Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging: current and future perspectives

ABSTRACT Introduction: Vasodilator and dobutamine are the main pharmacological agents used in current stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Exercise stress has well-established advantages and it is commonly used in other stress imaging, but the technical considerations have limited its use in stress CMR. In this review, we will describe the diagnostic performance, prognostic value, strengths and challenges of current stress CMR techniques. We will also discuss future perspectives of exercise stress CMR. Areas covered: Despite notable mechanistic differences, vasodilator and dobutamine stress CMR offer similar diagnostic and prognostic value in coronary artery disease. Combined perfusion and wall motion assessment has been explored with dobutamine stress CMR: diagnostic sensitivity improved at the expense of reduced specificity. However, a combined assessment may provide additional prognostic value in selected patients. There is emerging interest and promising data in exercise stress CMR because of the availability of CMR-compatible stress equipment and development of novel real-time sequences that allow imaging during exercise with adequate spatiotemporal resolution. Expert commentary: Exercise stress CMR is able to assess wall motion abnormalities, perfusion defects, exercise capacity and viability in a single examination. This holds important clinical potential in a variety of cardiovascular conditions.
Exceptional brain aging in a rural population-based cohort.

CONTEXT The 2000 US Census identified 50,454 Americans over the age of 100. Increased longevity is only of benefit if accompanied by maintenance of independence and quality of life. Little is known about the prevalence of dementia and other disabling conditions among rural centenarians although this information is important to clinicians caring for them. PURPOSE To determine the prevalence of disabling conditions, including cognitive impairment, among the very elderly in a rural setting to guide clinicians in their care. METHODS We performed a population-based cohort study of all residents 97 years and older in the Klamath Basin, a rural region in southern Oregon. The prevalence of disabling conditions was determined by in-person examination. FINDINGS About 100% of the target sample was identified. Of the eligible 67 individuals > or =97 years old, 31 were evaluated in-person. The prevalence of dementia (probable or possible Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia) was 61.3% (95% CI: 43.8, 76.2), mild cognitive impairment was 29.0% (95% CI: 16.1, 46.6), and no dementia was 9.7% (95% CI: 3.4, 25.0). Parkinsonism and the APOEe4 allele were rare. Systemic vascular disease was almost universally present. CONCLUSIONS While cognitive impairment was nearly universal in this rural population of very elderly persons, almost 40% had not progressed to full dementia. Determining risk factors for dementia in this population can identify strategies to prevent progression to dementia among younger elderly populations.
Incorporating three-dimensional printing into a simulation-based congenital heart disease and critical care training curriculum for resident physicians.

OBJECTIVE Although simulation-based education is now commonly utilized in medicine, its use in the instruction of congenital heart disease remains limited. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether heart models created with three-dimensional printing technology can be effectively incorporated into a simulation-based congenital heart disease and critical care training curriculum for pediatric resident physicians. DESIGN Utilizing heart models created with a three-dimensional printer, pediatric residents participated in a 60-minute simulation seminar with three consecutive components: (1) didactic instruction on ventricular septal defect anatomy; (2) didactic/simulation-based instruction on echocardiographic imaging of ventricular septal defects and anatomical teaching/operative simulation of ventricular septal defect repair; (3) simulation-based instruction on postoperative critical care management of ventricular septal defects. SETTING Academic, free-standing, children's hospital with quaternary care referrals. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three pediatric resident physicians. OUTCOME MEASURES Subjective, Likert-type questionnaires assessing knowledge acquisition, knowledge reporting, and structural conceptualization of ventricular septal defects. RESULTS Three-dimensional printing technology was successfully utilized to create heart models of five common ventricular septal defect subtypes. After using these models in a simulation-based curriculum, pediatric residents were found to have improvement in the areas of knowledge acquisition (P = .0082), knowledge reporting (P = .01), and structural conceptualization (P < .0001) of ventricular septal defects, as well as improvement in the ability to describe and manage postoperative complications in ventricular septal defect patients in the critical care setting. CONCLUSIONS The utilization of three-dimensional printing in a simulation-based congenital heart disease and critical care training curriculum is feasible and improves pediatric resident physicians' understanding of a common congenital heart abnormality.
Defining a Role for Acid Sphingomyelinase in the p38/Interleukin-6 Pathway*

Background: Sphingolipids are important in multiple biological processes, but there is a lack of understanding of the pathways that mediate these effects. Results: Acid sphingomyelinase is involved in p38 activation, interleukin-6 production, and cancer cell invasion. Conclusion: Acid sphingomyelinase plays a role in inflammatory, proinvasive signaling in cancer cells. Significance: This work expands the understanding of acid sphingomyelinase signaling and downstream biology. Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) is one of the key enzymes involved in regulating the metabolism of the bioactive sphingolipid ceramide in the sphingolipid salvage pathway, yet defining signaling pathways by which ASM exerts its effects has proven difficult. Previous literature has implicated sphingolipids in the regulation of cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), but the specific sphingolipid pathways and mechanisms involved in inflammatory signaling need to be further elucidated. In this work, we sought to define the role of ASM in IL-6 production because our previous work showed that a parallel pathway of ceramide metabolism, acid β-glucosidase 1, negatively regulates IL-6. First, silencing ASM with siRNA abrogated IL-6 production in response to the tumor promoter, 4β-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), in MCF-7 cells, in distinction to acid β-glucosidase 1 and acid ceramidase, suggesting specialization of the pathways. Moreover, treating cells with siRNA to ASM or with the indirect pharmacologic inhibitor desipramine resulted in significant inhibition of TNFα- and PMA-induced IL-6 production in MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cells. Knockdown of ASM was found to significantly inhibit PMA-dependent IL-6 induction at the mRNA level, probably ruling out mechanisms of translation or secretion of IL-6. Further, ASM knockdown or desipramine blunted p38 MAPK activation in response to TNFα, revealing a key role for ASM in activating p38, a signaling pathway known to regulate IL-6 induction. Last, knockdown of ASM dramatically blunted invasion of HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cells through Matrigel. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ASM plays a critical role in p38 signaling and IL-6 synthesis with implications for tumor pathobiology.
A Survey of User-Centred Approaches for Smart Home Transfer Learning and New User Home Automation Adaptation

ABSTRACT Recent smart home applications enhance the quality of people’s home experiences by detecting their daily activities and providing them services that make their daily life more comfortable and safe. Human activity recognition is one of the fundamental tasks that a smart home should accomplish. However, there are still several challenges for such recognition in smart homes, with the target home adaptation process being one of the most critical, since new home environments do not have sufficient data to initiate the necessary activity recognition process. The transfer learning approach is considered the solution to this challenge, due to its ability to improve the adaptation process. This paper endeavours to provide a concrete review of user-centred smart homes along with the recent advancements in transfer learning for activity recognition. Furthermore, the paper proposes an integrated, personalised system that is able to create a dataset for target homes using both survey and transfer learning approaches, providing a personalised dataset based on user preferences and feedback.
Microsatellite Instability Markers for Identifying Early-Onset Colorectal Cancers Caused by Germ-Line Mutations in DNA Mismatch Repair Genes

Purpose: Microsatellite instability (MSI) testing of colorectal cancer tumors is used as a screening tool to identify patients most likely to be mismatch repair (MMR) gene mutation carriers. We wanted to examine which microsatellite markers currently used to detect MSI best predict early-onset colorectal cancer caused by germ-line mutations in MMR genes. Experimental Design: Invasive primary tumors from a population-based sample of 107 cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed before age 45 years and tested for germ-line mutations in MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 and MMR protein expression were screened for MSI using the National Cancer Institute panel and an expanded 10-microsatellite marker panel. Results: The National Cancer Institute five-marker panel system scored 31 (29%) as NCIMSI-High, 13 (12%) as NCIMSI-Low, and 63 (59%) as NCIMS-Stable. The 10-marker panel classified 18 (17%) as 10MSI-High, 17 (16%) as 10MSI-Low, and 72 (67%) as 10MS-Stable. Of the 26 cancers that lacked the expression of at least one MMR gene, 24 (92%) were positive for some level of MSI (using either microsatellite panel). The mononucleotide repeats Bat26, Bat40, and Myb were unstable in all 10MSI-High cancers and all MLH1 and MSH2 mutation carriers (100% sensitive). Bat40 and Bat25 were unstable in all tumors of MSH6 mutation carriers (100% sensitive). Bat40 was unstable in all MMR gene mutation carriers (100% sensitive). By incorporating seven mononucleotide repeats markers into the 10-marker panel, we were able to distinguish the carriers of MSH6 mutations (all scored 10MSI-Low) from the MLH1 and MSH2 mutation carriers (all scored 10MSI-High). Conclusions: In early-onset colorectal cancer, a microsatellite panel containing a high proportion of mononuclear repeats can distinguish between tumors caused by MLH1 and MSH2 mutations from those caused by MSH6 mutations.
Prevalence, Host Range, and Comparative Genomic Analysis of Temperate Ochrobactrum Phages

Ochrobactrum and Brucella are closely related bacteria that populate different habitats and differ in their pathogenic properties. Only little is known about mobile genetic elements in these genera which might be important for survival and virulence. Previous studies on Brucella lysogeny indicated that active phages are rare in this genus. To gain insight into the presence and nature of prophages in Ochrobactrum, temperate phages were isolated from various species and characterized in detail. In silico analyses disclosed numerous prophages in published Ochrobactrum genomes. Induction experiments showed that Ochrobactrum prophages can be induced by various stress factors and that some strains released phage particles even under non-induced conditions. Sixty percent of lysates prepared from 125 strains revealed lytic activity. The host range and DNA similarities of 19 phages belonging to the families Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, or Podoviridae were determined suggesting that they are highly diverse. Some phages showed relationship to the temperate Brucella inopinata phage BiPB01. The genomic sequences of the myovirus POA1180 (41,655 bp) and podovirus POI1126 (60,065 bp) were analyzed. Phage POA1180 is very similar to a prophage recently identified in a Brucella strain isolated from an exotic frog. The POA1180 genome contains genes which may confer resistance to chromate and the ability to take up sulfate. Phage POI1126 is related to podoviruses of Sinorhizobium meliloti (PCB5), Erwinia pyrifoliae (Pep14), and Burkholderia cenocepacia (BcepIL02) and almost identical to an unnamed plasmid of the Ochrobactrum intermedium strain LMG 3301. Further experiments revealed that the POI1126 prophage indeed replicates as an extrachromosomal element. The data demonstrate for the first time that active prophages are common in Ochrobactrum and suggest that atypical brucellae also may be a reservoir for temperate phages.
The Introduction of the Euro and its Effects on Investment Decisions

In this paper we examine changes on investment decisions induced by the introduction of the Euro. There are two potential sources of portfolio reallocation. First, the introduction of the Euro diminished exchange rate risks within the EMU region, which relieved European investors from currency risk associated with intra-EMU investments. Second, monetary policy has been bundled within one single institution, which increased the correlation of different national stock and bond market returns. We test for structural breaks in the portfolio holdings of German investors and estimate a market model in the latter in order to account for the two described effects. We observe a significant decrease in national and an significant increase in intra-EMU as well as US investments. Therefore, the establishment of the EMU led to a decrease of investment home bias.
Head-to-head comparison of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and electroanatomical voltage mapping to assess post-infarct scar characteristics in patients with ventricular tachycardias: real-time image integration and reversed registration.

AIMS Substrate-based ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) relies on electroanatomical voltage mapping (EAVM). Integration of scar information from contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) with EAVM may provide supplementary information. This study assessed the relation between electrogram voltages and CE-MRI scar characteristics using real-time integration and reversed registration. METHODS AND RESULTS Fifteen patients without implantable cardiac defibrillator (14 males, 64 ± 9 years) referred for VT ablation after myocardial infarction underwent CE-MRI. Contours of the CE-MRI were used to create three-dimensional surface meshes of the left ventricle (LV), aortic root, and left main stem (LM). Real-time integration of CE-MRI-derived scar meshes with EAVM of the LV and aortic root was performed using the LM and the CARTO surface registration algorithm. Merging of CE-MRI meshes with EAVM was successful with a registration error of 3.8 ± 0.6 mm. After the procedure, voltage amplitudes of each mapping point were superimposed on the corresponding CE-MRI location using the reversed registration matrix. Infarcts on CE-MRI were categorized by transmurality and signal intensity. Local bipolar and unipolar voltages decreased with increasing scar transmurality and were influenced by scar heterogeneity. Ventricular tachycardia reentry circuit isthmus sites were correlated to CE-MRI scar location. In three patients, VT isthmus sites were located in scar areas not identified by EAVM. CONCLUSION Integration of MRI-derived scar maps with EAVM during VT ablation is feasible and accurate. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging identifies non-transmural scars and infarct grey zones not detected by EAVM according to the currently used voltage criteria and may provide important supplementary substrate information in selected patients.
Knowledge, practice and attitude toward epilepsy among primary and secondary school teachers in South Gezira locality, Gezira State, Sudan

OBJECTIVE The attitudes toward school pupils with epilepsy are influenced by the degree of school teachers' knowledge of the disorder. Teachers usually do not receive any formal instructions on epilepsy during their training. This study aims to assess school teachers' knowledge, attitude and practice when dealing with epilepsy in school children. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was part of a series mandated by the Gezira Epilepsy Care Programme (GECP), to obtain baseline data for a community-adapted epilepsy education program. A pretested, semi-structured, 35-items questionnaire was the investigational tool. It was used to evaluate the knowledge of the basic facts about epilepsy among school teachers in this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire allowed teachers to express their opinions by means of free answers. The schools were chosen at random but not in a systematic equiprobability design. Two hundred teachers from public primary (100) and secondary (100) schools in the rural area of south Gezira Locality, Gezira State, Central Sudan, were recruited. RESULTS In this study, the majority of respondents had never been informed about epilepsy and therefore gave evasive answers to many questions. Few of the respondents considered epilepsy as contagious. None of participants objected to having epileptic children in their classes. Only 47 teachers (47%) in the primary schools had any knowledge of the initial procedures to help a child in seizure, presenting reasonable answers, compared to 64 (64%) teachers in the secondary schools. RECOMMENDATIONS All school teachers should be given some kind of training in health services. The GECP should involve teachers in its current training programs for caregivers and lay association to help epileptic patients.
Intradialytic hypotension is associated with dialytic age in patients on chronic hemodialysis

Abstract Objective: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is common in patients on chronic hemodialysis, but knowledge on determinants is still unclear. The present study aims at evaluating the association between IDH and dialytic age (DA) in patients on chronic hemodialysis. Methods: Between January 2012 and January 2013, 82 patients on chronic hemodialysis for at least 1 year were screened for inclusion in the present study. Of these, 14 were excluded because of advanced heart failure (n.9), history of alcohol/substance abuse (n.1), diagnosis of dementia (n.2), actual instability of clinical conditions requiring hospitalization (n.2). IDH was defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure ≥20 mmHg or a decrease in mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 10 mmHg associated with clinical events and need for nursing interventions. The number of IDH episodes in 10 consecutive hemodialysis sessions was recorded for each patient. Linear and logistic regressions were adopted to assess the adjusted association between IDH and DA. Results: The mean DA was 92 ± 81. Eleven patients (16%) experienced IDH. DA was associated with IDH (OR = 1.01; 95% CI = 1.01–1.02; p = 0.048), after adjusting for potential confounders. DA was associated with the numbers of IDH events in the unadjusted model (B = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.01–0.03; p = 0.042), after adjusting for age and sex (B = 0.01; 95% CI = 0.01–0.03; p = 0.042) as well as in the multivariable model (B = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.01–0.05; p = 0.045). Conclusion: DA is associated with an increased probability of IDH and with increased number of IHD events. Studies are needed to understand the underlying factors of such an association.
Using thresholding techniques for object detection in infrared images

Image processing techniques play an important role in military applications. Image binarization could be understood as a process of pixel values segmentation of grayscale image into two value groups, zero as a background and 1 as a foreground. In simple humor application of object detection we assume that contrast distribution of foreground is uniformed and without background noise or that variation in contrast does not exist. However, in complex cases previous conditions are inappropriate as variation in contrast exists and it does include background noise, etc. This paper deals with object detection in infrared images for military application using an image binarization step. Military targets are detected in different conditions such as winter condition, summer condition, at night etc. This paper focuses on combination of two methods of image binarization. One is the global binarization method proposed by Otsu and the other one is the local adaptive threshold technique. The global binarization method is usually faster than the local adaptive method and the global method will give good results for specific weather conditions such as object detection in winter condition. In these cases, acquired images have uniform contrast distribution of foreground and background and little variation in illumination. We are looking for an effective method for object detection in infrared images in challenging conditions such as summer conditions or in an urban environment, where there is a shortage of objects of interest. In these cases, we employed local mean techniques and local variance techniques. The experiment results are presented so that we can better choose which method should be employed or what combination of these previous techniques to employ. In order to minimise computational time of local thresholding technique, we employed a combination of two previous techniques. The algorithm was tested in a Matlab environment and the tested pictures were acquired by RayCam C.A. 1884 and thermoIMAGER 160 cameras.
Role of polyamines in gibberellin-induced internode growth in peas.

To determine the requirement for polyamines in gibberellin (GA) induced internode growth polyamine content was measured in internodes of peas of various internode phenotypes (slender, tall, dwarf, nana) with and without applied gibberellin (GA(3)) and polyamine synthesis inhibitors. Polyamines were assayed as dansyl derivatives which were separated by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and detected by fluorescence spectrophotometry. The amounts of polyamines in the different genetic lines of peas, which differed in internode lengths and extractable GA content, correlated with the extent of internode elongation. High polyamine concentrations were associated with young internodes and decreased with internode expansion. Extremely short internodes of nana plants without GA exhibited equal or higher amine concentrations relative to internodes of other lines of peas and GA-stimulated nana seedlings. The polyamine synthesis inhibitors, alpha-difluoromethylornithine and alpha-difluoromethylarginine, independently or in combination, inhibited polyamine accumulation and internode elongation of tall peas and GA-stimulated nana plants. Agmatine and putrescine restored growth and endogenous polyamine content to variable degrees. However, exogenous polyamines were not effective in promoting growth unless intracellular amines were partially depleted.These results suggest that polyamines do not have a role in cell elongation, but may be required to support cell proliferation. Polyamines do not mediate the entire action of GA in internode growth of peas since GA induction of growth involves both cell division and cell elongation, whereas polyamines appear to affect cell division only.