Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical puzzle: Barrett’s oesophagus

The incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma has increased dramatically in the Western world over the past two decades. Owing to its dismal 5-year prognosis in advanced stages, early diagnosis is required in order to improve survival rates. Barrett’s oesophagus (Barrett’s) has been recognised as a pre-cancerous condition generally associated with chronic and severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Barrett’s is defined as the substitution of the normal stratified squamous epithelium of the oesophagus with a columnar cell lining with intestinal-type differentiation; a phenomenon commonly referred to as intestinal metaplasia. Clinical challenges include finding cost-effective ways to identify patients with Barrett’s, stratifying them according to their cancer risk and improving the diagnostic potential of endoscopic sampling. Research has generally focused on identifying tissue biomarkers to predict cancer risk in these patients. The oesophagus is easily accessible, making it possible to work with human samples, but most studies have been retrospective and underpowered. Endoscopic surveillance programmes are problematic due to sampling bias and the subjective grading of dysplasia. The lack of an animal model has hampered studies to elucidate markers of the transition from Barrett’s to cancer and to test potential therapeutics. However, a number of in vitro model systems are ripe for further development into more physiologically complete systems.
Phenotypic and genotypic resistance patterns of HIV-1 isolates derived from individuals treated with didanosine and stavudine

ObjectiveTo evaluate the phenotypic susceptibilities and genotypic resistance patterns to both didanosine and stavudine of baseline and follow-up HIV-1 isolate pairs, derived from antiretroviral naïve subjects treated with this dual nucleoside combination. Design and methodsPhenotypic drug susceptibility testing was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells on 34 viral isolate pairs derived from patients participating in the BMS AI-460 trial. Sequencing of the complete reverse transcriptase of 36 study isolate pairs, baseline and follow-up, was performed using standard dideoxy techniques. ResultsThe mean fold change in susceptibilities to didanosine was 1.6 (P = 0.278) and to stavudine 1.9 (P = 0.002, Wilcoxon's signed rank test). Mutations classically associated with zidovudine resistance were observed to emerge in 7 out of 36 isolates, T215Y/F (four), M41L + T215Y/F (two) and D67N (one). Other mutations observed included the A62V, V75I, F77L, F116Y, Q151M multinucleoside resistance complex (one), the Q151M mutation (two) and the rare V75T mutation (two). No mutations classically associated with didanosine exposure and resistance were observed. No relationship was evident between the emergence of zidovudine associated mutations and the level of phenotypic resistance to either stavudine or didanosine or between the emergence of zidovudine associated mutations and changes in plasma HIV RNA levels. ConclusionThese comprehensive data demonstrate modest (< twofold) mean reductions in didanosine and stavudine susceptibilities at follow-up. The emergence of zidovudine associated mutations in this retroviral-naïve population treated with combination didanosine and stavudine therapy is notable. Furthermore, the emergence of these mutations and of the Q151M multinucleoside resistance complex raise concerns for potential nucleoside analog cross-resistance. The potential mechanisms driving the selection of the zidovudine associated mutations in the setting of didanosine and stavudine therapy and the relevance of these findings to current three and four drug regimens merit further evaluation.
Semantic Resource Discovery in Grid and Multi-agent Environment

Resources sharing has become an evolved field of study for the distributed systems communities. Enabling geographically diverse computational entities to share resource in a seamless way regardless of the hardware and software specifications has become a need by researchers communities. Resource discovery plays a vital role in the sharing lifetime. Resource sharing has been studied in this paper as a network activity. The effect of the locations where the semantic matching is done on the network performance has been investigated. An experiment has been designed to implement the proposed scenarios in a simulated environment. As part of this experiment a semantic matching algorithm based on reference ontology has been also implemented. The experimental results have demonstrated that doing a matching process in the requesters nodes is less network time consuming, giving that the requester has a copy of the neighbors resources descriptions.
An ethnographic study of packaging-free purchasing: designing an interactive system to support sustainable social practices

ABSTRACT Consumption practices show a strong presence of crystallised social understandings, organising rules and permanent ways of acting that prevent individuals from changing towards more sustainable habits. Over the years, human–computer interaction research tried to help people engage in sustainable lifestyles promoting the health of the Earth. However, by favouring an individualistic and rationalistic approach to design, these attempts often lacked a deep understanding of how individuals are intertwined with social dynamics and organisational structures that might determine their actions. In this article, we aim at exploring novel solutions to support people’s sustainable habits, by focusing on their everyday purchases. Using an ethnographic method grounded in the social practices approach, we analyse the value that individuals ascribe to activities and objects that seem already addressed to sustainable consumption: the packaging-free purchasing practices. Starting from the insights gathered from this research, and leveraging the opportunities opened by the 3D printing technology, we design an interactive system with the aim to break the old buying routines and support the reuse of containers.
Analysis of the relationship between microwave emissivity and NDVI / MVI/soil moisture over Tibetan Plateau, China

The land microwave emissivity derived from satellite measurement is a function of surface cover structure, water content, surface roughness and the atmosphere composition. In this paper, the microwave emissivity derived by AMSR-E has been compared with the estimated soil moisture and microwave vegetation index (MVI), MODIS NDVI over Tibetan Plateau, which aims to understand the intrinsic relationship among satellite products physically. The microwave emissivities display the more consistent change with MVIs than NDVI over mixed forest cover area from time series analysis for summer and winter. While over grassland area, NDVI has the good position correlation with soil moisture, and the same to emissivity in summer time. Soil moisture derived the good negative correlation with microwave emissivity in arid and semiarid areas but poor in vegetation covered area. All of these are consistent with the expected results statistically which can provide one way to validate the microwave emissivity dataset.
Teacher Preparation and Student Achievement

There are fierce debates over the best way to prepare teachers. Some argue that easing entry into teaching is necessary to attract strong candidates, whereas others argue that investing in high quality teacher preparation is the most promising approach. Most agree, however, that we lack a strong research basis for understanding how to prepare teachers. This article is one of the first to estimate the effects of features of teachers’ preparation on teachers’ value added to student test score performance. Our results indicate variation across preparation programs in the average effectiveness of the teachers they are supplying to New York City schools. In particular, preparation directly linked to practice appears to benefit teachers in their 1st year.
Gene Flow from Genetically Modified Rice and Its Environmental Consequences

Abstract Within the next few years, many types of transgenic rice (Oryza sativa) will be ready for commercialization, including varieties with higher yields, greater tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, resistance to herbicides, improved nutritional quality, and novel pharmaceutical proteins. Although rice is primarily self-pollinating, its transgenes are expected to disperse to nearby weedy and wild relatives through pollen-mediated gene flow. Sexually compatible Oryza species often co-occur with the crop, especially in tropical countries, but little is known about how quickly fitness-enhancing transgenes will accumulate in these populations and whether this process will have any unwanted environmental consequences. For example, weedy rice could become much more difficult to manage if it acquires herbicide resistance, produces more seeds, or occurs in a wider range of habitats because of the spread of certain transgenes. Rice-growing countries urgently need publicly available ecological assessments of the risks and benefits of transgenic rice before new varieties are released.
[Protection of ulinastatin against myocardial injury induced by off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery: report of 24 cases].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect of ulinastatin against myocardial injury induced by off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery (OPCAB). METHODS Twenty-four patients undergoing OPCAB were randomly divided into 2 equal groups: ulinastatin group in which ulinastatin was infused intravenously, firstly at the concentration of 6000 U/kg dissolved in 50 ml normal saline for 30 min and then at the speed of 1000 U.kg(-1). h(-1) up to the end of operation, and control group that underwent infusion of normal saline of the same volume. Blood samples were collected before skin incision, 0.5 h after the completion of vascular anastomosis, and 2, 6, and 18 h after the operation to detect the plasma level of cardiac troponin 1 (cTn1). RESULTS The cTn1 levels 2, 6, and 18 h after the operation of both groups were all significantly higher than those before skin incision (all P < 0.01). The cTn1 levels 0.5 h after the completion of vascular anastomosis, and 2, 6, and 18 h after the operation of the ulinastatin group were all significantly lower than those of the control group (all P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Ulinastatin decreases the cTn1 level that increases peri-operatively, thus reducing the risk of myocardial injury in patients undergoing OPCAB.
Is polyproline II helix the killer conformation? A Raman optical activity study of the amyloidogenic prefibrillar intermediate of human lysozyme.

The amyloidogenic prefibrillar partially denatured intermediate of human lysozyme, prepared by heating the native protein to 57 degrees C at pH 2.0, was studied using Raman optical activity (ROA). A positive band in the room temperature ROA spectrum of the native protein at approximately 1345 cm(-1), assigned to a hydrated form of alpha-helix, is not present in that of the prefibrillar intermediate, where a new strong positive band at approximately 1318 cm(-1) appears instead that is assigned to the poly(l-proline) II (PPII)-helical conformation. A sharp negative band at approximately 1241 cm(-1) in the native protein, assigned to beta-strand, shows little change in the ROA spectrum of the prefibrillar intermediate. The disappearance of a positive ROA band at approximately 1551 cm(-1) assigned to vibrations of tryptophan side-chains indicates that major conformational changes have occurred among the five tryptophan residues present in human lysozyme, four of which are located in the alpha-domain. The various ROA data suggest that a substantial loss of tertiary structure has occurred in the prefibrillar intermediate and that this is located more in the alpha-domain than in the beta-domain. There is no evidence for any increase in beta-structure. The ROA spectrum of hen lysozyme, which does not form amyloid fibrils so readily, remains much more native-like on heating to 57 degrees C at pH 2.0. The thermal behaviour of the alanine-rich alpha-helical peptide AK21 in aqueous solution was found to be similar to that of human lysozyme. Hydrated alpha-helix therefore appears to readily undergo a conformational change to PPII structure on heating, which may be a key step in the conversion of alpha-helix into beta-sheet in the formation of amyloid fibrils in human lysozyme. Since it is extended, flexible, lacks intrachain hydrogen bonds and is fully hydrated in aqueous solution, PPII helix has the appropriate characteristics to be implicated as a critical conformational element in many conformational diseases. Disorder of the PPII type may be a sine qua non for the formation of regular fibrils; whereas the more dynamic disorder of the random coil may lead only to amorphous aggregates.
Taiwanese adolescents' perceptions and attitudes regarding the internet: exploring gender differences.

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescents' perceptions and attitudes regarding the Internet, by gender. Data were collected from 636 high school students in Taiwan. It was found that male adolescents perceived the Internet more as a "toy," while female adolescents perceived the Internet more as a "technology," "tool" or "tour. " Results indicated that females held more pragmatic views of the Internet, whereas males believed they could obtain more enjoyment from the Internet. In addition, males expressed significantly more positive attitudes than did females on two aspects of the Internet: usefulness and perceived control. However, no significant gender differences were found in terms of the affection and behavior aspects of using the Internet. More importantly, females tended to show higher Internet self-efficacy than did males. It is suggested that gender differences regarding the Internet might be narrowing because female adolescents are acquiring more experience with it.
Methodologic lessons learned from hot flash studies.

PURPOSE In the course of conducting a series of prospective clinical trials devoted to defining new treatment opportunities for hot flashes in cancer survivors, considerable experience has been acquired with related methodologic issues. This article has been written in response to many queries regarding this methodology. PATIENTS AND METHODS A series of seven different clinical trials that involved 968 patients was used for this work. Reliable and valid definitions of hot flash intensity were developed from patient-reported descriptions. Concomitant validity and reliability assessment of patient-completed diaries was undertaken to compare hot flash data with toxicity and quality-of-life (QOL) end points and to examine consistency across patient groups using variability analysis and correlation procedures. Parametric data from this meta-analysis was used to examine relative power considerations for the design of phase II and phase III clinical trials. RESULTS Daily diaries used in these studies exhibited consistency and reliability and had few missing data. Hot flash frequency and hot flash score (frequency multiplied by average severity) variables produced almost identical end point results. For phase III placebo-controlled studies, 50 patients per treatment arm seem appropriate to provide sufficient power specifications to detect a clinically meaningful change in hot flash activity. For phase II trials, 25 patients per trial seem to provide reasonable estimates of eventual hot flash efficacy to screen potential agents for more definitive testing. CONCLUSION Given the data gained from these experiences, we can plan and carry out more efficient trials to identify efficacious agents for the reduction of hot flash activity.
Medicare Cost Effects of Recent U.S. Disability Trends in the Elderly

Objective: The authors examine how trends in disability prevalence and in inflation-adjusted per capita, per annum Medicare costs, 1982 to 1999 and 1989 to 1999, affected total Medicare costs projected to 2004 and 2009. Method: To describe disability trends, the authors applied grade of membership analyses to 27 measures of disability from the 1982 to 1999 National Long Term Care Surveys (NLTCS). This identified seven disability profiles for which individual scores were calculated. These were used to calculate sample weighted Medicare costs and cost trends. Results: Significant declines (up to 19%) in Medicare costs were found in 2004 and 2009 assuming continuation of the 1982 to 1999 disability declines and Medicare cost trends. In addition to declines in disability prevalence, inflation-adjusted per capita, per annum Medicare costs declined for nondisabled persons aged 65 to 84. Discussion: Preserving health in the growing nondisabled population did not require increased health care expenditures.
Do consumers in Taiwan need physician information?

BACKGROUND This article was written to determine the extent of consumers' needs for physician information and what information consumers use in decision making when selecting a physician. METHODS To collect data, a self-administered questionnaire was hand-delivered to 700 patients who visited the general surgery outpatient departments of seven hospitals during June 2003. A multiple logistic regression was conducted to identify the statistically significant factors related to patients' needs to use physician information. RESULTS Of the respondents (N = 687), 74.7% felt they "greatly needed" or "needed" physician information. About 90% of respondents would "certainly" or "possibly" change physicians if the performances of their physicians shown by physician profiling were not as good as others. Respondents ranked the three most needed physician information as specialties, malpractice history, and overall patient satisfaction level. The multiple logistic regression showed that respondent's age, hospital level, personal monthly income, and whether they had compared medical care quality provided by neighborhood physicians had significant relationships with the respondent's needs for physician information after adjusting for other factors. CONCLUSIONS This study found that 88.1% of respondents were in need of some amount of physician information. This is in light of calls for physician profiling from consumer-oriented organizations to assist consumers in selecting suitable physicians. It is recommended that the healthcare industry in Taiwan make a significant investment in a physician profiling system. The performance measures of this physician profiling system should be developed based on inputs from consumers, physicians, insurance companies, and researchers in this field.
Identification of streptococci: serogrouping by immunofluorescence

This paper deals with the fluorescent antibody (FA) method for identifying six commonly occuring and two rare groups of streptococci by using commercially prepared (Difco) conjugates. We have shown that group-specific FA produced frequent cross-reactions with heterologous groups of organisms. These reactions varied with different strains of the same serogroup. Nonetheless, there was distinct overall patterns in the intensity and appearance of the homologous and heterologous reactions. When monitored by the precipitin test with Rantz and Randall extracts, these patterns led to the correct identification of 90 to 100% of specimens of serogroup A, B, C, and G streptococci. Many members of groups D and F also showed distinctive reaction patterns. However, there was a significant number of strains of both groups D and F that either failed to strain or stained poorly with the homologous conjugate. As a result, the identification of these serogroups by FA was less reliable.
Mining Online Reviews to Improve Sales Performance

In Electronic commerce applications, the feedback ratings given by the customers are combined to calculate and assign seller's rating or their reputation trust score. The most widely used method in e-commerce applications to do this is via reputation trust models. But in such models the all good reputation problem is very commonly occurring, resulting in high trust scores or rating for all the sellers and this in turn makes it highly tricky for possible customers to select trustworthy and reliable sellers. In this paper, we propose a system for trust score calculation by mining feedback comments, on the basis of observation that the customers tend to express their views and opinions freely in the feedback comments section. The main objective is to implement a multidimensional trust model [1] for calculating the seller’s reputation score from the information in the customer feedback comments and an algorithm for mining the text comments for dimension ratings and weights [1], using some techniques from natural language processing and from opinion mining [1] along with topic modelling. Comment based trust evaluation can successfully tackle the all good reputation problem and rank sellers efficiently, this has been revealed by previous experiments on eBay and Amazon data. General Terms Commerce, Transactions, Opinion, Feedback.
Relation between the Inhibition of Aggregation and the Concentration of cAMP in Human and Rat Platelets

Adenosine inhibits the aggregation of human but not of rat platelets whereas both are inhibited by prostaglandin E1 or by the pyrimido‐pyrimidine compound RA233. In human platelets all three agents increase adenosine‐3′,5′‐cyclic monophosphate (cAMP). If the inhibition of aggregation depended on this increase, adenosine might be expected not to increase cAMP in rat platelets. Under conditions in which adenosine inhibited aggregation and increased cAMP in human platelets, adenosine caused a similar increase in cAMP in rat platelets without inhibiting their aggregation. The aggregation of rat platelets was inhibited as effectively as that of human platelets by PGE1 or RA233 at concentrations which caused greater increases in cAMP than did the highest concentrations (2.8 × 10‐4m) of adenosine it was possible to use. When the increase of cAMP in rat platelets by PGE1 was limited to that produced by adenosine, PGE1 like adenosine failed to inhibit aggregation. Therefore, the difference in the inhibitory effectiveness of adenosine on rat and human platelets was quantitative rather than qualitative and apparently depended on the inability of adenosine to increase cAMP sufficiently in rat platelets. When cAMP had been increased by adenosine, PGE1 or RA233, the addition of ADP caused cAMP to decrease rapidly in both human and rat platelets to between +22 and 18% of control values, except that the decrease in rat platelets was to +40% after RA233 had been present for 0.5 min before ADP. The increase in cAMP produced in rat platelets by adenosine at 5 × 10‐6 to 2.8 × 10‐4m for 3 min was associated with a small increase in aggregation velocity. It is suggested that the comparative ineffectiveness of adenosine as an inhibitor of platelet aggregation, particularly with rat but less so also with human platelets, is because, unlike PGE1 or RA233, adenosine has two opposing actions on aggregation; one being inhibition by activating adenylate cyclase and increasing cAMP, and the other being potentiation by uptake. This hypothesis accounts for the present results as well as for the earlier observation that dipyridamole which prevents the uptake of adenosine potentiates its inhibitory effect on the aggregation of human platelets.