Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inter-Reader Reliability of Early FDG-PET/CT Response Assessment Using the Deauville Scale after 2 Cycles of Intensive Chemotherapy (OEPA) in Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Purpose The five point Deauville (D) scale is widely used to assess interim PET metabolic response to chemotherapy in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients. An International Validation Study reported good concordance among reviewers in ABVD treated advanced stage HL patients for the binary discrimination between score D1,2,3 and score D4,5. Inter-reader reliability of the whole scale is not well characterised. Methods Five international expert readers scored 100 interim PET/CT scans from paediatric HL patients. Scans were acquired in 51 European hospitals after two courses of OEPA chemotherapy (according to the EuroNet-PHL-C1 study). Images were interpreted in direct comparison with staging PET/CTs. Results The probability that two random readers concord on the five point D score of a random case is only 42% (global kappa = 0.24). Aggregating to a three point scale D1,2 vs. D3 vs. D4,5 improves concordance to 60% (kappa = 0.34). Concordance if one of two readers assigns a given score is 70% for score D1,2 only 36% for score D3 and 64% for D4,5. Concordance for the binary decisions D1,2 vs. D3,4,5 is 67% and 86% for D1,2,3 vs D4,5 (kappa = 0.36 resp. 0.56). If one reader assigns D1,2,3 concordance probability is 92%, but only 64% if D4,5 is called. Discrepancies occur mainly in mediastinum, neck and skeleton. Conclusion Inter-reader reliability of the five point D-scale is poor in this interobserver analysis of paediatric patients who underwent OEPA. Inter-reader variability is maximal in cases assigned to D2 or D3. The binary distinction D1,2,3 versus D4,5 is the most reliable criterion for clinical decision making.
Fatigue strength improvement of a hard chromium plated AISI 4140 steel using a plasma nitriding pre-treatment

The effect of a plasma nitriding (PN) pre-treatment on the fatigue performance of hard chromium (HC) plated AISI 4140 steel has been investigated by conducting a series of rotary bending fatigue tests at a frequency of 95 Hz. hourglass shaped test specimens of 4-mm diameter had been plasma nitrided at 510°C for 4, 8 and 12 h. It was found that HC-plated specimens with a coating layer of 23 ± 2 μm thickness showed approximately 33% reduction in fatigue strength when compared to quenched and tempered (Q&T) specimens. An application of the PN pre-treatment before the plating process was effective in improving the fatigue performance of HC-coated steel. An improvement of 71% in the fatigue strength of pre-treated specimens was recorded as compared with the specimens, which were HC plated only. The results also indicated that prolonged nitriding time did not cause better improvement in the fatigue performance.
PROTEIN SOLUBILITY AND PRODUCTION OF GELS FROM JUMBO SQUID

Solubility at several ionic strengths (0 to 1.0 M), pH (2 to 13) and gelling capacity of jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas muscle proteins were evaluated. Protein recovery was >90% at pH 9–12. Autohydrolysis was evaluated and affected only sarcoplasmic proteins. Folding score was 5 on all gels. Strength was higher for thermal gels prepared from squid fin (50.2 ± 1.2 N) than that prepared from the mantle (23.4 ± 2.5 N). There was no significant difference in gel strengths from previously frozen (46.4 ± 7.5 N) and never-frozen samples (43 ± 5.5 N). Moisture, water drip and water-holding capacity were evaluated on thermal gels. There were significant differences between frozen and never-frozen samples. Results on solubility and gel forming capacity of the proteins from mantle and fin of jumbo squid suggest that these properties can provide additional value to this resource. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Jumbo squid is a rich source of high-quality protein. Obtaining sophisticated products would be an easy way to take advantage of the high-quality proteins in jumbo squid muscle. Knowledge of the functional properties of those proteins is needed to achieve this. The use of such properties, such as gel-forming capacity, which are similar to other proteins used in the food industry, will give jumbo squid added value. The results described here indicate that jumbo squid proteins may be useful as a food ingredient because of their solubility and gel-forming capacity.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Detect Early Molecular and Cellular Changes in Alzheimer's Disease

Recent pharmaceutical trials have demonstrated that slowing or reversing pathology in Alzheimer's disease is likely to be possible only in the earliest stages of disease, perhaps even before significant symptoms develop. Pathology in Alzheimer's disease accumulates for well over a decade before symptoms are detected giving a large potential window of opportunity for intervention. It is therefore important that imaging techniques detect subtle changes in brain tissue before significant macroscopic brain atrophy. Current diagnostic techniques often do not permit early diagnosis or are too expensive for routine clinical use. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the most versatile, affordable, and powerful imaging modality currently available, being able to deliver detailed analyses of anatomy, tissue volumes, and tissue state. In this mini-review, we consider how MRI might detect patients at risk of future dementia in the early stages of pathological change when symptoms are mild. We consider the contributions made by the various modalities of MRI (structural, diffusion, perfusion, relaxometry) in identifying not just atrophy (a late-stage AD symptom) but more subtle changes reflective of early dementia pathology. The sensitivity of MRI not just to gross anatomy but to the underlying “health” at the cellular (and even molecular) scales, makes it very well suited to this task.
Management of Anticoagulant and Antiplatelet Medications in Adults Undergoing Percutaneous Interventions.

OBJECTIVE Many radiologists are unfamiliar with the new antithrombogenic medications and how to modify patient management before nonvascular percutaneous procedures performed in a radiology department. In this article, we review the indications for use, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, dosing, and recommendations for periprocedural management of patients using these medications. CONCLUSION To improve patient safety, radiologists involved in percutaneous procedures should have knowledge of the antithrombotics that will be encountered routinely in clinical practice.
Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia among Hospitalized Patients: Is It Different from Community Acquired Pneumonia?

Background The increasing number of outpatients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens has led to a new category of pneumonia, termed healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). We determined the differences in etiology and outcomes between patients with HCAP and those with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to clarify the risk factors for HCAP mortality. Methods A retrospective study comparing patients with HCAP and CAP at Jeju National University Hospital. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Results A total of 483 patients (208 patients HCAP, 275 patients with CAP) were evaluated. Patients with HCAP were older than those with CAP (median, 74 years; interquartile range [IQR], 65-81 vs. median, 69 years; IQR, 52-78; p<0.0001). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the major pathogen in both groups, and MDR pathogens were isolated more frequently from patients with HCAP than with CAP (18.8% vs. 4.9%, p<0.0001). Initial pneumonia severity was greater in patients with HCAP than with CAP. The total 30-day mortality rate was 9.9% and was higher in patients with HCAP based on univariate analysis (16.3% vs. 5.1%; odds ratio (OR), 3.64; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.90-6.99; p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, and initial severity, the association between HCAP and 30-day mortality became non-significant (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 0.94-4.18; p=0.167). Conclusion HCAP was a common cause of hospital admissions and was associated with a high mortality rate. This increased mortality was related primarily to age and initial clinical vital signs, rather than combination antibiotic therapy or type of pneumonia.
Religiosity and Fear of Death: Strength of Belief System

The present study examined the hypothesis that the strength of one's belief system is an important determinant in fear of death. Individuals (120 males and 200 females, aged 17 to 44 yr.) who defined themselves as either high or low in self-perceived religiosity exhibited less death anxiety than individuals in the medium range. Increased perceptions of control and predictability are offered as an explanation.
From Belief Change to Preference Change

Various tasks need to consider preferences in a dynamic way. We start by discussing several possible meanings of preference change, and then focus on the one we think is the most natural: preferences evolving after some new fact has been learned. We define a family of such preference change operators, parameterized by a revision function on epistemic states and a semantics for interpreting preferences over formulas. We list some natural properties that this kind of preference change should fulfill and give conditions on the revision function and the semantics of preference for each of these properties to hold.
Modeling the Resource Requirements of Convolutional Neural Networks on Mobile Devices

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have revolutionized the research in computer vision, due to their ability to capture complex patterns, resulting in high inference accuracies. However, the increasingly complex nature of these neural networks means that they are particularly suited for server computers with powerful GPUs. We envision that deep learning applications will be eventually and widely deployed on mobile devices, e.g., smartphones, self-driving cars, and drones. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to understand the resource requirements (time, memory) of CNNs on mobile devices. First, by deploying several popular CNNs on mobile CPUs and GPUs, we measure and analyze the performance and resource usage for every layer of the CNNs. Our findings point out the potential ways of optimizing the performance on mobile devices. Second, we model the resource requirements of the different CNN computations. Finally, based on the measurement, profiling, and modeling, we build and evaluate our modeling tool, Augur, which takes a CNN configuration (descriptor) as the input and estimates the compute time and resource usage of the CNN, to give insights about whether and how efficiently a CNN can be run on a given mobile platform. In doing so Augur tackles several challenges: (i) how to overcome profiling and measurement overhead; (ii) how to capture the variance in different mobile platforms with different processors, memory, and cache sizes; and (iii) how to account for the variance in the number, type and size of layers of the different CNN configurations.
Ecophysiology of seed germination in Mediterranean geophytes. 1. Muscari spp

Ecophysiological aspects of seed germination were investigated in four Mediterranean geophytes of the genus Muscari (Liliaceae): M. comosum (tassel hyacinth), M. neglectum (common grape hyacinth), M. commutatum and M. weissii. Experiments were performed at constant temperatures in the dark and under temperature and light conditions simulating those prevailing in nature during November–January, i.e. well into the rainy season of the Mediterranean climate. In all species, no primary dormancy was revealed, and germination occurred in a rather narrow range of cool temperatures (optimum at 10 or 15°C) and at a remarkably slow rate; both germination characteristics seem to be associated with autumn/winter seed germination and seedling establishment. Such a postulated strategy is ecologically advantageous within an unpredictable rainfall regime, known to prevail during the start of the rainy period of the Mediterranean climate. This strategy may also explain the spread of germination of M. comosum seeds over two consecutive years, observed by Theophrastus. Far-red light, simulating light conditions under a dense canopy, resulted in only a slight delay of germination compared to dark controls. Diurnal white light, qualitatively simulating natural daylight, caused a significant decrease of the germination rate in all four species studied. Moreover, white light was found to suppress considerably final seed germination (photoinhibition) in M. weissii and M. neglectum; in the latter species, prolonged imbibition under white light also led to the induction of secondary dormancy.
Gravity and Centrifugal Casting of Light Metal Alloys using rapidly produced sand moulds

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iii TABLE OF CONTENTS . iv AUTHORSHIP . viii LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . xi ABBRIEVIATIONS . xvii NOMENCLATURE . xviii CHAPTER
Subband analysis and synthesis of real-world textures for objective and subjective determination of roughness

In a previous study we investigated the roughness of real world textures taken from the CUReT database. We showed that people could systematically judge the subjective roughness of these textures. However, we did not determine which objective factors relate to these perceptual judgments of roughness. In the present study we take the first step in this direction using a subband decomposition of the CUReT textures. This subband decomposition is used to predict the subjective roughness judgments of the previous study. We also generated synthetic textures with uniformly distributed white noise of the same variance in each subband, and conducted a perceptual experiment to determine the perceived roughness of both the original and synthesized texture images. The participants were asked to rank-order the images based on the degree of perceived roughness. It was found that the synthesis method produces images that are similar in roughness to the original ones except for a small but systematic deviation.
The effect of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy on resting ECG in type 1 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. AIM To assess the manifestations of CAN on ECG at rest. SUBJECTS AND METHODS 100 type I diabetic patients, mean age 36.5 (range 17-62) years, mean duration of diabetes 14.6 (range 0-49) years were examined. The control group consisted of 88 healthy subjects, mean age 37 (range 15-65) years. Cardiovascular reflexes (respiration sinus arrhythmia, orthostatic test and Valsalva's maneuvre) were examined, and ECG at rest was analysed. RESULTS In 35 (35%) diabetics CAN was established. In comparison to diabetic patients without neuropathy, patients with CAN had a higher heart rate (94, 89-99 vs. 79, 75-82 heart beats.min-1, p < 0.001), higher P wave voltage (0.13, 0.12-0.15 vs 0.11, 0.09-0.12 mV, p < 0.001), as well as QTc interval length (422, 410-433 vs 396, 388-404 ms, p < 0.001), but they had a lower voltage of R wave (0.83, 0.72-0.94 vs. 1.0, 0.91-1.09 mV, p < 0.05) and lower T wave voltage (0.18, 0.15-0.21 vs 0.23, 0.19-0.27 mV, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The higher voltage of P wave, lower voltage of T wave, shorter PQ interval and prolonged QTc interval with tachycardia may be the manifestation of relative sympatheticotonia. Lower R wave voltage and the prolonged QRS complex are the possible signs of cardiomyopathy. (Tab. 4, Ref. 31.)
Interleukin-10 to tumor necrosis factor-alpha ratio is a predictive biomarker in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: interleukin-10 to tumor necrosis factor-alpha ratio in steatohepatitis

Objectives Fatty liver disease is commonly associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Insulin resistance (IR) as an investigative biomarker is only concerned with fatty liver that results from DM type 2 associated with metabolic syndrome. Irrespective of IR, DM is generally characterized by overproduction of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&agr;), whereas action of the latter is modulated by the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using TNF-&agr; alone or IL-10/TNF-&agr; ratio compared to IR, as a promising biomarker for fatty liver assessment in DM. Furthermore, we hypothesized that using garlic as an immunomodulator may decrease TNF-&agr; and increase IL-10 production to improve steatohepatitis. Methods DM was induced metabolically by a high-fat diet to bring about IR, or chemically by alloxan, producing insulin deficiency, in male albino rats. Garlic powder was supplemented (15 mg/kg per day) for 3 weeks. Fatty liver was depicted histologically and biochemically (aspartic aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, HOMA-IR, TNF-&agr;, IL-10, IL-10/TNF-&agr; ratio). Results We found that, in contrast to obese rats, garlic decreased IL-10/TNF-&agr; ratio, despite decreasing TNF-&agr; in alloxan diabetic rats in agreement with the histology, which revealed more prominent improvement in the obese group. Moreover, the effect of garlic was not linked to improvement of IR in obese rats. Conclusion We conclude that IL-10/TNF-&agr; ratio may be considered as a convenient biomarker for investigation of fatty liver of different grades, apart from being associated with IR, and immunomodulation of this ratio in favor of increasing it may exert significant improvement.
Targeting GABAB receptors for anti-abuse drug discovery

Introduction: There is increasing evidence encouraging the development of drugs that positively modulate the γ-aminobutyric acid type B (GABAB) receptor for combating addiction. Compounds that target GABAB receptors are unique as anti-abuse therapies because of their impact against multiple addictive drugs. Areas covered: The authors present the basic information concerning the drug actions of GABA and GABAB receptor orthosteric agonists and positive allosteric modulators (PAM). Furthermore, they discuss several recent excellent reviews and newer results pertaining to GABAB receptor drug effects on responses to and self-administration of: alcohol (ethanol), nicotine, cocaine, (meth)amphetamine, and opioids. Preclinical and clinical data are considered. Expert opinion: Clinical data exist only for baclofen and mostly for alcohol use disorders. Additional trials are needed, but effects are promising. Whether PAMs, given alone or in combination with a direct GABAB receptor agonist, will be clinically effective and have fewer side effects requires investigation. The sedative effects of baclofen, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug, become less severe over time. Based on existing data, baclofen is well-tolerated. However, genetic and physiological differences are likely to contribute to individual responses to different therapeutic agents. The more immediate development of baclofen as a therapeutic for alcohol use disorders may be of significant benefit to some individuals.
Scanning Probe Microscopy

Almost thirty years ago, microscopy experienced a paradigm shift. Microscopy had been classically regarded as a method to expand our vision power and, for centuries, had maintained the same methodology: the radiation scattered by an object was collected by a detector and placed at an appreciable distance from it. Although the change of electromagnetic waves to wavelike electrons had resulted in a large increment in resolution, it was not until recently that microscopy as an expansion of our sense of touch has begun to be considered. The idea had been explored as early as eighty years ago by Synge, who discussed it within the context of electromagnetic waves. It was understood that the limits of optical microscopy had already been reached, but Synge pointed out that the Rayleigh-Abbe diffraction limit was only valid if light was collected in the far-field. By the approximation of a small aperture to the source, we can collect light before it experiences diffraction and obtain a resolution as good as the aperture is small. From the beginning, two major difficulties were apparent: that a small aperture would only transmit an infinitesimal amount of light and that there was no known technique to hold the aperture at a distance short enough to avoid diffraction effects. The second problem was solved when the way to manipulate piezoelectric materials was learned. However, it was not an aperture as Synge predicted but a metal probe which was held in close proximity to a sample. It was not the intention to collect light before it diffracted but to collect electrons by virtue of the tunneling quantum effect. Nevertheless, the result was similar to that predicted by Synge, a new technique of microscopy with resolution limited only by the size of the probe: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. It did not take much time for useful variations to be found: two metals are needed to have quantum tunneling but any two materials experience forces when they are brought close enough to each other, which is the physical principle behind Atomic Force Microscopy. The proposal of Synge was also successfully tried a little later, leading to Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy in its different configurations. All these techniques share characteristics and are grouped under the label Scanning Probe Microscopy. Such common characteristics include the piezoelectric control of the position of the probe, the construction of an image pixel by pixel with the help of suitable software and, most important, the collection of information based on an interaction that can be only detected at nanometric distances. Scanning Probe Microscopy is one of the oldest nanotechnologies and will be the support for most of the nanotechnologies that will be developed in the future. In this work we intend to give a general description of this group of technologies, discussing separately their different approaches, their relationships and their prospects for the future.
A critical role of T cell antigen receptor-transduced MHC class I-restricted helper T cells in tumor protection

Adoptive transfer of antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is one of the most efficient forms of cancer immunotherapy. However, the isolation of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells is limited because only few tumor-associated helper epitopes are identified. Here, we used T cell antigen receptor gene transfer to target CD4+ T cells against an MHC class I-presented epitope of a model tumor antigen. IFN-γ-producing CD4+ T cells were unable to expand in vivo and to provide help for tumor rejection. In contrast, CD4+ T cells producing high levels of IL-2 expanded in vivo, provided help for cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated tumor rejection, and developed T cell memory. The data demonstrate in vivo synergy between T cell antigen receptor-transduced CD4+ and CD8+ T cells specific for the same epitope resulting in long-term tumor protection.
Oxidant signaling in vascular cell growth, death, and survival : a review of the roles of reactive oxygen species in smooth muscle and endothelial cell mitogenic and apoptotic signaling.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been traditionally regarded as toxic byproducts of aerobic metabolism. However, ROS can also act as intracellular signaling molecules in vascular cells. ROS can mediate phenotypes in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells that may be considered both physiological and pathophysiological. Among these are growth, apoptosis, and survival. The specific response elicited by reactive oxygen intermediaries is determined by their specific intracellular target(s). This, in turn, is dependent on the species of oxidant(s) produced, the source and therefore subcellular localization of the oxidant(s), the kinetics of production, and the quantities produced. A fuller understanding of how ROS regulate mitogenesis and apoptosis in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells will permit the development of novel strategies to modify or prevent vascular diseases in which these phenotypes predominate.