Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synchronous Ovarian and Endometrial Malignancies

Synchronous ovarian primaries are infrequently found in patients with endometrial cancer. Although numerous investigators have examined the characteristics of these women, most include patients with tumors of similar histology, which may simply represent ovarian metastases. To overcome this problem, we present here patients found to have tumors of dissimilar histology. Of 499 patients with endometrial cancer undergoing primary surgery between 1980 and 1997, 18 (3.6%) were found to have endometrial and ovarian primaries of dissimilar histology. The median age was 64.2 years. Most had stage I, grades I and II, minimally invasive endometrial adenocarcinomas and stage IA mucinous or serous ovarian cystadenocarcinomas. Most ovarian tumors were either borderline or grades I and II. The 5-year actuarial disease-free (DFS) and cause-specific survivals of the entire group were 81.2% and 89.5%, respectively. Those with both stage I ovarian and endometrial primaries had a trend to a better DFS (100 versus 68.6%, p = 0.07) than did women with higher stage disease. Our data demonstrate that synchronous ovarian primaries of dissimilar histology are infrequently found in women undergoing surgery for endometrial cancer. These women seek treatment at a relatively advanced age, and have early-stage, low grade disease in both sites. Their outcome is favorable, particularly those with stage I disease in both sites.
Cultural tourism and the role of crafts in Southern Africa: The case of craft markets in Windhoek, Namibia

Southern African countries have a good cultural tourism development potential, and many countries in the region have identifi ed the development of cultural tourism as one of the key growth areas in tourism. A specifi c element of cultural tourism is based on crafts that are sold for visitors in various sites and market places. Crafts and craft markets are relatively visible in the Southern African tourism landscape. While these sites have the potential to provide a signifi cant amount of employment and economic benefi ts, they have been relatively little studied in the region. Th is paper aims to focus on craft tourism and craft markets as a specifi c form of and attraction site for cultural tourism. Th e empirical example utilizes a mixed method case study approach by looking at tourists’ craft consumption at a selected market site in Windhoek, Namibia. According to the results the direct economic impacts were relatively modest in monetary terms. In general the interviewed tourists valued the local character of the crafts but only half of them indicated that they would prefer the locally-made aspect as the key selection criterion of a purchase. It is concluded that this emphasis can infl uence negatively on the local sustainability of craft-based cultural tourism.
The cost of satisfaction: a national study of patient satisfaction, health care utilization, expenditures, and mortality.

BACKGROUND Patient satisfaction is a widely used health care quality metric. However, the relationship between patient satisfaction and health care utilization, expenditures, and outcomes remains ill defined. METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study of adult respondents (N = 51,946) to the 2000 through 2007 national Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, including 2 years of panel data for each patient and mortality follow-up data through December 31, 2006, for the 2000 through 2005 subsample (n = 36,428). Year 1 patient satisfaction was assessed using 5 items from the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey. We estimated the adjusted associations between year 1 patient satisfaction and year 2 health care utilization (any emergency department visits and any inpatient admissions), year 2 health care expenditures (total and for prescription drugs), and mortality during a mean follow-up duration of 3.9 years. RESULTS Adjusting for sociodemographics, insurance status, availability of a usual source of care, chronic disease burden, health status, and year 1 utilization and expenditures, respondents in the highest patient satisfaction quartile (relative to the lowest patient satisfaction quartile) had lower odds of any emergency department visit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84-1.00), higher odds of any inpatient admission (aOR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.23), 8.8% (95% CI, 1.6%-16.6%) greater total expenditures, 9.1% (95% CI, 2.3%-16.4%) greater prescription drug expenditures, and higher mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.53). CONCLUSION In a nationally representative sample, higher patient satisfaction was associated with less emergency department use but with greater inpatient use, higher overall health care and prescription drug expenditures, and increased mortality.
Noninvasive models to predict liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objectives: Few noninvasive models of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to predict liver cirrhosis have been studied. The aim of the current study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of two simple novel models of spleen–platelet ratio index (SPRI) and age–spleen–platelet ratio index (ASPRI) in patients with CHB.
Visual Acuity and the Essentiality of Docosahexaenoic Acid and Arachidonic Acid in the Diet of Term Infants

The need for a dietary supply of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic aid (AA) in term infants was evaluated in a double-masked randomized clinical trial of the effects of supplementation of term infant formula with DHA (0.35% of total fatty acids) or with DHA (0.36%) and AA(0.72%) on visual acuity development. One hundred and eight healthy term infants were enrolled in the study; 79 were exclusively formula-fed from birth (randomized group) and 29 were exclusively breast-fed (gold standard group). Infants were evaluated at four time points during the first 12 mo of life for blood fatty acid composition, growth, sweep visual evoked potential(VEP) acuity, and forced choice preferential looking acuity. Supplementation of term infant formula with DHA or with DHA and AA during the first 4 mo of life yields clear differences in total red blood cell (RBC) lipid composition. Supplementation of term infant formula with DHA or with DHA and AA also yields better sweep VEP acuity at 6, 17, and 52 wk of age but not at 26 wk of age, when acuity development reaches a plateau. The RBC lipid composition and sweep VEP acuity of supplemented infants was similar to that of human milk-fed infants, whereas the RBC lipid composition and sweep VEP acuity of unsupplemented infants was significantly different from human milk-fed infants. Differences in acuity among diet groups were too subtle to be detected by the forced choice preferential looking protocol. Infants in all diet groups had similar rates of growth and tolerated all diets well. Thus, early dietary intake of preformed DHA and AA appears necessary for optimal development of the brain and eye of the human infant.
An improved architecture for integrating Cellular and Ad-Hoc Network

In Cellular Network, some factors make users experiencing poor channel quality usually have low data-rate connections with the base-station, such as interference, blocking by building, large number of users and long transmission distance. By utilizing Ad-Hoc Network node as a relay, users can obtain higher data-rate when connecting with the base-station. Traditional routing protocol in Ad-Hoc Network predetermines the best sequence of nodes between the source and destination, and forward each packet through that sequence. But the variable of channel and topology cause the high loss rates. Opportunistic routing take advantage of wireless network channel's broadcast medium, especially in the environment of high loss rates, can improve the throughput of Ad-Hoc Network. This paper utilizes Ad-Hoc Network nodes which base on opportunistic routing to relay the transmission. By increasing the data-rate between sender and relays, the aggregate throughput can be increased.
Pose classification in the gesture recognition using the linear optical sensor

Gesture sensors for mobile devices, which have a capability of distinguishing hand poses, require efficient and accurate classifiers in order to recognize gestures based on the sequences of primitives. Two methods of poses recognition for the optical linear sensor were proposed and validated. The Gaussian distribution fitting and Artificial Neural Network based methods represent two kinds of classification approaches. Three types of hand poses, differing in the number of fingers joined together, were investigated. The reflected light intensity pattern originated by hand located closely to the sensor was parameterized into 14 features. The change of reflection pattern originated by hand dislocation was reduced by application of two variable functions in the first of the methods. A one and two hidden layers topologies were considered in the neural network related approach. Both methods were designed with the use of a training set of samples and validated with another (testing) set. The results present the average poses recognition rate of 81.19% for Gaussian distribution fitting and 90.02% for ANN based method.
Synthesis of Human-in-the-Loop Control Protocols for Autonomous Systems

We propose an approach to synthesize control protocols for autonomous systems that account for uncertainties and imperfections in interactions with human operators. As an illustrative example, we consider a scenario involving road network surveillance by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is controlled remotely by a human operator but also has a certain degree of autonomy. Depending on the type (i.e., probabilistic and/or nondeterministic) of knowledge about the uncertainties and imperfections in the human-automation interactions, we use abstractions based on Markov decision processes and augment these models to stochastic two-player games. Our approach enables the synthesis of operator-dependent optimal mission plans for the UAV, highlighting the effects of operator characteristics (e.g., workload, proficiency, and fatigue) on UAV mission performance. It can also provide informative feedback (e.g., Pareto curves showing the tradeoffs between multiple mission objectives), potentially assisting the operator in decision-making. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach via a detailed UAV mission planning case study.
Comparative evaluation of immunogenicity, reactogenecity and safety of purified chick embryo cell rabies vaccine and neural tissue rabies vaccine.

OBJECTIVES 1. To compare the protective antibody titres on day 14, 30 and 90 after giving intramuscular (IM) injections of PCECV and subcutaneous injections of Nervous Tissue Vaccine. 2. To compare the immunogenicity and safety of PCECV and NTV. METHODS AND MATERIALS The study enrolled cases in three groups. Group 'C' or control group: (n = 38) : This group comprised of 38 normal healthy volunteers without dog-bite. Group 'A' (n = 102): This group included cases of dog-bite fulfilling inclusion/exclusion criteria. Each one of Group A and C were given PCECV as post exposure treatment (PET) on day 0-3-7-14-30 and 90. Group 'B' (n = 50): This group included 50 cases of dog-bite who received NTV. The rabies virus neutralizing antibody titres were estimated by RFFIT (Rapid Fluorescent Focus Inhibition Test) on day 0, 14, 30 and 90 days. 45 recipients of PCECV were re-tested for persistence of Protective Antibodies at the end of 1 year. RESULTS Of these 37, 91 and 45 cases were evaluable in Groups C, A and B respectively. The antibody titres in Groups A, B, C were 13.4, 3.2, 22.8 IU/ml respectively; the protective titre being 0.5 IU/ml.5% PCECV recepients had delayed response on day 30.14% of NTV recepients did not seroconvert. CONCLUSIONS The Immunogenicity, Reactogenicity and safety of PCECV is well established. 5% of PCECV receipients showed a delayed sero conversion. 14% of NTV receipients did not sero convert at all. Therefore it is desirable to estimate antibody titres on day 14 after vaccination. If difficult, then all the cases of animal bite must receive passive immunization with rabies immunoglobulins.
Prognostic Value of FDG-PET/CT Total Lesion Glycolysis for Patients with Resectable Distal Bile Duct Adenocarcinoma.

AIM We investigated the prognostic value of clinicopathological factors in patients with a distal bile duct adenocarcinoma after curative resection. PATIENTS AND METHODS This retrospective study included 25 patients who underwent (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) before surgery. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured using FDG-PET/CT. FDG-PET/CT parameters and other clinicopathological factors were assessed to evaluate survival. RESULTS Univariate survival analysis showed that high TLG, high MTV, and high SUVmax were significant prognostic predictors for poor overall survival. For progression-free survival, high TLG and large tumor size were significant predictors for a poor prognosis. After multivariate survival analysis, only high TLG was an independent prognostic predictor for poor overall survival (p=0.025). CONCLUSION Preoperative assessment of TLG by FDG-PET/CT might be a useful prognostic predictor in patients with a distal bile duct adenocarcinoma after curative resection.
Novel pharmacological treatments for heart failure

Pharmacological therapies remain the primary strategy for treating patients with acute and chronic heart failure. Several novel neurohormonal antagonists, inotropic agents, immune modulators, and metabolic and replacement therapies are currently in development to meet the demands of an increasing number of patients with heart failure. The success in drug development in this field will require a better understanding of the effects of heart failure on drug dosing, better integration of novel and existing drug therapies, the development of more reliable surrogate markers to effectively tailor medical therapy to individual needs and the ability to detect and treat patients at risk before the onset of heart failure.
Performance evaluation of DTC-SVM permanent magnet synchronous motor drives under inverter fault conditions

This paper presents a performance analysis of a permanent magnet synchronous motor in a direct torque controlled drive under different faulty operating conditions. Considering the voltage source inverter, single power switch open-circuit faults and single phase open-circuit faults are introduced and their effects are investigated trough the analysis of some key parameters such as motor efficiency, power factor, electromagnetic torque and currents RMS and harmonic distortion values. Simulation results under these faulty operating conditions are presented, as well as results under healthy operating conditions, with the objective to establish a reference for comparison.
A protein kinase network regulates the function of aminophospholipid flippases

Limited exposure of aminophospholipids on the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane is a fundamental feature of eukaryotic cells and is maintained by the action of inward-directed P-type ATPases (“flippases”). Yeast S. cerevisiae has five flippases (Dnf1, Dnf2, Dnf3, Drs2, and Neo1), but their regulation is poorly understood. Two paralogous plasma membrane-associated protein kinases, Pkh1 and Pkh2 (orthologs of mammalian PDK1), are required for viability of S. cerevisiae cells because they activate several essential downstream protein kinases by phosphorylating a critical Thr in their activation loops. Two such targets are related protein kinases Ypk1 and Ypk2 (orthologs of mammalian SGK1), which have been implicated in multiple processes, including endocytosis and coupling of membrane expansion to cell wall remodeling, but the downstream effector(s) of these kinases have been elusive. Here we show that a physiologically relevant substrate of Ypk1 is another protein kinase, Fpk1, a known flippase activator. We show that Ypk1 phosphorylates and thereby down-regulates Fpk1, and further that a complex sphingolipid counteracts the down-regulation of Fpk1 by Ypk1. Our findings delineate a unique regulatory mechanism for imposing a balance between sphingolipid content and aminophospholipid asymmetry in eukaryotic plasma membranes.
Housing in environmental complexity following wheel running augments survival of newly generated hippocampal neurons in a rat model of binge alcohol exposure during the third trimester equivalent.

BACKGROUND Binge-like alcohol exposure in neonatal rats during the brain growth spurt causes deficits in adult neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Previous data from our laboratory demonstrated that 12 days of voluntary wheel running (WR) beginning on postnatal day (PD) 30 significantly increased the number of newly generated cells evident in the DG on PD42 in both alcohol-exposed (AE) and control rats, but 30 days later a sustained beneficial effect of WR was evident only in control rats. This study tested the hypothesis that housing rats in environmental complexity (EC) following WR would promote the survival of the newly generated cells stimulated by WR, particularly in AE rats. METHODS On PD4 to 9, pups were intubated with alcohol in a binge-like manner (5.25 g/kg/d), sham-intubated (SI), or reared normally. In Experiment 1, animals were either assigned to WR during PD30 to 42 or socially housed (SH). On PD42, animals were injected with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU; 200 mg/kg) and perfused 2 hours later to confirm the WR-induced stimulation of proliferation. In Experiment 2, all animals received WR on PD30 to 42 and were injected with BrdU on the last full day of WR. On PD42, animals were randomly assigned either to EC (WR/EC) or to SH (WR/SH) for 30 days and subsequently perfused and brains were processed for immunohistochemical staining to identify BrdU+-, Ki67+-, and BrdU+/NeuN+-labeled cells in DG. RESULTS In Experiment 1, WR exposure significantly increased the number of proliferating cells in all 3 postnatal conditions. In Experiment 2, the AE rats given WR/SH had significantly fewer BrdU+ cells compared with control rats given WR/SH. However, WR/EC experience significantly increased the number of surviving BrdU+ cells in both the AE and SI groups compared with WR/SH rats of the same neonatal treatment. Approximately 80% of the surviving BrdU+ cells in the DG across the conditions were colabeled with NeuN. CONCLUSIONS WR followed by EC could provide a behavioral model for developing interventions in humans to ameliorate hippocampal-dependent impairments associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
The tidal downsizing hypothesis for planet formation and the composition of Solar system comets

Comets are believed to be born in the outer Solar System where the temperature is assumed to have never exceeded T � 100 K. Surprisingly, observations and samples of cometary dust particles returned to Earth showed that they are in fact made of a mix of ices, as expected, but also of materials forged at high-temperatures (T � 1500 K). We propose a radically new view regarding the origin of the high-temperature processed materials in comets, based on the recent “Tidal Downsizing” (TD) hypothesis for planet formation. In the latter, the outer proto-planetary disc is gravitationally
Investigation into longitudinal dietary behaviours and household socio-economic indicators and their association with BMI Z-score and fat mass in South African adolescents: the Birth to Twenty (Bt20) cohort

Abstract Objective The present study aimed to assess the relationship between dietary habits, change in socio-economic status and BMI Z-score and fat mass in a cohort of South African adolescents. Design In the longitudinal study, data were collected at ages 13, 15 and 17 years on a birth cohort who have been followed since 1990. Black participants with complete dietary habits data (breakfast consumption during the week and at weekends, snacking while watching television, eating main meal with family, lunchbox use, number of tuck shop purchases, fast-food consumption, confectionery consumption and sweetened beverage consumption) at all three ages and body composition data at age 17 years were included in the analyses. Generalized estimating equations were used to test the associations between individual longitudinal dietary habits and obesity (denoted by BMI Z-score and fat mass) with adjustments for change in socio-economic status between birth and age 12 years. Setting Birth to Twenty (Bt20) study, Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. Subjects Adolescents (n 1298; 49·7 % male). Results In males, the multivariable analyses showed that soft drink consumption was positively associated with both BMI Z-score and fat mass (P < 0·05). Furthermore, these relationships remained the same after adjustment for socio-economic indicators (P < 0·05). No associations were found in females. Conclusions Longitudinal soft drink consumption was associated with increased BMI Z-score and fat mass in males only. Fridge ownership at birth (a proxy for greater household disposable income in this cohort) was shown to be associated with both BMI Z-score and fat mass.
Predicting shifts in parasite distribution with climate change: a multitrophic level approach

Climate change likely will lead to increasingly favourable environmental conditions for many parasites. However, predictions regarding parasitism's impacts often fail to account for the likely variability in host distribution and how this may alter parasite occurrence. Here, we investigate potential distributional shifts in the meningeal worm, Parelaphostrongylosis tenuis, a protostrongylid nematode commonly found in white‐tailed deer in North America, whose life cycle also involves a free‐living stage and a gastropod intermediate host. We modelled the distribution of the hosts and free‐living larva as a complete assemblage to assess whether a complex trophic system will lead to an overall increase in parasite distribution with climate change, or whether divergent environmental niches may promote an ecological mismatch. Using an ensemble approach to climate modelling under two different carbon emission scenarios, we show that whereas the overall trend is for an increase in niche breadth for each species, mismatches arise in habitat suitability of the free‐living larva vs. the definitive and intermediate hosts. By incorporating these projected mismatches into a combined model, we project a shift in parasite distribution accounting for all steps in the transmission cycle, and identify that overall habitat suitability of the parasite will decline in the Great Plains and southeastern USA, but will increase in the Boreal Forest ecoregion, particularly in Alberta. These results have important implications for wildlife conservation and management due to the known pathogenicity of parelaphostrongylosis to alternate hosts including moose, caribou and elk. Our results suggest that disease risk forecasts which fail to consider biotic interactions may be overly simplistic, and that accounting for each of the parasite's life stages is key to refining predicted responses to climate change.