Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-dose recombinant human thyrotropin-aided radioiodine treatment of large, multinodular goiters in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess low-dose recombinant human thyroid-stimulating hormone (rhTSH)-aided, fixed-activity radioiodine therapy of large, multinodular goiters (MNGs) in elderly patients with comorbidities. DESIGN This was a short-term, observational study. METHODS We measured 24-h thyroid radioiodine uptake (RAIU) of 2 microCi 131-iodine at baseline and 24 h after intramuscular injection of 0.03 mg rhTSH in 17 patients (aged 60-86 years, 12 women), who subsequently received 30 mCi 131-iodine 24 h after an identical rhTSH injection. TSH and free thyroxine (FT4) were measured at baseline and days 10, 30 and 90 after therapy. Thyroid volume was assessed by computed tomography at baseline and day 180. RESULTS rhTSH, 0.03 mg, significantly increased mean 24-h thyroid RAIU from 25.8% +/- 10.3% to 43.3% +/- 8.4% (68% relative increase; t(16) = -8.43, P < 0.001). The proportion of patients overtly or subclinically hyperthyroid (TSH < 0.5 mU/l) decreased from 71% (12/17) at baseline to 19% (3/16) at 3 months. Mean serum FT4 peaked at slightly above normal range, 25.9 +/- 7.7 pmol/l (46% over baseline) and was 21% under baseline levels at 3 months. Mean estimated thyroid volume fell 34% from baseline to 6 months (170.0 +/- 112.8 to 113.1 +/- 97.5 ml; P < 0.01). Symptomatic relief, improved well-being, and/or reduction or elimination of antihyperthyroid medication were seen in 76% of patients. Three (18%) patients had transient neck pain or tenderness, or palpitations; one had transient asymptomatic thyroid enlargement; and three (18%) became hypothyroid by 3 months. CONCLUSIONS Intramuscular rhTSH, 0.03 mg, followed 24 h later by 30 mCi 131-iodine, is a safe, effective and convenient treatment for MNG in elderly patients with comorbidities.
Bidirectional interactions between the circadian and reward systems: is restricted food access a unique zeitgeber?

Reward is mediated by a distributed series of midbrain and basal forebrain structures collectively referred to as the brain reward system. Recent evidence indicates that an additional regulatory system, the circadian system, can modulate reward‐related learning. Diurnal or circadian changes in drug self‐administration, responsiveness to drugs of abuse and reward to natural stimuli have been reported. These variations are associated with daily rhythms in mesolimbic electrical activity, dopamine synthesis and metabolism, and local clock gene oscillations. Conversely, the presentation of rewards appears capable of influencing circadian timing. Rodents can anticipate a daily mealtime by the entrainment of a series of oscillators that are anatomically distinct from the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Other work has indicated that restricted access to non‐nutritive reinforcers (e.g. drugs of abuse, sex) or to palatable food in the absence of an energy deficit is capable of inducing relatively weak anticipatory activity, suggesting that reward alone is sufficient to induce anticipation. Recent attempts to elucidate the neural correlates of anticipation have revealed that both restricted feeding and restricted palatable food access can entrain clock gene expression in many reward‐related corticolimbic structures. By contrast, restricted feeding alone can induce or entrain clock gene expression in hypothalamic nuclei involved in energy homeostasis. Thus, under ad libitum feeding conditions, the weak anticipatory activity induced by restricted reward presentation may result from the entrainment of reward‐associated corticolimbic structures. The additional induction or entrainment of oscillators in hypothalamic regulatory areas may contribute to the more robust anticipatory activity associated with restricted feeding schedules.
Gender assignment of English loanwords in Pennsylvania German: Is there a feminine tendency?

Previous investigations have reported a feminine tendency in the assignment of grammatical gender for English loanwords in Pennsylvania German as well as in other German Sprachinseln languages located in Anglophone areas (e.g. Reed 1942). This study investigates whether or not there is a feminine tendency in Pennsylvania German using a corpus based on the Comprehensive Pennsylvania German Dictionary . A statistical analysis reveals no evidence of a feminine tendency in Pennsylvania German. Monomorphemic English loanwords and monomorphemic native nouns in Pennsylvania German are significantly more likely to be assigned masculine gender than monomorphemic nouns in Standard German. Unlike Standard German, there is no significant difference in gender assignment in Pennsylvania German between monosyllabic and polysyllabic nouns for either the native lexicon or English loanwords.
Agrifood Research Finland Animal Production Research Equines Ypäjä , Finland UTERINE LUMINAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE MARE by

6 LIST OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES . 8 ABBREVIATIONS.9 INTRODUCTION.10 REVIEW OF LITERATURE.11 1. Uterine luminal environment . 11 1.1. Effect of steroid hormones.11 1.2. Introduction of micro-organisms into the uterus . 13 1.3. Endometrial inflammation . 14 1.4. Uterine involution . 17 2. Examination methods of uterine luminal environment . 20 2.1. Transrectal palpation and ultrasonography.20 2.2. Endoscopy.20 2.3. Sampling of uterine luminal contents . 20 3. Diagnostic and prognostic value of uterine samples . 21 3.1. Uterine cytology . 21 3.2. Bacterial cultures . 22 3.3. Uterine histology.23 3.4. Biochemical analysis of uterine fluid . 23 3.5. Predicting foal heat fertility . 27 AIMS OF THE STUDY.28 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 29 1. Animals . 29 2. Experimental design.29 2.1. Hormone treatments and bacterial inoculation (I) . 29 2.2. Post-breeding study (II) . 29 2.3. Fluid accumulation study (III) . 31 2.4. Involution study (IV) . 31 2.5. Foal heat fertility study (V) . 31 3. Ovulation control and ultrasonography.31 4. Inseminations (II, III, V) . 32 5. Hormone replacement therapy (I) . 32 6. Intrauterine streptococcal inoculation (I) . 32 7. Embryo recovery (III, V) . 33 8. Sampling of the uterus . 33 8.1. Endometrial swabs (I, IV). 33 8.2. Uterine lavage (I, II, IV, V) . 33 8.3. Tampon technique (III) . 34 8.4. Endometrial biopsy (I, III) . 34 9. Counting of neutrophils.34 10. Bacteriological examination.35 11. Histological examination . 35 12. Biochemical analyses . 35 12.1. Total protein (I, III-V). 35
The complete mitochondrial genome of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) was determined (GenBank accession No. KM023645). The length of this mitogenome is 16,014 bp with 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and an A + T-rich region. It presents the typical gene organization and order for completely sequenced lepidopteran mitogenomes. The nucleotide composition of the genome is highly A + T biased, accounting for 81.48%, with a slightly positive AT skewness (0.005). All PCGs are initiated by typical ATN codons, except for the gene cox1, which uses CGA as its start codon. Some PCGs harbor TA (nad5) or incomplete termination codon T (cox1, cox2, nad2 and nad4), while others use TAA as their termination codons. The A + T-rich region is located between rrnS and trnM with a length of 888 bp.
Sp1 upregulates expression of TRF2 and TRF2 inhibition reduces tumorigenesis in human colorectal carcinoma cells

Telomeres are essential for the maintenance of genomic integrality, they enable complete DNA replication, organize subnuclear domains, and protect chromosome ends against fusion. Loss of telomere function in human cells results in the formation of dicentric chromosomes and other abnormalities such as end-to-end fusions.TRF2 is a ubiquitously expressed protein which binds directly to the tandem array of duplex telomeric repeats and is involved in the telomere structure and chromosome end protection. Inhibition of TRF2 induces end-to-end chromosome fusions and growth arrest or apoptosis in human melanoma cells.Lack of TRF2 in ALT cells also caused PMLdependent p53 activation and loss of telomeric DNA.TRF2 over-expression is found in several human tumors such as breast carcinomas, liver hepatocarcinomas, lung carcinomas and gastric carcinomas. This suggests that TRF2 may have a role in tumorigenisis.Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract share numerous common genetic features despite differing widely in incidence and outcome.However, the role and mechanisms that lead to over-expressed TRF2 in colorectal carcinoma are not well known. Sp1 is a member of the multigene family with sequence-specific DNA-binding C-terminal zinc-finger motifs, which plays a critical role in the regulation of expression of mammalian genes lacking a TATA box, by binding to GC/GT boxes to activate transcription.Cancer-related Sp1 targets include PDEGF, p21, VEGF, TGF-β, cyclin D1, E2F1, c-fos, transforming growth factor α and osteopontin (OPN). The promoter of TRF2 is GC-rich sequence (70-75%), which lacks an obvious TATA box. It is unclear whether or not TRF2 is regulated via Sp1, which may in turn be regulated to genomic stability. We tested the expression of TRF2 in colorectal carcinoma tissues and colon carcinoma SW480 cell line, and studied the role of Sp1 in regulating TRF2 expression in colon carcinoma. Results showed that TRF2 was over-expressed in colorectal carcinoma tissues and SW480 cell line. It was also shown that Sp1 transcription factor is involved in the up-regulation of TRF2 expression.
Tuning of PI controllers based on gain and phase margin specifications

The authors examine a class of tuning formula associated with the relay auto-tuning, cross correlation auto-tuning and other self-tuning PI/PID controllers. These methods measure the ultimate gain, ultimate period, simplified process model parameters e.g. gain, time constant and dead-time or some related frequency response data e.g. a point on the Nyquist curve. The estimates are then used in the tuning formulae. It has been found from extensive simulation that the modified Ziegler-Nichols formulae give good responses over a wide range of process dynamics. A more general approach is to use the combined phase and gain margins approach. However, the method to date could only achieve a compromise in phase and gain margins by designing to move the compensated Nyquist curve to pass through a specified design point. The performance of this tuning formula, however, is found to be too conservative especially when the dead time is large. The authors propose an analytical method to tune/design the PI controller to pass through two design points and the Nyquist curve as specified by separate gain margin (A/sub m/) and phase margin. <<ETX>>
Chapter 15 Ring Particle Composition and Size Distribution

We review recent progress concerning the composition and size distribution of the particles in Saturn’s main ring system, and describe how these properties vary from place to place. We discuss how the particle size distribution is measured, and how it varies radially. We note the discovery of unusually large “particles” in restricted radial bands. We discuss the properties of the grainy regoliths of the ring particles. We review advances in understanding of ring particle composition from spectrophotometry at UV, visual and near-IR wavelengths, multicolor photometry at visual wavelengths, and thermal emission. We discuss the observed ring atmosphere and its interpretation and, briefly, models of the evolution of ring composition. We connect the ring composition with what has been learned recently about the composition of other icy objects in the Saturn system and beyond. Because the rings are so thoroughly and rapidly structurally evolved, the composition of the rings may be our best clue as to their origin; however, the evolution of ring particle composition over time must first be understood.
Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Boundary Value Problems by Variational Methods . Applications

(i) The approximation by G-alerkin type methods such as finite elements, spectral methods, etc. (ii) The numerical solution of the approximate problems by efficient iterative methods. To illustrate the above generalities, we shall discuss in Sections 2, 3, 4 the solution of nonlinear boundary value problems by least squares-conjugate gradient methods and apply them to quite classical nonlinear problems in Fluid Dynamics such as the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible viscous fluids and the full potential equation modelling the transonic flows of compressible inviscid fluids. In Sections 5, 6 we shall discuss the solution of a broad class of nonlinear variational problems by augmented Lagrangian methods and apply the corresponding techniques to the solution of some "hard" problems in finite elasticity. The results of numerical experiments illustrate the possibilities of the methods discussed in this paper (more details about these methods can be found in [19], [20]).
Evaluation through comet assay of DNA damage induced in human lymphocytes by alpha particles . Comparison with protons and Co-60 gamma rays

Background and purpose: Several techniques with different sensitivity to single-strand breaks and/or double strand breaks were applied to detect DNA breaks generated by high LET particles. Tests that assess DNA damage in single cells might be the appropriate tool to estimate damage induced by particles, facilitating the assessment of heterogeneity of damage in a cell population. The microgel electrophoresis (comet) assay is a sensitive method for measuring DNA damage in single cells. The objective of this work was to evaluate the proficiency of comet assay to assess the effect of high LET radiation on peripheral blood lymphocytes, compared to protons and Co-60 gamma rays. Materials and methods: Irradiations of blood samples were performed at TANDAR laboratory (Argentina). Thin samples of human peripheral blood were irradiated with different doses (0 – 2.5 Gy) of 20.2 MeV helium-4 particles in the track segment mode, at nearly constant LET. Data obtained were compared with the effect induced by 4 MeV protons and Co-60 gamma rays. Alkaline comet assay was applied. Comets were quantified by the Olive tail moment. Results: Distribution of the helium-4 particles and protons were evaluated considering Poisson distribution in lymphocyte nuclei. The mean dose per nucleus per particle result 0.053 Gy for protons and 0.178 Gy for helium4 particles. When cells are exposed to a dose of 0.1 Gy, the hit probability model predicts that 43 % of the nuclei should have experienced an alpha traversal while with protons, 85% of the nuclei should be hit. The experimental results show a biphasic response for helium-4 particles (0.1 Gy), indicating the existence of two subpoulations: unhit and hit. Distributions of tail moment as a function of fluence and experimental dose for comets induced by helium-4 particles, protons and Co-60 gamma rays were analyzed. With helium-4 irradiations, lymphocyte nuclei show an Olive tail moment distribution flattened to higher tail moments as dose increase. However, for irradiations with protons and gamma rays, at increasing doses the tail moments are shifted towards high values with the same distribution, characterized by its asymmetry. Conclusions: The comet assay allowed to observe differences in the patterns of DNA damage induced by helium-4 particles compared to protons and gamma rays, indicating that the mean dose and the hit distribution in the lymphocyte population influence the damage induction.
Strange Hadron Resonances: Freeze-Out Probes in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Hyperon resonances are becoming an extremely useful tool allowing the study of the properties of hadronic fireballs made in heavy ion collisions. Their yield, compared to stable particles with the same quark composition, depends on hadronization conditions. The resonance’s short lifetime makes them ideal probes of the fireball chemical freeze‐out mechanisms. An analysis of resonance abundance in heavy ion collisions should be capable of distinguishing between possible hadronization scenarios, in particular between sudden and gradual hadronization. In this paper, we review the existing SPS and RHIC experimental data on resonance production in heavy ion collisions, and discuss in terms of both thermal and microscopic models the yields of the two observed resonances, K* and Λ(1520). We show how freeze‐out properties, namely chemical freeze‐out temperature and the lifetime of the interacting hadron phase which follows, can be related to resonance yields. Finally, we apply these methods to SPS and RHIC measure.
Therapeutic options in Charcot–Marie–Tooth diseases

Charcot–Marie–Tooth (CMT) diseases represent a heterogeneous genetic disorder (more than 80 genes are implicated in these inherited neuropathies), but sharing a similar phenotype. In recent years, advances in molecular genetics and molecular biology, and also the development of various animal models of CMT, have led to a better understanding. Taken together, this knowledge represents a prerequisite for the development of future therapies in CMT, and in peripheral nervous system disorders in general. The efficacy of various substances has been shown in vitro and also in vivo (in animal models); but, no significant positive effect has yet been confirmed in humans. However, some of these trials are still in development, and we may expect positive results in the future. Although CMT is still an incurable disease, symptomatic treatments (physiotherapy, surgery, analgesic, etc.) are crucial to improve the quality of life of CMT patients.
Treatment of Neovascular Glaucoma after Proton Therapy for Uveal Melanomas with Ranibizumab Injection: Preliminary Results

A last-chance intravitreal injection of ranibizumab was administered alone or in combination with cryotherapy before enucleation for 14 melanomas with neovascular glaucoma (NVG) after proton therapy. These patients were uncontrolled despite medical treatment and experienced pain. All of our patients had a minimum of 4 months of follow-up (ranging from 4 to 22 months). In all of the cases, the neovessels disappeared, and the intra-ocular pressure was normal for 11 out of the 14 patients with or without antiglaucoma drops. No patient experienced pain after the first injection. Tumour regression increased in some patients. However, thus far, the number of cases has been too small to perform any statistical analyses. Although very promising, our results are only preliminary.
Power System Requirements for Wind Power

The power system requirements for wind power mainly depend on the power system configuration, the installed wind power capacity, and how the wind power production varies. Wind resources vary on every time scale: seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years. On all these time scales, the varying wind resources affect the power system. An analysis of this impact will be based on the geographical area that is of interest. The relevant wind power production to analyse is that of larger areas, like synchronously operated power systems, comprising several countries or states. The integration of wind power into regional power systems is mainly studied on a theoretical level, as wind power penetration is still rather limited. Even though the average annual wind power penetration in some island systems (e.g. Crete in Greece) or countries (e.g. Denmark) is already high, on average wind power generation represents only 1–2 % of the total power generation in the Scandinavian power system (Nordel) or the Central European system (UCTE). And the penetration levels in the USA (NERC regions) are even lower. Most examples in this chapter come from Central and Northern Europe, as there is already some experience with large-scale integration of wind power, and there are farreaching targets for wind power. In Central Europe, power production is mostly based on thermal production, whereas in the Nordic countries thermal production is mixed with a large share of hydro power. We will refer to the energy penetration when we use the term wind power penetration in the system. The energy penetration is the energy produced by wind power (annually) as a percentage of the gross electricity consumption. Low penetration means that less than 5 % of gross demand is covered by wind power production, high penetration is more than 10 %. First, this chapter will describe the power system and large-scale wind power production. We will then look at the effects of wind power production on power system operation as well as present results from studies in order to quantify these effects.
New Approaches Targeting Androgen Receptor Signal Pathways for Treatment of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Even orchiectomy/androgen depletion was proposed for treating prostate cancer in the middle of the last century (Attar et al., 2009a; Ross et al., 2008; Vis & Schroder, 2009), androgen deprivation remains to be the mainstay for advanced prostate cancer treatment. However, androgen depletion is usually effective for a limited duration (i.e., a median time of 2-3 years) and majority of the treated prostate cancer patients will develop unresponsiveness to the initial androgen depletion treatment and then evolves to regain the ability to grow despite low levels of androgens in the circulation (Chen et al., 2008; Mostaghel et al., 2009). These so called “castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)” is almost incurable and becomes insignificantly responsive or resistant to most of anti-cancer, cytotoxic drugs except docetaxel and cabazitaxel that seem to show modest but significant improvement of patient survival time (de Bono et al., 2010; Petrylak et al., 2004; Vaishampayan et al., 2009). Evidence strongly suggests that the nuclear androgen receptor (AR) still plays an important role in CRPC and may be, in part, attributed to the resistance to cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs. Intriguingly, these CRPC patients may still respond to second line of AR–related treatment. Thus, it has been urgent to develop novel and more effective AR-related treatments for CRPC. Acquired resistance has been the main limitation of efficacy of cytotoxic drug chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for CRPC. Recently, new molecules or agents aiming at local angiogenesis, immunotherapy, apoptosis, chaperone proteins, the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), RANK ligand, endothelin receptors, and the Src family kinases in CRPC have been developed for treating CRPC, some of which have been either approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or entering into different phases of clinical trial (Aggarwal & Ryan, 2011; Leo et al., 2011; Macfarlane & Chi, 2010; Seruga et al., 2011). This chapter will only focus on AR related targeting approaches for CRPC treatments.
Presynaptic peptidergic modulation of olfactory receptor neurons in Drosophila

The role of classical neurotransmitters in the transfer and processing of olfactory information is well established in many organisms. Neuropeptide action, however, is largely unexplored in any peripheral olfactory system. A subpopulation of local interneurons (LNs) in the Drosophila antannal lobe is peptidergic, expressing Drosophila tachykinins (DTKs). We show here that olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) express the DTK receptor (DTKR). Using two-photon microscopy, we found that DTK applied to the antennal lobe suppresses presynaptic calcium and synaptic transmission in the ORNs. Furthermore, reduction of DTKR expression in ORNs by targeted RNA interference eliminates presynaptic suppression and alters olfactory behaviors. We detect opposite behavioral phenotypes after reduction and over expression of DTKR in ORNs. Our findings suggest a presynaptic inhibitory feedback to ORNs from peptidergic LNs in the antennal lobe.