Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histopathologic Validation of Lymph Node Staging With FDG-PET Scan in Cancer of the Esophagus and Gastroesophageal Junction: A Prospective Study Based on Primary Surgery With Extensive Lymphadenectomy

ObjectiveTo assess the value of positron emission tomography with 18fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) for preoperative lymph node staging of patients with primary cancer of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. Summary Background DataFDG-PET appears to be a promising tool in the preoperative staging of cancer of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. Recent reports indicate a higher sensitivity and specificity for detection of stage IV disease and a higher specificity for diagnosis of lymph node involvement compared with the standard use of computed tomography and endoscopic ultrasound. MethodsForty-two patients entered the prospective study. All underwent attenuation-corrected FDG-PET imaging of the neck, thorax, and upper abdomen, a spiral computed tomography scan, and an endoscopic ultrasound. The gold standard consisted exclusively of the histology of sampled nodes obtained by extensive two-field or three-field lymphadenectomies (n = 39) or from guided biopsies of suspicious distant nodes indicated by imaging (n = 3). ResultsThe FDG-PET scan had lower accuracy for the diagnosis of locoregional nodes (N1–2) than combined computed tomography and endoscopic ultrasound (48% vs. 69%) because of a significant lack of sensitivity (22% vs. 83%). The accuracy for distant nodal metastasis (M+Ly), however, was significantly higher for FDG-PET than the combined use of computed tomography and endoscopic ultrasound (86% vs. 62%). Sensitivity was not significantly different, but specificity was greater (90% vs. 69%). The FDG-PET scan correctly upstaged five patients (12%) from N1–2 stage to M+Ly stage. One patient was falsely downstaged by FDG-PET scanning. ConclusionsFDG-PET scanning improves the clinical staging of lymph node involvement based on the increased detection of distant nodal metastases and on the superior specificity compared with conventional imaging modalities.
Cinderella or Princess? History and other narratives of adult education in a university 1

Introduction The Cinderella Story is sometimes used to describe adult education as a neglected part of the education system. But few who tell the story go on to imagine what it was like after she married the Prince! Do you believe in the ‘happy ever after’ version? Princes are notoriously difficult to live with! Too many have been distant, arrogant and there is often a sense of it all ending in tears rather than the ‘happy ever after’. Few know that Cinderella is Irish! And as soon as the prince came knocking at her door it was not the ugly sisters who complained loudest, it was the neighbours! Some were heard to murmur ‘who on earth does she think she is. ’ And in this way we can imagine some of the challenges facing an adult education that came from being a Cinderella and into the mainstream both in public policy and in the university.
Emotional predictors of consumer's satisfaction with healthcare public services.

PURPOSE The aim of this paper is to test empirically a framework that contributes to the understanding of patients' satisfaction by estimating the relationships between the satisfaction of particular types of customers with their emotions and perceived justice. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH The study was developed in two segments. First, an exploratory analysis was conducted to find a factor structure and to test the psychometric properties of satisfaction and perceived justice scales. After that the hypothesized model was tested through an empirical study, with a sample of 520 patients from six Portuguese public healthcare services, using structural equation modelling. FINDINGS The results show that the scales are psychometrically sound and confirm that satisfaction results from a complex cognitive and affective mechanism, thus highlighting the interactive characteristics of the services. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to find if there is any possible conditioning factors that would interfere with these variables and change their effects on satisfaction. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Patients' satisfaction is an important issue for improving the provided healthcare services. ORIGINALITY/VALUE The paper offers empirical evidence about the complementary effect of emotions and perceived justice on the satisfaction with healthcare services. Findings also provide a model of analysis with valid and reliable measures.
Tracking by local collaborative representation

This paper proposes an object tracking method based on local collaborative representation. In this method, local image patches of an object are represented by collaborative vectors with an over-complete dictionary and a classifier is learned to discriminate the target object from the background. To deal with the changes of both the target object and the background during tracking, we update the dictionary and classifier with new observations obtained online. Compared to the recent tracking algorithms based on sparse representation, the collaborative representation method is also effective yet much more efficient. Furthermore, collaborative representation based on local image patches and the discrimination formulation the proposed algorithm employs can deal with complex environments better than the sparse representation-based tracking methods which use holistic object appearance within a generative framework. Experiments on lots of challenging video sequences with comparison to several state-of-the-art methods show the favorable performance of our algorithm.
Soliton solution and bifurcation analysis of the KP–Benjamin–Bona–Mahoney equation with power law nonlinearity

This paper studies the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili–Benjamin–Bona–Mahoney equation with power law nonlinearity. The traveling wave solution reveals a non-topological soliton solution with a couple of constraint conditions. Subsequently, the dynamical system approach and the bifurcation analysis also reveals other types of solutions with their corresponding restrictions in place.
Birth Asphyxia: A Major Cause of Early Neonatal Mortality in a Tanzanian Rural Hospital

OBJECTIVE: Early neonatal mortality within the first 24 hours contributes substantially to overall neonatal mortality rates. The definition of birth asphyxia (BA) is imprecise, and reliable cause-specific mortality data are limited; thus the estimated proportion of BA-related deaths globally remains questionable. The objective was to determine the presumed causes of neonatal death within the first 24 hours in a rural hospital in Northern Tanzania. METHODS: This is a prospective descriptive observational study conducted in the delivery room and adjacent neonatal area. Research assistants were trained to observe and record events related to labor, neonatal resuscitation, and 24-hour postnatal course. BA was defined as failure to initiate spontaneous respirations and/or 5-minute Apgar score <7, prematurity as gestational age <36 weeks, and low birth weight (LBW) as birth weight <3rd centile for gestational age. Data were analyzed with χ2 and Student’s t tests. RESULTS: Over 1 year, 4720 infants were born and evaluated. Of these, 256 were admitted to the neonatal area. Forty-nine infants died secondary to BA (61%), prematurity (18%), LBW (8%), infection (2%), congenital abnormalities (8%), and unclear reason (2%). The 5-minute Apgar score was ≥7 in 50% of the infants who died secondary to BA. CONCLUSIONS: Most cases of early neonatal mortality were related to BA, and prematurity and LBW are additional important considerations. Reducing perinatal mortality requires a multifaceted approach with attention to issues related to BA, potential complications of prematurity, and LBW. The 5-minute Apgar score is a poor surrogate of BA.
A B-tree dynamic router-table design

We propose B-tree data structures for dynamic router-tables for the cases when the filters are prefixes as well as when they are nonintersecting ranges. A crucial difference between our data structure for prefix filters and the MRT (multiway range trees) is that, in our data structure, each prefix is stored in O(1) B-tree nodes per B-tree level, whereas, in MRT, each prefix is stored in O(m) nodes per level (m is the order of the B-tree). As a result of this difference, the measured average insert and delete times using our structure are about 30 percent less than when MRT is used. Further, an update operation of MRT will, in the worst case, make 2.5 times as many cache misses as made when our structure is used. The asymptotic complexity to find the longest matching prefix is the same and the measured time for this operation also is nearly the same for both data structures. Both B-tree structures for prefix router-tables take O(n) memory. However, our structure is more memory efficient by a constant factor. For the case of nonintersecting ranges, our data structure requires O(n log/sub m/n) memory and O(log/sub m/n) nodes are accessed during an operation (finding the highest-priority matching range, insert and delete a range).
Some ultrastructural features of Yoshida ascites hepatoma.

Several features of the ultrastructure of Yoshida ascites Hepatoma 7974, not previously reported, were observed in tumor cells withdrawn 7, 8, 9, and 17 days after intraperitoneal inoculation into JR rats. Tumor cells from the single animal which survived 17 days showed unique morphology, which perhaps indicated a very actively growing tumor. The cells examined after 7 to 9 days had a uniform morphology with dispersed ribosomes, annulate lamellae, and an unusual configuration of the endoplasmic reticulum. The 17-day-old tumor cells, the longest survival we observed in ascites growth, differed in that they had frequent, sometimes abnormal, mitoses, aggregated ribosomes, and at least one centriole showing an abnormal number of filaments in the radial subunits. Numerous virus-like particles were seen in this dimethylaminoazobenzene-induced hepatoma, both in the intercellular spaces and budding from the plasma membrane.
Efficacy of mass antimicrobial treatment of foals with subclinical pulmonary abscesses associated with Rhodococcus equi.

BACKGROUND Mass antimicrobial treatment of foals with small subclinical ultrasonographic pulmonary lesions is empirical practice on many farms with endemic disease caused by Rhodococcus equi. HYPOTHESIS Mass antimicrobial treatment of foals with subclinical ultrasonographic pulmonary lesions is unnecessary. ANIMALS One hundred and eight foals on a farm endemic for infections caused by R. equi. METHODS Controlled, randomized, and double-blinded prospective study. Foals with ultrasonographic evidence of pulmonary abscesses 5.0-10 cm in diameter (n = 108) were randomly allocated in 5 treatment groups: (1) tulathromycin IM; (2) doxycycline monotherapy PO; (3) doxycycline with rifampin PO; (4) azithromycin with rifampin PO, and (5) saline IM as a placebo. Physical examination and thoracic ultrasonography were performed by individuals unaware of treatment group assignment. Foals with evidence of disease progression were removed from the study and treated with azithromycin-rifampin. RESULTS Overall, 22/25 (88%) foals in the placebo group recovered without the need for treatment. The proportion of foals that had evidence of disease progression did not differ significantly between the treatment groups (P > .05). Although the median duration of treatment was significantly (P < .05) shorter in foals treated with azithromycin-rifampin (46 days) compared with foals treated with the placebo (73 days), the time frame of ultrasonographic lesion resolution did not differ significantly between the treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE The majority of foals with subclinical pulmonary abscesses <10 cm in diameter recover without antimicrobial treatment and treatment of affected foals does not provide a clear benefit over administration of a placebo.
Online serendipity: A contextual differentiation of antecedents and outcomes

Critics worry that algorithmic filtering could lead to overly polished, homogeneous web experiences. “Serendipity,” in turn, has been touted as an antidote. Yet, the desirability of serendipity could vary by context, as users may be more or less receptive depending on the services they employ. We propose a nomological model of online serendipity experiences, conceptualizing both cognitive and behavioral antecedents. Based on a survey of 1,173 German Internet users, we conduct structural equation modeling and multigroup analyses to differentiate the antecedents and effects of serendipity across three distinct contexts: online shopping, information services, and social networking sites. Our findings confirm that antecedents and outcomes of digital serendipity vary by context, with serendipity only being associated with user satisfaction in the context of social network sites.
Assessing Activation Stage and Employing a “Next Steps” Approach to Supporting Patient Self‐Management

Current approaches to chronic illness care seek to engage the patient as part of the care team. Yet, finding effective ways to engage patients in their own care and support patient self-management has been challenging. Instead of pushing patients to immediately adopt all recommended behavioral changes, many programs encourage small steps while working toward a larger goal. A strategy that first assessed the level of mastery, and then encouraged “next step” behaviors, may be more effective as the recommended steps would be calibrated to the patient's level of competency. In this analysis, we build on the previous research to determine whether there are behaviors that are more or less likely to be adopted at different stages of activation.
Utilisation de la cigarette éléctronique dans le sevrage tabagique par les médecins généralistes picards : pratiques, points de vue et attentes

Introduction : La lutte contre le tabagisme est un enjeu majeur de sante publique. Depuis quelques annees, la cigarette electronique (CE) suscite espoirs et incertitudes chez les utilisateurs comme au sein du corps medical. L'objectif principal de ce travail etait d'etudier les pratiques de medecins generalistes (MG) picards concernant l'utilisation therapeutique de la CE dans l'aide au sevrage tabagique, dans un contexte d'absence de positionnement clair des autorites medicales a ce sujet. Materiel et methode : Etude descriptive observationnelle realisee par envoi d'auto-questionnaires par voie informatique aupres de MG picards. Resultats : Cinquante-sept pour cent des 128 MG repondants utilisaient la CE comme moyen d'aide au sevrage tabagique. Dans 45,2% des cas, son recours faisait suite a une demande du patient ou son recours spontane a ce dispositif. Soixante-seize pour cent des MG etaient satisfaits des resultats obtenus. Les non-utilisateurs deploraient l'absence de preuves de son efficacite (71%), leur manque d'informations (54,5%), et l'absence de recul sur sa nocivite (43,6%). Quatre-vingt-huit pour cent des MG consideraient les recommandations officielles sur le sujet insuffisantes. Diverses propositions ont ete emises pour remedier a ces difficultes. Conclusion : Notre etude montre que si le recours a la CE dans l'aide au sevrage semble s'integrer dans la pratique des MG Picards, ceux-ci se trouvent relativement demunis face a un manque d'informations et des recommandations officielles jugees insuffisantes.
Control of membrane‐attached biofilms using surfactants

The effect of surfactants on membrane‐attached biofilms (MABs) was studied in a lab‐scale extractive membrane bioreactor (EMB). Twenty‐two surfactants were screened for their potential of increasing the cell wall negative charge (i.e. the electrostatic repulsion between bacteria) of Burkholderia sp. JS150 bacterial strain. Surfactants resulting in increased bacterial negative charge were further investigated for their effects on MAB population morphology and MAB attachment behaviour. Microscopic investigation of the bacterial population in MABs showed that surfactants affect the development of flagella, suggesting changes in the attachment capability of the JS150 strain in the presence of different surfactants. Among the screened surfactants, teepol showed the best characteristics in relation to the reduction of MAB accumulation, and it was tested in an EMB system for the extraction of monochlorobenzene from a synthetic wastewater. Comparison with a control EMB, operated without surfactants under the same conditions, proved that teepol effectively reduces MAB accumulation on the membrane walls. As a result, the overall mass transfer coefficient in the presence of teepol was 53% higher than in the control EMB. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
[A clinical, neurophysiological and molecular study of 12 patients from 4 families with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy].

INTRODUCTION Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is an X-linked, late-onset neuro-endocrine disorder resulting from an expansion of a CAG repeat in the androgen receptor gene. Material and method. We report the detailed phenotypic study in a series of 12 SBMA patients evaluated in four kindreds. RESULTS Clinical phenotypic spectrum varied considerably, ranging from childhood-onset weakness and atrophy mimicking limb-girdle myopathy in patients with 53 CAG repeats to isolated hyperCKemia in an adult with 42 CAG repeats. All male patients had gynecomastia. Two female carriers presented with paresthesias and hand action tremor. Homozygous deletions of SMN1 and SMN2 genes were not found in any patients. CONCLUSION This report demonstrates that SBMA may present with a wider clinical spectrum than previously described and suggests that clinical phenotype severity in SBMA is partially linked to the number of CAG repeats. It also suggests that SMN1 and SMN2 genes do not act as modifying genes in SBMA.
Runtime deadlock tracking and prevention of concurrent multithreaded programs: A learning‐based approach

Allocation of shared resources by multithreaded programs faces problem of deadlock. Many solutions have been presented to resolve this problem. Among others, the deadlock prevention is stressed when the deadlock detection and removal are costly. Removing deadlocks, which is carried out by aborting/recovering deadlocked threads, causes the waste of the resources used by the deadlocked threads. In such case, deadlock prevention can lead to avoiding the waste of resources. To this end, the runtime behavior of threads should be monitored in order to predict possible future deadlocks. In such case, the prediction mechanism becomes significant because a proper prediction helps us deny the allocation request of a resource by a thread if the allocation leads to a potential deadlock. A method to attain to proper prediction is learning the behavior of threads based on runtime monitoring their past behavior. In fact, based on past behavior of threads, potential deadlocks in their future behavior are verified, and current allocation request of a resource is denied if a future deadlock is predicted. The current study is an extension of our previous work where just deadlock tracking was predicted and no adaptation was suggested. In this study, a composite structure of a recurrent Neural Network (NN) called NARX (to track a potential deadlock) and a Multi‐perceptron NN called MLP (to select a suitable action to resolve the potential deadlock) is proposed. Based on the experimental results, the accuracy of the first NN was about 80%, leading to high performance of the second NN, and more than 82% of the real deadlocks were prevented by selecting suitable actions.
Design and synthesis of rhamnose-modified exenatide conjugate by sortase A-mediated ligation

Abstract Exenatide modified with rhamnose as a hapten was designed and synthesized by Sortase A-mediated ligation. An Exenatide peptide analog comprised of 46 amino acids, including the sortase A recognition motif LPETG at the C-terminus, was synthesized by solid phase peptide synthesis method. A tri-glycine modified-rhamnose derivative was chemically synthesized in seven steps in good yield. The site-specific conjugation between them catalyzed by Sortase A completed in 3 h and the rhamnose-modified Exenatide conjugate was obtained after semi-preparative HPLC purification and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS. This method should be generally useful for the synthesis of other Exenatide analog for biological studies. Graphical Abstract
Evaluation of vesicular stomatitis virus mutant as an oncolytic agent against prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND To date, limited options are available to treat malignant prostate cancer, and novel strategies need to be developed. Oncolytic viruses (OV) that have preferential replication capabilities in cancer cells rather than normal cells represent one promising alternative for treating malignant tumors. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a non-segmented, negative-strand RNA virus with the inherent capability to selectively kill tumor cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of VSV-ΔM51-GFP as an effective therapeutic agent for treating prostate tumors. METHODS For in vitro experiments, DU145 and PC3 cell lines were treated with VSV-ΔM51-GFP. Viral titers were quantified using plaque assays. Cytotoxicity was performed by MTT analysis. IFN-β production was measured using a Human IFN-β detection ELISA Kit. The detection of apoptosis was performed via Annexin-V-FITC staining method and analyzed with flow cytometry. The in vivo antitumor efficacy of VSV-ΔM51-GFP in a xenograft mice prostate tumor model. RESULTS It was observed that VSV-ΔM51-GFP can efficiently replicate and lyse human prostate cancer cells and that this virus has reduced toxicity against normal human prostate epithelial cells in vitro. VSV-ΔM51-GFP in the induction of apoptosis in DU145 cells and PC3 cells. Furthermore, in a xenograft tumor animal model, nude mice bearing replication-competent VSV-ΔM51-GFP were able to eradicate malignant cells while leaving normal tissue relatively unaffected. The survival of the tumor-burdened animals treated with VSV-ΔM51-GFP may also be significantly prolonged compared to mock-infected animals. CONCLUSIONS VSV-ΔM51-GFP showed promising oncolytic activity for treating prostate cancer.
Trials of glycoprotein IIb‐IIIa inhibitors in non‐st‐segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: Applicability to the practice of medicine in the united states

Platelet‐mediated thrombosis has been recognized as the primary pathophysiologic mechanism of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and acute complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Despite the clinical efficacy of the two most widely used antithrombotic agents, aspirin and heparin, each of them has significant therapeutic limitations. As a result, thrombosis and clinical events may occur despite the use of aspirin and heparin. The discovery that the platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb‐IIIa represents the final common pathway to platelet aggregation and the growing recognition of the key role of platelets in the progression of thrombosis prompted the development of several GP IIb‐IIIa inhibitors as a potentially more effective form of antithrombotic therapy. Numerous trials of various GP IIb‐IIIa inhibitors as adjuncts to PCI have strongly supported this hypothesis. The subject of this supplement is the review of more recent evaluations of GP IIb‐IIIa inhibitors in the context of various treatment strategies for the management of patients with unstable angina or non‐ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction, collectively known as non‐ST‐segment elevation ACS. Appropriate translation of these trials into clinical practice requires not only the knowledge of the trials' results but also the understanding of the design of individual studies, most notably the entry criteria and patient management strategies.