Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early High-Grade Thoracic Toxicity After Palliative Radiotherapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Introduction: Palliative radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may cause thoracic toxicities due to the radiation dose delivered to the lungs, heart, and esophagus. We studied severe thoracic toxicities resulting in hospitalization or death during the acute and sub-acute phase, i.e., three months from commencing radiotherapy. In addition, risk factors were identified. Methods: A retrospective review of 165 patients treated with three-dimensional conformal palliative radiotherapy or CRT was performed. The prescribed total dose was equivalent to at least 30 Gy in 10 fractions. Uni- and multivariate analyses were employed. Results: Twelve patients (7%) were hospitalized within three months from the start of radiotherapy or CRT. Six patients were hospitalized for esophagitis, three for dyspnea most likely caused by pneumonitis, and three for cardiac arrhythmia. Fatal toxicity was not observed. However, 19% of the 165 patients died from tumor-related causes during the time period of interest. In multivariate analysis, the only esophageal dose was significantly associated with the risk of hospitalization. Conclusion: The safety profile of palliative radiotherapy or CRT in the acute and subacute phases was satisfactory. The hospitalization rate can be reduced by lowering the esophageal dose, as long as safe lung and heart doses can be maintained.
Repeat and Relapsing Peritonitis Microbiological Trends and Outcomes: A 21-Year Single-Center Experience

Peritonitis is a major peritoneal dialysis complication. Despite a high cure rate, relapsing and repeat peritonitis is associated with Tenckhoff catheter biofilm and multiple episodes of peritoneal damage. In relapsing peritonitis, prompt catheter removal is mandatory; otherwise, in repeat peritonitis, there is not a clear indication for catheter removal. It is questionable if the approach to removal should be different. There are few recent data on repeat and relapsing peritonitis microbiology and clinical outcomes since most studies are from the past decade. This study evaluates the microbiology, clinical outcomes, and impact of relapsing and repeat peritonitis on technique survival and the impact of catheter removal in development of further peritonitis episodes by the same microorganism. We developed a single-center retrospective study from 1998 to 2019 that compared repeat and relapsing peritonitis with a control group in terms of causative microorganisms, cure rate, catheter removal, and permanent and temporary transfer to hemodialysis. We also compared repeat and relapsing peritonitis clinical outcomes when Tenckhoff catheter was not removed. Comparing to the control group, the repeat/relapsing group had a higher cure rate (80.4% versus 74.5%, p=0.01) and lower rate of hospitalization (10.9% versus 27.7%, p=0.01). Technique survival was superior in the repeat/relapsing group (log rank = 4.5, p=0.03). Gram-positive peritonitis was more common in the repeat/relapsing group especially Streptococci viridans (43.5% versus 21.3%, p=0.01) and Gram-negatives in the control group (26.6% vs 9.0%, p=0.02). When the Tenckhoff catheter was not removed after a repeat episode, 58.6% developed a new repeat/relapsing episode versus 60.0% in the relapsing group. Although repeat and relapsing peritonitis have a higher cure rate, it leads to further episodes of peritonitis and consequent morbidity. When Tenckhoff catheter was not removed, the probability of another peritonitis episode by the same microorganism is similar in repeat and relapsing peritonitis.
Socioeconomic Determinants of Health Contributing to the Consumption of Nonprescribed Medicines in Ethiopia

Background Social determinants of health are understood as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that shapes health and include a domain of factors. Self-medication is influenced by these socioeconomic factors. This study, aims to quantitatively examine the relationship between these factors and the use of nonprescribed medicines and then identify which of the factors have the highest predictable value in Ethiopia. Methods A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional, community-based research approach was used to explore the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, bivariate and regression analysis were used in the analysis. Results A total of 72.2% (n=433) participants were found to have an ever experience of self-medication in their life and 35.7%) (n=214) have the practice in the last two months. Bivariate analysis showed that in the predisposing factors categories: age group (50–59) (p-value=0.034); those who are knowledgeable about all drugs not to be given to nursing mother (p-value=0.006); those who agree on the attitude that they would rather treat themselves than go to the nearest health facility (p-value=0.000) in the enabling factors; those who were satisfied with their financial quality of life (p-value=0.014) and from the need factors; those who perceived their health status as good (p-value=0.000) showed a significant association. Multivariate analysis showed that age, knowledge, attitudes showed statistical significance. Also, quality of life satisfaction of enabling factors and illness in the past two months from need factors had a statistically significant effect as predictors of utilization of nonprescribed medicines. Conclusion To strategize for appropriate self-medication, interventions should focus on changing the knowledge, attitude, and perception of the specific sociodemographic factors identified in the study.
Effects of spatial confinement on migratory properties of Dictyostelium discoideum cells

ABSTRACT Migratory environments of various eukaryotic cells, such as amoeba, leukocytes and cancer cells, typically involve spatial confinement. Numerous studies have recently emerged, aimed to develop experimental platforms that better recapitulate the characteristics of the cellular microenvironment. Using microfluidic technologies, we show that increasing confinement of Dictyostelium discoideum cells into narrower micro-channels resulted in a significant change in the mode of migration and associated arrangement of the actomyosin cytoskeleton. We observed that cells tended to migrate at constant speed, the magnitude of which was dependent on the size of the channels, as was the locomotory strategy adopted by each cell. Two different migration modes were observed, pseudopod-based and bleb-based migration, with bleb based migration being more frequent with increasing confinement and leading to slower migration. Beside the migration mode, we found that the major determinants of cell speed are its protrusion rate, the amount of F-actin at its leading edge and the number of actin foci. Our results highlighted the impact of the microenvironments on cell behavior. Furthermore, we developed a novel quantitative movement analysis platform for mono-dimensional cell migration that allows for standardization and simplification of the experimental conditions and aids investigation of the complex and dynamic processes occurring at the single-cell level.
The association between selenium and humic substances in forested ecosystems—laboratory evidence

In the soils and aquatic systems of coniferous forests, selenium is usually associated with humic substances. To clarify further some of the mechanisms involved, labelled and unlabelled selenite were added to two forest floors and to a brownwater lake. Sequential extraction procedures and chromatographic methods were used to evaluate the resulting association between selenium and humic substances. It was observed that the forest floors fixed most of the added selenite by means of microbial reductive incorporation and that selenium was preferentially incorporated into lowmolecular-weight fractions of the humic substances. By contrast, selenium reduction was much slower in the brown-water lake and instead, inorganic complexation of selenite to metal–humic complexes was important during the experiment, provided that the concentrations of competing ligands were low.
Testing Two Radiative Physical Models for Fire Spread Through Porous Forest Fuel Beds

The main purpose is to examine if radiation, considered as the dominant mechanism of fuel bed preheating, can account for experimental results obtained from laboratory fires conducted in no-wind conditions. For this, two one-dimensional radiative models for fire spread in a porous forest fuel bed are derived from Albini's model 1(9S6). The sensitivity of these two models to uncertain input parameters, particularly the emissive powers of the ignition interface and of the flame, are shown. The predictions of spread rates from the two models are then compared against the observed values for different fuel loads and slopes for two kinds of pine litter. In most cases, the observed effects are poorly predicted when fixed emissive powers are used. Thus, in a second step, the necessary values of emissive powers to be used for predicting The observed effects are researched. Although reasonable values of emissive powers are apparently required in most cases, it is suggested that the heat loss due to free convection in the energy balance should be replaced by convective heat transfer depending on the gas temperature profile, in order to give better estimates of the observed effects.
Fast learning in reproducing kernel Kre˘ın spaces via signed measures

In this paper, we attempt to solve a long-lasting open question for non-positive deﬁnite (non-PD) kernels in machine learning community: can a given non-PD kernel be decomposed into the diﬀerence of two PD kernels (termed as positive decomposition)? We cast this question as a distribution view by introducing the signed measure , which transforms positive decomposition to measure decomposition: a series of non-PD kernels can be associated with the linear combination of speciﬁc ﬁnite Borel measures. In this manner, our distribution-based framework provides a suﬃ-cient and necessary condition to answer this open question. Speciﬁcally, this solution is also computationally implementable in practice to scale non-PD kernels in large sample cases, which allows us to devise the ﬁrst random features algorithm to obtain an unbiased estimator. Experimental results on several benchmark datasets verify the eﬀectiveness of our algorithm over the existing methods.
Should You Recommend Cannabinoids for This Patient With Painful Neuropathy?

Cannabis includes 140 active cannabinoid compounds, the most important of which are tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol (CBD). Tetrahydrocannabinol is primarily responsible for the intoxicating effects of cannabis; CBD has potential therapeutic effects, including reduction in chronic pain. Recent legislative changes have resulted in the legal availability of cannabinoids in all 50 states, as well as a marked increase in patients' interest in their use. Despite an abundance of data, albeit of varied quality, clinicians may feel poorly prepared to counsel patients seeking advice on the suitability of CBD products for various indications, particularly chronic neuropathic pain. In 2018, on the basis of a systematic review of the literature, a Canadian Evidence Review Group published a guideline with recommendations for clinicians on prescribing cannabinoids in primary care practice. The overall quality of evidence was low to very low. In a meta-analysis of 15 randomized trials of medical cannabis for treating chronic pain, 39% of patients achieved at least a 30% reduction in pain. The corresponding value for placebo-treated patients was 30%; the number needed to treat was 11. More evidence exists for neuropathic pain than for other types of noncancer pain. Here, a general internist with a focus on addiction medicine and an addiction psychiatrist discuss how they would apply the literature to make recommendations for a patient with painful diabetic neuropathy, including counseling on both potential benefits and harms.
Preparation and Solid-State Characterization of Nonstoichiometric Cocrystals of a Phosphodiesterase-IV Inhibitor and l-Tartaric Acid

Evidence for a series of nonstoichiometric, isostructural, cocrystalline complexes of L-883555, a phosphodiesterase-IV inhibitor, and l-tartaric acid with stoichiometries ranging from 0.3:1 to 0.9:1 is reported here. The free base form of this compound had insufficient bioavailability and, hence, could not be developed as a candidate for safety assessment studies. Several l-tartaric acid complexes were produced during an attempted salt-formation process, with the objective of increasing the bioavailability. It was found that the amount of l-tartaric acid incorporated in the cocrystalline complexes could be controlled by adjusting the acid:base ratio in the reaction mixture without accompanying proton transfer between acid and base. Spectroscopic techniques were employed to locate the site of intermolecular interaction between the acid and base as the N-oxide group in the base and the carboxylic acid of l-tartaric acid. Thermal and spectroscopic analysis of the degradation behavior for the various complexe.
Mammalian intestinal allometry, phylogeny, trophic level and climate

An often-stated ecomorphological assumption that has the status of ‘textbook knowledge’ is that the dimensions of the digestive tract correlate with diet, where herbivores—consuming diets of lower digestibility—have longer intestinal tracts than faunivores—consuming diets of higher digestibility. However, statistical approaches have so far failed to demonstrate this link. Here, we collated data on the length of intestinal sections and body mass of 519 mammal species, and test for various relationships with trophic, climatic and other biological characteristics. All models showed a strong phylogenetic signal. Scaling relationships with body mass showed positive allometry at exponents greater than 0.33, except for the caecum, which is particularly large in smaller species. Body mass was more tightly linked to small intestine than to large intestine length. Adding a diet proxy to the relationships increased model fit for all intestinal sections, except for the small intestine when accounting for phylogeny. Thus, the diet has a main effect on the components of the large intestine, with longer measures in herbivores. Additionally, measures of habitat aridity had a positive relationship with large intestine length. The small intestine was longer in species from colder habitats at higher latitudes, possibly facilitating the processing of peak intake rates during the growing season. This study corroborates intuitive expectations on digestive tract anatomy, while the dependence of significant results on large sample sizes and inclusion of specific taxonomic groups indicates that the relationships cannot be considered fixed biological laws.
Kin relationships in cultural species of the marine realm: case study of a matrilineal social group of sperm whales off Mauritius island, Indian Ocean

Understanding the organization and dynamics of social groups of marine mammals through the study of kin relationships is particularly challenging. Here, we studied a stable social group of sperm whales off Mauritius, using underwater observations, individual-specific identification, non-invasive sampling and genetic analyses based on mitochondrial sequencing and microsatellite profiling. Twenty-four sperm whales were sampled between 2017 and 2019. All individuals except one adult female shared the same mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype—one that is rare in the western Indian Ocean—thus confirming with near certainty the matrilineality of the group. All probable first- and second-degree kin relationships were depicted in the sperm whale social group: 13 first-degree and 27 second-degree relationships were identified. Notably, we highlight the likely case of an unrelated female having been integrated into a social unit, in that she presented a distinct mtDNA haplotype and no close relationships with any members of the group. Investigating the possible matrilineality of sperm whale cultural units (i.e. vocal clans) is the next step in our research programme to elucidate and better apprehend the complex organization of sperm whale social groups.
Syndecan receptors: pericellular regulators in development and inflammatory disease

The syndecans are the major family of transmembrane proteoglycans, usually bearing multiple heparan sulfate chains. They are present on virtually all nucleated cells of vertebrates and are also present in invertebrates, indicative of a long evolutionary history. Genetic models in both vertebrates and invertebrates have shown that syndecans link to the actin cytoskeleton and can fine-tune cell adhesion, migration, junction formation, polarity and differentiation. Although often associated as co-receptors with other classes of receptors (e.g. integrins, growth factor and morphogen receptors), syndecans can nonetheless signal to the cytoplasm in discrete ways. Syndecan expression levels are upregulated in development, tissue repair and an array of human diseases, which has led to the increased appreciation that they may be important in pathogenesis not only as diagnostic or prognostic agents, but also as potential targets. Here, their functions in development and inflammatory diseases are summarized, including their potential roles as conduits for viral pathogen entry into cells.
Editor's Choice: Aldo Leopold Conservation Award

Every year since 2003, the American Society of Mammalogists confers during its annual meeting the Aldo Leopold Conservation Award on a highly deserving individual. A consequence of the award for the awardee is the responsibility to write a feature article in the pages of this journal. Aldo Leopold, the namesake of the award, is considered by an overwhelming majority of biologists to be the father of contemporary conservation biology. Born in Burlington, Iowa, Leopold graduated with a Master’s degree from the Yale Forest School, which had been endowed in 1902 by the Pinchot family and was one of the first institutions to grant graduate degrees in forestry in the United States. At Yale, Leopold was educated in the tradition of Gifford Pinchot’s Resource Conservation Ethic, which, while advocating for “the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time” (Pinchot 1947) nevertheless reduced the environment to “just two things on this material earth—people and natural resources” (Pinchot 1947), with natural resources to be used by and for people. applyparastyle "fig//caption/p[1]" parastyle "FigCapt" applyparastyle "fig" parastyle "Figure"
BITE MARKS ON AN AETOSAUR (ARCHOSAURIA, SUCHIA) OSTEODERM: ASSESSING LATE TRIASSIC PREDATOR-PREY ECOLOGY THROUGH ICHNOLOGY AND TOOTH MORPHOLOGY

Abstract: Trace fossils such as bite marks provide rare, direct evidence of animal behavior, including predator-prey interactions. We present an osteoderm of the aetosaur Typothorax coccinarum from the Late Triassic Chinle Formation of Arizona with several punctures and scores, interpreted here as bite marks, preserved as evidence of predation/scavenging by a large carnivore. The marks include a single bite producing four subparallel fusiform pits on the ventral surface and several additional marks, including striated scores, on the dorsal surface. These traces are described and compared with known contemporaneous carnivorous taxa to determine the source of the bite marks. Some Triassic carnivores, including theropod dinosaurs can be ruled out because of tooth shape and serration densities. Phytosaurs and large paracrocodylomorphs remain as likely candidates based on tooth morphology. Although some phytosaur teeth are too rounded to produce the marks seen in this specimen, we demonstrate that the more lingually flattened teeth typically found in the posterior section of the snout are sufficiently mediolaterally compressed to produce a fusiform pit. A protective function for aetosaur osteoderms cannot be confirmed presently, but the extensive carapace these bones formed would have been a major barrier to both scavengers and active predators and may preserve more feeding/predation traces than previously thought. The bite marks described herein support the hypothesis that aetosaurs were prey items of large archosauromorphs, expanding our understanding of the complex, and seemingly carnivore dominated Late Triassic terrestrial ecosystems of North America.
Mapping the Imaginative Mind: Charting New Paths Forward

The fields of psychology and neuroscience are in the midst of an explosion of research aimed at illuminating the human imagination—the ability to form thoughts and mental images that stretch beyond what is currently available to the senses. Imaginative thought is proving to be remarkably diverse, capturing the capacity to recall past experiences, consider what lies ahead, and understand other people’s minds, in addition to other forms of creative and spontaneous thinking. In the first part of this article, we introduce an integrative framework that attempts to explain how components of a core brain network facilitate interacting features of imagination that we refer to as the mind’s eye and mind’s mind. We then highlight three emerging research directions that could inform our understanding of how imagination arises and unfolds in everyday life.
Robots as Mirrors of the Human Mind

Robots are currently the center of attention in various fields of research because of their potential use as assistants for daily living. In this article, I highlight a different role that robots can play—being a tool for understanding human cognition. I provide examples in which robots have been used in experimental psychology to study sociocognitive mechanisms such as joint attention and sense of agency. I also discuss the issue of whether and when robots (especially those that resemble humans) are perceived through a human-centered lens with anthropomorphic attributions. In the final section, I describe approaches in which the robots’ embodiment has been used for the implementation of computational models of human cognition. In sum, the collection of studies presented here shows that robots can be an extremely useful tool for scientific inquiry in the areas of experimental psychology and cognitive science.
Learning by Drawing Visual Representations: Potential, Purposes, and Practical Implications

The technique of drawing to learn has received increasing attention in recent years. In this article, we will present distinct purposes for using drawing that are based on active, constructive, and interactive forms of engagement. In doing so, we hope to show that drawing to learn should be widely used and that there is good evidence to support its use in many situations. To make the most of these distinct purposes, teachers should note that what learners draw matters and that this needs to be assessed in relation to task demands. Drawing to learn will also require learners to be supported to engage meaningfully in ways that are matched to these pedagogical purposes.
High Sensitivity Flow Injection Analysis of Urea Using Composite Electropolymerized Polypyrrole‐Polyion Complex Film

A highly sensitive and rapid flow injection system for urea analysis was constructed with a composite film of electropolymerized inactive polypyrrole (PPy) and a polyion complex incorporating urease. This system shows a sensitivity of 120 mV decade 1 and a lifetime of more than 80 assays. The origin of the high sensitivity of this system is attributed to an additional potential response of inactive PPy to ammonia or ammonium ion superimposed on the response to pH change. By injecting a concentrated buffer solution immediately after the sample injection, this system is capable of assaying more than 15 samples per hour.