Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thyroid cancer GWAS identifies 10q26.12 and 6q14.1 as novel susceptibility loci and reveals genetic heterogeneity among populations

Thyroid cancer is the most heritable cancer of all those not displaying typical Mendelian inheritance. However, most of the genetic factors that would explain the high heritability remain unknown. Our aim was to identify additional common genetic variants associated with susceptibility to this disease. In order to do so, we performed a genome‐wide association study in a series of 398 cases and 502 controls from Spain, followed by a replication in four well‐defined Southern European case‐control collections contributing a total of 1,422 cases and 1,908 controls. The association between the variation at the 9q22 locus near FOXE1 and thyroid cancer risk was consistent across all series, with several SNPs identified (rs7028661: OR = 1.64, p = 1.0 × 10−22, rs7037324: OR = 1.54, p = 1.2 × 10−17). Moreover, the rare alleles of three SNPs (rs2997312, rs10788123 and rs1254167) at 10q26.12 showed suggestive evidence of association with higher risk of the disease (OR = 1.35, p = 1.2 × 10−04, OR = 1.26, p = 5.2 × 10−04 and OR = 1.38, p = 5.9 × 10−05, respectively). Finally, the rare allele of rs4075570 at 6q14.1 conferred protection in the series studied (OR = 0.82, p = 2.0 × 10−04). This study suggests that heterogeneity in genetic susceptibility between populations is a key feature to take into account when exploring genetic risk factors related to this disease.
Discrepancy of blood pressure between the brachial artery and radial artery.

BACKGROUND In this study, we attempted to find the relations between blood pressure (BP) measured on the brachial artery (bBP) and BP assessed on the radial artery (rBP) in the right arm. METHODS Three hundred and fifteen patients were enrolled in this study. Those who had peripheral vascular disease, wounds of arm skin or subcutaneous tissue infection were excluded. After a 15-minute equilibration and stabilization period after inducation of anesthesia, three bBP and rBP records were obtained sequentially using an oscillometric device with an adult cuff and infant cuff, respectively. Order for each BP was randomized. RESULTS The bBP was significantly lower than the rBP (P<0.05). The difference between the two values varied from 13 to 18 mmHg in systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and mean blood pressure (MAP) respectively. And the rBP was positively correlated with the bBP (r=0.872, 0.754, 0.765; P<0.001, <0.001, <0.001; SBP, DBP, MAP, respectively). CONCLUSION The bBP value can be evaluated by the noninvasive measurements of rBP using an appropriate cuff in clinical practice.
M ultimarket Contact and Imperfect Information

With perfect information about relevant strategic variables, economic theory predicts that firms engaged in competition across several markets sometimes can use their multimarket contact to blunt competitive forces. In practice, perfect information likely is not available, and it is well known that the existence of imperfect information can impede firms' collusive efforts. I extend a standard oligopoly supergame to examine simultaneously the effects of imperfect information and multi market contact on the degree of cooperation that firms can sustain, and I reach the following conclusions. First, linkage of one market with perfect information and another with imperfect information may not increase profits, despite the slack in incentive constraints exploited in perfect information models. Second, multimarket contact does not increase profits if each market has too little uncertainty. Third, profits can be increased in a market in which some collusion initially is sustainable by linking it with a market in which no collusion initially is sustainable. The central theme of these results is that a market must generate sufficiently noisy signals for it to benefit another market through strategic linkage. This contrasts with the finding in individual markets that collusion decreases as the level of noise increases. I
Promiscuous malaria peptide epitope stimulates CD45Ra T cells from peripheral blood of nonexposed donors.

PBL from individuals with no history of malaria exposure, as well as cord blood lymphocytes, were tested for proliferation to T cell epitopes from the malaria circumsporozoite proteins of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Cells from many individuals proliferated in response to these peptides, but for two peptides (P. vivax317-336 and P. falciparum CS331-350) the response rate ranged from 64 to 93%, with the specific stimulation indices reaching as high as 38. The phenotype of the cells responding to PfCS331-350 was predominantly CD4+,CD8-,CD45Ra+,CD45Ro-, which was the inverse of the phenotype of the cells responding to tetanus toxoid with respect to CD45 isoforms. T cell clones from different individuals specific for PfCS331-350 were restricted by at least four different HLA-DR molecules and there was no evidence that the peptide was a "superantigen. " Overlapping peptides were used to demonstrate that clones had different fine specificities although the peptide specificities of the DR4-restricted and DR11-restricted clones were similar. Although the individuals tested here have had no history of malaria exposure, these data demonstrate that they have T cells specific for malaria sequences present in high frequency that proliferate as intensely as some memory responses. Although one clone from an individual with a history of BCG vaccination did react strongly with PPD, the phenotype of these cells suggests that they are not classical memory cells for a cross-reactive recall Ag. Such cells may affect the induction or expression of malaria immunity.
sispread: A Software to Simulate Infectious Diseases Spreading on Contact Networks

Summary Objectives: We present a simulation software which allows studying the dynamics of a hypothetic infectious disease within a network of connected people. The software is aimed to facilitate the discrimination of stochastic factors governing the evolution of an infection in a network. In order to do this it provides simple tools to create networks of individuals and to set the epidemiological parameters of the outbreaks. Methods: Three popular models of infectious disease can be used (SI, SIS, SIR). The simulated networks are either the algorithm-based included ones (scale free, small-world, and random homogeneous networks), or provided by third party software. Results: It allows the simulation of a single or many outbreaks over a network, or outbreaks over multiple networks (with identical properties). Standard outputs are the evolution of the prevalence of the disease, on a single outbreak basis or by averaging many outbreaks. The user can also obtain customized outputs which address in detail different possible epidemiological questions about the spread of an infectious agent in a community. Conclusions: The presented software introduces sources of stochasticity present in real epidemics by simulating outbreaks on contact networks of individuals. This approach may help to understand the paths followed by outbreaks in a given community and to design new strategies for preventing and controlling them.
Light-dependent destabilization of PHL in Arabidopsis

Plants sense environmental stimuli such as light to regulate their flowering time. In Arabidopsis, phytochrome B (phyB) is the major photoreceptor that perceives red and far-red light, and destabilizes transcriptional regulator CONSTANS (CO) protein. However the mechanism that links photoreceptor and CO protein degradation is largely unknown. We recently showed that PHYTOCHROME-DEPENDENT LATE-FLOWERING (PHL) protein inhibits phyB signaling through direct protein-protein interaction. Here, we report that light exposure destabilizes PHL protein as is the case with CO. Fluorescence from PHL-YFP fusion protein expressed under the control of Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (CaMV) 35S promoter (35S::PHL-YFP) almost disappeared after four-hour treatment of white light. Furthermore, the similar results were also obtained from the analysis of PHL-GUS fusion protein expressed by PHL promoter (PHLpro::PHL-GUS phl-1). These results highlight the importance of post-transcriptional regulation in phyB-mediated flowering regulation and will give us hints how phyB regulates CO protein amount.
Efficient ASIC and FPGA implementation of cube architecture

This study presents a generalised architecture for cube operation based on Yavadunam sutra of Vedic mathematics. This algorithm converts the cube of a large magnitude number into smaller magnitude number and addition operation. The Vedic sutra for decimal numbers is extended to binary radix-2 number system considering digital platforms. The cubic architecture is synthesised and simulated using Xilinx ISE 14.1 software and implemented on various Field-programmable gate array devices for comparison purpose. The Encounter(R) RTL Compiler RC13.10 v13.10-s006_1 of cadence tool is also used considering Application specific integrated circuit platform. The performance parameters such as delay, area and power are obtained from synthesis reports. The results show that the proposed architecture is useful for less area and high-speed application in microprocessor environment.
The role of chemotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix: a review

A critical review of the potential role of chemotherapy in the management of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is presented. Both its role in the management of recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer and its usefulness as part of the primary treatment of high-risk patients are discussed. It is emphasized that high-risk patients with cervical cancer should preferably be treated in specialized centers and entered into research protocols.
A Comparison of Pharmacists and Physicians on the Quality of Prescribing for Ambulatory Hypertensive Patients

This article discusses a quasi-experimental study of the quality of pharmacists' and physicians' drug prescribing for ambulatory hypertensive patients in a health maintenance organization. The null hypothesis was that there is no difference between pharmacists and physicians as to the quality of drug prescribing for hypertensive patients. Analysis revealed no difference in prescribing between the physician group and the pharmacist group on the scoring for the presence of drug interactions, appropriateness of quantities, dose, and patient directions. The pharmacist prescriber group did significantly better than the physician group, however, on choosing the appropriate drug, prescribing for a “positive effect on the patient's health,” and overall appropriateness from combining all the above scales (p < 0.05). The diastolic pressures of the patients assigned to the pharmacists' group were not significantly different from the physicians' group on pretest, but on posttest the diastolic pressures were slightly lower in the pharmacists' group (p < 0.10).
Recombinant Human TSH Modulates In Vivo C‐Telopeptides of Type‐1 Collagen and Bone Alkaline Phosphatase, but Not Osteoprotegerin Production in Postmenopausal Women Monitored for Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

In women monitored for thyroid carcinoma, short‐term stimulation with rhTSH induced an acute decrease in serum C‐telopeptides of type‐1 collagen and an increase in serum BALP levels without any effect on OPG production. The inhibitory effect of TSH on bone resorption occurred only in postmenopausal women who showed low BMD and a high bone turnover rate as an effect of L‐thyroxine suppressive therapy.
Correspondence re: O. J. Arola et al., acute doxorubicin cardiotoxicity involves cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Cancer Res., 60: 1789-1792, 2000.

Arola et al. [(1)][1] , in a recent issue of Cancer Research, reported on CA [1][2] after the administration of doxorubicin in an animal model. Male Wistar rats were exposed to doxorubicin at increasing dosages (from 1.25 mg/kg as a single injection up to a total cumulative dose of 15 mg/kg over 2
Electrical Stimulation of Eye Blink in Individuals with Acute Facial Palsy: Progress toward a Bionic Blink

Background: Elicitation of eye closure and other movements via electrical stimulation may provide effective treatment for facial paralysis. The authors performed a human feasibility study to determine whether transcutaneous neural stimulation can elicit a blink in individuals with acute facial palsy and to obtain feedback from participants regarding the tolerability of surface electrical stimulation for daily blink restoration. Methods: Forty individuals with acute unilateral facial paralysis, HB grades 4 through 6, were prospectively studied between 6 and 60 days of onset. Unilateral stimulation of zygomatic facial nerve branches to elicit eye blink was achieved with brief bipolar, charge-balanced pulse trains, delivered transcutaneously by adhesive electrode placement; results were recorded on a high-speed video camera. The relationship between stimulation parameters and cutaneous sensation was analyzed using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale. Results: Complete eye closure was achieved in 55 percent of participants using stimulation parameters reported as tolerable. In those individuals, initial eye twitch was observed at an average current of 4.6 mA (±1.7; average pulse width of 0.7 ms, 100 to 150 Hz), with complete closure requiring a mean of 7.2 mA (±2.6). Conclusions: Transcutaneous facial nerve stimulation may artificially elicit eye blink in a majority of patients with acute facial paralysis. Although individuals varied widely in their reported degrees of discomfort from blink-eliciting stimulation, most of them indicated that such stimulation would be tolerable if it could restore eye closure. These patients would therefore benefit from a biomimetic device to facilitate eye closure until the recovery process is complete. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.
Bluetooth: From antenna to silicon

Recently, a new universal radio interface called BluetoothTMwas developed enabling electronic devices to connect and communicate via short-range radio links. The Bluetooth technology is regarded as a complement and an extension to existing wireless technologies, addressing the short-range and inter-device connectivity. The technology allows the design of low-power, small-sized, and low-cost radios that can be embedded in a wide range of future products, which will eventually lead towards ubiquitous connectivity between these products. This paper addresses the implementation aspects of the Bluetooth transceiver. It also discusses the trade-offs made in the air interface specification to achieve single-chip implementations.
Continuous body emotion recognition system during theater performances

Understanding emotional human behavior in its multimodal and continuous aspect is necessary for studying human machine interaction and creating constituent social agents. As a first step, we propose a system for continuous emotional behavior recognition expressed by people during communication based on their gesture and their whole body dynamical motion. The features used to classify the motion are inspired by the Laban Movement Analysis entities and are mapped onto the well‐known Russell Circumplex Model . We choose a specific case study that corresponds to an ideal case of multimodal behavior that emphasizes the body motion expression: theater performance. Using a trained neural network and annotated data, our system is able to describe the motion behavior as trajectories on the Russell Circumplex Model diagram during theater performances over time. This work contributes to the understanding of human behavior and expression and is a first step through a complete continuous emotion recognition system whose next step will be adding facial expressions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Outcomes-Adjusted Reimbursement in a Health-Care Delivery System

This paper considers a health-care delivery system with two noncooperative parties: a purchaser of medical services and a specialized provider. A dynamic principal-agent model that captures the interaction between the two parties is developed. In this model, patients arrive exogenously, receive periodic treatment from the provider, suffer costly complications that require hospital care, and eventually exit the system in death. The provider chooses the intensity of treatment in each period, incurs an associated cost, and is reimbursed by the purchaser according to observed patient outcomes. The purchaser's problem is to determine a payment system that will induce treatment choices maximizing total social welfare. The optimal payment system, referred to as the outcomes-adjusted payment system, is identified. It consists of a prospective payment per patient and a retrospective payment adjustment based on adverse short-term patient outcomes. This system induces the most efficient delivery of medical services by combining the immediate "threat" of a retrospective payment adjustment with the future reward of prospective payments generated by surviving patients. A numerical example is provided in the context of Medicare's End-Stage Renal Disease program. The example compares the optimal system to systems that are currently in place. The results suggest that the purchaser can achieve significant gains in patient life expectancy by switching to the outcomes-adjusted payment system, but this requires accurate information about treatment technology, patient characteristics, and provider preferences. The life-expectancy gains do not involve increased medical expenditures.
Crystal chemistry of hydrous forsterite and its vibrational properties up to 41 GPa

Abstract The crystal structure of hydrous pure magnesium forsterite (Mg2SiO4) containing 8900 ppmw H2O, synthesized at 12 GPa and 1250 °C, has been refined. The major hydration mechanism appears to be M1 cation vacancy with protonation of the O1-O2 octahedral edge of M1. Raman spectra up to 41 GPa show strong coupling between the two Ag modes (824.4 and 856.2 cm-1). Mode Grüneisen parameters γi related to Mg(2)O6 translation mode decrease relative to anhydrous forsterite. This is attributed to the fact that the M2 site shows full occupancy compared to the M1 site, and the vacancy predominantly occurs at the M1 site. Pressure dependencies of four OH vibrations in the region 3548-3615 cm-1 suggest that positional ordering of hydrogen ion (proton) takes place with increasing pressure. The OH mode at 3615 cm-1 shows complex response as a function of pressure: the (∂ν/∂P) slope changes from -0.43 below 10 GPa to 1.97 between 10 and 20 GPa, and does not show clear pressure dependence above 20 GPa. Single-crystal X-ray data were used to assign the OH band to the structural sites, O1 and O2. The proton is closer to O2 than O1. The distance between the proton and O2 is 0.96 Å. In view of the empirical relation between OH-stretching frequencies and O···O distances (Libowitzky 1999), the pressure dependence of the OH mode (3615 cm-1) is well correlated with the O1-O2 distance and the degree of hydrogen bonding.
Cantonese forensic voice comparison with higher-level features: likelihood ratio-based validation using F-pattern and tonal F0 trajectories over a disyllabic hexaphone

A pilot experiment relating to estimation of strength of evidence in forensic voice comparison is described which explores the use of higher-level features extracted over a disyllabic word as a whole, rather than over individual monosyllables as conventionally practiced. The trajectories of the first three formants and tonal F0 of the hexaphonic disyllabic Cantonese word daihyat ‘first’ from controlled but natural non-contemporaneous recordings of 23 male speakers are modeled with polynomials, and multivariate likelihood ratios estimated from their coefficients. Evaluation with the log likelihood ratio cost validity metric C llr shows an optimum performance is obtained, surprisingly, with lower order polynomials, with F2 requiring a cubic fit, and F1 and F3 quadratic. Fusion of F-pattern and tonal F0 results in considerable improvement over the individual features, reducing the C llr to ca. 0.1. The forensic potential of the daihyat data is demonstrated by fusion with two other higher-level features: the F-pattern of Cantonese /i/ and short-term F0, which reduces the C llr still further to 0.03. Important pros and cons of higher-level features and likelihood ratios are discussed, the latter illustrated with data from Japanese, and two varieties of English in real forensic casework.
Analysis of transmission properties of naval power line channels

In this paper transmission properties of PLC (PowerLineCommunications) channels in ships are discussed. A multi-port channel model is set up based on an equivalent lumped circuit that represents the transmission line characteristic of a power cable starting from the analytical solution of the telegraph equations. Then a Y matrix has been employed to compute the transfer function between power network ports, taking into account load variations. The effect of cables length and loads varying on transfer functions is investigated. The simulation results show that both the multiple branches and the cable length contribute to reduce the time-variant effect of the load on transmission performance. Therefore, the power line channel in ships can be considered deterministic.
Perfectionism and the Five-factor Personality Traits as Predictors of Mortality in Older Adults

The major hypothesis of the study was that perfectionism as a personality trait, along with the five-factor personality traits and dispositional optimism, is strongly associated with mortality in late life. After baseline assessment of health and personality traits as predictors of mortality, 450 participants were followed over a period of 6.5 years. Consistent with our hypotheses, findings demonstrated that risk of death was significantly greater for high scorers in perfectionism and neuroticism, compared to low scorers at the time of base line. Conversely, risk of death was significantly lower for high scorers in conscientiousness, extraversion and optimism. Implications for health and longevity are discussed.