Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined PET and Biopsy Evidence of Marrow Involvement Improves Prognostic Prediction in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Bone marrow is an important extranodal site in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and marrow histology has been incorporated into the new National Comprehensive Cancer Network international prognostic index. Marrow involvement demonstrated histologically confers poor prognosis but is identified by staging PET in more cases. How information from staging PET and biopsy should be combined to optimize outcome prediction remains unclear. Methods: The International Atomic Energy Agency sponsored a prospective international cohort study to better define the use of PET in DLBCL. As a planned subsidiary analysis, we examined the interplay of marrow involvement identified by PET and biopsy on clinical outcomes. Results: Eight countries contributed 327 cases with a median follow-up of 35 mo. The 2-y outcomes of cases with no evidence of marrow involvement (n = 231) were 81% (95% confidence interval [CI], 76%–86%) for event-free survival (EFS) and 88% (83%–91%) for overall survival (OS); cases identified only on PET (n = 61), 81% (69%–89%) for EFS and 88% (77%–94%) for OS; cases indentified only on biopsy (n = 10), 80% (41%–95%) for EFS and 100% for OS; or cases identified by both PET and biopsy (n = 25), 45% (25%–64%) for EFS and 55% (32%–73%) for OS. The hazard ratios for PET-negative/biopsy-negative cases versus PET-positive/biopsy-positive cases were 2.67 (95% CI, 1.48–4.79) for EFS and 3.94 (1.93–8.06) for OS. Conclusion: This large study demonstrates that positive iliac crest biopsy histology only confers poor prognosis for patients who also have abnormal marrow 18F-FDG uptake identified on the staging PET scan. Abnormal 18F-FDG uptake in marrow, when iliac crest biopsy histology is normal, has no adverse effect on outcomes.
Bloodhub: A context aware system to increase voluntary blood donors' participation

WHO in its report in 2010 stated that voluntary blood donor is a crucial component and a core service within health care systems. The existence of voluntary blood donor has saved millions of lives. Few studies showed that that non-remunerated donors have very importance rules to fulfil the blood demands. Unfortunately, according to the same report, WHO concluded that there are many patients who could not meet the clinical demands due to blood stocks limitation which has serious consequences to the health of the patient. Few studies on blood donor motivation have shown that there are factors affecting donors to donate their blood. Some of the reasons on why people do not donate their blood are: their distances are too far from where the blood is needed, and other factor is that they have never been asked to donate their blood. The other problem that affecting the supply of blood donors are to retain or to maintain the loyalty of a donor so that he/she can become regular donor. This paper discusses on how smartphone can help to increase the number of blood donors and improve its retention especially among youth. In this paper, we use a context aware system approach i.e. a system that aware of their environment that is implemented in the smartphone, to allow users of smartphone to receive only relevant information e.g. nearby location where the demand of the blood is there. We also utilizes gamification technique to improve the user loyalty.
Showdown Over Clean Air Science

On 16 July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled final air pollution rules designed to tighten ozone standards and clamp down on particles. The cost of implementing the rules has sparked a fierce protest on Capitol Hill from industry groups and many state and local officials. Industry and environmental researchers are also squaring off over the science behind the rules on fine particles in what some are calling the biggest environmental fight of the decade.
Predicting the Trends of Social Events on Chinese Social Media

Growing interest in social events on social media came along with the rapid development of the Internet. Social events that occur in the "real" world can spread on social media (e.g., Sina Weibo) rapidly, which may trigger severe consequences and thus require the government's timely attention and responses. This article proposes to predict the trends of social events on Sina Weibo, which is currently the most popular social media in China. Based on the theories of social psychology and communication sciences, we extract an unprecedented amount of comprehensive and effective features that relate to the trends of social events on Chinese social media, and we construct the trends of prediction models by using three classical regression algorithms. We found that lasso regression performed better with the precision 0.78 and the recall 0.88. The results of our experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
Long-term efficacy of high-activity 111in-pentetreotide therapy in patients with disseminated neuroendocrine tumors.

UNLABELLED High-activity (111)In-pentetreotide has been used to treat patients with disseminated neuroendocrine tumors. There is, however, little information related to the efficacy of this agent beyond the normal 6-mo assessment period. Before we can assume that such treatment would be beneficial to patients with neuroendocrine tumors the outcome of the patients over a longer time course should be determined. METHODS The case records of 16 patients who had received high activities of (111)In-pentetreotide (with cumulative activities as high as 36.6 GBq) over a 2.5-y period, from January 1, 1997, to June 30, 2000, were reviewed. There were 8 female and 8 male patients (age range, 32-76 y): 10 patients had carcinoid, 2 had medullary cell carcinoma of the thyroid, and 1 each had a gastrinoma, glucagonoma, fibrolamellar cancer, and malignant histiocytoma. The minimum number of treatments received was 1 in 2 patients (with activities of 3.1 and 7 GBq); the maximum was 10 treatments (total, 36.6 GBq). Treatment was given using an infusion pump and was repeated at 4- to 12-wk intervals (mean number of treatments per patient, 6). Response to therapy was determined by changes in the size of the tumor on CT using the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors. Toxicity was measured using blood and urine tests of renal, hepatic, thyroid, and bone marrow function. The mean and median time from the last treatment to progression of disease and death (if applicable) was also calculated. RESULTS No significant or long-lasting toxicity was encountered. At 6 mo after the patient's last treatment, 5 patients (30%) had disease progression, 2 had complete responses, and 3 had partial responses. Twelve months after their last treatment, 9 patients (56%) had disease progression, and, at 18 mo, 11 patients (69%) had disease progression. The mean progression-free survival was 12.25 mo (median, 9 mo). For those who survived 6 mo after their last treatment, the mean survival was 15.75 mo (median, 16 mo). At the 6-mo assessment point, there had been 3 deaths (19%): 1 death was not related to cancer. At 12 mo, there was 1 additional cancer death. At 18 mo, there were 3 additional deaths (1 was not related to the patient's carcinoid tumor but was due to a second coexistent cancer). By the end of the 18-mo assessment period, 7 patients (44%) had died. The mean time interval between disease progression and death was 5 mo. CONCLUSION In patients treated with high-activity (111)In-pentreotide, 70% had some benefit for at least 6 mo after the end of treatment; however, 31% of patients will have sustained benefit at 18 mo from this treatment. This was obtained without significant toxicity.
Handwriting Recognition in Free Space Using WIMU-Based Hand Motion Analysis

We present a wireless-inertial-measurement-unit- (WIMU-) based hand motion analysis technique for handwriting recognition in three-dimensional (3D) space. The proposed handwriting recognition system is not bounded by any limitations or constraints; users have the freedom and flexibility to write characters in free space. It uses hand motion analysis to segment hand motion data from a WIMU device that incorporates magnetic, angular rate, and gravity sensors (MARG) and a sensor fusion algorithm to automatically distinguish segments that represent handwriting from nonhandwriting data in continuous hand motion data. Dynamic time warping (DTW) recognition algorithm is used to recognize handwriting in real-time. We demonstrate that a user can freely write in air using an intuitive WIMU as an input and hand motion analysis device to recognize the handwriting in 3D space. The experimental results for recognizing handwriting in free space show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for other natural interaction techniques, such as in computer games and real-time hand gesture recognition applications.
Mehr Bewegung für alle – Ansätze zur Veränderung von Lebensstil und Gesundheitsprofil

Zusammenfassung Sozialpolitisch ist es unumgänglich, in Eigenverantwortung das individuelle Gesundheitsrisiko zu verringern, um darüber Risikofaktoren und die Progression chronischer Erkrankungen zu senken sowie vor allem das wachsende Problem des Übergewichts zu lösen. Hierzu ist allerdings die dauerhafte Umstellung des Ernährungs- und Aktivitätsverhaltens in Richtung auf eine energetisch ausgeglichene Lebensweise und eine gleichzeitige Verbesserung der Ernährungsqualität Voraussetzung. Dies zeigen uns Daten aus der Epidemiologie und Intervention, in denen Zusammenhänge zwischen Diabetes-, KHK-Inzidenz und Übergewicht in Abgrenzung von klassischen Risikofaktoren, wie Hypertonie, Dyslipoproteinämie und familiäre Belastung, geprüft wurden. Aktuell stehen damit körperliche Aktivität und die beanspruchte Muskulatur im Mittelpunkt der Regulation von Körperkomposition und Energieumsatz. Dies hat entscheidende Konsequenzen in der Ausbildung von atherogenen und entzündlichen Risikofaktoren und der darüber gebahnten Entwicklung von chronischen Folgeerkrankungen. Über den Erhalt oder Verlust an Muskelmasse wird langfristig aber auch der Altersverlauf signifikant beeinflusst. Konsequenterweise legen aktuelle Empfehlungen wie die »Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III guideliness« des NCEP-Expertenausschusses vermehrt Wert auf therapeutische Lebensstilveränderungen (therapeutic lifestyle changes, TLC), die das persönliche Verhalten mit Kontrolle der Freizeitaktivität, der Ernährungsgewohnheiten und des Körpergewichts miteinbeziehen. Beispielhaft versucht dies auch das neue Schulungsprogramm der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention (DGSP e. V.), das unter dem Namen M.O. B.I. L.I. S. für übergewichtige Erwachsene angeboten wird. Die vorliegende Übersicht betont einmal mehr die zentrale Bedeutung der körperlichen Aktivität in der Regulation von Körperkomposition sowie Schutz- und Risikofaktoren und will motivieren, regelmäßige körperliche Aktivität mehr als bisher zur Lebensstiländerung und in der Prävention und Therapie des Übergewichts zu nutzen.
Ecological Interface Design Two Decades On: Whatever Happened to the SRK Taxonomy?

Since first receiving attention in the literature almost 25 years ago, ecological interface design has been applied to a wide variety of man-machine systems across a range of domains. The design framework has its theoretical basis in Gibsonian ecological psychology, and its founding principles draw heavily on Jens Rasmussen's skills, rules, and knowledge (SRK) taxonomy. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the framework's applications since Vicente and Rasmussen's 1992 seminal article detailing the theoretical foundations of the method. There is variation in terms of both the use of the two fundamental components of the method as it was first described, and how it has been supplemented with other phases of the cognitive work analysis; this review highlights these variations with regard to how the design framework has been applied and how these applications have been reported in the literature. The importance of the SRK taxonomy to the framework is specifically discussed following the finding that 40% of reviewed applications do not cite this component despite its centrality to ecological interface design. Attention is drawn to the method's flexibility and adaptability, to its contribution to the content and form of an interface, and a point is made about the importance of being clear and consistent when reporting how the method has been applied and, where appropriate, adapted.
Collaboration, Confidentiality, and Care

There is an increasing call to attend to the needs of students in distress (Reynolds, 2013). Furthermore, research has begun to highlight links between distress, risky, or dangerous behaviors as well as issues in mental health in the higher education population (Deasy, Coughlan, Pironom, Jourdan, & Mannix-McNamara, 2014). The National Alliance on Mental Health and the Jed Foundation (National Alliance on Mental Illness & the Jed Foundation, 2016) estimate that about 20% of enrolled college students will face some type of mental illness. As such, the work of mental health professionals, which has been increasing with time, will continue to play a pivotal role on today’s campus (Kitzrow, 2009). Yet mental health in higher education is too pervasive and significant of a topic for counseling and psychological centers to handle by themselves (Joint Task Force in Student Learning, 1998; Mitchell et al., 2012). Therefore, a collaborative approach is warranted as higher education professionals strive to meet the increasing mental health demands of the student population. Case studies amalgamated from housing and residence life professionals are used to gain a greater understanding of how interdepartmental work is carried out without compromising or breaching ethical or legal regulations as set by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and/or organizational standards like that of the International Association of Counseling Services Inc. (International Association for Counseling Services Inc., 2014) Specifically, the cases demonstrate ways inter- and intradepartmental staffers can work as a team, safeguard private and confidential information, and concurrently create an environment in which care is nurtured.
Mobile Application Testing on Clouds: Challenges, Opportunities and Architectural Elements

With mobility increasing more each year, mobile devices and operating system (OS) fragmentation are increasing at an even faster pace. A multitude of screen sizes, network connection types, and OS versions have emerged in the market and led mobile developers to rethink testing practices to ensure quality and a good experience for increasingly demanding users who crave highly reliable and stable applications. Such best practices come at the high cost for testing infrastructure and maintenance, making most development teams bypass test cycles and deliver applications before they are thoroughly validated. And when teams pursue automated test cycles on clouds, expenses due to high-cost services are not always worth the investment in application development phases. As a result, test cycles which are essential to validate application reliability and stability, such as regression, functional, and leakage tests are left out, primarily affecting user experience. This paper shows the challenges intrinsic to mobile application testing in consonance with the opportunities provided by clouds. We explored the state of the art to synthesize current cloud-based mobile application testing architectures to convey the need for a new concept and platform to minimize maintenance and make testing infrastructures more cost-effective. Hence, we proposed an alternative architecture using emulated devices for testing automation, which aims for massive test cycles at a lower cost.
Design and Study of Uniplanar Coupled Inverted-L Antenna for Single-/Dual-Band Operation

A coupled-line-based planar antenna for single-band and dual-band operation is presented. The well-known uniplanar coupled inverted-L antenna (UCILA) has a simple and speciflc mechanism to achieve the dual-band ratio that was not described in the past. The UCILA which shunted a short stub in the slotline portion can provide switchable modes among single-low band (3.4% for WLAN 2.44GHz), single-high band (15% for WLAN 5.2{5.8GHz band) and dual-band (WLAN 2.44/5{6GHz) operations.
Persistent Sex Disparity in Midlife Stroke Prevalence in the United States

Background: A recent study found that US women aged 45–54 years in 1999–2004 were twice as likely as men to report previous stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of this finding by assessing the sex-specific midlife stroke prevalence in the most recent nationally representative, cross-sectional sample of US individuals. Methods: Sex-specific stroke prevalence, sex-specific vascular risk factor prevalence and sex-specific independent predictors of stroke were assessed among 35- to 64-year olds who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys in 2005–2006 (n = 2,274). Results: Women aged 35–64 years were almost 3 times more likely than men to report prior stroke (2.90 vs. 1.07%; p < 0.001). This disparity was driven by the 45- to 54-year age group, where women had thrice the odds of prior stroke compared with men (OR 3.12, 95% CI 1.30–7.50). Among 45- to 54-year olds, men were more likely than women to have a history of smoking, elevated homocysteine and elevated triglyceride levels, but less likely to be abdominally obese (p < 0.001). Independent stroke risk factors among women aged 35–64 years were a homocysteine level >8.5 µmol/l (OR 6.19, 95% CI 2.57–14.93), a history of myocardial infarction (OR 5.35, 95% CI 1.09–26.27) and diabetes mellitus (OR 6.63, 95% CI 2.47–17.81). Conclusion: The midlife sex disparity in US stroke prevalence persists. Greater emphasis on prompt recognition and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors among young and middle-aged women may ameliorate this worrisome trend.
Planning and self-efficacy interventions encouraging replacing energy-dense foods intake with fruit and vegetable: A longitudinal experimental study

Objective: This longitudinal experimental study compared effects of self-efficacy, planning and education-based conditions, encouraging adolescents to eat fruit and vegetable in place of energy-dense foods. Design: Data were collected among 506 adolescents (13–18 years old) who were randomly assigned to control (n = 181), planning (n = 153) or self-efficacy (n = 172) conditions. Measurements were taken at baseline (T1), at a 2-month follow-up (T2), and at a 14-month follow-up (T3). Interventions/control group procedures were delivered at T1 and T2. Outcome measures: Self-reports of fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) and energy-dense foods intake were collected at three times. Cognitive mediators (self-efficacy and planning) were assessed at T1 and T2. Body weight and height were objectively measured at T1 and T3. Results and conclusions: Similar significant increases of FVI were found for planning and self-efficacy interventions (T3). The planning intervention did not influence energy-dense food intake (T3), but the self-efficacy intervention tended to result in stabilising intake (compared to an increase found in the control group). There were no effects on body weight. Similar patterns were found for the total sample and for a subsample of adolescents with overweight/obesity. The effects of interventions on FVI were mediated by respective cognitions.
Are membrane enzymes regulated by the viscosity of the membrane environment?

We have examined the idea that membrane enzymes are regulated by the viscosity of surrounding lipids using data compiled from the literature for the effect of the change in membrane viscosity ([symbol: see text]) at the gel- to liquid-crystal-phase transition on the activities of several enzymes. The analysis was not extended explicitly to the problem of viscosity-dependent regulation of membrane enzymes in liquid-crystalline lipids because of the absence of exact data for values of [symbol: see text] in liquid-crystalline phases of variable composition. For most membrane enzymes studied, energies of activation are discontinuous, while kcat is continuous, at the main-phase transition. We consider that the energy of activation contains terms related to the height of the chemical barrier to reaction and terms due to the mechanical properties of the bilayer, such as the work of expansion during the catalytic cycle and the temperature dependence of [symbol: see text]. We find that the differences in energies of activation, above and below the break points in Arrhenius plots, are orders of magnitude larger than can be accounted for by the above mechanical factors. Thus, discontinuities in energies of activation at the phase transition appear to reflect changes in the chemical barrier to reaction, which is independent of [symbol: see text]. The theorectical analysis indicates too that values of [symbol: see text] for bilayers in the liquid-crystalline phase would have to be several orders of magnitude larger than those for gel phases in order to provide a basis for viscosity-dependent regulation of membrane enzymes in liquid-crystalline phases. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
1-Palmitoyl-2-pyrenedecanoyl glycerophospholipids as membrane probes: evidence for regular distribution in liquid-crystalline phosphatidylcholine bilayers.

We have synthesized 1-palmitoyl-2-pyrenedecanoyl-sn-glycero derivatives of 3-phosphatidylcholine, 3-phosphatidylethanolamine, 3-phosphatidylserine, 3-phosphatidylglycerol, 3-phosphatidylinositol, and 3-phosphatidic acid and investigated their behavior in monolayers and in neat and mixed bilayers. Fluorescence spectroscopy of neat pyrene phospholipid dispersions revealed a well-defined thermotropic transition at 13.5-19 degrees C depending on the polar head group. An endotherm coinciding with this transition was observed with differential scanning calorimetry, indicating it to be due to the melting of the lipid acyl chains. For pyrenephosphatidylethanolamine, the endotherm was observed at a much higher temperature (70 degrees C). Compression isotherms obtained at an argon/water interface revealed that the pyrene moiety somewhat increases the mean molecular area of a phospholipid molecule but does not prevent the expression of head-group-dependent packing behavior. Partition of the pyrene lipids between coexisting fluid and solid phases was investigated with fluorometry and calorimetry. Both techniques indicate that these lipids prefer the fluid phase and that this preference is independent of the head group. The rates and apparent activation energies of lateral diffusion in fluid bilayers were found to be similar for most pyrene lipids, suggesting that the lateral movement of phospholipids is not critically dependent on interactions at the head-group level. Lateral distribution of the pyrene lipids in gel and fluid phosphatidylcholine bilayers was studied with the excimer technique and calorimetry. In gel-state dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers, the pyrene lipids form clusters. These clusters, however, do not consist of pure pyrene lipid but of aggregates (compounds) of the labeled and unlabeled lipid. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Epoprostenol in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a devastating disease leading to right heart failure and death in a relatively young patient population. In recent years novel PAH specific therapies have become available. OBJECTIVE To determine the place of epoprostenol in current PAH treatment strategies. METHODS An extensive Medline search was performed to evaluate the use of epoprostenol in PAH. Data from both human and animal studies were reviewed. RESULTS/CONCLUSION Epoprostenol is an effective and potent treatment in pulmonary arterial hypertension and has greatly improved survival, exercise capacity, PAH symptoms, pulmonary haemodynamics and disease progression. A main disadvantage is that it can only be delivered through a continuous intravenous pump infusion.