Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relation between signal intensity on T2-weighted MR images and presence of microvascular obstruction in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE In experimental animal models and human autopsy studies, hemorrhagic infarction caused by microvascular injury has been detected after coronary reperfusion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether detection of myocardial edema with T2-weighted MRI is influenced by the presence of microvascular obstruction. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Thirty-seven patients underwent black-blood fat-suppressed T2-weighted, rest perfusion, and late gadolinium-enhanced MRI 5.4 +/- 3.1 days after the onset of acute myocardial infarction. On T2-weighted MR images, the signal intensity in relation to that of remote myocardium was determined in the late gadolinium-enhanced and periinfarction areas. Segment-based analysis was performed to determine whether the presence of microvascular obstruction influences the detection of myocardial edema. RESULTS The averaged signal intensity in the late gadolinium-enhanced area without microvascular obstruction was significantly higher than the signal intensity in remote normal myocardium (relative signal intensity, 1.83 +/- 0.50; p < 0.001). In contrast, the signal intensity in the microvascular obstruction area on T2-weighted images was not significantly different from the signal intensity in remote myocardium (relative signal intensity, 1.14 +/- 0.26). The percentages of late gadolinium-enhanced segments with high signal intensity on T2-weighted MR images were 95% (73/77) without microvascular obstruction and 30% (22/73) with microvascular obstruction. CONCLUSION With T2-weighted MRI, infarction-associated edema can be reliably detected in infarct lesions without microvascular obstruction. Microvascular obstruction, however, does not necessarily exhibit high signal intensity on T2-weighted MRI. Careful attention is required in interpretation of cardiac MR images of patients who have experienced acute myocardial infarction and undergone percutaneous coronary intervention. The findings on T2-weighted MR images can be substantial underestimates of the extent of acute myocardial infarction.
Enteropathogens associated with childhood diarrhea in Italy. The Italian Study Group on Gastrointestinal Infections.

BACKGROUND Infectious diarrheal diseases remain an important cause of childhood morbidity in industrialized countries. The knowledge of the etiology and epidemiology of childhood diarrhea in a given area is needed to plan any measure designed to prevent or ameliorate diarrheal illness and to develop practice guidelines for the most appropriate stool examination procedures. METHODS We evaluated 618 children with diarrhea and 135 controls prospectively for viral, bacterial and parasitic enteric pathogens. Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli was identified by gene probes specific to different virulence factors. Stool filtrates were examined for the presence of free bacterial toxins by a cell culture cytotoxicity assay. Clinical and epidemiologic data were recorded and analyzed in relation to microbiologic findings. RESULTS Enteropathogens were identified in 59% of children with diarrhea and in 10.4% of asymptomatic controls. The agents mainly associated with disease were rotavirus (23.6%), Salmonella (19.2%) and Campylobacter (7.9%). Rotavirus was significantly more frequent among children observed as inpatients whereas Campylobacter was significantly more common in outpatients. Infections with diarrheagenic E. coli, Shigella flexneri, yersinia enterocolitica, Cryptosporidium and Giardia were observed in a limited number of patients. The clinical presentation of children was not sufficiently characteristic to permit presumptive diagnosis of a specific pathogen. conversely the presence of blood and/or leukocytes in stools had a high positive predictive value for Salmonella or Campylobacter infection. CONCLUSION The results of this study will be useful for planning strategies to prevent and control diarrheal diseases in our country.
Performance analysis and optimization of OFDM receiver with blanking nonlinearity in impulsive noise environment

A simple method of improving orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) receiver performance in an impulsive noise environment is to precede a conventional OFDM demodulator with blanking nonlinearity. This method is widely used in practice since it is efficient and very simple to implement. However, performance analysis of this scheme has not yet appeared. In this paper, we study performance of the OFDM receiver with blanking nonlinearity in the presence of impulsive noise. Closed form analytical expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the output of blanking nonlinearity and the optimal blanking threshold that maximizes SNR are derived. Simulation results are provided that show good agreement with theory if the number of OFDM subcarriers is sufficiently large.
Fiscal Centralization, Limited Government, and Public Revenues in Europe, 1650–1913

Old Regime polities typically suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. By the start of World War I, however, many such countries had centralized institutions and limited government. This article uses a new panel data set to perform a statistical analysis of political regimes and public revenues in Europe from 1650 to 1913. Panel regressions indicate that centralized and limited regimes were associated with significantly higher revenues than fragmented and absolutist ones. Structural break tests also suggest close relationships between major turning points in revenue series and political transformations.
Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with central nervous system lesions

We report the clinical course, and neurophysiological and neuroimaging findings of a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with central nervous system lesions. During a course of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, she had headache with meningism. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging showed lesions in both frontal and right occipital lobes. Cerebrospinal fluid showed a raised protein concentration accompanied by mild pleocytosis. Her symptoms resolved within two months. Subsequent magnetic resonance imaging revealed cavity formation in the deep white matter and atrophic changes in the right occipital lobes.
Adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater: does the histopathologic type matter?

Kimura et al. [1] were the first to demonstrate that there are two histpathologic types of adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, intestinal and pancreatobiliary, which has been confirmed by other authors in recent years [2–4]. There is evidence to suggest that these two types of ampullary cancer have different biological behaviors, as several investigators have shown that patients with intestinal-type ampullary cancer have better prognosis than those with pancreaticobiliary type [2,5]. However, the standard treatment for ampullary carcinoma has not been established and it is not known whether patients with different histological types of ampullary cancer should be treated differently. We report the case of a 63-year-old man who presented with obstructive jaundice due to an ampullary mass lesion. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed dilated biliary tree and several liver lesions with features compatible with liver metastases but did not demonstrate any cause of biliary obstruction. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was undertaken. An ampullary mass was detected and biopsied, and the biliary tree was successfully decompressed by means of a biliary stent. Histopathologic examination of endoscopic biopsies revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma which on immunohistochemistry was cytokeratin (CK)-20-positive, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-positive, caudal homeobox gene transcription factor-2 (CDX-2)-positive and CK-7positive/negative, that is, it showed features consistent with an intestinal-type tumor (Figure 1A–D) [3,4]. The patient was not considered to be a candidate for surgery due to metastatic disease and was offered palliative chemotherapy. Treatment with FLOX (5-flourouracil (5-FU) 500 mg/m i.v. , folinic acid 100 mg/m i.v. , oxaliplatin 85 mg/m day 1 and 5-FU 500 mg/m i.v. , folinic acid 100 mg/m i.v. day 2, new cycle on day 15), which is a standard chemotherapy regimen for colon cancer, was commenced, leading to partial regression of liver metastases. After a total of eight cycles of FLOX, the treatment was discontinued because of peripheral neuropathy. Chemotherapy was continued in the form of 5-FU 500 mg/m i.v. , folinic acid 100 mg/m i.v. on days 1 and 2, repeated every 2 weeks for 6 months but because of the appearance of new liver metastases, the treatment was shifted to gemcitabine (1000 mg/m i.v. on days 1, 8, 15, new cycle every 28 days) which is a standard chemotherapy regimen for pancreatic cancer. After three cycles, gemcitabine chemotherapy was interrupted as progression of liver metastases was noted on a CT scan. In view of the fact that the patient had an intestinaltype adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater and
Therapy of chronic hepatitis B: current challenges and opportunities

summary. Better understanding of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, natural history and the immunopathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B, together with the introduction of effective agents with different mechanisms of action are the basis for better therapeutic strategies against chronic hepatitis B. Among currently available drugs, interferon‐α and thymosin‐α1 have only modest efficacy (∼ 40%vs 9–20% in controls). In the past decade, lamivudine has dominated in the treatment of chronic HBV infection because it is easy to use, safe, and is effective in terms of hepatitis B e antigen and/or HBV‐DNA loss, ALT normalization, and improvement in histology. The response rate increases with increasing pretherapy alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, suggesting that patients with stronger endogenous immune response against HBV have a better response to direct antiviral agents. Lamivudine is also beneficial in decompensated cirrhotics with HBV replication. Hepatitic flares may occur after stopping lamivudine therapy in nonresponders and also in responders. Therefore, prolonged therapy is usually required. However, tyrosine‐methionine‐aspartate‐aspartate (YMDD ) mutations conferring resistance to lamivudine start to emerge after 6–9 months of therapy, and hepatitis flare, even decompensation, may develop after viral breakthrough. Thus the benefits of long‐term lamivudine therapy must be balanced against the concern about YMDD mutations and the durability of treatment response. Adefovir dipivoxil, entecavir, emtricitabine, clevudine and other nucleoside/ nucleotide analogues have shown encouraging results and some agents appear effective in patients with YMDD mutants. Further development of new drugs and new strategies may help to improve treatment in the new century.
Diagnostic value of nasal provocation challenge with allergens in children

A total of 106 children suffering from perennial rhinitis and/or asthma, and all allergic to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP), underwent nasal provocation challenge (NPC) with DP to determine the best method of diagnosis. Posterior rhinomanometry was uninterpretable in 17 patients and gave negative results in 31. Clinical scores for sneezing and rhinorrhea were more effective but did not diagnose the disorder in 11 children. However, nine of the 11 had significant increases in eosinophil count in the late phase. Clinical scores and cytology were also useful for assessing whether NPC with allergens was positive in children. The feasibility and safety of NPC with DP are high for rhinitic and stable asthmatic patients, but mild reactions may occur during the late phase.
Establishing Enteral Feeding in Preterm Infants with Feeding Intolerance: A Randomized Controlled Study of Low-dose Erythromycin

Objective A prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of low-dose erythromycin on the time taken to attain full enteral feedings in preterm infants with very low birth weight and feeding intolerance. Methods Two groups of preterm infants (birth weight ≤ 1500 g) with feeding intolerance were randomized to either low-dose erythromycin (5 mg/kg every 8 hours) or 5% dextrose placebo, both of which were discontinued 1 week after full enteral feedings were tolerated. The primary outcome variable was the time taken to attain full enteral feedings of at least 130 mL/kg/d. Results The gestational age at birth was similar in the two groups (erythromycin, 27.1 ± 1.9 weeks; placebo, 27.5 ± 2.9 weeks). The mean birth weight of the erythromycin group was lower (806.3 ± 215.6 g) than the placebo group (981.4 ± 285.4 g; P = 0.18), and included more infants who were small for gestational age (4/13 = 31% versus 1/11 = 9%; P = 0.224). There was no difference between the two groups with regard to the volume of feedings they were receiving at the time of enrollment. Reduction in symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux was similar in the two groups. 3 of 13 in the erythromycin group and 4 of 11 in the placebo group improved during the study (P = 0.565). The mean time to attain full enteral feedings after enrollment was 24.9 + 2.9 days in the erythromycin group and 30.8 ± 4.1 days in the placebo group, a difference that did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.17). Conclusions Low-dose erythromycin did not reduce the time taken to attain full enteral feedings in preterm infants with very low birth weight and feeding intolerance. Gastroesophageal reflux decreased as a consequence of maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and not because of erythromycin. These preliminary results justify verification in larger multicenter trials.
Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) localization of the auditory N400m: effects of stimulus duration

The effects of stimulus duration on the elicitation and equivalent current dipole (ECD) localization of the auditory N400(m) were studied in two subject groups, either familiar or unfamiliar with Finnish language, using a sentence-processing paradigm with incongruent ending words of either short or long duration. Long-duration words elicited a broad response at around 400 ms, the generator location(s) of which could not be reliably determined using ECD estimation. In contrast, short-duration words elicited a sharp, strong-amplitude response at about 400 ms latency and it's source location could be reliably determined as being in the vicinity of auditory cortex. Subjects unfamiliar with the Finnish language elicited no response at the 400 ms range. Thus, the use of short-duration words appears to be an important prerequisite for the elicitation and localization of N400m. The differential amplitude behaviour of the N400m between the two subject groups further suggests that comprehension of the semantic content of the speech message is also required.
Intended and unintended (sensory‐)motor coupling between the affected and unaffected upper limb in complex regional pain syndrome

Motor dysfunction in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) has been associated with bilateral malfunction of sensory and motor circuits, which hints at abnormal coupling between the affected and the contralateral unaffected limb. In addition, clinical observations suggest that motor performance may depend on the (voluntary or automatic) context in which movements are executed. The present study aimed to examine the role of voluntary and automatic aspects of interlimb coupling in CRPS.
Joint multi‐user detection and intersymbol interference cancellation for WCDMA satellite UMTS

In this work we present two different intersymbol interference (ISI) cancellation systems, namely the commutation signaling (CS) and orthogonal code‐division transmit diversity (O‐CDTD) in combination with satellite path diversity, which leads to a high diversity order. The ISI is due to the use of satellite path diversity (in order to introduce multipath diversity artificially). This work combines the proposed ISI cancellation systems with subtractive multi‐user detectors—a variation of the conventional parallel interference cancellation (PIC) and successive interference cancellation (SIC) for the downlink channel of S‐UMTS. The blind detection is also considered without knowledge of spreading sequences or the channel state information (CSI) of the interfering users with a noise whitening matched filter (NWMF) that combats the MAI through the whitening of the interfering power spectrum, also with and without the ISI cancellation systems—CS and O‐CDTD. It is shown that the proposed PIC is a very promising detector to be used for the downlink of S‐UMTS, especially when combined with CS or O‐CDTD, the NWMF being efficient only when we consider jointly any of the proposed ISI cancellation systems for low number of interfering users. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Encephalitis associated with glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies

Antiglutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD-A) autoantibodies were originally reported in patients with stiff-man syndrome (SMS). 1 Successive studies have shown that GAD-A was implicated in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.2 High titers of GAD-A were recently reported in neurologic patients with disorders other than SMS, in particular ataxia3,4⇓ and therapy-resistant epilepsy.5,6⇓ We report a woman with type 1 diabetes who developed a subacute encephalitis associated with high titer of GAD-A. A 27-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes was admitted with a 1-week history of changes in her behavior, temporal disorientation, and myoclonus of her left arm. Blood glucose level was slightly elevated in serial tests. She was febrile and the neurologic examination disclosed no focal abnormalities. On the first day, the patient had generalized fits and consciousness varied from stupor to coma. Electroencephalography showed right temporal spikes and MRI scan was unremarkable. CSF analysis showed …
Statistical properties of the eigenvalue spectrum of the three-dimensional Anderson Hamiltonian.

A method to describe the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in disordered systems is presented. For this purpose the statistical properties of the eigenvalue spectrum of the Anderson Hamiltonian are considered. As the MIT corresponds to the transition between chaotic and nonchaotic behavior, it can be expected that the random matrix theory enables a qualitative description of the phase transition. We show that it is possible to determine the critical disorder in this way. In the thermodynamic limit the critical point behavior separates two different regimes: one for the metallic side and one for the insulating side
Dominical categories: recursion theory without elements

Dominical categories are categories in which the notions of partial morphisms and their domains become explicit, with the latter being endomorphisms rather than subobjects of their sources. These categories form the basis for a novel abstract formulation of recursion theory, to which the present paper is devoted. The abstractness has of course its usual concomitant advantage of generality: it is interesting to see that many of the fundamental results of recursion theory remain valid in contexts far removed from their classic manifestations. A principal reason for introducing this new formulation is to achieve an algebraization of the generalized incompleteness theorem, by providing a category-theoretic development of the concepts and tools of elementary recursion theory that are inherent in demonstrating the theorem. Dominical recursion theory avoids the commitment to sets and partial functions which is characteristic of other formulations, and thus allows for an intrinsic recursion theory within such structures as polyadic algebras. It is worthy of notice that much of elementary recursion theory can be developed without reference to elements. By Gödel's generalized incompleteness theorem for consistent arithmetical system T we mean any statement of the following sort: (1) if every recursive set is definable in T, then T is essentially undecidable [41]; or (2) if all recursive functions are definable in T, then T is essentially undecidable [41]; or (3) if every recursive set is definable in T, then T 0 and R 0 (the sets of Gödel numbers of the theorems and refutables of T) are recursively inseparable [39]; or (4) if all re sets are representable in T, then T 0 is creative [28], [39]; or (5) if T is a Rosser theory (i.e., all disjoint re sets are strongly separable in T), then T 0 and R 0 are effectively inseparable [39].
The old and new tests for celiac disease: which is the best test combination to diagnose celiac disease in pediatric patients?

Abstract Background: In the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD), serum assays for anti-endomysium (EMA) and anti-transglutaminase (anti-tTG) antibodies have excellent diagnostic accuracy. However, these assays are less sensitive in young pediatric patients. Recently, a new ELISA test using deamidated gliadin peptides (DGP) as antigen has proved to be very sensitive and specific even in pediatric patients. In addition, anti-actin IgA antibodies (AAA) is another test that can be used in CD patients because antibody concentrations correlate with the degree of villous atrophy. This study evaluated the clinical accuracy of anti-tTG, EMA, AGA, anti-DGP and AAA and the effectiveness of these in different combinations for diagnosing CD in a large cohort of pediatric patients. Methods: Sera of 150 children under 6 years of age were tested: 95 patients had a diagnosis of CD, while 55 patients who did not suffer from CD were used as controls. Anti-DGP IgA/IgG and AAA were assayed with ELISA kits, while anti-tTG IgA/IgG and AGA IgG/IgA were assayed using a quantitative fluoroimmunoassay. The EMA test was conducted by indirect immunofluorescence. Results: Seventy-six of 95 (80%) CD patients were positive for DGP IgA and/or tTG IgA. Eighty of 95 (84.2%) patients were positive for DGP IgG and/or tTG IgA. None of the controls were positive for these antibodies. Eighty-four of 95 (88.4%) patients and 8/55 (14.5%) controls were positive for AAA and/or anti-tTG IgA. Conclusions: In very young children, association of anti-tTG IgA with anti-DGP IgG is the best test combination for diagnosing CD, yielding a cumulative sensitivity of 84.2% and a specificity of 100%.