Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness of preoperative localization studies in primary hyperparathyroid disease.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of preoperative localization studies on the surgical management of patients with primary hyperparathyroid disease (PHPT). SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Reported cure rates of initial surgical exploration for PHPT are close to 95%. Preoperative localization studies are frequently obtained to improve surgical success and decrease operative time. METHODS Initial cervical exploration was performed in 113 patients with PHPT from 1981 to 1993. Twenty-four patients (21%) had surgery without preoperative localization studies. The remaining 89 patients (79%) had 132 noninvasive preoperative localization studies. Success of the localization studies in tumor localization, pathologic findings, postoperative serum calcium levels, and operative times were compared. Patient costs of the studies were calculated. RESULTS Disease was identified during operation in 23 of 24 patients (96%) having cervical exploration without preoperative localization studies, and they had normal calcium levels after surgery. Eighty-seven of 89 patients (98%) having preoperative localization studies were surgically cured. The highest sensitivity rate (60%) and highest positive predictive value (79%) of the localization studies were found with thallium-technetium scintiscanning. Average cost of the localization studies was $901 per patient. Combination studies were obtained in 32 patients at an average cost of $1,314 per patient without improving sensitivity. Mean operating time did not differ for localized and nonlocalized patients. CONCLUSIONS Preoperative localization studies did not improve parathyroid localization or cure rate and did not substantially shorten operating time in initial cervical exploration for PHPT. The economic burden of routine preoperative localization studies in these patients is not justified.
The DNA Methyltransferase DNMT1 and Tyrosine-Protein Kinase KIT Cooperatively Promote Resistance to 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine (Decitabine) and Midostaurin (PKC412) in Lung Cancer Cells*

Background: The DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 and tyrosine-protein kinase KIT are crucial for lung tumorigenesis, and the resistance to their inhibitors invariably develops. Results: Simultaneously reactivated DNMT1 and KIT endow drug-resistant cells with a survival and growth advantage. Conclusion: Reciprocal inactivation of DNMT1 and KIT eradicates drug-resistant cells. Significance: DNMT1 and KIT interplay represents a therapeutic target for relapsed or refractory lung cancer patients. Lung cancer cells are sensitive to 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (decitabine) or midostaurin (PKC412), because decitabine restores the expression of methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes, whereas PKC412 inhibits hyperactive kinase signaling, which is essential for cancer cell growth. Here, we demonstrated that resistance to decitabine (decitabineR) or PKC412 (PKC412R) eventually results from simultaneously remethylated DNA and reactivated kinase cascades. Indeed, both decitabineR and PKC412R displayed the up-regulation of DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 and tyrosine-protein kinase KIT, the enhanced phosphorylation of KIT and its downstream effectors, and the increased global and gene-specific DNA methylation with the down-regulation of tumor suppressor gene epithelial cadherin CDH1. Interestingly, decitabineR and PKC412R had higher capability of colony formation and wound healing than parental cells in vitro, which were attributed to the hyperactive DNMT1 or KIT, because inactivation of KIT or DNMT1 reciprocally blocked decitabineR or PKC412R cell proliferation. Further, DNMT1 knockdown sensitized PKC412R cells to PKC412; conversely, KIT depletion synergized with decitabine in eliminating decitabineR. Importantly, when engrafted into nude mice, decitabineR and PKC412R had faster proliferation with stronger tumorigenicity that was caused by the reactivated KIT kinase signaling and further CDH1 silencing. These findings identify functional cross-talk between KIT and DNMT1 in the development of drug resistance, implying the reciprocal targeting of protein kinases and DNA methyltransferases as an essential strategy for durable responses in lung cancer.
A Study on Cross-cultural and Cross-dataset Generalizability of Music Mood Regression Models

The goal of music mood regression is to represent the emotional expression of music pieces as numerical values in a low-dimensional mood space and automatically predict those values for unseen music pieces. Existing studies on this topic usually train and test regression models using music datasets sampled from the same culture source, annotated by people with the same cultural background, or otherwise constructed by the same method. In this study, we explore whether and to what extent regression models trained with samples in one dataset can be applied to predicting valence and arousal values of samples in another dataset. Specifically, three datasets that differ in factors such as cultural backgrounds of stimuli (music) and subjects (annotators), stimulus types and annotation methods are evaluated and the results suggested that cross-cultural and cross-dataset predictions of both valence and arousal values could achieve comparable performance to within-dataset predictions. We also discuss how the generalizability of regression models can be affected by dataset characteristics. Findings of this study may provide valuable insights into music mood regression for nonWestern and other music where training data are scarce.
The relationship between maximum isometric strength and intramuscular circulatory occlusion.

Twenty male college students served as subjects for lhe study which investigated the relationship between maximum isometric strength and the isometric tension necessary to produce total occlusion of intramuscular circulation. Subjects performed a scries of progressively increasing static contractions by squeezing a hand dynamometer and the subsequent blood flow responses were measured. Blood flow was occluded at a mean of 63-5% maximum handgrip strength for the total group tested. To determine whether individuals of different maximum strength occlude at different percentages of their MVC, subjects were divided into high and low strength groups. The high strength group was found to occlude at 51-5% of MVC while the low strength group occluded at 75-5% of MVC. A significant negative correlation (r= -0.58) was found between maximum isometric strength and the per cent of maximum strength necessary to produce intra-muscular occlusion. There was no significant difference between the absolute tension producing o.
Analysis of catenary voltage of an AT-fed AC HSR system

This paper represents an exact modeling for autotransformer (AT)-fed ac high-speed railroad (HSR) using constant current mode. AC HSR has rapidly changing single-phase load, and at a feeding substation, three-phase electric power is transformed to the paired directional single-phase electric power. As the train moves along a section of line between two adjacent ATs, analysis of the catenary voltage in AT-fed ac HSR system is a quite complicated work. Therefore, in order to solve this complicated system, this paper proposes a novel and efficient method with generalized equations for the catenary voltage of AT-fed ac HSR. The voltage profile through the entire railroad system can be solved regardless of the number and position of trains, feeding distance from substation, and normal or extension mode. In the case studies, the results of the proposed equation for the catenary voltage profile are compared with those of the simulation using PSCAD/EMTDC.
Technical considerations in liver transplantation: What a hepatologist needs to know (and every surgeon should practice)

Orthotopic liver transplantation (LTX) has become an accepted means for the treatment of end-stage liver disease. Although the technique of LTX has been refined to a relatively standardized approach, the operation remains a formidable surgical challenge. As such, LTX can have numerous technical complications, in which the recipient’s pretransplant condition, donor and immunologic factors, may all contribute. These risks can be minimized by appropriate ABO matching, size matching, adequate maintenance of donor physiology and graft quality and procurement. The purpose of this review is to discuss the operative procedure and to highlight some of the more important intraoperative and early and late post-operative complications.
The optimization of pole arc coefficient to reduce cogging torque in surface-mounted permanent magnet motors

In this paper, the optimization method of improved domain elimination algorithm (DEA), finite-element method (FEM), and analytical method are combined to optimize the pole arc coefficient of a permanent magnet (PM) to minimize the cogging torque of a permanent magnet motor. Since the cogging torque is very sensitive to the changing of the pole arc coefficient of a PM, the changing of the pole arc coefficient should be very small in optimization. The cogging torque corresponding to many relative positions between magnet and armature must be calculated by FEM to find the peak value for every pole arc coefficient, so in order to reduce the computing time, the feasible region of the pole arc coefficient should be set to as small as possible. In this paper, the analytical method is first used to reduce the feasible region of pole arc coefficient in which the cogging torque is small. Then, improved DEA and FEM are used to find the best pole arc coefficient. After optimization, the cogging torque is greatly reduced, and the computing time decreases notably
Diagnosis of Bacteriuria and Leukocyturia by Automated Flow Cytometry Compared with Urine Culture

ABSTRACT Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a widespread disease, and thus, the most common samples tested in diagnostic microbiology laboratories are urine samples. The “gold standard” for diagnosis is still bacterial culture, but a large proportion of samples are negative. Unnecessary culture can be reduced by an effective screening test. We evaluated the performance of a new urine cytometer, the Sysmex UF-1000i (Dasit), on 703 urine samples submitted to our laboratory for culture. We compared bacteria and leukocyte (WBC) counts performed with the Sysmex UF-1000i to CFU-per-milliliter quantification on CPS agar to assess the best cutoff values. Different cutoff values of bacteria/ml and WBC/ml were compared to give the best discrimination. On the basis of the results obtained in this study, we suggest that when the Sysmex UF-1000i analyzer is used as a screening test for UTI the cutoff values should be 65 bacteria/ml and 100 WBC/ml. Diagnostic performance in terms of sensitivity (98.2%), specificity (62.1%), negative predictive value (98.7%), positive predictive value (53.7%), and diagnostic accuracy (73.3%) were satisfactory. Screening with the Sysmex UF-1000i is acceptable for routine use. In our laboratory, we have reduced the number of bacterial cultures by 43%, speeded up their reporting, and decreased the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Explanation in Organic Chemistry

Abstract: In this paper, a model of a subclass of the explanations given in organic chemistry is developed. This model is supported by three concrete examples. The model suggests that in this discipline, laws, theories, and causal reasoning are interrelated in interesting and heretofore unexplored ways. The model also reserves a prominent place for idealizations and capacities ascribed on the basis of the structural features of molecules. The author hopes to have established that philosophical reflection on the methodology of organic chemistry can yield interesting and valuable new insights into classical issues in the philosophy of science.
Transition to low intensity case management in a VA Assertive Community Treatment model program.

OBJECTIVE To study transition to lower intensity services in a national VA program modeled on Assertive Community Treatment (ACT). METHODS This study uses national VA administrative data from VA's Mental Health Intensive Case Management (MHICM) program, to compare veteran characteristics, patterns of service use and early clinical changes among veterans who were formally transitioned to lower intensity treatment and veterans who were not. Bivariate comparisons and logistic regression analyses are used to identify factors associated with transition to low intensity treatment and to characterize post-transition service use. Descriptive information on the criteria for termination and subsequent service use are also presented. RESULTS Among 2,137 veterans in the sample who enrolled in MHICM from FY 2002-2006 and who participated in at least one year of treatment, 196 (9.2%) were transitioned to lower intensity services. These veterans did not differ from others on baseline clinical characteristics but had a smaller number of program contacts during the first 6 months of participation, a higher quality of family relationships and overall quality of life after 6 months of treatment. Only 5.7% were reported to have needed to return to higher service intensity after the transition and they continued to have reduced levels of service use on several measures but no reduction in therapeutic alliance. CONCLUSION The VA policy did not result in frequent transition to lower intensity services. Those who did transition had shown greater clinical improvement, used fewer services, had better family relationships, and rarely required a shift back to higher intensity services.
Are cerebral cavernomas truly non-enhancing lesion on MR imaging and thereby distinguishable from arteriovenous malformations ? Correlation with histopathological findings

Introduction Cerebral cavernomas are by definition "occult angiographic lesions" and it is through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that the diagnosis of cavernoma has become clearly evident. The typical MR features of cerebral cavernoma are a well-delineated nodule including central hyperintense foci surrounded by a characteristic hypointense rim of hemosiderin due to repeated bleeding on T2*-weighted images. There should be no contrast enhancement [1]. The aim of this study was to determine whether cerebral cavernomas are truly non enhancing lesions on MR imaging, if they are thereby distinguishable from arterio-venous malformations (AVM) and to evaluate the incidence of their association with developmental venous anomalies (DVA).
Sequence Analysis of the Escherichia coli O15 Antigen Gene Cluster and Development of a PCR Assay for Rapid Detection of Intestinal and Extraintestinal Pathogenic E. coli O15 Strains

ABSTRACT A collection of 33 Escherichia coli serogroup O15 strains was studied with regard to O:H serotypes and virulence markers and for detection of the O-antigen-specific genes wzx and wzy. The strains were from nine different countries, originated from healthy or diseased humans and animals and from food, and were isolated between 1941 and 2003. On the basis of virulence markers and clinical data the strains could be split into different pathogroups, such as uropathogenic E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and enteroaggregative E. coli. H serotyping and genotyping of the flagellin (fliC) gene revealed 11 different H types and a close association between certain H types, virulence markers, and pathogroups was found. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the O-antigen gene cluster revealed putative genes for biosynthesis of O15 antigen. PCR assays were developed for sensitive and specific detection of the O15-antigen-specific genes wzx and wzy. The high pathotype diversity found in the collection of 33 O15 strains contrasted with the high level of similarity found in the genes specific to the O15 antigen. This might indicate that the O15 determinant has been spread by horizontal gene transfer to a number of genetically unrelated strains of E. coli.
Genetics of restless legs syndrome (RLS): State‐of‐the‐art and future directions

Several studies demonstrated that 60% of restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients have a positive family history and it has been suggested that RLS is a highly hereditary trait. To date, several loci have been mapped but no gene has been identified yet. Phenocopies and possible nonpenetrants made it difficult to detect a common segregating haplotype within the families. Defining the exact candidate region is hampered by possible intrafamilial, allelic, and nonallelic heterogeneity. One important prerequisite for future successful genetic studies in RLS is the availability of large and thoroughly phenotyped patients and family samples for linkage as well as association studies. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
Targeting Dendritic Cells with Antigen-Containing Liposomes

Dendritic cells (DCs) are potent stimulators of immunity, and DCs pulsed with tumor antigen ex vivo have applications in tumor immunotherapy. However, DCs are a small population of cells, and their isolation and pulsing with antigen can be impractical. Here we show that a crude preparation of plasma membrane vesicles (PMV) from the highly metastatic murine melanoma (B16-OVA) and a surrogate tumor antigen (OVA) can be targeted directly to DCs in vivo to elicit functional effects. A novel metal-chelating lipid, 3(nitrilotriacetic acid)-ditetradecylamine, was incorporated into B16-OVA-derived PMV, allowing recombinant hexahistidine-tagged forms of single chain antibody fragments to the DC surface molecules CD11c and DEC-205, to be conveniently “engrafted” onto the vesicle surface by metal-chelating linkage. The modified PMV, or similarly engrafted synthetic stealth liposomes containing OVA or OVA peptide antigen, were found to target DCs in vitro and in vivo, in experiments using flow cytometry and fluorescence confocal microscopy. When used as vaccines in syngeneic mice, the preparations stimulated strong B16-OVA-specific CTL responses in splenic T cells and a marked protection against tumor growth. Protection was dependent on the simultaneous delivery of both antigen and a DC maturation or “danger signal” signal (IFN-γ or lipopolysaccharide). Administration of the DC-targeting vaccine to mice challenged with B16-OVA cells induced a dramatic immunotherapeutic effect and prolonged disease-free survival. The results show that the targeting of antigen to DCs in this way is highly effective at inducing immunity and protection against the tumor, with protection being at least partially dependent on the eosinophil chemokine eotaxin.
An Exploratory Study Utilizing Expressive Writing and a Novel Cognitive Tool as Strategies for Enhanced Moral Perception

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the impact of a decision-making “tool” and an expressive writing task on moral perception, utilizing an ethical vignette. In prior research, both strategies have proven beneficial for improving coping and problem solving; the present research sought to extend these results to the arena of ethical decision making. Results revealed that participants utilizing a cognitive tool or writing task before assessing the moral perception of an ethical dilemma reported enhanced moral judgment and social pressure identification versus no treatment group. Implications of the findings and areas for future research are discussed.
Accounting and Actuarial Smoothing of Retirement Payouts in Participating Life Annuities

Life insurers use accounting and actuarial techniques to smooth reporting of firm assets and liabilities, seeking to transfer surpluses in good years to cover benefit payouts in bad years. Yet these techniques have been criticized as they make it difficult to assess insurers’ true financial status. We develop stylized and realistically-calibrated models of a participating life annuity, an insurance product that pays retirees guaranteed lifelong benefits along with variable non-guaranteed surplus. Our goal is to illustrate how accounting and actuarial techniques for this type of financial contract shape policyholder wellbeing, along with insurer profitability and stability. Smoothing adds value to both the annuitant and the insurer, so curtailing smoothing could undermine the market for long-term retirement payout products.
Zinc as a Paleodietary Indicator: An Issue of Theoretical Validity in Bone-Chemistry Analysis

The use of the concentrations of zinc in archaeological bone as an indicator of past diets and/or health conditions has become widely accepted in bone-chemistry analysis, despite the fact that the theoretical validity for such an application has not been established. In this paper I present a series of critical variables—such as elemental metabolism, bone physiology, the relationship between dietary intakes of an element and its concentration in bone, trophic-level separation in the foodweb, and diagenetic variability—that must be addressed in the process of theoretical validation. I also discuss how studies that support the use of zinc as paleodietary indicator have generally focused on only one or perhaps two of these criteria. Until a sound model based on physiological principles is developed, the use of zinc as a paleodietary indicator remains unproven.
Co-Regularized PLSA for Multi-Modal Learning

Many learning problems in real world applications involve rich datasets comprising multiple information modalities. In this work, we study co-regularized PLSA(coPLSA) as an efficient solution to probabilistic topic analysis of multi-modal data. In coPLSA, similarities between topic compositions of a data entity across different data modalities are measured with divergences between discrete probabilities, which are incorporated as a co-regularizer to augment individual PLSA models over each data modality. We derive efficient iterative learning algorithms for coPLSA with symmetric KL, L2 and L1 divergences as co-regularizers, in each case the essential optimization problem affords simple numerical solutions that entail only matrix arithmetic operations and numerical solution of 1D nonlinear equations. We evaluate the performance of the coPLSA algorithms on text/image cross-modal retrieval tasks, on which they show competitive performance with state-of-the-art methods.
Faculty Willingness to Accommodate Students with Learning Disabilities

One hundred seven faculty members at a northwestern college responded to a questionnaire devised to assess faculty willingness to provide students with learning disabilities instructional, assignment, examination, and special assistance accommodations. Faculty responses to the questionnaire were analyzed to determine if differences existed among faculty in the colleges of Education, Business, and Arts and Sciences. Results indicate that, in general, faculty were willing to provide students with learning disabilities accommodations, but that differences exist among the three academic divisions as to faculty willingness to provide students accommodations. The implications of these results for colleges and universities and future research are discussed.