gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
The impact of the Affordable Care Act on treatment of testicular cancer. (2017)

422 Background: The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 aimed to improve access for uninsured patients to private health insurance. Yet, the impact of the ACA on the number of privately insured young patients and on the timeliness of medical care for serious medical conditions, remain unclear. Thus, we sought to ascertain changes in insurance status and evaluate timeliness of post-orchiectomy definitive therapy for young men diagnosed with testicular cancer following passage of the ACA. Methods: From the National Cancer Database, we identified all patients 18 – 50 years of age diagnosed with stages I – III testicular cancer from 2007 to 2013. Patients were divided into groups at the time of diagnosis; 2007 – 2009 (pre-ACA) and 2011 to 2013 (post-ACA). Only patients who had undergone radical orchiectomy and had a reported insurance status were included in analysis. The primary outcomes were insurance type at diagnosis and time to treatment of secondary therapy following orchiectomy (systemic chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery {Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection; RPLND}). Results: Overall, 17,945 patients were included in analysis with 53.5% diagnosed with pure seminoma and 46.5% diagnosed with nonseminomatous germ cell tumor (NSGCT). In comparing pre- and post-ACA cohorts, the percentage of patients with private health insurance decreased following the passage of the ACA (74.1% vs. 71.2%; p &lt; 0.01). Similarly, the percentage of patients without any insurance increased between the two time frames (12.7 % vs. 13.4%; p &lt; 0.01). More patients presented with clinical stage II and III disease following the passage of the ACA (28.9% vs. 31.9%; p &lt; 0.01). Compared to patients without health insurance, privately insured patients received more timely secondary definitively therapy with radiation therapy (49.9 vs. 60.9 days, p &lt; 0.01) and chemotherapy (41.5 vs. 45.7 days, p &lt; 0.01) but no difference in the time to RPLND (18.8 vs. 16.7 days, p = 0.70). Conclusions: The impact of the ACA on patients with testicular cancer shows minimal worsening in the number of privately insured young men and increasing rates of advanced testis cancer. This was not in agreement with our hypothesis and suggests the ACA is not benefiting young men with this malignancy.
Signal identification in smart composite materials using the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2005)

This work is part of an effort to structurally integrate self-sensing functionality into smart composite materials using embedded microsensors and local network communication nodes. Here we address the issue of data management through the development of localized processing algorithms. We demonstrate that the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform?(FFT) is a useful algorithm due to its hierarchical structure and ability to determine the relative magnitudes of different spatial wavelengths in a material. This may be applied, for example, to determine the global components of a strain field or temperature distribution. We develop two methods for implementing the distributed 2D FFT based on the radix-2 (row?column) and radix-2 ? 2 (vector?radix) structures, and compare them in terms of computational requirements within a low power, low bandwidth network of microprocessors. Our results show that the vector?radix algorithm requires 50% fewer multiplications than the row?column algorithm when performed in a distributed manner. Since the most important information of the 2D FFT can often be found in the lowest frequency components, we develop pruning methods for the distributed row?column and vector?radix algorithms that reduce internode communication requirements by 50% in both cases. We conclude that the pruned version of the distributed vector?radix 2D FFT is the most efficient of the methods investigated for rapid signal identification in smart composite materials.
Low energy data and concurrency management of highly dynamic real-time multi-media systems (2004)

Summary form only given. The merging of computers, consumer and communication disciplines gives rise to very fast growing markets for personal communication, multi-media and broadband networks, in the information technology (IT) area. Rapid evolution in sub-micron process technology allows ever more complex systems to be mapped on platforms that become integrated on one single platform (system -on-chip). Technology advances are however not followed by an increase in system design productivity. One of the most critical bottlenecks is the very dynamic concurrent behaviour of many of these new applications. They are fully specified in software oriented languages (like Java, UML, SDL, C++) and still need to be executed in real-time cost/energy sensitive way on the heterogeneous SoC platforms. The main issue is that fully design time based solutions as proposed earlier in the compiler and system synthesis cannot solve the problem, and run-time solutions as present in nowadays operating systems are too inefficient in terms of cost optimisation (especially energy consumption) and are also not adapted for the real-time constraints (even RTOS kernels). This dynamic nature is especially emerging because of the quality-of-service (QoS) aspects of these multi-media and networking applications. Prominent examples of this can be found in the recent MPEG4/JPEG2000 standards and especially the new MPEG21 standard. Also the emerging Ambient Intelligence and virtual reality paradigms will stimulate this further. In order to deal with these dynamic issues where tasks and complex data types are created and deleted at run-time based on non-deterministic events, a novel system design paradigm is required. This presentation will focus on the new requirements that result in system-level synthesis. In particular both a "dynamic data management" and a "task concurrency management" problem formulation will be presented, that have to deal with the very dynamic nature of these systems. The concept of Pareto curve based exploration is crucial in these problem formulations and their solutions.
E2A-Pbx1, the t(1;19) Translocation Protein of Human Pre-B-Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Causes Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Mice (1993)

One-quarter of pediatric pre-B-cell leukemias contain the t(1;19) chromosomal translocation, which fuses 5' exons encoding the transactivation domain of the E2A transcription factor gene to 3' exons ecoding the putative DNA-binding region of the unusual homeobox gene, PBX1. To test the leukemic potential of this fused gene, a cDNA encoding its major protein product, p85E2A-Pbx1, was incorporated into a retrovirus construct and introduced into normal mouse marrow progenitors by infection. The cells were used in a bone marrow transplantation protocol to reconstitute the hematopoietic compartments of lethally irradiated recipients. After 3 to 8 months, reconstituted mice developed acute myeloid leukemias that expressed high levels of p85E2A-Pbx1 and were readily transmissible to immunocompetent mice. Most acute myeloid leukemias also grew as granulocytic sarcomas and exhibited some neutrophilic differentiation. These results demonstrate a causative role for p85E2A-Pbx1 in human acute leukemia and indicate that the oncogenic potential of Pbx1 is not limited to pre-B-cell malignancies.
BPT-4000 Hall Thruster Discharge Chamber Erosion Model Comparison with Qualification Life Test Data (2007)

Commercial electric propulsion systems are now being considered as a cost effective solution for competitively awarded science missions such as the NASA Discovery and New Frontiers programs. Aerojet’s BPT-4000 Hall thruster, which has been identified as a candidate for near-term use on NASA science missions, has recently completed a 6,750 h qualification life test that demonstrated power throttling from 1 to 4.5 kW and a total impulse of 5.3 MN-s. The implementation of electric propulsion technology on NASA science missions requires the availability of life models that can accurately reproduce the erosion observed during ground testing as well as predict the erosion for actual mission profiles. Hall thruster simulations are presented from an erosion model developed at JPL in concert with a modified version of the plasma model HPHall-2. The models are applied to the BPT-4000 and used to calculate the performance and erosion observed during qualification life testing. The models are shown to be capable of accurately reproducing many of the micro- and macroscopic properties that determine the plasma response and thruster performance over a wide range of power and voltages. An erosion simulation carried through almost 1000 hours of thruster operation has shown general agreement overall with experiment. Analysis of wall erosion properties reveals that the process is both spatially and temporally dependent, which verifies the importance of developing modeling tools that are physics-based and capable of predicting the complexity of Hall thruster erosion physics.
Optimization scheme for gas turbine nozzle design (1994)

In the design and development of modem gas turbine machines for combined cycle applications, nozzle segments with airfoil vanes and sidewalls are considered critical hot gas path components. In this paper a methodology for the design of these critical components is presented. Particular attention is given to the thermal stress evaluation as it affects component operational performance and design life. In this context thermal optimization schemes are presented and verified with different boundary element and finite element analytical tools. It was concluded that the external surface temperature of the part along with the through-wall temperature gradient was controlled by the manner by which the part was cooled internally. The optimum heat transfer results were arrived at when both the external surface temperature and the wall temperature gradient fell within acceptable limits. In this way, the design of gas turbine nozzle segments using this optimization methodology has the potential to extend the life expectancy of the part by reducing variations in thermal stress.
H.264/SVC Multiple Description Coded Video Transmission over MIMO System with Power Control Based Antenna Selection (2011)

Improvements in transmitted video quality are achievable by utilizing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems for transmission of multiple description coded (MDC) video. For a particular MDC scheme, the improvements heavily depend on the selection of the underlying MIMO system. This paper proposes using a MIMO system with power control based antenna selection. Simulations show that the proposed system significantly outperforms the existing MDC/MIMO combinations in the literature and extends the range of channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values for which video of given quality can be transmitted. Quality improvements result from MIMO power control which allows transmissions over available MIMO antennas only for sufficiently high channel gains (effectively preventing transmissions that result in video packet loss) and guarantees equal channel performance in terms of the bit error rate (BER) for all the balanced descriptions of equal importance.
An overview of OA research in two urban APLAR populations (2011)

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most prevalent type of arthritis in the elderly, is also among the first five leading causes of disability in developed countries. With the 'Westernized' living environment and lifestyle among Southeast Asian urbanized cities, where obesity is on the rise and the populations are ageing, the incidence of OA is expected to rise in the next decades. There is need to summarize research work within these places. This article summarizes some of the research aspects of OA in Southeast Asian cities. These data may form a useful basis for future planning of medical resource and needs.
Image quality improvement via spatial deconvolution in optical tomography: time-series imaging (2005)

We present the fourth in a series of studies devoted to the issue of improving image quality in diffuse optical tomography (DOT) by using a spatial deconvolution operation that seeks to compensate for the information-blurring property of first-order perturbation algorithms. Our earlier reports consider only static target media. Here we report spatial deconvolution applied to media with time-varying optical properties, as a model of tissue dynamics resulting from varying metabolic demand and modulation of the vascular bed. Issues under study include the influence of deconvolution on the accuracy of the recovered temporal and spatial information. The impact of noise is also explored, and techniques for ameliorating its information-degrading effects are examined. At low noise levels (i.e, < or = 5% of the time-varying signal amplitude), spatial deconvolution markedly improves the accuracy of recovered information. Temporal information is more seriously degraded by noise than is spatial information, and the impact of noise increases with the complexity of the time-varying signal. These effects, however, can be significantly reduced using simple noise suppression techniques (e.g., low-pass filtering). Results suggest that the deconvolution scheme should provide considerable enhancement of the quality of spatiotemporal information recovered from dynamic DOT techniques applied to tissue studies.
Clinical implications of cytogenetic studies in cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (CTCL) (1982)

Detailed cytogenetic studies were performed in 41 patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL): four patients had limited plaques, 13 patients had generalized plaques, eight patients had cutaneous tumors, 16 patients had generalized erythroderma, and four additional patients, who had relatively benign chronic dermatosis, served as controls. Correlating the histologic and cytogenetic results in the various tissues, it was observed that 62% of the peripheral blood specimens were cytogenetically positive but only 49% were morphologically positive; in the lymph node the ratio was 80 versus 45%, and in the bone marrow, 6 versus 3%. These studies demonstrate that chromosome abnormalities are frequently detectable before morphologic changes become apparent. Chromosome banding preparations showed extensive and wide-ranging heteroploidy; the #1 chromosome was most frequently involved in structural abnormalities while chromosomes #11, 21, and 22 were most frequently involved in numerical abnormalities. These cytogenetic findings support the impression that CTCL is a disease whose various clinical manifestations represent a chronologic sequence, with the cytogenetic findings paralleling the clinical symptoms: patients with minimal chromosomal changes had the best survival and the more extensive the chromosome abnormalities, the more advanced the clinical disease. Clone formation was seen in eight patients and this phenomenon, along with hyperdiploidy and near-tetraploidy, was associated with a poor prognosis and short survival. We conclude that CTCL progresses from an early phase with extensive chromosomal abnormalities and lack of clone formation to a terminal phase with clone selection. Cytogenetic studies can, therefore, be of significant diagnostic and prognostic value in CTCL.
Neutron diffraction studies of liquid and crystalline trilaurin (1992)

Neutron diffraction has been employed to investigate the structure of trilaurin in both liquid and crystalline states. The combination of long‐wavelength (4.5 Å) neutrons and wide angular ranges of detection (∼6&lt;2θ[ o ]&lt;∼100) per mitted a large range of momentum transfer to be acceessed (∼0.15&lt;Q[Å −1 ]&lt;∼2) in a single scan of the detector. The chemical technique of selective deuteration of chosen parts of the triglyceride molecules was used to enhance specific aspects of the diffraction pattern and elucidate structures formed. The well established layer structure in the solid phases was confirmed in the diffraction patterns. It was also established that long‐range ordering in the solid resulting from chain‐chain registry disappeared when the solid melts. However, we found no evidence for long‐range ordering in the form of persistence of a layer‐layer spacing correlation in the liquid state. We postulate from the diffraction patterns a molecular arrangement resembling the arrangement found in the nematic phase of liquid crystals, where the layer structure is relaxed from that smectic‐like arrangement for the crystalline phase. The data also reveal that this lack of order is not dependent on temperature in the liquid phase and persists into the super‐cooled region below the normal β melting point.
Instrumentation of rapid near-infrared diffuse optical tomography for imaging of tissue at 35 frames per second (2006)

This paper presents the design, instrumentation, and performance of a rapid imaging near-infrared diffuse optical tomography system that is capable of collecting tomographic measurements at 35 frames per second. The video-rate tomographic data acquisition is achieved by spectral wavelength encoding of the sources, which allows many sources to be input into the tissue at the same time, followed by spectral-decoding of all detection channels in parallel using a spectrometer and CCD detector. The combination of spectral-decoding of the source lights horizontally in a spectrometer and spatial-separation of the detector positions vertically at the entrance slit provides continuous data for the entire set of source-detector pairs. A data acquisition speed of 35Hz frame rate was achieved with the use of the CCD operating in frame-transfer mode. The described system features 8 sources at an overall 785nm center band with average of 1.25nm spacing in wavelength and 8 detectors evenly deployed in a 27mm array designed for imaging with small animal tissues. The system's imaging characteristics as well as examples of capturing transient changes of absorption in the dynamic phantom are presented.
Lipid-Based DNA Therapeutics: Hallmarks of Non-Viral Gene Delivery (2019)

Gene therapy is a promising strategy for the treatment of monogenic disorders. Non-viral gene delivery systems including lipid-based DNA therapeutics offer the opportunity to deliver an encoding gene sequence specifically to the target tissue and thus enable the expression of therapeutic proteins in diseased cells. Currently, available gene delivery approaches based on DNA are inefficient and require improvements to achieve clinical utility. In this Review, we discuss state-of-the-art lipid-based DNA delivery systems that have been investigated in a preclinical setting. We emphasize factors influencing the delivery and subsequent gene expression in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. In addition, we cover aspects of nanoparticle engineering and optimization for DNA therapeutics. Finally, we highlight achievements of lipid-based DNA therapies in clinical trials.
Quality Assurance : A National Commitment (1997)

These proceedings, Quality Assurance—A national Commitment , consist of papers presented at the specialty conference of ASCE Annual Convention held in Minneapolis, MN, October 5-9, 1997. With increased awareness of sustainable development issues at the national and global levels, there are continuing efforts for the preservation of natural resources, ecosystems, and the environment, and also to enhance economic growth and human development. For the development and implementation of sustainable development programs, innovative civil engineering continues to play an important role in diversified areas, such as transportation, engineered materials, environmental management, landfills, dredging and disposal, and liability protection. Integrated quality assurance issues pertinent to these and other related areas are discussed in these proceedings.
Diagnostic Performance of Fractional Flow Reserve From CT Coronary Angiography With Analytical Method (2021)

The aim of this study was to evaluate a new analytical method for calculating non-invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR<sub>AM</sub>) to diagnose ischemic coronary lesions. Patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) with FFR measurements from two sites were prospectively recruited. Obstructive CAD was defined as diameter stenosis (DS) ≥50% on CTCA or ICA. FFR<sub>AM</sub> was derived from CTCA images and anatomical features using analytical method and was compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based FFR (FFR<sub>B</sub>) and invasive ICA-based FFR. FFR<sub>AM</sub>, FFR<sub>B</sub>, and invasive FFR ≤ 0.80 defined ischemia. A total of 108 participants (mean age 60, range: 30-83 years, 75% men) with 169 stenosed coronary arteries were analyzed. The per-vessel accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive and negative predictive values were, respectively, 81, 75, 86, 81, and 82% for FFR<sub>AM</sub> and 87, 88, 86, 83, and 90% for FFR<sub>B</sub>. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for FFR<sub>AM</sub> (0.89 and 0.87) and FFR<sub>B</sub> (0.90 and 0.86) were higher than both CTCA- and ICA-derived DS (all <i>p</i> < 0.0001) on per-vessel and per-patient bases for discriminating ischemic lesions. The computational time for FFR<sub>AM</sub> was much shorter than FFR<sub>B</sub> (2.2 ± 0.9 min <i>vs</i>. 48 ± 36 min, excluding image acquisition and segmentation). FFR<sub>AM</sub> calculated from a novel and expeditious non-CFD approach possesses a comparable diagnostic performance to CFD-derived FFR<sub>B</sub>, with a significantly shorter computational time.
Supplementary Table 1 from <i>CHFR</i> Promoter Methylation Indicates Poor Prognosis in Stage II Microsatellite Stable Colorectal Cancer (2023)

&lt;p&gt;Primer sequences and PCR conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
Contactless power transfer with two-way communication (2005)

This paper presents a novel technique that can transfer power with two-way communication over a gap with no physical contacts. The proposed technique uses two separate loosely coupled parallel resonant circuits to transfer power from one system to another with two-way communication. Experimental results based on a 5 W prototype system built for powering a display panel on a refrigerator door are presented. The technique is simple, low in cost, and should find applications where both power transfer and data transmission are required with no physical contacts.