Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intrathecal liposomal cytarabine for prevention of meningeal disease in patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia and high-grade lymphoma

Patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and high-grade lymphoma have a 10 – 20% risk of meningeal disease during induction and in remission when given standard-dose chemotherapy. This risk is reduced to about 1% using intrathecal prophylaxis with cytarabine and methotrexate in addition to the systemic regimen of hyperfractionated cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (hyperCVAD cycle) alternating with high-dose methotrexate-cytarabine (MA cycle), known collectively as the hyperCVAD regimen [1,2]. However, the discomfort and potential adverse events with frequent lumbar punctures as well as technical difficulties with the procedure may impair compliance. Liposomal cytarabine (Depocyt) is an intrathecal preparation of cytarabine with a prolonged halflife. The activity of liposomal cytarabine for the treatment of meningeal ALL and lymphoma was demonstrated in a case series [3] and Phase I study [4]. In addition, in a randomized trial, liposomal cytarabine proved superior to free cytarabine for treatment of lymphomatous meningitis [5]. Recently, Jabbour et al. [6] reported their experience using liposomal cytarabine for central nervous system prophylaxis in patients with ALL. Intrathecal treatment was administered on days 1 and 15 of the hyperCVAD cycle and day 10 of the MA cycle, and the number of courses varied according to the risk of meningeal leukemia. Five (16%) of 31 patients developed serious neurological events (seizure, cauda equina syndrome, pseudotumor cerebri, or fatal encephalitis). The authors suggested that the two doses of liposomal cytarabine in the hyperCVAD cycle predisposed patients to neurologic toxicity from the high-dose methotexate in the cycle that followed. Since spinal fluid levels are sustained for as long as 2 weeks after instillation [7], liposomal cytarabine could potentially be administered once per cycle (every 3 weeks) in the hyperCVAD regimen, with each liposomal cytarabine dose expected to replace two doses of conventional intrathecal therapy. We retrospectively reviewed the tolerability and activity of liposomal cytarabine used for neuroprophylaxis in patients treated with the hyperCVAD regimen who had compliance problems or technical issues that complicated their therapy with conventional neuroprophylaxis. The cohort included 11 males and 3 females of median age 46 years (range, 23 – 72 years) with ALL or high-grade lymphoma treated over a consecutive 18-month period. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Methodist Healthcare. Treatment with the hyperCVAD regimen intravenously was administered as published, with the expected number of courses of neuroprophylaxis varying according to patient risk [1,2]. Patients going on to allogeneic transplantation had at least 4 cycles of chemotherapy and at least two cycles of neuroprophylaxis, and cranial radiation was provided for those who did not receive total body irradiation in the preparative regimen. The usual dose of liposomal cytarabine was 50 mg, but after one
Physical/process parameter dependence of gate capacitance and ballistic performance of InAsySb1−y Quantum Well Field Effect Transistors

This paper reports complete Capacitance-Voltage (CV) characterization of InAsySb1-y Quantum Well Field Effect Transistor (QWFET) along with an analysis of ballistic transport performance. 1-D coupled Schrodinger-Poisson equations are solved for electrostatic performance analysis of QWFET considering wave function penetration and strain effects. Dependence of CV characteristics on some important process and physical parameters like oxide thickness, channel composition, top barrier composition, channel thickness and temperature is studied in this work. We observed that before cross-over point the capacitance increases rapidly and gradually reaches saturation after that point. This is because the slope of the sheet charge density gradually increases and finally reaches almost a constant value. The pattern of variation of simulation results are consistent with the results of experimentally grown device by Ali et al. Ballistic current is also reported to improve from compressive to tensile strained channel.
The tecto‐thalamic connections in the brain of the rabbit ,

We have correlated the tectal connections and cytoarchitecture of regions in the rabbit's midbrain and caudal thalamus. The inferior colliculus projects ipsilaterally to the central gray, superior colliculus, and via the brachium of the inferior colliculus to its interstitial nucleus and the parabrachial region of the midbrain tegmentum. From the brachium, fibers fan out to the principal and internal divisions of the medial geniculate. A smaller contralateral pathway sweeps into the contralateral inferior colliculus and in its brachium to the interstitial nucleus, the parabrachial region, and the internal and principal divisions of the medial geniculate.
Electrically Large Resonant Cavity Loaded With $\varepsilon $-Negative and $\mu $-Negative Metamaterials

An electrically large resonant cavity (ELRC) operated at the TM100 dominant mode with unconstrained physical size is proposed in this letter. The rectangular cavity is filled partially by ε-negative metamaterial and μ-negative metamaterial. Modal equation for the dominant mode TM100 of the ELRC is deduced based on the cavity model theory. Numerical results indicate that the resonant frequency can be increased in a much degree in comparison to the cavity composed of normal material. Finally, electric field distributions of the proposed cavity are plotted, and the quality factor is calculated to verify the resonant property of the ELRC, which shows it is a good candidate for the electrically large antenna applications.
Robust controllability of interval fractional order linear time invariant stochastic systems

We deal with the robust controllability problem of the fractional order linear time invariant (FO-LTI) stochastic systems with interval coefficients. We present a necessary and sufficient condition for the controllability problem for the case when there is no interval uncertainty. Based on the concept of linear independency of interval vectors, we formulate the approach to check the robust controllability of interval FO-LTI stochastic systems by employing some simple but very effective sufficient condition for checking the linear independency of interval vectors. Finally, an illustrative example is presented. We show that this interval FO-LTI stochastic system is weakly controllable, while the corresponding deterministic system without noise perturbation is uncontrollable.
Role of microRNAs in lymphoid biology and disease

Purpose of reviewThis review provides a state-of-the-art knowledge on the implications of microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation in lymphoid malignancies. Recent findingsSeveral new studies have broadened our understanding of how aberrations of the miRNome contribute to the development of a malignant lymphoid phenotype. Recently, a new pathogenetic model involving miRNAs and protein coding genes (such as TP53 and ZAP-70) has been identified and explains the prognostic implications of the most recurrent chromosomal abnormalities in human B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Moreover, new recent studies have addressed the role of miRNAs in human lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemias. SummaryThe recent advances in our understanding of the role of miRNAs in lymphoid malignancies demonstrate that miRNAs can effectively be used as tumoral biomarkers with implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of response to therapy.
Using oscillations to understand recovery after stroke.

This scientific commentary refers to ‘Coherent neural oscillations predict future motor and language improvement after stroke’, by Nicolo et al. (doi:10.1093/brain/awv200). The global impact of stroke remains high and improving long-term outcomes for stroke survivors is a crucially important clinical and scientific goal. Dramatic improvements will only come about through understanding the mechanisms of recovery and identifying novel therapeutic targets. Functional brain imaging studies of recovering human stroke survivors have been used for a number of years in an attempt to uncover these mechanisms. In general, such studies show that recovery of both movement and language after stroke is supported by functionally relevant reorganization within task-relevant brain networks. However, the exact pattern of reorganization, and therefore the exact role played by each brain region, appears to depend on factors such as the configuration of the residual structural architecture. While these studies have established that post-stroke brain network reorganization is functionally relevant, it is difficult as yet to see how they have influenced clinical practice (Ward, 2015). The questions that concern most clinicians are how to predict outcome, identify suitable patients for specific treatments, and develop new therapeutic approaches. In this issue of Brain , Nicolo et al. (2015) attempt the first of these by using electroencephalography (EEG) to identify regional and modality specific alterations in early post-stroke brain function that account for differences in subsequent clinical improvement over the next 3 months. EEG is a non-invasive method of measuring electrical currents generated by populations of neurons and, along with magnetoencephalography (MEG), which measures corresponding changes in magnetic field, is increasingly used to investigate properties of the pathological brain. Researchers will often examine synchronous activity (or oscillations) of large numbers of neurons in specific frequency bands. Brain regions can use this synchronous activity …
Epithelial repair is a two-stage process driven first by dying cells and then by their neighbours

ABSTRACT Epithelial cells maintain an essential barrier despite continuously undergoing mitosis and apoptosis. Biological and biophysical mechanisms have evolved to remove dying cells while maintaining that barrier. Cell extrusion is thought to be driven by a multicellular filamentous actin ring formed by neighbouring cells, the contraction of which provides the mechanical force for extrusion, with little or no contribution from the dying cell. Here, we use live confocal imaging, providing time-resolved three-dimensional observations of actomyosin dynamics, to reveal new mechanical roles for dying cells in their own extrusion from monolayers. Based on our observations, the clearance of dying cells can be subdivided into two stages. The first, previously unidentified, stage is driven by the dying cell, which exerts tension on its neighbours through the action of a cortical contractile F-actin and myosin ring at the cell apex. The second stage, consistent with previous studies, is driven by a multicellular F-actin ring in the neighbouring cells that moves from the apical to the basal plane to extrude the dying cell. Crucially, these data reinstate the dying cell as an active physical participant in cell extrusion.
Mitigating the effect of optical back-scatter in multispectral underwater imaging

Multispectral imaging is a very useful technique for extracting information from the underwater world. However, optical back-scatter changes the intensity value in each spectral band and this distorts the estimated spectrum. In this work, a filter is used to detect the level of optical back-scatter in each spectral band from a set of multispectral images. Extraction of underwater object spectra can be done by subtracting the estimated level of optical back-scatter and scaling the remainder in each spectral band from the captured image in the corresponding band. An experiment has been designed to show the performance of the proposed filter for correcting the set of multispectral underwater images and recovering the pixel spectra. The multispectral images are captured by a B/W CCD digital camera with a fast tunable liquid-crystal filter in 33 narrow spectral bands in clear and different levels of turbid water. Reference estimates for the optical back-scatter spectra are found by comparing a clear and a degraded set of multispectral images. The accuracy and consistency of the proposed method, the extended Oakley–Bu cost function, is examined by comparing the estimated values with the reference level of an optical back-scatter spectrum. The same comparison is made for the simple estimation approach. The results show that the simple method is not reliable and fail to estimate the level of optical back-scatter spectrum accurately. The results from processing experimental images in turbid water show that the effect of optical back-scatter can be mitigated in the image of each spectral band and, as a result, the spectra of the object can be recovered. However, for a very high level of turbid water the recovery is limited because of the effect of extinction.
Cell biology. Beyond clotting: the powers of platelets.

Platelets not only save us from bleeding to death, but in recent years, platelets have also displayed powers no one imagined they had. They are healers that pour out growth factors and other soothing molecules that help damaged tissue rebuild. They are soldiers that spark the protective response known as inflammation, alert immune cells, and even attack microbial interlopers. They are long-haul truckers that pick up and deliver chemicals such as serotonin, which helps the liver regenerate after injury. They are even engineers, shaping the vascular system in newborns. Additional platelet functions continue to come to light, and biologists have just described a novel way that the body might make these multitalented cells—a finding that could one day ease the demand for donated blood.
Thymic emigration: Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptor‐1‐dependent models and beyond

The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ supporting the development of self‐tolerant T cells. Key events in T‐cell development in the thymus include lineage commitment, selection events, and thymic emigration. This review discusses the proposed role of sphingosine‐1‐phosphate and its receptors in the emigration of both conventional and unconventional T‐cell subsets from the thymus, and the molecular machinery currently understood to regulate this process. Furthermore, we highlight a role for chemokines and actin‐associated proteins in T‐cell motility as recent data suggest that T‐cell emigration is regulated by more than just a sphingosine‐1‐phosphate receptor‐1‐dependent chemotactic axis.
Practical approaches to the evaluation of signal‐to‐noise ratio performance with parallel imaging: Application with cardiac imaging and a 32‐channel cardiac coil

In this work, two practical methods for the measurement of signal‐to‐noise‐ratio (SNR) performance in parallel imaging are described. Phantoms and human studies were performed with a 32‐channel cardiac coil in the context of ultrafast cardiac CINE imaging at 1.5 T using steady‐state free precession (SSFP) and TSENSE. SNR and g‐factor phantom measurements using a “multiple acquisition” method were compared to measurements from a “difference method”. Excellent agreement was seen between the two methods, and the g‐factor shows qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions from the literature. Examples of high temporal (42.6 ms) and spatial (2.1 × 2.1 × 8 mm3) resolution cardiac CINE SSFP images acquired from human volunteers using TSENSE are shown for acceleration factors up to 7. Image quality agrees qualitatively with phantom SNR measurements, suggesting an optimum acceleration of 4. With this acceleration, a cardiac function study consisting of 6 image planes (3 short‐axis views, 3 long‐axis views) was obtained in an 18‐heartbeat breath‐hold. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Design and Simulation of Thermo-Optic Phase Shifters With Low Thermal Crosstalk for Dense Photonic Integration

We investigate and demonstrate the thermal crosstalk problem in integrated photonic circuits with metal and silicon doped heaters. Further, we illustrate that due to the localized heating effect, integrated doped heaters are out-performed in terms of thermal crosstalk as compared to integrated metal heaters. To mitigate thermal crosstalk and enhance phase tuning efficiency further, a CMOS compatible air-filled trench region is realized between the doped heater and the adjacent element. The performances of three fundamental building blocks of integrated photonic circuits, namely, a PN phase shifter, an optical attenuator, and a ring resonator, are tested by full-wave thermal, charge, and optical simulations. Additionally, the impact of thermal crosstalk on the performance of integrated PN phase shifters and optical attenuators is examined thoroughly. The proposed low crosstalk thermal phase shifters might be very beneficial for densely routed complex integrated photonic circuits like photonic transceivers for data centers, optical phased array antennas, and photonic reservoirs.
Bayesian estimation of vaccine efficacy

Protective vaccine efficacy, VE S, is measured as one minus the incidence rate ratio (IRR) or the relative risk (RR) in the vaccinated group compared with the unvaccinated group. In this paper, we systematically present Bayesian estimation of protective vaccine efficacy based on the Poisson and binomial distributions. We also propose a new tool, the vaccine efficacy acceptability curve, to represent the uncertainty for the estimate of the vaccine efficacy graphically. It is very useful, especially when there is no universal agreement on the acceptable vaccine efficacy. The vaccine efficacy acceptability curve is defined as the posterior probability that the measure of vaccine efficacy VE S ≥k for each acceptable value k. When a vaccine is highly efficacious, the number of vaccinated susceptibles being infected is likely to be very small or even zero. Then the assumptions of normality and log-normality of IRR or RR usually do not hold well. Although frequentist exact methods provide good estimates of the confidence interval, they are overly conservative and are computationally difficult to extend to estimate the vaccine efficacy acceptability curve. In this paper, our focus is on Bayesian estimation of protective vaccine efficacy, its highest probability density credible set, and the vaccine efficacy acceptability curve through Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. We illustrate the methods using the data from two pertussis vaccine studies and the H. influenza Type B preventive trial.
Exploring Approaches to the Management of Physical, Virtual, and Social Sensors

As the Internet of Things (IoT) get bigger and more complex, efficient and effective management solutions must be developed and put into operation. IoT management is even more crucial if we want to have a unified management that can cope with electronic, virtual (software) and human-based sensors, which provide contextualised data via Online Social Networks (OSN). In this paper we present and explore approaches to this unified management, resorting to open and widely adopted standards for both data and device management, namely OMA - Lightweight Machine to Machine (LwM2M) and FIWARE. We present a proof-of-concept (PoC) implementation that shows that the management of the referred three types of sensing is feasible from both functional and performance points of view.
The TERT promoter mutation incidence is modified by germline TERT rs2736098 and rs2736100 polymorphisms in hepatocellular carcinoma

Telomerase activation via induction of the catalytic component telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) plays essential roles in malignant transformation. TERT promoter-activating mutations were recently identified as a novel mechanism to activate telomerase in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and many other malignancies. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TERT rs2736098 and rs2736100 are significantly associated with cancer susceptibility. It is currently unclear whether different germline TERT variants modify TERT promoter mutations. Here we analyzed the TERT promoter status and genotyped the TERT SNPs at rs2736098 and rs2736100 in patients with HCC. Thirty percent of HCCs harbored TERT promoter mutations and there was a significant difference in rs2736098 and rs2736100 genotypes between wt and mutant TERT promoter-bearing HCC tumors (P = 0.007 and 0.018, respectively). For rs2736100, the cancer risk genotype CC was significantly associated with a reduced incidence of TERT promoter mutations compared to AA + AC variants [Odds ratio (OR): 0.181, 95% Confidence interval (CI): 0.0543–0.601, P = 0.004]. The rs2736098_CT genotype was significantly associated with the TERT promoter mutation-positive tumors compared to the TT genotype (OR: 5.391, 95% CI: 1.234–23.553, P = 0.025). These differences in genotype distribution did not differ between patients with a wt TERT promoter and controls. The presence of TERT promoter mutations was not associated with clinico-pathological variables. Taken together, the germline TERT genetic background may significantly affect the onset of TERT promoter mutations in HCCs, which provides a better understanding of HCC-related TERT promoter mutations and telomerase regulation in cancer.
Database on the structure of small subunit ribosomal RNA

Over 11 500 complete or nearly complete sequences are now available from the Antwerp database on small subunit ribosomal RNA. All these sequences are aligned with one another on the basis of the adopted secondary structure model, which is corroborated by the observation of compensating substitutions in the alignment. Literature references, accession numbers and taxonomic information are also compiled. The database can be consulted via the World Wide Web at URL http://rrna.uia. ac.be/ssu/
The biomechanics of skipping gaits: a third locomotion paradigm?

Skipping, a gait children display when they are about four–to five–years–old, is revealed to be more than a behavioural peculiarity. By means of metabolic and biomechanical measurements at several speeds, the relevance of skipping is shown to extend from links between bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion (namely galloping) to understanding why it could be a gait of choice in low–gravity conditions, and to some aspects of locomotion evolution (ground reaction forces of skipping seem to originate from pushing the walking gait to unnaturally high speeds). When the time–courses of mechanical energy and the horizontal ground reaction force are considered, a different locomotion paradigm emerges, enabling us to separate, among the bouncing gaits, the trot from the gallop (quadrupeds) and running from skipping (bipeds). The simultaneous use of pendulum–like and elastic mechanisms in skipping gaits, as shown by the energy curve analysis, helps us to understand the low cost of transport of galloping quadrupeds.
Time-to-Contact in Scattering Media

SUMMARY In this paper we propose a method for estimating time- to-contact in scattering media. Images taken in scattering media are often unclear and blurry, making it di ﬃ cult to detect appropriate geometric in- formation from these images for computing the 3 dimensional properties of the scene. Therefore, instead of searching for geometric information, we attempt to use photometric information instead. In our approach, we use the observed image intensity. The method proposed in this paper is able to utilize the e ﬀ ect of scattering media on the resultant image and estimate the time-to-contact toward objects without any prior knowledge of the scene, cameras, and the scattering media. This method is then evaluated using simulated and real images.