Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of alcohol in the development of chronic liver disease in our environment

Objective: Microscopic examination of liver tissues remains an essential part in the diagnostic work‐up of patients with liver diseases. The aim of this study is to determine the histopathological pattern of liver diseases at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of all cases of liver biopsies between January 2005 and December 2011. The appropriate data was obtained from the Surgical day book of the department of histopathology. The data was analyzed to reflect age, sex, and pathological diagnosis of the lesions. Results: A total of 80 cases of liver biopsies were reported during the 7‐year period. There were 50 males and 30 females with a male:female ratio of 1.7:1. The age ranged from 4 months to 69 years with a mean age of 38.4 ± 13.3 years. The highest incidence was in the 4th decade. The three common histopathological diagnoses were inflammatory lesions, 63.8%; malignant neoplasms, 22.5%, and liver cirrhosis in 6.3% of cases. Other less common lesions were alcoholic liver disease and steatosis. This peak age incidence of chronic hepatitis precedes that of hepatocellular carcinoma by about two decades. Conclusion: The preponderance of chronic hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver cirrhosis in this study is similar to those already established in the African literature, with hepatitis B and/or C being the most incriminated risk factors due to their endemicity in our environment. Public enlightenment programs, widespread implementation of hepatitis B virus vaccination, and surveillance of individual at‐risk are essential for the control of hepatitis infection and its late complications.
Management of liver abscess at teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND A current assessment of liver abscesses should allow for better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease and improve the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment. Amoebic liver abscess occurs more commonly than the pyogenic liver abscess on a worldwide basis. The purpose of the study is to investigate the clinical presentation and management option for liver abscess. METHODS A prospective observational study was conducted from January 2007 to December 2010, in Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital. We recorded and analyzed the clinical presentations, diagnostic modalities, treatment programmes of all liver abscesses. RESULTS Liver abscess was more common in males, 24(85.7%) males and 4(14.3%) females, occurring more frequently in right lobe of liver. Most patients presented with nonspecific clinical and biochemical features. Twenty (71.4%) patients presented with chills & rigors. Five patients (17.8%) presented jaundice and none had transaminases raised but 15(56.3%) had raised alkaline phospahatases. Eight (28.5%) patients were treated with antibiotics alone. USG guided drainage was done in 12(42.8%) patients and 6(21.4%) required surgical exploration with laparoscopic deroofing in 2(7.1%) patients. The largest size was 1100cc.with right lobe predominance in 20(76.9%) patients and single lobe involvement in 22(78.4%) patients. Six (21.4%) patients had multiple liver lobes involved. Three (7.1%) patients had ruptured liver abscess and 3(7.1%) had right sided pleural effusion. Seventeen (60.7%) patients were diagnosed have amoebic liver abscess. Ten (35.7%) patients were found to have pyogenic liver abscess. One (3.5%) had tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS Liver abscess requires a high degree of suspicion for early diagnosis. When appropriate therapy in the form of antibiotics in combination with percutaneous drainage or surgery is administered the mortality is very low. However, significant morbidity is still a problem in old debilitated persons with other core morbidities.
Hodgkin's disease biology: recent advances

The cellular origin of H‐RS cells has been questioned for a long time. Recently, using single cell amplification of Ig genes evidence was obtained that H‐RS cells clonally arise from B‐cells. Sequence analysis of rearranged Ig genes demonstrated that H‐RS cells develop within the germinal centre. H‐RS cells in classical HD grow despite loss of function of their rearranged Ig genes. In contrast, the mutation pattern of rearranged Ig genes in L & H cells of lymphocyte‐predominant HD frequently shows ongoing mutations indicating that these cell are still antigen selected. These molecular differences show that LP HD genetically differs from classical HD. H‐RS cells escape from apoptosis within the germinal centre. However, the events leading to malignant transformation are still unknown. The association between EBV and HD has been repeatedly described, but the occurrence of EBV negative cases is hard to explain just by loss of EBV. The analysis of chromosomal aberrations in H‐RS cells did not result in the description of a specific ‘HD‐gene’. Also the role of the T‐lymphocytes surrounding the H‐RS cells has remained an open question. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
MILKY WAY MASS AND POTENTIAL RECOVERY USING TIDAL STREAMS IN A REALISTIC HALO

We present a new method for determining the Galactic gravitational potential based on forward modeling of tidal stellar streams. We use this method to test the performance of smooth and static analytic potentials in representing realistic dark matter halos, which have substructure and are continually evolving by accretion. Our FAST-FORWARD method uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to compare, in six-dimensional phase space, an “observed” stream to models created in trial analytic potentials. We analyze a large sample of streams that evolved in the Via Lactea II (VL2) simulation, which represents a realistic Galactic halo potential. The recovered potential parameters are in agreement with the best fit to the global, present-day VL2 potential. However, merely assuming an analytic potential limits the dark matter halo mass measurement to an accuracy of 5%–20%, depending on the choice of analytic parameterization. Collectively, the mass estimates using streams from our sample reach this fundamental limit, but individually they can be highly biased. Individual streams can both under- and overestimate the mass, and the bias is progressively worse for those with smaller perigalacticons, motivating the search for tidal streams at galactocentric distances larger than 70 kpc. We estimate that the assumption of a static and smooth dark matter potential in modeling of the GD-1- and Pal5-like streams introduces an error of up to 50% in the Milky Way mass estimates.
Contrast Enhancement and Visibility Restoration of Underwater Optical Images Using Fusion

This paper proposes a novel method for underwater image enhancement algorithm using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) fusion. For fusion process, the dual images are derived using single underwater degraded image. The novelty of this work is the fact that it does not demand any underwater scene parameters beforehand and is independent of prior based information. Secondly, we demonstrated the successful use of homomorphic filter and adaptive histogram equalization for individual color channels followed with image smoothing as two inputs to fusion scheme. The fused image is subsequently post-processed using color constancy technique for effective results. The visual and quantitative analysis of this method is carried out with contemporary underwater dehazing and enhancement algorithms. Metrics such as entropy and quantification of restored edges is utilized to validate our findings. The outcome reveals better exposure of dark areas, enhancement of edges, increase in overall contrast and preservation of
Early maternal separation has mild effects on cardiac autonomic balance and heart structure in adult male rats

Early life adverse experiences have long-term physiologic and behavioral effects and enhance stress sensitivity. This study examined the effects of maternal separation (MS) on cardiac stress responsivity and structure in adulthood. Male Wistar rats were separated from the dams for 3 h per day from postnatal days 2 through 15. When exposed to 5-day intermittent restraint stress (IRS) as adults, MS, and control rats showed similar acute modifications of cardiac sympathovagal balance, quantified via heart rate variability analysis. In addition, MS had no effect on cardiac pacemaker intrinsic activity (as revealed by autonomic blockade with scopolamine and atenolol) and did not affect the circadian rhythmicity of heart rate, neither before nor after IRS. However, MS differed from control rats in cardiac parasympathetic drive following IRS, which was heightened in the latter but remained unchanged in the former, both during the light and dark phases of the daily rhythm. The evaluation of adult cardiac structure indicated that stress experienced during a crucial developmental period induced only modest changes, involving cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, increased density of vascular structures, and myocardial fibrosis. The mildness of these functional–structural effects questions the validity of MS as a model for early stress-induced cardiac disease in humans.
Integrating Information Systems and Healthcare Research to Understand Physicians' use of Health Information Systems: a Literature Review

Healthcare has been of great importance to societies for centuries and this importance is reflected in the abundance of healthcare research that involves, not only new interventions, but clinicians’ response to change in the medical practice as well. Information systems (IS) research failed to take full advantage of healthcare research focusing on studying IS as an intervention or change in clinical workflows. To fill this gap, we conducted an extensive literature survey in both IS and healthcare research which included 175 papers from healthcare, IS journals and conferences that study physicians’ use of HIS and clinical guidelines. Results of this review show that there are two different streams of HIS research in IS and healthcare domains and by integrating those streams we can create a rich understanding of HIS use. We build a model for HIS use based on our review and provide areas for future research.
Up-regulation of Pro-apoptotic Protein Bim and Down-regulation of Anti-apoptotic Protein Mcl-1 Cooperatively Mediate Enhanced Tumor Cell Death Induced by the Combination of ERK Kinase (MEK) Inhibitor and Microtubule Inhibitor*

Background: MEK inhibitors enhance apoptosis induction by microtubule inhibitors. Results: MEK and microtubule inhibitors together induced up-regulation of Bim and down-regulation of Mcl-1 in association with prolongation of mitosis. Conclusion: The drug combination tips the balance between pro- and anti-apoptotic signaling toward induction of cell death. Significance: The combination of MEK inhibitors with agents that down-regulate or inactivate anti-apoptotic proteins is a promising anticancer strategy. Blockade of the ERK signaling pathway by ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitors selectively enhances the induction of apoptosis by microtubule inhibitors in tumor cells in which this pathway is constitutively activated. We examined the mechanism by which such drug combinations induce enhanced cell death by applying time-lapse microscopy to track the fate of individual cells. MEK inhibitors did not affect the first mitosis after drug exposure, but most cells remained arrested in interphase without entering a second mitosis. Low concentrations of microtubule inhibitors induced prolonged mitotic arrest followed by exit of cells from mitosis without division, with most cells remaining viable. However, the combination of a MEK inhibitor and a microtubule inhibitor induced massive cell death during prolonged mitosis. Impairment of spindle assembly checkpoint function by RNAi-mediated depletion of Mad2 or BubR1 markedly suppressed such prolonged mitotic arrest and cell death. The cell death was accompanied by up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bim (to which MEK inhibitors contributed) and by down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 (to which microtubule and MEK inhibitors contributed synergistically). Whereas RNAi-mediated knockdown of Bim suppressed cell death, stabilization of Mcl-1 by RNAi-mediated depletion of Mule slowed its onset. Depletion of Mcl-1 sensitized tumor cells to MEK inhibitor-induced cell death, an effect that was antagonized by knockdown of Bim. The combination of MEK and microtubule inhibitors thus targets Bim and Mcl-1 in a cooperative manner to induce massive cell death in tumor cells with aberrant ERK pathway activation.
Dry-bonding Etch-and-Rinse Strategy Improves Bond Longevity of a Universal Adhesive to Sound and Artificially-induced Caries-affected Primary Dentin.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of the etching strategy on the immediate and 1-year microtensile bond strength (μTBS) and structural reliability of a universal adhesive to sound and artificially-induced caries-affected dentin of primary teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Flat midcoronal dentin surfaces were exposed in 50 primary molars, which were then randomly assigned to 10 groups according to substrate (sound dentin [SD] and artificially-induced caries-affected dentin [CAD] with pH cycling for 14 days) and etching approach using Scotchbond Universal Adhesive (self-etching or dry or wet-bonding etch-and-rinse strategies) with Adper Single Bond Plus (two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive) and Clearfil SE Bond (two-step self-etching system) as controls. Composite buildups were constructed and sectioned to obtain bonded sticks (0.8 mm2) to be subjected to microtensile testing immediately or after 1 year of water aging. Data were analyzed using three-way repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey's test (α = 0.05). Weibull modulus and characteristic strength were also determined. RESULTS A decrease in bond strength was observed after 1 year of water aging, except when the universal adhesive was used in the dry-bonding etch-and-rinse and self-etching approaches. However, the self-etching approach resulted in lower μTBS values in SD, while no difference among experimental groups was observed in CAD. Overall, higher Weibull modulus values were achieved in the groups with higher bond strength. The relationship between characteristic strength and bond strengths was not linear for all groups. CONCLUSION The bond longevity of the universal adhesive using the dry-bonding etch-and-rinse approach on sound and artificially-induced caries-affected primary dentin was better than the other bonding agents and approaches tested.
NEW SOLAR WIND DIAGNOSTIC USING BOTH IN SITU AND SPECTROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS

We develop a new diagnostic technique that utilizes, at the same time, two completely different types of observations—in situ determinations of solar wind charge states and high-resolution spectroscopy of the inner solar corona—in order to study the temperature, density, and velocity of the solar wind as a function of height in the inner corona below the plasma freeze-in point. This technique relies on the ability to calculate the evolution of the ion charge composition as the solar wind escapes the Sun given the wind temperature, density, and velocity profiles as a function of distance. The resulting charge state composition can be used to predict frozen-in charge states as well as spectral line intensities. The predicted spectra and ion charge compositions can be compared with observations carried out when spectrometers and in situ instruments are in quadrature configuration to quantitatively test a set of assumptions regarding density, temperature, and velocity profiles in the low corona. Such a comparison can be used in two ways. If the input profiles are predicted by a theoretical solar wind model, this technique allows the benchmarking of the model. Otherwise, an empirical determination of the velocity, temperature, and density profiles can be achieved below the plasma freeze-in point applying a trial-and-error procedure to initial, user-specified profiles. To demonstrate this methodology, we have applied this technique to a state-of-the-art coronal hole and equatorial streamer model.
[Preliminary results of endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteric reflux in children. Prospective comparative study of Deflux vs. Coaptite].

INTRODUCTION The objective of this study is to compare the short-term and medium-term efficacy of Coaptite versus Deflux in the endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteric reflux in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS Over a period of 24 months, a cohort of 31 children with 44 refluxing vesicoureteric units were treated alternately by either Deflux implants (Group I, 24 refluxing units) or Coaptite implants (Group II, 20 refluxing units). This series comprised 40 solitary ureteric systems and 2 complete duplications. The two groups were comparable in terms of age at the time of the operation and distribution of severity of reflux. The quantity of product injected was identical in the 2 groups: 0.5 cc per ureter. All patients in group II received only one injection, while 2 Deflux injections were necessary in 2 patients and 3 injections were necessary in 1 patient in group I. All children were reviewed by ultrasound and retrograde cystography 3 months after the operation. RESULTS Reflux, regardless of grade, resolved in 70% of cases in the 2 groups (no significant difference). The cure rate was 75% for grade II and III in group I and 62.5% (grade II) and 70% (grade III) in group II, with no significant difference between the 2 groups. Two cases of grade IV reflux were cured after a single implantation of Coaptite in 1 case and Deflux in the other case. Complications, such as ureteric stasis or haemorrhage at the injection site, were not observed. CONCLUSION Although the efficacy of endoscopic treatment has now been clearly established, the choice of material to be injected is still controversial. This preliminary study did not reveal any significant difference in terms of cure rate, regardless of grade, between patients treated with Coaptite or Deflux. The medium-term and especially the long-term morbidity of these products still needs to be evaluated.
Prefrontal white matter in pathological liars.

BACKGROUND Studies have shown increased bilateral activation in the prefrontal cortex when normal individuals lie, but there have been no structural imaging studies of deceitful individuals. AIMS To assess whether deceitful individuals show structural abnormalities in prefrontal grey and white matter volume. METHOD Prefrontal grey and white matter volumes were assessed using structural magnetic resonance imaging in 12 individuals who pathologically lie, cheat and deceive ('liars'),16 antisocial controls and 21 normal controls. RESULTS Liars showed a 22-26% increase in prefrontal white matter and a 36-42% reduction in prefrontal grey/white ratios compared with both antisocial controls and normal controls. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide the first evidence of a structural brain deficitinliars, they implicate the prefrontal cortex as an important (but not sole) component in the neural circuitry underlying lying and provide an initial neurobiological correlate of a deceitful personality.
An Artificial Allocations Based Solution to the Label Switching Problem in Bayesian Analysis of Mixtures of Distributions

Label switching is a well-known problem occurring in MCMC outputs in Bayesian mixture modeling. In this article we propose a formal solution to this problem by considering the space of the artificial allocation variables. We show that there exist certain subsets of the allocation space leading to a class of nonsymmetric distributions that have the same support with the symmetric posterior distribution and can reproduce it by simply permuting the labels. Moreover, we select one of these distributions as a solution to the label switching problem using the simple matching distance between the artificial allocation variables. The proposed algorithm can be used in any mixture model and its computational cost depends on the length of the simulated chain but not on the parameter space dimension. Real and simulated data examples are provided in both univariate and multivariate settings. Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Effect of Dental Treatment on Parental Stress as Measured by the Parenting Stress Index

ii Dedication . iii Acknowledgments. iv Vita . v List of Tables . ix List of Figures . x Introduction and Review of the Literature . 1 Early Childhood Caries . 2 Contemporary approaches to cariology and dental epidemiology . 3 Treatment of ECC under general anesthesia . 3 Barriers to dental treatment under general anesthesia . 4 Studies of parental stress . 5 Dental treatment and parental stress. 6 Pilot data . 7 Objectives . 8 Methods. 9 Study Population . 9 Power Analysis . 10 vii Recruitment . 10 Data Collection . 11 Parenting Stress Index . 12 Statistical Evaluation . 12 Results . 13 Demographics. 13 Dental Examination . 14 Parenting Stress Index, Initial . 14 Parenting Stress Index, Follow-up . 15 Comparison of Initial and Follow-up PSI Scores. 16 Discussion . 17 Demographics. 17 Carious Teeth and Plaque Index. 19 Baseline Parenting Stress . 19 Effects of Full-Mouth Rehabilitation on Parenting Stress . 22 Life Stress . 25 Defensive Responding. 26 Differences Between Male and Female Caregivers . 27 Limitations/Future Research . 27 viii References . 30 Appendix A: Tables . 34 Appendix B: Figures . 42
Sociodemographic and psychological variables influencing adherence to antiretroviral therapy.

OBJECTIVE To assess the degree of compliance with antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients, and identify which sociodemographic and psychological factors influence it, in order to develop strategies to improve adherence. DESIGN AND SETTING Cross-sectional study in a reference HIV/AIDS institution located in Madrid, Spain. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 366 HIV-infected patients who were on treatment with antiretroviral drugs were invited to complete a questionnaire which recorded sociodemographic data and psychological variables in relation to compliance with the prescribed medication. Clinical information was extracted from the hospital records. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess depression, while adherence to treatment was evaluated using patient's self report and the pill count method. RESULTS A good adherence to antiretroviral therapy (> 90% consumption of the prescribed pills) was recorded in 211 (57.6%) patients. A good concordance for assessing adherence was found using the patient's self-report and the pill count method in a sub-group of patients. Predictors of compliance in the univariate analysis were age, transmission category, level of studies, work situation, CD4 cell count level, depression and self-perceived social support. In the multivariate model, only age, transmission category, CD4 cell count level, depression, self-perceived social support, and an interaction between the last two variables predicted compliance to treatment; adherence to antiretroviral therapy was better among subjects aged 32-35 years [odds ratio (OR), 2.31; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.21-4.40], in non-intravenous drug users (IVDUs) (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.28-3.29), subjects with CD4 cell counts from 200-499 x 10(6) cells/l at enrolment (OR, 2.78; 95% CI, 1.40-5.51) and in subjects not depressed and with a self-perceived good social support (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 0.98-3.53). CONCLUSIONS Sociodemographic and psychological factors influence the degree of adherence to antiretroviral therapy. Overall, IVDUs and younger individuals tend to have a poorer compliance, as well as subjects with depression and lack of self-perceived social support. An increased awareness of these factors by practitioners attending HIV-infected persons, recognizing and potentially treating some of them, should indirectly improve the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy.