Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory Brainstem Response Threshold Differences in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma: A New Diagnostic Index

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing is less sensitive in detecting small vestibular schwannomas than medium-size tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more sensitive than ABR alone for small and large tumors, but it carries with it increased cost and issues of unavailability and patient discomfort. We conducted a prospective pilot study of 7 patients with untreated MRI-proven, unilateral vestibular schwannoma to determine if we could increase the sensitivity of ABR testing in detecting small tumors. Our method involved the use of a new ABR index that is based on threshold differences. All patients underwent pure-tone audiometry followed by a determination of behavioral threshold and neurodiagnostic threshold ABR in the normal ear, which was used as a control, and in the diseased ear. Analysis of results revealed that all 7 patients had an abnormal ABR threshold difference, and 5 patients displayed abnormal traditional ABR indices. The mean difference between the ABR and behavioral click thresholds was 41.4 dB in the diseased ears (with the ABR threshold being higher than the click threshold) and 15.8 dB in the normal ears. None of the control ears had a threshold difference >30 dB.
ActiveNavigator: Toward Real-Time Knowledge Capture and Feedback in Design Workspaces

Knowledge capture and reuse systems, such as interactive table surfaces or smart whiteboards, have long enabled designers to review and revisit the knowledge artifacts generated by their creative work. Advances in data sensing and computation now allow near real-time analysis and feedback to be added this toolbox. In this paper, we outline our exploratory application of real-time speaker identification, audio transcription, linguistic analysis, and proactive content retrieval to design team meetings. We highlight the potential benefits and limitations of tools available to collect and analyze real-time design interactions and identify areas of future exploration for engineering educators and designers. In addition, we consider the implications of these tools for design research; automatic data analysis makes it possible to instrument several design workspaces simultaneously, increasing the chance of capturing critical moments, and increasing the opportunity to draw comparisons and contrasts across teams.
The Tradeoff between Outsourcing and Using More Factories in a Distributed Flow Shop System

Simultaneous lot-sizing and scheduling in a distributed flow shop has been considered in this paper. Number of factories is a parameter and it is not necessary to use all factories. Outsourcing is the other realistic assumption of this paper. In other words, the tradeoff between outsourcing and number of utilized factories is discussed in this paper. An exact formulation of the problem has been provided as a mixed integer program. To solve the problem, a heuristic has been developed.
Computerized radiogrammetry of third metacarpal using watershed and active appearance model

Osteoporosis is a bone disorder, causing loss of bone mass and increased risk of fragility fracture. Osteoporosis can be diagnosed at a low cost using computerized metacarpal radiogrammetry of the third metacarpal bone of hand X-ray images. The most widely used methods for segmentation of hand bones are deformable models such as Active Shape Model (ASM), Active Appearance Model (AAM), etc. that make use of prior information of the shape and appearance of the object. However, due to the presence of other metacarpal bones having similar shape and size in its proximity, segmentation of third metacarpal bone in isolation becomes challenging and the deformable methods could fail. In this paper, we propose a method to automatically locate and segment the third metacarpal bone using marker-controlled watershed segmentation. Radio-grammetric measurements are determined automatically from the shaft of the third metacarpal bone and can be used to derive bone indices for the detection of bone loss due to osteoporosis. The measurements obtained from the proposed method and AAM are compared with ground truth. The results obtained show that the proposed approach is an efficient method for automated radiogrammetry of third metacarpal bone that can be used as a low cost tool for the early diagnosis of osteoporosis.
Theileria parva live vaccination: parasite transmission, persistence and heterologous challenge in the field

SUMMARY The ‘Muguga cocktail’ live vaccine, delivered by an infection and treatment protocol, has been widely deployed in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa to protect cattle against East Coast fever, caused by Theileria parva. The vaccine contains 3 component stocks (Muguga, Serengeti-transformed and Kiambu 5). In a previous study, parasites from vaccinated and unvaccinated animals were genotyped with a panel of micro- and minisatellite markers (Oura et al.2004a) and it was shown that only the Kiambu 5 stock establishes a long-term carrier state but there was no evidence for the transmission of this stock. Also parasite genotypes different from the 3 component vaccine stocks were identified in vaccinated animals. We now report a follow-up study on the same farm, some 4 years after the initial vaccination, aimed at establishing the source of the novel parasite genotypes identified in vaccinated cattle, determining the longevity of the carrier state established by the Kiambu 5 vaccine stock and re-examining whether vaccine transmission can occur over a longer time-scale. To do this, samples were taken from vaccinated and unvaccinated cattle and the parasites were genotyped with a series of micro- and minisatellite markers. The data indicate that the vaccine stabilates contain at least 6 parasite genotypes, the Kiambu 5 stock can be detected in many but not all vaccinated cattle for up to 4 years and can be transmitted to unvaccinated cattle which share grazing and that some of the vaccinated animals become infected with local genotypes without causing overt disease.
Clarifying the Response of Gold Return to Financial Indicators: An Empirical Comparative Analysis Using Ordinary Least Squares, Robust and Quantile Regressions

In this study, I apply a quantile regression model to investigate how gold returns respond to changes in various financial indicators. The model quantifies the asymmetric response of gold return in the tails of the distribution based on weekly data over the past 30 years. I conducted a statistical test that allows for multiple structural changes and find that the relationship between gold return and some key financial indicators changed three times throughout the sample period. According to my empirical analysis of the whole sample period, I find that: (1) the gold return rises significantly if stock returns fall sharply; (2) it rises as the stock market volatility increases; (3) it also rises when general financial market conditions tighten; (4) gold and crude oil prices generally move toward the same direction; and (5) gold and the US dollar have an almost constant negative correlation. Looking at each sample period, (1) and (2) are remarkable in the period covering the global financial crisis (GFC), suggesting that investors divested from stocks as a risky asset. On the other hand, (3) is a phenomenon observed during the sample period after the GFC, suggesting that it reflects investors’ behavior of flight to quality.
Exogenous and endogenous spatial attention effects on visuospatial working memory

In this study, we investigate how exogenous and endogenous orienting of spatial attention affect visuospatial working memory (VSWM). Specifically, we focused on two attentional effects and their consequences on storage in VSWM, when exogenous (Experiment 1) or endogenous (Experiment 2) orienting cues were used. The first effect, known as the meridian effect, is given by a decrement in behavioural performance when spatial cues and targets are presented in locations separated by vertical and/or horizontal meridians. The second effect, known as the distance effect, is given by a decrement in the orienting effects as a function of the spatial distance between cues and targets. Our results revealed a dissociation between exogenous and endogenous orienting mechanisms in terms of both meridian and distance effects. We found that meridian crossing affects performance only when endogenous cues were used. Specifically, VSWM performance with endogenous cueing depended more on the number of meridian crossings than on distance between cue and target. By contrast, a U-shaped distance dependency was observed using exogenous cues. Our findings therefore suggest that exogenous and endogenous orienting mechanisms lead to different forms of attentional bias for storage in VSWM.
Targeting Splicing in Prostate Cancer

Over 95% of human genes are alternatively spliced, expressing splice isoforms that often exhibit antagonistic functions. We describe genes whose alternative splicing has been linked to prostate cancer; namely VEGFA, KLF6, BCL2L2, ERG, and AR. We discuss opportunities to develop novel therapies that target specific splice isoforms, or that target the machinery of splicing. Therapeutic approaches include the development of small molecule inhibitors of splice factor kinases, splice isoform specific siRNAs, and splice switching oligonucleotides.
A regulatory loop connecting WNT signaling and telomere capping: possible therapeutic implications for dyskeratosis congenita

The consequences of telomere dysfunction are most apparent in rare inherited syndromes caused by genetic deficiencies in factors that normally maintain telomeres. The principal disease is known as dyskeratosis congenita (DC), but other syndromes with similar underlying genetic defects share some clinical aspects with this disease. Currently, there are no curative therapies for these diseases of telomere dysfunction. Here, we review recent findings demonstrating that dysfunctional (i.e., uncapped) telomeres can downregulate the WNT pathway, and that restoration of WNT signaling helps to recap telomeres by increasing expression of shelterins, proteins that naturally bind and protect telomeres. We discuss how these findings are different from previous observations connecting WNT and telomere biology, and discuss potential links between WNT and clinical manifestations of the DC spectrum of diseases. Finally, we argue for exploring the use of WNT agonists, specifically lithium, as a possible therapeutic approach for patients with DC.
The effect of interleukin-6 on pituitary hormone release in vivo and in vitro.

Intravenously administered interleukin-6 (IL-6), a monokine produced by activated monocytes and folliculostellate cells of the pituitary gland, has been recently reported to elevate plasma ACTH level and to stimulate PRL, GH and LH release from cultured pituitary cells. To determine the site(s) of action of IL-6 in the control of pituitary hormone release, we injected human recombinant IL-6 into the third brain ventricle (3V) of freely moving, conscious male rats. Both 0.05 and 0.25 pmol doses of IL-6 were ineffective to change plasma ACTH in comparison to the values in controls. The maximal IL-6 dose tested of 1.25 pmol increased plasma ACTH within 15 min and the response lasted over 180 min. Plasma TSH levels were significantly lowered by a dose of 0.25 pmol IL-6, but neither the lower dose of 0.05 pmol nor the higher dose of 1.25 pmol altered plasma TSH levels throughout the 180 min of the experiment. Plasma PRL and GH levels were not changed by any IL-6 dose tested. In ovariectomized rats plasma LH and FSH levels were also unaltered by IL-6. The effects of IL-6 on plasma ACTH and TSH were only partially paralleled by increased rectal temperature which suggests that hypothalamic temperature regulating centers were independent of these actions. To evaluate a possible direct effect on the pituitary, IL-6 was incubated in vitro with hemipituitaries under an atmosphere of 95% O2/5% CO2. After 1 h of incubation IL-6 failed to cause any change in the secretion of pituitary hormones throughout a concentration range of 10(-15)-10(-9) M. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adaptive NetworkProfiler for Identifying Cancer Characteristic-Specific Gene Regulatory Networks

There is currently much discussion about sample (patient)-specific gene regulatory network identification, since the efficiently constructed sample-specific gene networks lead to effective personalized cancer therapy. Although statistical approaches have been proposed for inferring gene regulatory networks, the methods cannot reveal sample-specific characteristics because the existing methods, such as an L1-type regularization, provide averaged results for all samples. Thus, we cannot reveal sample-specific characteristics in transcriptional regulatory networks. To settle on this issue, the NetworkProfiler was proposed based on the kernel-based L1-type regularization. The NetworkProfiler imposes a weight on each sample based on the Gaussian kernal function for controlling effect of samples on modeling a target sample, where the amount of weight depends on similarity of cancer characteristics between samples. The method, however, cannot perform gene regulatory network identification well for a target sample in a sparse region (i.e., for a target sample, there are only a few samples having a similar characteristic of the target sample, where the characteristic is considered as a modulator in sample-specific gene network construction), since a constant bandwidth in the Gaussian kernel function cannot effectively group samples for modeling a target sample in sparse region. The cancer characteristics, such as an anti-cancer drug sensitivity, are usually nonuniformly distributed, and thus modeling for samples in a sparse region is also a crucial issue. We propose a novel kernel-based L1-type regularization method based on a modified k-nearest neighbor (KNN)-Gaussian kernel function, called an adaptive NetworkProfiler. By using the modified KNN-Gaussian kernel function, our method provides robust results against the distribution of modulators, and properly groups samples according to a cancer characteristic for sample-specific analysis. Furthermore, we propose a sample-specific generalized cross-validation for choosing the sample-specific tuning parameters in the kernel-based L1-type regularization method. Numerical studies demonstrate that the proposed adaptive NetworkProfiler effectively performs sample-specific gene network construction. We apply the proposed statistical strategy to the publicly available Sanger Genomic data analysis, and extract anti-cancer drug sensitivity-specific gene regulatory networks.
Diesel Exhaust Inhalation Enhances Airway Hyperresponsiveness in Mice

Background: Repeated intratracheal instillation of diesel exhaust particles and ovalbumin-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation in mice. However, the effects of daily inhalation of diesel exhaust may differ from the effects of direct instillation. Methods: Therefore, mice were exposed to diesel exhaust by inhalation 12 h per day for 3 months. Before the diesel exhaust exposure, ovalbumin was injected intraperitoneally as a sensitization. After 3 weeks of diesel exhaust exposure, these mice were challenged with ovalbumin every 3 week thereafter. Results: Diesel exhaust exposure with antigen challenge induced airway hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation which was characterized by increased numbers of eosinophils and mast cells in lung tissue. The recruitment of inflammatory cells was accompanied by an increment in goblet cells on bronchial epithelium. Diesel exhaust exposure alone also enhanced airway hyperresponsiveness, but did not induce eosinophilic infiltration and/or an increment in goblet cells. Conclusion: Diesel exhaust inhalation enhanced airway hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation caused by ovalbumin sensitization in mice.
The long road to elimination: malaria mortality in a South African population cohort over 21 years

Background Malaria elimination is on global agendas following successful transmission reductions. Nevertheless moving from low to zero transmission is challenging. South Africa has an elimination target of 2018, which may or may not be realised in its hypoendemic areas. Methods The Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System has monitored population health in north-eastern South Africa since 1992. Malaria deaths were analysed against individual factors, socioeconomic status, labour migration and weather over a 21-year period, eliciting trends over time and associations with covariates. Results Of 13 251 registered deaths over 1.58 million person-years, 1.2% were attributed to malaria. Malaria mortality rates increased from 1992 to 2013, while mean daily maximum temperature rose by 1.5 °C. Travel to endemic Mozambique became easier, and malaria mortality increased in higher socioeconomic groups. Overall, malaria mortality was significantly associated with age, socioeconomic status, labour migration and employment, yearly rainfall and higher rainfall/temperature shortly before death. Conclusions Malaria persists as a small but important cause of death in this semi-rural South African population. Detailed longitudinal population data were crucial for these analyses. The findings highlight practical political, socioeconomic and environmental difficulties that may also be encountered elsewhere in moving from low-transmission scenarios to malaria elimination.
Dietary patterns and breast or lung cancer risk: A pooled analysis of 2 case-control studies in north-eastern Poland.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer in women and lung cancer in men are the most prevalent cancers in Poland and worldwide. Evidence of the impact of food groups and nutrients on the risk of breast and lung cancer is limited and lacking conclusions. Studies on food consumption and breast or lung cancer are limited. OBJECTIVES Assessment of the association between dietary patterns and the prevalence of breast and lung cancers in adult Poles. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study involved a pooled analysis of 2 case-control studies on 320 subjects aged 50-70 years from north-eastern Poland (160 women, 160 men). Breast cancer cases in 80 women and lung cancer cases in 80 men were diagnosed. The food consumption frequency for 21 selected foods was collected using the Questionnaire of Eating Behaviors (QEB). Principal component analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were used. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated. RESULTS Three dietary patterns (DPs) were identified: 'Prudent', 'Processed & fast food', and 'Traditional Polish'. In the pooled analysis for both cancers, the ORs were from 0.35 (95% CI: 0.20-0.61; p < 0.05 with adjustment for age) to 0.48 (95% CI: 0.26-0.88; p < 0.05 with adjustment for age, socioeconomic status index, physical activity, smoking, and abuse of alcohol) in the upper tertile of the 'Prudent' DP in comparison to the absence of cancers (OR = 1.00). The ORs of both cancers were 1.83 (95% CI: 1.06-3.16; p < 0.05 with adjustment for age) in the upper tertile of the 'Processed & fast food' DP. The ORs of both cancers for the 'Traditional Polish' DP were insignificant. CONCLUSIONS In the pooled analysis, a strong inverse relation was found between the 'Prudent' dietary pattern, characterized by higher frequency of dairy, fruit, vegetables, wholemeal bread, fish and juices consumption, and breast or lung cancer prevalence, irrespective of age, socioeconomic status, physical activity, smoking, alcohol abuse, and type of cancer in Polish adults from north-eastern Poland.
Future European shale gas life-cycle GHG emissions for electric power generation in comparison to other fossil fuels

Abstract The carbon footprint of shale gas combusted in Europe was estimated from nine European shale gas plays as potential production regions. Greenhouse gas emission sources during shale gas production, such as fugitives from hydraulic fracturing or combustion emissions from horizontal drilling, were added to emissions occurring for conventional gas extraction. Greenhouse gas emissions are expressed as g CO2-equivalents per MJ delivered, and calculated for a kWh of electricity generated. Estimated total GHG emissions from the use of European shale gas for electricity production range from 0.42 to 0.75 kg CO2-eq/kWh when the combustion in the power plant is included. This is within the range reported in the literature. The cumulative carbon footprints for a number of fossil electricity generation scenarios for Europe were also calculated. The results indicate an advantage of gas over other fossil sources in a wide range of scenarios. These results are only reversed with very high (10%) upstream losses for shale gas. With the current knowledge there is still a substantial climate benefit of replacing coal with (shale) gas even in the EU reference scenario.
Comparison of parathyroid imaging with technetium-99m-pertechnetate/sestamibi subtraction, double-phase technetium-99m-sestamibi and technetium-99m-sestamibi SPECT.

UNLABELLED The ability of 99mTc-pertechnetate/sestamibi subtraction, double-phase 99mTc-sestamibi and 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT imaging to localize abnormal parathyroid tissue was compared. METHODS Fifty-five consecutive patients had parathyroid imaging before surgery for hyperparathyroidism. Imaging consisted of 99mTc-pertechnetate pinhole images of the neck followed by 99mTc-sestamibi pinhole images of the neck and parallel-hole images of the neck and chest (early images). Within 2.5-4.0 hr later pinhole images of the neck, parallel-hole and SPECT images of the neck and chest were obtained (late images). Nodular foci of increased sestamibi activity were considered abnormal. RESULTS The sensitivity for abnormal parathyroid glands by visual comparison of early images and pertechnetate images was 72%-75%, late images and pertechnetate images was 73%-78% and double-phase (early and late) sestamibi images was 62%-65%; computer subtraction of pertechnetate from early images was 71%-74%; and SPECT imaging was 79%. The sensitivity for parathyroid adenomas was 89%-98%, while the sensitivity for hyperplastic parathyroid glands was only 47%-58%. CONCLUSION Late imaging, computer subtraction and SPECT may not be necessary since they provided only marginal improvements on visual comparison of early sestamibi with pertechnetate images. Double-phase sestamibi imaging was less sensitive, so baseline thyroid imaging with pertechnetate is recommended.