Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Serum Levels of Insulin‐like Growth Factor (IGF) I, IGF‐Binding Protein (IGFBP)‐2, and IGFBP‐3 in Osteoporotic Patients with and without Spinal Fractures

The present study was performed to investigate the role of insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I), IGF‐binding protein‐2 (IGFBP‐2), and IGFBP‐3 in age‐dependent bone loss in postmenopausal Japanese women. One hundred and sixty‐five Japanese women aged 43–88 years (mean age, 62) were enrolled in the cross‐sectional study. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and midradius by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry or single‐photon absorptiometry. Serum levels of IGF‐I, IGFBP‐2, and IGFBP‐3 were measured by radioimmunoassay. BMD at all sites as well as serum levels of IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 declined with age, while the serum IGFBP‐2 level increased with age. Serum IGFBP‐3 and −2 levels were positively and negatively correlated with the serum IGF‐I level, respectively. Serum IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 levels showed positive correlationship with BMD at any site, particularly at the midradius, while the serum IGFBP‐2 level showed negative correlation with BMD. Multiple regression analyses showed age‐independent positive correlation between the serum IGF‐I level and BMD at all sites as well as age‐independent positive correlation between the serum IGFBP‐3 level and midradius BMD. The relationship between susceptibility to osteoporotic spinal fracture and serum IGF‐I, IGFBP‐3, or −2 levels was examined by decade to exclude the influence of aging. Serum levels of IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 were significantly lower in subjects with spinal fractures than those without fractures at any decade. No significant difference of serum IGFBP‐2 level was observed between subjects with and without fractures. The present findings suggest that IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 are important to maintaining bone mass quantitatively as well as qualitatively, and that the determination of serum IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3 levels could be clinically useful to predict the severity of osteoporosis, particularly the risk of bone fracture associated with osteoporosis.
Omnidirectional circularly polarized antenna based on meta material transmission line

The omnidirectional CP antenna at 1.5 GHz is presented using an arc-shaped mushroom structure with curved branches. To obtain the omnidirectional pattern and vertical polarization, the antenna utilizes the ZOR mode of an arc-shaped mushroom structure. The horizontal polarization is achieved by the curved branch attached to each mushroom. The proposed antenna is simply designed with a single feed. The simulated axial ratio is 0.31–3.22 dB. The measured gain of −9.56–2.28 dBic is obtained in the azimuthal plane.
Trastuzumab‐associated cardiotoxicity

Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody used for the treatment of metastatic breast carcinoma in women whose tumors overexpress the HER2 protein. Cardiotoxicity has been reported to occur with trastuzumab when administered alone and in combination with antineoplastic agents, particularly anthracyclines. The risk of cardiotoxicity with trastuzumab has been reported to be 4% with monotherapy and 27% when administered in combination with an anthracycline and cyclophosphamide, but to the author's knowledge severe outcomes, such as death or permanent disability, are uncommon. The majority of reported cardiac effects are mild to moderate, nonspecific, and medically manageable. Signs and symptoms are similar to those observed in patients who develop anthracycline‐induced cardiomyopathy and include tachycardia, palpitations, and exertional dyspnea, which may progress to congestive heart failure. The pathogenesis and histologic changes responsible for trastuzumab‐associated cardiotoxicity currently are under investigation. Unlike anthracycline‐induced toxicity, trastuzumab‐associated toxicity usually responds to standard treatment or the discontinuation of trastuzumab, and there is no evidence that the toxicity is dose related. Current methods for the early detection of cardiotoxicity in trastuzumab‐treated patients are similar to those used in anthracycline‐treated patients. Cardiac function is established at baseline and monitored regularly during treatment by physical examination and measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction. The majority of patients improve with proper treatment, and some are able to continue to receive trastuzumab. Cancer 2002;95:1592–600. © 2002 American Cancer Society.
Magnetic Seizure Therapy of Treatment-Resistant Depression in a Patient With Bipolar Disorder

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly efficacious treatment for severe depression. However, a disadvantage of ECT is the risk of cognitive side effects. Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is a novel treatment modality, by which therapeutic seizures are induced using rapidly alternating strong magnetic fields. In this case study, we report on successful MST treatment of an episode of otherwise treatment-resistant depression in a patient with bipolar I disorder. Compared with published ECT results, MST seizures in this case report were of shorter duration, lower ictal electroencephalogram amplitude, and less pronounced postictal suppression. Furthermore, the patient did not experience subjective side effects and particularly recovered time to full orientation more quickly with MST than what has been previously described for ECT. Taken together, these results suggest that MST, compared with ECT, might have antidepressant effects and may have fewer clinical side effects.
Specular Reflection Effects Elimination in Terrestrial Laser Scanning Intensity Data Using Phong Model

The intensity value recorded by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) systems is significantly influenced by the incidence angle. The incidence angle effect is an object property, which is mainly related to target scattering properties, surface structures, and even some instrumental effects. Most existing models focus on diffuse reflections of rough surfaces and ignore specular reflections, despite that both reflections simultaneously exist in all natural surfaces. Due to the coincidence of the emitter and receiver in TLS, specular reflections can be ignored at large incidence angles. On the contrary, at small incidence angles, TLS detectors can receive a portion of specular reflections. The received specular reflections can trigger highlight phenomenon (hot-spot effects) in the intensity data of the scanned targets, particularly those with a relatively smooth or highly-reflective surface. In this study, a new method that takes diffuse and specular reflections, as well as the instrumental effects into consideration, is proposed to eliminate the specular reflection effects in TLS intensity data. Diffuse reflections and instrumental effects are modeled by a polynomial based on Lambertian reference targets, whereas specular reflections are modeled by the Phong model. The proposed method is tested and validated on different targets scanned by the Faro Focus3D 120 terrestrial scanner. Results imply that the coefficient of variation of the intensity data from a homogeneous surface is reduced by approximately 38% when specular reflections are considered. Compared with existing methods, the proposed method exhibits good feasibility and high accuracy in eliminating the specular reflection effects for intensity image interpretation and 3D point cloud representation by intensity.
A simplified carbon dioxide collection technique for the recovery of live ticks (Acarina).

In the past few years several investigators have explored the use of CO2 for the collection of ticks. Garcia (1965, Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 14 : 1090–93) proposed one of the simplest techniques. His system consisted of putting a block of dry ice on a 1-yd2 (0.836-m2) piece of flannel; the dry ice was placed on a wire mesh platform to prevent the ticks from coming into direct contact with the ice. After 1–2 hr, the flannel was recovered and the ticks removed. Wilson, Kinzer, Sauer & Hair (1972, J. Med. Ent. 9 : 245–52) developed an excellent Co2 trap for population studies, but the system is somewhat limited when a large number of samples is needed over a short period of time. Miles (1968, J. Med. Ent. 5 : 491–95) also developed a relatively elaborate trap to recover Ornithodoros sp. from rodent burrows.
Functional Dissection of the XpsN (GspC) Protein of the Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris Type II Secretion Machinery

ABSTRACT Type II secretion machinery is composed of 12 to 15 proteins for translocating extracellular proteins across the outer membrane. XpsL, XpsM, and XpsN are components of such machinery in the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. All are bitopic cytoplasmic-membrane proteins, each with a large C-terminal periplasmic domain. They have been demonstrated to form a dissociable ternary complex. By analyzing the C-terminally truncated XpsN and PhoA fusions, we discovered that truncation of the C-terminal 103 residues produced a functional protein, albeit present below detectable levels. Furthermore, just the first 46 residues, encompassing the membrane-spanning sequence (residues 10 to 32), are sufficient to keep XpsL and XpsM at normal abundance. XpsN46(His6), synthesized in Escherichia coli, is able to associate in a membrane-mixing experiment with the XpsL-XpsM complex preassembled in X. campestris pv. campestris. The XpsN N-terminal 46 residues are apparently sufficient not only for maintaining XpsL and XpsM at normal levels but also for their stable association. The membrane-spanning sequence of XpsN was not replaceable by that of TetA. However, coimmunoprecipitation with XpsL and XpsM was observed for XpsN97::PhoA, but not XpsN46::PhoA. Only XpsN97::PhoA is dominant negative. Single alanine substitutions for three charged residues within the region between residues 47 and 97 made the protein nonfunctional. In addition, the R78A mutant XpsN protein was pulled down by XpsL-XpsM(His6) immobilized on an Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid column to a lesser extent than the wild-type XpsN. Therefore, in addition to the N-terminal 46 residues, the region between residues 47 and 97 of XpsN probably also plays an important role in interaction with XpsL-XpsM.
Scene Text Character Recognition Using Spatiality Embedded Dictionary

This paper tries to model spatial layout beyond the traditional spatial pyramid (SP) in the coding/pooling scheme for scene text character recognition. Specifically, we propose a novel method to build a dictionary called spatiality embedded dictionary (SED) in which each code-word represents a particular character stroke and is associated with a local response region. The promising results outperform other state-of-the-art algorithms.
A relaxation scheme to combine phasor-mode and electromagnetic transients simulations

This paper deals with a new scheme for coupling phasor-mode and electromagnetic transients simulations. In each simulation, an iteratively updated linear equivalent is used to represent the effect of the subsystem treated by the other simulation. Time interpolation and phasor extraction methods adapted to this scheme are presented and compared to existing methods. Finally, simulation results obtained with a 74-bus test system are reported.
A Fully Conditional Specification Approach to Multilevel Imputation of Categorical and Continuous Variables

Abstract Specialized imputation routines for multilevel data are widely available in software packages, but these methods are generally not equipped to handle a wide range of complexities that are typical of behavioral science data. In particular, existing imputation schemes differ in their ability to handle random slopes, categorical variables, differential relations at Level-1 and Level-2, and incomplete Level-2 variables. Given the limitations of existing imputation tools, the purpose of this manuscript is to describe a flexible imputation approach that can accommodate a diverse set of 2-level analysis problems that includes any of the aforementioned features. The procedure employs a fully conditional specification (also known as chained equations) approach with a latent variable formulation for handling incomplete categorical variables. Computer simulations suggest that the proposed procedure works quite well, with trivial biases in most cases. We provide a software program that implements the imputation strategy, and we use an artificial data set to illustrate its use.
One-lung Ventilation for Thoracic Surgery: Current Perspectives

One-lung ventilation (OLV) is an anesthesiological technique that is increasingly being used beyond thoracic surgery. This requires specific skills and knowledge about airway management, maintenance of gas exchange and prevention of acute lung injury. Sometimes maintaining adequate gas exchange and minimizing acute lung injury may be opposing processes. Parameters validated for OLV titration still have not been found, but a multimodal approach based on low tidal volume, end-expiratory pressure application and alveolar recruitment maneuvers is considered the best way to ensure protective ventilation and reduce lung damage. The purpose of this review is to analyze all these factors using the latest scientific evidence and the opinions of the most influential authors.
Molecular cloning and characterization of human non-smooth muscle calponin.

cDNA clones encoding a calponin isoform with 309 amino acids have been isolated from human heart. The deduced amino acid polypeptide (M(r) 33,697) showed a neutral isoelectric point of 7.1. The mRNA, expressed in cultured smooth muscle cells as well as in fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells, and keratinocytes, contains a 3' untranslated region of 1.2 kilobases that includes an Alu repetitive sequence in the antisense direction. On the basis of the nucleotide sequence identity to an expressed sequence tag, HUM21ES93 [Cheng, J.-F. , Boyartchuk, V. , and Zhu, Y. (1994) Genomics 23, 75-84], the human neutral calponin gene is assigned to chromosome 21q11.1. The amino acid sequence indicates that this protein is the human equivalent of mouse calponin-h2 (94.8% identity) [Strasser, P., Gimona, M. , Moessler, H. , Herzog, M. , and Small, J.V. (1993) FEBS Lett. 330, 13-18]. Three tandem repeats of 29 amino acids, a Vav-homologous region and an actin-binding sequence, originally identified in the basic calponin isoform, are conserved. There are two consensus phosphorylation sites for tyrosine kinase. An immunoreactive form of the neutral calponin appears to be localized with vinculin in the cell-to-cell junctions of cardiomyocytes. Mouse calponin-h2 is also expressed in both embryonic and adult heart. These results indicate that the human neutral calponin is a non-smooth muscle isoform, and may play a physiological role in cytoskeletal organization.
Skeletal Muscle Ryanodine Receptor Mutations Associated with Malignant Hyperthermia Showed Enhanced Intensity and Sensitivity to Triggering Drugs when Expressed in Human Embryonic Kidney Cells

Background:Mutations within the gene encoding the skeletal muscle calcium channel ryanodine receptor can result in malignant hyperthermia. Although it is important to characterize the functional effects of candidate mutations to establish a genetic test for diagnosis, ex vivo methods are limited because of the low incidence of the disorder and sample unavailability. More than 250 candidate mutations have been identified, but only a few mutations have been functionally characterized. Methods:The human skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor complementary DNA was cloned with or without a disease-related variant. Wild-type and mutant calcium channel proteins were transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney-293 cells expressing the large T-antigen of simian virus 40, and functional analysis was carried out using calcium imaging with fura-2 AM. Six human malignant hyperthermia-related mutants such as R44C, R163C, R401C, R533C, R533H, and H4833Y were analyzed. Cells were stimulated with a specific ryanodine receptor agonist 4-chloro-m-cresol, and intracellular calcium mobility was analyzed to determine the functional aspects of mutant channels. Results:Mutant proteins that contained a variant linked to malignant hyperthermia showed higher sensitivity to the agonist. Compared with the wild type (EC50 = 453.2 µM, n = 18), all six mutants showed a lower EC50 (21.2–170.4 µM, n = 12–23), indicating susceptibility against triggering agents. Conclusions:These six mutations cause functional abnormality of the calcium channel, leading to higher sensitivity to a specific agonist, and therefore could be considered potentially causative of malignant hyperthermia reactions.
Gate-tunable split Kondo effect in a carbon nanotube quantum dot

We show a detailed investigation of the split Kondo effect in a carbon nanotube quantum dot with multiple gate electrodes. Two conductance peaks, observed at finite bias in nonlinear transport measurements, are found to approach each other for increasing magnetic field, to result in a recovered zero bias Kondo resonance at finite magnetic field. Surprisingly, in the same charge state, but under different gate configurations, the splitting does not disappear for any value of the magnetic field, but we observe an avoided crossing. We think that our observations can be understood in terms of a two-impurity Kondo effect with two spins coupled antiferromagnetically. The exchange coupling between the two spins can be influenced by a local gate, and the non-recovery of the Kondo resonance for certain gate configurations is explained by the existence of a small antisymmetric contribution to the exchange interaction between the two spins.
Local Fitness Landscapes Predict Yeast Evolutionary Dynamics in Directionally Changing Environments

The fitness landscape is a concept that is widely used for understanding and predicting evolutionary adaptation. The topography of the fitness landscape depends critically on the environment, with potentially far-reaching consequences for evolution under changing conditions. However, few studies have assessed directly how empirical fitness landscapes change across conditions, or validated the predicted consequences of such change. We previously evolved replicate yeast populations in the presence of either gradually increasing, or constant high, concentrations of the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn), and analyzed their phenotypic and genomic changes. Here, we reconstructed the local fitness landscapes underlying adaptation to each metal by deleting all repeatedly mutated genes both by themselves and in combination. Fitness assays revealed that the height, and/or shape, of each local fitness landscape changed considerably across metal concentrations, with distinct qualitative differences between unconditionally (Cd) and conditionally toxic metals (Ni and Zn). This change in topography had particularly crucial consequences in the case of Ni, where a substantial part of the individual mutational fitness effects changed in sign across concentrations. Based on the Ni landscape analyses, we made several predictions about which mutations had been selected when during the evolution experiment. Deep sequencing of population samples from different time points generally confirmed these predictions, demonstrating the power of landscape reconstruction analyses for understanding and ultimately predicting evolutionary dynamics, even under complex scenarios of environmental change.
Current Issues in Rectal Cancer Chemotherapy

Purpose:In this review we intend to provide a synthesized review of relevant studies and articles relating to the use of chemotherapy in the treatment of rectal cancer. The focus will be on the adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment of stage II and III rectal cancer. The importance of risk stratification in the decisions to treat rectal cancer, both through clinical evaluation of patients as well as molecular analysis of tumors will be reviewed. Symptomatology associated with rectal cancer and rectal cancer therapy will be discussed as an increasingly important element of trial design. Additionally, new agents in the treatment of rectal cancer will be discussed. Finally, the design of 2 current studies incorporating these issues in their trial design will be presented. Methods:A MEDLINE search for clinical trials and reviews was performed, with selection of the most relevant clinical trials pertaining to the treatment of rectal cancer with chemotherapeutic agents. Results:Adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments with chemotherapeutic agents have served to improve rates of local recurrence as well as overall survival. Trials evaluating the efficacy of orally active fluoropyrimidines, newer generation platinum agents, and inhibitors to vascular endothelial growth factors in the treatment of rectal cancer are currently underway. Conclusions:The large U.S. trials that are currently underway will provide answers to several outstanding questions, including the efficacy of orally active fluoropyrimidines, newer generation platinum agents, and inhibitors to vascular endothelial growth factors in rectal cancer. These trials will also include rigorous assessments of symptomatology by validated symptom measures, as well as the evaluation of molecular tumor markers and their correlation with outcomes. Finally, the identification of low-risk groups of patients who do not require radiotherapy remains an important question in the treatment of rectal cancer.
Differential Expression of Oxidative Stress and Extracellular Matrix Remodeling Genes in Low- or High-Dose-Rate Photon-Irradiated Skin

Changes in the expression of genes implicated in oxidative stress and in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and selected protein expression profiles in mouse skin were examined after exposure to low-dose-rate or high-dose-rate photon irradiation. ICR mice received whole-body &ggr; rays to total doses of 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 Gy at dose rates of 50 cGy/h or 50 cGy/min. Skin tissues were harvested for characterization at 4 h after irradiation. For oxidative stress after low-dose-rate exposure, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 Gy significantly altered 27, 23 and 25 genes, respectively, among 84 genes assessed (P < 0.05). At doses as low as 0.25 Gy, many genes responsible for regulating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were significantly altered, with changes >2-fold compared to 0 Gy. For an ECM profile, 18–20 out of 84 genes were significantly up- or downregulated after low-dose-rate exposure. After high-dose-rate irradiation, of 84 genes associated with oxidative stress, 16, 22 and 22 genes were significantly affected after 0.25, 0.5 and 1 Gy, respectively. Compared to low-dose-rate radiation, high-dose-rate exposure resulted in different ECM gene expression profiles. The most striking changes after low-dose-rate or high-dose-rate exposure on ECM profiles were on genes encoding matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), e.g., Mmp2 and Mmp15 for low dose rate and Mmp9 and Mmp11 for high dose rate. Immunostaining for MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins showed radiation dose rate-dependent differences. These data revealed that exposure to low total doses with low-dose-rate or high-dose-rate photon radiation induced oxidative stress and ECM-associated alterations in gene expression profiles. The expression of many genes was differentially regulated by different total dose and/or dose-rate regimens.
Deep Learning Approach to Planogram Compliance in Retail Stores

In this paper, we will examine different types of training images to determine which is the most suitable in achieving image classification of products on the shelves of retail stores. Being able to classify these products will augment inventory management in retail store that is being performed by Navii a robot that was developed by Fellow Robots, Inc. A mixture of images collected by Navii and images from the Internet were collected, split into 3 types of training sets, and used to create 3 CNN models. Comparing the accuracy of these models over the same test set will lead us to the choosing the most suitable type of training data.