Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cisplatin, doxorubicin, and delayed surgery for childhood hepatoblastoma: a successful approach--results of the first prospective study of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology.

PURPOSE Hepatoblastoma (HB) is a rare malignant liver tumor which occurs almost exclusively in childhood. In the 1970s, survival was approximately 20% to 30%. Since the introduction of cisplatin (PLA) and doxorubicin (DO) into the chemotherapy regimens used to treat these patients, the survival rate has improved dramatically. In most recent studies, primary surgery preceded chemotherapy. In this study by the liver group of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology the aim was to improve survival and reduce operative morbidity and mortality by using preoperative chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS After biopsy and assessment of pretreatment extent of disease all patients were treated with continuous 24-hour intravenous infusion of PLA 80 mg/m(2) followed by DO 60 mg/m(2) over 48 hours (PLADO). After four courses of this chemotherapy, patients were reassessed. Where possible, the primary tumor was resected and treatment completed with two more courses of chemotherapy. RESULTS One hundred fifty-four patients were registered in the study, and 138 received preoperative chemotherapy. One hundred thirteen (82%) showed a partial response with tumor shrinkage and serial decrease of serum alpha-fetoprotein levels. One hundred fifteen patients had delayed surgery, and 106 (including six with liver transplants) had complete resection of primary tumor. Five-year event-free survival was 66%, and overall survival was 75%. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that international collaboration on a large scale is feasible. The toxicity of chemotherapy and morbidity of surgery were acceptable and the overall survival gratifyingly high. We now regard PLADO chemotherapy and delayed surgery to be the best available treatment for children with HB. Other treatment programs should be measured against this standard.
Improving the quality of end-of-life discussions

Purpose of reviewThis article provides an update on the recent research and evidence regarding quality in end-of-life (EOL) discussions with a focus on the care of a person with cancer. Recent findingsClinicians have the challenging task of customizing the information exchange that occurs during an EOL discussion. Patients identify important stipulations that accompany a desire for frank EOL discussions. These include timing of the discussion, ensuring evaluation of readiness to engage in the EOL discussion, and being invited to participate. The timing of an EOL discussion is likely to be more important than the setting in which an EOL discussion occurs. Less than 1 month prior to a person's death is likely to be an inadequate amount of time to allow a patient to consider and reflect on his or her EOL preferences. Among those admitted to the hospital, delay in the timing of EOL discussions carries the risk of losing decision-making capacity. SummaryThere is greater use of quality metrics as patient outcomes among studies examining EOL discussions. System-wide approaches to improving EOL discussions should include standardized documentation templates that are widely accessible in electronic medical records.
Cognitive Impairment and Dementia 20 Months after Stroke

Background and Purpose: Dementia is common after stroke, but the dementia syndrome does not cover the whole spectrum of cognitive impairment. Our aim was to quantify and compare dementia and cognitive impairments in elderly patients 1.5 years after stroke and a matched normal population. Subjects and Methods: We examined dementia and cognitive impairments in 149 out of an initial total of 243 acute stroke patients after a mean 20 months. Inclusion criteria were age ≧70 years, not living in an institution and no previous cerebral lesion. The patients’ mean age was 81 years. Five controls matched by age and gender and fulfilling the same exclusion criteria were selected for each patient (n = 745) from a population-based survey in the same area. Dementia was diagnosed according to the DSM-III-R criteria, and impairments in different dimensions of cognitive function were assessed. Results: The prevalence of dementia was 28% in the stroke patients and 7.4% in the controls (OR 4.7; 95% CI 3.0–7.5). Seventy-two percent of the patients had cognitive impairments compared to 36% in the controls. Cognitive impairments were more common in nondemented stroke patients than in nondemented controls: 61 vs. 31% (OR 3.5; 95% CI 2.3–5.3). The risk increase attributable to stroke was highest for patients below 80 years of age. Conclusions: Stroke confers an increased risk of dementia and cognitive impairments in the elderly, especially in the younger ones. Apraxia is the most frequent neuropsychiatric impairment after stroke. The concept of dementia does not describe cognitive impairments well, since it underestimates their extent not only after stroke but also in normal ageing.
The quality of fresh-frozen plasma produced from whole blood stored at 4 degrees C overnight.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to assess whether the quality of FFP produced from whole blood stored at 4 degrees C overnight is adequate for its intended purpose. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Fresh-frozen plasma (FFP) separated from whole blood (n = 60) leukodepleted (LD) after storage at 4 degrees C overnight (18-24 hr from donation, Day 1 FFP) was compared with that LD within 8 hours of donation (Day 0 FFP, the current standard method). RESULTS In more than 95 percent of Day 1 FFP units, levels of factor (F) II, FV, FVII, FVIII, F IX, FX, FXI, and FXII were greater than 0.50 U per mL except for von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen and FVIII, where 92 and 87 percent of units, respectively, contained greater than 0.50 IU per mL. Compared with historical data on FFP stored for 8 hours, fibrinogen, FV, FVIII, and FXI were reduced by 12, 15, 23, and 7 percent, respectively, but other factors were not significantly reduced. Levels of VWF-cleaving protease activity were not different between FFP prepared from paired units of blood (n = 3) held for 8 or 24 hours, but were below the reference range in an additional 2 of 6 units held for 24 hours. The activities of protein S, protein C, antithrombin III, and alpha(2)-antiplasmin were reduced by less than 10 percent in Day 1 FFP (n = 20), but with final levels above the lower limit of the normal range in greater than 95 percent of units. Activated FXII antigen was not significantly raised in plasma stored for 18 to 24 hours, but levels of prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 were slightly increased (0.88 ng/mL, 18-24 hr; 0.65 ng/mL, < 8 hr). CONCLUSION These data suggest that there is good retention of relevant coagulation factor activity in plasma produced from whole blood stored at 4 degrees C for 18 to 24 hours and that this would be an acceptable product for most patients requiring FFP.
Chitinase Secretion by Encysting Entamoeba invadensand Transfected Entamoeba histolytica Trophozoites: Localization of Secretory Vesicles, Endoplasmic Reticulum, and Golgi Apparatus

ABSTRACT Entamoeba histolytica, the protozoan parasite that phagocytoses bacteria and host cells, has a vesicle/vacuole-filled cytosol like that of macrophages. In contrast, the infectious cyst form has four nuclei and a chitin wall. Here, anti-chitinase antibodies identified hundreds of small secretory vesicles in encysting E. invadens parasites and in E. histolytica trophozoites overexpressing chitinase under an actin gene promoter. Abundant small secretory vesicles were also identified with antibodies to the surface antigen Ariel and with a fluorescent substrate of cysteine proteinases. Removal of an N-terminal signal sequence directed chitinase to the cytosol. Addition of a C-terminal KDEL peptide, identified on amebic BiP, retained chitinase in a putative endoplasmic reticulum, which was composed of a few vesicles of mixed sizes. A putative Golgi apparatus, which was Brefeldin A sensitive and composed of a few large, perinuclear vesicles, was identified with antibodies to ADP-ribosylating factor and to ɛ-COP. We conclude that the amebic secretory pathway is similar to those of other eukaryotic cells, even if its appearance is somewhat different.
Human motion segmentation using cost weights recovered from inverse optimal control

A common hypothesis in human motor control is that human movement is generated by optimizing with respect to a certain criterion and is task dependent. In this paper, a method to segment human movement by detecting changes to the optimization criterion being used via inverse optimal control is proposed. The control strategy employed by the motor system is hypothesized to be a weighted sum of basis cost functions, with the basis weights changing with changes to the motion objective(s). Continuous time series data of movement is processed using a sliding fixed width window, estimating the basis weights of each cost function for each window by minimizing the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions. The quality of the cost function recovery is verified by evaluating the residual. The successfully estimated basis weights are averaged together to create a set of time varying basis weights that describe the changing control strategy of the motion and can be used to segment the movement with simple thresholds. The proposed algorithm is first demonstrated on simulation data and then demonstrated on a dataset of human subjects performing a series of squatting tasks. The proposed approach reliably identifies the squatting movements, achieving a segmentation accuracy of 84%.
Oestrogen Receptors in the Preoptico‐Hypothalamic Continuum: Immunohistochemical Study of the Distribution and Cell Density During Induced Oestrous Cycle in Ovariectomized Ewe

Oestrogen plays a key role in the regulation of the endocrine and behavioural events associated with the oestrous cycle. It is important, therefore, to know the location of neurones receptive to this steroid and to know whether their distribution varies with the oestrous cycle. We have undertaken experiments to identify the location of oestrogen receptors (ER) within the preoptico‐hypothalamic continuum of ovariectomized ewes submitted to a variety of different hormone replacement regimes which mimic the different stages of the oestrous cycle. We used a monoclonal antibody to ER and detected receptors with immunohistological methods in the non‐vascular part of the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis, the lateral septum, the medial preoptic area, the supraoptic, suprachiasmatic and arcuate (ARC) nuclei, the ventromedial hypothalamus (HVM) and in the region close to the mamillari recess. ER neurones were scarce or absent from the anterior hypothalamus and the paraventricular nucleus. The density of ER staining in the HVM, but in no other localization, was found to be higher, and in a more lateral position, during the induced luteal phase (progesterone treatment) than during the follicular phase (7 days of progesterone treatment followed by oestradiol) or in the ovariectomized female. In all areas studied, except for the ARC, the apparent surface area of the nucleus in ER immunoreactive cells varied with hormonal treatment. These data, and especially those in the HVM, contribute towards our understanding of how steroids may act in the ovine to control sexual behaviour.
Impairment of endothelial function after a high-fat meal in patients with coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of postprandial lipid changes on endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) after a high-fat meal. METHODS We studied 50 CAD patients and 25 control participants, who were all normocholesterolemic. Flow-mediated vasodilatation of the brachial artery was evaluated by the high-resolution ultrasound technique before and after a single high-fat meal (800 calories; 50 g fat). RESULTS Postprandial serum triglyceride level increased significantly at 2-7 h and mean flow-mediated vasodilatation was impaired significantly (from 4.22 +/- 0.44 to 2.75 +/- 0.33%, P < 0.01) for 75 subjects. The increment in 2 h serum triglyceride level correlated positively with the decrement in postprandial flow-mediated vasodilatation (r = 0.459, P < 0.01). Postprandial triglyceride level was significantly higher in CAD patients than in control participants. Flow-mediated vasodilatation was significantly impaired in CAD patients (from 3.04 +/- 0.39 to 1.69 +/- 0.23%, P < 0.01) and control participants (from 6.58 +/- 0.52 to 4.87 +/- 0.19%, P < 0.05) after a high-fat meal. The impairment of flow-mediated dilatation was more severe in CAD patients (44.41%) than in control participants (25.99%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Postprandial endothelium-dependent vasodilatation after a single high-fat meal was severely impaired in normocholesterolemic CAD patients and control participants. The disordered postprandial metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins may play an atherogenic role by inducing endothelial dysfunction.
A Smart Wirelessly Powered Homecage for Long-Term High-Throughput Behavioral Experiments

A wirelessly powered homecage system, called the EnerCage-HC, that is equipped with multicoil wireless power transfer, closed-loop power control, optical behavioral tracking, and a graphic user interface is presented for longitudinal electrophysiology and behavioral neuroscience experiments. The EnerCage-HC system can wirelessly power a mobile unit attached to a small animal subject and also track its behavior in real-time as it is housed inside a standard homecage. The EnerCage-HC system is equipped with one central and four overlapping slanted wire-wound coils with optimal geometries to form threeand four-coil power transmission links while operating at 13.56 MHz. Utilizing multicoil links increases the power transfer efficiency (PTE) compared with conventional two-coil links and also reduces the number of power amplifiers to only one, which significantly reduces the system complexity, cost, and heat dissipation. A Microsoft Kinect installed 90 cm above the homecage localizes the animal position and orientation with 1.6-cm accuracy. Moreover, a power management ASIC, including a high efficiency active rectifier and automatic coil resonance tuning, was fabricated in a 0.35-μm 4M2P standard CMOS process for the mobile unit. The EnerCage-HC achieves a max/min PTE of 36.3%/16.1% at the nominal height of 7 cm. In vivo experiments were conducted on freely behaving rats by continuously delivering 24 mW to the mobile unit for >7 h inside a standard homecage.
CHLORORESPIRATORY REDUCTION 6 Is a Novel Factor Required for Accumulation of the Chloroplast NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase Complex in Arabidopsis1

The chloroplast NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH) complex is involved in photosystem I cyclic electron transport and chlororespiration in higher plants. An Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) chlororespiratory reduction 6 (crr6) mutant lacking NDH activity was identified by means of chlorophyll fluorescence imaging. Accumulation of the NDH complex was impaired in crr6. Physiological characterization of photosynthetic electron transport indicated the specific defect of the NDH complex in crr6. In contrast to the CRR7 protein that was recently identified as a potential novel subunit of the NDH complex by means of the same screening, the CRR6 protein was stable under the crr2 mutant background in which the NDH complex does not accumulate. The CRR6 gene (At2g47910) encodes a novel protein without any known motif. Although CRR6 does not have any transmembrane domains, it is localized in the thylakoid membrane fraction of the chloroplast. CRR6 is conserved in phototrophs, including cyanobacteria, from which the chloroplast NDH complex has evolutionally originated, but not in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, in which the NDH complex is absent. We believe that CRR6 is a novel specific factor for the assembly or stabilization of the NDH complex.
Boredom proneness--the development and correlates of a new scale.

This article reports the development, validation, and correlates of a self-report measure of boredom proneness. The 28-item Boredom Proneness (BP) Scale demonstrates satisfactory levels of internal consistency (coefficient alpha = .79) and test-retest reliability (r = .83) over a 1-week interval. Evidence of validity for the BP is supported by correlations with other boredom measures and from a set of studies evaluating interest and attention in the classroom. Other hypothesized relationships with boredom were tested, with significant positive associations found with depression, hopelessness, perceived effort, loneliness, and amotivational orientation. Additional findings indicate boredom proneness to be negatively related to life satisfaction and autonomy orientation. The relationship of boredom to other affective states is discussed, and directions for future research are outlined.
Parametric study of heat deposition from collision debris into the insertion superconducting magnets for the LHC luminosity upgrade

With a new geometry in a higher luminosity environment, the power deposition in the superconducting magnets becomes a critical aspect to analyze and to integrate in the insertion design. In this paper, we quantify the power deposited in magnets insertion at variable positions from the interaction point (IP). A fine characterization of the debris due to the proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV, shows that the energetic particles in the very forward direction give rise to non intuitive dependences of the impacting energy on the magnet front face and inner surface. The power deposition does not vary significantly with the distance to the interaction point, because of counterbalancing effects of different contributions to power deposition. We have found out that peak power density in the magnet insertion does not vary significantly with or without the target absorber secondaries (TAS) protection.
Pulmonary artery catheterization: A prospective study of internal jugular and subclavian approaches

We compared complications of pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) insertion and maintenance at internal jugular (IJ) vs. subclavian (SC) sites. Patients were randomized into groups using an IJ or SC route, and insertions were timed. An air-permeable dressing and anticontamination shield were used. Catheters were removed 72 h after insertion. If PAC monitoring was still needed, a new catheter was either inserted over a guidewire at the initial insertion site or inserted at a new site. On removal, the catheter tip, introducer-sheath tip, and catheter within the shield were submitted for semiquantitative culture. Sixty-six catheters were initially inserted, and 26 were changed. No determinative differences in the time for venous cannulation were found, but the IJ route was slightly faster. In 3% of the catheterizations, serious complications arose. The infection rate was 2% for initial catheters, 8% for second catheters placed over a guidewire, and 15% for second catheters placed at a new site. These differences were not consequential. No local infection or catheter-related sepsis occurred. Thus, using a standard, sterile-insertion technique and a catheter-maintenance protocol yielded a low risk of insertion and infectious complications at either the IJ or SC site. Our data indicated that PACs can be changed safely over a guidewire at 72 h, avoiding further insertion risks without increasing infectious complications.
Comparison of different MRI brain atrophy rate measures with clinical disease progression in AD

Objective: To correlate different methods of measuring rates of brain atrophy from serial MRI with corresponding clinical change in normal elderly subjects, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods: One hundred sixty subjects were recruited from the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Registry Studies. At baseline, 55 subjects were cognitively normal, 41 met criteria for MCI, and 64 met criteria for AD. Each subject underwent an MRI examination of the brain at the time of the baseline clinical assessment and then again at the time of a follow-up clinical assessment, 1 to 5 years later. The annualized changes in volume of four structures were measured from the serial MRI studies: hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, whole brain, and ventricle. Rates of change on several cognitive tests/rating scales were also assessed. Subjects who were classified as normal or MCI at baseline could either remain stable or convert to a lower-functioning group. AD subjects were dichotomized into slow vs fast progressors. Results: All four atrophy rates were greater among normal subjects who converted to MCI or AD than among those who remained stable, greater among MCI subjects who converted to AD than among those who remained stable, and greater among fast than slow AD progressors. In general, atrophy on MRI was detected more consistently than decline on specific cognitive tests/rating scales. With one exception, no differences were found among the four MRI rate measures in the strength of the correlation with clinical deterioration at different stages of the disease. Conclusions: These data support the use of rates of change from serial MRI studies in addition to standard clinical/psychometric measures as surrogate markers of disease progression in AD. Estimated sample sizes required to power a therapeutic trial in MCI were an order of magnitude less for MRI than for change measures based on cognitive tests/rating scales.
Effects of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 Administration on Influenza Infection, Influenza Vaccine Antibody Titer, and Cell-Mediated Immunity in the Elderly

Twenty-seven elderly subjects (mean age 86.7±6.6 years) were pre-administered a test food containing 1×1011 cfu of BB536 daily for 5 weeks (P1), during which they also received influenza vaccination at week 3. The subjects were then randomized to a BB536 group and a placebo group for 14 weeks (P2). The proportion of subjects who contracted influenza was significantly lower in BB536 group than in the to placebo group. The proportion of subjects with fever was also significantly lower in the BB536 group than in the placebo group. In the P1 period, the NK cell activity and the bactericidal activity of the neutrophils were significantly higher at week 5 than to before BB536 administration. In the P2 period, although NK cell activity and neutrophilic activities declined at the end of the study in both the placebo and the BB536 group, neutrophil phagocytic activity and NK cell activity tended to maintain slightly higher levels in the BB536 group than in the placebo group. These results suggest that continuous ingestion of BB536 reduces the incidence of influenza and fever, probably by potentiating innate immunity.