Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hemodynamic and Anatomic Variations Require an Adaptable Approach during Intra-Arterial Chemotherapy for Intraocular Retinoblastoma: Alternative Routes, Strategies, and Follow-Up

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intra-arterial chemotherapy for retinoblastoma is not always a straightforward procedure, and it may require an adaptable approach. This study illustrates strategies used when the ophthalmic artery is difficult to catheterize or not visible, and it ascertains the effectiveness and safety of these strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on a series of 108 eyes affected by intraocular retinoblastoma and selected for intra-arterial chemotherapy (follow-up range, 6–82 months). We recognized 3 different patterns of drug delivery: a fixed pattern through the ophthalmic artery, a fixed pattern through branches of the external carotid artery, and a variable pattern through either the ophthalmic or the external carotid artery. RESULTS: We performed 448 sessions of intra-arterial chemotherapy, 83.70% of them through the ophthalmic artery and 16.29% via the external carotid artery. In 24.52% of eyes, the procedure was performed at least once through branches of the external carotid artery. In 73 eyes, the pattern of drug delivery was fixed through the ophthalmic artery; for 9 eyes, it was fixed through branches of the external carotid artery; and for 17 eyes, the pattern was variable. Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference in the clinical outcome of the eyes (remission versus enucleation) treated with different patterns of drug delivery. Adverse events could not be correlated with any particular pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Alternative routes of intra-arterial chemotherapy for intraocular retinoblastoma appear in the short term as effective and safe as the traditional drug infusion through the ophthalmic artery.
A Study of Optimization Techniques for 3D Networks-on-Chip Architectures for Low Power and High Performance Applications

Three dimensional Networks-on-Chip (3D NoCs) have attracted a growing interest to solve on-chip communication demands of future multi-core embedded systems. However, 3D NoCs have not been completely accepted into the mainstream due to issues such as the high cost and complexity of manufacturing 3D vertical wires, larger memory, area and power consumption of 3D NoC components than that of conventional 2D NoC. This paper presents a brief about 3D NoCs optimization techniques with focus on modeling and evaluation of alternate NoC topologies, routing algorithms and mapping techniques to achieve optimized area, power and performance parameters (latency and throughput). Particularly, we investigate novel 3D NoC router architectures and their possible combinations which aim at achieving lower area and power consumption of on-chip communication components with a minimal performance trade-off.
Ultrasonographic assessment of the superficial digital flexor tendons of National Hunt racehorses in training over two racing seasons.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY It is important to ascertain the prevalence of superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) injuries and to improve methods of predicting injury in National Hunt (NH) racehorses. OBJECTIVES To establish: 1) the prevalence of SDFT tendinopathy in NH horses; 2) whether routine ultrasonography can be used to predict SDFT injuries; 3) whether previous tendinopathy predisposes to reinjury; 4) a normal range for the SDFT cross-sectional area (CSA); and 5) the effects of gender, age, background (ex-flat or ex-store), limb, training and rest periods on SDFT CSA. METHODS Routine ultrasound assessment of the palmar metacarpal soft tissues of 263 NH racehorses was performed on up to 6 occasions over 2 NH racing seasons. RESULTS The prevalence of SDFT pathology detected using ultrasonography was 24% (n = 148), with a nonsignificant variation between yards of 10-40%. No changes in SDFT CSA or ultrasonographic appearance were detected prior to injury. Older horses had a significantly higher prevalence of SDFT pathology compared to younger horses, and horses with tendinopathy were more likely to suffer an acute injury compared to horses with no evidence of pathology. A reference range for normal CSA measurements was established as 77-139 mm2 at level 4, from 142 horses with no ultrasonographic evidence of SDFT pathology. The CSA of normal horses did not vary significantly with age, limb or over 2 racing seasons, but did with sex and background. CONCLUSIONS The study confirms that SDFT tendinopathy is common in NH horses, with substantial variation between training yards. Ultrasonography at 3 month intervals did not seem to predict acute SDFT injuries. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE Variation in the prevalence of tendinopathy between yards suggests that training methods may influence injury rate. It was not possible to predict injury using routine ultrasonography and therefore other methods must be identified. A normal reference range for SDFT CSA is provided.
Association of Base Excision Repair Gene Polymorphisms with ESRD Risk in a Chinese Population

The base excision repair (BER) pathway, containing OGG1, MTH1 and MUTYH, is a major protector from oxidative DNA damage in humans, while 8-oxoguanine (8-OHdG), an index of DNA oxidation, is increased in maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patients. Four polymorphisms of BER genes, OGG1 c.977C > G (rs1052133), MTH1 c.247G > A (rs4866), MUTYH c.972G > C (rs3219489), and AluYb8MUTYH (rs10527342), were examined in 337 HD patients and 404 healthy controls. And the 8-OHdG levels in leukocyte DNA were examined in 116 HD patients. The distribution of MUTYH c.972 GG or AluYb8MUTYH differed between the two groups and was associated with a moderately increased risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (P = 0.013 and 0.034, resp.). The average 8-OHdG/106 dG value was significantly higher in patients with the OGG1 c.977G, MUTYH c.972G or AluYb8MUTYH alleles (P < 0.001 via ANOVA). Further analysis showed that combination of MUTYH c.972GG with OGG1 c.977GG or AluYb8MUTYH increased both the risk for ESRD and leukocyte DNA 8-OHdG levels in HD patients. Our study showed that MUTYH c.972GG, AluYb8MUTYH, and combination of OGG1 c.977GG increased the risk for ESRD development in China and suggested that DNA oxidative damage might be involved in such process.
Hyperoside, a Flavonoid Compound, Inhibits Proliferation and Stimulates Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Osteosarcoma Cells

Osteosarcoma, one of the most common malignant bone tumours, is generally considered a differentiation disease caused by genetic and epigenetic disruptions in the terminal differentiation of osteoblasts. Novel therapies based on the non-cytotoxic induction of cell differentiation-responsive pathways could represent a significant advance in treating osteosarcoma; however, effective pharmaceuticals to induce differentiation are lacking. In the present study, we investigated the effect of hyperoside, a flavonoid compound, on the osteoblastic differentiation of U2OS and MG63 osteosarcoma cells in vitro. Our results demonstrated that hyperoside inhibits the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells by inducing G0/G1 arrest in the cell cycle, without causing obvious cell death. Cell migration assay further suggested that hyperoside could inhibit the invasion potential of osteosarcoma cells. Additionally, osteopontin and runt-related transcription factor 2 protein levels and osteocalcin activation were upregulated dramatically in hyperoside-treated osteosarcoma cells, suggesting that hyperoside may stimulates osteoblastic differentiation in osteosarcoma cells. This differentiation was accompanied by the activation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and bone morphogenetic protein-2, suggesting that the hyperoside-induced differentiation involves the TGF-β signalling pathway. To our knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate the differentiation effect of hyperoside in osteosarcoma cells and assess the possible potential for hyperoside treatment as a future therapeutic approach for osteosarcoma differentiation therapy.
On extended Similarity Scoring and Bit-vector Algorithms for design smell detection

The occurrence of design smells or anti-patterns in software models complicate development process and reduce the software quality. The contribution proposes an extension to Similarity Scoring Algorithm and Bit-vector Algorithm, originally used for design patterns detection. This paper summarizes both original approaches, important differences between design patterns and anti-patterns structures, modifications and extensions of algorithms and their application to detect selected design smells.
Active Probing Strategies for Problem Diagnosis in Distributed Systems

We address the task of problem determination in a distributed system using probes, or test transactions, which gather information about system components. Effective probing requires minimizing the cost of probing while maximizing the diagnostic accuracy of the probe set. We show that pre-planning an optimal probe set is NP-hard and present polynomial-time approximation algorithms that perform well. We then implement an active probing strategy which selects probes dynamically and show that it yields a significant reduction in probe set size in both simulation and a real system environment.
An Iterative Frequency Offset Estimation Method for Coherent Optical OFDM System

In this letter, we propose and experimentally investigate a training-aided iterative frequency offset estimation (IFOE) method, which can track dynamic frequency offset (FO) drift in coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) systems. In contrast to existing FO estimation algorithms that compute specific FO values, in IFOE, only the sign value of FO is judged and recorded without any phase calculation. The estimated FO is updated once for every data block based on FO signs obtained from multiple previous blocks, which helps combat noise and allows the shortening of the employed training symbol. We experimentally investigate the performance of IFOE in a 160-km CO-OFDM system. The results show that IFOE achieves superior bit error rate performance to a one-time FO estimator (without FO tracking) and approaches the performance of multiple separate FO estimators that use longer training symbols.
Risk of IDDM in Children of Diabetic Mothers Decreases With Increasing Maternal Age at Pregnancy

Offspring of women with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) have a significantly lower risk of IDDM than the offspring of men with IDDM. Furthermore, a negative association of the risk of IDDM in the offspring with maternal age at delivery has been reported. This study tested the association with maternal age in an independent set of families (n = 103) in which the mother had at least one pregnancy before and after the onset of IDDM. In the 304 offspring, the mean ± SE risk of IDDM by age 20 was 6.0 ± 2.4% for those born at maternal ages < 25 yr, whereas, the risk was significantly lower (0.7 ± 0.7%) for those born at older maternal ages (P = 0.03). These 304 offspring were combined with a sample of 1391 offspring previously reported for a multivariate analysis of other factors related to pregnancy (4). In the combined analysis, the risk of IDDM in offspring born at maternal ages > 25 yr was one-fifth that for offspring born to younger mothers. The risk of IDDM in the offspring was not significantly related to birth order, mother's age at first pregnancy, or the interval between pregnancies for subsequent ones. The risk for the children born before the mother's onset of diabetes was higher than that for those exposed in utero to her diabetes, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, although genetic factors are important determinants of susceptibility to IDDM, exposure to maternal diabetes protects offspring from IDDM during the first 2 decades of life. Moreover, a child born to an IDDM mother >25 yr old has an even lower risk than a child born to that mother at a younger age. The combined result is that a child born to a >25-yr-old woman with IDDM has a very low risk of developing IDDM, almost as low as the children of nondiabetic parents. This has immediate practical implications for women with IDDM who are considering pregnancy and important implications for hypotheses regarding the mechanism that underlies the protective effect of exposure to maternal diabetes.
The TREC Spoken Document Retrieval Track: A Success Story

This paper describes work within the NIST Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) over the last three years in designing and implementing evaluations of Spoken Document Retrieval (SDR) technology within a broadcast news domain. SDR involves the search and retrieval of excerpts from spoken audio recordings using a combination of automatic speech recognition and information retrieval technologies. The TREC SDR Track has provided an infrastructure for the development and evaluation of SDR technology and a common forum for the exchange of knowledge between the speech recognition and information retrieval research communities. The SDR Track can be declared a success in that it has provided objective, demonstrable proof that this technology can be successfully applied to realistic audio collections using a combination of existing technologies and that it can be objectively evaluated. The design and implementation of each of the SDR evaluations are presented and the results are summarized. Plans for the 2000 TREC SDR Track are presented and thoughts about how the track might evolve are discussed.
Risk of diarrhea in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with sitagliptin: a meta-analysis of 30 randomized clinical trials

Background Sitagliptin is an important drug used for diabetes treatment and is used as a monotherapy in diabetic patients. However, there are also reported cases of diarrhea with sitagliptin use. Unfortunately, data concerning the relationship of diarrhea with sitagliptin use in various conditions have yet to be identified. Therefore, the overall incidence and risk of diarrhea with sitagliptin use have not been well defined. Methods We conducted searches on Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library databases for relevant randomized controlled trials. Registered relevant trials at the clinical trials registration website were also searched. Statistical analyses were conducted to calculate the overall incidence, odds ratios, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by using either random-effects or fixed-effect models according to the heterogeneity of the included studies. Results A total of 8,891 subjects with diabetes from 30 randomized clinical trials were included in the meta-analysis. The overall incidence of sitagliptin-associated diarrhea was 4.48% (95% CI: 3.59%–5.58%). Compared with the controls, the use of sitagliptin was not associated with a significantly increased risk of diarrhea with an odds ratio of 1.10 (95% CI: 0.78%–1.55%; P=0.58). No evidence of publication bias was observed. Conclusion Our study has shown that there is no difference in diarrhea risk between sitagliptin and controlled therapies. Moreover, sitagliptin is not a medicine that potentially increases the risk of diabetic diarrhea. More studies are recommended to further investigate this association.
Lectin Labeling of Sprouting Neurons

Well-defined ferritin-conjugated lectins were used to map glycoconjugates on the surface of sprouting neurons from rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG) and spinal cord (SC) . The cultured neurons were exposed to the markers and processed for electron microscopy, and the number of ferritin particles per unit area of plasmalemma was measured in three different regions: perikaryon, neuritic shaft, and growth cone . Three different binding patterns are observed for different lectin : equal receptor density throughout the plasmalemma of the growing neuron (e .g ., Ricinus communis agglutinin I in SCG neurons), gradual decrease (e.g ., wheat-germ agglutinin in SCG and SC neurons) and gradual increase (e .g ., Ricinus communis agglutinin II in SC neurons) in the density of lectin receptors as one moves from the perikaryon to the growth cone . Furthermore, lectin receptor densities differ in the two types of neurons analyzed . We can conclude that the plasmalemma of the growth cone has biochemical properties different from those of the perikaryon, and that the neuron's structural polarity is expressed in its surface glycoconjugates . This phenomenon may be related to the growth cone's special functional properties and to the process of expansion of the plasma membrane . The developing neuron has entered a new and critical phase of its differentiation when it starts forming processes . Neuritic components, including vast amounts ofnew plasma membrane, have to be synthesized. The axon has to find its way to and recognize an appropriate target cell for synapse formation in order to ensure its own and its parent neuron's further survival. The plasmalemma of the growing axon, largely composed of newly synthesized membrane, is likely to be involved in the mechanisms of guidance and target recognition (14, 21) . Thus, it is not surprising that the sprouting axon's plasmalemma is different from that of the perikaryon, as indicated by freezefracture observations on growing neurites in culture (16) and freeze-fracture and saxitoxin binding data on axons growing in vivo (23-25) . It is of particular interest to investigate glycoconjugates of the growing neuron's plasmalemma because of the widely accepted role of cell surface saccharides in mechanisms regulating cellular differentiation and development (e . g., references 11 and 12) . This paper presents the results of such an investigation. The data have been generated by the use of welldefined lectin-ferritin conjugates to map quantitatively surface carbohydrates in various domains of neuronal plasmalemma at the electron microscope level . The studies were carried out on neurons sprouting in culture because only in this system are cell surfaces freely exposed for experimental manipulations such as washing, enzymatic digestion, and labeling. Some of the results presented here have been reported elsewhere in abbreviated form (17-19) . MATERIALS AND METHODS
Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Visible Light Communications

The main limitation of visible light communication (VLC) is the narrow modulation bandwidth, which reduces the achievable data rates. In this letter, we apply the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) scheme to enhance the achievable throughput in high-rate VLC downlink networks. We first propose a novel gain ratio power allocation (GRPA) strategy that considers the users' channel conditions to ensure efficient and fair power allocation. Our results indicate that the GRPA significantly enhances the system performance compared with the static power allocation. We also study the effect of tuning the transmission angles of the light emitting diodes and the field of views of the receivers, and demonstrate that these parameters can offer new degrees of freedom to boost the NOMA performance. The simulation results reveal that NOMA is a promising multiple access scheme for the downlink of VLC networks.
CD34+VEGFR-3+ progenitor cells have a potential to differentiate towards lymphatic endothelial cells

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play an important role in postnatal neovascularization. However, it is poorly understood whether EPCs contribute to lymphangiogenesis. Here, we assessed differentiation of a novel population of EPCs towards lymphatic endothelial cells and their lymphatic formation. CD34+VEGFR‐3+ EPCs were isolated from mononuclear cells of human cord blood by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting. These cells expressed CD133 and displayed the phenotype of the endothelial cells. Cell colonies appeared at 7–10 days after incubation. The cells of the colonies grew rapidly and could be repeatedly subcultured. After induction with VEGF‐C for 2 weeks, CD34+VEGFR‐3+ EPCs could differentiate into lymphatic endothelial cells expressing specific markers 5′‐nucleotidase, LYVE‐1 and Prox‐1. The cells also expressed hyaluronan receptor CD44. The differentiated cells had properties of proliferation, migration and formation of lymphatic capillary‐like structures in three‐dimensional collagen gel and Matrigel. VEGF‐C enhanced VEGFR‐3 mRNA expression. After interfering with VEGFR‐3 siRNA, the effects of VEGF‐C were diminished. These results demonstrate that there is a population of CD34+VEGFR‐3+ EPCs with lymphatic potential in human cord blood. VEGF‐C/VEGFR‐3 signalling pathway mediates differentiation of CD34+VEGFR‐3+ EPCs towards lymphatic endothelial cells and lymphangiogenesis. Cord blood‐derived CD34+VEGFR‐3+ EPCs may be a reliable source in transplantation therapy for lymphatic regenerative diseases.
Chromosomal abnormalities and embryo development in recurrent miscarriage couples.

BACKGROUND Chromosomal abnormalities are an important cause of spontaneous abortion and recurrent miscarriage (RM). Therefore, we have analysed the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities and embryo development in patients with RM. METHODS Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was performed on 71 couples with RM and 28 couples undergoing PGD for sex-linked diseases (control group). Chromosomes 13, 16, 18, 21, 22, X and Y were analysed by fluorescence in-situ hybridization. RESULTS The implantation rate in RM patients was 28% and three patients (13%) miscarried. The percentage of abnormal embryos was significantly increased (P < 0.0001) in RM patients compared with controls (70.7 versus 45.1%). All of the embryos were abnormal in 19 cycles (22.1%) and repeated PGD cycles yielded similar rates of chromosomal abnormalities in 14 couples. Anomalies for chromosomes 16 and 22 were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in RM cases. In the RM population, euploid embryos reached the blastocyst stage more frequently than abnormal embryos (61.7 versus 24.9%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS RM is associated with a higher incidence of chromosomally abnormal embryos, of which some are able to develop to the blastocyst stage. IVF plus PGD is an important step in the management of these couples, but the technique has to move towards a full chromosome analysis.
Spatiotemporal Distribution of Insects and Mites in Horizontally Stored Wheat

Abstract Samples were taken from a flat storage facility located in central Greece, filled with ≈45 tons of hard wheat, to assess the spatiotemporal distribution of stored-product insects and mites. The wheat was stored in a 1.5-m-deep bulk from June 2001 until March 2002. The samples were taken with a partitioned grain trier during the entire storage period, at 10-d intervals. The trier samples were examined separately for the upper, medial, and lower 0.5 m of the bulk. The spatial distribution of the insect and mite species found was examined by contour analysis based on the numbers of individuals in the trier samples. Nine insect and 20 mite taxa were found during the sampling period. The most abundant insect species were Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), and Rhyzopertha dominica (F.); the most abundant mite species were Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank), Acarus siro L. , and the predator Cheyletus malaccensis Oudemans. &Tgr;he highest population densities for the majority of the insect and mite species were recorded during autumn. The majority of the individuals of the most abundant insect and mite species were found in the upper 0.5 m of the bulk, with the exception of C. malaccensis, which was equally distributed in the upper and medial 0.5 m of the bulk. The spatiotemporal distribution during the entire experimental period was notably varied according to the insect and mite species.