Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inflammatory markers at hospital discharge predict subsequent mortality after pneumonia and sepsis.

RATIONALE Survivors of hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are at increased risk of cardiovascular events, repeat infections, and death in the following months but the cause is unknown. OBJECTIVES To investigate whether persistent inflammation, defined as elevating circulating inflammatory markers at hospital discharge, is associated with subsequent outcomes. METHODS Prospective cohort study at 28 sites. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We used standard criteria to define CAP and the National Death Index to determine all-cause and cause-specific 1-year mortality. At hospital discharge, 1,799 subjects (77.5%) were alive and vital signs had returned to normal in 1,512 (87%) subjects. The geometric means (+/-SD) for circulating IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations were 6.9 (+/-1) pg/ml and 1.2 (+/-1.1) pg/ml. At 1 year, 307 (17.1%) subjects had died. Higher IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations at hospital discharge were associated with an increased risk of death, which gradually fell over time. Using Gray's survival model, the associations were independent of demographics, comorbidities, and severity of illness (for each log-unit increase, the range of adjusted hazard ratios [HRs] for IL-6 were 1.02-1.46, P < 0.0001, and for IL-10 were 1.17-1.44, P = 0.01). The ranges of HRs for each log-unit increase in IL-6 and IL-10 concentrations among subjects who did and did not develop severe sepsis were 0.95-1.27 and 1.07-1.55, respectively. High IL-6 concentrations were associated with death due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, infections, and renal failure (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS Despite clinical recovery, many patients with CAP leave hospital with ongoing subclinical inflammation, which is associated with an increased risk of death.
Small virtual machines: A survey

It has been demonstrated that virtual machines can be successfully implemented on large computer systems. They can also be implemented on small computer systems (“mini-computers”). The paper will show this, and at the same time discuss the various architectural features by which virtual machine implementation is achieved. Examining features which make machines “small”, we find architectural limitations. These machines are usually byte or word addressable where the virtual address space bound is the word size. They usually rely on indexing and indirect addressing. Most instructions are one word long. The instruction repetoire is not particularly rich. There is a simple I/O structure with facilities for hardware interrupts and direct memory access (block I/O transfers). In summary, small virtual machines are effective for software development of systems having one or more of the following characteristics: • shared facilities • no common operating system • user I/O programming •communications control •process control •fictitious I/O devices
Hedging Strategies: Electricity Investment Decisions under Policy Uncertainty

Abstract Given uncertainty in long-term carbon reduction goals, how much non-carbon generation should be developed in the near-term? This research investigates the optimal balance between the risk of overinvesting in non-carbon sources that are ultimately not needed and the risk of underinvesting in non-carbon sources and subsequently needing to reduce carbon emissions dramatically. We employ a novel framework that incorporates a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the U.S. into a two-stage stochastic approximate dynamic program (ADP) focused on decisions in the electric power sector. We solve the model using an ADP algorithm that is computationally tractable while exploring the decisions and sampling the uncertain carbon limits from continuous distributions. The results of the model demonstrate that an optimal hedge is in the direction of more non-carbon investment in the near-term, in the range of 20-30% of new generation. We also demonstrate that the optimal share of non-carbon generation is increasing in the variance of the uncertainty about the long-term carbon targets, and that with greater uncertainty in the future policy regime, a balanced portfolio of non-carbon, natural gas, and coal generation is desirable.
The control of gonadotropin secretion in complete testicular feminization.

ABSTRACT Serum concentrations of LH, FSH, testosterone and estradiol were measured in 6 subjects with the complete form of testicular feminization who ranged in age from 0.5–21.0 yr. The 3 postpubertal subjects showed LH levels elevated above the age-matched eugonadal male range, while serum FSH, testosterone and estradiol levels were within normal male limits. The 3 prepubertal subjects showed normal or only slightly elevated LH and FSH concentrations. Serial LH, FSH and testosterone determinations over 1 month in the 21-yr-old subject showed no cyclic variation. Stilbestrol, but not fluoxymesterone, suppressed gonadotropinand testosterone levels in this subject. In 4 subjects, including the 0.5 yr old, castration resulted in a marked increment in FSH levels and a further rise in LH levels. Postcastration studies showed no gonadotropin suppression by dihydrotestosterone propionate, but significant suppression by testosterone propionate; similar effects were seen in 4 young adult castrate “controls”. Gona.
When similarity breeds content: need for closure and the allure of homogeneous and self-resembling groups.

Four studies explored the relation between members' need for cognitive closure and their feelings toward groups. It was found that high (vs. low) need for closure individuals liked in-groups and out-groups more as function of the degree to which their membership was perceived as homogeneous (Studies 1-4), provided it was also self-similar (Studies 3 and 4). These results are discussed in terms of the relation between need for closure and homogeneous (vs. heterogeneous) groups' apparent potential as "closure providers. "
Regulation of mouse colony abundance by Heligmosomoides polygyrus

SUMMARY Despite the ubiquitous presence of parasites, parasitism has not been considered among the list of regulatory factors in animal populations until recently. A detailed long-term study on the impact of the direct life-cycle nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus on a breeding population of laboratory mice provides a clear example of the ability of helminths to regulate host abundance. In the absence of the parasite, the mouse population equilibrated at a density of 320 mice/m2 as a result of density-dependent effects on recruitment. When the parasite was added and transmission was maintained at high levels, infected mouse populations equilibrated at densities of < 18 mice/m2. Reduced rates of parasite transmission and elimination of the parasite from the system both resulted in an increase in mouse density. These results have implications for both ecology and parasitology as they demonstrate a potentially important but often ignored component of host populations that may well influence host abundance and community structure.
Environmentally relevant concentrations of ethynylestradiol cause female‐biased sex ratios in Xenopus tropicalis and Rana temporaria

The susceptibility of Xenopus (Silurana) tropicalis and Rana temporaria to ethynylestradiol (EE2), a potent estrogenic pharmaceutical and environmental pollutant, was investigated. Larval EE2 exposure caused female‐biased sex ratios at concentrations as low as 0.06 nM, which is comparable to levels found in the environment. The susceptibility of the two frog species to EE2 was comparable, supporting the use of X. tropicalis as a model organism for research on developmental reproductive toxicity of estrogenic pollutants.
696PTEN WEEKS TO LIVE: A POPULATION-BASED STUDY ON TREATMENT AND SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC PANCREATIC CANCER IN THE SOUTH OF THE NETHERLANDS.

Background. A large proportion of patients with pancreatic cancer presents with metastatic disease. We conducted a population-based study to evaluate trends in treatment and survival of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Methods. We included all patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1993 and 2010 in the South of the Netherlands (N 3099). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate trends in treatment with chemotherapy. Crude overall survival according to period of diagnosis was analyzed, and independent risk factors for death were identifi ed. Results. Forty-eight percent of the patients (N 1494) were diagnosed with metastatic disease. The percentage of patients being diagnosed with metastatic disease increased during the study period from 35% in 1993 ‐ 1996 to 59% in 2009 ‐ 2010 (p 0.0001). Overall, 18% of these patients received chemotherapy. The prescription of palliative chemotherapy almost tripled from 10% to 27% (p 0.0001). Treatment largely depended on age, ranging from 38% among patients aged 50 years [compared to 60 ‐ 69 years: adjusted odds ratio (OR adj ) 2.5 (95% CI 1.4 ‐ 4.2)] to 1% among patients aged 80 years [compared to 60 ‐ 69 years: OR adj 0.04 (95% CI 0.0 ‐ 0.2)]. Patients were more likely to receive chemotherapy if they had a high socioeconomic status [OR adj 2.0 (95% CI 1.3 ‐ 3.1)], and if diagnosis was pathologically verifi ed [no verifi cation vs. verifi cation: OR adj 0.3 (95% CI 0.2 ‐ 0.5)]. The administration of chemotherapy varied widely between 10 hospitals (5 ‐ 34%, p 0.0001). The median overall survival of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer remained 9 ‐ 11 weeks. Conclusion. A growing proportion of pancreatic cancer patients presented with metastatic disease. Usage of palliative chemotherapy increased over time, but median survival remained 9 ‐ 11 weeks. In the near future, it should be evaluated if the recently introduced regimens have an impact on population-based survival.
Mutation in DSG1 causing autosomal dominant striate palmoplantar keratoderma

more specific diagnosis. The term ‘neutrophilic lobular panniculitis’ was first used by Newton and Wojnarowska in 1988 in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis; however, in 1997 Matsumura et al. used the term ‘neutrophilic panniculitis’ (NP) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. More recently, some authors propose that NP should be regarded as part of the spectrum of neutrophilic diseases, defined as a lobular (predominantly neutrophilic) infiltrate with no underlying cause. Reported cases of NP in the literature have been associated with fever, neutrophilia, arthralgia, malaise and marked response to corticosteroids. Abdominal pain has been related to mesenteric panniculitis in the previously termed cases of WCD and we speculate that this might explain the abdominal pains in our patient, particularly as he underwent an exploratory laparotomy at one stage which failed to show any gross pathology. The dramatic response to infliximab in our case may be due to the inhibitory effect of infliximab on proinflammatory cytokines that play a role in chemotaxis and adhesion of neutrophils.
Performance Evaluation of a Smart CoAP Gateway for Remote Home Safety Services

In this paper, a smart constrained application protocol (CoAP)-based gateway with a border router is proposed for home safety services to remotely monitor the trespass, fire, and indoor air quality. The smart CoAP gateway controls a home safety sensor node with a pyroelectric infrared motion sensor, a fire sensor, a humidity and temperature sensor, and a non-dispersive infrared CO2 sensor and gathers sensing data from them. In addition, it can convert physical sensing data into understandable information and perform packet conversion as a border router for seamless connection between a low-power wireless personal area network (6LoWPAN) and the Internet (IPv6). Implementation and laboratory test results verify the feasibility of the smart CoAP gateway which especially can provide about 97.20% data throughput.
Debate: The biology of breast cancer in young women is unique.

Section Editors' Note: This article is based on a debate that took place during the European School of Oncology (ESO) Inside Track Conference “Breast Cancer in Young Women (BCY1)” which took place from 8–10th November 2012 in Dublin, Ireland. Breast cancer in young women frequently presents with an aggressive phenotype, leading to a poorer prognosis than in older women. The critical issue centres on whether the drivers of this “poor-prognosis” phenotype in young women represent a distinct biology or reflect an overrepresentation of molecular and cellular processes that underpin aggressive disease in all women with this common malignancy. Addressing whether or not the biology of breast cancer in young women is truly unique is an important question, as it increases our understanding of the disease process, while informing the provision of appropriate optimal quality care for the young breast cancer patient.
Mining the Long Tail of Search Queries - Finding Profitable Patterns

Many search engine marketing campaigns contain a lot of different search queries with a low frequency referred as “Long Tail”. It is not possible to draw reliable conclusions about the performance of a specific search query with low frequency regarding a business goal because of its limited sample size. In this paper we present a method for finding profitable patterns in the long tail of search queries. The method aggregates search queries based on mined patterns and rejects the non profitable groups. We applied our method to a search engine marketing campaign with over 10,000 different search queries and performed an offline test and an online A/B-test to measure the performance of the method.
Towards a Framework for Structuring Theory in IS Research

In the past, IS research has been criticized for its inability to build a cumulative tradition of IS-specific theory. We suggest that the difficulty in structuring theoretical contributions in IS is one facet of that problem. This has lead to a situation in which a lot of theory generation in IS is not made apparent as such. Based on a conceptual review on theory, we design a framework to structure theoretical contributions in IS. Applying our framework, we show that IS research does offer a broad basis of early, substantive theories and even some more comprehensive theoretical accounts specific to our discipline that IS scholars could build on in order to build a cumulative tradition. We use the context of theory generation in and for IS based on the Grounded Theory approach. While limited to this specific example, the framework provides an approach to assess what kind of theories are currently present in a given field and which range they already obtained. In doing so, we hope toenable a more structured discourse on the current state of theory generation in IS. Furthermore we provide IS researchers with an approach to make their own contributions more easily accessible to a sustainable scientific discourse focused on the theoretical advance of our discipline.
Pedigree Analysis of the Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) using Microsatellite Markers

Abstract The usefulness of microsatellite markers in pedigree analysis of the sika deer (Cervus nippon) was tested in a herd in which the maternal lineages were recorded. Eighteen sets of microsatellite primers originally designed for bovine, ovine, and cervine loci successfully amplified polymorphic DNA in the deer. The numbers of alleles per locus ranged from two to seven, and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.350 to 0.900. The resolution power of the markers in paternity testing was then determined by calculating exclusion probabilities and paternity indices. Parentages of the study population were efficiently discriminated by genotyping 17 microsatellite loci. The microsatellite data were also used to calculate the genetic relatedness between individuals, which significantly correlated with coancestry coefficients for the pairs. Our results demonstrate that the microsatellite markers are efficient tools in studying the social structure and behavior of the sika deer, as well as in monitoring the inbreeding status.
Wireless meets multimedia - New products and services

Mobile person to person speech communication has turned out to be extremely popular with more than one billion users today. Currently, mobile networks are evolving to support multimedia communications. In coming years, access to various sources of multimedia will further enrich mobile communication. New mobile phones, with graphical color displays and integrated cameras, will provide a natural platform for a large set of multimedia applications. Open software architectures in these terminals are giving new possibilities to the developer community. Evolution of the mobile multimedia will create new challenges and opportunities for related research and development activities.
Differential PSK System with Nonredundant Error Correction

Theoretical analysis and experimental results for a DPSK system with nonredundant error correction are described. The error correction capability of the proposed demodulation method is achieved without utilizing additional bandwidth. The demodulator utilizes outputs of differentially coherent detectors that employ the received signal delayed by two or more time slots as references. These outputs are shown to be the parity check sums of two or more conSecutive outputs of the conventional detector under noise-free conditions. The error rate performance of the proposed demodulation method is theoretically and experimentally studied for quaternary DPSK. Experimental results agree with the theory, which indicates that performance is superior to conventional DPSK by 1.2 dB, but poorer than coherent detection by 1.3 dB. This method can be applied effectively to TDMA communications and to on-board regenerative repeaters.
Cloning and Functional Characterization of Related TC10 Isoforms, a Subfamily of Rho Proteins Involved in Insulin-stimulated Glucose Transport*

Insulin stimulates glucose transport via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent and -independent pathways. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-independent pathway involves activation of the G protein TC10. A cDNA encoding the mouse homolog of TC10 was cloned, and its gene was mapped at the distal end of chromosome 17. Additionally, a second gene was discovered with ∼70% sequence identity to TC10. We refer to this gene as TC10β. Both isoforms of TC10 were activated by insulin upon transfection in 3T3L1 adipocytes. Cotransfection of cells with TC10α or β plus a dominant negative form of the c-cbl-associated protein CAP prevented the activation by insulin, implicating the CAP/Cbl pathway. Interestingly, both forms of TC10 were also localized in lipid raft fractions in transfected adipocytes. However, although overexpression of TC10α completely blocked glucose transport, TC10β only partially inhibited this process. Furthermore, TC10α overexpression disrupted adipocyte cortical actin, whereas TC10β had little if any effect. Thus, there are two isoforms of this key signaling intermediate, both of which are activated by insulin, but they may play different roles in initiating downstream effectors that influence glucose transport.
The study and simulation of connectivity based routing protocols in ad hoc networks

Connectivity is one of the essential properties of Ad Hoc networks. It is very important to keep the whole system connective for improving the throughput of the networks. Mainly based on the method of the probability, the most literatures focus on the critical transmission range (CTR) or the averaged minimum node degree in which the Ad Hoc networks could be k-connectivity. Firstly, this paper summarizes the present process on the connectivity and simulates the four routing protocols with the energy model in the different environments such as node density, pause time and mobility velocity. Secondly, with the energy constrained, it is clearly shown that the math's models of the related works are not co insistent with the experimental results. Finaly, this paper makes a prospect for the future research areas based on the simulation results.
Cyclic alternating pattern: a new marker of sleep alteration in patients with fibromyalgia?

OBJECTIVE In the dynamic organization of sleep, cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) expresses a condition of instability of the level of vigilance that manifests the brain's fatigue in preserving and regulating the macrostructure of sleep. We evaluated the presence of CAP in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) compared to healthy controls. METHODS Forty-five patients with FM (42 women) were studied and compared with 38 healthy subjects (36 women) matched for age, sex, and body mass index. Entry criteria were diagnosis of FM according to 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria; willingness to participate in the study; and having no other diagnosis of autoimmune, neoplastic, or other possible causes of secondary diffuse musculoskeletal pain. Patients in the study underwent polysomnography recordings and a sleep questionnaire. Hypersomnolence was evaluated according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. RESULTS FM patients had less sleep efficiency (sleep time/time in bed) than controls (79 +/- 10 vs 89 +/- 6; p < 0.01), a higher proportion of stage 1 non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep (20 +/- 5 vs 12 +/- 5; p < 0.001), and twice as many arousals per hour of sleep (9.7 +/- 3.3 vs 4.1 +/- 1.9; p < 0.01). The CAP rate (total CAP time/non-REM sleep time) was significantly increased in FM patients compared to controls (68 +/- 6% vs 45 +/- 11%; p < 0.001). CAP rate seemed to correlate with the severity of clinical symptoms in FM patients (tender points index; p < 0.01) and with less efficiency of sleep (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION The increase of CAP rate indicates a worse quality of sleep in patients with FM. These data are strongly correlated to the severity of symptoms.
Changes of rabbit pulmonary elastic properties and bronchomotricity in experimentally induced chronic Chagas' disease.

Com o intuito de estudar a denervacao bronquiea na fase cronica da doenca de Chagas investigaram-se as propriedades mecânicas e a motricidade bronquiea de 6 coelhos chagasicos cronicos e 4 controles. Utilizou-se o metodo da pletismografia de corpo inteiro e todas as medidas foram feitas antes e depois da administracao endovenosa de cloridrato de histamina (0,11 mg/kg). No grupo chagasico cronico obteve-se um menor acrescimo da capacidade residual funcional e uma quase inalteracao do pico de fluxo na expiracao passiva apos a administracao de histamina. Este grupo apresentou tambem um desvio para a direita na curva estatica de pressao transpulmonar/volume. Estes resultados sugerem uma alteracao na arvore bronquiea, que consiste principalmente numa broncoreatividade diminuida.
Rai is a New Regulator of Neural Progenitor Migration and Glioblastoma Invasion

The invasive nature of glioblastoma (GBM) is one important reason for treatment failure. GBM stem/progenitor cells retain the migratory ability of normal neural stem/progenitor cells and infiltrate the brain parenchyma. Here, we identify Rai (ShcC/N‐Shc), a member of the family of Shc‐like adaptor proteins, as a new regulator of migration of normal and cancer stem/progenitor cells. Rai is expressed in neurogenic areas of the brain and its knockdown impairs progenitor migration to the olfactory bulb. Its expression is retained in GBM stem/progenitor cells where it exerts the same promigratory activity. Rai silencing in cancer stem/progenitor cells isolated from different patients causes significant decrease in cell migration and invasion, both in vitro and in vivo, providing survival benefit. Rai depletion is associated with alteration of multiple‐signaling pathways, yet it always leads to reduced expression of proinvasive genes. STEM CELLS 2012;30:817–832