CONCLUSIONS Prophylactic mastectomy is associated with a substantial reduction in the incidence of subsequent breast cancer not only in women identified as being at high risk on the basis of a family history of breast cancer but also in known BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers.
Offline comparison of spatial filters for two-dimensional movement control with noninvasive field potentials

Paralyzed individuals can control the movement of an assistive device using changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) power resulting from attempted movements. Simultaneous, proportional control of two-dimensional (2D) device movements can be achieved with the concurrent modulation of brain activity that is associated with the attempted movement and rest of two independent body parts. Movement control may be improved by spatial filtering methods that recombine raw EEGs to form new signals with more focused information about the underlying brain activity. This study compared spatial filters offline for improving simultaneous proportional 2D movement commands from EEGs. Filtering options evaluated were common average referencing, Laplacian, independent component analysis, principle component analysis, and two novel ways of applying common spatial pattern (CSP) analysis. CSP analysis is a supervised algorithm that optimally recombines EEGs collected under two known conditions. Both CSP options resulted in more accurate movement prediction than the other filtering options. CSP was particularly advantageous when separating EEGs associated with neighboring or overlapping areas on the motor homunculus. Finally, CSP performed well using smaller subsets of filtered signals, thus making CSP practical and efficient for simultaneous 2D control. A 2D online cursor control example using CSP filtering is included to show CSP's utility.
Loss minimization control of vernier reluctance machines with DC field windings in stator

An advanced control strategy of a variable flux vernier reluctance machine is proposed to improve efficiency and load capacity in this paper. Distinguished with traditional vernier machines, this machine has a novel doubly salient structure with DC field-exciting windings in stator slots. Losses of this machine are produced in both three-phase armature windings and DC windings, which occasionally leads to low efficiency. In response, a loss-minimizing control strategy for the purpose of increasing efficiency in the whole speed range is proposed. Mathematical equations of this machine, including voltage equations and flux linkage equations, are presented based on synchronously rotating dq-axis coordinate system. The control strategy in high speed situation is also presented. The results of simulation in MATLAB SIMULINK are illustrated in this paper, where the effectiveness of the control strategy is proved by comparing the efficiency of this machine with traditional control strategy and with loss-minimizing control strategy.
How to Use Type II InAs/GaSb Superlattice Structure to Reach Detection Wavelength of 2–3 $\mu{\rm m}$

The photoluminescence (PL) peak of an InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) structure is found to be shifted from 5.8 to 4.0 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu{\rm m}$</tex></formula> at 77 K, when the growth temperature is lowered from 380 to 340<formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$^{\circ}{\rm C}$</tex></formula>. The PL peak shift is related to In intermixing, thus some SL structures cannot reach a detection wavelength <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">${<}{\rm 3}~\mu{\rm m}$</tex></formula>. Increasing the GaSb layer thickness in the SL structure is an effective way to reach a detection wavelength of 2–3 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu{\rm m}$</tex></formula>. A p-i-n detector with a 50% cutoff wavelength at 2.56 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu{\rm m}$</tex></formula> at 77 K is demonstrated.
Protein Arginine Methyltransferase Product Specificity Is Mediated by Distinct Active-site Architectures*

In the family of protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that predominantly generate either asymmetric or symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), PRMT7 is unique in producing solely monomethylarginine (MMA) products. The type of methylation on histones and other proteins dictates changes in gene expression, and numerous studies have linked altered profiles of methyl marks with disease phenotypes. Given the importance of specific inhibitor development, it is crucial to understand the mechanisms by which PRMT product specificity is conferred. We have focused our attention on active-site residues of PRMT7 from the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei. We have designed 26 single and double mutations in the active site, including residues in the Glu-Xaa8-Glu (double E) loop and the Met-Gln-Trp sequence of the canonical Thr-His-Trp (THW) loop known to interact with the methyl-accepting substrate arginine. Analysis of the reaction products by high resolution cation exchange chromatography combined with the knowledge of PRMT crystal structures suggests a model where the size of two distinct subregions in the active site determines PRMT7 product specificity. A dual mutation of Glu-181 to Asp in the double E loop and Gln-329 to Ala in the canonical THW loop enables the enzyme to produce SDMA. Consistent with our model, the mutation of Cys-431 to His in the THW loop of human PRMT9 shifts its product specificity from SDMA toward MMA. Together with previous results, these findings provide a structural basis and a general model for product specificity in PRMTs, which will be useful for the rational design of specific PRMT inhibitors.
Migrations des footballeurs internationaux en direction des marchés footballistiques émergents

La question des migrations des footballeurs a l’heure de la mondialisation revet un nombre d’enjeux (economiques, geopolitiques, mediatiques, societaux, sportifs, territoriaux…) considerables pour les Etats, les federations et les clubs internationaux. Elle met en lumiere la geographie du sport et les desequilibres economiques, politiques et sportifs du monde contemporain. Depuis l’Arret Bosman en 1995, le developpement et la professionnalisation du football connaissent une pro­gres­sion et une diffusion constantes dans plusieurs marches emergents (Chine, Qatar, Russie…). Economistes, historiens, sociologues… proposent une diversite d’analyses sur l’evolution du milieu footballistique. L’eclairage geographique revele les espaces de depart (Afrique, Amerique du Sud, Asie, Europe, Moyen et Proche-Orient…), de transit et de destination a travers la circulation migratoire des sportifs. Cet article dresse un panorama comparatif des migrations des joueurs etrangers evoluant dans les championnats elites chinois, qatari et russe. Il montre quels sont les espaces, les flux migratoires, les logiques, la distribution spatiale et l’impact migra­toire crees par le marche footballistique professionnel international. La presente etude se concentre notamment sur les joueurs etrangers presents dans les effectifs des equipes elites des championnats etudies.
Sleep-disordered breathing with chronic opioid use

Chronic opioid use for pain relief or as substitution therapy for illicit drug abuse is prevalent in our societies. In the US, retail distribution of methadone and oxycodone has increased by 824 and 660%, respectively, between 1997 and 2003. μ-Opioids depress respiration and deaths related to illicit and non illicit chronic opioid use are not uncommon. Since 2001 there has been an emerging literature that suggests that chronic opioid use is related to central sleep apnoea of both periodic and non-periodic breathing types, and occurs in ∼ 30% of these subjects. The clinical significance of these sleep-related abnormalities are unknown. This review addresses the present knowledge of control of ventilation mechanisms during wakefulness and sleep, the effects of opioids on ventilatory control mechanisms, the sleep-disordered breathing found with chronic opioid use and a discussion regarding the future research directions in this area.
Analysis of China's Supply-side Structural Reform

The supply-side structural reform is a major decision, which is made in the macro context of the Chinese economy entering a new normal. The question is based on five major problems, such as the imbalance of regional development and urban and rural development, the insufficient power of industrial structure upgrading, etc. In order to deepen the supply-side structural reform, China, from the policy, has mainly done the following work. Firstly, a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy have been retained to implement to create a stable macro-economic environment. Secondly, the industrial policy of accelerating to transform to the tertiary industry has been carried out. Thirdly, the market environment has been improved, and the market vitality and consumer potential have been stimulated. By the first half of 2018, China's supply-side structural reform has achieved some concrete
'Jumping to conclusions' in first-episode psychosis: a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES People with psychotic symptoms are reported to have a characteristic reasoning style in which they jump to conclusions. To date, little research has been conducted to investigate if this style changes over time and is associated with improvements or worsening of symptoms. This study considered these questions. METHODS Thirty-one service users were recruited from a first-episode service and completed measures of reasoning, psychotic, and non-psychotic symptomatology at two time points over 2 years. RESULTS Over time, people with psychosis generally became less hasty in their decision-making. Those who became less hasty in their reasoning were less symptomatic. For those who remained very hasty in their reasoning, this was associated with a worsening specifically of the delusional beliefs. CONCLUSIONS This work supports the notion that there is a critical time in the first few years of psychosis during which symptoms and reasoning can change. However, where reasoning style does not change, this may be associated with greater difficulties associated with delusional beliefs.