Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of curdione in rabbit plasma by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.

A sensitive and selective liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method for determination of curdione in rabbit plasma was developed. After addition of tramadol as internal standard (IS), protein precipitation by acetonitrile was used for sample preparation. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Zorbax SB-C₁₈ (2.1 × 50 mm, 3.5 µm) column with acetonitrile-0.1% formic acid as mobile phase with gradient elution. An electrospray ionization source was applied and operated in positive-ion mode; selective ion monitoring was used for quantification using target fragment ions m/z 237 for curdione and m/z 264 for the IS. Calibration plots were linear over the range of 20-4000 ng/mL for curdione in plasma. The lower limit of quantification for curdione was 20 ng/mL. Mean recovery of curdione from plasma was in the range 94.3-98.4%. The RSD of intra-day and inter-day precision were both less than 9%. This method is simple and sensitive enough to be used in pharmacokinetic research for the determination of curdione in rabbit plasma.
Molecular and Phenotypic Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant and Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Patients with Septic Arthritis

ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common pathogens in community- and hospital-associated infections and frequently causes severe and intractable infections in osteoarticular tissues. S. aureus isolates that are resistant to methicillin (meticillin) (MRSA isolates) and intermediately resistant to vancomycin (VISA isolates) have emerged. In this report, we described two patients, one female and one male, diagnosed with septic arthritis due to S. aureus infections. A total of 13 MRSA isolates were obtained from these two patients. All but one isolate belonged to the VISA group. All seven isolates from the female patient were determined to be community associated, multilocus sequence type (MLST) 59, and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mecA (SCCmec) type IV; had direct repeat units (DRUs) of nine repeats; were spa type t437; and were susceptible to sulfa and quinolone antibiotics. The other six isolates, from the male patient, were determined to be hospital associated, MLST 239, and SCCmec type III; had DRUs of 14 repeats; were spa type t037; and were resistant to sulfa and quinolone antibiotics. All 13 MRSA isolates were in agr group I, were pvl negative, and showed no evidence of any association between vancomycin resistance and autolysis.
Twenty‐five year survival of chronic granulocytic leukaemia with spontaneous karyotype conversion

Summary. Following busulphan‐induced bone marrow hypoplasia a woman with chronic granulocytic leukaemia has survived 25 years from diagnosis. Since the last course of busulphan therapy in 1959 she has remained in clinical and haematological remission. Repeated cytogenetic analysis of bone marrow showed Philadelphia chromosome mosaicism with a minority of abnormal metaphases till 1969. Analysis of 150 metaphases in 1982 revealed no cells containing the Philadelphia chromosome. The possible significance of this spontaneous karyotype conversion is discussed.
ShapePalettes: interactive normal transfer via sketching

We present a simple interactive approach to specify 3D shape in a single view using "shape palettes". The interaction is as follows: draw a simple 2D primitive in the 2D view and then specify its 3D orientation by drawing a corresponding primitive on a shape palette. The shape palette is presented as an image of some familiar shape whose local 3D orientation is readily understood and can be easily marked over. The 3D orientation from the shape palette is transferred to the 2D primitive based on the markup. As we will demonstrate, only sparse markup is needed to generate expressive and detailed 3D surfaces. This markup approach can be used to model freehand 3D surfaces drawn in a single view, or combined with image-snapping tools to quickly extract surfaces from images and photographs.
LensMouse: augmenting the mouse with an interactive touch display

We introduce LensMouse, a novel device that embeds a touch-screen display -- or tangible 'lens' -- onto a mouse. Users interact with the display of the mouse using direct touch, whilst also performing regular cursor-based mouse interactions. We demonstrate some of the unique capabili-ties of such a device, in particular for interacting with auxil-iary windows, such as toolbars, palettes, pop-ups and dia-log-boxes. By migrating these windows onto LensMouse, challenges such as screen real-estate use and window man-agement can be alleviated. In a controlled experiment, we evaluate the effectiveness of LensMouse in reducing cursor movements for interacting with auxiliary windows. We also consider the concerns involving the view separation that results from introducing such a display-based device. Our results reveal that overall users are more effective with LenseMouse than with auxiliary application windows that are managed either in single or dual-monitor setups. We conclude by presenting other application scenarios that LensMouse could support.
Experimental 70% hydrofluoric acid burns: histological observations in an established human skin explants ex vivo model

Background: Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is particularly dangerous due to the potential for systemic effects and induction of severe skin necrosis through two mechanisms: corrosiveness and local tissue toxicity. In addition, because it is only partially dissociated (pKa 3.2), it is capable of penetrating deeply into tissues. There is a lack of experimental studies that objectively characterize the behavior of HF diffusion into human skin, specifically the kinetics of tissue penetration resulting in severe cellular lesions. Methodology/principal findings: We describe the cutaneous effects of HF using an established ex vivo human skin model. The diffusion of 70% HF starts within the first minute of contact at the epidermal surface and after 2 min reaches the basal layer. In the subsequent minute, the epidermis is destroyed and lesions appear in the papillary dermis after 4 min. Soon after, damage appears in the upper reticular dermis. Thus, 70% HF needs only 5 min of contact to completely penetrate human skin explants. This experiment is reproducible and corroborates previous studies and clinical effects reported in accidental HF exposures. Conclusion/significance: This study shows that the management of HF chemical skin exposure is a question of minutes, especially for initial decontamination. These experimental observations could be useful for objectively comparing skin decontamination methods. Further studies should help to confirm these preliminary results.
Caries Management By Risk Assessment in a Cleft and Craniofacial Center

Abstract Patients with craniofacial anomalies have an increased incidence of dental caries. The prevention program “Caries Management By Risk Assessment” (CAMBRA) has been previously validated but has not yet been introduced at a widespread level in a medical setting, particularly for this high-risk population. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing CAMBRA during the medical visit at an institutional tertiary care center, which treats children with craniofacial anomalies. The study included 161 participants aged 1 to 18 years. Patients and parents received a personalized educational session, toothbrushing tutorial, and fluoride varnish application. We assessed the prevalence of dental caries, caries risk factors, and knowledge of oral hygiene in this patient population. The overall caries prevalence in this group was higher than average (57% compared with 42%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1). The most prevalent risk factors were developmental delay, deep pits/fissures, low socioeconomic status, orthodontic appliances, and carbohydrate snacks. The greatest predictors of dental caries were having 1 or more risk factors and having low socioeconomic status. In summary, children with craniofacial anomalies were at high risk for dental caries, with high rates of risk factors and low rates of preventive factors. Our findings revealed that basic oral hygiene standards are not being met in this high-risk population, highlighting the need for implementation of protocols such as CAMBRA. The results of this study can aid healthcare workers in craniofacial centers and children’s hospitals to improve the understanding of oral hygiene and dental care of their patients.
JMJD2B Promotes Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition by Cooperating with β-Catenin and Enhances Gastric Cancer Metastasis

Purpose: This study investigated the role of histone demethylase Jumonji domain–containing protein 2B (JMJD2B) in promoting epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and underlying molecular mechanisms in the progression of gastric cancer. Experimental Design: The induction of EMT by JMJD2B in gastric cancer cells and its underlying mechanisms were examined by a series of assays. In vivo and in vitro assays were performed to clarify invasive potential of JMJD2B in gastric cancer cells. The expression dynamics of JMJD2B were detected using immunohistochemistry in 101 cases of primary gastric cancer tissues. Results: Inhibition of JMJD2B by specific siRNA suppresses EMT of gastric cancer cells, whereas ectopic expression of JMJD2B induces EMT. Importantly, JMJD2B is physically associated with β-catenin and enhances its nuclear localization and transcriptional activity. JMJD2B, together with β-catenin, binds to the promoter of the β-catenin target gene vimentin to increase its transcription by inducing H3K9 demethylation locally. JMJD2B inhibition attenuates migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro and metastasis in vivo. The expression of JMJD2B was positively correlated with tumor size (P = 0.017), differentiation status (P = 0.002), tumor invasion (P = 0.045), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.000), distant metastasis (P = 0.024), and tumor–node–metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.002) in patients with gastric cancer. Conclusions: The data reveal a novel function of JMJD2B in promoting EMT and gastric cancer invasion and metastasis, implicating JMJD2B as a potential target for reversing EMT and intervention of the progression of gastric cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 19(23); 6419–29. ©2013 AACR.
Psychiatric resilience: longitudinal twin study

Background The source of variability in people's response to stressful life events is poorly understood. Aims We examine the genetic and environmental underpinning of resilience (i.e. the difference between the twins' internalising symptoms and their predicted symptoms based on cumulative stressful life events). Method Stressful life event exposure and internalising symptoms were assessed at two time points in 7500 adult twins. Using the residual between actual and predicted internalising symptom total score, twin modelling was conducted for each wave separately and longitudinally. Results Resilience was found to have a moderate genetic heritability at each wave (~31%). Qualitative gender effects were found. Incorporating error of measurement into the model increased the estimated heritability for the latent construct of resilience (~50%). When measurement error and occasion-specific effects were removed, environmental influences contributed roughly equally to level of resilience. Conclusions Both genes and environment influence level of psychiatric resilience, and are largely stable over time. Environmental influences can have an enduring effect on resilience.
Patients with shoulder impingement remain satisfied 6 years after arthroscopic subacromial decompression

Background Although arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD) is a common procedure for treatment of shoulder impingement, few long term results have been published. In this prospective study, we determined whether the high degree of patient satisfaction at 6 months postoperatively reported by us earlier remained at the 6-year follow-up. Patients and methods We originally reported high patient satisfaction 6 months after ASD for shoulder impingement in 50 prospectively studied patients using the Disability of the Arm Shoulder and Hand questionnaire (DASH) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Patients with associated shoulder disorders were excluded. The surgeons were experienced shoulder arthroscopists. 6 years after surgery, the DASH questionnaire and the VAS were sent to these 50 patients. 2 patients had other medical problems of the upper extremity that affected the DASH and VAS scores, 1 patient was lost to follow-up, and another refused to participate. Thus, 46 patients with a mean age of 55 (33–78) years were included in this 6-year evaluation. Results The considerable improvement in both the DASH score and the VAS that was observed 6 months after surgery persisted or had even improved 6 years after surgery. Interpretation Properly selected patients with shoulder impingement treated with ASD remain satisfied 6 years after surgery.
Predictive modeling of landslide hazards in Wen County, northwestern China based on information value, weights-of-evidence, and certainty factor

Abstract Landslide susceptibility mapping is essential in delineating landslide prone areas in mountainous regions. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate landslide susceptibility mapping using three methods, information value (IV), weights-of-evidence (WofE), and certainty factor (CF) in southeastern Gansu province, China. Firstly, the landslide in the study area was located mainly using aerial-photo interpretation and field surveys. A total of 529 landslides were randomly divided using a ratio of 70/30 for training and validation of these methods. Eight landslide conditioning factors including slope angle, altitude, NDVI, distance to faults, distance to roads, distance to rivers, rainfall, and lithology, were considered. Landslide susceptibility maps were produced for each of the three methods. Susceptibility maps were verified and compared using the area under the curve (AUC) method. The success rate curve demonstrated that the AUC for the IV, WofE, and CF methods was 88.02, 87.56, and 89.04%, respectively, and the prediction rate curve showed that the AUC was 86.24, 86.34, and 87.44%, respectively. Furthermore, results showed that CF method had the highest accuracy in comparison with other methods. Generally, the three methods showed reasonable accuracy in landslide susceptibility mapping. Results of this study can serve as guidelines to managers and policy makers regarding the prevention and mitigation of landslide hazards.
A New Supernova Remnant Coincident with the Slow X-Ray Pulsar AX J1845–0258

We report on Very Large Array observations in the direction of the recently discovered slow X-ray pulsar AX J1845-0258. In the resulting images, we find a 5' shell of radio emission; the shell is linearly polarized with a nonthermal spectral index. We classify this source as a previously unidentified, young (<8000 yr) supernova remnant (SNR), G29.6+0.1, which we propose is physically associated with AX J1845-0258. The young age of G29.6+0.1 is then consistent with the interpretation that anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are isolated, highly magnetized neutron stars ("magnetars"). Three of the six known AXPs can now be associated with SNRs; we conclude that AXPs are young (≲10,000 yr) objects and that they are produced in at least 5% of core-collapse supernovae.
Asymptotics of eigenstates of elliptic problems with mixed boundary data on domains tending to infinity

We analyze the asymptotic behavior of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of an elliptic operator with mixed boundary conditions on cylindrical domains when the length of the cylinder goes to infinity. We identify the correct limiting problem and show in particular, that in general the limiting behavior is very different from the one for the Dirichlet boundary conditions.
Use of a Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model for Rats to Study the Influence of Body Fat Mass and Induction of CYP1A2 on the Pharmacokinetics of TCDD

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a highly lipophilic chemical that distributes into adipose tissue, especially at low doses. However, at high doses TCDD sequesters in liver because it induces cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) that binds TCDD. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was developed that included an inducible elimination rate of TCDD in the Sprague-Dawley rat. Objectives of this work were to characterize the influence of induction of CYP1A2 and adipose tissue mass fraction on the terminal elimination half-life (t1/2) of TCDD using this PBPK model. When the model assumes a fixed elimination of TCDD, t1/2 increases with dose, due to hepatic sequestration. Because experimental data indicate that the t1/2 of TCDD decreases with dose, the model was modified to include an inducible elimination rate. The PBPK model was then used to compare the t1/2 after an increase of adipose tissue mass fraction from 6.9 to 70%. The model suggests that at low exposures, increasing adipose tissue mass increases the terminal t1/2. However, at higher exposures, as CYP1A2 is induced, the relationship between adipose tissue mass and t1/2 reaches a plateau. This demonstrates that an inducible elimination rate is needed in a PBPK model in order to describe the pharmacokinetics of TCDD. At low exposures these models are more sensitive to parameters related to partitioning into adipose tissue.
Quantitative Transfer in Reduplicative and Templatic Morphology

Segmental quantity-the distinction between long and short vowels or geminate and simplex consonants-is preserved under specifiable conditions in reduplication. ’ Current nonlinear phonology holds, for a number of compelling reasons, that segmental quantity is represented confrgurationally, in the mapping of phonemic melodies to prosodic templates. The theory also holds that reduplication is accomplished by specifying a template affix which is filled by the phonemic melody elements of the base. How can configurational information like segmental quantity be preserved in reduplication when the reduplicative affix itself specifies the configuration in the form of a template? This problem of preserving configurational information under reduplication is dubbed “transfer” by Clements (198% and so we will refer to it here.
Effects of One-Hour Training Course and Spirometry on the Ability of Physicians to Diagnose and Treat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Backgrounds In China, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in persons 40 years of age or older is estimated at 8.2%, but this is likely a substantial underestimate. Methods Eight secondary hospitals which didn’t have spirometries were chosen randomly in Hunan province of central south China. Physician subjects at these hospitals underwent a one-hour training course on the Chinese COPD guidelines. Physicians answered questionnaires assessing their knowledge of the guidelines before and after the training session. The mean correct scores of questionnaires were compared before and after training. Four out of the eight hospitals were given access to spirometry. Eligible patient subjects underwent spirometry testing prior to the physician visit. After seeing the patient, physicians were asked to answer a questionnaire relating to the diagnosis and severity of COPD. Physicians were then given the results of the spirometry, and asked to answer the same questionnaire. Physicians’ responses before and after receiving the spirometry results were compared. Results 225 physicians participated in the training session. 207 questionnaires were completed. Mean scores (out of 100) before and after the training were 53.1 ± 21.7 and 93.3 ± 9.8, respectively. 18 physicians and 307 patient subjects participated in the spirometry intervention. Based on spirometric results, the prevalence of COPD was 38.8%. Physicians correctly identified the presence of COPD without spirometric data in 85 cases (76.6%); this increased to 117 cases (97.4%) once spirometric data were available. Without spirometric data, physicians incorrectly diagnosed COPD in 38 patients; this decreased to 6 patients once spirometric data were available. Spirometric data also improved the ability of physicians to correctly grade COPD severity. Conclusions Simple educational training can substantially improve physicians’ knowledge relating to COPD. Spirometry combined with education improves the ability of physicians to diagnose COPD and to assess its severity.
Statistical analysis of coupled time series with Kernel Cross-Spectral Density operators

Many applications require the analysis of complex interactions between time series. These interactions can be non-linear and involve vector valued as well as complex data structures such as graphs or strings. Here we provide a general framework for the statistical analysis of these dependencies when random variables are sampled from stationary time-series of arbitrary objects. To achieve this goal, we study the properties of the Kernel Cross-Spectral Density (KCSD) operator induced by positive definite kernels on arbitrary input domains. This framework enables us to develop an independence test between time series, as well as a similarity measure to compare different types of coupling. The performance of our test is compared to the HSIC test using i.i. d. assumptions, showing improvements in terms of detection errors, as well as the suitability of this approach for testing dependency in complex dynamical systems. This similarity measure enables us to identify different types of interactions in electrophysiological neural time series.
Band Selection for Hyperspectral Imagery Using Affinity Propagation

Hyperspectral imagery generally contains enormous amounts of data due to hundreds of spectral bands. Band selection is often adopted firstly to reduce computational cost and accelerate knowledge discovery of subsequent classificationand analysis. Recently, a new clustering algorithm, named "affinity propagation," is proposed. Different from the popular k-centers clustering technique, affinity propagation operates by simultaneously considering all data points as potential cluster centers (called "exemplars") and exchanging messages between data points until a good set of exemplars and clusters emerges. In this paper, we apply affinity propagation for band selection of hyperspectral data. Experimental results demonstrate that, compared with some relevant and recent methods for band selection, the bands chosen by affinity propagation best represent the hyperspectral imagery from the pixel image classification standpoint.
Use of seal-like robot PARO in sensory group therapy for older adults with dementia

This work presents the preliminary results of an eight- week study of the seal-like robot PARO being used in a sensory therapy activity in a local nursing home. Participants were older adults with different levels of cognitive impairment. We analyzed participant behaviors in video recorded during the weekly interactions between older adults, a therapist, and PARO. We found that PARO's continued use led to a steady increase in physical interaction between older adults and the robot and an increasing willingness among participants to interact with it.