Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ring-Like Enhancement of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Gadoxetic Acid–Enhanced Multiphasic Hepatic Arterial Phase Imaging With Differential Subsampling With Cartesian Ordering

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of multiphasic hepatic arterial phase (HAP) imaging using DISCO (differential subsampling with Cartesian ordering) in increasing the confidence of diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and the requirement for informed patient consent was waived. Consecutive patients (from 2 study periods) with malignant liver nodules were examined by gadoxetic acid–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging using either multiphasic (6 phases; n = 135) or single (n = 230) HAP imaging, which revealed 519 liver nodules other than benign ones (HCC, 497; cholangiocarcinoma, 11; metastases, 10; and malignant lymphoma, 1). All nodules were scored in accordance with the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS v2014), with or without consideration of ring-like enhancement in multiphasic HAP images as a major feature. Results In the multiphasic HAP group, 178 of 191 HCCs were scored as LR-3 to LR-5 (3 [1.69%], 85 [47.8%], and 90 [50.6%], respectively). Upon considering ring-like enhancement in multiphasic HAP images as a major feature, 5 more HCCs were scored as LR-5 (95 [53.4%]), which was a significantly more confident diagnosis than that with single HAP images (295 of 306 HCCs scored as LR-3 to LR-5: 13 [4.41%], 147 [49.8%], and 135 [45.8%], respectively; P = 0.0296). There was no significant difference in false-positive or false-negative diagnoses between the multiphasic and single HAP groups (P = 0.8400 and 0.1043, respectively). Conclusions Multiphasic HAP imaging can improve the confidence of diagnosis of HCCs in gadoxetic acid–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
Testicular postgenomics: targeting the regulation of spermatogenesis

Sperm are, arguably, the most differentiated cells produced within the body of any given species. This is owing to the fact that spermatogenesis is an intricate and highly specialized process evolved to suit the individual particularities of each sexual species. Despite a vast diversity in method, the aim of spermatogenesis is always the same, the idealized transmission of genetic patrimony. Towards this goal certain requirements must always be met, such as a relative twofold reduction in ploidy, repackaging of the chromatin for transport and specialized enhancements for cell motility, recognition and fusion. In the past 20 years, the study of molecular networks coordinating male germ cell development, particularly in mammals, has become more and more facilitated thanks to large-scale analyses of genome expression. Such postgenomic endeavors have generated landscapes of data for both fundamental and clinical reproductive biology. Continuous, large-scale integration analyses of these datasets are undertaken which provide access to very precise information on a myriad of biomolecules. This review presents commonly used transcriptomic and proteomic workflows applied to various testicular germ cell studies. We will also provide a general overview of the technical possibilities available to reproductive genomic biologists, noting the advantages and drawbacks of each technique.
Phylogeography and conservation genetics of Eld's deer (Cervus eldi)

Eld's deer (Cervus eldi) is a highly endangered cervid, distributed historically throughout much of South Asia and Indochina. We analysed variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region for representatives of all three Eld's deer subspecies to gain a better understanding of the genetic population structure and evolutionary history of this species. A phylogeny of mtDNA haplotypes indicates that the critically endangered and ecologically divergent C. eldi eldi is related more closely to C. e. thamin than to C. e. siamensis, a result that is consistent with biogeographic considerations. The results also suggest a strong degree of phylogeographic structure both between subspecies and among populations within subspecies, suggesting that dispersal of individuals between populations has been very limited historically. Haplotype diversity was relatively high for two of the three subspecies (thamin and siamensis), indicating that recent population declines have not yet substantially eroded genetic diversity. In contrast, we found no haplotype variation within C. eldi eldi or the Hainan Island population of C. eldi siamensis, two populations which are known to have suffered severe population bottlenecks. We also compared levels of haplotype and nucleotide diversity in an unmanaged captive population, a managed captive population and a relatively healthy wild population. Diversity indices were higher in the latter two, suggesting the efficacy of well‐designed breeding programmes for maintaining genetic diversity in captivity. Based on significant genetic differentiation among Eld's deer subspecies, we recommend the continued management of this species in three distinct evolutionarily significant units (ESUs). Where possible, it may be advisable to translocate individuals between isolated populations within a subspecies to maintain levels of genetic variation in remaining Eld's deer populations.
Transcriptional and posttranscriptional components of psbA response to high light intensity in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942

The psbA genes, which encode the D1 protein of photosystem II, constitute a multigene family in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942. Levels of messages from the three psbA genes change rapidly when cells are shifted from low-light to high-light conditions: the psbAI message level drops, whereas psbAII and psbAIII message levels increase dramatically. We examined the potential contributions of transcriptional and posttranscriptional processes in these high-light responses by subjecting cells that had been grown in a turbidostat at a standard light intensity (130 microeinsteins [microE] m-2 s-1) to either the same or a higher light intensity (500 microE m-2 s-1) in the presence or absence of rifampin. Northern (RNA blot) analysis of RNA isolated from cells subjected to high light showed that the increases in psbAII and psbAIII transcripts were blocked by rifampin. This suggests a transcriptional induction of these genes at high light intensities. Increased mRNA stability does not contribute to their accumulation in high-light conditions, since their half-life values did not increase relative to the half-lives measured at the standard light intensity. The rate of disappearance of the psbAI transcript in cells shifted to high light was diminished when either transcription or translation was blocked by rifampin or chloramphenicol, suggesting that accelerated degradation of the message requires de novo synthesis of a protein factor. When rifampin was added 10 min after the shift to high light intensity rather than before the shift, psbAI and psbAIII messages, but not the psbAII message, decayed at a faster rate. Susceptibility of the psbAIII transcript to the high-light-induced factor was also demonstrated by addition of chloramphenicol prior to the shaft to high light. psbAIII transcript levels went up more than twofold higher in chloramphenicol-treated cells than in untreated cells, whereas psbAII transcript levels were affected by the inhibitor. These experiments provide evidence that either new or increased synthesis of a degradation factor which affects a subset of Synechococcus transcripts occurs in cells subjected to high light intensity.
A Survey of Fuzzy Systems Software: Taxonomy, Current Research Trends, and Prospects

Fuzzy systems have been used widely thanks to their ability to successfully solve a wide range of problems in different application fields. However, their replication and application require a high level of knowledge and experience. Furthermore, few researchers publish the software and/or source code associated with their proposals, which is a major obstacle to scientific progress in other disciplines and in industry. In recent years, most fuzzy system software has been developed in order to facilitate the use of fuzzy systems. Some software is commercially distributed, but most software is available as free and open-source software, reducing such obstacles and providing many advantages: quicker detection of errors, innovative applications, faster adoption of fuzzy systems, etc. In this paper, we present an overview of freely available and open-source fuzzy systems software in order to provide a well-established framework that helps researchers to find existing proposals easily and to develop well-founded future work. To accomplish this, we propose a two-level taxonomy, and we describe the main contributions related to each field. Moreover, we provide a snapshot of the status of the publications in this field according to the ISI Web of Knowledge. Finally, some considerations regarding recent trends and potential research directions are presented.
Dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete structure with strain rate effect

Abstract In order to study the dynamic behaviour of reinforced concrete structures affected by strain rate effect when subjected to seismic loading, the dynamic responses of the reinforced concrete shear wall and a three‐storey reinforced concrete frame were analysed with Abaqus finite element software. The Drucker‐Prager model and concrete damaged plasticity model were used, and the strain rate effect of concrete and steel was also considered. Results showed that the dynamic behaviour of concrete and steel change greatly when the strain rate effect is taken into account. For a reinforced concrete shear wall subjected to dynamic loading, there was an increase in load carrying capacity and stiffness. The results in the time history analysis of the reinforced concrete frame with the strain rate effect are different from those without the strain rate effect. Strain rate effects should be considered carefully in the seismic analysis of reinforced concrete structures.
Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology a New Definition of Burnout Syndrome Based on Farber's Proposal

Background: Although diverse definitions have been construed for burnout syndrome, most authors consider it to be a single phenomenon, the result of chronic work-related stress. However, in order to enable specific intervention strategies to be adopted, it is first necessary to establish different profiles for the syndrome. In this respect, have been proposed three burnout types ("frenetic", "underchallenged" and "worn-out"), each of which requires different means of dealing with frustration in the workplace. This study is an attempt to define and systematize the properties that characterize this typology proposal.
Regularized Image Recovery in Scattering Media

When imaging in scattering media, visibility degrades as objects become more distant. Visibility can be significantly restored by computer vision methods that account for physical processes occurring during image formation. Nevertheless, such recovery is prone to noise amplification in pixels corresponding to distant objects, where the medium transmittance is low. We present an adaptive filtering approach that counters the above problems: While significantly improving visibility relative to raw images, it inhibits noise amplification. Essentially, the recovery formulation is regularized, where the regularization adapts to the spatially varying medium transmittance. Thus, this regularization does not blur close objects. We demonstrate the approach in atmospheric and underwater experiments, based on an automatic method for determining the medium transmittance.
Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence of a Right Hemisphere Bias for the Influence of Negative Emotion on Higher Cognition

We examined how responses to aversive pictures affected performance and stimulus-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded during a demanding cognitive task. Numeric Stroop stimuli were briefly presented to either left or right visual hemifield (LVF and RVF, respectively) after a centrally presented aversive or neutral picture from the International Affective Picture System. Subjects indicated whether a quantity value from each Stroop stimulus matched the preceding Stroop stimulus while passively viewing the pictures. After aversive pictures, responses were more accurate for LVF Stroops and less accurate for RVF Stroops. Early-latency extrastriate attention-dependent visual ERPs were enhanced for LVF Stroops. The N2 ERP was enhanced for LVF Stroops over the right frontal and parietal scalp sites. Slow potentials (300800 msec) recorded over the frontal and parietal regions showed enhanced picture related modulation and amplitude for LVF Stroops. These results suggest that emotional responses to aversive pictures selectively facilitated right hemisphere processing during higher cognitive task performance.
Stay or stray? Evidence for alternative mating strategy phenotypes in both men and women

In all comparative analyses, humans always fall on the borderline between obligate monogamy and polygamy. Here, we use behavioural indices (sociosexuality) and anatomical indices (prenatal testosterone exposure indexed by 2D : 4D digit ratio) from three human populations to show that this may be because there are two distinct phenotypes in both sexes. While males are more promiscuous and display higher prenatal testosterone exposure than females overall, our analyses also suggest that the within-sex variation of these variables is best described by two underlying mixture models, suggesting the presence of two phenotypes with a monogamous/promiscuous ratio that slightly favours monogamy in females and promiscuity in males. The presence of two phenotypes implies that mating strategy might be under complex frequency-dependent selection.
Do Honeybees Shape the Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar?

Floral nectar is considered the most important reward animal-pollinated plants offer to attract pollinators. Here we explore whether honeybees, which act as pollinators, affect the composition of bacterial communities in the nectar. Nectar and honeybees were sampled from two plant species: Amygdalus communis and Citrus paradisi. To prevent the contact of nectar with pollinators, C. paradisi flowers were covered with net bags before blooming (covered flowers). Comparative analysis of bacterial communities in the nectar and on the honeybees was performed by the 454-pyrosequencing technique. No significant differences were found among bacterial communities in honeybees captured on the two different plant species. This resemblance may be due to the presence of dominant bacterial OTUs, closely related to the Arsenophonus genus. The bacterial communities of the nectar from the covered and uncovered C. paradisi flowers differed significantly; the bacterial communities on the honeybees differed significantly from those in the covered flowers’ nectar, but not from those in the uncovered flowers’ nectar. We conclude that the honeybees may introduce bacteria into the nectar and/or may be contaminated by bacteria introduced into the nectar by other sources such as other pollinators and nectar thieves.
A gentle introduction to the minimal Naming Game

Social conventions govern countless behaviors all of us engage in every day, from how we greet each other to the languages we speak. But how can shared conventions emerge spontaneously in the absence of a central coordinating authority? The Naming Game model shows that networks of locally interacting individuals can spontaneously self-organize to produce global coordination. Here, we provide a gentle introduction to the main features of the model, from the dynamics observed in homogeneously mixing populations to the role played by more complex social networks, and to how slight modifications of the basic interaction rules give origin to a richer phenomenology in which more conventions can co-exist indefinitely.
Assessing the Mental Health Status of Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings: (300802005-002)

Access OJJDP publications online at www.ojp. usdoj.gov/ojjdp with inadequate psychometrics, the failure to consider comorbidity (i.e., co-occurring conditions), problems with identifying sample characteristics, and a lack of information regarding when the assessments were conducted. They note that previous studies often did not define the timeframe for symptoms. However, distinguishing between lifetime and current symptoms is important not only for determining the prevalence of disorders but also in planning for immediate service needs.
Average simulation of PWM converters by direct implementation of behavioral relationships

Average modeling of PWM power converters is reexamined in the light of the behavioral dependent sources now included in modern versions of electronic circuit simulators. A topology independent behavioral model is developed to emulate the operation of PWM converters in voltage and current modes, for continuous and discontinuous inductor current cases. It is shown that, in general, the operation of the switching part involves three behavioral blocks, i.e., the generic switched inductor model (GSIM), the duty cycle generator (DCG), and the inductor current generator (ICG). Explicit expressions and equivalent circuits are developed for all possible modes of operation. <<ETX>>
Bioactivity and stability of endogenous fibrogenic factors in platelet‐rich fibrin

Platelet‐rich fibrin (PRF®) is an autologous fibrin sealant (FS) enriched with a platelet concentrate (>1,000,000 platelets/μL) produced by the automated Vivostat® system and used to enhance wound healing. The effects of PRF were compared with supernatant from thrombin‐activated platelet concentrate, recombinant human platelet‐derived growth factor (rhPDGF) isoforms, and a homologous FS in cultured normal human dermal fibroblasts. Also, the release of selected endogenous growth factors from PRF and their stability against proteolytic degradation were studied. The proliferative effect of PRF exceeded that of FS and rhPDGF‐BB, although it was lower than thrombin‐activated platelet concentrate possibly due to sustained growth factor release from platelets in PRF. Anti‐PDGF antibody blocked the mitogenic effect of rhPDGF‐BB but not that of PRF in growth‐arrested fibroblasts. PRF promoted secretion of carboxyterminal propeptide of type I collagen into conditioned medium while rhPDGF‐AB had no significant effect on collagen biosynthesis. Limited proteolysis of PDGF‐AB and no proteolysis of transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) in PRF were observed with trypsin treatment, whereas rhPDGF‐AB and rhTGF‐β1 in bovine serum albumin, matching the total protein concentration of PRF, were almost completely degraded after 24 hours at 37 °C. To conclude, PRF provides sustained release and protection against proteolytic degradation of endogenous fibrogenic factors important for wound healing.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Emergence of New Diagnostic and Treatment Options

Background: Diagnosis and treatment options for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have traditionally addressed the clinical symptoms of the disease, including constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. New understanding of the pathophysiology of IBS, including the potential association of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) with the disorder, promises to yield new diagnostic techniques and therapies to supplement symptom-based approaches. Purpose: This article reviews symptom-based diagnostic criteria and treatment options for IBS and discusses emerging diagnostic techniques, such as breath testing. It also reviews new pharmacologic therapies, including opioids, antibiotics, and other agents currently being evaluated. Symptom-based criteria will continue to be useful in the diagnosis of IBS, but these may be augmented by new techniques such as hydrogen and methane breath testing. Further understanding of the body’s physiologic response to IBS may identify diagnostically relevant biologic markers. Nontraditional therapies, such as
Lessons from E-speak

E-speak was the technology base for HP’s E-services initiative, which was announced in 1999. It was designed to be a scalable distributed system, and it met all of its design goals. Although it’s no longer around as a supported product, the lessons we learned, both positive and painful, may be helpful to others.
The working capacity of young competitive swimmers, 10-16 years of age.

ABSTRACTThe physical work capacities of 43 (19 girls, 24 boys) competitive swimmers, 10–16 years of age, were determined on a discontinuous steady-state bicycle ergometer test. During the test heart rates were monitored each minute and oxygen uptakes were measured in the last minute of the final wor
Total Homocysteine, Folate, and Cobalamin, and Their Relation to Genetic Polymorphisms, Lifestyle and Body Mass Index in Healthy Children and Adolescents

We investigated total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations and relations between tHcy and folate, cobalamin (Cbl), genetic polymorphisms (MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C, MTHFR 1793G>A), blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, triglycerides, sports activities, family and individual history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and lifestyle issues in 264 healthy children and adolescents (2–17 y). THcy concentrations significantly increased while folate and Cbl decreased with age without gender differences. Age, folate and Cbl were significant predictors for tHcy concentrations. THcy was higher but within normal ranges in MTHFR 677TT homozygotes (10.6%) and carriers of the MTHFR 1793A allele (8%). Only two individuals (0.8%), both with low tHcy concentrations, were homozygous for MTHFR 1793AA. THcy concentration correlated positively with creatinine, triglycerides, BMI and systolic BP and was not related to cholesterol, sports activities and family history of CVD.In conclusion, tHcy concentrations in this pediatric population were significantly influenced by age, folate and Cbl concentrations. No gender differences for tHcy, folate or Cbl concentrations were observed. Both the MTHFR 677TT genotype and the MTHFR 1793A allele were not associated with hyperhomocysteinemia. The prevalence of the MTHFR 1793AA genotype was too low for meaningful interpretation.
Defect-aware logic mapping for nanowire-based programmable logic arrays via satisfiability

Programmable logic arrays (PLAs) using self-assembly nanowire crossbars have shown promising potential for future nano-scale circuit design. However, due to the density and size factors of nanowires and molecular switches, the fabrication fault densities are much higher than those of the conventional silicon technology, and hence pose greater design challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel defect-aware logic mapping framework via Boolean satisfiability (SAT). Compared with the prior works, our technique considers PLA defects on both input and output planes at the same time. This synergistic approach can help solve logic mapping problems with higher defect rates. The proposed method is universally suitable for various nanoscale PLAs, including AND/OR, NOR/NOR structures, etc. The experimental results have shown that it can efficiently solve large mapping problems at a total defect rate of 20% or even higher. We further investigate the impact of different defects on PLA mapping, which helps set up an initial contribution for yield estimation and utilization of partially-defective PLAs.