Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INI1 (BAF 47) Immunohistochemistry is an Essential Diagnostic Tool for Children With Hepatic Tumors and Low Alpha Fetoprotein

Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) of the liver is a rare malignancy with grave prognosis. This entity should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any aggressive liver tumor with low levels of alpha fetoprotein. We report 2 cases of hepatic MRT presenting in infancy. In these 2 cases, we show that loss of INI1 facilitates making the correct diagnosis of primary hepatic MRT utilizing BAF 47 (INI1 gene product) immunostains. Difficulty encountered in making this rare diagnosis, including the need for repeated biopsies, can be avoided if MRT is considered in the differential diagnosis early on and BAF 47 immunohistochemistry is ordered.
Transcriptional inactivation of TP73 expression in oligodendroglial tumors

The TP73 gene, located on chromosome 1p36.3, encodes a product that shares significant structural homology with the tumor suppressor TP53. The aim of this study was to investigate whether TP73 is involved in the development of oligodendroglial tumors, which frequently carry deletions involving 1p36.3. Semi‐quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction was used to determine TP73 transcript levels. Ten of 24 (42%) tumors showed negligible to more than 5‐fold reduction in TP73 expression when compared to normal brain level. To identify potential mechanisms that may modulate TP73 transcription in oligodendroglial tumors, we performed mutation analysis on the TP73 gene. No somatic mutations were however detected in the gene sequence. We then evaluated the possible involvement of epigenetic change in TP73 expression. Bisulfite genomic sequencing detected aberrant hypermethylation at the 5′ region upstream and including the first exon of the TP73 gene in 17 of 44 (39%) oligodendroglial tumors, whereas normal brain tissues showed no methylation in the same region examined. Moreover, 6 of 10 (60%) tumors with negligible or decreased levels of TP73 transcripts were methylation‐positive. In conclusion, our results showed that inactivation of TP73 occurs at the transcriptional level and is associated with promotor hypermethylation. Loss of or reduced TP73 transcript expression may contribute to the tumorigenesis of oligodendroglial tumors. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Development of a functional anatomical subtalar pronator and supinator strength training machine.

BACKGROUND The strength training industry has failed in designing a machine for exercising the pronators and supinators, despite their substantial medio-lateral bracing function. OBJECTIVE The present study documents the muscle strength generation capabilities of the pronators and supinators within their functional anatomic movement plane, using an innovative strength training machine with an oblique axis. METHODS By using two force transducers, the angle-torque relationship of the pronators and supinators of 18 healthy male subjects was identified during maximum voluntary isometric contractions at five anatomical joint angles. Surface EMG was recorded from anterior tibial (TA), peroneus longus (PL) and soleus (SOL) muscles. RESULTS The pronator strength curve showed an inverted U-shaped characteristic, whereas the supinator curve descends from pronated to supinated position. Compared to the muscle activities for one-leg heel raise and toe raise, PL (108-131%) and TA (59-83%), respectively, showed highest activity during pronations. The most activated supinator is SOL (67% of a one-leg heel raise). CONCLUSIONS Differences in the shape of the pronator and supinator strength curves revealed that two different variable cams have to be implemented for matching the human torque capability. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for preventive machine-based training interventions.
Performance of Universal Adhesive in Primary Molars After Selective Removal of Carious Tissue: An 18-Month Randomized Clinical Trial.

PURPOSE To evaluate the 18-month clinical performance of a universal adhesive, applied under different adhesion strategies, after selective carious tissue removal in primary molars. METHODS Forty-four subjects (five to 10 years old) contributed with 90 primary molars presenting moderately deep dentin carious lesions on occlusal or occluso-proximal surfaces, which were randomly assigned following either self-etch or etch-and-rinse protocol of Scotchbond Universal Adhesive (3M ESPE). Resin composite was incrementally inserted for all restorations. Restorations were evaluated at one, six, 12, and 18 months using the modified United States Public Health Service criteria. Survival estimates for restorations' longevity were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate Cox regression analysis with shared frailty to assess the factors associated with failures (P<0.05). RESULTS Estimated survival rates of the restorations were 100 percent, 100 percent, 90.6 percent, and 81.4 percent at one, six, 12, and 18 months, respectively. The adhesion strategy did not influence the restorations' longevity (P=0.06; 72.2 percent and 89.7 percent with etch-and-rinse and self-etch mode, respectively). CONCLUSION Self-etch and etch-and-rinse strategies did not influence the clinical behavior of universal adhesive used in primary molars after selective carious tissue removal; although there was a tendency for better outcome of the self-etch strategy.
Pelvic organ prolapse: a significant cause of psychosexual and social burden

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a well-documented condition; however little is known about the psychosexual and social burden associated with it. This study seeks to document the profile, social and sexual burden associated with pelvic ORGAN prolapse. This was a cross-sectional study involving 412 women with POP who presented for free surgical intervention at the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki between December 2012 and May 2014. The mean age of the women was 51.8 ± 10.3 years. Majority were aged 50 59 years while 81.3% were grand multipara. Three hundred women were postmenopausal. Procidentia was the commonest (37.9%) degree of uterine prolapse. About 90% of the clients were farmers and the commonest predisposing factor identified (apart from parity) was heavy lifting (76.2%). Two hundred and six women (50%) were currently married but only 33.3% women were sexually active. The commonest spousal reaction was sexual denial (24.3%). A third of the women were depressed about their condition. The spouses appear to respond negatively to the condition by abstaining from sexual relation with the women. This study highlighted some psychosexual and social burden associated with POP which should be considered in the total care of these patients.
Infrequent detection of human herpesvirus 6 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from multiple sclerosis patients

Several studies have suggested an association between human herpesvirus 6 (HHV‐6) infection and multiple sclerosis. As HHV‐6 is predominantly a T‐cell tropic virus, we examined the frequency of detection of HHV‐6 genome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from relapsing–remitting (n = 32) and chronic progressive (n = 14) patients and from healthy (n = 17) and neurological (n = 7) controls. Two sensitive polymerase chain reaction assays were used to target different regions within the HHV‐6 genome. Depending on the polymerase chain reaction assay used, the detection of HHV‐6 genome ranged from 11.7 to 23.5% (controls), 3.1 to 23.0% (relapsing–remitting), and 14.2 to 28.5% (chronic progressive). Although these observations do not exclude a pathogenic role for HHV‐6 in multiple sclerosis, they indicate a lack of correlation between HHV‐6 infection of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the development of multiple sclerosis.
Community Share Ownership Trust scheme and empowerment: The case of Gwanda Rural district, Matabeleland South Province in Zimbabwe.

The article primarily analyses the effectiveness of social and economic empowerment strategies targeted at the community of Gwanda Rural district. Despite abundant mineral resources, the indigenous communities living close to the mines have been deprived of the right to directly or indirectly benefit from the mineral resources. The study utilised a descriptive survey to collect data. The article gives a strong indication of how communities of Gwanda Rural district can utilise the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and the Statutory Instrument 21 of 2010 (Community Share Ownership Trust) to empower themselves. The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and the Community Share Ownership Trusts as the major strategies currently adopted by the Government of Zimbabwe to empower local communities were evaluated. The findings of the study indicated that the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and Statutory Instrument for Community Share Ownership Trust were the pro poor mining policies that ensured the harnessing of mineral resources for the empowerment of local indigenous communities. It was also found out that the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act needed to be harmonised with the Rural District Councils’ Act, the Mines and Minerals Act, and the Communal Areas Management Act. The article concluded that the development of infrastructure and provision of public utilities such as electricity, water, establishing micro-credit to small and medium enterprises and implementing broad-based indigenisation policies were some of the strategies of improving rural livelihoods and stimulating entrepreneurship in communities living close to mines. Similarly direct and indirect linkages between the mining sector and local economy could be enhanced through the provision of food supply to the mine, manufacture of mining inputs, provision of security services and supply of labour by the local community. The article recommends that the harmonisation of these acts will ensure that empowerment is integrated in all legislation focused on rural development and promote sustainable ways of utilising the Community Share Ownership Trusts.
TNF and ubiquitin at the crossroads of gene activation, cell death, inflammation, and cancer

Summary: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is crucial for innate immunity, but deregulated TNF signaling also plays an eminent role in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer‐related inflammation. The signals that mediate both the beneficial and the harmful effects of TNF are initiated when TNF binds to its receptors on the surface of target cells. TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) is ubiquitously expressed, whereas TNFR2 is mainly expressed on lymphocytes and endothelial cells. This review focuses on the molecular and physiological consequences of the interaction of TNF with TNFR1. The different outcomes of TNF signaling originate at the apical signaling complex that forms when TNF binds to TNFR1, the TNFR1 signaling complex (TNF‐RSC). By integrating recently gained insight on the functional importance of the presence of different types of ubiquitination in the TNF‐RSC, including linear ubiquitin linkages generated by the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC), with the equally recent elucidation of the mode in which ubiquitin‐binding domains interact with specific di‐ubiquitin linkages, this review develops a new concept for the way the concerted action of different ubiquitination events enables the TNF‐RSC to generate its signaling output in a spatio‐temporally controlled manner. Finally, it will be explained how these new findings and the emerging concept of differential ubiquitination governing the TNF‐RSC may impact future research on the molecular mechanism of TNF signaling and the function of this cytokine in normal physiology, chronic inflammation, and cancer.
Taste laterality in the split brain

Two patients with corpus callosum resection, one complete and the other sparing the genu and the rostrum, were tested for discrimination of three basic taste stimuli (sour, bitter, salty) applied to the right or left sides of the tongue. Responses were made by pointing with either hand to written words or images of visual objects corresponding to the stimuli, a language‐based discrimination. In both patients, response accuracy was significantly above chance for both hemitongues but there was a significant advantage for the left side. Reaction time was shorter for left stimuli than for right stimuli but the difference was not significant. Eight normal controls matched for age with the patients performed equally well with right and left hemitongue stimuli and so did a third callosotomy patient with sparing of the posterior callosum, including the splenium. Tactile and visual tests showed that the left hemisphere was responsible for language‐based responses in the first two patients. The results confirm and extend previous findings in another callosotomy patient, indicating that: (i) taste information from either side of the tongue can reach the left hemisphere in the absence of the corpus callosum; (ii) the ipsilateral input from the tongue to the left hemisphere is more potent functionally than the contralateral input and (iii) in the normal brain, the corpus callosum, specifically its posterior part including the splenium, appears to equalize the effects of the ipsilateral and contralateral gustatory inputs on the left hemisphere. Taken together with evidence about lateralized taste deficits following unilateral cortical lesions, the results also suggest that the gustatory pathways from tongue to cortex are bilaterally‐distributed with an ipsilateral predominance that may be subject to individual variations.
Sex differences in rats in the development of and recovery from ethanol dependence assessed by changes in seizure susceptibility.

BACKGROUND Previous investigations have found sex differences in rats in response to chronic ethanol exposure. The most dramatic differences were observed with anticonvulsant treatment during ethanol withdrawal, when seizure susceptibility is significantly increased. Sex differences in this response were found for both GABAergic and glutamatergic compounds. This study was aimed at exploring whether sex also influences the timing for the development of and recovery from ethanol dependence. METHODS Ethanol was administered in a liquid diet, with pair-fed animals receiving dextrose, substituted isocalorically for the ethanol. Ethanol dependence and withdrawal were assessed by measurement of seizure thresholds after abrupt removal of the ethanol diet. Seizure thresholds were determined by slow, tail vein infusion of the gamma-aminobutyric acidA-receptor antagonist bicuculline. RESULTS Male and female rats displayed differences in timing for both onset and recovery from ethanol dependence, as determined by changes in ethanol withdrawal seizure susceptibility. Female rats were slower to develop dependence and quicker to recover compared with male rats. Furthermore, acute ethanol administration did not alter seizure susceptibility in pair-fed control animals, but it was anticonvulsant in ethanol-withdrawn rats. Ethanol-withdrawn female rats showed a greater response to acute ethanol administration than did male rats. CONCLUSIONS This set of experiments uncovered additional sex differences in one measure of ethanol dependence and withdrawal. Proposed mechanisms for the development of ethanol dependence involve alterations in subunit assembly of gamma-aminobutyric acidA and NMDA receptors or various posttranslational modifications. In consideration of these findings, whatever mechanisms underlie the development of ethanol dependence, there is a different sequence of events in male compared with female rats. Studies are ongoing to determine associations between behavioral measures of ethanol dependence/withdrawal and selective neuronal adaptations.
Insights into Cloud-Top Height and Dynamics from the Seasonal Cycle of Cloud-Top Heights Observed by MISR in the West Pacific Region

Abstract The connection between environmental stability and the height of tropical deep convective clouds is analyzed using stereo cloud height data from the Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), focusing on the seasonal cycle of clouds over the western Pacific Ocean. Three peaks in cloud-top height representing low, mid-topped, and deep convective clouds are found as in previous studies. The optically thickest cloud heights are roughly 2 km higher on the summer side of the equator, where CAPE is higher, than on the winter side. Overall cloud height, however, is about the same on both sides of the equator, but ∼600 m higher in December–February (DJF) than in June–August (JJA). Because of variations in stratospheric upwelling, temperatures near the tropopause exhibit a significant seasonal cycle, mainly above 13 km. Using an ensemble of simulations by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) cloud-resolving model and a simple overshooting parcel calculation, the authors show that the cloud height .
Retinal Nerve Fiber Loss in High- and Normal-Tension Glaucoma by Optical Coherence Tomography

Purpose. To compare the pattern of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) damages in high-tension and normal-tension primary chronic open-angle glaucoma using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods. Age- and refractive error–matched patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) (n = 38) and high-tension glaucoma (HTG) (n = 48) and normal subjects (n = 48) were recruited. All subjects underwent complete eye examinations and OCT RNFL assessments. Results. No statistically significant difference was found between eyes with HTG and NTG for any OCT RNFL thickness parameters (p > 0.05). Inferotemporal thickness values were significantly lower than the superotemporal thickness values in both glaucoma groups (p < 0.001), but no difference was observed in the normal group. Compared with the results from normal subjects, several OCT parameters, including average, superior, inferior, inferotemporal, and superotemporal values, were significantly lower in patients with HTG and NTG (p < 0.01). Conclusions. A mixture of diffuse RNFL damage (superotemporal and inferotemporal regions) and local damage in inferotemporal region was observed in patients with HTG and NTG, suggesting that HTG and NTG may undergo same pathological process.
Two distinct and activity‐dependent mechanisms contribute to autoreceptor‐mediated inhibition of GABAergic afferents to hilar mossy cells

We report that bath application of 3 μm carbachol (CCh), a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, reduces evoked IPSC amplitude recorded from hilar mossy cells in the rat dentate gyrus through a presynaptic mechanism. While CCh has been shown to inhibit evoked IPSCs in other systems, this effect is intriguing in that it does not require inhibitory action of either presynaptic muscarinic receptors or presynaptic cannabinoid receptors. Previous work from our lab has shown that identical application of CCh produces an action potential‐dependent increase in ambient GABA in this system; however, inhibition of evoked IPSCs produced by both 3 and 10 μm CCh is insensitive to the GABAB antagonist CGP52432. Therefore we hypothesized that CCh‐mediated inhibition of evoked IPSCs might be produced by activity‐dependent increases in ambient GABA and subsequent activation of presynaptic GABAA receptors. Consistent with that hypothesis, we report that CCh‐mediated inhibition of evoked IPSCs appears to be well correlated with CCh‐mediated facilitation of spontaneous IPSCs and that CCh does not affect GABAB‐mediated IPSCs recorded in the presence of the GABAA receptor antagonist picrotoxin. Intriguingly, however, we found that bath application of the GAT‐1 transport blocker NO‐711 (1 μm) produces inhibition of evoked IPSCs that is reversed by CGP52432, and that lower doses of CCh produce inhibition with greater CGP52432 sensitivity. These observations, combined with subsequent work on multiple pulse depression, reveal that feedback inhibition of GABAergic afferents to hilar mossy cells is governed by a complex relationship between two distinct and activity‐dependent mechanisms.
Differential effect of interleukin-2 treatment on primary and secondary immunizations in HIV infected individuals

Objectives:As interleukin (IL)-2 therapy increases CD4 cell counts in HIV infected subjects, it emerged as a candidate for the partial restoration of immune competence in this disease. Methods:We studied the frequencies of antigen-specific T cells using single cell resolution cytokine ELISPOT assays and titers of specific antibodies before and after immunization of HIV infected subjects who were treated with HAART or HAART plus IL-2. Results:Subjects seronegative to hepatitis A were vaccinated with hepatitis A antigen. In the non-IL-2 treated group, hepatitis A-specific T cells producing IL-2 and IL-4 along with specific antibodies were induced, showing that these subjects are immune competent and capable of mounting a primary immune response. Additional IL-2 treatment had no significant effect on this primary T cell response; however, booster immunizations with tetanus toxoid or the gp120 depleted HIV vaccine Remune induced higher frequencies of specific interferon (IFN)-γ producing T cells in IL-2 treated subjects. No impact of IL-2 treatment on these secondary B cell responses was seen. Conclusion:Overall, our study showed that IL-2 therapy had no immune enhancing effect on the induction of a primary response, but increased the frequency of IFN-γ producing memory cells after booster immunization.
Altered cortical blood flow in HIV‐seropositive individuals with and without dementia: a single photon emission computed tomography study

Objective:To quantitatively demonstrate the pattern of cerebral perfusion abnormalities in HIV-1-infected individuals described as ‘patchiness' or inhomogeneity in previous qualitative emission tomographic imaging studies. Design:We aimed to create a quantitative measure of inhomogeneity in HIV-infected individuals. High-frequency variance in cortical profiles is an indication of inhomogeneity in the distribution of radiotracer in the cerebral cortex. Therefore, the study analysis was designed to enable the estimation of variance frequencies in cortical profiles. Methods:Regional cerebral blood flow was examined in nine mildly demented and 10 cognitively normal HIV-1-seropositive individuals and eight seronegative normal controls using single photon emission computed tomography with the radiotracer [1–123]-N-isopropyl-p-lodoamphetamine. Quantitative analysis was performed using circumferential profiles of cerebral cortical perfusion. Fourier transform power spectra of the profiles were examined as an index of patchiness in tracer distribution. Results:Normal controls were characterized by strong middle frequency and weak high-frequency power. Both HIV-1-infected groups showed a significant power shift from middle to high frequencies. Conclusions:Increased high-frequency variations in both HIV-1-infected groups indicates diffuse cortical perfusion changes compared with normal controls. This study suggests that there are cerebral bloodflow abnormalities in HIV-1-infected individuals both with and without clinically severe dementia.