Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-Guided Angiotherapyof Refractory Gastrointestinal Bleeding

BACKGROUNDThere are well-established methods for treating gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, although some lesions prove refractory to conventional techniques. Little consideration has been directed toward the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) in the management of refractory bleeding.AIMSTo discuss patient selection, technique, and clinical outcomes for EUS-guided angiotherapy for severe refractory bleeding after conventional therapies.METHODSThe EUS database was reviewed to identify all patients who underwent EUS-directed angiotherapy.RESULTSFive patients, four with severe bleeding from hemosuccus pancreaticus, Dieulafoy lesion, duodenal ulcer, or gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and one with occult GI bleeding, had an average of three prior episodes (range 2–4) of severe bleeding and had received 18 (range 14–25) units of packed red blood cells (PRBC). All had failed in at least two conventional attempts to control the bleeding. Under EUS guidance, 99% alcohol was injected (4–7 mL) in two patients, one each with a pancreatic pseudoaneurysm and a duodenal Dieulafoy lesion. In three other patients, cyanoacrylate (3–5 mL) was injected into a duodenal ulcer, and in two patients with a GIST. No patient rebled and no complications were reported.CONCLUSIONSEUS-guided angiotherapy appears safe and effective in managing selected patients with clinically severe or occult GI bleeding from lesions potentially refractory to standard endoscopic and/or angiographic techniques. Further studies are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy and to refine the selection criteria in an effort to improve patient care.
THE DEGENERATION OF PERIPHERAL NERVE FIBRES

After section of a peripheral nerve a series of processes occurs in the distal stump involving all of its constituents and leading to a breakdown of the axons and their myelin sheaths. This process was first studied by Waller (1852) and is generally known as " Wallerian degeneration ". The first part of Waller's law states that after cutting a nerve degeneration occurs in the distal stump and that degeneration is due to disconnection of the nerve trunk from its " trophic " centre, i.e., the nerve cell. Although it is almost 100 years since this law was conceived, the mechanism of degeneration is still not clear. In order to understand the process it is necessary to investigate the nature of this " trophic influence ". Only in this way can the question, Why does a nerve fibre degenerate ? be solved. Wallerian degeneration results after a certain time in failure of transmission of nerve impulses. The time at which this failure of transmission of nerve impulses can be recorded is apparently not a constant value. It is for instance known that both the metabolic rate and temperature influence the rate of degeneration (Muralt, 1945). Additional information about the factors affecting the rate of degeneration should help in understanding the mechanism of "Wallerian degeneration". It is necessary first to define clearly the criteria of degeneration used. After nerve section degeneration in the physiological sense appears primarily when the nerve fibre will no longer transmit impulses. As a physiological criterion we are therefore using the time at which failure of transmission of nerve impulses can be recorded. A much more complicated problem is the evaluation of the criteria of degeneration in the morphological sense. Muralt (1945) states that morphological changes generally appear only a long time after loss of excitability of the nerve fibres. The first changes in the axons, however, are observed much earlier (Ram6n y Cajal, 1928) and changes in the myelin sheaths studied by the polarized light method are observed, within 24 hours of nerve section (Prickett and Stevens, 1939). The criterion of degeneration in
Variability is the spice of learning, and a crucial ingredient for detecting and generalizing in nonadjacent dependencies

An important aspect of language acquisition involves learning the syntactic nonadjacent dependencies that hold between words in sentences, such as subject/verb agreement or tense marking in English. Despite successes in statistical learning of adjacent dependencies, the evidence is not conclusive for learning nonadjacent items. We provide evidence that discovering nonadjacent dependencies is possible through statistical learning, provided it is modulated by the variability of the intervening material between items. We show that generalization to novel syntactic-like categories embedded in nonadjacent dependencies occurs with either zero or large variability. In addition, it can be supported even in more complex learning tasks such as continuous speech, despite earlier failures.
Time-Dependent Effect of Hypoxia on Tumor Progression and Liver Progenitor Cell Markers in Primary Liver Tumors

Background & Aims Expression of liver progenitor cell (LPC) characteristics has been proposed as a negative prognostic marker in primary liver tumors. Hypoxia has been linked to activation of the Notch pathway which is responsible for activation and proliferation of LPCs and hypoxia-induced LPC activation has been shown in hepatocellular carcinoma. Our aim was to elucidate the time-dependent effects of hypoxia on the LPC niche in hepatocellular carcinoma which could aid in determining a safe time frame for use of hypoxia inducing therapies. Methods We used dimethyloxaloylglycine to mimic a hypoxic reaction in mice by stabilizing hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha at three distinct time points in diethylnitrosamine induced hepatocarcinogenesis. LPC, metastasis and Notch pathway markers were determined by quantitative PCR and (immune)histochemistry (heamatoxillin-eosin, reticulin, Sirius red and cytokeratin 19 staining). Results Activating the hypoxia inducible pathway early in hepatocarcinogenesis resulted in an increased incidence of both cholangioma and hepatocellular lesions, associated with high expression of LPC, metastatic and Notch pathway markers. Adversely, activating the hypoxic response during tumor development resulted in decreased incidence of hepatocellular lesions and increased cholangioma incidence, with an unaltered gene expression profile of LPC-, Notch pathway- and metastatic markers. A hypoxic insult at advanced stages of hepatocarcinogenesis severely increased the expression of LPC characteristics, however without increased expression of actors of the Notch pathway and metastatic markers and minor changes in incidence of hepatocellular and cholangioma lesions. Conclusion Our results indicate that increased hypoxia at the onset of tumor development has detrimental effects on tumor progression; patients with HCC developed in a background of fibrosis/cirrhosis might therefore represent a more difficult treatment group. In contrast, hypoxia during tumor development appears to favor tumor outcome, highlighting the importance of early detection. Finally, hypoxia in advanced stages resulted in increased expression of LPC characteristics indicating poor outcome.
An energy efficient antenna selection for large scale green MIMO systems

This paper proposes an energy efficient antenna selection for large scale (LS) MIMO in green base station (BS). For the maximum energy efficiency (EE) operation of LS-MIMO, antenna selection is necessary, because the RF chains which are connected with antennas are expensive, and consumes a lot of power. However, the excessive amount of antennas in LS-MIMO hinder the efficient antenna selection. We determine optimum antenna number in various circumstances, and show that with LS-MIMO, simple random antenna selection can provide significant EE gain. Moreover, we also show if the EE optimum number of antenna is larger than a certain threshold, the random antenna selection is already very close to the optimum antenna selection. The proposed technique is verified by both mathematical analysis and numerical simulations.
Regulation of the Renal Circulation during Severe Exercise in Normal Dogs and Dogs with Experimental Heart Failure

The role of sympathetic nerves and circulating catecholamines in mediating the renal vascular response to severe exercise was examined in normal dogs and dogs with experimental heart failure, using paired normal and denervated kidneys. In normal dogs, mean arterial blood pressure increased gradually from 97 ± 4 to 137 ± 6 mm Hg, renal blood flow remained at control levels, and renal vascular resistance rose from 0.57 ± 0.04 to 0.84 ± 0.15 mm Hg/ml min−1 during peak steady-state exercise. The increase in resistance was similar in the denervated renal bed and persisted after alpha-receptor blockade. Exercise in dogs with heart failure increased mean arterial blood pressure slightly from 103 ± 4 to 111 ± 5 mm Hg. In the innervated kidney, blood flow dropped precipitously from 148 ± 6 to 46 ± 9 ml/min, and renal resistance increased from 0.73 ± 0.08 to 3.35 ± 0.53 mm Hg/ml min−1. In the denervated kidney, renal blood flow decreased from 174 ± 12 to 120 ± 1 ml/min, and resistance increased from 0.59 ± 0.07 to 0.94 ± 0.09 mm Hg/ml min−1. After alpha-receptor blockade, the decrease in flow and the increase in resistance to the denervated kidney were further attenuated. Thus, in normal, healthy dogs, the contribution of adrenergic mechanisms to renal vascular regulation appears to be minimal; blood flow remains constant in the presence of elevated pressure, suggesting that autoregulation is responsible for the elevated renal resistance during exercise. In dogs with experimental heart failure, intense renal sympathetic vasoconstriction prevails throughout exercise; the major portion of this response is neurally mediated, with an additional contribution by circulating catecholamines.
Support-vector-based fuzzy neural network for pattern classification

Fuzzy neural networks (FNNs) for pattern classification usually use the backpropagation or C-cluster type learning algorithms to learn the parameters of the fuzzy rules and membership functions from the training data. However, such kinds of learning algorithms usually cannot minimize the empirical risk (training error) and expected risk (testing error) simultaneously, and thus cannot reach a good classification performance in the testing phase. To tackle this drawback, a support-vector-based fuzzy neural network (SVFNN) is proposed for pattern classification in this paper. The SVFNN combines the superior classification power of support vector machine (SVM) in high dimensional data spaces and the efficient human-like reasoning of FNN in handling uncertainty information. A learning algorithm consisting of three learning phases is developed to construct the SVFNN and train its parameters. In the first phase, the fuzzy rules and membership functions are automatically determined by the clustering principle. In the second phase, the parameters of FNN are calculated by the SVM with the proposed adaptive fuzzy kernel function. In the third phase, the relevant fuzzy rules are selected by the proposed reducing fuzzy rule method. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed SVFNN classification, it is applied to the Iris, Vehicle, Dna, Satimage, Ijcnn1 datasets from the UCI Repository, Statlog collection and IJCNN challenge 2001, respectively. Experimental results show that the proposed SVFNN for pattern classification can achieve good classification performance with drastically reduced number of fuzzy kernel functions.
Human adipose tissue cannabinoid receptor 1 gene expression is not related to fat cell function or adiponectin level.

CONTEXT The cannabinoid receptor 1 gene (CNR1) is implicated in adipocyte function. OBJECTIVE We investigated human adipose tissue CNR1 mRNA in relation to obesity, clinical and metabolic variables, adipocyte function, and adiponectin (ADIPOQ) levels. METHODS We assessed sc fat biopsies from 96 obese and nonobese subjects and omental fat biopsies from 82 obese and nonobese subjects. RESULTS The sc and omental adipose CNR1 gene expression were similar in obese and nonobese subjects. No association between either sc or omental adipose CNR1 mRNA levels and body mass index, waist circumference, plasma levels of glucose and insulin, lipids, or blood pressure was found. The sc and omental maximal adrenergic lipolytic activation as well as lipolytic adrenoceptor sensitivity were not related to CNR1 gene expression. Lipogenesis in sc adipocytes also showed no association with CNR1 mRNA levels. Finally, no relation was found between adipose CNR1 gene expression and ADIPOQ mRNA, adipose tissue adiponectin secretion, or circulating adiponectin. CONCLUSION We found no association of human adipose tissue CNR1 mRNA expression with measures of body fat, metabolic parameters, fat cell function, or ADIPOQ expression. These data do not suggest a major role of human adipose CNR1 in fat cell function or metabolic disease development.
Can a More Neutral Position of the Forearm When Operating a Computer Mouse Reduce the Pain Level for Visual Display Unit Operators? A Prospective Epidemiological Intervention Study: Part II

The aim of this study was to investigate if participants with pain experience reduced pain development when using a mouse allowing a more neutral position of the wrist (Anir) compared with development of pain using a traditional mouse. The study population consisted of 67 participants with mean intensity of pain of approximately 50 mm on a 100-mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The total group was randomly divided into 1 intervention group and 1 control group. The study was performed as a prospective parallel group study. VAS was used to assess the average level of pain in the musculoskeletal system during a 6-month period. An earlier article on this study found that after using the Anir mouse for 6 months, a significant reduction was reported in neck pain (48.9 to 33.9). Corresponding data for other areas of the upper extremities were shoulder (54.1 to 31.8), forearm (52.9 to 32.8), and wrist and hand (42.5 to 22.3), respectively (Aarås, Ro, & Thoresen, 1999). The control group using the traditional mouse reported no significant changes in pain level. This article describes the results after giving an identical intervention to the control group. After 6 months, the former control group reported a significant reduction in average pain for the following body areas: shoulder, M = 48.0 (CI = 32.5-63.5) to M = 28.7 (CI = 18.7-38.8); forearm, M = 45.6 (CI = 30.8-60.4) to M = 15.6 (CI = 5.5-25.7); and wrist and hand, M = 34.8 (CI = 20.1-49.5) to M = 15.8 (6.4-25.2). Neck pain was marginally significantly reduced, M = 39.4 (CI = 25.2-53.6) to M = 27.4 (CI = 15.2-39.6), p = . 07. The group getting the initial intervention did not report any significant changes in any of the body areas from 6 to 12 months after the study period; that is, the reduction in pain level obtained still existed. The results from this study indicate clearly the importance of using a more neutral position of the forearm when using a computer mouse. Laboratory tests on performance measures (speed and accuracy) showed that the Anir mouse falls well within the range of performance measures associated with already existing commercially available input devices.
Evaluation of Gender Variation In Cardiovascular Response To Isometric Exercise In Normal Adolescents

Isometric exercise remains an important modality in patient's rehabilitation and also employed in advanced strength and endurance training programs. The purpose of this study was to determine if the cardiovascular responses to upper limb isometric exercises differ between healthy normotensive male and female students. The study was performed on randomly selected healthy male and female subjects of age 17-19 years (30 male and 30 female). Their anthropometric variables namely height, weight and body mass index were recorded. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at rest and after 30 seconds of isometric exercise. Post-exercise cardiovascular parameters were significantly greater (p<0.05) than baseline values without gender bias. The males had a higher pre-exercise HR, SBP than the females but no significant difference in DBP and MAP. However, the post-exercise SBP and MAP were significantly greater (p<0.05) in males than females and no significant difference in rise in the HR and DBP between them. There was positive correlation between BMI and DBP in females and males showed positive correlation between DBP, MAP and BMI. Paired t-test and Unpaired t-test were used for statistical analysis. The study concludes that cardiovascular and hemodynamic responses to isometric handgrip exercise differ by gender.
Toll-interacting Protein Modulates Colitis Susceptibility in Mice

Background:The intestinal epithelium accommodates with a myriad of commensals to maintain immunological homeostasis, but the underlying mechanisms regulating epithelial responsiveness to flora-derived signals remain poorly understood. Herein, we sought to determine the role of the Toll/interleukin (IL)-1 receptor regulator Toll-interacting protein (Tollip) in intestinal homeostasis. Methods:Colitis susceptibility was determined after oral dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) administration or by breeding Tollip−/− on an IL-10−/− background. The intestinal flora was depleted with 4 antibiotics before DSS exposure to assess its contribution in colitis onset. Bone marrow chimeras were generated to identify the cellular compartment, whereby Tollip may negatively regulate intestinal inflammation in response to DSS. Tollip-dependent epithelial barrier functions were studied in vitro by using Tollip-knockdown in Caco-2 cells and in vivo by immunohistochemistry and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran gavage. Results:Genetic ablation of Tollip did not lead to spontaneous intestinal inflammatory disorders. However, Tollip deficiency aggravated spontaneous disease onset in IL-10−/− mice and increased susceptibility to DSS colitis. Increased colitis severity in Tollip-deficient mice was not improved by bacterial flora depletion using broad-spectrum antibiotics. In addition, DSS exposure of bone marrow chimeric mice revealed a protective role for Tollip in nonhematopoietic cells. Knockdown of Tollip in epithelial cells led to exaggerated NF&kgr;-B activity and proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Finally, DSS-treated Tollip−/− mice showed enhanced intestinal permeability and increased epithelial apoptosis when compared with wild-type controls, a finding that coincided with tight junction alterations on injury. Conclusion:Overall, our data show an essential role for Tollip on colitis susceptibility in mice.
Liver transplantation in children

Although liver transplantation is now accepted as the ideal therapy for end-stage liver disease, relatively few centers have gained a large experience in children, and good results have been elusive. Technical difficulty and a high incidence of graft failure are among the obstacles to success. At the University of California at Los Angeles, 39% of our liver transplants are in the patients who are younger than 18 years. We have analyzed our experience with 103 patients to emphasize factors important to a favorable outcome with the procedure. One hundred twenty-three transplants were performed in 103 children (mean age, 5.2 years; 48% younger than 3 years). No reduced-size grafts were used. Scrupulous attention to technical details of the vascular reconstruction, including frequent use of the supraceliac aorta of the recipient and interrupted suture techniques, ensured construction of sound hepatic artery and portal vein anastomoses at the first operation. Preoperative exchange transfusions were used if the prothrombin time was prolonged beyond 7 seconds, resulting in an average blood loss of only 3.3 volumes. Cyclosporine dosage was maintained in the high therapeutic range for the first 4 weeks, and anti-T-cell antibody (OKT3) was used for rejection (38%). Amphotericin prophylaxis was used for biliary atresia patients with multiple previous operations. Eighty-two of one hundred three patients (80%) are alive. There were no intraoperative deaths. Actuarial survival rates at 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years are 80%, 79%, and 77%, respectively. Survival of patients who underwent transplantation at age less than 1 year is 65% versus 85% at age more than 1 year (p = 0.08). Retransplantation was performed in 19 patients (18%), with a survival rate of 58%. Hepatic artery thrombosis, the most frequent technical complication, occurred in only 16 patients (13%). Survival rates of ABO identical-match versus nonidentical-match grafts were 96% and 60%, respectively (p = 0.02). Graft survival was only 47% if more than one steroid cycle was needed, compared to 75% survival with OKT3 treatment. Despite impairment of renal function (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] less than 80 cc/kg/min) in 54% of patients and hypertension requiring therapy in 27%, 90% of the children demonstrated enhancement of growth, development, and functional status. The following conclusions were made. (1) Pediatric liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for all types of end-stage liver disease and should be considered early. (2) Factors that enhance survival include technical precision, aggressive retransplantation, antifungal chemoprophylaxis and therapy, and judicious immunosuppression with use of OKT3 for rejection. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Increased MYC gene copy number correlates with increased mRNA levels in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Background Translocations involving the MYC gene and increased MYC mRNA levels are associated with poor outcome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. However, the presence of increased MYC gene copy number and/or polysomy of chromosome 8 have not been previously described. Design and Methods Utilizing dual color chromogenic in situ hybridization, we investigated MYC gene copy and chromosome 8 centromere numbers in 52 cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Cases were divided into those with “increased” or “not increased” MYC gene copy number for comparison with MYC mRNA levels, Ki-67 values, and survival. Results Increased MYC gene copy number was present in 38% of cases. Overall, the average MYC mRNA level was 2398 (range, 342 – 9783) and the percentage of nuclei positive for Ki-67 was 57.5% (range, 20–87%). Within the group with increased MYC copy number, the MYC mRNA values ranged from 816 to 5912 (average, 2843) and the Ki-67 values ranged from 23% to 83% (average, 57%). Within the group with not increased MYC copy number, MYC mRNA values ranged from 342 to 9783 (average, 2118) and the Ki-67 values ranged from 20% to 87% (average, 58%). There was a statistically significant relationship between increased MYC gene copy number and increased MYC mRNA (P=0.034) and a trend toward a relationship between increased mRNA and higher Ki-67 values. Conclusions This is the first report that low level copy number increases are common in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and that these changes correlate with MYC mRNA in a statistically significant manner. MYC copy number changes are an additional possible molecular mechanism that may result in increased mRNA and, likely, high proliferation and poor outcome.