Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new formula for estimation of standard liver volume using computed tomography–measured body thickness

The objective of this article is to derive a more accurate and easy‐to‐use formula for finding estimated standard liver volume (ESLV) using novel computed tomography (CT) measurement parameters. New formulas for ESLV have been emerging that aim to improve the accuracy of estimation. However, many of these formulas contain body surface area measurements and logarithms in the equations that lead to a more complicated calculation. In addition, substantial errors in ESLV using these old formulas have been shown. An improved version of the formula for ESLV is needed. This is a retrospective cohort of consecutive living donor liver transplantations from 2005 to 2016. Donors were randomly assigned to either the formula derivation or validation groups. Total liver volume (TLV) measured by CT was used as the reference for a linear regression analysis against various patient factors. The derived formula was compared with the existing formulas. There were 722 patients (197 from the derivation group, 164 from the validation group, and 361 from the recipient group) involved in the study. The donor's body weight (odds ratio [OR], 10.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.25‐13.60; P < 0.01) and body thickness (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 0.36‐3.65; P = 0.02) were found to be independent factors for the TLV calculation. A formula for TLV (cm3) was derived: 2 × thickness (mm) + 10 × weight (kg) + 190 with R2 0.48, which was the highest when compared with the 4 other most often cited formulas. This formula remained superior to other published formulas in the validation set analysis (R2, 5.37; interclass correlation coefficient, 0.74). Graft weight/ESLV values calculated by the new formula were shown to have the highest correlation with delayed graft function (C‐statistic, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69‐0.90; P < 0.01). The new formula (2 × thickness + 10 × weight + 190) represents the first study proposing the use of CT‐measured body thickness which is novel, easy to use, and the most accurate for ESLV. Liver Transplantation 23 1113–1122 2017 AASLD.
Memory complaints as a precursor of memory impairment in older people: a longitudinal analysis over 7–8 years

Background. There is considerable dispute about the validity of memory complaints. While some studies find that complaints are an early indicator of dementia or cognitive decline, there are also many studies showing that complaints are more closely associated with negative affect (depression, anxiety and neuroticism). The present paper used three-wave longitudinal data to test three hypotheses: (1) that memory complaints reflect an evaluation of present and past memory performance; (2) that memory complaints predict future memory performance; and (3) that memory complaints predict current and future negative affect. Methods. A longitudinal study was carried out with a community sample of people aged 70 and over. Participants were assessed for memory complaints, memory performance and negative affect at three waves separated by 3·6 years and 4·0 years. There were 331 persons with data on all relevant variables. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results. Significant paths in the structural model were found from memory performance to future memory complaints, as well as from memory complaints to future memory performance, supporting hypotheses 1 and 2. Memory complaints were associated with current negative affect, but did not predict future negative affect. Conclusions. Memory complaints do reflect perceptions of past memory performance and are also an early manifestation of memory impairment. However, current negative affect (anxiety and depression symptoms) shows the greatest association with memory complaints.
Experimental study of Eudragit mixture as a new nonadhesive liquid embolic material.

OBJECTIVE To assess the embolic effects and biocompatibility of Eudragit mixture, a new liquid embolic agent. METHODS In vitro, the viscosity and precipitation time of Eudragit mixtures at several concentrations were measured to study the best proportion of components of the mixture. In vivo, a branch of the right external carotid artery was embolized with Eudragit mixture in 12 rabbits, and with n-butyl cyanoacrylate in another 12 rabbits for a comparative study of the general, angiographic and histopathologic changes between the two groups. RESULTS Eudragit mixture containing 7.5 g Eudragit, 50 ml absolute ethanol and 50 ml iopromide was shown in vitro to have good properties including rapid precipitation and soft elastic sponge formation upon contact with blood; in vivo, to be nontoxic, nonadherent to the microcatheter and able to embolize the vascular lumen completely without later recanalisation. CONCLUSION Eudragit mixture is an effective, nontoxic, safe and promising liquid embolic agent.
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION THROUGH TV WEATHERCASTS

AFFILIATIONS: Zhao, Maibach, Jo. wittE, KlinGEr, rowan, Ja. wittE, and PylE—George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; Gandy—WLTX, Columbia, South Carolina; cullEn—Climate Central, Princeton, New Jersey CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Xiaoquan Zhao, Department of Communication, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MS 3D6, Fairfax, VA 22030 E-mail: xzhao3@gmu.edu
A Selective Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α Agonist, CP-900691, Improves Plasma Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Glycemic Control in Diabetic Monkeys

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are involved in the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism. PPARγ agonists improve insulin sensitivity and hyperglycemia and are effective in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), whereas PPARα agonists are used to treat dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis. The goal here was to examine the efficacy of a selective PPARα agonist {(S)-3-[3-(1-carboxy-1-methyl-ethoxy)-phenyl]-piperidine-1-carboxylic acid 4-trifluoromethyl-benzyl ester; CP-900691} on lipid, glycemic, and inflammation indices in 14 cynomolgus monkeys with spontaneous T2DM maintained on daily insulin therapy. Monkeys were dosed orally with either vehicle (n = 7) or CP-900691 (3 mg/kg, n = 7) daily for 6 weeks. CP-900691 treatment increased plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) (33 ± 3 to 60 ± 4 mg/dL, p < 0.001) and apolipoprotein A1 (96 ± 5 to 157 ± 5 mg/dL, p < 0.001), reduced plasma triglycerides (547 ± 102 to 356 ± 90 mg/dL, p < 0.01), and apolipoprotein B (62 ± 3 to 45 ± 3 mg/dL, p < 0.01), improved the lipoprotein index (HDL to non-HDLC ratio; 0.28 ± 0.06 to 0.79 ± 0.16, p < 0.001), decreased body weight (p < 0.01) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (1700 ± 382 to 304 ± 102 ng/ml, p < 0.01), and increased adiponectin (1697 ± 542 to 4242 ± 1070 ng/ml, p < 0.001) compared with baseline. CP-900691 treatment reduced exogenous insulin requirements by approximately 25% (p < 0.04) while lowering plasma fructosamine from 2.87 ± 0.09 to 2.22 ± 0.17 mM (p < 0.05), indicative of improved glycemic control. There were no changes in any of the aforementioned parameters in the vehicle group. Because low HDLC and high triglycerides are well established risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the marked improvements in these parameters, and in glycemic control, body weight, and CRP, suggest that CP-900691 may be of benefit in diabetic and obese or hyperlipidemic populations.
A 1-year study of Escherichia coli O157 in cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry

Samples of rectal faeces were collected immediately after slaughter from 400 cattle each month for a 1-year period and from 1000 each of sheep, pigs and poultry over the same period. Samples were examined for Escherichia coli O157 by enrichment culture in buffered peptone water with vancomycin, cefixime and cefsulodin followed by immunomagnetic separation and culture of magnetic particles onto cefixime tellurite sorbitol MacConkey agar. E. coli O157 was isolated from 752 (15·7%) of 4800 cattle, 22 (2·2%) of 1000 sheep and from 4 (0·4%) of 1000 pigs, but not from any of 1000 chickens. Of the cattle sampled, 1840 (38·4%) were prime beef animals, 1661 (34·6%) were dairy animals being culled and the status could not be determined for the other 1299 (27%) animals. E. coli O157 was found in 246 (13·4%) of the 1840 beef cattle and 268 (16·1%) of the 1661 dairy cattle. The monthly prevalence of E. coli O157 in cattle was 4·8–36·8% and was at its highest in spring and late summer. Seventeen of the 22 isolates from sheep were also made over the summer period. All E. coli O157 isolates from sheep and 749 (99·6%) of the 752 E. coli O157 isolates from cattle were verocytotoxigenic as determined by Vero cell assay and DNA hybridization, eaeA gene positive, contained a 92 kb plasmid and were thus typical of strains causing infections in man. In contrast isolates from pigs were non-toxigenic, eaeA gene negative and did not contain a 92 kb plasmid and would, therefore, be unlikely to be a source of infection for man.
Venous Thromboembolism Requiring Extended Anticoagulation Among HIV-Infected Patients in a Rural, Resource-Constrained Setting in Western Kenya

Background: HIV-infected patients are at an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), and minimal data are available to describe the need for extended treatment. Objective: To evaluate the frequency of and determine predictive risk factors for extended anticoagulation of VTE in HIV-infected patients in rural, western Kenya. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Anticoagulation Monitoring Service affiliated with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare. Data were collected on patients who were HIV-infected and receiving anticoagulation for lower-limb deep vein thrombosis. The need for extended anticoagulation, defined as receiving ≥7 months of warfarin therapy, was established based on patient symptoms or Doppler ultrasound–confirmed diagnosis. Evaluation of the secondary outcomes utilized a univariate analysis to identify risk factors associated with extended anticoagulation. Results: A total of 71 patients were included in the analysis; 27 patients (38%) required extended anticoagulation. The univariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between the need for extended anticoagulation and achieving a therapeutic international normalized ratio within 21 days in both the unadjusted and adjusted analysis. Patients with a history of opportunistic infections required an extended duration of anticoagulation in the adjusted analysis: odds ratio = 3.42; 95% CI = 1.04-11.32; P = 0.04. Conclusions: This study shows that there may be a need for increased duration of anticoagulation in HIV-infected patients, with a need to address the issue of long-term management. Guideline recommendations are needed to address the complexity of treatment issues in this population.
Apoptosis‐induced proteinase 3 membrane expression is independent from degranulation

Proteinase 3 (PR3) and human neutrophil elastase (HNE) are serine proteinases stored in the azurophilic granules of neutrophils. In contrast to HNE, PR3 is the target of antineutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCA) in Wegener's granulomatosis. The mechanisms leading to the membrane expression of PR3 and HNE are still unclear and appear to be critical to understand the pathophysiological role of ANCA. Stably transfected rat basophilic cell lines (RBL) with PR3 or HNE were used to analyze the PR3 and HNE secretion mechanisms and differentiate between them. RBL cells were lacking endogenous PR3 and HNE. They were stably transfected with HNE or PR3 or an inactive mutant of PR3 (PR3S203A). Using the calcium ionophore A23187 as a secretagogue, higher serine proteinase activity was secreted in the supernatant of RBL/HNE than in RBL/PR3. It is interesting that PR3 and PR3/S203A were also expressed at the plasma membrane, thus demonstrating that serine protease activity was not required for plasma membrane expression. In contrast, no expression of plasma membrane HNE could be detected in RBL/HNE. Apoptosis induced by etoposide was evaluated by DNA fragmentation, the presence of cytoplasmic histone‐associated DNA fragments, and annexin V labeling. No membrane HNE was detected in RBL/HNE. In contrast, in RBL/PR3 and in RBL/PR3S203A, the membrane expression of PR3 and PR3S203A increased with etoposide concentrations and appeared closely related to annexin V labeling. Our data suggest that membrane PR3 originates from two distinct pools, the granular pool mobilized following degranulation or a plasma membrane pool mobilized upon apoptosis.
Emulation of random output simulators

Computer models, or simulators, are widely used in a range of scientific fields to aid understanding of the processes involved and make predictions. Such simulators are often computationally demanding and are thus not amenable to statistical analysis. Emulators provide a statistical approximation, or surrogate, for the simulators accounting for the additional approximation uncertainty. This thesis develops a novel sequential screening method to reduce the set of simulator variables considered during emulation. This screening method is shown to require fewer simulator evaluations than existing approaches. Utilising the lower dimensional active variable set simplifies subsequent emulation analysis. For random output, or stochastic, simulators the output dispersion, and thus variance, is typically a function of the inputs. This work extends the emulator framework to account for such heteroscedasticity by constructing two new heteroscedastic Gaussian process representations and proposes an experimental design technique to optimally learn the model parameters. The design criterion is an extension of Fisher information to heteroscedastic variance models. Replicated observations are efficiently handled in both the design and model inference stages. Through a series of simulation experiments on both synthetic and real world simulators, the emulators inferred on optimal designs with replicated observations are shown to outperform equivalent models inferred on space-filling replicate-free designs in terms of both model parameter uncertainty and predictive variance.
My doctor said I should drink a lot! Recommendations for fluid intake in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Patients with chronic kidney failure commonly are advised to maintain a generous fluid intake. The reason that physicians tend to recommend such an increased fluid intake is difficult to understand. A scientific basis does not exist. To the modern nephrologist, this element of the therapeutic armamentarium seems long to be outdated; however, it was once recommended by authorities (1) and is still being advocated by primary care physicians. “My wife forgot to ask whether it is really necessary to keep a fluid intake of 4.5 L daily. This was the advice of her primary care physician. Perhaps 3 L would be better for her BP and sufficient for her kidney. ” The husband of the patient raised this question at the end of her consultation visit at our University Hospital Clinic. The patient was seen for a second opinion regarding the management of her chronic kidney disease (CKD) manifested by a serum creatinine of 3.0 mg/dl and non-nephrotic proteinuria. The husband, who is an oncologist, was mainly concerned because his wife was losing sleep at night because of her many nocturnal trips to the bathroom. If the oncologist and his wife were an isolated case, then we would not be writing this article. However, over the years, we have encountered numerous such examples in our nephrology consultative practice. We suggest further that the patients who have CKD and complain about the instruction to drink large amounts of fluid may represent only the “tip of the iceberg. ” Likely, there are many more patients who have CKD and whom we nephrologists never hear about because they silently accept their watery fate. Without complaint, they follow the advice of their primary care physician, which is reinforced by the lay press (“drink at least 8 glasses of water a day”) and by well-meaning friends who …
Expression of mRNAs for DNA methyltransferases and methyl‐CpG‐binding proteins in the human female germ line, preimplantation embryos, and embryonic stem cells

Recent evidence indicates that mammalian gametogenesis and preimplantation development may be adversely affected by both assisted reproductive and stem cell technologies. Thus, a better understanding of the developmental regulation of the underlying epigenetic processes that include DNA methylation is required. We have, therefore, monitored the expression, by PCR, of the mRNAs of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), methyl‐CpG‐binding domain proteins (MBDs), and CpG binding protein (CGBP) in a developmental series of amplified cDNA samples derived from staged human ovarian follicles, oocytes, preimplantation embryos, human embryonic stem (hES) cells and in similar murine cDNA samples. Transcripts of these genes were detected in human ovarian follicles (DNMT3A, DNMT3b1, DNMT3b4, DNMT1, MDBs1–4, MeCP2, CGBP), germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes (DNMT3A, DNMT3b1, DNMT1, MDBs1–4, MeCP2, CGBP), mature oocytes (DNMT3A, DNMT3b1, DNMT1, CGBP), and preimplantation embryos (DNMT3A, DNMT3b1, DNMT1, DNMT3L, MBD2, MDB4, CGBP). Differential expression of DNMT3B gene transcripts in undifferentiated (DNMT3b1) and in vitro differentiated human ES cells (DNMT3b3) further demonstrated an association of the DNMT3b1 transcript variant with totipotent and pluripotent human cells. Significantly, whilst the murine Dnmt3L gene is both expressed and essential for imprint establishment during murine oogenesis, transcripts of the human DNMT3L gene were only detected after fertilisation. Therefore, the mechanisms and/or the timing of imprint establishment may differ in humans. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 67: 323–336, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Electroporation of bovine spermatozoa to carry foreign DNA in oocytes

In the present study, electroporation was used to test the ability of spermatozoa to carry foreign DNA into the bovine oocytes. Frozen‐thawed bovine spermatozoa (107/ml) were electroporated using six different combinations of voltge (500, 1,000, or 1,500 V) and capacitance (1 or 25 μ Farads) in the presence of 1 mg/ml of plasmid pRGH527. The portions of plasmids retained by sperm cells after three washings (stable for ten washings) were 4.3, 5.5, 5.1, 6.0, 6.8, and 5.8% for 1 μFarad, 500, 1,000, and 1,500 V and 25 μFarads, 500, 1,000, and 1,500 V, respectively. Nonelectroporated cells have retained only 1% of plasmids. In the same experiment, electroporated spermatozoa were acrosome reacted by treatment with ionophore A23187 to evaluate the fraction of marked plasmids joined at the acrosomal membrane. The results show that 3.5, 5.0, 4.4, 5.0, 6.3, and 4.4% remain tied to the ionophore‐treated sperm. Only 0.7% of plasmid was retained after removal of the acrosome of nonelectroporated cells. Acrosome reaction was not significantly induced by the electrical field (EF) (P < 0.005). EF decrease motility significantly for > 100 V in 0.3 M mannitol (M) and mannitol‐TALP (MT) (1/1) media and ≥500 V (P<0.05) in TALP medium. The retained plasmid rate was compared between TALP medium M and MT media and resulted in a percentage of 1.0, 2.5, 6.5 at 1 μFarads, 100 V, and 0.9, 3.8, and 3.8 at 25 μFarads, 100 V in TALP, MT, and M medium, respectively. Sperm cells electroporated at 1 μFarad, 500 or 1,000 V, 25 μFarad, 500 V or 1,000 in TALP medium hold plasmids in proportion of 5.2, 5.4, 7.4, and 6.0%. Electroporation above 100 V in M and MT killed the cells. In a part of this experiment, spermatozoa electroporated in the presence of radiolabeled plasmids have been treated with DNase I and results revealed that 35, 28, 54, 58, and 3% of marked DNA remains in sperm cells following digestion after electroporation in TALP (1,000 V, 1 and 25 μFarads), M medium (100 V, 1 and 25 μFarads), and control, respectively. Using in vitro matured bovine oocytes, the electroporation conditions were correlated with the fertilization rate (85% for control and 55% for electroporated spermatozoa). Autoradiography of embryos following fertilization indicated the presence of plasmids in the cytoplasm and in the zona pellucida. Finally, the use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) revealed the presence of plasmids in blastocyst cells in 12% for control (n=67) and 22, 17, and 19% for electroporated spermatozoa in TALP (n=188,25μFarads, 1,000 V), MT (n=29, 25 μFarads, 100 V) and M (n=21, 25 μFarads, 100 V), respectively. In conclusion, our results indicate A) that electroporation results in an increase absorption of DNA by the spermatozoa, B) that the male gametes can carry foreing DNA in oocytes at fertilisation, and C) that an increased fraction of day 5 embryos is showing a positive response for the inserted gene with the polymerase chain reaction.
Privacy Information Security Classification for Internet of Things Based on Internet Data

A lot of privacy protection technologies have been proposed, but most of them are independent and aim at protecting some specific privacy. There is hardly enough deep study into the attributes of privacy. To minimize the damage and influence of the privacy disclosure, the important and sensitive privacy should be a priori preserved if all privacy pieces cannot be preserved. This paper focuses on studying the attributes of the privacy and proposes privacy information security classification (PISC) model. The privacy is classified into four security classifications by PISC, and each classification has its security goal, respectively. Google search engine is taken as the research platform to collect the related data for study. Based on the data from the search engine, we got the security classifications of 53 pieces of privacy.
In Vitro Activities of Ravuconazole and Voriconazole Compared with Those of Four Approved Systemic Antifungal Agents against 6,970 Clinical Isolates of Candida spp

ABSTRACT The in vitro activities of ravuconazole and voriconazole were compared with those of amphotericin B, flucytosine (5FC), itraconazole, and fluconazole against 6,970 isolates of Candida spp. obtained from over 200 medical centers worldwide. Both ravuconazole and voriconazole were very active against all Candida spp. (MIC at which 90% of the isolates tested are inhibited [MIC90], 0.25 μg/ml; 98% of MICs were ≤1 μg/ml); however, a decrease in the activities of both of these agents was noted among isolates that were susceptible-dose dependent (fluconazole MIC, 16 to 32 μg/ml) and resistant (MIC, ≥ 64 μg/ml) to fluconazole. Candida albicans was the most susceptible species (MIC90 of both ravuconazole and voriconazole, 0.03 μg/ml), and C. glabrata was the least susceptible species (MIC90, 1 to 2 μg/ml). Ravuconazole and voriconazole were each more active in vitro than amphotericin B, 5FC, itraconazole, and fluconazole against all Candida spp. and were the only agents with good in vitro activity against C. krusei. These results provide further evidence for the spectrum and potency of ravuconazole and voriconazole against a large and geographically diverse collection of Candida spp.