Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Salpingo-oophorectomy and the risk of ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancers in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation.

CONTEXT Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation are often advised to undergo preventive oophorectomy. The effectiveness of this intervention has not been prospectively evaluated in a large cohort. OBJECTIVES To estimate the incidence of ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer in women who carry a deleterious mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. To estimate the reduction in risk of these cancers associated with a bilateral prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Women known to carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation were identified from an international registry between 1992 and 2003. A total of 1828 carriers at 1 of 32 centers in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Israel completed questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. Participants were observed from the date of study entry until: diagnosis of ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancer; death; or the date of the most recent follow-up. INTERVENTION Participants were divided into women who had undergone bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and those who had not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The incidence of ovarian, peritoneal, and fallopian tube cancer was determined by survival analysis. The risk reduction associated with prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy was evaluated by a time-dependent survival analysis, adjusting for covariates. RESULTS After a mean follow-up of 3.5 years, 50 incident ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal cancer cases were reported in the cohort. Of the 1828 women, 555 (30%) underwent a bilateral prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy prior to study entry, 490 (27%) underwent the procedure after entering the study, and 783 (43%) did not undergo the procedure. There were 32 incident cancers diagnosed in women with intact ovaries (1015/100,000 per year). Eleven cancer cases were identified at the time of prophylactic oophorectomy and 7 were diagnosed following prophylactic oophorectomy (217/100,000 per year). The estimated cumulative incidence of peritoneal cancer is 4.3% at 20 years after oophorectomy. The overall (adjusted) reduction in cancer risk associated with bilateral oophorectomy is 80% (multivariate hazard ratio = 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.58; P = .003). CONCLUSION Oophorectomy is associated with reduced risk of ovarian and fallopian tube cancer in high-risk women, although there is a substantial residual risk for peritoneal cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers following prophylactic salpingo-oophorectomy.
Hospital safety climate surveys: measurement issues

Purpose of reviewOrganizational safety culture relates to behavioural norms in the workplace and is usually assessed by safety climate surveys. These can be a diagnostic indicator on the state of safety in a hospital. This review examines recent studies using staff surveys of hospital safety climate, focussing on measurement issues. Recent findingsFour questionnaires (hospital survey on patient safety culture, safety attitudes questionnaire, patient safety climate in healthcare organizations, hospital safety climate scale), with acceptable psychometric properties, are now applied across countries and clinical settings. Comparisons for benchmarking must be made with caution in case of questionnaire modifications. Increasing attention is being paid to the unit and hospital level wherein distinct cultures may be located, as well as to associated measurement and study design issues. Predictive validity of safety climate is tested against safety behaviours/outcomes, with some relationships reported, although effects may be specific to professional groups/units. Few studies test the role of intervening variables that could influence the effect of climate on outcomes. SummaryHospital climate studies are becoming a key component of healthcare safety management systems. Large datasets have established more reliable instruments that allow a more focussed investigation of the role of culture in the improvement and maintenance of staff's safety perceptions within units, as well as within hospitals.
Modeling Internet Delay Dynamics Using System Identification

We propose a novel approach for modeling the end-to-end time-delay dynamics of the Internet using system identification, and apply it to control real-time telerobotic operations via Internet with specific Quality of Service (QoS) offerings. To do this, we have employed system identification techniques and the Auto-Regressive eXogeneous (ARX) model to obtain the values of relevant parameters and study their dynamics. The results show a periodic behavior of the Internet delay. Experimental measurements show the accuracy and usefulness of our theoretical derivations.
Stabilization of the nonlinear elastodynamic system with a boundary dissipation

We consider the existence of global solutions of the nonlinear elastodynamic system with a boundary dissipation structure when initial data are small. The medium material is assumed to be isotropic and hyperelastic. We show the existence of global smooth solutions. In particular, we obtain the exponential decay of the energy, which implies the exponential stabilization of the system by boundary feedback.
Retinofugal pathways in two marsupials

Autoradiographic and anterograde degeneration tracing methods were used to study and compare the organization of retinofugal pathways in two marsupial opossums, Didelphis virginiana and Marmosa mitis. Seven identical retinal targets were demonstrated for each opossum. These include: (1) the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, (2) the dorsal and (3) ventral lateral geniculate nuclei, (4) the lateral posterior nucleus, (5) the pretectal complex, (6) the superior colliculus and (7) the accessory optic nuclei.
Renal recovery and long‐term survival following acute kidney injury after coronary artery surgery: a nationwide study

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a relatively common complication following CABG and is associated with adverse outcomes. Nonetheless, we hypothesized that the majority of patients make a good long‐term recovery of their renal function. We studied the incidence and risk factors of AKI together with renal recovery and long‐term survival in patients who developed AKI following CABG.
Post-canard symmetry breaking and other exotic dynamic behaviors in identical coupled chemical oscillators.

We analyze a model of two identical chemical oscillators coupled through diffusion of the slow variable. As a parameter is varied, a single oscillator undergoes a canard explosion-a transition from small amplitude, nearly harmonic oscillations to large-amplitude, relaxation oscillations over a very small parameter interval. In the coupled system, if the two oscillators have the same initial conditions, then the oscillators remain synchronized and exhibit the same canard behavior observed for the single oscillator. If the oscillators are separated initially, then in the region of the canard they display a variety of complex behaviors, including intermittent spiking, mixed-mode oscillation, and quasiperiodicity. Further variation of the parameter leads to a return to synchronized large-amplitude oscillation followed by a post-canard symmetry-breaking, in which one oscillator shows small-amplitude, complex behavior (mixed-mode oscillation, quasiperiodicity, chaos,.) while the other undergoes essentially periodic large amplitude behavior, resembling a master-slave scenario. We analyze the origins of this behavior by looking at several modified coupling schemes.
Antibiotic Substances from Basidiomycetes: III. Coprinus Similis and Lentinus Degener.

* Journal Paper No. J-1578 of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station. Project No. 746. 1 Ajl, S. J., White, A. G. C. , and Werkman, C. H. , J. Bact. , 54, 23 (1947). 2 Kalnitsky, G. , Utter, M. F. , and Werkman, C. H. , Ibid., 49, 595-602 (1947). 3 Ochoa, S. , J. Biol. Chem., 155, 87-100 (1944). 4 Quastel, J. H. , and Wooldridge, W. R. , Biochem. J., 22, 689-702 (1922). 5 Klotz, I. M. , and Tietze, F. , J. Biol. Chem., 168, 399-400 (1947). 6 Brewer, C. R. , and Werkman, C. H. , Enzymologia, 6, 273-281 (1939).
Clinical outcome and immunology of postoperative arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleotide-enriched enteral feeding: a randomized prospective comparison with standard enteral and low calorie/low fat i.v. solutions.

In a prospective randomized trial in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, the impact of a new enteral formula supplemented with arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleotides (A, n = 14) on immunological parameters was compared with a standard enteral formula (B, n = 14) and a low calorie/low fat intravenous solution (C, n = 13). Four days postoperatively, a statistically significant decrease in total leukocyte count (A, 9.0 +/- 2.9; B, 8.0 +/- 2.4; C, 11.1 +/- 3.5 x 10(6) cells/mL; A versus C, B versus C; p < 0.05), higher percentage of lymphocytes (A, 14.3 +/- 4.9; C, 8.2 +/- 6.1; p < 0.05), and decreased median CRP levels (A, 80.4 [69.9]; B, 70 [74]; C, 88.5 [142] in mg/L; A versus C, p < 0.05; B versus C; p < 0.05) were observed in the enteral nutrition groups. The expression of activated surface antigen HLA-DR was diminished on CD14+ cells over 4 d (A, 58.2 [39.2]; B, 52.2 [36.2]; C, 76.6 [25.2] in %; A versus C, p < 0.05; B versus C, p < 0.05) and 8-10 d (A, 37.9 [31.4]; C, 58.5 [37.6]; p < 0.05) postoperatively. Significantly enhanced median phagocytic activity of CD14+ monocytes and granulocytes was observed in group C 8-10 days postoperatively (A, 83.3 [11.8]; B, 71.6 [34.1]; C, 87.4 [10.8]; A versus B, B versus C, p < 0.05; and A, 75.7 [10.0]; B, 69.0 [37.8]; C, 80.0 [10.1] in %, B versus C, p < 0.05, respectively). Postoperative hospital and intensive care unit stay was similar among the three groups; however, infectious complications were less frequent in group A (A versus C, p = 0.15). Thus, a modified enteral nutritional support and supplementation may influence the immune competence toward a more efficient defense response.
HIV‐1 viral protein R causes peripheral nervous system injury associated with in vivo neuropathic pain

Painful peripheral neuropathy has become the principal neurological disorder in HIV/AIDS patients. Herein, we investigated the effects of a cytotoxic HIV‐1 accessory protein, viral protein R (Vpr), on the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Host and viral gene expression was investigated in peripheral nerves from HIV‐infected individuals and in HIV‐infected human dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures by RT‐PCR and immunocytochemistry. Cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]) fluxes and neuronal membrane responses were analyzed in cultured DRGs. Neurobehavioral responses and cytokine levels were assessed in a transgenic mouse model in which the vpr transgene was expressed in an immunodeficient background (vpr/RAG1−/−). Vpr transcripts and proteins were detected in peripheral nerves and DRGs from HIV‐infected patients. Exposure of rat or human cultured DRG neurons to Vpr rapidly increased [Ca2+] and action potential frequency while increasing input resistance. HIV infection of human DRG cultures caused neurite retraction (P<0.05), accompanied by induction of interferon‐α (IFN‐α) transcripts (P<0.05). vpr/RAG1−/− mice expressed Vpr together with increased IFN‐α (P<0.05) in the PNS and also exhibited mechanical allodynia, unlike their vpr/RAG1−/− littermates (P<0.05). Herein, Vpr caused DRG neuronal damage, likely through cytosolic calcium activation and cytokine perturbation, highlighting Vpr's contribution to HIV‐associated peripheral neuropathy and ensuing neuropathic pain. —Acharjee, S. , Noorbakhsh, S. , Stemkowski, P. L. , Olechowski, C. , Cohen, E. A. , Ballanyi, K. , Kerr, B. , Pardo, C. , Smith, P. A. , Power, C. HIV‐1 viral protein R causes peripheral nervous system injury associated with in vivo neuropathic pain. FASEBJ. 24, 4343–4353 (2010). www.fasebj. org
DOES RENAL MASS EXERT AN INDEPENDENT EFFECT ON THE DETERMINANTS OF ANTIGEN-DEPENDENT INJURY?

The aim of this retrospective study was to determine whether nephron mass may exert a direct, independent effect on immunological tolerance. To this end, data corresponding to patients transplanted with en block pediatric kidneys (EBPK) (n=48) were compared with those of renal transplants with a low risk of hyperfiltration (LRH) comprised of recipients of a kidney from young donors (age 5–40 years) (n=173), and transplants with a high risk of hyperfiltration (HRH) comprised of patients who had received a graft from an elderly donor (older than 55 years) (n=91). All the patients had been subjected to the same immunosuppressive treatment. The median follow-up period was 54 months (6–127 months). The EBPK group showed lowest serum creatinine and highest creatinine clearance levels at each follow-up time. The rate of proteinuria >500 mg/day was 5.7% in EBPK, 7.4% in LRH, and 27.3% in HRH (P =0.000). The incidence of acute corticoresistant rejection was minor in EBPK (7.0% in EBPK, 21.3% in LRH, and 23.3% in HRH;P =0.04). Logistic regression analysis showed that the type of transplant was predictive of acute corticoresistant rejection [RR 5.33 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–24.62) for HRH and RR 4.75 (95%CI 1.06–21.27) for LRH, P =0.03]. Multivariate analyses for graft failure due to chronic rejection and for graft failure due to acute rejection according to Cox’s regression analysis demonstrated that HRH transplant was a significant predictive variable of both types of failure [4.08 (95%CI 1.27–13.04) for graft loss due to chronic rejection and 8.69 (95%CI 1.69–44.67) for graft loss due to acute rejection]. The present stratification of data according to nephronal mass would appear to indicate that the greater the mass, the lower the incidence of both acute and chronic rejection. This finding lends support to the hypothesis that a large mass of transplanted tissue relative to recipient mass may dampen the immune response.
The Joint Effect of Noise Exposure and Job Complexity on Distress and Injury Risk Among Men and Women: The Cardiovascular Occupational Risk Factors Determination in Israel Study

Learning ObjectivesState the ways in which—in this study of Israeli industrial workers—noise levels and objectively estimated job complexity interacted to influence the risk of work-related injury in men and women.Describe whether and how the risk of injury depended on a number of patient- and work-related factors.Focusing on measures of noise-related stress, point out the implications of these findings for quality of life both at work and in nonworking hours.State possible reason(s) for the observation that exposure to noise effects more adversely those workers performing complex jobs. Abstract We sought to explore the possibility that exposure to noise at work might interact with job complexity and gender to affect the incidence of occupational injury among industrial employees. In this study, we examined 4084 men and 1643 women from 21 industrial plants while controlling for a number of potent confounding variables, among them active safety hazards. Logistic regression results showed that the predictor variables interacted and that the highest injury risk (odds ratio = 2.72) was observed in women in high noise and high job complexity, compared with the referents scoring low on these predictors. The comparable injury risk in men was only 1.3. Parallel results were observed for three noise stress indicators: workload, noise annoyance and postwork irritability. We conclude that the joint exposure to noise and high job complexity is disruptive, resulting in higher distress and occupational injury risk, particularly among women.
Tense, Aspect, and Context in French Narrative.

THOMAS J. COX's RECENT ARTICLE ON "The Inchoative Aspect in French"' discusses once again the problem of the pass? compose versus the imparfait, one of the most frustrating for the beginning student of French to master or for the pedagogue or grammarian to describe in a way that will be helpful to the student in conceptualizing the problem and correcting his own errors. Like Cox, I am leaving aside the distinction between the passe simple and the passe compose. In this article, I shall treat them as written and oral realizations of the same aspects, although that is surely an oversimplification. Cox rejects labels which have traditionally been used to explain the differences between these two tenses-active vs. stative, punctual vs. durative or habitual/continuous, finished vs. unfinished, and narrative vs. descriptive. He proposes a simple distinction between the "inchoative" or "inceptive" passe compost and the "non-inchoative" imparfait. For Cox, every use of a passe compose puts the emphasis on the beginning of an action, while the imparfait "may not specifically be used to draw attention to the beginning of a state, action, or situation. "2 Cox's arguments are convincing in accounting for the examples he presents, but they do not take into account certain other factors that have traditionally been neglected in describing the uses of the two tenses, namely the grammatical, narrative, and real-world context in which the sentence is to be used. From the beginning of the Western grammatical tradition in Hellenistic Alexandria, grammarians have been accustomed to concentrating on decontextualized sentences as the subject matter of their commentary and analysis.3 People, however, do not talk in decontextualized sentences, but tell stories and interact in conversations. Writers do not, except when composing maxims or public notices, confine themselves to sentences, but produce complex, coherent texts. Grammatical descriptions which pay more attention to text, context, and discourse can yield new insights about the uses of the passe compose and the imparfait.4
Implicit manipulation of equivalence classes using binary decision diagrams

A novel representation called an equivalence class characterization function is defined. It can implicitly represent all equivalence classes with a compact characteristic function that will have at most n outputs. Using binary decision diagrams (BDDs) and the concept of the equivalence class characterization function, very large problem instances can be represented. For manipulating equivalence classes efficiently, a Boolean operator called a compatible projection operator is proposed. Conceptually, the compatible projection operator is used to uniquely select a single element from each equivalence class to characterize the class. In manipulating equivalence classes, the compatible projection operator is used to implicitly derive an encoding function from the equivalence relation that encodes the equivalence class information symbolically. An efficient implementation is described based on BDDs that is applied to very large problem instances. <<ETX>>
Practice and reasons for routine pre-operative investigations among anaesthesiologists and surgeons: An online survey

The cost-benefit ratio of routine pre-operative investigations is not favourable, and the traditional practice of ordering routine pre-operative tests before elective surgery is not recommended. [1,2] Evidence suggests that pre-operative tests are not associated with decreased mortality or better outcomes. [3] However, the practice of routine pre-operative tests before elective surgery has remained widely prevalent. [4,5] Health-care practices not only depend on practitioners’ knowledge but also on the local laws, protocols, administrative policies, etc. The present study was aimed to assess the reasons behind this continued practice.
Transplanted ossicles after two decades

Abstract The authors now report on the histological appearance of two very long-term ossicles, an autologous incus removed from the middle ear at revision surgery 21 years after repositioning and a homologous incus removed from the middle ear after 20 years. Having been placed in formalin immediately after removal from the ear, both specimens were later decalcified by ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid, embedded in parrafin wax, serially sectioned and stained with haematoxylin and eosin.
Outage Performance for Decode-and-Forward Two-Way Relay Network with Multiple Interferers and Noisy Relay

In this paper, we investigate the outage performance for a decode-and-forward two-way relay network in the presence of multiple strong interferers at the source/destination terminals. We first derive closed-form expressions for the outage probability of the system under asymmetrical and symmetrical cases, of whether the received powers at the relay from both source terminals are the same or different. Based on the analytical expressions, we perform asymptotic analysis in the case where the power of relay or/and the power of terminals become infinite. Our analysis shows that the outage probability is lower when there is one dominating interferer than when there are several equal-power interferers. In addition, optimal power allocation between the two source terminals and the diversity order of the system are investigated in asymptotic analysis. Simulation results demonstrate that our analytical results are in excellent agreement with the Monte Carlo simulations.
Illumination compensation method for face image based on improved gamma correction

In order to reduce the influence of illumination variation on the result of face detection and recognition, it is necessary to compensate illumination of face images. In this paper, Gamma correction method was applied to compensate illumination. What's more, Gamma curve was improved through constructing nonlinear function, which made the adaptive ability of the Gamma correction better in the illumination compensation. The experimental results show that the proposed method can improve face images quality in uneven illumination conditions and reduce the distortion of images.
Replicate or lie.

Andren and colleagues (2008) recently published a paper reminding us of good scientific practice, taught and learnt during our early years of research, but frequently forgotten. This article has a similar objective. It is highly likely that the majority of microbial ecologists have taken a basic course in statistics. Unfortunately, the basic principles of statistical analysis and its significance and necessity are frequently ignored. My own exposure to this problem, and my suffering of the consequences, arise through reading, reviewing and editing articles on microbial diversity. The suffering is greatest with articles utilizing ‘expensive’ or cutting edge techniques, such as analysis of clone library sequences, microarray analysis and (increasingly) high-throughput sequencing. The problems, however, are more widespread and exist beyond these techniques and beyond studies of microbial diversity.
Hierarchical real-time depth map generation algorithm

A depth map generation algorithm suitable for real-time hardware implementation is proposed. Currently, there are algorithms capable of providing high quality depth maps, but due to their complexity, they cannot be used in real-time applications. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to provide depth maps at a suitable quality for dedicated embedded applications, in the same time meeting the key requirement of matching the frame rate of the image acquisition devices.
Carcinoma of the Colon and Rectum—Growth Rate

Twenty-seven carcinomas of the colon or rectum are presented which could retrospectively be measured on radiographs at two separate occasions. The mean diameter of the tumors at first and second investigations was 35 mm (10–90 mm) and 65 mm (30–110 mm), respectively, and the median interval between these examinations was 11 months (4–91 months). The median linear growth rate was 0.083 mm/day (0.008–0.262 mm/day). The median time for doubling of tumor volume was 130 days (53–1570 days), assuming a three-dimensional pattern of tumor growth. A significant correlation between poor differentiation and high linear growth rate (sO.l mm/day) was found. It is suggested that the high growth rate observed in this investigation in comparison with some previous studies may be due to the large size of the tumors and, hence, to their great risk of being malignant already at the first examination.