Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orbital Exenteration—A Retrospective Study Over an 11 Year Period Analyzing All Cases from a Single Unit

Purpose: A retrospective analysis of all cases of orbital exenteration performed at the National Scottish Ocular Oncology Center over an 11 year period. Methods: We sought all exenteration cases (1993—2003) from ocular oncology and oculoplastic databases. Fifteen exenterations were performed. One case record was irretrievable. Clinicopathological features and outcome of 14 patients were analyzed. All operations were performed by the same consultant. Results: The male to female ratio was 1:1 and the average age at surgery was 66 years. There was a left sided predominance of pathology demonstrated (right to left orbit ratio was 1:1.3. The average follow up period postsurgery was 35 months. The most common underlying diagnosis was malignant melanoma (9/14). Ocular/orbital discomfort was the most frequent presenting symptom (7/14); a mass lesion (10/14) was the most common presenting sign. The average duration of symptoms/signs prior to tertiary institution referral was 10.9 months (range: 0.5—60 months). Exenteration was performed on average 39.7 months (range: 0.13—204) after initial tertiary center presentation. This included patients managed from the outset who failed treatment(s) and then required exenteration. The eyelids were sacrificed in ten cases (10/14). Sockets were lined with eyelid skin (4/10), split skin (thigh) (3/10) or healed secondarily (7/10). Thirteen cases (13/14) had clear histological margins. The average post operative stay was 8.3 days. The most common complication was socket fistula formation (7/14). Ethmoid sinuses were always involved. The average time to fistula development was 4.9 months (sockets lined by skin = 2.2 months compared with sockets left to heal secondarily = 6.9 months). The majority of patients wore occlusive shields long term. Conclusion: The most common pathology necessitating exenteration was malignant melanoma. Most patients presented with a mass lesion. Histological tumor free margins were obtained in thirteen of fourteen cases. The most common complication was socket fistula formation.
Transfer of a Speed of Processing Intervention to Near and Far Cognitive Functions

Background: Evidence establishing the potential for modification of cognitive functioning in later adulthood has begun to accumulate. Objective: The primary goal of the current study was to evaluate, among older adults, the extent to which standardized speed of processing training transfers to similar and dissimilar speeded cognitive measures as well as to other domains of cognitive functioning. Methods: Ninety-seven older adults (mean age 73.71 years) were administered a battery of cognitive tests assessing intelligence, memory, attention, verbal fluency, visual-perceptual ability, speed of processing, and functional abilities. Forty-four of the participants received ten 1-hour sessions of speed of processing training. The remainder of participants were in a no-contact control group. Approximately 6 weeks after the pretraining assessment, all participants repeated the same battery of tests. Results: The results revealed training effects for some speed of processing measures, including performance of instrumental activities of daily living, but no transfer to other domains of cognitive functioning. Conclusion: Speed of processing training may enhance the speed at which older adults can perform instrumental activities of daily living.
Physical‐chemical determinants of turn conformations in globular proteins

Globular proteins are assemblies of α‐helices and β‐strands, interconnected by reverse turns and longer loops. Most short turns can be classified readily into a limited repertoire of discrete backbone conformations, but the physical–chemical determinants of these distinct conformational basins remain an open question. We investigated this question by exhaustive analysis of all backbone conformations accessible to short chain segments bracketed by either an α‐helix or a β‐strand (i.e., α‐segment‐α, β‐segment‐β, α‐segment‐β, and β‐segment‐α) in a nine‐state model. We find that each of these four secondary structure environments imposes its own unique steric and hydrogen‐bonding constraints on the intervening segment, resulting in a limited repertoire of conformations. In greater detail, an exhaustive set of conformations was generated for short backbone segments having reverse‐turn chain topology and bracketed between elements of secondary structure. This set was filtered, and only clash‐free, hydrogen‐bond–satisfied conformers having reverse‐turn topology were retained. The filtered set includes authentic turn conformations, observed in proteins of known structure, but little else. In particular, over 99% of the alternative conformations failed to satisfy at least one criterion and were excluded from the filtered set. Furthermore, almost all of the remaining alternative conformations have close tolerances that would be too tight to accommodate side chains longer than a single β‐carbon. These results provide a molecular explanation for the observation that reverse turns between elements of regular secondary can be classified into a small number of discrete conformations.
Long interspersed nuclear element ORF-1 protein promotes proliferation and resistance to chemotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM To clarify the specific roles and mechanisms of long interspersed nuclear element-1 ORF-1 protein [human long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1), ORF-1p] in chemotherapeutic drug resistance and cell proliferation regulation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. METHODS MTT assays were performed to identify the effect of the chemotherapeutic drug toxicity on HepG2 cells. Cell proliferation inhibition and the IC50 were calculated by the Origin 8.0 software. Western blotting assays were performed to investigate whether LINE-1 ORF-1p modulates the expression of some important genes, including p53, p27, p15, Bcl-2, mdr, and p-gp. To corroborate the proliferation and anchor-independent growth results, the HepG2 cells were analyzed by flow cytometry to investigate the effect of LINE-1 ORF-1p on the apoptosis regulation. RESULTS LINE-1 ORF-1p contributed to the resistance to several chemotherapeutic drugs (cisplatin and epirubicin) in HepG2 cells. The IC50 of the epirubicin and cisplatin increased from 36.04 nmol/L to 59.11 nmol/L or from 37.94 nmol/L to 119.32 nmol/L. Repression of LINE-1 ORF-1p expression by the siRNA could markedly enhance the response of HepG2 cells to the epirubicin and cisplatin. The IC50 correspondingly decreased from 28.06 nmol/L to 3.83 nmol/L or from 32.04 nmol/L to 2.89 nmol/L. Interestingly, down-regulation of LINE-1 ORF-1p level by siRNA could promote the response of HepG2 cells to the paclitaxel. The IC50 decreased from 35.90 nmol/L to 7.36 nmol/L. However, overexpression of LINE-1 ORF-1p did not modulate the paclitaxel toxicity in HepG2 cells. Further Western blotting revealed that LINE-1 ORF-1p enhanced mdr and p-gp gene expression. As a protein arrested in the nucleus, LINE-1 ORF-1p may function through modulating transcriptional activity of some important transcription factors. Indeed, LINE-1 ORF-1p promoted HepG2 cell proliferation, anchor-independent growth and protected the cells against apoptosis through modulating the expression of p15, p21, p53, and Bcl-2 genes. CONCLUSION LINE-1 ORF-1p promotes HepG2 cell proliferation and plays an important role in the resistance of chemotherapeutic drugs. By establishing novel roles and defining the mechanisms of LINE-1 ORF-1p in HCC chemotherapeutic drug resistance and cell proliferation regulation, this study indicates that LINE-1 ORF-1p is a potential target for overcoming HCC chemotherapeutic resistance.
Metastatic angiosarcomas: doxorubicin-based regimens, weekly paclitaxel and metastasectomy significantly improve the outcome.

BACKGROUND Angiosarcomas are a rare but aggressive form of soft tissue sarcoma. At metastatic stage, the clinical benefit of therapeutic intervention remains debatable. PATIENTS AND METHODS We have carried a retrospective analysis of 149 cases treated between 1996 and 2009 in the French Sarcoma Group. RESULTS The median age was 60; the sex ratio was 0.80. Sixty-two percentage of cases presented with metastasis at the diagnosis. About 20% arose in irradiated fields. The median overall survival was 11 months. Treatment consisted in metastasectomy (5.4%), doxorubicin-based regimen (46.9%), weekly paclitaxel (Taxol) (31.5%), other chemotherapy regimens (10.7%) or exclusive palliative care (10.9%). Clinical prognostic factors identified by univariate analysis were presence of bone metastasis (P = 0.0107), presence of other metastasis (P = 0.0327) and performance status (P < 0.0001). The Cox model retained a performance status of two or more as the sole independent prognostic factor (HR [hazard ratio] = 2.49, P < 0.0001). After adjustment to the performance status and compared with exclusive palliative care, the following treatments significantly improve the outcome: doxorubicin-based regimen as first-line chemotherapy (HR = 0.38, P = 0.0165), weekly paclitaxel as first-line regimen (HR = 0.36, P = 0.0146) and metastasectomy (HR = 0.09, P = 0.0221). CONCLUSIONS This retrospective analysis indicates that some therapeutic interventions may significantly improve the outcome of this aggressive disease. Doxorubicin-based regimens and weekly paclitaxel seem to provide the same range of efficacy.
Tumor-derived circulating endothelial cell clusters in colorectal cancer

A population of cell clusters circulating in cancer patients consist of tumor-derived endothelial cells reflecting features of the tumor vasculature. A new type of circulating tumor cluster Setting out to isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of cancer patients, Cima et al. instead noticed that clusters, rather than single cells, were present in their sorting device. However, these clusters were not like others reported previously: The cells did not express the cell marker epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), and they did not have the same mutations seen in the primary tumor—two features that are typical of CTCs. Instead, these clusters matched the expression profile and phenotype of endothelial cells, which are the cells lining the blood vessels. The authors first confirmed that these endothelial cells were shed by the tumor, through a series of experiments using patient-derived samples and in vivo studies in mice, and then demonstrated that the clusters did not form by coagulation after being shed; it was the tumor that was shedding intact clusters. Moving back to patients, Cima and colleagues also found that the presence of endothelial cell clusters correlated with early-stage disease, suggesting that these groups of cells might be a unique indicator of cancer, before treatment starts. Clusters of tumor cells are often observed in the blood of cancer patients. These structures have been described as malignant entities for more than 50 years, although their comprehensive characterization is lacking. Contrary to current consensus, we demonstrate that a discrete population of circulating cell clusters isolated from the blood of colorectal cancer patients are not cancerous but consist of tumor-derived endothelial cells. These clusters express both epithelial and mesenchymal markers, consistent with previous reports on circulating tumor cell (CTC) phenotyping. However, unlike CTCs, they do not mirror the genetic variations of matched tumors. Transcriptomic analysis of single clusters revealed that these structures exhibit an endothelial phenotype and can be traced back to the tumor endothelium. Further results show that tumor-derived endothelial clusters do not form by coagulation or by outgrowth of single circulating endothelial cells, supporting a direct release of clusters from the tumor vasculature. The isolation and enumeration of these benign clusters distinguished healthy volunteers from treatment-naïve as well as pathological early-stage (≤IIA) colorectal cancer patients with high accuracy, suggesting that tumor-derived circulating endothelial cell clusters could be used as a means of noninvasive screening for colorectal cancer. In contrast to CTCs, tumor-derived endothelial cell clusters may also provide important information about the underlying tumor vasculature at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, and throughout the course of the disease.
SparseTrack: Enhancing Indoor Pedestrian Tracking with Sparse Infrastructure Support

Accurate indoor pedestrian tracking has wide applications in the healthcare, retail, and entertainment industries. However, existing approaches to indoor tracking have various limitations. For example, location-fingerprinting approaches are labor-intensive and vulnerable to environmental changes. Trilateration approaches require at least three Line-of-Sight (LoS) beacons to cover any point in the service area, which results in heavy infrastructure cost. Dead Reckoning (DR) approaches rely on knowledge of the initial user location and suffer from tracking error accumulation. Despite this, we adopt DR for location tracking because of the recent emergence of affordable hand-held devices equipped with low cost DR-enabling sensors. In this paper, we propose an indoor pedestrian tracking system which comprises a DR sub-system implemented on a mobile phone, and a ranging sub-system with a sparse infrastructure. A probabilistic fusion scheme is applied to bound the accumulated tracking error of DR when new range measurements are available from sparsely deployed beacons. Experimental results show that the proposed system is able to track users much better than DR alone, with reductions in average error by up to 71.9%. The system is robust and works well even when the initial user location is not available and range updates are intermittent. This highlights the potential of using sparse but reasonably accurate partial information to limit location tracking errors.
Evaluation of Thiamethoxam and Imidacloprid as Seed Treatments to Control European Corn Borer and Indianmeal Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Larvae

Abstract Efficacy of thiamethoxam (Cruiser) and imidacloprid (Gaucho) were evaluated as seed treatments for controlling European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) and Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) larvae in stored grain. At ≈22–26°C, all fifth instar European corn borers died after two or 4 d of exposure to corn treated with 250 and 500 ppm thiamethoxam, respectively, while mortality of larvae exposed for two and 4 d on corn treated with 6.3–937.5 ppm imidacloprid did not exceed 48% at any concentration. At 29°C, all nondiapausing fifth instars were killed after 3, 4, and 6-d exposure to 400, 300 and 200-ppm thiamethoxam, respectively, while survival increased at successively lower concentrations of 100, 50, 25, and 12.5 ppm. At 29°C, the LC50 decreased from 85.9 to 7.2 ppm as the duration of exposure on treated corn increased from 2 to 6 d. All second and third instar Indianmeal moth larvae died after a 5 d exposure period to corn grain treated with thiamethoxam at 50 ppm or higher, but as the larvae aged, higher concentrations and longer exposure periods were required to give 100% mortality of each larval instar. Similar results were obtained when larval Indianmeal moths were exposed on corn treated with imidacloprid, or on sorghum treated with thiamethoxam. Mature wandering phase fifth instars were the most tolerant larval stage of the Indianmeal moth.
The Use of Mixed-Method, Part-Body Pre-Cooling Procedures for Team-Sport Athletes Training in the Heat

Duffield, R, Steinbacher, G, and Fairchild, TJ. The use of mixed-method, part-body pre-cooling procedures for team-sport athletes training in the heat. J Strength Cond Res 23(9): 2524-2532, 2009-The current study investigated the effects of a pre-cooling intervention on physiological and performance responses to team-sport training in the heat. Seven male lacrosse players performed a familiarization session and 2 randomized, counterbalanced sessions consisting of a 30-minute intermittent-sprint conditioning session. Prior to the sessions, players performed a 20-minute mixed-method, part-body cooling intervention (consisting of cooling vests, cold towels to the neck, and ice packs to the quadriceps) or no cooling intervention. Performance was determined from collection of 1 Hz global positioning system (GPS) data and analyzed for distance and speed. Prior to, during, and following the sessions, core temperature, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and thermal sensation scale (TSS) were measured; additionally, a venous blood sample was collected before and after each session for measurement of interleukin-6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein3 (IGF-BP3). Results indicated that a greater distance was covered during the pre-cooling condition (3.35 ± 0.20 vs. 3.11 ± 0.13 km; p = 0.05). Further, most of this improvement was evident from a greater distance covered during moderate intensities of 7 to 14 km/h (2.28 ± 0.18 vs. 2.00 ± 0.24 km; p = 0.05). Peak speeds and very-high-intensity efforts (20 km/h ±) were not different between conditions (p > 0.05). The increase in core temperature was blunted following cooling, with a lower core temperature throughout the cooling session (38.8 ± 0.3 vs. 39.3 ± 0.4°C; p < 0.05). However, there were no differences in heart rate, RPE, TSS, IL-6, IGF-1, or IGF-BP3 between conditions (p > 0.05). Accordingly, the use of a mixed-method, part-body cooling intervention prior to an intermittent-sprint training session in the heat can assist in reducing thermoregulatory load and improve aspects of training performance for team sports.
The Dielectric Strength of Nomex 410 Paper in Liquid Nitrogen Under Boiling Situations

It is crucial for the successful application of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power transformers that they are able to survive under abnormal operations, such as a short-circuit fault. Modeling, based on the design of a four-winding three-phase HTS power transformer, suggests severe boiling will occur on the surface of the winding during a short-circuit fault and will jeopardize the turn-to-turn insulation of the HTS power transformer. In this paper, a turn-to-turn insulation breakdown experiment platform involving the introduction of boiling on the surface of electrode has been built. Nomex 410 paper, one of the candidates for turn-to-turn insulation in the design of the HTS power transformer, was tested. The characteristics of dielectric strength of Nomex 410 in three different thicknesses (0.13, 0.18, and 0.25 mm) have been investigated, without boiling, as well as under different boiling situations, in an open bath of liquid nitrogen. The voltage application methods applied during both experiments test the electrical breakdown of Nomex 410 under a dynamic situation. The experiment results show that when under film boiling, compared to the test results for nucleate boiling, the dielectric strength of Nomex 410 paper decreases by approximately 38% of the value when no boiling is involved. Moreover, it is verified that the presence of an electric field accelerates the heat transfer between the liquid nitrogen and the heated electrode.
Emergency Care for Children in Pediatric and General Emergency Departments

Objective: We examine the pediatric emergency department (ED) population and their clinical course in pediatric versus general EDs and identify potential factors contributing to differences in performance metrics between the 2 ED settings. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of pediatric visits to nationally representative EDs participating in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 1995 to 2002. Differences between pediatric and general EDs were examined in terms of patient characteristics and clinical course. Results: Pediatric EDs treated more children with medical problems than general EDs, which treated more children with injuries. Visits by children to pediatric EDs were associated with longer wait times to see a physician (median, 40 vs. 25 minutes; P < 0.001) and longer stays in the ED (median, 130 vs. 98 minutes; P = 0.006). In multivariate analysis, the type of ED treating a pediatric patient was a significant determinant of wait time (percent change for pediatric EDs, 23.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-46.6), length of stay (percent change for pediatric EDs, 23.0; 95% CI, 5.1-43.9), and rate of discharge (odds ratio for pediatric EDs, 0.75; 95% CI 0.61-0.92). Children in pediatric EDs seemed to be sicker than those in general EDs. Conclusions: These data provide the first glimpse of health care delivery to children seen in EDs nationally. Our findings indicate that significant differences exist between pediatric visits to pediatric and general EDs. These findings may be useful in establishing performance metrics for the care of ill and injured children in both pediatric and general EDs.
Caries prevalence and distribution in individuals aged 3-20 years in Jönköping, Sweden, over a 30-year period (1973-2003).

BACKGROUND Oral health status of individuals aged 3-80 years in the city of Jönköping, Sweden, has been assessed in a series of epidemiological studies over a 30-year period. AIM To analyse the changes in caries prevalence and caries distribution in child population sample groups, based on studies performed in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1993, and 2003. DESIGN Each time point included 500 randomly sampled individuals, divided into age groups of 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. Results. Thirty-five per cent of 3-year-olds were caries free in 1973, compared with 69% 30 years later. Decayed and filled primary (dfs) and permanent surfaces (DFS) were reduced by 50-80% between 1973 and 2003. Adolescents aged 10 and 15 years exhibited the most pronounced reduction in DFS on the occlusal surfaces. By 2003, 90% of the proximal carious lesions in 15-year-olds were initial carious lesions. In 2003, about 60% of 15-year-olds had a DFS of < or = 5, while about 7% exhibited a DFS of > or = 26. CONCLUSIONS Despite the dramatic decline in the prevalence of caries, caries remains a health problem among children, particularly those of preschool age. Continuous epidemiological studies are recommended to evaluate preventive measures.
Bacteraemic Streptococcus pyogenes infection in the peri-partum period: now a rare disease and prior carriage by the patient may be important.

OBJECTIVES To describe the features of invasive peri-partum Streptococcus pyogenes infection as it occurs in current day practice in North Yorkshire. METHODS The case and laboratory records of all mothers and/or babies with detected S. pyogenes bacteraemia in the Harrogate and Northallerton districts of North Yorkshire (combined catchment population 260 000) were reviewed for the 20 years 1980-99. An additional bacteraemic case occurring recently in the York district was included. RESULTS In six recorded episodes, both mother and baby were affected in three, mother only in two and baby only in one. The incidence of detected infection was one such episode per million population per year, one episode per 11 000 live births and one infected baby per 18 000 live births. Maternal features included endometritis, septicaemia, peritonitis, necrotising fasciitis and toxic shock syndrome while, in babies, infection was manifest by stillbirth or septicaemia, cyanosis, jaundice, lethargy and cellulitis. CONCLUSION Peri-partum S. pyogenes infection is rare in North Yorkshire, with a local incidence revealed in this study of 1/million population/year, or 1:11 000 live births. Invasive neonatal infection with S. pyogenes appears to be six times less frequent in this locality than with group B streptococci. Mothers and/or their babies can be affected. Data suggests that some infection is autogenous from streptococci carried in the mother's genital tract. Although data in this setting are currently few, when a mother has suspected invasive group A streptococcal infection we recommend that the newborn child should also receive antibiotics without delay.