Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cold snare polypectomy versus hot snare polypectomy in endoscopic treatment of small polyps.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The removal of small colon polyps by hot snare polypectomy (HP) is a commonly used method. Polypectomy with a cold snare (CP) has been increasingly utilized in recent years. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Herein, we explored the efficacy and safety of each method. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012, 97 consecutive patients with small colorectal polyps ranging from 5-9 mm in size were separated into either the CP or HP group. Demographic data, the duration of polypectomy, and pathology reports were recorded. RESULTS Seventy-seven polyps were removed from 49 patients in the CP group, and 71 polyps were removed from 48 patients in the HP group. There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to gender, age distribution, number of polyps, or indications for colonoscopy. The mean polyp size was 7.21±1.4 mm in the CP group and 7.56±1.45 mm in the HP group (p=0.111). There was a significant difference in the mean procedure time between the two groups (CP, 25.71±4.3 sec; HP, 70.28±11.3 sec, p<0.001). One patient (1.3/1.4%) from each group developed post-polypectomy bleeding that required treatment. Histological evaluation revealed that 10 of the polyps (6.75%) were advanced adenomas. Pathological examination showed that the polyps were not completely removed in 4 patients (5.13%) in the CP group and 4 patients (5.63%) in the HP group (p=0.89). CONCLUSION CP is an effective and safe method that shortens the polypectomy duration in small polyps (≤9 mm) compared to HP.
Vegetables, Unsaturated Fats, Moderate Alcohol Intake, and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background/Aims: To investigate associations of the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) components and the MeDi score with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Participants (aged 70–89 years) were clinically evaluated to assess MCI and dementia, and completed a 128-item food frequency questionnaire. Results: 163 of 1,233 nondemented persons had MCI. The odds ratio of MCI was reduced for high vegetable intake [0.66 (95% CI = 0.44–0.99), p = 0.05] and for high mono- plus polyunsaturated fatty acid to saturated fatty acid ratio [0.52 (95% CI = 0.33–0.81), p = 0.007], adjusted for confounders. The risk of incident MCI or dementia was reduced in subjects with a high MeDi score [hazard ratio = 0.75 (95% CI = 0.46–1.21), p = 0.24]. Conclusion: Vegetables, unsaturated fats, and a high MeDi score may be beneficial to cognitive function.
CORNEA AND SCLERA.

As in last year's review, only a few selected topics of particular interest are discussed here. A limited number of papers have been reviewed; thus many significant contribu¬ tions in other areas of research on the cornea and sclera have been omitted. The list of references includes only those which are mentioned in the text. However, a complete bibliography for the period Oct 1, 1962, through Sept 30, 1963, containing close to 800 references, may be obtained on micro¬ film upon request.
On Drinking Styles and Race: A Consideration of the Socio-Structural Determinants of Alcohol Use Behavior

Often missing from the discourse on alcohol use is that “alcohol-related problems among college students” appears to be a euphemism for “white college men” in that students who experience alcohol-related problems disproportionately tend to be white men. An important aspect of promoting social and behavioral change is to understand race-related mechanisms that structure desire for students to engage in alcohol use. This article presents findings based on undergraduate students attending a Midwest university. The current study contributes to the theoretical literature on alcohol use and race. We use logistic regression models which suggest race and attitudes pertaining to race relations matter in predicting non-binge drinking and abstinence behavior.
Internet discussion forums as part of a student-centred teaching concept of pharmacology

Introduction: The world wide web opens up new opportunities to interconnect electronic and classroom teaching and to promote active student participation. In this project article we describe the use of internet discussion forums as part of a student-centred teaching concept of pharmacology and discuss its advantages and disadvantages based on evaluation data and current literature. Methods and Results: Final year medical students at the Technische Universität München (Munich, Germany) with the elective pharmacology moderated an internet forum that allowed all students to discuss pharmacology-related questions. Evaluation results of forum participants and elective students demonstrated a learning benefit of internet forums in pharmacology teaching. Conclusion: Internet discussion forums offer an easy-to-implement and effective way to actively engage students and increase the learning benefit of electronic and classroom teaching in pharmacology.
Concurrent chemoradiation for locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix: where are we in 2006?

Significant improvements in detection and treatment have continued to decrease the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in the Western world. We are now poised to mount efforts to eliminate the disease through mass human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination [1]. However, while improvements in cervical cancer have been common place in the Western world, large populations in Africa, Asia and South America remain unscreened and have a high disease incidence and mortality [2]. More effective treatment for cervical cancer has evolved through sophisticated imaging and the use of cisplatin-based concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This manuscript will discuss the studies that established cisplatin-based chemotherapy as the new standard of care in the United States and led to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Alert. Furthermore, the more recent studies and future direction on research in this area will be discussed.
Left ventricular twist in a normal African adult population.

AIMS Speckle tracking has emerged as a quantitative technique for assessing left ventricular (LV) function. However, no normative data for LV twist using speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) are available in the black population. This study assessed myocardial mechanics by determining LV twist parameters in different age groups using STE, and evaluated the effect of ageing on LV twist in this population. METHODS AND RESULTS The study population consisted of 127 healthy volunteers divided into four age groups: 20-29 (n = 34); 30-39 (n = 33); 40-49 (n = 29); and 50-65 (n = 31) years. Parasternal short-axis images of three consecutive end-expiratory cardiac cycles at LV basal, papillary muscle, and apical levels, and apical four-chamber images were obtained. Apical and (AR) basal (BR) LV peak systolic rotation during ejection and instantaneous LV peak systolic twist (net twist, defined as maximal value of instantaneous AR minus BR) were measured. Mean strain values were -17.28 ± 3.30% for longitudinal, -17.40 ± 3.29% for circumferential, and 57.49 ± 3.32% for radial strain. Mean rotational values were AR (5.56 ± 1.98°), BR (-3.31 ± 0.92°), and net twist (8.87 ± 2.21°). AR, BR, and net twist increased with age, whereas longitudinal, circumferential, and radial strain decreased with age. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed age as the main predictor of net twist (R(2) = 0.82, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION These data establish values for strain and twist in a normal black adult population. Net twist increases with age, whereas strain parameters decrease. Age is the strongest independent predictor of LV twist.
CXC chemokines in angiogenesis

A variety of factors have been identified that regulate angiogenesis, including the CXC chemokine family. The CXC chemokines are a unique family of cytokines for their ability to behave in a disparate manner in the regulation of angiogenesis. CXC chemokines have four highly conserved cysteine amino acid residues, with the first two cysteine amino acid residues separated by one non‐conserved amino acid residue (i.e., CXC). A second structural domain within this family determines their angiogenic potential. The NH2 terminus of the majority of the CXC chemokines contains three amino acid residues (Glu‐Leu‐Arg: the ELR motif), which precedes the first cysteine amino acid residue of the primary structure of these cytokines. Members that contain the ELR motif (ELR+) are potent promoters of angiogenesis. In contrast, members that are inducible by interferons and lack the ELR motif (ELR−) are potent inhibitors of angiogenesis. This difference in angiogenic activity may impact on the pathogenesis of a variety of disorders.
Mapping and morphometric analysis of synapses and spines on fusiform cells in the dorsal cochlear nucleus

Fusiform cells are the main integrative units of the mammalian dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), collecting and processing inputs from auditory and other sources before transmitting information to higher levels of the auditory system. Despite much previous work describing these cells and the sources and pharmacological identity of their synaptic inputs, information on the three-dimensional organization and utltrastructure of synapses on these cells is currently very limited. This information is essential since an understanding of synaptic plasticity and remodeling and pathologies underlying disease states and hearing disorders must begin with knowledge of the normal characteristics of synapses on these cells, particularly those features that determine the strength of their influence on the various compartments of the cell. Here, we employed serial block face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) followed by 3D reconstructions to map and quantitatively characterize synaptic features on DCN fusiform cells. Our results reveal a relative sparseness of synapses on the somata of fusiform cells but a dense distribution of synapses on apical and basal dendrites. Synapses on apical dendrites were smaller and more numerous than on basal dendrites. The vast majority of axosomatic terminals were found to be linked to other terminals connected by the same axon or different branches of the same axon, suggesting a high degree of divergent input to fusiform cells. The size of terminals was correlated with the number of mitochondria and with the number of active zones, which was highly correlated with the number of postsynaptic densities, suggesting that larger terminals exert more powerful influence on the cell than smaller terminals. These size differences suggest that the input to basal dendrites, most likely those from the auditory nerve, provide the most powerful sources of input to fusiform cells, while those to apical dendrites (e.g., parallel fiber) are weaker but more numerous.
Structural Health Monitoring: A Contribution to the Intelligent Aircraft Structure

Future aircrafts will be manufactured out of new and innovative materials and will be assembled by fast and economic assembling technologies. Nevertheless conventional materials will play a role in future design philosophies, as well. In order to take the benefit from all relevant material technologies and also new as- sembling technologies new innovative inspection and monitoring technologies need to be developed and implemented. Today's Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) technologies are limited due to the in- spection can only be carried out if an access to the area to be inspected exits. Only during maintenance checks this can be ensured in most cases. So a continuous or more often inspection is not possible due to economic reasons. The uses of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technologies for future aircraft will not only enable new possibilities for maintenance concepts, but will have a big in- fluence on design concepts and assembling technologies. SHM is aimed to be one of the key technologies to control the structural integrity in future aircrafts providing both maintenance and weight saving benefits.
Cerebellar tDCS Does Not Improve Learning in a Complex Whole Body Dynamic Balance Task in Young Healthy Subjects

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the cerebellum is of increasing interest as a non-invasive technique to modulate motor performance and learning in health and disease. Previous studies have shown that cerebellar tDCS facilitates reach adaptation and associative motor learning in healthy subjects. In the present study it was tested whether cerebellar tDCS improves learning of a complex whole body motor skill. Because this task involves learning of posture and balance likely including learning of a new motor sequence and cognitive strategies, cerebellar tDCS was applied over midline cerebellar structures and the posterolateral cerebellar hemispheres. 30 young and healthy subjects performed two days of balance training on a Lafayette Instrument 16030 stability platform®. Participants received either anodal, cathodal or sham cerebellar tDCS during training on day 1. The cerebellar electrode (7 cm width by 5 cm height) was centered 2 cm below the inion. Mean platform angle deviation and mean balance time were assessed. All subjects showed significant effects of learning. Learning rate was not different between the three modes of stimulation neither on day 1 nor on day 2. Cerebellar tDCS did not facilitate learning of a complex whole body dynamic balance task in young and healthy subjects. tDCS effects, however, may have been missed because of the small group size. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that young and healthy subjects learned and performed already at a near optimal level with little room for further improvement. Future work has to evaluate potential benefits of cerebellar tDCS in elderly subjects and subjects with cerebellar deficits, whose motor control and motor learning network is not optimally tuned.
Bayesian alignment using hierarchical models, with applications in protein bioinformatics

An important problem in shape analysis is to match configurations of points in space after filtering out some geometrical transformation. In this paper we introduce hierarchical models for such tasks, in which the points in the configurations are either unlabelled or have at most a partial labelling constraining the matching, and in which some points may only appear in one of the configurations. We derive procedures for simultaneous inference about the matching and the transformation, using a Bayesian approach. Our hierarchical model is based on a Poisson process for hidden true point locations; this leads to considerable mathematical simplification and efficiency of implementation of EM and Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. We find a novel use for classical distributions from directional statistics in a conditionally conjugate specification for the case where the geometrical transformation includes an unknown rotation. Throughout, we focus on the case of affine or rigid motion transformations. Under a broad parametric family of loss functions, an optimal Bayesian point estimate of the matching matrix can be constructed that depends only on a single parameter of the family. Our methods are illustrated by two applications from bioinformatics. The first problem is of matching protein gels in two dimensions, and the second consists of aligning active sites of proteins in three dimensions. In the latter case, we also use information related to the grouping of the amino acids, as an example of a more general capability of our methodology to include partial labelling information. We discuss some open problems and suggest directions for future work. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
A Fundamental Choice: Internal or External Evaluation?

An organisation wishes to evaluate one of its programs. It can ask a staff member or hire someone outside the organisation. Which should it choose? Surprisingly little guidance is available for this common scenario. A review of 30 texts dealing with organisational performance and evaluation shows that too often the issue is assumed one way or the other. Management texts aimed at business and organisational audiences tend to presume that evaluation is conducted by internal evaluators, usually managers. By contrast the specialist evaluation literature almost always proceeds from the opposite assumption: that evaluation is undertaken by external evaluators. This paper proposes a series of measures for comparing the strengths and weaknesses of internal and external evaluators. These include cost, knowledge, flexibility, objectivity, accountability, willingness to criticise, ethics and utilisation of results. A set of guidelines is offered to assist organisations in choosing between internal and external evaluation in each particular case.
Electrical Stress and Total Ionizing Dose Effects on ${\hbox {MoS}}_{2}$  Transistors

Electrical stress and 10-keV x-ray irradiation and annealing responses are evaluated for back-gate MoS2 transistors. Relative stability of device characteristics is observed for constant-voltage stress. The drain current decreases significantly after both positive and negative bias irradiation. Density functional theory calculations and ozone exposure experiments suggest that O atoms adsorbed on the MoS2 surface during 10-keV x-ray irradiation function as electron traps, causing mobility degradation and voltage shifts.
Maximum-Likelihood Adaptive Filter for Partially Observed Boolean Dynamical Systems

We present a framework for the simultaneous estimation of state and parameters of partially observed Boolean dynamical systems (POBDS). Simultaneous state and parameter estimation is achieved through the combined use of the Boolean Kalman filter and Boolean Kalman smoother, which provide the minimum mean-square error state estimators for the POBDS model, and maximum-likelihood (ML) parameter estimation; in the presence of continuous parameters, ML estimation is performed using the expectation-maximization algorithm. The performance of the proposed ML adaptive filter is demonstrated by numerical experiments with a POBDS model of gene regulatory networks observed through noisy next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq) time series data using the well-known p53-MDM2 negative-feedback loop gene regulatory model.
Surface Compression with Hierarchical Powell-Sabin B-splines

We show how to construct a stable hierarchical basis for piecewise quadratic C1 continuous splines defined on Powell–Sabin triangulations. We prove that this hierarchical basis is well suited for compressing surfaces. Our compression method does not require the construction of wavelets which are usually expensive to compute, but instead we use a stable quasi-interpolation scheme that achieves optimal approximation order. Numerical experiments demonstrate the high compression rate of the algorithm.
Dynamic Service Composition and Selection through an Agent Interaction Protocol

This paper addresses the dynamic service selection and composition issues for the satisfaction of user requirements. We propose an approach in which agents perform service composition through unplanned interactions. In our architecture, agents offer semantic Web services and are capable of reasoning about their services' functionalities. These agents are provided with an interaction protocol that allows them, through dialogue games, to select and compose appropriate services' functionalities in order to fulfil a complex set of requirements specified by a user
Genetic and biochemical analysis of the serine/threonine protein kinases PknA, PknB, PknG and PknL of Corynebacterium glutamicum: evidence for non-essentiality and for phosphorylation of OdhI and FtsZ by multiple kinases

We previously showed that the 2‐oxoglutarate dehydrogenase inhibitor protein OdhI of Corynebacterium glutamicum is phosphorylated by PknG at Thr14, but that also additional serine/threonine protein kinases (STPKs) can phosphorylate OdhI. To identify these, a set of three single (ΔpknA, ΔpknB, ΔpknL), five double (ΔpknAG, ΔpknAL, ΔpknBG, ΔpknBL, ΔpknLG) and two triple deletion mutants (ΔpknALG, ΔpknBLG) were constructed. The existence of these mutants shows that PknA, PknB, PknG and PknL are not essential in C. glutamicum. Analysis of the OdhI phosphorylation status in the mutant strains revealed that all four STPKs can contribute to OdhI phosphorylation, with PknG being the most important one. Only mutants in which pknG was deleted showed a strong growth inhibition on agar plates containing glutamine as carbon and nitrogen source. Thr14 and Thr15 of OdhI were shown to be phosphorylated in vivo, either individually or simultaneously, and evidence for up to two additional phosphorylation sites was obtained. Dephosphorylation of OdhI was shown to be catalysed by the phospho‐Ser/Thr protein phosphatase Ppp. Besides OdhI, the cell division protein FtsZ was identified as substrate of PknA, PknB and PknL and of the phosphatase Ppp, suggesting a role of these proteins in cell division.
The effects of triazolobenzodiazepines in two animal tests of anxiety and in the holeboard

1 In addition to possessing anti‐anxiety activity in man, triazolobenzodiazepines have been reported to have antidepressant and antipanic properties. In this they differ from classical 1,4‐benzodiazepines that have only anti‐anxiety activity. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of the triazolobenzodiazepines in two animal tests of anxiety and in the holeboard, to see whether clear differences could be observed between them and the 1,4‐benzodiazepines. 2 After acute administration, U‐43,465 (16 mg kg−1) had a significant anxiolytic effect in the social interaction test. Neither adinazolam (1–3.5 mg kg−1) nor alprazolam (0.125‐2 mg kg−1) had a significant effect. It is suggested that this is because, with adinazolam and alprazolam, doses at which anxiolytic effects can be observed are close to those at which sedative effects can be observed. 3 U‐43,465 (8–16 mg kg−1) and alprazolam (1–2 mg kg−1) had significant anxiolytic effects in the elevated plus‐maze test of anxiety. 4 U‐43,465 (8–32 mg kg−1), adinazolam (0.5‐5 mg kg−1) and alprazolam (0.2‐2.0 mg kg−1) caused dose‐related reductions in exploratory head‐dipping, locomotor activity and rearing in the holeboard. 5 In general the results seen in the three tests with the triazolobenzodiazepines alprazolam and adinazolam were similar to those seen with classical 1,4‐benzodiazepines. With U‐43,465, however, an anxiolytic effect was observed in the social interaction test after acute treatment; chronic treatment is required to see an effect with classical 1,4‐benzodiazepines. In this U‐43,465 resembles the effects of several novel non‐benzodiazepine putative anxiolytic compounds that are believed to have less sedative potential than the benzodiazepines.
Export of Precursor tRNAIle from the Nucleus to the Cytoplasm in Human Cells

In the current concept, tRNA maturation in vertebrate cells, including splicing of introns, trimming of 5’ leader and 3’ trailer, and adding of CCA, is thought to occur exclusively in the nucleus. Here we provide evidence to challenge this concept. Unspliced intron-containing precursor tRNAIle was identified in Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) virions, which are synthesized in the cytoplasm. Northern blot, confocal microscopy and quantitative RT-PCR further verified enrichment of this unspliced tRNAIle within the cytoplasm in human cells. In addition to containing an intron, the cytoplasmic precursor tRNAIle also contains a short incompletely processed 5´ leader and a 3´ trailer, which abundance is around 1000 fold higher than the nuclear precursor tRNAIle with long 5’ leader and long 3’ trailer. In vitro data also suggest that the cytoplasmic unspliced end-immature precursor tRNAIle could be processed by short isoform of RNase Z, but not long isoform of RNase Z. These data suggest that precursor tRNAs could export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in human cells, instead of be processed only in the nucleus.