Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skin cancer risk assessment in dark skinned immigrants: the role of social determinants and ethnicity

ABSTRACT Objectives: Dark-skinned people have a lower incidence rate of skin cancer, in particular melanoma, which is detected at more advanced stages leading to poorer prognoses and long-term outcomes compared to whites. The gap in survival is due to some difficulty in melanoma detection, lack of attention from doctors and awareness by patients. This study aims to assess skin cancer risk awareness in dark-skinned immigrants and to determine the influence of socioeconomic factors and ethnic origin on behaviors. Design: This is a cross-sectional health facility based study carried out in a 12-month period. A semi-structured questionnaire to assess skin cancer risk awareness and a dermatological examination was offered to dark-skinned immigrants consecutively attending the dermatology department of the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty in Rome. Results: 147 dark-skinned immigrants were enrolled, of which 54.4% were males, coming from Africa (53.1%). They were mainly young, aged 18–34 (56.5%). The level of education and length of stay in Italy was significantly related to the awareness about skin cancer: people with a high educational level (OR: 8.1 95% CI: 3.2–23.4) or immigrated more than 4 years before the interview (OR: 2.1 95% CI: 1.0–4.4) have a greater knowledge about skin cancer. Conclusions: Education level is the strongest predictive factor of skin cancer awareness, whereas cultural behaviours and personal experience of sunburns are the main factors determining sunlight avoidance. Health promotion programs targeting immigrants must consider cultural differences related to ethnicity and country of origin, and adopt a transcultural approach.
Protein flexibility in docking and surface mapping

Abstract Structure-based drug design has become an essential tool for rapid lead discovery and optimization. As available structural information has increased, researchers have become increasingly aware of the importance of protein flexibility for accurate description of the native state. Typical protein–ligand docking efforts still rely on a single rigid receptor, which is an incomplete representation of potential binding conformations of the protein. These rigid docking efforts typically show the best performance rates between 50 and 75%, while fully flexible docking methods can enhance pose prediction up to 80–95%. This review examines the current toolbox for flexible protein–ligand docking and receptor surface mapping. Present limitations and possibilities for future development are discussed.
A linear time algorithm to compute a minimum restrained dominating set in proper interval graphs

A set D ⊆ V is a restrained dominating set of a graph G = (V, E) if every vertex in V\D is adjacent to a vertex in D and a vertex in V\D. Given a graph G and a positive integer k, the restrained domination problem is to check whether G has a restrained dominating set of size at most k. The restrained domination problem is known to be NP-complete even for chordal graphs. In this paper, we propose a linear time algorithm to compute a minimum restrained dominating set of a proper interval graph. We present a polynomial time reduction that proves the NP-completeness of the restrained domination problem for undirected path graphs, chordal bipartite graphs, circle graphs, and planar graphs.
Re-innervation pattern of the ‘neovagina’ created from the bladder flap in patients with Mayer-Rokitanski-Kistner-Hauser syndrome: An immunochemical study

Background. Cystovaginoplasty (CVP) is a method of vaginal reconstruction in women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kistner-Hauser Syndrome (MRKHS). The neo-vagina allows normal sexual intercourses, but after CVP, the sexual life of patients with MRKHS does not differ significantly from normal females. Therefore, we decided to elucidate the pattern of sensory re-innervation of the bladder flap used for the surgery. Methods. Biopsies were taken from vaginal vestibule and urinary bladder during the CVP and 1 year later in four patients with MRKHS. The following neurotransmitters were studied calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), galanin (GAL), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP). Results. CGRP and PACAP nerve fibres were sparse under the urothelium and in submucosal layer of the neovagina, they were more numerous around blood vessels and in the vicinity of smooth muscles. This was similar to the pattern observed in the urinary bladder. VIP- and GAL-positive nerve fibres were most numerous in the submucosa around blood vessels and in smooth muscle bundles of neovagina. They were distinctly less numerous beneath the epithelium. This innervation pattern mimicked that seen in normal vagina and in vaginal vestibule of patients with MRKHS. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate considerable nervous system plasticity in the bladder flap. Distribution of presumably sensory CGRP and PACAP immunoreactive nerve fibers was similar to the pattern observed within the intact bladder wall, and VIP or GAL immunoreactive nerve fibers (vasomotor functions) were distributed in a manner similar to that observed in the intact vaginal wall.
Biosafety assessment of transgenic Bt cotton on model animals

Background : To know the effects of transgenic crops on soil microorganisms, animals and other expected hazards due to the introduction of GM crops into the environment is critical both scientifically and environmentally. The work was conducted to study the effect of insecticidal Bt protein on Rats and Earthworms. Methods: For this purpose, animals like rat and soil organisms like Earthworm were selected. Rats were selected on the basis of its 95% homology on genomic, cellular and enzymatic level with human while earthworm were preferred on the basis of their direct contact with soil to evaluate the impact of Bt ( Cry1AC ) crop field soil on earthworm, secreted by root exudates of Bt cotton. Several physical, molecular, biochemical and histological analyses were performed on both Rats/Earthworms fed on standard diet (control group) as well containing Bt protein (experimental group). Results: Molecular analyses such as immune Dot blot, SDS-PAGE, ELISA and PCR, confirmed the absence of Cry1Ac protein in blood and urine samples of rats, which were fed with Bt protein in their diet. Furthermore, histological studies showed that there was no difference in cellular architecture in liver, heart, kidney and intestine of Bt and non-Bt diet fed rats. To see the effect of Bt on earthworm two different groups were studied, one with transgenic plant field soil supplemented with grinded leaves of cotton and second group with non-Bt field soil. Conclusions: No lethal effects of transgenic Bt protein on the survival of earthworm and rats were observed. Bradford assay, Dipstick assay ELISA demonstrated the absence of Cry1Ac protein in the mid-gut epithelial tissue of earthworm. The results of present study will be helpful in successful deployment and commercial release of genetically modified crop in Pakistan.
Twenty percent tax on fizzy drinks could save lives and generate millions in revenue for health programmes in New Zealand.

NZMJ 14 February 2014, Vol 127 No 1389; ISSN 1175 8716 Page 92 URL: http://journal.nzma. org.nz/journal/127-1389/5989/ ©NZMA Twenty percent tax on fizzy drinks could save lives and generate millions in revenue for health programmes in New Zealand High sugar intakes are linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease; a strong case can, therefore, be made for efforts to reduce consumption. There is particular concern about sugar-sweetened beverages because they are nutrient poor, and energy from beverages is less satiating than that obtained from solid foods, resulting in increased consumption.
Imaging complex targets through alphabet-based compressive sensing

Imaging techniques exploiting sparseness-regularized formulations emerged in the last few years as powerful and effective retrieval methods in several heterogeneous scenarios [1] including structural monitoring, non-destructive testing and evaluation, ground penetrating radar imaging, and biomedical diagnosis [2-8]. The success of the this class of algorithms, which are often collectively indicated as Compressive Sensing (CS) [9], is motivated by several concurring factors, including their accuracy, robustness, numerical efficiency, capability to handle several different contexts (e.g., including transverse-magnetic [2] and transverse-electric problems [3], single-/multi-frequency data [2, 4], isotropic/anisotropic media [1]) in a seamless way, and the availability of efficient implementations of many different solvers [1]. On the other hand, CS techniques are not general-purpose imaging algorithms. Their application requires the problem at hand to comply with some fundamental assumptions [1], including the fact that the unknown (e.g., the contrast [8] or equivalent currents [9]) is sparse in the employed basis. Early applications of CS methods, which used simple pixel-bases to expand the unknowns, addressed only those scenarios were the object is composed by few isolated pixels [2]. Nevertheless, it is well known that sparsity is not an absolute concept, but it is always in relation with the representation basis [1]. The use of different expansion bases [10] has been then proposed to enable more complex profiles to be imaged [7]. Unfortunately, such techniques always assume that some knowledge on the target profile is available, so that this a-priori information can be exploited to define the most suitable expansion basis to be adopted [7]. A different perspective is considered in this paper to enable the application of CS methodologies when no prior information on the class of targets under investigation is available. More specifically, a large alphabet of candidate bases is generated off-line, and for each basis a candidate reconstructions are carried out in parallel “online” by the CS retrieval tool. The retrieved profiles are then compared, and a sparsity-based criterion is adopted in turns to select the most reliable reconstruction (among those obtained by the different bases). Preliminary numerical experiments will be shown to assess the accuracy and numerical efficiency of the proposed imaging methodology.
A Review on the Biology of Cancer Stem Cells

Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) have the ability to self-renew and are present in most tissues including breast, brain, lung, prostates, testis, ovary, esophagus, colon, and liver. Their origin is yet to be discovered, though a series of hypotheses have been proposed in this regard. CSCs play a role in not only the creation of cancer, but also in its evolution, metastasis, and recurrence. CSCs have an important role in cancer therapy and the resistance towards chemotherapeutic agents. This article reviews the characteristics of cancer stem cells in terms of origin, resistance towards chemotherapy, methods of isolation, and cancer therapy.
A Printed Dual-Antenna System Operating in the GSM1800/GSM1900/UMTS/LTE2300/LTE2500/ 2.4-GHz WLAN Bands for Mobile Terminals

A wideband printed dual-antenna system for mobile terminals is presented. The dual-antenna system, consisting of two symmetric antenna elements, is printed on a printed circuit board. The antenna element is an F-like monopole with two grounded branches. The functions of the antenna geometry and the effects of some key parameters on the antenna performance are studied. A prototype shows that the measured -10-dB impedance bandwidth is 1.14 GHz (1.61-2.75 GHz), and the measured mutual coupling is lower than -15 dB at the 1.67-2.75-GHz bands. It covers the GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS, LTE2300, LTE2500, and 2.4-GHz WLAN bands for the 2G/3G/4G mobile terminals. The radiation patterns are measured, and diversity performances are evaluated.
Repression of retrovirus-mediated transgene expression by interferons: implications for gene therapy

Retrovirus-mediated gene transfer is commonly used in gene therapy protocols and has the potential to provide long-term expression of the transgene. Although expression of a retrovirus-delivered transgene is satisfactory in cultured cells, it has been difficult to achieve consistent and high-level expression in vivo. In this investigation, we explored the possibility of modulating transgene expression by host-derived cytokines. Normal human keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts were transduced with recombinant retroviruses expressing a reporter gene (lacZ). Treatment of transduced cells with a proinflammatory cytokine, gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), significantly reduced lacZ expression to less than 25% of that of nontreated cells. The inhibition was concentration dependent (peak at 5 ng/ml) and time dependent (maximal at 16 h for transcript and 24 h for protein); expression remained repressed in the continued presence of IFN-gamma but returned to normal levels 24 h after IFN-gamma withdrawal. The decrease in beta-galactosidase activity appeared to result from decrease in steady-state lacZ mRNA levels. Inhibitors of transcription and translation blocked IFN-gamma-induced repression, suggesting involvement of newly synthesized protein intermediates. Similar results were obtained by treatment of transduced cells with IFN-alpha but not with other proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-2 (IL-1), IL-4, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Although the level of lacZ mRNA was reduced by >70% following IFN treatment, the rate of lacZ transcription was not significantly different from that for nontreated cells. These results suggest that IFN-mediated regulation of transgene expression is at a posttranscriptional level. Interestingly, IFN-gamma also suppressed transgene expression driven by a cellular promoter (involucrin) inserted in an internal position in the retroviral vector. The presence of the overlapping 3' untranslated regions in transcripts initiated from the internal promoter and the long terminal repeat is suggestive of a posttranscriptional regulation, likely at the level of RNA stabilization. These results provide direct evidence for modulatory effects of IFNs on retrovirus-mediated transgene expression and suggest that gene therapy results may be altered by host inflammatory responses.
The Use of PSA Doubling Time to Predict Prognosis and the Use of PSA Response to Assess the Success for Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Docetaxel Chemotherapy

In the targeted therapy era, it is critical to know the certain points to start or discontinue chemotherapy for patients with castration resistant metastatic prostate cancer. The prognostic factors to determine this response are still not clear yet. We tried to find out if the PSA doubling time helps us to predict the patients who will benefit from docetaxel chemotherapy most, and also to question the value of the PSA response to chemotherapy. Retrospectively, 70 patients who had hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer that were given at least 4 cycles of docetaxel chemotherapy between 2002 and 2015 were evaluated. After the onset of docetaxel, PSA response to therapy and overall survival rates were analyzed to figure out if these parameters were related to PSA doubling time. The only statistically significant prognostic parameter affecting overall survival was the best PSA response rate to docetaxel chemotherapy being over or under 50%. The most significant parameter that affects the PSA doubling time was the clinical stage at the time of diagnosis. PSA doubling time is not a useful predictive tool for predicting response to docetaxel. By means of overall survival, the clinical stage at the time of diagnosis was the best predictive tool for our cohort. The best PSA response rate to docetaxel chemotherapy was found to be a valuable parameter. The study being retrospective and the low number of patients included in this cohort can be the main weaknesses of this study. Further studies to determine which other factors can be useful are needed.
Fine-Grained Detection of Programming Students’ Frustration Using Keystrokes, Mouse Clicks and Interaction Logs

Prolonged frustration leads to loss of confidence and eventual disinterest in the learn-ing itself. The modelling of frustration in learning is thus important as it informs on the appropriate time to intervene to sustain the interest and motivation of students. To automatically detect learner’s frustration in a naturalistic learning environment, the novel use of keystrokes, mouse clicks and interaction patterns of students captured within the context of a tutoring system was proposed. The modelling approach was described and a comparison was made between the proposed model using Bayesian Network and the baseline Na? ve Bayes model. With the formulation of an overlapped sliding window mechanism, the granularity of detection was also investigated. The re-sults confirm the hypothesis that a combination of keystrokes, mouse clicks and inter-action logs can be used to accurately distinguish affective states of frustration and non-frustration amongst novice learners of computer programming in a granular fashion.
FGWSO‐TAR: Fractional glowworm swarm optimization for traffic aware routing in urban VANET

In mobile distributed applications, such as traffic alert dissemination, dynamic route planning, file sharing, and so on, vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) has emerged as a feasible solution in recent years. However, the performance of the VANET depends on the routing protocol in accord with the delay and throughput requirements. Many of the routing protocols have been extensively studied in the literature. Although there are exemptions, they escalate research challenges in traffic aware routing (TAR) protocol of VANET. This paper introduces the fractional glowworm swarm optimization (FGWSO) for the TAR protocol of VANET in an urban scenario that can identify the optimal path for the vehicle with less traffic density and delay time. The proposed FGWSO searches the optimal routing path based on the fitness function formulated in this paper. Fractional glowworm swarm optimization is the combination of the GWSO and fractional theory. Moreover, exponential weighted moving average is utilized to predict the traffic density and the speed of the vehicle, which is utilized as the major constraints in the fitness function of the optimization algorithm to find the optimal traffic aware path. Simulation of FGWSO shows the significant improvement with a minimal end‐to‐end delay of 6.6395 seconds and distance of 17.3962 m, respectively, in comparison with the other existing routing approaches. The simulation also validates the optimality of the proposed TAR protocol.
Targeting Liposomal Nanomedicine to Cancer Therapy

Drug delivery systems (DDS) are designed to improve the pharmacological and therapeutic effect. In the past few decades, there are some problems that impeded applications of particulate DDS have been resolved, with several DDS formulations of anticancer now approved for clinical use. Liposomal nanoparticles (LNs) encapsulating therapeutic agents have been recognized as one of the most advanced classes of DDS. Liposomal nanoparticles (LNs) could encapsulate both conventional anticancer drugs and the new genetic drugs with several properties such as high drug-to-lipid ratio, excellent retention of drug and a long circulation lifetime. These excellent properties of LNs have the potentials to offer new treatments in area of cancer therapy. Here, we will discuss recent advances in this field involving conventional anticancer drugs as well as the new genetic drugs.
RF Power Insensitive Varactors

In this letter, the influence of the RF voltage swing on the effective capacitance of continuously tunable capacitive devices, e.g., varactors, is investigated. Using Volterra series, equations are derived that describe the change in effective capacitance versus RF voltage, which are in agreement with simulations and have been verified by measurements. Comparing conventional and IM3 compensated varactor configurations, significant differences are found for their capacitance variation versus power. It is found that an anti-series configuration of two varactors with exponential C(VR) behavior and proper center-tap termination outperforms all other known varactor configurations and shows a maximum capacitance variation below 0.1% compared to 10% for conventional varactor elements using identical excitation.
Advances in Understanding Selenium's Role in the Immune System

Since its discovery in 1817, selenium (Se) has had a history of being known primarily for its toxicity, as a carcinogen and today as an essential nutrient (TABLE I). The story of this nonmetal's recognition as an essential nutrient began at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During the early 1950s at the NIH, German-born physician Klaus Schwarz was studying the causes of dietary liver necrosis in rats fed torula yeast diets low in vitamin E. An organic isolate from pork kidney powder, Factor 3, was then known to protect rats from the liver necrosis. I Factor 3 was discovered to contain Se and it was only a very short time until selenium was shown to prevent dietary liver necrosis in rats. 2 • Selenium thus became recognized as an essential nutrient in 1957. Sixteen years were to pass until John Rotruck, then a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, discovered that the enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) contained the element selenium.v'' The year was 1973. Twelve years later in 1985, Fulvio Ursini, at the University of Padua, was to discover a second selenium-containing enzyme, phospholipidhydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (PLGSHPx). 6.7 These two enzymes presently represent most of our understanding of the biochemical role of selenium. " Nevertheless, the past several years have yielded considerable experimental results that selenium is incorporated into the tissues and cells of the reticuloendothelial (immune) system both in animals and humans, and its presence or absence in this system affects immune responsiveness. The first apparent reference to selenium's inclusion into a component of the immune system was made by McConnell in 1959. 9 A subcutaneous injection of 75Se as selenium chloride was incorporated into the protein fraction of dog leukocytes. Based upon the 1959 results of McConnell about 20% of the 75Se was probably incorporated into one or both of the glutathione peroxidases. The function of the remaining Se in those dog leukocytes remains unknown to this day. In 1963, Roberts reported on the antiinflammatory activity of specific ashed liver fractions in the Selye granuloma pouch assay in rats. 10 The active-ash component in the assay was later identified as Se and sodium selenite was determined to have antiinflammatory activity. II In 1970, Bracci et al. identified glutathione peroxidase in human leukocytes'< and Holmes et al. found that chronic granulomatous disease in females was associated with a decreased leukocyte glutathione peroxidase activity. 13 The first literature reference to a specific effect of Se on a component of the immune system is attributible to Berenshtein. In his 1972 paper, T. F. Berenshtein described the