Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of neuroblastoma. Comparative study between first- and second-line radioionated meta-iodobenzylguanidine therapy and chemotherapy alone

Context: Neuroblastoma is a high-grade malignancy of childhood; it is chemo- and radio-sensitive, but prone to relapse after initial remission. Aim : The aim of this study was to document the impact of first- or second-line radioionated [ 131 I] meta-iodobenzylguanidine ( 131 I-MIBG) therapy or chemotherapy alone on the short-term response and long-term survival in untreated children and to further characterize the side-effects of MIBG treatment. Materials and Methods: In this interventional randomized controlled study, 123 children with advanced neuroblastoma were divided into three groups according to the treatment strategy: 65 were treated by chemotherapy alone (group I), 30 children who were not responding or had relapsed after chemotherapy were treated by second-line 131 I-MIBG (group II), and 28 children were treated by 131 I-MIBG as first-line from the start (group III). External beam radiotherapy was given to bone and brain secondaries when detected. Staging work up was done before, during, and after management with a follow-up period of 5 years. Statistical Analysis Used: All statistical tests were done using Whitney test for the continuous variants to compare the same group pre- and post-therapy. Total actuarial survival and disease-free survival were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: The number of treatments with 131 I-MIBG varied between 1 and 4 per patient (mean 3). Toxicity was seldom severe. Mainly myelosuppression was noticed. Response was documented before surgery for the primary tumor was performed. There was 9, 6, and 14 complete response (CR); 10, 18, and 16 partial responses (PR); 3, 2, and 23 with a stable disease (SD); and 6, 4, and 12 progressed in each group, respectively. Total actuarial survival was found to have a median of nearly 60, 55, and 33 months for groups I, II, and III, respectively, with a statistical significant difference between the three groups. Conclusion: The current study showed the effectiveness of MIBG as a first-line treatment in the management of locally advanced neuroblastoma cases with limited metastasis as initial response and long-term survival for the cases was favorable, while in cases with multiple metastases, chemotherapy should be given first-line and, in case of failure or relapse, second-line MIBG therapy is warranted.
Lixivaptan: a novel vasopressin receptor antagonist

Arginine vasopressin, also known as antidiuretic hormone, is a neuropeptide that functions in the maintenance of body water homeostasis. Inappropriate secretion of vasopressin has been implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple diseases, including polycystic kidney disease, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) secretion, and the hyponatremia commonly associated with cirrhosis and congestive heart failure. Vasopressin receptor antagonists are novel agents that block the physiologic actions of vasopressin. Lixivaptan is a vasopressin receptor antagonist with high V2 receptor affinity and is now undergoing Phase III clinical trials. Studies so far have demonstrated that lixivaptan is efficacious in the correction of hyponatremia in SIADH, heart failure and liver cirrhosis with ascites, and few adverse effects have been noted. Thus, lixivaptan remains a promising therapeutic modality for the treatment of multiple diseases and prevention of the associated morbidity and mortality associated with hyponatremia.
Integrated Compact Optical Vortex Beam Emitters

A Twist of Light The angular momentum of photons can be used to encode and transmit information. Cai et al. (p. 363) developed a method for generating and emitting controllable orbital angular momentum states of light from a reconfigurable and scalable silicon photonic chip. Using micro-ring resonators embedded with angular gratings allowed the imprinting of optical angular momentum on the light propagating in the whispering gallery modes of the resonator. The method may enable large-scale integration of optical vortex emitters on complementary metal-oxide–semiconductor-compatible silicon chips. Microring resonators embedded with angular gratings are used to generate orbital angular momentum states of light. Emerging applications based on optical beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) will probably require photonic integrated devices and circuits for miniaturization, improved performance, and enhanced functionality. We demonstrate silicon-integrated optical vortex emitters, using angular gratings to extract light confined in whispering gallery modes with high OAM into free-space beams with well-controlled amounts of OAM. The smallest device has a radius of 3.9 micrometers. Experimental characterization confirms the theoretical prediction that the emitted beams carry exactly defined and adjustable OAM. Fabrication of integrated arrays and demonstration of simultaneous emission of multiple identical optical vortices provide the potential for large-scale integration of optical vortex emitters on complementary metal-oxide–semiconductor compatible silicon chips for wide-ranging applications.
Electrically, Chemically, and Photonically Powered Torsional and Tensile Actuation of Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Yarn Muscles

Nanotube Yarn Actuators Actuators are used to convert heat, light, or electricity into a twisting or tensile motion, and are often described as artificial muscles. Most materials that show actuation either provide larger forces with small-amplitude motions, such as the alloy NiTi, or provide larger motions with much less force, such as polymeric materials. Other problems with such actuators can include slow response times and short lifetimes. Lima et al. (p. 928, see the Perspective by Schulz) show that a range of guest-filled, twist-spun carbon nanotube yarns can be used for linear or torsional actuation, can solve the problems of speed and lifetime, and do not require electrolytes for operation. Thermally driven actuators use a guest material within carbon nanotube yarns to generate fast torsional and tensile motions. Artificial muscles are of practical interest, but few types have been commercially exploited. Typical problems include slow response, low strain and force generation, short cycle life, use of electrolytes, and low energy efficiency. We have designed guest-filled, twist-spun carbon nanotube yarns as electrolyte-free muscles that provide fast, high-force, large-stroke torsional and tensile actuation. More than a million torsional and tensile actuation cycles are demonstrated, wherein a muscle spins a rotor at an average 11,500 revolutions/minute or delivers 3% tensile contraction at 1200 cycles/minute. Electrical, chemical, or photonic excitation of hybrid yarns changes guest dimensions and generates torsional rotation and contraction of the yarn host. Demonstrations include torsional motors, contractile muscles, and sensors that capture the energy of the sensing process to mechanically actuate.
Amelioration of hepatotoxicity induced by aflatoxin using citrus fruit oil in broilers (Gallus domesticus)

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of citrus fruit oil (CFO; 2.5 g kg−1) on the clinicopathological changes in broilers fed with diets containing 1 ppm of aflatoxin (AF). A total of 160 Ross 308 broiler chicks of 1-day-old were procured from a commercial hatchery, divided randomly on 7th day of age into four groups with two replicates of 20 birds each and fed with basal diet (group A), basal diet + CFO (group B), basal diet + AF (group C) and CFO + basal diet + AF (group D). The gross and histopathological changes in the liver, kidney, spleen, thymus and bursa of Fabricius were investigated and relative organ weights were calculated. Slight to moderate hydropic degeneration, fatty change with the formation of cyst in some cases, periportal necrosis, infiltration of heterophils and mononuclear cells and bile duct hyperplasia were observed in chicks fed with 1 ppm AF-containing diet. The addition of CFO to AF-containing diet moderately decreased the magnitude and severity of lesions (hydropic degeneration and bile duct hyperplasia) in the liver. The supplementation of CFO to the basal diet did not produce any adverse effects in birds.
Australopithecus afarensis Scapular Ontogeny, Function, and the Role of Climbing in Human Evolution

Climbing Like an Ape Recently, studies of several early human leg and foot fossils have implied that in some early species—even after humans became bipedal—climbing may have still been important. Shoulder bones, which would provide i mportant complementary information, are scarce, however. One of the few examples is from Australopithecus afarensis skeleton (DIK-1-1), which includes both scapula. Green and Alemseged (p. 514; see the Perspective of Larson) provide an analysis of the fossil's shoulders and show that, unlike modern humans, they retain several traits that are common in climbing apes, which may indicate that A. afarensis was an active climber. The shoulder of Australopithecus afarensis implies that, although bipedal, this early human was an active climber. Scapular morphology is predictive of locomotor adaptations among primates, but this skeletal element is scarce in the hominin fossil record. Notably, both scapulae of the juvenile Australopithecus afarensis skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia, have been recovered. These scapulae display several traits characteristic of suspensory apes, as do the few known fragmentary adult australopith representatives. Many of these traits change significantly throughout modern human ontogeny, but remain stable in apes. Thus, the similarity of juvenile and adult fossil morphologies implies that A. afarensis development was apelike. Additionally, changes in other scapular traits throughout African ape development are associated with shifts in locomotor behavior. This affirms the functional relevance of those characteristics, and their presence in australopith fossils supports the hypothesis that their locomotor repertoire included a substantial amount of climbing.
Radar-Enabled Recovery of the Sutter’s Mill Meteorite, a Carbonaceous Chondrite Regolith Breccia

The Meteor That Fell to Earth In April 2012, a meteor was witnessed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Jenniskens et al. (p. 1583) used a combination of photographic and video images of the fireball coupled with Doppler weather radar images to facilitate the rapid recovery of meteorite fragments. A comprehensive analysis of some of these fragments shows that the Sutter's Mill meteorite represents a new type of carbonaceous chondrite, a rare and primitive class of meteorites that contain clues to the origin and evolution of primitive materials in the solar system. The unexpected and complex nature of the fragments suggests that the surfaces of C-class asteroids, the presumed parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites, are more complex than previously assumed. Analysis of this rare meteorite implies that the surfaces of C-class asteroids can be more complex than previously assumed. Doppler weather radar imaging enabled the rapid recovery of the Sutter’s Mill meteorite after a rare 4-kiloton of TNT–equivalent asteroid impact over the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in northern California. The recovered meteorites survived a record high-speed entry of 28.6 kilometers per second from an orbit close to that of Jupiter-family comets (Tisserand’s parameter = 2.8 ± 0.3). Sutter’s Mill is a regolith breccia composed of CM (Mighei)–type carbonaceous chondrite and highly reduced xenolithic materials. It exhibits considerable diversity of mineralogy, petrography, and isotope and organic chemistry, resulting from a complex formation history of the parent body surface. That diversity is quickly masked by alteration once in the terrestrial environment but will need to be considered when samples returned by missions to C-class asteroids are interpreted.
Effect of grapefruit juice on amiodarone induced nephrotoxicity in albino rats

Amiodarone is a potent antiarrhythmic drug that is used to treat ventricular and supraventricular tachyarrhythmias. The present work studied the effect of amiodarone on the kidney of albino rats and the possible ameliorative role of grapefruit juice. Administration of amiodarone by gastric intubation (18 mg/kg body weight (b.w.), daily for 5 weeks) caused many histological alterations including intertubular leucocytic infiltrations, degeneration of the renal tubules, and atrophy of the glomeruli. Amiodarone caused marked elevation in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. Histochemical examination of the renal tubules revealed depletion of glycogen and total proteins. Besides, animals administered with amiodarone showed an increase of apoptotic bands as detected by gel electrophoresis. Treating animals with amiodarone and grapefruit juice (27 ml/kg b.w.) caused an improvement in histological and histochemical appearance of the kidney together with decrease of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. Moreover, the apoptosis was decreased. It is concluded from the obtained results that grapefruit juice ameliorates the nephrotoxicity of amiodarone in albino rats and this may be due to the potent antioxidant effects of its components.
Quantum Entanglement of High Angular Momenta

Twist and Entangle Entanglement is a key feature in quantum information science and plays an important role in various applications of quantum mechanics. Fickler et al. (p. 640) present a method for converting the polarization state of photons into information encoded into spatial modes of a single photon. From this, superposition states and entangled photons with very high orbital angular momentum quantum numbers were generated. A method to entangle photons with very-high–orbital angular momentum quantum numbers advances quantum information science. Single photons with helical phase structures may carry a quantized amount of orbital angular momentum (OAM), and their entanglement is important for quantum information science and fundamental tests of quantum theory. Because there is no theoretical upper limit on how many quanta of OAM a single photon can carry, it is possible to create entanglement between two particles with an arbitrarily high difference in quantum number. By transferring polarization entanglement to OAM with an interferometric scheme, we generate and verify entanglement between two photons differing by 600 in quantum number. The only restrictive factors toward higher numbers are current technical limitations. We also experimentally demonstrate that the entanglement of very high OAM can improve the sensitivity of angular resolution in remote sensing.
A Universal Scaling for the Energetics of Relativistic Jets from Black Hole Systems

So Different Yet So Similar Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are associated with the collapse of stars into black holes. Blazars are a class of active galaxies powered by accretion onto central black holes with masses a million to a billion times that of the Sun. Nemmen et al. (p. 1445) show that, despite tremendous differences in luminosity and black hole mass, the relativistic jets produced in GRBs and blazars follow the same correlation between the kinetic power carried by the accelerated particles and the energy radiated away in the jet, suggesting that there may be a single mechanism for producing relativistic jets. Jets from black holes of differing masses show the same energy-dissipation efficiency, suggesting similar production mechanisms. Black holes generate collimated, relativistic jets, which have been observed in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), microquasars, and at the center of some galaxies [active galactic nuclei (AGN)]. How jet physics scales from stellar black holes in GRBs to the supermassive ones in AGN is still unknown. Here, we show that jets produced by AGN and GRBs exhibit the same correlation between the kinetic power carried by accelerated particles and the gamma-ray luminosity, with AGN and GRBs lying at the low- and high-luminosity ends, respectively, of the correlation. This result implies that the efficiency of energy dissipation in jets produced in black hole systems is similar over 10 orders of magnitude in jet power, establishing a physical analogy between AGN and GRBs.
Determinants of Return to Home After Stroke : An Analysis Based on FIM Scores

[Purpose] In order to promote the return to home of stroke patients, a study based on admission and discharge FIM scores was conducted to identify the ADL-related factors influencing the discharge destination. [Subjects] A total of 256 stroke patients (141 males and 115 females) who stayed in hospital for more than a month were considered. Cases of recurrence or complications were excluded. [Methods] The patients' functional status was evaluated on admission and every month until discharge using the FIM scale. Patients discharged to home or care facilities were divided into three groups according to their total motor-FIM scores: good recovery, moderate recovery, or poor recovery. By comparison of admission and discharge FIM scores, the determinants of discharge to home were examined. [Results] In a multivariate logistic regression analysis considering the discharge destination of patients in the poor-recovery group as the response variable, three factors were identified as the determinants: toileting, length of stay, and age. [Conclusion] The results show improvement of toileting, length of stay, and age are the determinants of return to home after stroke. Further studies will be performed from diverse viewpoints such as the background of discharge to home.
Genomic Variation in Seven Khoe-San Groups Reveals Adaptation and Complex African History

African Origins Humans originated in Africa and then spread across the globe. The high genetic diversity found in sub-Saharan Africa is consistent with this view, but the relationships among and within African populations have been less well explored. Schlebusch et al. (p. 374, published online 20 September) genotyped 220 individuals from 11 populations representing groups from Southern Africa to determine their relationships and history. The data suggest that modern-day human populations arose from a complex blend of mixing between groups and genetic stratification. Cutting-edge genomic approaches test hypotheses about the roots of human history in southern African indigenous populations. The history of click-speaking Khoe-San, and African populations in general, remains poorly understood. We genotyped ∼2.3 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 220 southern Africans and found that the Khoe-San diverged from other populations ≥100,000 years ago, but population structure within the Khoe-San dated back to about 35,000 years ago. Genetic variation in various sub-Saharan populations did not localize the origin of modern humans to a single geographic region within Africa; instead, it indicated a history of admixture and stratification. We found evidence of adaptation targeting muscle function and immune response; potential adaptive introgression of protection from ultraviolet light; and selection predating modern human diversification, involving skeletal and neurological development. These new findings illustrate the importance of African genomic diversity in understanding human evolutionary history.
Smoking among Patients Admitted to a General Hospital: a missed opportunity for early intervention

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of smoking within the general hospital population and to explore strategies for early intervention. This is a prospective questionnaire survey and case note review. The data reported in this paper are part of a larger study. The participants were all patients aged 18 and over admitted over a 1 week period in late March 2000 to a large London teaching hospital. The measurements made were demographic data, a lifestyle questionnaire, a smoking questionnaire, a smoking interview and case note review. The findings were as follows. The majority (47%) of the people were categorized as 'ex-smokers'. 30% of people had never smoked and 23% were categorized as 'current smokers'. Significantly fewer smokers were exercising or careful with their diet. Only 60% of patients were screened for smoking by the hospital team. The majority of smokers would like to stop smoking. There were more ex-smokers in the inpatient population than in the general population. These findings suggest that inpatient stay could offer the opportunity for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as more specific early interventions.
Development of a remote minimally-invasive surgical system with operational environment transmission capability

This paper describes a tele-endoscopic surgical system with force feedback capability. The system consists of multi-media cockpit, surgical site and communication link. The multimedia cockpit is equipped with force feedback type master manipulators, visual and auditory information presentation apparatuses, and foot switches. A slave manipulator with 3 arms is located at the surgical site; the left and right arms hold forceps or a radio knife and the center arm holds an endoscope. The slave manipulator has a special safety mechanism. Vital signs can be also transmitted to the cockpit. In the experiment, a cholecystectomy was successfully performed on a pig at the distance of 150 km.
Characterization, distribution, antimicrobial resistance and resistance risk factors in staphylococci isolated from cats from 2001 to 2014

Abstract Relatively few studies have been published describing the patterns of staphylococcal isolation and antimicrobial resistance over time in cats. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the frequency, location, characteristics and antimicrobial resistance profiles of staphylococci isolated by the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory between the years 2001 and 2014. All feline staphylococcal isolates were classified phenotypically. Isolates corresponding to known or possibly pathogenic species (Staphylococcus intermedius group (SIG) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA)) as well as Staphylococcus epidermidis (SE) and non‐speciated coagulase‐negative staphylococci (CNS) were further evaluated to determine antimicrobial resistance patterns. A total of 519 staphylococci were isolated. The largest percentage of isolates was CNS, representing 39.3% of the total, while SIG, SE, SA and non‐speciated coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS) represented 18.1%, 10.2%, 8.3% and 7.3%, respectively. Methicillin resistance (MR) was identified in 57.1% of SA and 20.5% of SIG. Resistance to 3 or more antimicrobial classes (multidrug resistance; MDR) was demonstrated in 54.5% of SA and 23.9% of SIG. The prevalence of MDR increased over time in both SIG and SA, while the prevalence of MR increased over time in SIG. An increase in mean antimicrobial resistance score over time was seen in SIG. This study demonstrates a high and increasing prevalence of MDR in SIG and SA, as well as increasing prevalence of MR in SIG isolated from cats.