Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of common variants of FTO in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common and complex multisystemic genetic disease. Previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of PCOS has found several potentially causative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Han Chinese population. The goal of present investigation was to assess the potential association between rs1121980, rs1421085, rs1558902, rs8050136 SNPs and PCOS. In order to make a better elucidation of this disease, further investigations of association between SNPs susceptibility and PCOS become necessary. METHODS In the present study, we enrolled 212 patients with PCOS and 198 control subjects. Four polymorphisms of FTO gene (rs1121980, rs1421085, rs1558902, rs8050136) were genotyped by Taqman-MGB method, and their relationship with PCOS was speculated. RESULTS The allele frequency has no significant difference between the PCOS group and the controls. Genotype frequencies of the four SNPs in the additive, dominant and recessive models showed no significant difference between PCOS cases and controls. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that FTO gene has little association in PCOS development.
Fluid-modulated bipolar radiofrequency ablation: an ex-vivo evaluation study

Background: The effect of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) can be modulated by fluid injection. Purpose: To evaluate the potential of different fluids to modulate the effect of bipolar RFA in an ex-vivo liver model. Material and Methods: A bipolar RFA system with an internally cooled needle-shaped applicator (20-mm active tip) was used to induce coagulation lesions in ex-vivo porcine liver. Prior to the ablation procedure, 1-ml samples of seven different fluids were injected (0.9% saline, gadopentetate dimeglumine, ioxithalamate, 10% hydroxyethyl starch, 5% glucose, 95% ethanol, distilled water). Each fluid was used for five RF ablations. During the procedure, applied energy, impedance, and time were recorded. Additionally, temperature was measured at a fixed distance of 0.5 and 1.0 cm from the RF probe. Generator output was set to 20 W, as recommended by the vendor. Five ablation procedures without fluid injection served as the reference standard. The lesion diameters were measured, and volume and an efficiency index (coagulation volume/procedure duration) calculated and compared (ANOVA, Student-Newman-Keuls test). Results: In comparison to the reference standard, fluid injection resulted in an enlargement of mean coagulation volume for all fluids. In comparison to RF ablation alone (1.42±0.33 cm3), significant increase (P<0.001) of lesion size was found using gadopentetate dimeglumine, hydroxyethyl starch, glucose, and ethanol. The largest lesions were generated using preinjection of hydroxyethyl starch. Most energy could be applied after injection of glucose. Comparing the efficiency index, no statistically significant differences were found. Conclusion: Besides the modulation of the electrical conductivity, the increase in thermal conductivity also contributes to the enhancement of RFA by the injection of the tested fluids. Further studies are needed to evaluate this effect for larger injection volumes under in-vivo conditions.
Noninvasive Assessment by Radiotelemetry of Antacid Effect during Labor

A noninvasive radiotelemetry technique was used to study the antacid effect of 15 ml of 0.3 M sodium citrate in 26 women in established labor. The subjects swallowed a pH radio pill, whose signal was detected transabdominally by a radio receiver. The median and range of values for the time to return to the preantacid basal pH for all of the women in labor was 84.0 (11.8–195.8) min. However, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the duration of action of sodium citrate between the women who had received no analgesia and those given intramuscular meperidine. The median and range of values for the time to return to the preantacid basal pH in patients who had received meperidine during labor was 166.0 (147.7–195.8) min, whilst in those who had received no analgesia the values were 56.7 (11.8–143.0) min. There were no significant differences between patients given no analgesia and those given extradural analgesia. Pretreatment with intravaginal prostaglandins (PGE2) did not influence antacid effect.
Presence of circulating antibodies against cellular protein p53 in a notable proportion of children with B‐cell lymphoma

Serum samples taken from children bearing a wide variety of tumors were screened for the presence of circulating antibodies against the cellular tumor antigen p53. There was a significant correlation (p<0.001, n = 119) between the presence of such antibodies and the occurrence of cancer; 12% of the sera tested were positive. These sera were derived from children with a wide range of tumor types. In particular, 21% of the sera obtained from children suffering from a B‐cell lymphoma contained anti‐p53 antibodies. We were not able to establish a correlation between the secretion of p53‐reactive antibodies and any other parameters, such as the age or sex of the child, presence of metastasis, stage or prognosis of disease, or treatment regimen. These results therefore show that the development of p53 immunogenicity is associated with a wide range of neoplastic diseases in children, and in particular with the presence of a B‐cell lymphoma.
A Critical evaluation into the role of ethics in clothing purchase decisions.

Consumer awareness and interest in ethical issues is growing with sustained and significant rises in sales of ethical products (L. Vickery (personal communication, January 12, 2007); The Co-operative Bank 2010); despite this, little research has been conducted into how ethical factors affect consumers’ choices. The clothing sector accounts for over 12% of UK retail expenditure (Office for National Statistics 2011a), and a wide range of potential ethical issues are present within the industry including very low wages paid throughout the supply chain, poor working conditions and the extensive use of chemicals leading to long term injuries and deaths (World Trade Organisation 2008). Given the importance of the clothing sector, the significance of ethical issues in clothing manufacture and supply, and the recent growth in consumer interest in ethical issues, research in this area is both necessary and timely. A conceptual framework developed from a comprehensive evaluation of the literature examining consumer behaviour, ethical decision-making, and clothing selection is presented, and informed a sequential mixed methods primary research strategy. Indepth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to inductively probe the research area before exploring the possible relationships using a quantitative survey (n=384) distributed to a random sample of the UK population. The research found that the boycotting of brands, stores or products for ethical reasons is important to some consumers. Ethical indicators provided influence in guiding final purchase decisions, and post-purchase reflection on items purchased may trigger positive or negative emotions depending on the product’s perceived ethical credentials. Survey data verified these relationships, measuring their importance in clothing purchase decisions. Results also show that while ethical factors are secondary to most consumers, they exert a clear influence on decisions in some situations. Female respondents were found to be more sensitive to ethical issues and those with higher household incomes likely to be less strongly influenced. The key findings from the study are synthesised into a theoretical model which provides a clear account of the role of ethical considerations in clothing purchase decision-making. This research provides the first thorough examination of ethics within the purchase of clothing. Given the scale of the clothing industry, the findings are of significant academic and commercial interest.
A cross-sectional study to estimate high-risk human papillomavirus prevalence and type distribution in Italian women aged 18-26 years HPV prevalence in young Italian women

Cristina Giambi * , Serena Donati * , Francesca Carozzi†, Stefania Salmaso * , Silvia Declich * , Marta L. Ciofi degli Atti‡, Guglielmo Ronco§, Maria P. Alibrandi¶, Silvia Brezzi#, Natalina Collina ** , Daniela Franchi††, Amedeo Lattanzi‡‡, Maria C. Minna§§, Roberto Nannini¶¶, Elena Barretta##, Elena Burroni†, Anna Gillio-Tos *** , Vincenzo Macallini†††, Paola Pierotti‡‡‡, Antonino Bella * and the PreGio Working group 1
Biological response at the cellular level within the periodontal ligament on application of orthodontic force – An update

Orthodontic force elicits a biological response in the tissues surrounding the teeth, resulting in remodeling of the periodontal ligament and the alveolar bone. The force-induced tissue strain result in reorganization of both cellular and extracellular matrix, besides producing changes in the local vascularity. This in turn leads to the synthesis and release of various neurotransmitters, arachidonic acid, growth factors, metabolites, cytokines, colony-stimulating factors, and enzymes like cathepsin K, matrix metalloproteinases, and aspartate aminotransferase. Despite the availability of many studies in the orthodontic and related scientific literature, a concise integration of all data is still lacking. Such a consolidation of the rapidly accumulating scientific information should help in understanding the biological processes that underlie the phenomenon of tooth movement in response to mechanical loading. Therefore, the aim of this review was to describe the biological processes taking place at the molecular level on application of orthodontic force and to provide an update of the current literature.
Machine Learning for Bioelectromagnetics: Prediction Model using Data of Weak Radiofrequency Radiation Effect on Plants

Plant sensitivity and its bio-effects on non-thermal weak radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) identifying key parameters that affect plant sensitivity that can change/unchange by using big data analytics and machine learning concepts are quite significant. Despite its benefits, there is no single study that adequately covers machine learning concept in Bioelectromagnetics domain yet. This study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of Machine Learning algorithms for predicting the possible damages of electromagnetic radiations from mobile phones and base station on plants and consequently, develops a prediction model of plant sensitivity to RF-EMF. We used rawdata of plant exposure from our previous review study (extracted data from 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications published between 1996-2016 with 169 experimental case studies carried out in the scientific literature) that predicts the potential effects of RF-EMF on plants. We also used values of six different attributes or parameters for this study: frequency, specific absorption rate (SAR), power flux density, electric field strength, exposure time and plant type (species). The results demonstrated that the adaptation of machine learning algorithms (classification and clustering) to predict 1) what conditions will RF-EMF exposure to a plant of a given species may not produce an effect; 2) what frequency and electric field strength values are safer; and 3) which plant species are affected by RF-EMF. Moreover, this paper also illustrates the development of optimal attribute selection protocol to identify key parameters that are highly significant when designing the in-vitro practical standardized experimental protocols. Our analysis also illustrates that Random Forest classification algorithm outperforms with highest classification accuracy by 95.26% (0.084 error) with only 4% of fluctuation among algorithm measured. The results clearly show that using K-Means clustering algorithm, demonstrated that the Pea, Mungbean and Duckweeds plants are more sensitive to RF-EMF (p <= 0.0001). The sample size of reported 169 experimental case studies, perhaps low significant in a statistical sense, nonetheless, this analysis still provides useful insight of exploiting Machine Learning in Bioelectromagnetics domain. As a direct outcome of this research, more efficient RF-EMF exposure prediction tools can be developed to improve the quality of epidemiological studies and the long-term experiments using whole organisms.
Increased nociceptin/orphanin FQ plasma levels in hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM The heptadecapeptide nociceptin alias orphanin FQ is the endogenous agonist of opioid receptor-like1 receptor. It is involved in modulation of pain and cognition. High blood level was reported in patients with acute and chronic pain, and in Wilson disease. An accidental observation led us to investigate nociceptin in hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS Plasma nociceptin level was measured by radioimmunoassay, aprotinin was used as protease inhibitor. Hepatocellular carcinoma was diagnosed by laboratory, ultrasound, other imaging, and confirmed by fine needle biopsy. Results were compared to healthy controls and patients with other chronic liver diseases. RESULTS Although nociceptin levels were elevated in patients with Wilson disease (14.0+/-2.7 pg/mL, n=26), primary biliary cirrhosis (12.1+/-3.2 pg/mL, n=21) and liver cirrhosis (12.8+/-4.0 pg/mL, n=15) compared to the healthy controls (9.2+/-1.8 pg/mL, n=29, P<0.001 for each), in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma a ten-fold increase was found (105.9+/-14.4 pg/mL, n=29, P<0.0001). High plasma levels were found in each hepatocellular carcinoma patient including those with normal alpha fetoprotein and those with pain (104.9+/-14.9 pg/mL, n=12) and without (107.7+/-14.5 pg/mL, n=6). CONCLUSION A very high nociceptin plasma level seems to be an indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanism and clinical significance of this novel finding.
Do Vasospasms Provoke Ocular Diseases?

Vasospasms in the eye are often combined with digital vasospasms, as can be diagnosed with a nailfold capillaroscopic local cooling test. In 16 patients with a history of cold hands and feet the presence of peripheral vasospasms without any underlying disease was demonstrated by means of nailfold video-capillaroscopy. These patients showed the phenomenologic diagnosis of low-tension glaucoma with visual field defects characteristic of glaucoma even though intraocular pressure above 21 mmHg was excluded. The visual field defects were not homonymous, indicating a prechiasmal location of the vascular disturbance. Ocular vasospasms cause visual field damage that can be aggravated or provoked by cooling one hand in cold water and that often improves after treatment with the calcium channel blocker nifedipine. The results suggest that vasospasms not only are present in Raynaud's disease, migraine, and Prinzmetal's variant angina but also may be an important factor in the genesis of low-tension glaucoma. This is a new finding and may be related to a general vasospastic syndrome.
A Fully Optical Ring Network-on-Chip with Static and Dynamic Wavelength Allocation

As the number of IPs (processor, memory) integration on a chip increases, chip multicore processors (CMPs), and system-on-chips (SoCs) will require high performance and low power consumption interconnection infrastructure. Traditional electronic network-on-chip (NoC) faces several problems, such as limited bandwidth, crosstalk, impedance mismatch, and huge power dissipation. To alleviate these challenges, optical NoCs have emerged as an attractive solution. Optical interconnects take advantage of light, and the multiple wavelengths within a single optical link (waveguide) to achieve high communication bandwidth at low power consumption cost. Toward this work we aim to propose a cost-performance and power efficient NoC. First, we proposed a low latency path setup network for conventional hybrid electronic-photonic Torus NoC using predictive switching. By lowering the path setup latency, we could achieve a considerable performance improvement. Second, a new hybrid architecture formed of an optical ring and electrical crossbar (OREX) has been proposed. OREX reduces the path setup network to a single electrical crossbar. Its optical network uses a ring topology more adapted for photonic interconnects. Using a cycle accurate simulator, our results show that OREX further improves hybrid electronic-photonic NoCs performance. Finally, to reduce power consumption, we have proposed a fully optical ring architecture. The proposed architecture combines static and dynamic wavelength allocation in the same network to fully take advantage of the low power and high performance optical interconnects. A different wavelength-channel is statically allocated to each destination node for light weight communication. Contention of simultaneous communication requests from multiple source nodes to the destination is solved by a token based arbitration. For heavy load communication, a shared multiwavelength-channel is available by requesting it in execution time from source node to a special node that manages dynamic wavelength allocation. Our architecture takes advantage of both wavelength allocation mechanisms by selecting the adequate one, depending on iv communication message sizes (baseline) and network congestion information (contention based and smart selection). Preliminary hardware cost comparison with several photonic architecture shows that our architecture can be an attractive costperformance interconnection infrastructure for future SoCs and CMPs. We further discuss performance of the proposed fully optical ring NoC architecture based on simulation using a photonic network simulator. Results show that our architecture allows considerable reduction of the network energy consumption compared to conventional hybrid NoCs and show reasonable bandwidth and latency performance using probabilistic traffic patterns.
Motives for interqenerational transfers: Evidence from Malaysia

In this paper we discuss a number of hypotheses about motives for intergenerational transfers within the family. We use data on time and money transfers between generations in Malaysia, where there is neither Social Security nor Medicare, to explore these hypotheses empirically. We find evidence supporting the hypotheses that children are an important source of old age security and that old age security is, in part, children s repayment for parental investments in their education. This repayment is partly a function of the children’s in come and, in the case of females, a function of their spouse’s in come. We also find evidence supporting the hypotheses that parents and children engage in the exchange of time help for money.
Trust, Expertise, and E-Commerce Intermediary Adoption

This research investigates how the amount of trust a consumer has in an electronic commerce intermediary and the amount of expertise that consumer needs to acquire in order to be able to use the intermediary affect the intention to adopt the electronic commerce intermediary. The paper analyzes both the direct effects of trust and expertise on adoption intention, as well as the indirect effects through two mediating variables widely used in adoption studies, usefulness and ease of use. These effects are hypothesized to be further moderated by the level of transaction complexity. The results partially support both the direct effects model and the indirect effects model, pointing out that trust and expertise are, as hypothesized by academicians and practitioners alike, important in encouraging adoption of electronic commerce technologies. In addition, the results show that trust and expertise become more important in determining the adoption intention as transaction complexity increases.
Characteristics of acute occupational pesticide exposures reported to poison control centers in Texas, 2000–2015

ABSTRACT In the United States, there is limited literature on occupational pesticide exposures despite being associated with adverse health outcomes, including in large states such as Texas. The purpose of this article is to characterize occupational pesticide poison center exposures in Texas. Descriptive statistics were used to describe exposures (eg, exposure routes, type of pesticide, medical outcome, clinical effects, and temporal/seasonal patterns). From 2000 to 2015, there were 2,303 occupational pesticide poison center exposures. Common types of reported pesticides were insecticides (67.3%), herbicides (17.7%), and repellents (5.8%). The highest proportion of exposures were among those aged 20 to 29 years (24.9%). The top clinical effect categories were gastrointestinal (25.8%), neurological (19.2%), and dermal (14.9%). Characterizing occupational pesticide poison center exposures can support improved surveillance systems and guide future research or interventions.
Neuropathology of brain metastases

Metastatic tumors are the most common neoplasms encountered in the central nervous system (CNS), and continue to be major cause for mortality and morbidity. Macroscopic features and corresponding radiological findings can be diagnostic in majority of the cases, however, microscopic evaluation would be necessary when the differential diagnosis includes a primary CNS tumor, unknown primary tumor site, and when the resection of the tumor is either considered therapeutic or palliative. The first step in the diagnosis of a metastatic brain lesion is to exclude a primary CNS tumor, followed by verification or identification of the primary tumor and the site. Although general approach to a metastatic lesion from an unknown primary tumor is the same everywhere else, there are slight variations for the metastatic lesions in the CNS versus other regions. When morphological features are not enough to establish a definitive diagnosis, additional studies including immunohistochemical stains are applied. With the expending immunohistochemical armamentarium for pathologists, more accurate assessments are possible even in cases of unknown primary tumor. This review summarizes the diagnostic approach to CNS metastases, immunohistochemical assessment of neoplasm of unknown primary, and primary CNS lesions entering in the differential diagnosis of metastases.
Graves' Disease Following Hypothyroidism Due To Hashimoto's Disease: Studies Of Eight Cases

Hashimoto's and Graves' diseases represent the main two types of autoimmune thyroid disease. The combination of these two is well known. However, occurrence of Graves' disease after primary hypothyroidism is rare. We report seven patients with hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's disease, who developed Graves' disease with hyperthyroidism. We also report one patient with hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's disease, who continued to be hypothyroid even in the presence of TSAb (thyroid stimulating antibody). These patients were divided into three groups according to the changes in thyroid function and clinical course: (1) transient hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease following hypothyroidism; (2) persistent hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease following hypothyroidism; and (3) persistent hypothyroidism with positive TSAb. Such changes in thyroid function and clinical course seem to be decided by three factors: (1) TSAb and (2) TSBAb (thyroid stimulation blocking antibody) activities in the blood and (3) the responsiveness of the thyroid gland to TSAb. Seven patients had hyperthyroidism, when they had TSAb, which stimulated the thyroid gland; one of these seven patients had TSBAb during the hypothyroid state and TSAb during the hyperthyroid state, indicating that the alterations in the thyroid state related to the balance between the activities of TSAb and TSBAb. Another patient continued to be hypothyroid despite the presence of TSAb; his thyroid gland was not palpable and could not respond to TSAb.