Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibin Alpha Distinguishes Hemangioblastoma From Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Inhibin alpha subunit (inhibin A) expression in hemangioblastomas has not been previously reported in the literature. We analyzed the expression of inhibin A in 25 hemangioblastomas from 22 patients. Eleven cases were from 8 patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease, and these tumors were multicentric and/or recurrent. The remaining 14 cases from 14 patients were sporadic. The male-to-female ratio was 8:3, and the age at presentation ranged from 19 to 78 years (mean 35 years; median 45 years). Eighteen tumors were located in the cerebellum/posterior fossa, 1 in the medulla, 1 in the occipital lobe, and 5 in the spinal cord. Four metastatic renal cell carcinomas in brain, 10 renal cell carcinomas from 8 patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease, and 5 sporadic clear cell renal cell carcinomas were also included. Two patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease had both renal cell carcinoma and hemangioblastoma. The stromal cells of all 25 cases of hemangioblastoma expressed inhibin A. Strong, moderate, and weak cytoplasmic immunoreactivity was noted in 17, 5, and 3 cases, respectively. In contrast, none of the 19 renal cell carcinomas, primary as well as metastatic, expressed inhibin A. There was no difference in the inhibin A staining pattern between the sporadic hemangioblastoma and those associated with VHL. These findings demonstrate inhibin A to be a useful marker in distinguishing hemangioblastoma from metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. While the diagnostic importance is evident, the pathophysiology of inhibin A expression by the stromal cells of hemangioblastoma remains unknown and further investigation is required.
Cetuximab-based or bevacizumab-based first-line treatment in patients with KRAS p.G13D-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer: a pooled analysis

KRAS p.G13D mutant metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) has been identified as representing a cetuximab-sensitive subtype of KRAS mutant mCRC. This analysis aims to answer the question of whether first-line treatment of p.G13D mCRCs should include cetuximab or bevacizumab. Fifty-four patients with p.G13D mutant mCRC were pooled in this analysis. All patients underwent systemic first-line treatment with a fluoropyrimidine and oxaliplatin/irinotecan that was combined with either cetuximab or bevacizumab. The analysis of cetuximab-based and bevacizumab-based regimens in mCRC patients with p.G13D-mutated tumours indicated comparable data for the overall response rate (58 vs. 57%) and progression-free survival (8.0 vs. 8.7 months; hazard ratio: 0.96, P=0.9). Overall survival (OS) was 20.1 months in patients treated with cetuximab-based first-line therapy compared with 14.9 months in patients receiving bevacizumab-containing regimens (hazard ratio: 0.70, P=0.29). Logistic regressions modelling OS revealed oxaliplatin-based first-line treatment to correlate with a poor outcome (P=0.03). Moreover, a strong trend in favour of capecitabine compared with infusional 5-FU (P=0.06) was observed. Response to treatment correlated with OS in patients receiving cetuximab-based, but not bevacizumab-based regimens. This retrospective pooled analysis suggests comparable efficacy of cetuximab-based and bevacizumab-based first-line therapy in patients with p.G13D mutant mCRC. The combination with capecitabine and irinotecan was associated with a more favourable outcome compared with infusional 5-FU and oxaliplatin.
Cerebral pathology following serum anaphylaxis.

The serious sequelae of serum therapy or prophylaxis in a person who has become sensitized either by previous serum injection or by contact with the animal type are well known to all physicians through the tragic consequences of anaphylactic reactions, in which death may follow within a few minutes or a few hours the injection of serum. The delayed reactions, such as urticaria, which occur several days after the serum injections, are also familiar. The case we wish to present is unique in that the patient's life was spared in the early anaphylactic reaction; he lived to have the delayed reaction and to reveal symptoms of destructive central nervous system pathology. We know of no comparable case in our experience or in the literature, and we therefore present it from this standpoint. The final observation during his illness was made in Children's Hospital, and the postmortem examination was performed in
Metformin kinetics in healthy subjects and in patients with diabetes mellitus.

1 The kinetics of metformin were studied after i.v. and oral administration in four healthy subjects and after oral administration in twelve maturity onset (Type II) diabetic patients. 2 After i.v. administration most of the dose was rapidly eliminated but with a mean `terminal' T1/2 of 4 h measured up to 12 h in plasma and of 16 h measured up to 60 h from the urinary excretion rate. On average, 80% of the dose was recovered as unchanged drug in the urine with none detected in the faeces. 3 After single oral doses (0.5 and 1.5 g), maximum plasma concentrations and urinary excretion rates were observed at about 2 h with urinary recoveries of unchanged drug of 35-50% and faecal recoveries of about 30%. Urinary recoveries were significantly lower after the higher dose. Absolute oral bioavailability was 50-60% of the dose. 4 Deconvolution analysis showed that after a short lag-time, the available oral dose was absorbed at an exponential rate over about 6 h. Implications for the design of prolonged release dosage forms are discussed. 5 Plasma metformin concentrations measured throughout the seventh and fourteenth days of continuous 0.5 g twice daily treatment were accurately predicted from single dose data, although a discrepancy between observed and predicted trough levels reflected the existence of a slow elimination phase. Implications of the latter for a gradual accumulation of metformin in peripheral tissues and a possible association with lactic acidosis are discussed. 6 Renal clearance of metformin was highly correlated with creatinine clearance. However, a weaker relationship between total oral clearance of the drug and creatinine clearance suggests that the latter may not always be a reliable indicator of potential metformin accumulation owing to variability in absorption and possibly non-renal clearance of the drug,
COMPARATIVE AND CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF SUCCESSES OF THE LEPROSY ELIMINATION STRATEGY BEFORE (2000 TO 2005) AND AFTER (2006 TO 2010) ERADICATION PERIOD IN REFERRAL HOSPITAL OF TAMIL NADU

To assess the successes of the leprosy elimination strategy before (2000 to 2005) and after (2006 to 2010) eradication period in referral hospital of Tamilnadu District. Retrospective cross-sectional study of all registered new cases of leprosy carried out from records over a ten year period from referral Sacred heart leprosy hospital, Kummbakkonam, Tamil Nadu. During the survey, total number of 5,794 new leprosy cases registered during 2000 to 2010 between before and after eradication period at referral leprosy hospital. Comparative analysis of 5 years of before and after eradication period survey shows that the total number of multibacillary and paucibacillary cases registered before eradication was 4177and after eradication it was reduced to1617, in that multibacillary cases reduced from 2724 to 1150 after eradication and paucibacillary cases reduced from 1453 to 467 cases. According to this analysed report concluding that the total number of leprosy cases reported in referral hospital per day before eradication was 2.28 and after eradication it was reduced to 0.88 cases per day. Leprosy was still an important public health problem and was getting out of control in some districts in Tamil Nadu, south India. However, leprosy elimination is well within sight, and after eradication period also risk of the leprosy cases in endemic districts. So leprosy awareness days and community-based surveillance could help to improve early detection, treatment, case holding and prevention of disabilities. Increase the awareness program for endemic districts is a very well method in decrease the leprosy. Keywords : Leprosy, Multibacillary, Paucibacillary, Multi Drug Therapy
Urban particulate matter increases human airway epithelial cell IL-1β secretion following scratch wounding and H1N1 influenza A exposure in vitro

ABSTRACT Purpose: The airway epithelium represents the first line of defense against inhaled environmental insults including air pollution, allergens, and viruses. Epidemiological and experimental evidence has suggested a link between air pollution exposure and the symptoms associated with respiratory viral infections. We hypothesized that multiple insults integrated by the airway epithelium NLRP3 inflammasome would result in augmented IL-1β release and downstream cytokine production following respiratory virus exposure. Materials and Methods: We performed in vitro experiments with a human airway epithelial cell line (HBEC-6KT) that involved isolated or combination exposure to mechanical wounding, PM10, house dust mite, influenza A virus, and respiratory syncytial virus. We performed confocal microscopy to image the localization of PM10 within HBEC-6KT and ELISAs to measure soluble mediator production. Results: Airway epithelial cells secrete IL-1β in a time-dependent fashion that is associated with internalization of PM10 particles. PM10 exposure primes human airway epithelial cells to subsequent models of cell damage and influenza A virus exposure. Prior PM10 exposure had no effect on IL-1β responses to RSV exposure. Finally we demonstrate that PM10-priming of human airway epithelial cell IL-1β and GM-CSF responses to influenza A exposure are sensitive to NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition. Conclusions: Our results suggest the NLRP3 inflammasome may contribute to exaggerated immune responses to influenza A virus following periods of poor air quality. Intervention strategies targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome in at risk individuals may restrict poor air quality priming of mucosal immune responses that result from subsequent viral exposures.
MULTIATTRIBUTE EVALUATION

Evaluation is rapidly becoming Big Business. Questions like "Is this plan wise? " "Should I choose option A or option B? " "At what funding level should this program be supported? " How well is this program doing? " have been asked of social programs since long before we were born . But the idea that one could answer such questions systematically and in a manner other than simply looking at the object of evaluation and making an intuitive judgment is a development of the 1960s and 1970s . As inflated costs and less-inflated program budgets come into steadily escalating conflict, the task of weeding out the programs worthy of support from those that are not, and of providing guidance for programs in existence, will continue to grow in importance-as will the resources and attention devoted to developing satisfying methods of performing that task .
Predictive Accuracy of Mandibular Ramus Flexure as a Morphologic Indicator of Sex Dimorphism in Jordanians

El presente estudio investigo la validez de flexura de la rama mandibular en la diferenciacion sexual entre adultos jovenes jordanos utilizando imagenes de ortopantomografias, en un estudio doble ciego. Se selecciono una muestra normativa compuesta de 419 imagenes, de las cuales 126 pertenecian a hombres y 293 a mujeres. Se excluyeron imagenes que mostraron una perdida marcada de los molares mandibulares, dientes sobre erupcionados o inclinados, molares anomalos y los dientes o mandibulas con enfermedad. Cada imagen fue examinada para detectar la presencia de un angulo en el margen posterior de la rama en el plano oclusal. El margen posterior de la rama mandibular fue trazado graficamente y el plano oclusal se delineo estableciendo como guia la altura de las puntas cuspideas en las superficies oclusales de los molares mandibulares. La flexura de la rama mandibular fue mas precisa en el diagnostico de las mujeres (94,6%) que para los hombres (47,6%); con una precision diagnostica global del 70,9%, la cual es inferior a la reportada por Loth & Henneberg entre 90,6­99,0%. Nuestros resultados, concuerdan con algunos hallazgos reportados por otros investigadores. En conclusion, la flexura de la rama mandibular proporciona una exactitud de prediccion moderadamente aceptable y podria ser considerada como un complemento en lugar de un medio definitivo de la determinacion del sexo. En restos oseos desconocidos, es necesario emplear la mayor cantidad de metodos o rasgos posibles que depender de un solo rasgo morfologico.
Impact of alternative interventions on changes in generic dispensing rates.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of four alternative interventions (member mailings, advertising campaigns, free generic drug samples to physicians, and physician financial incentives) used by a major health insurer to encourage its members to switch to generic drugs. METHODS Using claim-level data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, we evaluated the success of four interventions implemented during 2000-2003 designed to increase the use of generic drugs among its members. Around 13 million claims involving seven important classes of drugs were used to assess the effectiveness of the interventions. For each intervention a control group was developed that most closely resembled the corresponding intervention group. Logistic regression models with interaction effects between the treatment group (intervention versus control) and the status of the intervention (active versus not active) were used to evaluate if the interventions had an effect on the generic dispensing rate (GDR). Because the mail order pharmacy was considered more aggressive at converting prescriptions to generics, separate generic purchasing models were fitted to retail and mail order claims. In secondary analyses separate models were also fitted to claims involving a new condition and claims refilled for preexisting conditions. RESULTS The interventions did not appear to increase the market penetration of generic drugs for either retail or mail order claims, or for claims involving new or preexisting conditions. In addition, we found that the ratio of copayments for brand name to generic drugs had a large positive effect on the GDR. CONCLUSIONS The interventions did not appear to directly influence the GDR. Financial incentives expressed to consumers through benefit designs have a large influence on their switching to generic drugs and on the less-costly mail-order mode of purchase.
Investigation of Negative Capacitance Gate-all-Around Tunnel FETs Combining Numerical Simulation and Analytical Modeling

A short-channel negative capacitance gate-all-around tunnel field-effect transistor (NC-GAA-TFET) with a ferroelectric gate stack is proposed. Device performance is investigated by integrating three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation and the 1D Landau–Khalatnikov equation. It is shown that the NC-GAA-TFET has a steeper subthreshold swing and higher on-state current compared to conventional GAA-TFETs, and demonstrates no hysteretic behavior. Relevant analytical models, including the electrostatic potential model and the shortest tunnel path length (lsp), are developed to explain the device's operating principles and design optimization issues. Results from the analytical electrostatic potential model agree well with those of the numerical simulation. Furthermore, the analytical calculation shows that gate controllability over the channel is enhanced and the lsp value is significantly reduced as the thickness of the ferroelectric dielectric increases, resulting in better device characteristics. These results demonstrate the tremendous potential of NC-GAA-TFETs in low-power applications.
Inflammation and apoptosis in Clostridium difficile enteritis is mediated by PGE2 up-regulation of Fas ligand.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Clostridium difficile toxin A causes acute inflammation and fluid secretion in experimental animals and patients with C difficile infection. We previously reported that toxin A increased cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) expression and apoptosis in human colonocytes. Here, we assessed the role of secreted PGE(2) in inflammation and enterocyte apoptosis in toxin A enteritis. METHODS Effects of PGE(2) and PGE(2) blockade on toxin A-induced apoptosis of human colonocytes (NCM460) and of PGE(2) or toxin A on the Fas ligand (FasL) induction were analyzed by flow cytometry and Western blot. Functional activity of elevated FasL on colonocytes was assessed by coculture of colonocytes with Fas bearing Jurkat T cells. The involvement of PGE(2)-dependent Fas/FasL activation in toxin A enteritis was further assessed in either scid or FasL and Fas deficient mice. RESULTS Inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 by NS-398 and of PGE(2) using a blocking antibody markedly attenuated apoptosis in colonocytes exposed to toxin A. Enhanced expression and release of FasL followed PGE(2) or toxin A exposure in vivo and in vitro and also was significantly attenuated by treatment with NS-398 and PGE(2) blocking antibody. PGE(2) acting through an EP1 receptor activated nuclear factor-kappaB, which induced transcription of FasL. Toxin A enteritis was accompanied by increased cellular infiltration, fluid secretion, and mucosal damage in control mice, but this response was markedly reduced in both Fas(-/-) and FasL(-/-) mice. CONCLUSIONS Toxin A enteritis involves release of PGE(2), which activates the Fas/FasL system, causing enterocyte apoptosis and inflammation.
HPLC DETECTORS: A BRIEF REVIEW

In an HPLC system the detector is the component responsible for turning a physical or chemical attribute into a measureable signal corresponding to concentration or identity. [ 1 , 2 ] In the early days of HPLC, detection was often carried out by collecting fractions and analyzing them off-line. It wasn't until the 1940's and 1950's that the first online detectors for HPLC were introduced. [ 3 , 4 ] Certainly an improvement over off-line approaches, sensitivity was an issue. The search for more sensitive universal detectors for HPLC led researchers to adapt GC detectors for use in HPLC,[ 5-8 ] but the removal of the HPLC mobile phase originally limited applicability. However, in the 1960s the first ultraviolet detector for HPLC was introduced,[ 9 ] and subsequent improvements in design led to better sensitivity[ 10 ] and improvements such as variable wavelength and diode array detectors. While a truly universal HPLC detector with GC/FID levels of sensitivity is still elusive, many different types of detectors have been developed that have been very successful for a wide variety of general or specific HPLC applications. To assist in choosing the proper HPLC detector for a given application, this review describes the principles and attributes of many of the common HPLC detectors in use today, and compares and contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of the various detectors discussed where appropriate. For additional detail on the HPLC detectors addressed here, the reader is encouraged to consult the references in each section along with additional general reviews. [ 11 , 12 ]
Emotion-Based Decision Making in schizophrenia: evidence from the Iowa Gambling Task

The decision making can be defined as the mental process in which a “choice is made after reflecting on the consequences of that choice” (Bechara & Van Der Linden, 2005; Bechara et al., 1997). It is a complex process that involves cognitive as well as emotion-based functions. In fact human beings make fast adaptive decisions in daily life, and that is based on the skill to relate emotion to contextual stimuli in order to anticipate outcomes through activation of emotional states (Bechara et al., 2005). In this regard, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) has been widely recognized to play a key role in the emotional decision making process. The VMPFC includes the medial part of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the more ventral sectors of the medial prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex (Bechara et al., 1997). In particular the OFC, within the VMPFC, is part of a neural system underpinning decision-making and reward-related behaviours which are thought to be linked to social conduct (Rolls, 2000).
Double-Sided, Double-Type-Column 3-D Detectors: Design, Fabrication, and Technology Evaluation

We report on the latest results from the development of 3-D silicon radiation detectors at Fondazione Bruno Kessler of Trento (FBK), Italy (formerly ITC-IRST). Building on the results obtained from previous devices (3-D Single-Type-Column), a new detector concept has been defined, namely 3-D-DDTC (Double-sided Double-Type Column), which involves columnar electrodes of both doping types, etched from alternate wafer sides, stopping a short distance (d) from the opposite surface. Simulations prove that, if d is kept small with respect to the wafer thickness, this approach can yield charge collection properties comparable to those of standard 3-D detectors, with the advantage of a simpler fabrication process. Two wafer layouts have been designed with reference to this technology, and two fabrication runs have been performed. Technological and design aspects are reported in this paper, along with simulation results and initial results from the characterization of detectors and test structures belonging to the first 3-D-DDTC batch.
Expression of Single‐Chain Fv Gene Specific for γ‐Seminoprotein by RTS and Its Biological Activity Identification

Fabricating a single‐chain variable fragment specific for human seminoprotein is very important in antibody‐directed enzyme prodrug therapy and NMR imaging for prostate cancer. Here a single‐chain Fv specific for γ‐seminoprotein was expressed by RTS. Its activity and the efficiency of entry into prostate cancer cells are investigated by immunoprecipitation and Western blotting and immunofluorescent staining, as well as entry of conjugated magnetic beads into cells. Results showed that ScFv peptides specific for γ‐seminoprotein were successfully prepared, which can bind with the prostate cells specifically and can bring magnetic beads into prostate cancer cells within 15 min, the amount of magnetic beads inside prostate cancer cells increased as the culture time prolonged. ScFv‐conjugated magnetic beads did not enter into control cells. In conclusion, the ScFv peptide against human γ‐seminoprotein with biological activity was successfully fabricated, which can take magnetic beads to prostate cancer cells specifically and not to the control cells. This ScFv peptide against human γ‐seminoprotein should be useful in improving the detection and therapy of prostate cancer at early stages and NMR imaging.