Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of transbronchial cryobiopsy in interstitial lung disease - interim analysis of a prospective trial and critical review of the literature.

BACKGROUND Transbronchial Cryobiopsy (Cryo-TBB) represents a new approach for sampling lung tissue in interstitial lung disease (ILD). OBJECTIVES Comparing the reliability of Cryo-TBB results and the procedure's complication rates with the procedure of surgical lung biopsy (SLB). METHODS ILD subjects with the need of lung tissue sampling are analyzed in this prospective trial. To determine the relevance of procedure-related complications the pooled data from the ongoing and previous Cryo-TBB studies were compared with pooled data from previous SLB studies in an interim analysis. In our own cohort we analyzed how often Cryo-TBB results lead to a definite diagnosis without the need for a SLB. In subjects who underwent both procedures it was determined how often SLB confirmed Cryo-TBB findings. RESULTS Analyzing the pooled data of the ongoing study (19 subjects) and our own retrospective study (32 subjects), in 38/51 subjects (75%) SLB was deemed to be unnecessary following Cryo-TBB. In 12/13 subjects an SLB was performed confirming Cryo-TBB results in 92%. 30 day-mortality was 1.9%, bleeding occurred in 78%, pneumothorax in 22%. 2 subjects showed a myocardial infarction. Complication rates are comparable to previous Cryo-TBB studies. Analysis of the pooled data from the literature showed an overall 30-day mortality of 0.7% for Cryo-TBB and 3.3% for SLB. CONCLUSIONS Cryo-TBB may be a reliable diagnostic tool in ILD, dispensing the need for a SLB in most cases. Severe complications may occur less frequently than in SLB. Modifications of the procedure may lead to further risk reduction.
The Belief and Cases Related to Reincarnation among the Haida

Like other tribes of northwestern North America, the Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands (British Columbia) and southeastern Alaska have conserved their traditional belief in reincarnation. Thirty-four informants showed that the belief still persists, even among some young adults. Cases of the reincarnation type occur frequently among the Haida. The main features of 24 cases investigated between 1965 and 1975 are: predictions of rebirth in a particular family; announcing dreams, which indicate who is to be reborn; birthmarks said to correspond with wounds on the deceased person with whom a child is identified; imaged memories of a previous life; and correspondences in behavior between a child and a deceased person. Although the characteristics of the Haida cases resemble those of other northwestern tribes of North America, they differ in some respects from cases of other cultures, such as those of Southeast Asia.
Circulating levels of apoptotic markers and oxidative stress parameters in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a case-controlled descriptive study

Abstract Context: Apoptotic dysregulation plays a role in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Objective: To evaluate circulatory apoptotic markers and oxidative stress in patients with PCOS. Materials and methods: Forty-four women with PCOS, and 44 healthy women as controls were enrolled in the study. Oxidative stress parameters and caspases levels were measured in serum. Results: The caspase 9 level was significantly lower and related with oxidant status in patients with PCOS, while the circulating levels of caspases 3 and 7 were statistically similar in both groups. Discussion: This study is the first report demonstrating the circulating levels of apoptotic markers and their relationship with oxidant status in PCOS. Conclusion: The circulating caspase 9 and oxidant status might contribute to apoptotic dysregulation in PCOS.
Restoration of intestinal continuity following Hartmann's procedure: The Lothian experience 1987–1992

Restoration of intestinal continuity following Hartmann's procedure is associated with high morbidity (anastomotic leak rates 4–16 per cent) and mortality (0–4 per cent) rates. A total of 178 patients, under the care of seven different surgical units, underwent reversal of Hartmann's procedure during a 5‐year period, representing the largest series yet reported. The mortality rate of the study group was 0·6 per cent, the anastomotic leak rate was 3·9 per cent and the incidence of anastomotic stricture was 6·7 per cent. The median time interval between resection and reversal was 92 days and no relation was found between timing and complications. Anastomotic stricture occurred significantly more commonly in stapled than in sutured anastomoses (P <0·05); however, leaks were equally common in both types. The mean age of the patients who developed major complications was not statistically different from that of the rest of the study group and there was no difference in premorbid state. The authors believe that the low complication rates reported in this series may be attributable to the high level of operator experience in performing this technically difficult procedure, which was done by a consultant in 66 per cent of cases and by a senior registrar in 33 per cent.
Serum zinc and copper levels and Cu: Zn ratio in psoriasis.

Sixty patients of psoriasis, comprising of 34 males and 26 females, were studied. Patients with diseases known to alter the serum zinc and copper levels, pregnant women, and females taking oral contraceptives were excluded. Five ml of venous blood was collected and serum was separated. The serum zinc and copper level estimation was done by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results were compared with 20 age and sex matched normal healthy controls, mostly relatives of patients. The results were compared by applying unpaired ‘t’ test.
Aqueous flow in human eye measured with topically applied fluorescein

Richard F. Figure 1 shows a human eye without its aqueous circulation. The cornea is thickened, the anterior chamber is absent, the iris is partly atrophic, and the lens is cataractous. The picture serves as a reminder of the dependency of the health of the eye on the continuous supply of aqueous humor that circulates through its chambers. It is surprising that it was not known until recently that aqueous humor was formed continuously and drained.
Multifocus Image Fusion via Region Reconstruction

This paper presents a new method for multifocus image fusion. We formulate the problem as an optimization framework with three terms to model common visual artifacts. A reconstruction error term is used to remove the boundary seam artifacts, and an out-of-focus energy term is used to remove the ringing artifacts. Together with an additional smoothness term, these three terms define the objective function of our framework. The objective function is then minimized by an efficient greedy iteration algorithm. Our method produces high quality fusion results with few visual artifacts. Comparative results demonstrate the efficiency of our method.
The Wrinkly Skin Syndrome: A new heritable disorder of connective tissue

A new heritable disorder of connective tissue called the Wrinkly Skin Syndrome is described, This syndrome appears to be transmitted as an autosomal recessive disorder. Clinically it is characterized by the appearance at birth of wrinkled skin about the hands and feet together with an increase in the number of creases on the ventral surfaces. Other altered connective tissue manifestations are present. A discussion is given which distinguishes the clinical and genetic features of this syndrome from those found in similar known heritable disorders of connective tissue.
In Vivo Extrastriatal and Striatal D2 Dopamine Receptor Blockade by Amisulpride in Schizophrenia

Amisulpride, a substituted benzamide with high affinity for dopamine D2 and D3 receptors only, has been reported to have therapeutic effects on both negative and positive schizophrenic symptoms, although at distinct dose ranges (50-300 mg/day vs. 400-1,200 mg/day). The purpose of this study was to investigate the binding of amisulpride to extrastriatal (i.e., thalamus and temporal cortex) and striatal D2 dopamine receptors with respect to plasma amisulpride determinations. Ten patients with schizophrenia treated with amisulpride over a wide range of doses (25-1,200 mg/day) were studied. Positron emission tomography images were acquired by using 76Br-FLB-457, a highly specific antagonist of the D2 and D3 dopamine receptors. Binding indexes (BI) in the regions studied were estimated with reference to values from six healthy subjects. A curvilinear relationship was demonstrated between plasma concentration of amisulpride and the BI in extrastriatal regions. The BI also varied as a function of plasma concentration in striatum. Furthermore, the data provide evidence for different binding profiles: low plasma concentrations (28-92 ng/mL) induced marked extrastriatal binding and low striatal binding, whereas higher plasma concentrations (>153 ng/mL) induced marked binding both in extrastriatal and striatal regions. Dose-dependent differential binding profiles of amisulpride to D2 receptors in extrastriatal and striatal regions were demonstrated, and two therapeutic ranges of plasma concentrations for negative and positive schizophrenic symptoms, respectively, are suggested.
Universal quantum Hamiltonians

Significance Quantum many-body systems exhibit a bewilderingly diverse range of behavior, which forms the central object of study in many areas of physics and beyond. Our work reveals that, in fact, the entire physics of every other quantum many-body system is replicated in certain simple, universal quantum spin-lattice models. A key application is to the field of analogue simulation of quantum systems, which has long been seen as one of the most promising near-term applications of quantum information technology. We put this field on a rigorous footing, give some rigorous justification for why it may not require error correction, and show that simple families of systems can be used as universal quantum simulators. Quantum many-body systems exhibit an extremely diverse range of phases and physical phenomena. However, we prove that the entire physics of any quantum many-body system can be replicated by certain simple, “universal” spin-lattice models. We first characterize precisely what it means for one quantum system to simulate the entire physics of another. We then fully classify the simulation power of all two-qubit interactions, thereby proving that certain simple models can simulate all others, and hence are universal. Our results put the practical field of analogue Hamiltonian simulation on a rigorous footing and take a step toward justifying why error correction may not be required for this application of quantum information technology.
Statistics for medical students in the 1990's: how should we approach the future?

Medical statistics teaching in the U.K. has moved over the past twenty years from needing justification to acceptability. In the future teachers need to involve statistical and medical colleagues to improve the content and presentation of their material. While some techniques must continue to be taught, the conceptual aspects of scientific evaluation and assessment will need to increase.
Effect of a protective-ventilation strategy on mortality in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

BACKGROUND In patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome, massive alveolar collapse and cyclic lung reopening and overdistention during mechanical ventilation may perpetuate alveolar injury. We determined whether a ventilatory strategy designed to minimize such lung injuries could reduce not only pulmonary complications but also mortality at 28 days in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. METHODS We randomly assigned 53 patients with early acute respiratory distress syndrome (including 28 described previously), all of whom were receiving identical hemodynamic and general support, to conventional or protective mechanical ventilation. Conventional ventilation was based on the strategy of maintaining the lowest positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) for acceptable oxygenation, with a tidal volume of 12 ml per kilogram of body weight and normal arterial carbon dioxide levels (35 to 38 mm Hg). Protective ventilation involved end-expiratory pressures above the lower inflection point on the static pressure-volume curve, a tidal volume of less than 6 ml per kilogram, driving pressures of less than 20 cm of water above the PEEP value, permissive hypercapnia, and preferential use of pressure-limited ventilatory modes. RESULTS After 28 days, 11 of 29 patients (38 percent) in the protective-ventilation group had died, as compared with 17 of 24 (71 percent) in the conventional-ventilation group (P<0.001). The rates of weaning from mechanical ventilation were 66 percent in the protective-ventilation group and 29 percent in the conventional-ventilation group (P=0.005): the rates of clinical barotrauma were 7 percent and 42 percent, respectively (P=0.02), despite the use of higher PEEP and mean airway pressures in the protective-ventilation group. The difference in survival to hospital discharge was not significant; 13 of 29 patients (45 percent) in the protective-ventilation group died in the hospital, as compared with 17 of 24 in the conventional-ventilation group (71 percent, P=0.37). CONCLUSIONS As compared with conventional ventilation, the protective strategy was associated with improved survival at 28 days, a higher rate of weaning from mechanical ventilation, and a lower rate of barotrauma in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Protective ventilation was not associated with a higher rate of survival to hospital discharge.
Size-dependent sex allocation and reproductive investment in a gynodioecious shrub

Gynodioecy is a mating system where both hermaphrodite (pollen and seed producer) and female plants (seed producer) coexist within a population. We compared size-dependent sex allocation between hermaphrodites and females in a gynodioecious shrub, Daphne jezoensis. Hermaphrodites produced more flowers with size increment than females, while females produced 3.7 times more fruits than hermaphrodites. Despite the sexual difference in sex allocation, total reproductive investment did not differ between the sex morphs because of low pollination success. Severe pollen limitation under natural conditions resulted in the balanced resource investment in reproduction between the sex morphs in this species.
Chemistry profiles in "wellness programs": test selection and participant outcomes.

Insurers, employers, and individuals create demands for laboratory testing in "wellness programs. " Tests chosen to identify cases deserving intervention included routine automated chemical tests plus high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ferritin, and thyroid tests. Participants' unwarranted concerns were addressed with a personalized reporting schema. We tested 1338 individuals, identified 224 (16.7%) with significant abnormalities, and made phone contact follow-up with 193 (86%) of these six to 14 months later. Cholesterol results suggesting increased risk of heart disease were frequent, and were not studied. Interventions were initiated in 55 of the 193 followup cases (49 by physician and six by participants), including prescription of iron or thyroid hormone, counseling on dietary or alcohol intake, and repeat testing. For 58, there was medical advice without intervention; abnormal results were ignored by 79. Noteworthy participant anxiety was manifested in two of the 193 cases, both of whom were treated with iron. We conclude that 4% of the original 1338 participants potentially benefitted from intervention. Ferritin and thyroid tests initiated 33 (61%) of these 55 specific therapeutic interventions.
Suppression of Extinction with TMS in Humans: From Healthy Controls to Patients

We review a series of studies exemplifying some applications of single-pulse and paired-transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the study of spatial attention and of its deficits. We will focus primarily on sensory extinction, the failure to consciously perceive a contralesional sensory stimulus only during bilateral stimulation of homologous surfaces. TMS studies in healthy controls show that it is possible either to interfere or modulate the excitability of the parietal cortex during sensory (i.e. tactile and visual) attentional tasks, thus reproducing a condition of virtual extinction. TMS studies in patients with unilateral (mainly right) brain damage show that the modulation of the unbalance in cortical excitability between the two cerebral hemispheres transiently improves contralesional sensory extinction. These studies show the possible application of TMS not only as a research method in healthy subjects, but also as a tool for inducing brain excitability changes in patients with sensory extinction, which could be useful for supporting the rehabilitation of this deficit.
Physical capacity and walking ability after lower limb amputation: a systematic review

Objective: To review the influence of physical capacity on regaining walking ability and the development of walking ability after lower limb amputation. Design: A systematic search of literature was performed. The quality of all relevant studies was evaluated according to a checklist for statistical review of general papers. Subjects: Lower limb amputees. Main measures: Physical capacity (expressed by aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, muscle force, flexibility and balance) and walking ability (expressed by the walking velocity and symmetry). Results: A total of 48 studies that complied with the inclusion criteria were selected. From these studies there is strong evidence for deterioration of two aspects of physical capacity (muscle strength and balance) and of two aspects of walking ability (walking velocity and symmetry) after lower limb amputation. Strong evidence was found for a relation between balance and walking ability. Conclusion: Strong evidence was only found for a relation between balance and walking ability. Evidence about a relation between other elements of physical capacity and walking ability was insufficient. Training of physical capacity as well as walking ability during rehabilitation following lower limb amputation should not be discouraged since several parameters have been shown to be reduced after amputation, although their relation to regaining walking ability and to the development of walking ability remains unclear.
Diffusion anisotropy in subcortical white matter and cortical gray matter: Changes with aging and the role of CSF‐suppression

To determine the relevance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)‐suppression for the measurement of diffusion anisotropy in well‐localized areas of the brain, particularly the subcortical white matter (WM) within the gyri and cortical gray matter (GM), in young and elderly subjects, and to assess the changes of water diffusivity in the brain with normal aging.
Effect of interferon therapy on first and second recurrence after resection of hepatitis C virus‐related hepatocellular carcinoma

Aim: Several investigators have shown that interferon (IFN) therapy can suppress the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative treatment. We investigated the effect of IFN therapy on the first and second HCC recurrence following hepatic resection of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related HCC.
Coactivators PGC-1β and SRC-1 Interact Functionally to Promote the Agonist Activity of the Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator Tamoxifen*

PGC-1β is a transcriptional coactivator that enhances strongly and in a hormone-dependent manner the activity of the estrogen receptor α (ERα) while having only weak effects on similar steroid hormone receptors, such as ERβ or the glucocorticoid receptor. Notably, PGC-1β enhances ERα transcriptional activity not only in response to agonist ligands, such as estradiol, but also to selective ER modulators, such as tamoxifen. Here, we dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of PGC-1β to act selectively on ERα and to promote the agonist activity of tamoxifen. We show that receptor selectivity is achieved by PGC-1β interactions with not just the ligand binding domain (LBD), which is highly conserved among nuclear receptors, but also the N-terminal domain and the hinge/AF-2a region of ERα, which are less well conserved. PGC-1β interacts directly with the hinge/AF-2a and LBD regions but indirectly and via the coactivator SRC-1 with the N-terminal domain. The three ERα surfaces and SRC-1 collectively enable efficient coactivation by PGC-1β. Similar ERα surfaces and interactions enable PGC-1β to coactivate transcription by tamoxifen-bound ERα. Surprisingly, PGC-1β coactivation of tamoxifen-bound ERα depends partially on one of the LXXLL motifs of PGC-1β and on Lys362 of the ERα LBD (i.e. surfaces implicated in agonist-dependent interactions). Our findings suggest that tamoxifen-induced changes in the ERα LBD promote interactions with the coactivator PGC-1β, which then cooperates with SRC-1 to enable tamoxifen agonism.
Bioactive Natural Substances from Marine Sponges: New Developments and Prospects for Future Pharmaceuticals

In the last decades researchers of natural products chemistry focused their research in a wide variety of bioactive compounds from marine species. Marine sponges (Porifera) have been ranked very high in the priority of natural product research because the discovery of a wide range of bioactive chemical components and secondary metabolites with potential pharmaceutical applications gave promising results. These discoveries have attracted the attention of pharmaceutical chemistry experts, cell biologists, chemists of natural products and medical practitioners. Since the 1950s, when a number of the first publications appeared in the scientific literature, some bioactive natural chemicals from marine sponges gave successful examples of pharmaceuticals. Initial experimental results suggest that sponges have the potential to provide future drugs against important diseases, such as cancer, a range of viral diseases, malaria, and inflammations. At the same time scientists studied the molecular mode of action of most sponge-derived metabolites and their mechanism of action were elucidated for their therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases. This review aims at describing some of the most highly cited reviews of the last decade on sponge-derived bioactive compounds and the most promising substances extracted and isolated from marine sponges for pharmaceutical applications. The review is covering mainly new developments of the last five years in the field of marine sponge metabolite research and important findings for bioactive compounds from in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies for therapeutic drug applications.