To detect modest associations of dietary intake with disease risk, observational studies need to be large and control for moderate measurement errors. The reproducibility of dietary intakes of ...macronutrients, food groups and dietary patterns (vegetarian and Mediterranean) was assessed in adults in the UK Biobank study on up to five occasions using a web-based 24-h dietary assessment (
211 050), and using short FFQ recorded at baseline (
502 655) and after 4 years (
20 346). When the means of two 24-h assessments were used, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for macronutrients varied from 0·63 for alcohol to 0·36 for polyunsaturated fat. The ICC for food groups also varied from 0·68 for fruit to 0·18 for fish. The ICC for the FFQ varied from 0·66 for meat and fruit to 0·48 for bread and cereals. The reproducibility was higher for vegetarian status (κ > 0·80) than for the Mediterranean dietary pattern (ICC = 0·45). Overall, the reproducibility of pairs of 24-h dietary assessments and single FFQ used in the UK Biobank were comparable with results of previous prospective studies using conventional methods. Analyses of diet-disease relationships need to correct for both measurement error and within-person variability in dietary intake in order to reliably assess any such associations with disease in the UK Biobank.
Background
The ability to provide accurate prognostic data after hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains poor. We sought to develop and validate a nomogram to predict survival, ...as well as investigate the clinical implications of underestimating patients’ risk of recurrence.
Methods
Patients undergoing curative-intent resection of ICC between 1990 and 2015 at 14 major hepatobiliary centers were included. Variables significant on multivariable analysis were used to construct a nomogram to predict disease-free survival (DFS). The nomogram assigned a score to each variable included in the model and calculated the risk of recurrence.
Results
Eight hundred ninety-seven patients are included in the analytic cohort. On multivariable Cox regression analysis, tumor size > 5 cm (HR 1.98, 95% CI 1.44–2.13;
p
< 0.001), multifocal ICC (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.32–2.03;
p
< 0.001), lymph node metastasis (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.25–2.11;
p
< 0.001), poorly differentiated tumor grade (HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.21–1.89;
p
< 0.001), and periductal infiltrating type (PI) morphology (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.09–1.83;
p
= 0.008) were independent adverse risk factors associated with decreased DFS. The Harrell’s c-index for the nomogram was 0.633 (with
n
= 5000 bootstrapping resamples) and the plot comparing predicted and actuarial DFS demonstrated a good calibration of the model. A subset of patients (
n
= 282) had a DFS worse than predicted (ΔPredicted DFS − Actuarial DFS > 6 months). Moreover, underestimation of a recurrence risk was more common among patients with clinicopathologic features traditionally considered “favorable.”
Conclusion
A nomogram based on standard clinicopathologic characteristics was suboptimal in its ability to predict accurately risk of recurrence among patients with ICC after curative-intent liver resection. Particularly, the risk of underestimating patient risk of recurrence was highest among patients with historically favorable characteristics. Over one third of patients recurred > 6 months earlier than the DFS predicted by the nomogram.
Inter-component communication (ICC) is a key mechanism in Android. It utilizes intents to achieve the communications between different components in the apps. Thus, the successful execution of ICCs ...(named ICC calls) is fundamental to the app operations. However, existing testing tools for Android seldom explicitly consider these ICC calls, which may fail to find those ICC-related bugs. To this end, we propose a novel ICC-guided exploration strategy to effectively find the ICC-related bugs. Our idea is that, we can (1) build an ICC call graph from the app under test, and (2) use this graph to guide the exploration toward exercising the ICC calls. To achieve this idea, we design this ICC-guided exploration strategy based on Q-learning, a classic reinforcement learning algorithm. Specifically, the reward function explicitly considers the number of explored intents, the number of promising-to-explore intents and the exploration order of explored intents to improve testing effectiveness. Moreover, to build a more complete ICC call graph, we design a graph enhancement exploration strategy also based on Q-learning to complement the call graph construction via static analysis. We have implemented our idea as an automated testing tool IccDroid. The evaluation on 28 real-word Android apps shows that IccDroid can effectively find the most number of ICC-related bugs within the same testing time, compared to existing testing tools - the bugs found by IccDroid are 1.7~2.7 times more than the others. So far, IccDroid has found 13 previously unknown ICC-related bugs, all of which have been confirmed by the app developers and five have already been fixed.
The present study aims to investigate the use of Polish and Czech as a lingua receptiva (LaRa) in comparison with English as a lingua franca (ELF) between Polish and Czech students when making ...semi-spontaneous dialogues. With this aim in mind, the notion of intelligibility together with communication strategies (CSs) and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) are discussed. The study is inspired by Bulatović’s et al. (2019) who investigated the effectiveness of LaRa and ELF between Croatians and Slovenes. The study investigated listening skills and showed that the mean of intelligibility was high irrespective of the mode. The study in question aims to expand prior research with reference to spoken interactions between Polish and Czech speakers. In particular, it examines the role of communication strategies and intercultural communicative competence in achieving intelligibility in two multilingual modes. The results of the study show that the level of intelligibility is high irrespective of the mode. In LaRa and ELF sessions intelligibility and negotiation strategies are determined by careful language choices, certain communication strategies, and intercultural communicative competence (intercultural attitude towards the partner and modes of communication).
The impact of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on peace processes has received much scholarly attention. We argue, based on the ICC arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, ...that ICC indictments against government officials not only can be detrimental to the prospects for peace, but can also negatively affect everyday practices of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers. We draw on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data in order to develop our argument. We interrogate some measurable consequences of the indictment in relation to the work of the United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as well as humanitarian actors in Darfur. We do so using a data set compiled to support the work of UNAMID. We also draw on interviews with UN and UNAMID staff, aid workers, and representatives of the conflict parties. Our analysis shows that the indictment of President al-Bashir was perceived by the Sudanese government as the continuation of a confrontational approach pursued by the international community. We further show that the indictment accelerated patterns of obstruction and intimidation of peacekeeping actors, other third-party actors, and local staff associated with these. This complicated the everyday activities of peacekeepers and humanitarian efforts.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The authors present an analysis of different charge transfer modes during upward negative flashes. The analysis includes a total number of 94 pulses that occurred during two upward negative flashes ...recorded at the Säntis Tower. The pulses included 59 mixed-mode (MM) initial continuous current (ICC) pulses, 17 M-component-type ICC (M-ICC) pulses, 8 return-stroke pulses, and 10 classical M-component (MC) pulses. It is found that the initial stage of the flash is responsible for the largest share of the total charge transferred to the ground. Simulation results for the electric fields associated with the considered charge transfer modes are presented and discussed. Return stroke (RS) and MM pulses were simulated adopting the MTLE model, while MCs and M-ICC pulses were simulated using the guided wave model of Rakov et al. The simulated results are shown to be in good agreement with simultaneous records of electric fields measured at a distance of 15 km from the Säntis Tower. The inferred velocities for MCs and M-ICC pulses range from 2.0 × 107 to 9.0 × 107 m/s, and the corresponding junction point heights range from 1.0 to 2.0 km. The inferred pulse velocities for RSs and MM pulses range from 1.3 × 108 to 1.65 × 108 m/s. The inferred current attenuation constants of the MTLE model obtained in this study range from 0.3 to 0.8 km, lower than the value of 2 km previously suggested for RSs in downward flashes. The obtained results support the assumption that the mode of charge transfer to the ground giving rise to MM pulses is similar to that of RSs. The results are also in support of the generally assumed similarity between M-ICC pulses and classical MCs.
The data on the expression of stem cell markers CD44, CD24, and ALDH1A1 in the breast tissue of cancer-free women is very limited and no previous studies have explored the agreement between ...pathologist and computational assessments of these markers. We compared the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression assessment for CD44, CD24, and ALDH1A1 by an expert pathologist with the automated image analysis results and assessed the homogeneity of the markers across multiple cores pertaining to each woman.
We included 81 cancer-free women (399 cores) with biopsy-confirmed benign breast disease in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and NHSII cohorts. IHC was conducted with commercial antibodies CD44 (Dako, Santa Clara, CA, USA) 1:25 dilution; CD24 (Invitrogen, Waltham, MA, USA) 1:200 dilution and ALDH1A1 (Abcam, Cambridge, United Kingdom) 1:300 dilution. For each core, the percent positivity was quantified by the pathologist and Definiens Tissue Studio. Correlations between pathologist and computational scores were evaluated with Spearman correlation (for categorical positivity: 0, >0-<1, 1-10, >10-50, and >50%) and sensitivity/specificity (for binary positivity defined with 1 and 10% cut-offs), using the pathologist scores as the gold standard. Expression homogeneity was examined with intra-class correlation (ICC). Analyses were stratified by core normal terminal duct-lobular units (TDLUs), benign lesions and tissue type (epithelium, stroma).
Spearman correlation between pathologist and Definiens ranged between 0.40-0.64 for stroma and 0.66-0.68 for epithelium in normal TDLUs cores and between 0.24-0.60 for stroma and 0.61-0.64 for epithelium in benign lesions. For stroma, sensitivity and specificity ranged between 0.92-0.95 and 0.24-0.60, respectively, with 1% cut-off and between 0.43-0.88 and 0.73-0.85, respectively, with 10% cut-off. For epithelium, 10% cut-off resulted in better estimates for both sensitivity and specificity. ICC between the cores was strongest for CD44 for both stroma and epithelium in normal TDLUs cores and benign lesions (range 0.74-0.80). ICC for CD24 and ALDH1A ranged between 0.42-0.63 and 0.44-0.55, respectively.
Our findings show that computational assessments for CD44, CD24, and ALDH1A1 exhibit variable correlations with manual assessment. These findings support the use of computational platforms for IHC evaluation of stem cell markers in large-scale epidemiologic studies. Pilot studies maybe also needed to determine appropriate cut-offs for defining staining positivity.
Arterial spin labeled (ASL) perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used to assess regional brain activity and cerebrovascular function in both healthy and clinical populations. ...ASL perfusion imaging provides a quantitative measure of regional brain activity by determining absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF) values at a resting state or during task performance. However, the comparative reliability of these ASL measures is not well characterized. It is also unclear whether the test-retest reliability of absolute CBF or task-induced CBF change measures would be comparable to the reliability of task performance. In this study, fifteen healthy participants were scanned three times in a strictly controlled in-laboratory study while at rest and during performing a simple and reliable psychomotor vigilance test (PVT). The reliability of absolute CBF and task-induced CBF changes was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and compared to that of task performance. Absolute CBF showed excellent test-retest reliability across the three scans for both resting and PVT scans. The reliability of regional absolute CBF was comparable to that of behavioral measures of PVT performance, and was slightly higher during PVT scans as compared with resting scans. Task-induced regional CBF changes demonstrated only poor to moderate reliability across three scans. These findings suggest that absolute CBF measures are more reliable than task-induced CBF changes for characterizing regional brain function, especially for longitudinal and clinical studies.
•Absolute CBF showed excellent test-retest reliability for both resting and task scans across three days.•Reliability of absolute CBF during the PVT across three scans is comparable to PVT performance reliability.•Reliability of absolute CBF during the PVT is slightly higher than that at a resting state.•Task-induced CBF changes have poor reliability as compared with absolute CBF measures and PVT performance.•Introduction.
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