Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reproducibility of mRECIST in assessing response to transarterial radioembolization therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the reproducibility of Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lesions undergoing transarterial radioembolization (TARE) therapy and to determine whether mRECIST reproducibility is affected by the enhancement pattern of HCC. One hundred and three HCC lesions from 103 patients treated with TARE were evaluated. The single longest diameter of viable tumor tissue was measured by two radiologists at baseline; response to therapy was evaluated according to mRECIST. The enhancement pattern of HCC lesions was correlated with their mRECIST response. The response rate between mRECIST and RECIST 1.1 was compared. Wilcoxon signed‐rank test, paired t test, Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (ρc), Bland‐Altman plot, kappa statistics, and Fisher's exact test were used to assess intra‐ and interobserver reproducibilities and to compare response rates. There were better intra‐ than interobserver agreements in the measurement of single longest diameter of viable tumor tissue (bias = 0 cm intraobserver versus bias = 0.3 cm interobserver). For mRECIST, good intraobserver (ĸ = 0.70) and moderate interobserver (ĸ = 0.56) agreements were noted. The mRECIST response for HCC lesions with homogeneous enhancement at both baseline and follow‐up imaging showed better intra‐ and interobserver agreements (ĸ = 0.77 and 0.60, respectively) than lesions with heterogeneous enhancement at both scans (ĸ = 0.54 and 0.40, respectively). In the early follow‐up period mRECIST showed a significantly higher response rate than RECIST (40.8% versus 3.9%; P = 0.025). Conclusions: In HCC patients treated with TARE, mRECIST captures a significantly higher response rate compared with RECIST; it also demonstrates acceptable intra‐ and interobserver reproducibilities for HCC lesions treated with TARE, and mRECIST reproducibility may be lower for HCC lesions with heterogeneous distribution of the viable tumor tissue. (Hepatology 2015;62:1111‐1121)
Three‐Year Outcomes of Cultured Limbal Epithelial Allografts in Aniridia and Stevens‐Johnson Syndrome Evaluated Using the Clinical Outcome Assessment in Surgical Trials Assessment Tool

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is an eye disorder in which the stem cells responsible for forming the surface skin of the cornea are destroyed by disease. This results in pain, loss of vision, and a cosmetically unpleasant appearance. Many new treatments, including stem cell therapies, are emerging for the treatment of this condition, but assessment of these new technologies is severely hampered by the lack of biomarkers for this disease or validated tools for assessing its severity. The aims of this study were to design and test the reliability of a tool for grading LSCD, to define a set of core outcome measures for use in evaluating treatments for this condition, and to demonstrate their utility. This was achieved by using our defined outcome set (which included the Clinical Outcome Assessment in Surgical Trials of Limbal stem cell deficiency [COASTL] tool) to evaluate the 3‐year outcomes for allogeneic ex vivo cultivated limbal epithelial transplantation (allo‐CLET) in patients who had bilateral total LSCD secondary to aniridia or Stevens‐Johnson syndrome. The results demonstrate that our new grading tool for LSCD, the COASTL tool, is reliable and repeatable, and that improvements in the biomarkers used in this tool correlate positively with improvements in visual acuity. The COASTL tool showed that following allo‐CLET there was a decrease in LSCD severity and an increase in visual acuity up to 12 months post‐treatment, but thereafter LSCD severity and visual acuity progressively deteriorated.
Hybrid energy approach for real-time b-spline explicit active tracking of surfaces (heartBEATS)

We present a novel method for tracking the left ventricle (LV) in three-dimensional ultrasound data using an hybrid approach combining segmentation and tracking-based clues. This is accomplished by coupling an affine motion model to an existing LV segmentation framework and introducing an energy term that penalizes the deviation to the affine motion estimated using a global Lucas-Kanade algorithm. The hybrid nature of the proposed solution can be seen as using the estimated affine motion to enhance the temporal coherence of the segmented surfaces, by enforcing the tracking of consistent patterns, while the underlying segmentation algorithm allows to locally refine the estimated global motion. The proposed method offers a competitive solution for fast assessment of relevant LV volumetric indices, by combining the robustness of affine motion tracking with the low computational burden of the underlying segmentation algorithm.
A Mycobacterium ulcerans Toxin, Mycolactone, Causes Apoptosis in Guinea Pig Ulcers and Tissue Culture Cells

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, a tropical ulcerative skin disease. One of the most intriguing aspects of this disease is the presence of extensive tissue damage in the absence of an acute inflammatory response. We recently purified and characterized a macrolide toxin, mycolactone, from M. ulcerans. Injection of this molecule into guinea pig skin reproduced cell death and lack of acute inflammatory response similar to that seen following the injection of viable bacteria. We also showed that mycolactone causes a cytopathic effect on mouse fibroblast L929 cells that is characterized by cytoskeletal rearrangements and growth arrest within 48 h. However, these results could not account for the extensive cell death which occurs in Buruli ulcer. The results presented here demonstrate that L929 and J774 mouse macrophage cells die via apoptosis after 3 to 5 days of exposure to mycolactone. Treatment of cells with a pan-caspase inhibitor can inhibit mycolactone-induced apoptosis. We demonstrate that injection of mycolactone into guinea pig skin results in cell death via apoptosis and that the extent of apoptosis increases as the lesion progresses. These results may help to explain why tissue damage in Buruli ulcer is not accompanied by an acute inflammatory response.
Age, pattern and symptoms of menopause among rural women of Lahore.

BACKGROUND The occurrence and timing of reproduction-related events such as menarche, first birth and menopause play major roles in a woman's life. The age at final natural menstrual period is an important risk indicator for subsequent morbidity and mortality. However, the age of natural menopause and frequency of various menopausal symptoms differ in different societies. The concept of "local biologies" has been put forward to account for such inter-societal and intrasocietal differences. The present study was undertaken to explore the age at menopause and symptom complex associated with menopause. METHODS The data for this cross-sectional study were collected from a geographically defined rural population of 28,419 individuals living in 20 villages situated about 30 KM outside Lahore. A systematic random sample of 130 women was drawn from those 1337 women, who had reached natural menopause. In-depth interviews were conducted in local dialect. RESULTS The mean age at menopause was 49 +/- 3.6 years; the median being 50 years. The majority of women (22.3%) reached menopause at 50 years followed by 13.9%, who became menopausal at 49 years. In 66.2% cases, the onset of menopause was sudden. Among those, who had a gradual transition, the duration of climacteric ranged from 2 to 30 months. The symptoms associated with menopause were lethargy (65.4%), forgetfulness (57.7%), urinary symptoms (56.2%), agitation (50.8%), depression (38.5%), insomnia (38.5%) hot flushes (36.2%) and dysparunea (16.9%). CONCLUSIONS The median age of menopause in our study is lower than that reported for Caucasian, Thai and Malaysian women; similar to figures from Africa and South America; but higher than that reported from Iran, Egypt, Turkey and UAE. The frequency of various symptoms was comparatively lower than observed among Caucasian populations. The data highlights the need for studying 'local biologies' and understanding the social and cultural basis of these differences.
Baclofen did not modify sexually dimorphic c‐Fos expression during morphine withdrawal syndrome

In previous studies, we have reported sex‐related differences during morphine withdrawal. We have also shown that the GABAB agonist baclofen (BAC) was able to prevent the morphine withdrawal syndrome in male as well as in female mice. Considering that early gene expression is induced by drugs of abuse, we evaluated the expression of c‐Fos in several brain areas, in mice of either sex during naloxone (NAL)‐precipitated withdrawal, and after pretreatment with BAC. Swiss‐Webster prepubertal mice were rendered dependent by i.p. injection of morphine (2 mg/kg), twice daily for 9 days. On the 10th day, dependent mice were divided into two groups: the withdrawal group received NAL (6 mg/kg, i.p.) after the last dose of morphine, while the prevention group received BAC (2 mg/kg, i.p.) before NAL. Thirty minutes after NAL, animals were sacrificed by transcardial perfusion. Brains were removed and slices were obtained to perform immunohistochemical studies. Our results show a significant decrease in c‐Fos expression in hippocampal dentate gyrus, CA3, and CA1 areas of morphine withdrawn males, vs. their control group. Conversely, in females, the number of c‐Fos positive nuclei was not modified in any of the areas studied. BAC pretreatment had no effect on the decreased c‐Fos expression in morphine withdrawn males. The sexual dimorphism observed here confirms the greater sensitivity of males over females in their response to morphine. The preventive action of BAC on the expression of morphine withdrawal would not be related to an effect on c‐Fos expression. Synapse, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test (MEIT): An Ability Test to Assess Emotional Intelligence at Work

The present study analyzes the Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test (MEIT), a new ability-test to assess emotional intelligence (EI) in a digital way. Taking into account the importance of emotional competencies in the study of employees’ wellbeing and performance, the instrument tested is based on the most supported ability model (Four-branch Mayer and Salovey Model), and it evaluates emotional capacity through nine different emotional tasks. A total of 1549 participants (841 women and 708 men) with an average age of 27.77 (SD = 8.75) fulfilled the MEIT, consisting of 42 items. The score on the test is based on expert judgments: professional psychologists and emotional intelligence specialists. In addition to the MEIT test, a series of questionnaires was used to assess relevant constructs which research has shown to be related to EI (general intelligence, personality traits, and life satisfaction); besides, another measure of emotional intelligence trait (TMMS-24) was included. The results showed that the MEIT is a reliable and valid test that is useful for both scientific research and individual assessment. Statistical analysis provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the three-factor structure of the questionnaire. Moreover, internal consistency measures were high. In line with previous studies, MEIT maintains the expected relationships with the rest of the constructs studied. Finally, the limitations of the present study and the need for future research on emotional intelligence assessment are discussed.
Towards an alternative approach to policy design to empower Indigenous Australians in the upcoming green economy: a cross-cultural service design-thinking framework

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how best to empower Indigenous Australians in the upcoming employment and business opportunities of a low-carbon (‘green’) economy, particularly in Australia’s rural-urban terrains. It was attached to an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project, titled ‘Indigenous Participation in a Low-Carbon Economy’. My role as a Ph.D. student was to analyse the work on the project from a comparative perspective in relation to other approaches and methods used in engaging Indigenous communities in training programs and services to facilitate entry into new economies. It utilised five research modules: desktop research analysis (critical discourse analysis); an exploratory student survey; semi-structured interviews; a participatory workshop; and a deliberative democratic forum. This Ph.D. research project sought to make progress towards theorising a new approach to policy design and implementation that generates democratic and innovative outcomes in complex socioeconomic, cultural and political environments, such as those found in Indigenous Affairs. It sought to make significant steps forward in building a theoretical design foundation from which to empower marginalised ‘end-users’ to participate in the design and implementation of policies, programs and services. The project identified and reworked key theoretical design components from service design thinking to help bridge the conceptual and methodological divide between policy and praxis, with particular focus on enabling Indigenous Australians and communities to become stronger agents in their own agenda for change. The project’s most fundamental discovery is that a human-centred and service design thinking framework that enables self-organising, transversal, heterarchical and Indigenised (decolonised) design practices is necessary to empower Indigenous Australians to design and implement a green jobs training program and thus direct their own projects in the upcoming green economy.
Retinal embolic events: frequency and impact following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for aortic stenosis

Objectives Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an established treatment for patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. It has a cerebrovascular accident rate of about 5% but the effect on retinal embolic events has not been previously reported. This study investigated the occurrence of retinal emboli following TAVI. Methods and analysis In this prospective observational study, 20 patients underwent full ophthalmic examination to assess retinal embolic events prior to TAVI and at 48 hours and 1 month post-TAVI. Results At 48 hours post-TAVI, one patient had a new cotton wool spot in the right eye. At 1 month, another two patients had new retinal emboli events in at least one eye and a fourth patient developed retinal splinter haemorrhages in the right eye. Conclusion Retinal embolic events and new retinal abnormalities following TAVI occurred in 15% and 20% of our cohort, respectively, without any associated retinal damage or significant visual problems. Retinal evaluation may be a useful surrogate test for cerebral embolisation in future studies assessing the utility of new valve prostheses and embolic protection devices
Effects of plant growth regulators on high frequency shoot multiplication and callus regeneration of an important Indian medicinal plant, nirgundi (Vitex negundo L.)

SummaryA rapid shoot multiplication protocol was established for an important medicinal plant, Vitex negundo L. , belonging to the family Verbenaceae, using Murashige and Skoog medium, achieved by shoot multiplication as well as callus regeneration. Shoot multiplication was induced by different concentrations of 1-phenyl-3-(1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-yl)-urea (TDZ), Benzyladenine and 6-furfuryl amino purine separately along with 10% (v/v) coconut water. Green organogenetic callus was obtained by the combined effect of 0.5–2.15 μM TDZ and 1.7 μM indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) along with 1% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and produced the maximum number of shoots when subcultured onto medium containing 2.7 μM TDZ alone. Elongation of in vitro shoots was observed in MS medium containing 2.4 μM gibberellic acid and rooting was induced by the combined effect of 1.71 μM IAA and 1.62 μM α-naphthalene acetic acid.
One size fits all? Determinants of sperm transfer in a highly dimorphic orb‐web spider

The evolutionary significance of widespread hypo‐allometric scaling of genital traits in combination with rapid interspecific genital trait divergence has been of key interest to evolutionary biologists for many years and remains poorly understood. Here, we provide a detailed assessment of quantitative genital trait variation in males and females of the sexually highly dimorphic and cannibalistic orb‐weaving spider Argiope aurantia. We then test how this trait variation relates to sperm transfer success. In particular, we test specific predictions of the one‐size‐fits‐all and lock‐and‐key hypotheses for the evolution of genital characters. We use video‐taped staged matings in a controlled environment with subsequent morphological microdissections and sperm count analyses. We find little support for the prediction of the one‐size‐fits‐all hypothesis for the evolution of hypo‐allometric scaling of genital traits, namely that intermediate trait dimensions confer highest sperm transfer success. Likewise, our findings do not support the prediction of the lock‐and‐key hypothesis that a tight fit of male and female genital traits mediates highest sperm transfer success. We do, however, detect directional effects of a number of male and female genital characters on sperm transfer, suggesting that genital trait dimensions are commonly under selection in nature. Importantly, even though females are much larger than males, spermatheca size limits the number of sperm transferred, contradicting a previous hypothesis about the evolutionary consequences of genital size dimorphism in extremely size‐dimorphic taxa. We also find strong positive effects of male body size and copulation duration on the probability of sperm transfer and the number of sperm transferred, with implications for the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism and sexual cannibalism in orb weavers.
VLSI Implementation of an Adaptive Edge-Enhanced Image Scalar for Real-Time Multimedia Applications

In this paper, a low-complexity adaptive edge-enhanced algorithm is proposed for the implementation of 2-D image scaling applications. The proposed novel algorithm consists of a linear space-variant edge detector, a low complexity sharpening spatial filter, and a simplified bilinear interpolation. The edge detector is designed to discover the image edges by a low-cost edge-catching technique. The sharpening spatial filter is added as a prefilter to reduce the blurring effect produced by the bilinear interpolation. Furthermore, an adaptive technology is used to enhance the effect of the edge detector by adaptively selecting the input pixels of the bilinear interpolation. In addition, an algebraic manipulation and a hardware sharing techniques are used to simplify bilinear interpolation, which efficiently reduces the computing resources and silicon area in very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits. By adding eight 8-bit registers as a register bank, this design can process streaming data directly and requires only a one-line-buffer memory. The VLSI architecture of this paper contains 6.67-K gate counts and achieves about 280-MHz processing rate by using the TSMC 0.13-um CMOS process. Compared with previous low-complexity techniques, this paper performs with better quality, higher performance, less memory requirements, and lower hardware cost than other image scaling methods.
Craniofacial Anomalies of the Cultured Mouse Embryo Induced by Inhibition of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling: An Animal Model of Holoprosencephaly

The pathogenesis of holoprosencephaly is multifactorial, and blockage of Sonic hedgehog signaling is one of the most important causative factors in animal models and human cases. In this study, the authors analyzed facial anomalies of mouse embryos, which were cultured in vitro and exposed to cyclopamine, an alkaloid blocker of Sonic hedgehog signaling. When cultured with cyclopamine for embryonic day 8.5 to 10.5, the whole body size was smaller than normal, and the distance and angle between the nasal placodes were remarkably reduced. Extension of the cranial surface vessels also was noted. No cyclopia was observed. Migration of the cranial neural crest cells seemed to be intact. Expressions of Patched-1 and Gli-1, downstream genes of Sonic hedgehog signaling, also were down-regulated in in situ hybridization and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses. The authors consider that these facial anomalies represent milder phenotypes of holoprosencephaly.
Hodgkin's disease variant of Richter's syndrome in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients previously treated with fludarabine

The transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) into large‐cell lymphoma (Richter's syndrome, RS) is a well‐documented phenomenon. Only rarely does CLL transform into Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). To further analyse the clinico‐pathological and genetic findings in the HL variant of RS, we performed a single‐institution study in four patients, who developed HL within a mean of 107 months after diagnosis of CLL. All were treated with fludarabine. Three cases were Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)‐associated mixed cellularity (MC) HL, the fourth was nodular sclerosis (NS) HL without EBV association. The sites involved by HL included supra‐ and infradiaphragmal lymph nodes and the tonsils; stage IV disease was also documented. All patients presented with CLL treatment‐resistant lymphadenopathies and B‐symptoms. In two of the MC cases, molecular analysis performed on CLL samples and microdissected Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg cells (HRSC) suggested a clonal relationship, while in NS no indication of a clonal relationship was detected. In summary, HL can occur in CLL patients at any site, up to 17 years after initial diagnosis, especially after treatment with fludarabine. The majority present with B‐symptoms and CLL treatment‐resistant lymphadenopathy, are of the MC type, clonally related to CLL and might be triggered by an EBV infection.
The Impact of Socially Responsible Investing in European Markets: Evidence of the Global Financial Crisis

The increasing global importance of the environmental, social and economic aspects and the high complexity of their implications at the corporate level is the reason for an intense and extensive research activity, leading Socially Responsible Investing to a current and prominent theme, namely in Europe. In this context, this study analyses the effects of Socially Responsible Investing on portfolio performance of all listed firms on the ten most important European stock markets over the period 2001-2013 rated by the Global Reporting Initiative. In order to measure the portfolios’ performance, a market model and a four-factor model are applied in which risk factors were constructed for the markets under study. A relevant finding of the present study is that investing in this type of firms before the financial crisis was less risky than investing afterwards, as it presented to be riskier. Nevertheless, investing in socially responsible firms which had a higher profitability in the past outperforms the market. However, the results show the existence of market singularities across European countries that must be considered, as well as the periods of pre and post global financial crisis that affected the European stock markets, triggered the sovereign debt crisis, especially in peripheral countries. Keywords: European stock markets, Socially Responsible Investing, Global Reporting Initiative, performance, risk, financial crisis.