Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Implications of Neuroblastoma Stem Cells

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a childhood neoplasm and the cause of ~15% of cancer deaths in children. The clinical behavior of NB is highly variable. While some tumors are easily treatable, nearly 50% of the tumors exhibit very aggressive behavior. The latter tumors are classified as high-risk NB and are characterized by widespread tumor dissemination and poor long-term survival. Determining the prognosis of NBs at the time of diagnosis is important because of the clinical heterogeneity of the disease. Current prognostic factors used by the COG (Child‐ ren's Oncology Group) Neuroblastoma Study for patient stratification and protocol assign‐ ment include: Age (<18 months vs >18 months), Stage (1, 2, 4S vs 3, 4), MYCN status (amplification vs non-amplification), Ploidy (diploid vs hyperdiploid), International Neuro‐ blastoma Pathology Classification (Shimada system: Favorable vs Unfavorable Histology), 1pLOH (present vs absent), and 11qLOH (present vs absent) [1-3]. About half of high-risk NBs exhibit MYCN amplification, which is associated with older age, rapid tumor progression, and the worst prognosis [4]. According to the International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classifica‐ tion, NBs exhibiting MYCN amplification have unique histologic features, namely, an undif‐ ferentiated/poorly differentiated appearance and a high mitosis-karyorrhexis index. Nonetheless, certain NB with these histologic characteristics do not show MYCN amplification [5]. A previous report suggests that in non-MYCN-amplified unfavorable NB tumors, MYC rather than MYCN expression is responsible for the aggressive phenotype [6].
Piezoelectric actuators and sensors location for active control of flexible structures

A new two dimensional model of a piezoelectric actuator bonded to a structure is developed. For a flexible plate with implemented sensors and actuators, a Ritz formulation is used to find a state model of the system in view of its control. Energetic criteria based on the properties of the controllability and observability gramian matrices are defined to determine the optimal locations of sensors and actuators.
Face‐ and gaze‐sensitive neural responses in children with autism: a magnetoencephalographic study

Face and gaze processing were studied using magnetoencephalography in 10 children with autism and 10 normally developing children, aged between 7 and 12 years. The children performed two tasks in which they had to discriminate whether images of faces presented sequentially in pairs were identical. The images showed four different categories of gaze: direct gaze, eyes averted (left or right) and closed eyes but there was no instruction to focus on the direction of gaze. Images of motorbikes were used as control stimuli. Faces evoked strong activity over posterior brain regions at about 100 ms in both groups of children. A response at 140 ms to faces observed over extrastriate cortices, thought to be homologous to the N170 in adults, was weak and bilateral in both groups and somewhat weaker (approaching significance) in the children with autism than in the control children. The response to motorbikes differed between the groups at 100 and 140 ms. Averted eyes evoked a strong right lateralized component at 240 ms in the normally developing children that was weak in the clinical group. By contrast, direct gaze evoked a left lateralized component at 240 ms only in children with autism. The findings suggest that face and gaze processing in children with autism follows a trajectory somewhat similar to that seen in normal development but with subtle differences. There is also a possibility that other categories of object may be processed in an unusual way. The inter‐relationships between these findings remain to be elucidated.
Insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of lipin mediated by the mammalian target of rapamycin

The phosphorylation of a previously uncharacterized protein of apparent Mr ≈ 140,000 was found to be increased when rat adipocytes were incubated with insulin. The sequences of peptides generated by digesting the protein with trypsin matched perfectly with sequences in mouse lipin. Lipin is the product of the gene that is mutated in fatty liver dystrophy (fld) mice [Peterfy, M. , Phan, J., Xu, P. & Reue, K (2001) Nat. Genet. 27, 121–124], which exhibit several phenotypic abnormalities including hyperlipidemia, defects in adipocyte differentiation, impaired glucose tolerance, and slow growth. When immunoblots were prepared with lipin antibodies, both endogenous adipocyte lipin and recombinant lipin overexpressed in HEK293 cells appeared as bands ranging in apparent Mr from 120,000 to 140,000. Incubating adipocytes with insulin decreased the electrophoretic mobility and stimulated the phosphorylation of both Ser and Thr residues in lipin. The effects of insulin were abolished by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase, and by rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamcyin (mTOR). The inhibition by rapamycin was blocked by FK506, which competitively inhibits those effects of rapamycin that are mediated by inhibition of mTOR. Moreover, amino acids, which activate mTOR, mimicked insulin by increasing lipin phosphorylation in a rapamycin-sensitive manner. Thus, lipin represents a target of the mTOR pathway, and potentially links this nutrient-sensing pathway to adipocyte development.
Two-Dimensional Self-Limiting Wet Oxidation of Silicon Nanowires: Experiments and Modeling

In this paper, a CMOS compatible silicon nanowire (Si NW) fabrication method on bulk silicon substrate is carried out using the self-limiting oxidation (SLO) to accurately control its size and cross-sectional shape. A predictive model for the 2-D SLO of Si NWs is presented. In this model, both the reduced reaction rate and diffusivity result in the oxidation rate degradation. The orientation dependence and the deformation of silicon core and oxide shell are further discussed here. The modeling results show good agreement with the experimental data within a wide range of oxidation temperatures, oxidation time, and various initial silicon core sizes. This model provides useful process design guidelines for Si nanostructures, especially in controlling the final diameter and cross-sectional shape of Si NWs from the top-down approach.
The importance of initial heparin treatment on long-term clinical outcomes of antithrombotic therapy. The emerging theme of delayed recurrence.

BACKGROUND Recent clinical trials of venous thromboembolism treatment suggest inadequate initial heparin therapy predisposes patients to late recurrence of thromboembolism. However, a recent review article was unable to demonstrate a relationship between initial heparin therapy and late recurrence. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between initial heparin treatment and long-term clinical outcome in 3 consecutive, randomized, double-blind trials that used similar study designs and patient populations and objective documentation of recurrent venous thromboembolism. METHODS The trials were performed sequentially and compared the use of continuous intravenous with subcutaneous heparin, continuous intravenous heparin for 10 or 5 days, and continuous intravenous heparin with once-daily subcutaneous low-molecular-weight heparin. All patients were followed up for 3 months to assess the a priori hypothesis that inadequate initial heparin therapy could lead to recurrent venous thromboembolism during long-term therapy with warfarin sodium. RESULTS The following were the observed rates of recurrent venous thromboembolism: continuous intravenous heparin, 3 (5.2%) of 58 patients vs subcutaneous heparin, 11 (19.3%) of 57 patients; continuous intravenous heparin for 10 days, 7 (7.0%) of 100 patients or for 5 days, 7 (7.1%) of 99 patients; and continuous intravenous heparin, 15 (6.9%) of 219 patients vs low-molecular-weight heparin, 6 (2.8%) of 213 patients. Pooled analysis of the patients treated with continuous intravenous heparin showed that of the total 32 patients with recurrent venous thromboembolism, in 6 patients thromboembolism occurred early (< 10 days) and 26 patients thromboembolism occurred late. Of these patients, the majority (20/32 [62.5%]) had therapeutic prothrombin time or international normalized ratio values before or at the time of the recurrent thromboembolic event. CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrate that the initial heparin treatment affects the long-term outcome. This conclusion applies when these data are analyzed for each individual study by treatment group, observed difference in outcome, and pooled analysis.
Dual Dictionary Compression for the Last Level Cache

The performance of GPUs is rapidly improving as the top GPU vendors keep pushing the boundaries of process technologies. While larger die sizes help improve performance given the nature of parallel workloads, additional architectural improvements can also help by utilizing the available die real estate more efficiently. Introducing a compressed Last Level Cache (LLC) can make better use of die area, and can improve memory system performance. With widespread adoption of high-resolution displays, most modern game developers are trying to generate high quality graphics output leveraging state-of-the-art GPUs, all of which greatly increases amount of data that needs to be processed. These modern graphics workloads will need to rely on compression to help save memory bandwidth and improve the performance of the LLC. A compressed LLC can help by increasing the hit-rate due to logical cache expansion, as well as provide bandwidth savings due to compressed data on the memory bus. In this paper we propose a novel scheme to extend dynamic dictionary-based compression to store compressed data in memory. Current dictionary-based compression schemes need to decompress the data when a cache block gets evicted. This is because the dynamic dictionary entries are not guaranteed to stay the same and data consistency cannot be maintained. This results in bandwidth savings that is limited to the logical cache expansion. We propose a dual-dictionary scheme (DDC) that can help maintain data consistency, as well as improve bandwidth savings. Our scheme saves bandwidth by coupling logical cache expansion with compressed data on the memory bus. We achieve bandwidth savings of 18.55% for reads and 11.01% for writes, on average, for a diverse range of graphics workloads.
Increased deoxycholic acid absorption and gall stones in acromegalic patients treated with octreotide: more evidence for a connection between slow transit constipation and gall stones

Autoimmune pancreatitis is recognised worldwide as a T cell mediated, organ specific disease characterised by lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine parenchyma with fibrosis and autoantibodies, including to carbonic anhydrase II. Increasing use of biopsy at endoscopic ultrasound may permit more frequent diagnosis without resection, but if doubt remains as to the presence of neoplasia, resection is preferable During the five decades after Hashimoto described struma lymphomatosa of the thyroid gland featuring diffuse lymphocytic infiltration, fibrosis, and parenchymal atrophy,1 autoimmunity became increasingly recognised, such that when similar histological changes were described affecting the pancreas, an autoimmune mechanism was postulated.2 Autoimmune pancreatitis then remained among a number of plausible explanations for the appreciable minority of patients with chronic pancreatitis who give no history of alcohol abuse.3 More recently, Japanese workers again took up the baton, describing series of patients who had undergone pancreatic resection for suspected neoplasia but whose histology demonstrated lymphocytic infiltration of the exocrine parenchyma, with periductular and interlobular fibrosis.4,5 Further study demonstrated a T cell predominance to the infiltrate,5 autoantibodies directed against carbonic anhydrase II,6 an enzyme present in pancreatic as well as salivary ductal epithelium, and frequently high serum levels of IgG4.7 These findings have been confirmed in the European population, as reported by Aparisi et al in this issue of Gut ,8 who describe a small series within a larger group of patients with non-alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (see page 703) . Although not stated, such a group is highly likely to include patients with mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)9 and serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1)10 which both increase the risk of chronic pancreatitis, as well as mutations of cationic trypsinogen (protease, serine, 1 (trypsin 1): PRSS1) which cause hereditary …
Atriopeptin III Induces Early Relaxation of Isolated Mammalian Papillary Muscle

Atrial natriuretic peptide, released by mammalian atria in response to volume overload, induces vasodilation and natriuresis. In this study, a direct effect on cardiac mechanical performance was demonstrated. Atriopeptin III (10-9-10-7 M) induced early relaxation and decreased peak twitch of isometric and isotonic twitches of isolated papillary muscles of cat and rat, without affecting maximal unloaded velocity of shortening. This effect resembled the effects of dibutyryl cyclic GMP and of sodium nitroprusside on cardiac muscle. The action of atriopeptin III, but not of dibutyryl cyclic GMP or sodium nitroprusside, was abolished by mechanically or chemically damaging the endocardial endothelial surface. Thus, the early relaxation of cardiac muscle induced by atrial natriuretic peptide may be mediated through receptors on the endocardial endothelium.
Significance of Alterations in Main Renal Artery Calibre and Configuration

Renal artery stenosis and occlusion as a cause of potentially curable arterial hypertension have been the subject of numerous investigations. Other changes in the extrarenal part of the renal arteries, such as a decrease in calibre or tapering of these vessels in a distal direction have received comparatively little attention. THOMA (1893) observed that the calibre of blood vessels appears to vary with the local blood flow. Investigations of renal arteries have revealed a correlation between the 'renal area' as determined from roentgenograms obtained by the ellipsoid surface formula (MOELL 1956, LUDIN 1961), kidney weight at autopsy and renal plasma flow estimated from the PAH clearance or renal blood flow (Table 1). Correlation 1 (Table 1) agrees largely with the investigation of KITTREDGE et call. (1964). The size of the variance about the regression line in correlation 1 (Table 1) may in part be due to a variable discrepancy between the renal plasma flow and renal blood flow. It has not been possible to estimate the magnitude of the latter since neither haematocrit values nor the extraction ratio were determined. It is, however, noteworthy
Incidence and distribution of neomembranes of dura mater1

Membranous or membranous-haemorrhagic lesions of the dura mater were found in 46 out of 1,044 consecutive necropsies after excluding those cases where their presence could be interpreted in terms of blood dyscrasia, local neoplastic processes, previous surgery, or marked craniocerebral trauma. The extent of old and recent manifestations of haemorrhage in the membranes increased in a statistically significant relation with their size and thickness. Lesions of different types, or degrees, respectively, were often combined in the same case; a remarkably high incidence of membranous lesions in the falx cerebri was noted. The observations indicate the presence of a progressive, repetitive process in neomembrane formation.
Disinfection of Water Containing Natural Organic Matter by Using Ozone-Initiated Radical Reactions

ABSTRACT Ozone is widely used to disinfect drinking water and wastewater due to its strong biocidal oxidizing properties. Recently, it was reported that hydroxyl radicals (·OH), resulting from ozone decomposition, play a significant role in microbial inactivation when Bacillus subtilis endospores were used as the test microorganisms in pH controlled distilled water. However, it is not yet known how natural organic matter (NOM), which is ubiquitous in sources of drinking water, affects this process of disinfection by ozone-initiated radical reactions. Two types of water matrix were considered for this study. One is water containing humic acid, which is commercially available. The other is water from the Han River. This study reported that hydroxyl radicals, initiated by the ozone chain reaction, were significantly effective at B. subtilis endospore inactivation in water containing NOM, as well as in pH-controlled distilled water. The type of NOM and the pH have a considerable effect on the percentage of disinfection by hydroxyl radicals, which ranged from 20 to 50%. In addition, the theoretical C̅T value of hydroxyl radicals for 2-log B. subtilis removal was estimated to be about 2.4 × 104 times smaller than that of ozone, assuming that there is no synergistic activity between ozone and hydroxyl radicals.
Non-Traumatic Sixth Nerve Palsy in a Young Patient

Non-traumatic sixth nerve palsy in the 20–50 years old age group is unusual and a detailed history is often needed to identify serious and potentially reversible causes. We present a case of sixth nerve palsy in a young female with eczema for which she was treated with low-dose cyclosporin. We review the indications for and ocular side effects of cyclosporin, a drug with which most ophthalmologists will be unfamiliar.
Secondary Malignant Neoplasms Following Radiotherapy for Primary Cancer in Children and Young Adults

A study was conducted to investigate secondary malignant neoplasm (SMN) occurrence following radiotherapy (RT) for cancer in children and young adults, to examine the spatial distribution of SMNs in relation to the irradiated field, and to evaluate a possible role of bystander effects in SMN distribution. Forty-two SMNs were identified among 7257 subjects diagnosed with cancer while living in Yorkshire, UK. Thirty-two of these occurred in patients receiving RT. Distances between SMN locations and RT field edge were estimated along with dose at SMN site. Expected radiation-induced SMN frequency in remote tissues receiving less than 0.1 Gy was predicted using risk estimates based on atomic bombing data. After a median follow-up period of 7.58 years, patients treated with RT were at a nearly five-fold increased risk of developing a subsequent primary neoplasm than the general population in the 0–29 years age range. The most common type of secondary malignancy associated with RT was of the central nervous system (28%), followed by sarcoma (25%) and leukemia (19%). Considering only solid SMNs developing 5 years or more from treatment, the spatial distribution showed a strong pattern of proximity to the irradiated field, with 68% occurring in-field or within 8 cm of the field edge. The SMN frequency in distant tissues receiving doses of less than 0.1 Gy was low but compatible with local absorbed dose.
The NuSTAR ULX program

We present the results of the first large program of broadband ULX observations with NuSTAR , XMM –Newton and Suzaku , yielding high-quality spectra and timing measurements from 0.3–30 keV in 6 ULXs, providing powerful information for understanding the accretion modes and nature of the central BHs. In particular, we find that all ULXs in our sample have a clear cutoff above 10 keV. This cutoff is less pronounced than expected by Comptonization from a cold, thick corona. We confirm the presence of a soft excess at low energies in the brightest ULXs, with temperatures below ~ 0.5 keV. We make an estimates on the masses of several ULXs based on spectral variability and model fitting.
Jaundice in Adult in-Patients at a Tertiary General Hospital

Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the “new-onset jaundice” incidence, map of causes, approaching method, and risk factors for treatment failure in adult in-patients at a tertiary general hospital as Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Method: Retrospective study was done on 416 jaundice patients administered over 38 continuous days. Laboratory tests investigated were total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, AST, ALT, AST/ALT ratio, GGT, AP, bilirubin and urobilinogen in urine. Jaundice was defined as total bilirubin ≥ 2.5 mg/dL, direct bilirubin jaundice defined as direct bilirubin > 2 mg/dL and D/T percentage > 60%, the severity of AST, ALT evaluated according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, AST/ALT ratio, and bilirubin, urobilinogen in urine. Outcome of treatment were classified in two groups: failure (dead or discharge due to worse status) and success. Descriptive statistics and analytic statistics were applied, mono-variable analysis and multinomial logistic regression to find out the independent risk factors for treatment failure. Results: The incidence of “new-onset” jaundice in adult patients was 11 ± 5 person/day. The map of jaundice included 3 phases as pre-heaptic 13.7%, in-hepatic 58.2%, and post-hepatic 22.8%. Pancreatic and biliary tract diseases accounted 17.1%, then cirrhosis 16.3%, liver tumor 14.7%, hepatitis 8.9%, sepsis 8.9%, hematology diseases 7.9%, and cardiac diseases 7.5%. A guide for approaching causes of jaundice basing on 7 parameters as total bilirubin, D/T percentage, severity of ALT, AST/ALT ratio, severity of GGT, and bilirubin and urobilinogen in urine was established. The overall mortality was 7.5% (31/416), sepsis had highest death rate of 37.8% (14/37). Sepsis and AST/ALT ratio > 2 were the two independent risk factors of mortality. Conclusion: At tertiary hospital, jaundice is common sign in adult patient, diverse enormously in many clinical wards. The map of causes of jaundice completed all 3 phases: pre-hepatic, intra-hepatic and post-hepatic phase. Drug hepatitis jaundice was an important cause in hepatitis. Sepsis had highest mortality in adult jaundice patients. Combination of 7 criteria as total bilirubin, the D/T percentage, ALT severity, AST/ALT ratio, GGT, bilirubin and urobilinogen in urine gave the guide for approaching to jaundice. Sepsis and AST/ALT ratio > 2 were independent risk factors of treatment failure. The survey of jaundice in adult in-patients in a tertiary general government hospital gave the full picture for this common pathological sign.
Effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms in c-Myc on stable warfarin doses in patients with cardiac valve replacements.

AIM This study aimed to investigate an association between c-Myc SNPs and stable warfarin doses. MATERIALS & METHODS The influences of genetic polymorphisms on dose requirements were investigated by genotyping ten SNPs in 201 patients with stable warfarin doses; VKORC1 (rs9923231), CYP2C9 (rs1057910), CYP4F2 (rs2108622), GATA4 (rs10090884), c-Myc (rs4645962, rs4645943, rs4645948 and rs4645974) and 8q24 (rs1447295 and rs16901979). RESULTS Around 44.3% of the overall interindividual variability in warfarin dose requirements was explained by the multivariate regression model; VKORC1 genotype accounted for 26.4%, CYP2C9 genotype for 4.9%, age for 3.4%, c-Myc genotypes for 5.2% (rs4645974 for 2.4% and rs4645943 for 2.8%), CYP4F2 genotype for 2.9% and diuretic use for 1.5%. CONCLUSION Our results revealed that c-Myc could be a determinant of stable warfarin doses.