Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mediastinal mass

DESCRIPTION A 76-year-old patient presented with an incidental finding of an anterior mediastinal mass (figures 1 and 2) following investigations for pneumonia. The patient underwent median sternotomy and excision of the mass. The mass weighed 1 kg and measured 15×14×10 cm. Histology revealed a grade AB thymoma of Masaoka stage II due to microscopic capsular invasion (figure 3). The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery. Thymoma is the most common tumour of the anterior mediastinum with an incidence of 0.10–0.18 per 100 000. Overall, 35–50% of patients with thymomas have myasthenia gravis, while 12% of patients with myasthenia gravis have a thymoma. Approximately 50% of individuals presenting with thymomas are clinically asymptomatic. Symptoms include chest pain, cough, dyspnoea and muscle fatigue (characteristic of myasthenia gravis). Less common symptoms, such as superior vena cava syndrome, phrenic nerve paralysis or recurrent laryngeal nerve involvement resulting in hoarseness, are indicative of malignant disease. The differential diagnoses of anterior mediastinal masses include lymphoma, retrosternal thyroid and germ cell tumours. Patients with a suspected mediastinal mass as suggested in figure 1 should undergo CT scan. There were no features to suggest invasion into surrounding structures (figure 2) and in such cases complete surgical resection should be attempted (figure 4). Grade A or AB tumours of Masaoka
The structure of mental health research: networks of influence among psychiatry and clinical psychology journals

Background Psychiatry and clinical psychology are the two dominant disciplines in mental health research, but the structure of scientific influence and information flow within and between them has never been mapped. Method Citations among 96 of the highest impact psychiatry and clinical psychology journals were examined, based on 10 052 articles published in 2008. Network analysis explored patterns of influence between journal clusters. Results Psychiatry journals tended to have greater influence than clinical psychology journals, and their influence was asymmetrical: clinical psychology journals cited psychiatry journals at a much higher rate than the reverse. Eight journal clusters were found, most dominated by a single discipline. Their citation network revealed an influential central cluster of ‘core psychiatry’ journals that had close affinities with a ‘psychopharmacology’ cluster. A group of ‘core clinical psychology’ journals was linked to a ‘behavior therapy’ cluster but both were subordinate to psychiatry journals. Clinical psychology journals were less integrated than psychiatry journals, and ‘health psychology/behavioral medicine’ and ‘neuropsychology’ clusters were relatively peripheral to the network. Conclusions Scientific publication in the mental health field is largely organized along disciplinary lines, and is to some degree hierarchical, with clinical psychology journals tending to be structurally subordinate to psychiatry journals.
A context-sensitive framework for lexical ontologies

Abstract Human categorization is neither a binary nor a context-free process. Rather, the criteria that govern the use and recognition of certain concepts may be satisfied to different degrees in different contexts. In light of this reality, the idealized, static structure of a lexical-ontology like WordNet appears both excessively rigid and unduly fragile when faced with real texts that draw upon different contexts to communicate different world-views. In this paper we describe a syntagmatic, corpus-based approach to redefining the concepts of a lexical-ontology like WordNet in a functional, gradable and context-sensitive fashion. We describe how the most diagnostic properties of concepts, on which these functional definitions are based, can be automatically acquired from the Web, and demonstrate how these properties are more predictive of how concepts are actually used and perceived than properties derived from other sources (such as WordNet itself).
VMesh: Distributed Segment Storage for Peer-to-Peer Interactive Video Streaming

Provisioning random access functions in peer-to-peer on-demand video streaming is challenging, due to not only the asynchronous user interactivity but also the unpredictability of group dynamics. In this paper, we propose VMesh, a distributed peer-to-peer video-on-demand (VoD) streaming scheme which efficiently supports random seeking functionality. In VMesh, videos are divided into segments and stored at peers' local storage in a distributed manner. An overlay mesh is built upon peers to support random forward/backward seek, pause and restart during playback. Our scheme takes advantage of the large aggregate storage capacity of peers to improve the segment supply so as to support efficient interactive commands in a scalable manner. Unlike previous work based on "cache-and-relay" mechanism, in our scheme, user interactivity such as random seeking performed by a peer does not break the connections between it and its children, and hence our scheme achieves better playback continuity. Through simulation, we show that our system achieves low startup and seeking latency under random user interactivity and peer join/leave which is a crucial requirement in an interactive VoD system.
Studies on the Life and Death of Bacteria

The phenomenon of growth and death of bacteria in ordinary culture media has been studied in considerable detail. The data obtained in such studies show that growth follows a definite course, represented frequently by a curve constructed by plotting the logarithms of the numbers of organisms against time. This logarithmic growth curve has been divided into four main parts: the lag, logarithmic growth, maximum stationary, and death phases. After reaching the maximum stationary phase, the curve is frequently shown tapering off until it meets the abscissa, indicating sterility of the culture in a few days or weeks. However, a few of the more recent writers (Gay, 1936; Topley and Wilson, 1936) have made suppositions to the contrary. Gay states: "It is very probable that many cells may be unable to multiply but are still able to carry on other metabolic functions. " He further suggests that "The number of viable organisms may also show repeated irregular increases possibly indicating spurts in multiplication. The long period of slow decline has not been studied as intensively as it probably deserves. " During the course of our investigations on factors affecting bacterial growth, certain observations suggested that a closer quantitative examination of death and death rates in bacterial cultures might be desirable. The period of prolonged survival and the probable mechanisms involved proved to be of particular interest.
Dendritic cells for SYN scan detection

Artificial immune systems have previously been applied to the problem of intrusion detection. The aim of this research is to develop an intrusion detection system based on the function of Dendritic Cells (DCs). DCs are antigen presenting cells and key to the activation of the human immune system, behaviour which has been abstracted to form the Dendritic Cell Algorithm (DCA). In algorithmic terms, individual DCs perform multi-sensor data fusion, asynchronously correlating the fused data signals with a secondary data stream. Aggregate output of a population of cells is analysed and forms the basis of an anomaly detection system. In this paper the DCA is applied to the detection of outgoing port scans using TCP SYN packets. Results show that detection can be achieved with the DCA, yet some false positives can be encountered when simultaneously scanning and using other network services. Suggestions are made for using adaptive signals to alleviate this uncovered problem.
Immune regulation by Foxo transcription factors

The Foxo subfamily of forkhead (Fox) transcription factors are mammalian homologues of the Caenorhabditis elegans DAF-16 longevity gene, and play key roles in cellular and organism survival, death, proliferation and metabolism. A growing body of evidence indicates that Foxo proteins furthermore play critical roles in immune cell homeostasis, modulating inflammation in some disease states such as inflammatory arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), via fundamental roles in T cells, B cells, neurophils and other myeloid lineages. This review summarizes current knowledge of the Foxo family members in general and in immunity, including their potential use as therapeutic targets.
Opinion polarization by learning from social feedback

ABSTRACT We explore a new mechanism to explain polarization phenomena in opinion dynamics in which agents evaluate alternative views on the basis of the social feedback obtained on expressing them. High support of the favored opinion in the social environment is treated as a positive feedback which reinforces the value associated to this opinion. In connected networks of sufficiently high modularity, different groups of agents can form strong convictions of competing opinions. Linking the social feedback process to standard equilibrium concepts we analytically characterize sufficient conditions for the stability of bi-polarization. While previous models have emphasized the polarization effects of deliberative argument-based communication, our model highlights an affective experience-based route to polarization, without assumptions about negative influence or bounded confidence.
Self-confirming Games: Unawareness, Discovery, and Equilibrium

Equilibrium notions for games with unawareness in the literature cannot be interpreted as steady-states of a learning process because players may discover novel actions during play. In this sense, many games with unawareness are "self-destroying" as a player's representation of the game must change after playing it once. We define discovery processes where at each state there is an extensive-form game with unawareness that together with the players' play determines the transition to possibly another extensive-form games with unawareness in which players are now aware of actions that they have previously discovered. A discovery process is rationalizable if players play extensive-form rationalizable strategies in each game with unawareness. We show that for any game with unawareness there is a rationalizable discovery process that leads to a self-confirming game that possesses an extensive-form rationalizable self-confirming equilibrium. This notion of equilibrium can be interpreted as steady-state of a learning and discovery process.
Environmental and biological factors affecting tissue composition of marine macrophytes

The tissue nitrogen and phosphorus composition of 59 marine macrophytes from the Great Bay Estuarine System, NH-Maine and adjacent coast is affected by a variety of environmental and biological factors; by contrast, tissue carbon is more consistent. The overall mean CNP ratio of these plants was 612:29:1, which deviated significantly from that previously recorded for phytoplankton. The C:N:P ratios within seaweeds were more closely related to functional forms than phylogenetic relationships. Brown algae had higher C:N ratios than green and red algae. This pattern primarily resulted from the very high C:N ratios within thick bladed and coarsely branched species, which dominanted the Phaeophycean taxa evaluated. Overall, the tissue nutrient status within an alga depends upon ambient nutrient availability, as well as a plant's uptake efficiency, storage capacity, and consumption rate(s). The present study suggests that neither N nor P limitations should be solely delineated by ratios of tissue composition. An assessment of tissue C:N ratios of marine macrophytes (mean = 21:1) and long-term ambient nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations suggests that nitrogen is the primary limiting nutrient within the Great Bay Estuarine System. On the other hand, tissue N:P ratios (mean = 29:1) suggest that phosphorus is most limiting. Based upon C:N and N:P ratios, some algae would appear to be limited by both N and P. Such a response seems questionable. Under laboratory conditions tissue N:P ratios within both Ascophyllum nodosum and Gracilaria tikvahiae were physiologically determined, although they were somewhat affected by ambient N:P ratios. Both algae absorbed N more efficiently when ambient N:P ratios were low, while P uptake efficiency was elevated with increased ambient N:P ratios. Tissue nitrogen and phosphorus, but not carbon, were strongly affected by N or P supplements. In culture studies Chlorophyll a concentrations were mainly affected by N rather than P concentrations. The biliprotein pigments in Gracilaria were closely related to N:P ratio within the media.
Regulatory patterns of differentially expressed genes in Ebola and related viruses are critical for viral screening and diagnosis

Background Viral detection techniques and applications are a critical first step to pathogen detection within a given population, especially during outbreaks. Common viral tests currently used are direct specimen examination, indirect examination and serological tests. Serological tests have gained intense interest because they are rapidly performed with patient blood samples for quick diagnosis and treatment. The diagnostic techniques developed around serology are often expensive, require expertise to use and cannot be afforded by developing countries with recurrent viral outbreaks. Therefore exploiting the huge amount of viral data available in various databases is critical to develop affordable and easy-to-use diagnostic tools. Methods This study obtained viral sample data from Gene Expression Omnibus database with focus on use of viral glycoprotein for host penetration. Gene relative mean across 34 obtained viral samples were extracted into data tables and used with edgeR statistical software in R version 3.3. 1. Results Three clusters previously known to be LCK specific (Ebola virus relative viral cluster, EBOVC), CD209 specific (Mean differentiation cluster, MDC) and both LCK and CD209 specific (Kurtosis group cluster, KGC), expressed unique patterns of four proteins of interest (CD209, LCK, IL-2 and MYB). Differential expression analysis showed two cluster patterns on heatmaps, with differentially expressed proteins down-regulated in MDC but up-regulated in KGC and EBOVC for all pairwise cluster comparative analyses performed. Heatmaps showed two distinct immune related patterns, identifying MDC as B-lymphotropic while KGC and EBOVC as T-lymphotropic. Identified pathways were dominantly involved with homeostasis of immune cells and viral cell surface receptors involved in protein kinase activities. Conclusions Regulatory proteomic variants identified in clusters suggest transcription repression of HLA class I alleles. This study identified viral expression patterns with screening and therapeutic applications. Given that the viral pathogenetic pathway for Ebola has not been clearly identified yet, assembling its components is vital for vaccine development.
Prevalence of refractive error in Singaporean Chinese children: the strabismus, amblyopia, and refractive error in young Singaporean Children (STARS) study.

PURPOSE To determine the prevalence of refractive error types in Singaporean Chinese children aged 6 to 72 months. METHODS The Strabismus, Amblyopia and Refractive Error in Singaporean Children (STARS) is a population-based study in southwest Singapore. Door-to-door recruitment of participants was used, with disproportionate random sampling in 6-month increments. Parental questionnaires were administered. Participant eye examinations included logMAR visual acuity, cycloplegic autorefraction, and ocular biometry. Overall and age-specific prevalences of myopia (spherical equivalence [SE] <or= -0.50 D), high myopia (SE <or= -6.00 D), hyperopia (SE >or= +3.00 D), astigmatism (cylinder >or= +1.50 D), and anisometropia (SE difference between each eye >or=2.00 D) were calculated. RESULTS A total of 3009 children were examined (participation rate, 72.3%). Right eye (OD) cycloplegia data were available for 1375 boys and 1264 girls (mean age, 41 months). Mean OD SE was +0.69 D (SD 1.15). Overall myopia prevalence was 11.0% with no variance between the sexes (P = 0.91). The prevalence of high myopia (at least -6.00 D) was 0.2%. The prevalences of hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia were 1.4%, 8.6%, and 0.6%, respectively. Most astigmatism (>95%) was with-the-rule (cylinder axes between 1 degrees and 15 degrees or 165 degrees and 180 degrees ). Myopia was present in 15.8%, 14.9%, 20.2%, 8.6%, 7.6%, and 6.4% of children aged 6 to 11, 12 to 23, 24 to 35, 36 to 47, 48 to 59, and 60 to 72 months, respectively. Prevalence increased with age for astigmatism (P < 0.001), but not for hyperopia or anisometropia (P = 0.55 and P = 0.37), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The prevalences of myopia and astigmatism in young Singaporean Chinese children are high, but that of hyperopia is low. Age effects were observed for each refractive error category, but differences between the sexes were not significant. Age-related variation in myopia prevalence may be influenced by ocular development, environment, and/or testability.
Upstairs/downstairs revisited: spatial pretraining‐induced rescue of normal spatial learning during selective blockade of hippocampal N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors

Spatial pretraining can enable spatial learning in another environment that ordinarily requires hippocampal N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor activity to become independent of that activity. This study explored further the circumstances in which this training‐induced ‘rescue’ of later learning in the presence of the NMDA receptor antagonist 2‐amino‐5‐phosphonovaleric acid (D‐AP5) can occur. D‐AP5 (0, 10, 20 and 30 mm in artificial cerebrospinal fluid) was infused continuously (0.5 μL/h, from a minipump) and bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus during spatial‐reference‐memory training in a watermaze (4 trials/day, 8 days). This was preceded either by handling only or by identical spatial training in another watermaze in a separate laboratory with different extramaze cues. In naïve rats, D‐AP5 caused a dose‐related impairment in spatial reference memory acquisition that was significant at the lowest 5 nm/h infusion concentration. In pretrained rats, the dose–response function was shifted such that, in watermaze 2, spatial learning was normal at this low concentration, with a deficit at higher infusion concentrations. The induction of long‐term potentiation in the dentate gyrus in vivo was blocked at all D‐AP5 concentrations. Sensorimotor abnormalities sometimes seen with NMDA receptor antagonists were only apparent at the highest concentration. The implication of this paradoxical dissociation between hippocampal NMDA receptor‐dependent plasticity and spatial learning is discussed with reference to two rival hypotheses of the impact of pretraining.
Optical Measuring Methods for the Investigation of High-Pressure Homogenisation

High-pressure homogenisation is a commonly used technique to produce emulsions with droplets in the micro to nano scale. Due to the flow field in the homogenizer, stresses are transferred to the interface between droplets and continuous phase. Cohesive forces within droplets interact with external stresses. To exceed the cohesive forces, high process pressures are necessary, which might cause a complex flow pattern and large flow velocities. Additionally, the pressure drop can induce cavitation. Inline measurements are a challenge, but necessary to understand droplet break-up in a high-pressure homogenizer. Recently, different optical methods have been used to investigate the flow conditions as well as the droplet deformation and break-up in high-pressure homogenisation, such as high speed imaging, particle and micro particle image velocimetry. In this review, those optical measuring methods are considered critically in their applications and limitations, achievable results and further developments.
Diagnosis of Tricuspid Regurgitation by Contrast Echocardiography

Sixty-two subjects underwent M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiographic studies that included imaging of the inferior vena cava (IVC) during upper extremity contrast injections. Group 1 consisted of 10 patients with clinical tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Group 2 consisted of 40 patients without definite clinical signs of TR but with conditions known to be commonly associated with TR (e.g., mitral valve disease, pulmonary hypertension, former tricuspid valve surgery). Group 3 consisted of 12 normal subjects. The IVC could be imaged by two-dimensional echocardiography followed by M-mode in all subjects. M-mode IVC measurements in the absence of contrast were not sufficient to reliably separate TR patients from non-TR patients. IVC contrast was imaged, frequently during deep inspiration, in all 10 group 1 patients, 36 of 40 group 2 patients and three of 12 group 3 normal subjects. Three patterns of contrast appearance in the IVC were observed: “v-wave synchronous” patterns in all but two patients with TR and “a-wave synchronous” or “random” patterns in patients without TR. The presence of TR was independently assessed during angiography or surgery in 26 patients. There were two false-negative echo studies, as judged by lntraoperative palpation of a thrill on the right atrium. There were no false-positive v-wave synchronous studies. M-mode echocardiography was superior to two-dimensional echocardiography in detection of the appearance of contrast in the IVC and ease of pattern interpretation. Recognition of false-positive (a-wave synchronous or random) and false-negative patterns (insufficient central contrast, excessively inferior transducer position) improves the diagnostic accuracy of contrast IVC echocardiography, which is a sensitive and specific method for diagnosing TR.
Emerging role of hydrogen sulfide in hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has traditionally been viewed as a highly toxic gas; however, recent studies have implicated H2S as a third member of the gasotransmitter family, exhibiting properties similar to NO and carbon monoxide. Accumulating evidence has suggested that H2S influences a wide range of physiological and pathological processes, among which blood vessel relaxation, cardioprotection and atherosclerosis have been particularly studied. In the cardiovascular system, H2S production is predominantly catalyzed by cystathionine γ‐lyase (CSE). Decreased endogenous H2S levels have been found in hypertensive patients and animals, and CSE−/− mice develop hypertension with age, suggesting that a deficiency in H2S contributes importantly to BP regulation. H2S supplementation attenuates hypertension in different hypertensive animal models. The mechanism by which H2S was originally proposed to attenuate hypertension was by virtue of its action on vascular tone, which may be related to effects on different ion channels. Both H2S and NO cause vasodilatation and there is cross‐talk between these two molecules to regulate BP. Suppression of oxidative stress may also contribute to antihypertensive effects of H2S. This review also summarizes the state of research on H2S and hypertension in China. A better understanding of the role of H2S in hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases will allow novel strategies to be devised for their treatment.