Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blocking NOTCH pathway can enhance the effect of EGFR inhibitor through targeting CD133+ endometrial cancer cells

ABSTRACT Although the molecular therapeutics targeting key biomarkers such as epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) shows some success in clinical trials, some internally existing challenges in endothelial cancer biology hinder the drug effects. One of the major challenges stems from cancer stem cell-derived drug resistance. CD133 positive cells are well believed as cancer stem cells (CSC) in endometrial cancers and NOTCH pathway plays a critical role in retaining CD133+ cells by promoting CSC self-renewal and chemoresistance. Here, we initiated a therapeutic strategy to improve effects of EGFR inhibition by targeting NOTCH pathway of CD133+ cells in endometrial cancers. We first detected and purified the CD133+ cell fraction in endometrial cancer cell line Ishikawa (IK), and validated activation of NOTCH pathway in the CD133+ cells that have higher proliferation rate and lower apoptosis rate, comparing to CD133- cells. Results of nude mouse xenograft experiments further demonstrated CD133+ cells retain higher tumorigenesis capacity than CD133- cells, indicating their tumor-initiating property. Last, we applied both NOTCH inhibitor DAPT and EGFR inhibitor AG1478 treatment on endometrial cancer lines IK and HEC-1A and the results suggested improvement effects of the combination therapy compared to the treatments of DAPT or AG1478 alone. These findings indicated targeting NOTCH pathway in CD133+ cells, combining with EGFR inhibition, which provides a novel therapeutic strategy for endometrial cancer diseases.
CARS -A Multi-agent Framework to Support the Decision Making in Uncertain Spatio-temporal Real-world Applications. (CARS-Un système multi-agent pour la prise de décision dans des applications spatiotemporelles incertaines)

Recently, many real-world applications where different entities interact in a dynamic environment, consider the use of agents in their architectures due principally to their autonomy, reactivity and decision-making abilities. Though these systems can be made intelligent, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, agents still lack of social abilities and have limited knowledge of their environment and in particular when it comes to a dynamic environment. In fact, when operating in the real world, agents need to deal with unexpected events considering both changes in time and space. Moreover, agents must face the uncertainty which pervades real-world scenarios in order to provide an accurate representation of the world. In this thesis, we introduce and evaluate a formal framework for recommending plans to agents in the decision making process, when they deal with uncertain spatio-temporal information. The agent-based architecture we propose to address this issue, called CARS (Cognitive Agent-based Recommender System), has been designed by extending the well known Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) architecture to incorporate further capabilities to support reasoning with different types of contextual information, including the social context. Uncertainty on the agent's beliefs, desires and intentions is modeled using possibility theory. To meet the requirements of real-world applications, e.g., traffic and navigation recommendation systems, we de ne a spatio-temporal representation of the agents' beliefs and intentions. Using such a formal framework, anticipatory reasoning about intentional dynamics can be performed with the aim to recommend an optimal plan to a certain user. Since spatio-temporal data is often considered as incomplete and/or vague, we extended the formal framework with a fuzzy representation of spatio-temporal beliefs and intentions. The framework is evaluated through an Agent Based Simulation (ABS) in a real-world traffic scenario. This ABS allowed us to create a virtual environment to test the impact of the different features of our framework as well as to evaluating the main strengths and weaknesses of the proposed agent architecture.
Antipsychotic prescribing and its correlates in New Zealand

Objectives: Antipsychotics are the cornerstone of schizophrenia management. There is substantial literature on their efficacy and optimal use. Doubts remain, however, regarding the translation of this knowledge into day-to-day practice. This study aimed to investigate antipsychotic prescribing in three New Zealand regions and its relationship to clinical guidelines and patient characteristics. Methods: We studied 451 patients discharged from inpatient units with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or a related disorder (International Classification of Disease, version 10) between July 2009 and December 2011. Available information included patient demography, legal status, prescribed medications, duration of index admission and prescriber’s country of postgraduate training and years of postgraduate experience. Results: There was a high rate (33.7%) of multiple antipsychotic prescription, and lower than expected clozapine use (20%); Maori were prescribed clozapine more frequently than non-Maori (24% vs. 13%, respectively). Compulsory treatment was associated with more use of injectable medication and increased length of stay in hospital. Clinician characteristics did not significantly influence prescribing. Conclusions: Observed prescribing practice aligned with existing guidelines except for antipsychotic polypharmacy and clozapine under-utilisation.
Mineral trioxide aggregate and other bioactive endodontic cements: an updated overview – part II other clinical applications and complications

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is a dental material used extensively for vital pulp therapies (VPT), protecting scaffolds during regenerative endodontic procedures, apical barriers in teeth with necrotic pulps and open apices, perforation repairs as well as root canal filling and root-end filling during surgical endodontics. A number of bioactive endodontic cements (BECs) have recently been introduced to the market. Most of these materials have calcium and silicate in their compositions; however, bioactivity is a common property of these cements. These materials include the following: BioAggregate, Biodentine, BioRoot RCS, calcium-enriched mixture cement, Endo-CPM, Endocem, EndoSequence, EndoBinder, EndoSeal MTA, iRoot, MicroMega MTA, MTA Bio, MTA Fillapex, MTA Plus, Neo MTA Plus, Ortho MTA, Quick-Set, Retro MTA, Tech Biosealer, and TheraCal LC. It has been claimed that these materials have properties similar to those of MTA but without the drawbacks. In Part I of this review, the available information on the chemical composition of the materials listed above was reviewed and their applications for VPT was discussed. In this article, the clinical applications of MTA and other BECs will be reviewed for apexification, regenerative endodontics, perforation repair, root canal filling, root-end filling, restorative procedures, periodontal defects and treatment of vertical and horizontal root fractures. In addition, the literature regarding the possible drawbacks of these materials following their clinical applications is reviewed. These drawbacks include their discolouration potential, systemic effects and retreatability following use as a root filling material. Based on selected keywords, all publications were searched regarding the use of MTA as well as BECs for the relevant clinical applications. Numerous publications were found regarding the use of BECs for various endodontic applications. The majority of these investigations compared BECs with MTA. Despite promising results for some materials, the number of publications using BECs for various clinical applications was limited. Furthermore, most studies had several methodological shortcomings and low levels of evidence.
Chaos control for the Buck-Boost converter by improving the correlation

To transform the Buck-Boost converter from the chaotic state to the periodic orbits, this paper proposes a chaotic control method by improving the correlation between the inductor current and the output voltage. By adjusting the coupling strength, this method can control the chaotic Buck-Boost converter to the period-2, period-4, period-8 orbits and the period-3, period-6, period-9 orbits, without determining the unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) in advance.
A Function-Level Behavior Model for Anomalous Behavior Detection in Hybrid Mobile Applications

Hybrid mobile applications (or apps) are based on web technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, and run in a browser environment. They facilitate cross-platform development. However, the security issues of web technologies are inherited by hybrid mobile apps, where the injected code may execute with the system-level privilege. In this paper, we propose a behavior model to detect malicious behaviors in hybrid mobile apps. Our model uses function-level information to describe how an app's behaviors are activated. Furthermore, once script injection happens, the behaviors made by the injected code can be detected according to the deviation from the app's behavior model.
Mechanical thrombectomy of acute ischemic stroke with a new intermediate aspiration catheter: preliminary results

Background and purpose To report clinical and procedural outcomes of acute ischemic stroke patients after endovascular treatment with the new thromboaspiration catheter AXS Catalyst 6. Methods Patients with anterior and posterior circulation stroke were selected. Successful reperfusion defined as a Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) score ≥2 b and 3-month functional independence defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) ≤2 were the main efficacy outcomes. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and mortality were the main safety outcomes. Results 107 patients were suitable for analysis. Mean age was 73.18±12.62 year and median baseline NIHSS was 17 (range: 3–32). The most frequent site of occlusion was the middle cerebral artery (MCA) (60.7%). 76.6% of patients were treated with AXS Catalyst 6 alone without the need for rescue devices or thromboaspiration catheters. Successful reperfusion was achieved in 84.1%, functional independence in 47.6%, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 3.7%, and mortality in 21.4%. Conclusions Endovascular treatment with AXS Catalyst 6 proved to be safe, technically feasible, and effective. Comparison analyses with other devices for mechanical thrombectomy are needed.
What Makes a Good Staging Algorithm: Examples from Regular Exercise

Purpose. This study retrospectively compared subjects from three unrelated studies using eight algorithms to stage exercise behavior. Subjects and settings. Study One included 936 employees involved in a smoking cessation study at four worksites—a medical center, retail store, manufacturing firm, and a government agency. Study Two included 19,212 members of a New England HMO; and Study Three included a convenience sample of 327 adult New Englanders. Measures. The eight algorithms used different descriptions of stages based on the transtheoretical model, as well as different definitions of exercise and response formats. Results. Algorithms using longer, more precise definitions of exercise resulted in larger numbers of subjects being staged in precontemplation and contemplation in comparison to algorithms using shorter definitions, which tended to stage subjects in preparation and action. Maintenance was the most and preparation the least consistently described stage across algorithms. Conclusions. Alteration of the descriptions of stage and the definition of exercise has consequences for the staging of subjects. Definitions need to be explicit, stating all parameters needed to meet criterion, and subjects must be able to assess themselves. Either a 5-Choice or a true/false response format is effective in assessing stage.
The role of autonomic dysfunction in cirrhotic patients before and after liver transplantation. Review of the literature

In patients affected by hepatic cirrhosis, autonomic dysfunction is a common finding; usually it is asymptomatic but it may correlate with increased mortality and morbidity before, during and after liver transplant, due to hemodynamic instability in the course of stressful events like sepsis, gastrointestinal bleeding and reperfusion after transplantation surgery. Hyperdynamic circulation and hepatic dysfunction seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of autonomic dysfunction, even if pathophysiological mechanisms are not completely known. We present a revision of previous literature about prevalence, pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical features, and mortality and morbidity of autonomic dysfunction secondary to hepatic cirrhosis.
Exercise Improves Physical Activity and Comorbidities in Obese Adults with Asthma

Introduction Obese adults with asthma have an increased number of comorbidities and reduced daily life physical activity (DLPA), which may worsen asthma symptoms. Exercise is recommended to improve asthma outcomes; however, the benefits of exercise for psychosocial comorbidities and physical activity levels in obese adults with asthma have been poorly investigated. Objective This study aimed to assess the effects of exercise on DLPA, asthma symptoms, and psychosocial comorbidities in obese adults with asthma. Methods Fifty-five grade II obese adults with asthma were randomly assigned to either a weight loss program + exercise program (WL + E group, n = 28) or a weight loss program + sham (WL + S group, n = 27). The WL + E group incorporated aerobic and resistance muscle training into the weight loss program (nutrition and psychological therapies), whereas the WL + S group performed breathing and stretching exercises. DLPA, asthma symptoms, sleep quality, and anxiety and depression symptoms were quantified before and after treatment. Results After 3 months, the WL + E group presented a significant increase in daily step counts (3068 ± 2325 vs 729 ± 1118 steps per day) and the number of asthma symptom–free days (14.5 ± 9.6 vs 8.6 ± 11.4 d·month−1) compared with the WL + S group. The proportion of participants with improvements in depression symptoms (76.4% vs 16.6%) and a lower risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea (56.5% vs 16.3%) was greater in the WL + E group than that in the WL + S group (P < 0.05). Significant improvements in sleep efficiency (6.6% ± 5.1% vs 1.3% ± 4.7%) and latency (−3.7 ± 5.9 vs 0.2 ± 5.6 min) were also observed in the WL + E group. Conclusions Our results strongly suggest that exercise training plus a weight loss program improves DLPA, sleep efficiency, and depression and asthma symptoms in obese adults with asthma.
Remotely Exploiting AT Command Attacks on ZigBee Networks

Internet of Things networks represent an emerging phenomenon bringing connectivity to common sensors. Due to the limited capabilities and to the sensitive nature of the devices, security assumes a crucial and primary role. In this paper, we report an innovative and extremely dangerous threat targeting IoT networks. The attack is based on Remote AT Commands exploitation, providing a malicious user with the possibility of reconfiguring or disconnecting IoT sensors from the network. We present the proposed attack and evaluate its efficiency by executing tests on a real IoT network. Results demonstrate how the threat can be successfully executed and how it is able to focus on the targeted nodes, without affecting other nodes of the network.
Negative Treatment by Family as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms, Life Satisfaction, Suicidality, and Tobacco/Alcohol Use in Vietnamese Sexual Minority Women.

PURPOSE Research linking family rejection and health outcomes in sexual minority people is mostly limited to North America. We assessed the associations between negative treatment by family members and depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, suicidality, and tobacco/alcohol use in sexual minority women (SMW) in Viet Nam. METHODS Data were from an anonymous internet survey (n = 1936). Latent class analysis characterized patterns of negative treatment by family members experienced by respondents. Latent class with distal outcome modeling was used to regress depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, suicidality, and tobacco/alcohol use on family treatment class, controlling for predictors of family treatment and for two other types of sexual prejudice. RESULTS Five latent family treatment classes were extracted, including four negative classes representing varying patterns of negative family treatment. Overall, more than one negative class predicted lower life satisfaction, more depressive symptoms, and higher odds of attempted suicide (relative to the non-negative class), supporting the minority stress hypothesis that negative family treatment is predictive of poorer outcomes. Only the most negative class had elevated alcohol use. The association between family treatment and smoking status was not statistically significant. The most negative class, unexpectedly, did not have the highest odds of having attempted suicide, raising a question about survivor bias. CONCLUSION This population requires public health attention, with emphasis placed on interventions targeting the family to promote acceptance and to prevent negative treatment, and interventions supporting those SMW who encounter the worst types of negative family treatment.
Seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigenemia and viral infectivity among liver cancer patients accessing care at a tertiary health facility in Southwest Nigeria

ABSTRACT Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a public health challenge globally, associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and known to be highly endemic in developing countries. Its comorbidity with cancer in infected patients poses greater challenge in their management. This study was therefore designed to determine the burden of HBV infection and its correlation among cancer patients assessing care in a tertiary health facility in southwest Nigeria.Methodology: A total of 122 plasma samples from consenting cancer patients were tested for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay and their plasma HBV DNA quantified by COBAS Amplicor HBV Monitor assay. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 and chi-square (χ2) test was used to determine association while p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: An overall HBsAg rate of 13.9% was found among the study population. The distribution of HBsAg positivity among the subjects with condition of cancer showed 9(23.7%) with chronic liver disease (CLD), 4(10.8%) in primary liver carcinoma (PLCC) and 4(8.5%) with pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO). The CLD group had highest viral infectivity (Mean=8324.3 Copies/Ml) and lowest among those with PLCC (468.4 Copies/Ml). The rate for HBsAg was higher in male (14.7%) than in their female (13.0%) counterparts with significant statistical association by gender (p>0.0314) and peaked (23.5%) among age group 20-29 years.Conclusion: This study identified high rate of HBV infection among the population and could be investigated as a predictor for cancer. This finding is vital in the management of cancer patients coinfected with HBV.
Geodetic Mass Balance of the Northern Patagonian Icefield from 2000 to 2012 Using Two Independent Methods

We compare two independent estimates of the rate of elevation change and geodetic mass balance of the Northern Patagonian Icefield (NPI) between 2000 (3856 km²) and 2012 (3740 km²) from space-borne data. The first is obtained by differencing the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) from February 2000 and a Satellite pour l’Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT5) DEM from March 2012. The second is deduced by fitting pixel-based linear elevation trends over 118 DEMs calculated from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) stereo images acquired between 2000 and 2012. Both methods lead to similar and strongly negative icefield-wide mass balances of -1.02±0.21 and -1.06±0.14 m w.e. yr-1 respectively, which is in agreement with earlier studies. Contrasting glacier responses are observed, with individual glacier mass balances ranging from -0.15 to -2.30 m w.e. yr-1 (standard deviation = 0.49 m w.e. yr-1; N = 38). For individual glaciers, the two methods agree within error bars, except for small glaciers poorly sampled in the SPOT5 DEM due to clouds. Importantly, our study confirms the lack of penetration of the C-band SRTM radar signal into the NPI snow and firn except for a region above 2900 m a.s. l. covering less than 1% of the total area. Ignoring penetration would bias the mass balance by only 0.005 m w.e. yr-1. A strong advantage of the ASTER method is that it relies only on freely available data and can thus be extended to other glacierized areas.
PFA-based feature selection for image steganalysis

This paper presents a universal image steganalysis method based on feature selection by principal feature analysis (PFA). The goal of this paper is to increase the performance of existing image steganalysis approaches using PFA-based feature selection method and reduce the high dimensionality of the features used in state-of-the-art steganalysis methods. Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used in pattern recognition applications. However, PCA has disadvantage that, all the generated features are transformed features. While, PFA selects the subset of preliminary features which contains necessary information. PFA is applied on spatial domain subtractive pixel adjacency matrix features and in case of transform domain, CHEN features (intrablock and interblock Markov-based features) and CC-PEV features (PEV features enhanced by Cartesian calibration). The experimental results show that PFA is effective and efficient in eliminating redundant features. Experimental results prove that the use of PFA method in steganalysis is superior in terms of dimensionality reduction of features and increases the classification performance.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director's Physical Activity Challenge: An Evaluation of a Worksite Health Promotion Intervention

In 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched a 50-day exercise campaign called the "Director's Physical Activity Challenge" to stimulate its employees to exercise. Of the 5822 eligible employees, 3740 (64%) joined, but pre- and post-data was available on only 1192 (20.5%) people. Of this group, 86% of those in contemplation and 64% of those in preparation, and 34% of those in action advanced to a higher stage.
A cross-covariance based background subspace learning method for foreground detection

Foreground detection in complex scenarios is a challenging task. In this work, we propose to detect foreground by incrementally learning a cross-covariance based subspace. In our method, we first introduce the cross-covariance based two dimensional principal component analysis (2DPCA) algorithm into foreground detection field for better background estimation. Then, we extend the conventional cross-covariance based 2DPCA algorithm into an incremental one, which helps to model background in an adaptive way. Moreover, we consider the sparse and the continuous characteristics of the foreground, and formulate them as a fused lasso problem. By adding the fused lasso regularization into the proposed subspace learning process, we integrate the background recovery and the foreground estimation into a single optimization framework. Finally, we design an efficient approximate algorithm which solves the optimization problem effectively. We compare our method with the state of the art methods on multiple challenging video sequences. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed method.
Are SGLT2 Inhibitors Ready for Prime Time for CKD?

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) is a sodium-dependent glucose transport protein, and its inhibitors (SGLT2i - gliflozins) are indicated as an adjunct therapy to diet and exercise for improving glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). In fact, SGLT2i usage has been associated with a