Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance of real-time strain elastography, transient elastography, and aspartate-to-platelet ratio index in the assessment of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of transient elastography, real-time strain elastography, and aspartate-to-platelet ratio index in assessing fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C by using histologic Metavir scores as reference standard. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C scheduled for liver biopsy were enrolled. Liver biopsy was performed on the same day as transient elastography and real-time strain elastography. Transient elastography and real-time strain elastography were performed in the same patient encounter by a single investigator using a medical device based on elastometry and an ultrasound machine, respectively. Diagnostic performance was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic curves and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis. RESULTS One hundred thirty patients (91 men and 39 women) were analyzed. The cutoff values for transient elastography, real-time strain elastography, and aspartate-to-platelet ratio index were 6.9 kPa, 1.82, and 0.37, respectively, for fibrosis score of 2 or higher; 7.3 kPa, 1.86, and 0.70, respectively, for fibrosis score of 3 or higher; and 9.3 kPa, 2.33, and 0.70, respectively, for fibrosis score of 4. AUC values of transient elastography, real-time strain elastography, aspartate-to-platelet ratio index were 0.88, 0.74, and 0.86, respectively, for fibrosis score of 2 or higher; 0.95, 0.80, and 0.89, respectively, for fibrosis score of 3 or higher; and 0.97, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively, for fibrosis score of 4. A combination of the three methods, when two of three were in agreement, showed AUC curves of 0.93, 0.95, and 0.95 for fibrosis scores of 2 or higher, 3 or higher, and 4, respectively. CONCLUSION Transient elastography, real-time strain elastography, and aspartate-to-platelet ratio index values were correlated with histologic stages of fibrosis. Transient elastography offered excellent diagnostic performance in assessing severe fibrosis and cirrhosis. Real-time elastography does not yet have the potential to substitute for transient elastography in the assessment of liver fibrosis.
Large-scale Bayesian network structure learning

Learning the structure of Bayesian networks is an NP-hard problem. Hence, if learning from high-dimensional data with many networks nodes, usually a small subset of nodes is selected, and the structure is only learned for this small subset. On the one hand, this thesis addresses the effect on the quality of the learned network structure if the reduction of dimensions is applied. New methods are introduced to measure the quality of the structure. On the other hand, new approaches are introduced to learn the structure of a whole network. Comparisons with existing methods show that the novel algorithms usually outperform existing methods in terms of network quality and performance if applied on large networks.
« D'égal à égal ? Herméneutique critique du dialogue initié par l'État avec les musulmans d'Allemagne »

Cet article analyse le dialogue interculturel en Allemagne grâce a l’outil conceptuel que represente l’hermeneutique critique de Gadamer. Le point de depart en est le Deutsche Islam Konferenz (DIK), une initiative de dialogue avec les musulmans menee par l’Etat en Allemagne. A partir de l’idee de Gadamer du caractere processuel du dialogue et d’une ouverture principielle a la difference de l’autre, je souhaite montrer que le DIK trouve ses origines bien plus dans une politique d’integration que dans une idee de « comprehension » mutuelle. Plutot que de delineer une reflexion critique sur les premisses d’un « travail de l’histoire » (Wirkungsgeschichte) propre a un individu et d’une revision potentielle de ces premisses a travers la rencontre, cet article suggere qu’un tel evenement dialogique se base sur l’assomption d’une normalite de soi et d’une deviance d’autrui a transformer. En donnant la parole a certains representants musulmans et a leur refus de se transformer unilateralement, j’avance que les retombees de telles mesures de dialogue n’en sont pas moins ouvertes et ambivalentes.
Dynamics and stability of dissipative nonlinear waves.

Hemos estudiado el comportamiento de las ondas no lineales untilizando tres modelos extendidos de la ecuacion NLS: (i) un modelo con modulacion periodica de la no linealidad, (ii) un modelo con terminos de disipacion (perdidas) no lineal, y (iii) un modelo que incluye no linealidades de tipo cubico-quintico, Se ha intentado estabilizar la solucion de simetria radial y de un nodo. Hemos probado varias configuraciones, incluyendo sistemas de una y de dos componentes. En el sistema de dos componentes se ha utilizado la solucion fundamental (denominada como el soliton de Townes) para implementar una guia no lineal para la solucion con un nodo. Tambien se ha estudiado la posibilidad de estabilizar soluciones estacionarias de simetria rotacional discreta. Utilizando herramientas analiticas y numericas hemos investigado el papel de las perdidas no lineales en la dinamica de las ondas descritas por la ecuacion NLS. Las soluciones estacionarias del modelo NLS con perdidas no lineales se han calculado para no linealidad nula, negativa y positiva, para escenarios en dos y tres dimensiones, y ademas de las soluciones de tipo fundamental, se han construido soluciones de tipo vortice. La interaccion de un medio coherentes de cuatro niveles con los campos electromagneticos se ha planteado en el regimen no perturbativo y se han calculado numericamente las susceptibilidades del medio de cuatro niveles. La propagacion de los campos se ha descrito por un sistema de ecuaciones NLS. Mediante una serie de simulaciones numericas se ha comprobado que los haces opticos muestran propiedades parecidas a los liquidos: formacion y extraccion de gotas, rebotes, coalescencia y evaporacion por la superficie. Utilizando el sistema de ecuaciones NLS para la propagacion por el medio coherente de cuatro niveles se han construido solitones vectoriales formados por los dos campos que interaccionan con el medio. Se han establecido dominio de existencia para los estados estacionarios vectoriales. El analisis de la estabilidad lineal de los solitones vectoriales se hizo utilizando un conjunto de dos tecnicas: la pseudo-propagacion para estimar la tasa de crecimiento de los modos de perturbacion y la relajacion numerica para construir por continuidad las curvas de inestabilidad. El estudio de las estabilidad dinamica se hizo propagando unos estados estacionarios inicialmente perturbados por un ruido de 1%.
Quantum Blackwell-Sherman-Stein Theorem and Related Results

We investigate the problem of comparing quantum statistical models in the general operator algebra framework in arbitrary dimension, thus generalizing results obtained so far in finite dimension, and for the full algebra of operators on a Hilbert space. In particular, the quantum Blackwell–Sherman–Stein theorem is obtained, and informational subordination of quantum information structures is characterized.
Association of Hsp 60 expression with damage to rat myocardial cells exposed to heat stress in vivo and in vitro

To investigate the protective role of Hsp60 against stress damage and its role in the sudden death of stressed animals, changes in the levels of Hsp60 protein and hsp60 mRNA of myocardial cells in vivo and in vitro were studied. In addition, the relationship between Hsp60 expression and heat-induced damage was also studied. Rats were exposed to a temperature of 42° ± 1°C for 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100 min. More than 50% of the rats died suddenly within 100 min. With increasing heat stress duration, hsp60 mRNA levels significantly increased in both in vivo and in vitro rat myocardial cells; however, a similar trend was not observed for Hsp60 protein levels. Although the changes observed in Hsp60 expression in myocardial cells in vitro were inconsistent with those of rat heart tissues in vivo, Hsp60 expression levels were consistent with the histopathological damage observed in myocardial cells both in vivo and in vitro. Differences in Hsp60 expression may reflect the degree of injury sustained by myocardial cells in vivo and in vitro. As a mitochondrial protein, Hsp60
Research Review: The role of obstetric and neonatal complications in childhood attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder – a systematic review

BACKGROUND Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder characterized by an inability to sustain attention, activity levels and impulse control, and, according to the latest studies, the prevalence is about 8% and in some countries less than 1%. Currently, it is well-known that complications during the perinatal period have significant implications on child's physical and mental health. Purpose of the present paper is to review the literature about the association between perinatal complications and future risk of an ADHD diagnosis. METHODS A research in the main database sources has been conducted to obtain a systematic review on the perinatal risk factors of ADHD. RESULTS Among perinatal complications, available data indicate low birth weight (LBW) (Cohen's d effect size range: 0.31-1.64-small effect size) and preterm birth (PB) (range d: 0.41-0.68) as the most important factors associated with a future diagnosis of ADHD. CONCLUSIONS PB and LBW children should be carefully monitored for an early diagnosis of ADHD limiting the impact of the disease in life span. A systematic review focusing on these risk factors have not been published until now, in the next future preventive strategies should be developed in order to minimize ADHD onset.
Meta-Analysis of MSH6 Gene Mutation Frequency in Colorectal and Endometrial Cancers

Studies on mutations and mutation frequencies of the MSH6 gene, which mainly focus on new types of mutations in small samples, have been published ever since the first report of MSH6 mutation in two atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients. However, the results remain inconsistent. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted and a meta-analysis was undertaken to determine the frequency of MSH6 mutation in colorectal and endometrial cancers. From 27 studies, 180 cases with MSH6 mutation in a total of 3196 cases were detected. In colorectal and endometrial cancers the MSH6 mutation frequency is 7.2 and 9.6%, respectively. MSH6 mutation frequency was 10.4% in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients, 7.1% in atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients, and 5.9% in sporadic patients. The frequency of MSH6 mutation in high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) was 11.6% and in low microsatellite instability (MSI-L) cases was (13.3%), which were higher than in microsatellite stability (MSS) cases (1.7%). The mean age of the earliest onset of colorectal and endometrial cancers in MSH6 mutation carriers was 51.2 and 56.5 yr, respectively. Data suggest that the frequency of MSH6 mutation is higher in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer patients than in atypical hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer and sporadic patients. MSH6 mutation frequency was also higher in endometrial than colorectal cancers. The mean age of earliest onset of endometrial cancer (56.5 yr) is older than for colorectal cancer (51.2 yr) in carriers of MSH6 mutation. Our results provide evidence for clinical genetic testing and counseling.
Cultura organizacional y sistemas de gestión de la calidad: una relación clave en la gestión de las instituciones de educación superior

El presente articulo es una discusion acerca de la importancia de la cultura organizacional en la implementacion de sistemas de gestion de la calidad en instituciones de educacion superior. Con base en las propuestas de algunos autores, se estudia la necesidad de pensar la cultura de una organizacion como un componente clave de los planes de implementacion de sistemas de gestion de la calidad, a fin de alinear la cultura con las estrategias de gestion ya sea adecuando los sistemas de gestion a la cultura existente o interviniendo la cultura para integrarla con la estrategia de gestion, de acuerdo con la perspectiva de cultura organizacional adoptada por los lideres de las instituciones.
Robustness and Corrections for Sample Size Adaptation Strategies Based on Effect Size Estimation

A study on the robustness of the adaptation of the sample size for a phase III trial on the basis of existing phase II data is presented—when phase III is lower than phase II effect size. A criterion of clinical relevance for phase II results is applied in order to launch phase III, where data from phase II cannot be included in statistical analysis. The adaptation consists in adopting the conservative approach to sample size estimation, which takes into account the variability of phase II data. Some conservative sample size estimation strategies, Bayesian and frequentist, are compared with the calibrated optimal γ conservative strategy (viz. COS) which is the best performer when phase II and phase III effect sizes are equal. The Overall Power (OP) of these strategies and the mean square error (MSE) of their sample size estimators are computed under different scenarios, in the presence of the structural bias due to lower phase III effect size, for evaluating the robustness of the strategies. When the stru.
Human thioredoxin-1 ameliorates experimental murine colitis in association with suppressed macrophage inhibitory factor production.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Thioredoxin-1 (TRX) is a small multifunctional protein with antioxidative and redox-regulating functions. In this study, we investigated the significance of TRX in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the ability and mechanism to ameliorate experimental colitis. METHODS Serum TRX and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels were measured in patients with IBD. The effects of TRX were evaluated in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model by comparing TRX-overexpressing transgenic (TRX-TG) and control mice. We further evaluated the effect of recombinant human TRX (rhTRX) administration on DSS-induced colitis and colonic inflammation of interleukin (IL)-10 knockout (IL-10 KO) mice. Colonic inflammation was examined clinically and histologically. Proinflammatory cytokine levels were examined in colonic tissues, and MIF levels were measured in colonic tissues and sera in mice. The effect of TRX on MIF production was also analyzed in vitro. RESULTS Serum TRX and MIF levels were significantly higher in patients with IBD than normal controls, and TRX levels correlated with disease activity. TRX significantly ameliorated DSS-induced colitis and colonic inflammation of IL-10 KO mice. Increase of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma in colonic tissues was significantly suppressed in TRX-TG mice compared with wild-type mice. MIF levels in colonic tissues and sera were significantly lower in TRX-TG mice than in wild-type mice, irrespective of DSS administration. Anti-TRX treatment exacerbated DSS-induced colitis. In vitro studies demonstrated that rhTRX suppressed MIF production in human monocyte cells. CONCLUSIONS TRX might have a potential as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of IBD.
A low-photocurrent CMOS retinal focal-plane sensor with a pseudo-BJT smoothing network and an adaptive current Schmitt trigger for scanner applications

In this work, a new structure of low-photocurrent CMOS retinal focal-plane sensor with pseudo-BJT smoothing network and adaptive current Schmitt trigger is proposed. The proposed structure is very simple and compact. This new circuit can easily be implemented in CMOS technology with a small chip area. Another innovation of this circuit is that the proposed circuit could be operated for low-induced current levels (pA), and the current hysteresis of the proposed current Schmitt trigger could be adjusted adaptively according to the value of induced photocurrents. In this work, the detection of static and moving objects, such as a moving white bar, are proven by projecting a pattern through HSPICE simulation. The proposed retinal focal-plane sensor includes a 32 /spl times/ 32 pixel array with a pixel size of 70 /spl times/ 70 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The fill factor is 75% and the total chip area is 3000 /spl times/ 3030 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. It is with fully functional 32 /spl times/ 32 implementations consuming less than 8.8 /spl mu/W per pixel at 3.3 V. Measurement results show that the proposed new retinal focal-plane sensor has successfully been used in character recognition of scanner systems, such as pen scanners, etc.
Analysing e-government service quality in Greece

Motivated by the growing interest in e-government, our research aims to discover the quality priorities of e-government users and analyses the attitude of Greek citizens towards e-government sites in Greece. We propose a research model which posits four dimensions influential to e-government site quality - efficiency, trust, reliability, citizen support. Data was collected and analysed to gather information concerning the way Greek users interact with e-government. We found that all four dimensions significantly influence citizens' evaluation and intention to reuse. E-government users perceived different importance of quality factors in using different types of e-government sites.
Inertial representation of angular motion in the vestibular system of rhesus monkeys. I. Vestibuloocular reflex.

1. The spatial organization of the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) was studied in six rhesus monkeys by applying fast, short-lasting, passive head and body tilts immediately after constant-velocity rotation (+/- 90 degrees/s) about an earth-vertical axis. Two alternative hypotheses were investigated regarding the reference frame used for coding angular motion. 1) If the vestibular system is organized in head-centered coordinates, postrotatory eye velocity would decay invariably along the direction of applied head angular acceleration. 2) Alternatively, if the vestibular system codes angular motion in inertial, gravity-centered coordinates, postrotatory eye velocity would decay along the direction of gravity. 2. Horizontal VOR was studied with the monkeys upright. Pitch (roll) tilts away from upright elicited a transient vertical (torsional) VOR and shortened the time constant of the horizontal postrotatory slow phase velocity. In addition, an orthogonal torsional (after pitch tilts) or vertical (after roll tilts) response gradually built up. As a result, the eye velocity vector transiently deviated in the roll (pitch) plane and then gradually rotated in the same direction as gravity in the pitch (roll) head plane until the orthogonal component reached a peak value. Subsequently, the residual postrotatory eye velocity decayed along a line parallel to gravity. 3. The time constant of the horizontal postrotatory response was maximal in upright position (21.5 +/- 5.7 s, mean +/- SD) and minimal after tilts to prone (3.8 +/- 0.7 s), supine (4.5 +/- 1.2 s), and ear-down (5.2 +/- 1.6 s) positions. A similar dependence on head orientation relative to gravity characterized the dynamics of the resultant eye velocity vector in the pitch and roll planes. 4. Torsional VOR was studied with the monkeys in supine or prone position. Pitch (yaw) tilts from the supine or prone position toward upright (ear-down) position elicited a transient vertical (horizontal) VOR and shortened the time constant of the torsional postrotatory response while a horizontal (vertical) orthogonal component slowly built up. As a result the eye velocity vector gradually rotated in the pitch (yaw) plane until the orthogonal component reached a peak value. Subsequently residual postrotatory eye velocity decayed along a line parallel to gravity. 5. The time constant of the torsional postrotatory response in supine/prone positions was 16.5 +/- 6.8 s. After tilts from supine/prone positions toward upright position, time constants decreased and were minimal after tilts to upright position (2.7 +/- 0.7 s). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Gastrography: Evaluation of the Dark Lumen Technique Compared With Conventional Gastroscopy in Patients With Malignant Gastric Disease

Objectives:We sought to demonstrate the feasibility of depicting gastric tumors using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while applying the dark lumen technique. The findings were correlated with conventional gastroscopy. In addition, we evaluated the screening for lymph nodes and liver metastases during the same session to identify potential tumor spread. Materials and Methods:The study included 15 patients with known malignant gastric disease. Conventional gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in all patients as gold standard. All patients were examined with computed tomography for tumor staging. MRI was performed using 1 L of tap water as oral contrast agent for all protocols. The MRI program included an axial T1-weighted (T1w; 2D-FLASH) sequence, an axial STIR and T2w (TSE) sequence, and 2 postcontrast T1w (3D coronal /2D axial FLASH) sequences using 0.2 mmol/kg gadolinium diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid as intravenously injected contrast agent. Qualitative analysis and comparison with conventional gastroscopy were performed. Results:The images obtained with the postcontrast 3D coronal T1w-FLASH sequence were the most suitable in identifying gastric tumors. Complete correlation with conventional gastroscopy was achieved in 80% of the cases and partial correlation in 13% of the cases. The same imaging sequence was also appropriate for the evaluation of lymph nodes. For the identification of liver metastases, the images obtained with the axial postcontrast T1w 2D-FLASH sequence provided a higher diagnostic confidence as compared with other imaging protocols. Conclusions:Applying the dark lumen technique through MRI is suitable for imaging gastric tumors and has the potential to become a “one-stop shopping” method because of the possibility for lymph node evaluation and screening for metastases during the same session based on the same images.
Lipid hydration: headgroup CH moieties are involved in water binding.

To explore the interaction potential of phospholipids, we have studied the hydration of diacyl phosphatidylcholine (PC) and methylphosphocholine (MePC), a pertinent model compound, by ir spectroscopy. Related ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations were performed for MePC. Water is considered ideal as a relevant probe molecule. Spectroscopic data for MePC reveal a strong influence of bound hydration water not only on the phosphate groups but also onto the putatively apolar CH(n) groups. The same could be demonstrated for deuterated dimyristoyl PC taken as a "complete" lipid molecule: both headgroup methyl and methylene moieties are gradually, but remarkably affected by hydration, as evidenced by strong wavenumber upshifts of C-H stretching vibration bands. These findings may originate in directed interactions of the CH(n) groups with bound water molecules, but hydration-driven conformational changes of PC headgroups could also occur. The results of the ab initio calculations rationalize the first explanation by predicting a substantial contribution of specific C-H.OH(2) interactions, mainly characterized by a dramatic loss of electron density of the sigma* antibonding molecular orbitals of C-H bonds. Hence, the propensity of the lipid headgroup methyl and methylene groups to act as donor sites in hydrogen bonding must no longer be ignored when considering the interaction potential of PCs.