Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interventional Radiology Clinical Practice Guideline Recommendations for Neurovascular Disorders Are Not Based on High-Quality Systematic Reviews

BACKGROUND: In recent years, clinical practice guidelines have been criticized for biased interpretations of research evidence, and interventional radiology is no exception. PURPOSE: Our aim was to evaluate the methodologic quality and transparency of reporting in systematic reviews used as evidence in interventional radiology clinical practice guidelines for neurovascular disorders from the Society of Interventional Radiology. DATA SOURCES: Our sources were 9 neurovascular disorder clinical practice guidelines from the Society of Interventional Radiology. STUDY SELECTION: We selected 65 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. DATA ANALYSIS: A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) tools were used to assess the methodologic quality and reporting transparency of systematic reviews. Radial plots were created on the basis of average scores for PRISMA and AMSTAR items. DATA SYNTHESIS: On the basis of AMSTAR scores, 3 (4.62%) reviews were high-quality, 28 reviews (43.08%) were moderate-quality, and 34 reviews (52.31%) were low-quality, with an average quality score of 3.66 (34.32%; minimum, 0%; maximum, 81.82%). The average PRISMA score was 18.18 (69.41%). LIMITATIONS: We were unable to obtain previous versions for 8 reviews, 7 of which were from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. CONCLUSIONS: The methodologic quality of systematic reviews needs to be improved. Although reporting clarity was much better than the methodologic quality, it still has room for improvement. The methodologic quality and transparency of reporting did not vary much among clinical practice guidelines. This study can also be applied to other medical specialties to examine the quality of studies used as evidence in their own clinical practice guidelines.
Safety of Repeated Radioembolizations in Patients with Advanced Primary and Secondary Liver Tumors and Progressive Disease After First Selective Internal Radiotherapy

The purpose of this study was to assess the safety of repeated 90Y radioembolization with resin microspheres in patients with extensive primary and secondary liver tumors after failure of first radioembolization. Methods: Between 2007 and 2011, 21 patients (12 women, 9 men; mean age, 61.0 y) with nonresectable advanced liver tumors (breast cancer liver metastases, n = 7; colorectal liver metastases, n = 5; hepatocellular carcinoma, n = 8; cholangiocellular carcinoma, n = 1) were repeatedly treated by radioembolization. Safety was the primary endpoint. Whole-liver treatment was achieved with sequential treatment sessions in most patients, with selective embolization of the left and right liver lobes within 6 wk. Toxicity was documented prospectively and according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 4.0 criteria based on laboratory parameters; magnetic-resonance tomography; and clinical examinations 3 d, 6 wk, and every 3 mo after selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT). Metric variables were evaluated using the Student t test. Overall survival was assessed by Kaplan–Meier statistics. Results: Patients received an average of 1.6 whole-liver treatments performed in 3.0 unilobar radioembolizations (liver lobes sequentially). The mean total activity administered was 2.57 GBq. No radioembolization-induced liver disease was observed in any of the patients. Three patients showed reversible grade III to IV toxicities according to laboratory values, which returned to pretreatment levels after 6 wk. In 1 patient, a treatment-related duodenal ulcer occurred. Median overall survival was 18 mo after first radioembolization. Conclusion: In advanced liver tumors, repeated whole-liver treatments with 90Y radioembolization can be performed with an acceptable toxicity profile.
Odds of Demonstrating Auditory Processing Abnormality in the Average Older Adult: The Blue Mountains Hearing Study

Objective: To determine, for the average older adult, the odds of demonstrating an auditory processing abnormality for each of seven speech-based measures of auditory processing and how these odds vary based on a number of independent subject variables. Design: Using a cross-sectional design, 1576 adults aged 55 years and older were assessed with speech measures of central auditory processing and questionnaires pertaining to health status, cognitive and perceived auditory function. The speech-based measures from which abnormal/normal outcomes were derived were (a) right ear Macquarie Synthetic Sentence Identification (MSSI) test maximum performance score (Rt MSSImax), (b) left ear MSSI test maximum performance score (Lt MSSImax), (c) right ear Macquarie Dichotic Sentence Identification (MDSI) test score (Rt MDSI), (d) left ear MDSI test score (Lt MDSI), (e) difference score for the right and left ear MDSI test (MDSI Diff score), (f) right ear MSSI test maximum performance score subtracted from the maximum performance score for monosyllabic word list materials in the same ear (Rt PB-MSSImax), and (g) left ear MSSI test maximum performance score subtracted from the maximum performance score for monosyllabic word list materials in the same ear (Lt PB-MSSImax). Results: The odds of demonstrating auditory processing abnormality for average older participants, increased by 4 to 9% per year of age. Men were approximately twice as likely as women to demonstrate this abnormality, but the gender difference was only evident with dichotic measures. With increasing hearing handicap, the odds of demonstrating auditory processing abnormality increased, but this was only evident for speech-in-noise measures. With subtle cognitive decline, the odds of demonstrating auditory processing abnormality also increased. Conclusions: This population-based study provides evidence of a link between perceived hearing handicap and outcomes on speech-in-noise measures as well as evidence of a gender difference that became apparent using dichotic tests. The contribution of central auditory processing abnormality to hearing health should therefore not be overlooked in the provision of auditory rehabilitation programs to older adults.
Dissolved Oxygen Levels Alter Gene Expression and Antigen Profiles in Borrelia burgdorferi

ABSTRACT The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, encounters many environmental signals as it cycles between the arthropod vector and mammalian hosts, including temperature, pH, and other host factors. To test the possibility that dissolved oxygen modulates gene expression in B. burgdorferi, spirochetes were exposed to differential levels of dissolved oxygen, and distinct alterations were observed at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Specifically NapA, a Dps/Dpr homologue involved in the oxidative stress response in other bacteria, was reduced when B. burgdorferi was grown under oxygen-limiting conditions. In contrast, several immunoreactive proteins were altered when tested with infection-derived sera from different hosts. Specifically, OspC, DbpA, and VlsE were synthesized at greater levels when cells were grown in limiting oxygen, whereas VraA was reduced. The levels of oxygen in the medium did not affect OspA production. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis of RNA isolated from infectious isolates of strains B31 and cN40 indicated that the expression of ospC, dbpA, and vlsE increased while napA expression decreased under dissolved-oxygen-limiting conditions, whereas flaB was not affected. The reverse transcription-PCR results corroborated the immunoblot analyses and indicated that the increase in OspC, DbpA, and VlsE was due to regulation at the transcriptional level of the genes encoding these antigens. These results indicate that dissolved oxygen modulates gene expression in B. burgdorferi and imply that the redox environment may be an additional regulatory cue that spirochetes exploit to adapt to the disparate niches that they occupy in nature.
Self‐Reported Acute Health Effects and Exposure to Companion Animals

To understand the etiological burden of disease associated with acute health symptoms [e.g. gastrointestinal (GI), respiratory, dermatological], it is important to understand how common exposures influence these symptoms. Exposures to familiar and unfamiliar animals can result in a variety of health symptoms related to infection, irritation and allergy; however, few studies have examined this association in a large‐scale cohort setting. Cross‐sectional data collected from 50 507 participants in the United States enrolled from 2003 to 2009 were used to examine associations between animal contact and acute health symptoms during a 10–12 day period. Fixed‐effects multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confident intervals (CI) for associations between animal exposures and outcomes of GI illness, respiratory illness and skin/eye symptoms. Two‐thirds of the study population (63.2%) reported direct contact with animals, of which 7.7% had contact with at least one unfamiliar animal. Participants exposed to unfamiliar animals had significantly higher odds of self‐reporting all three acute health symptoms, when compared to non‐animal‐exposed participants (GI: AOR = 1.4, CI = 1.2–1.7; respiratory: AOR = 1.5, CI = 1.2–1.8; and skin/eye: AOR = 1.9, CI = 1.6–2.3), as well as when compared to participants who only had contact with familiar animals. Specific contact with dogs, cats or pet birds was also significantly associated with at least one acute health symptom; AORs ranged from 1.1 to 1.5, when compared to participants not exposed to each animal. These results indicate that contact with animals, especially unfamiliar animals, was significantly associated with GI, respiratory and skin/eye symptoms. Such associations could be attributable to zoonotic infections and allergic reactions. Etiological models for acute health symptoms should consider contact with companion animals, particularly exposure to unfamiliar animals. Prevention of pet‐associated zoonotic diseases includes commonsense measures such as hand‐washing, but are often overlooked by pet owners and non‐pet owners alike.
Controlling Outlier Contamination In Multimessenger Time-domain Searches For Supermasssive Binary Black Holes

Time-domain datasets of many varieties can be prone to statistical outliers that result from instrumental or astrophysical anomalies. These can impair searches for signals within the time series and lead to biased parameter estimation. Versatile outlier mitigation methods tuned toward multimessenger time-domain searches for supermassive binary black holes have yet to be fully explored. In an eﬀort to perform robust outlier isolation with low computational costs, we propose a Gibbs sampling scheme. This provides structural simplicity to outlier modeling and isolation, as it requires minimal modiﬁcations to adapt to time-domain modeling scenarios with pulsar-timing array or photometric data. We robustly diagnose outliers present in simulated pulsar-timing datasets, and then further apply our methods to pulsar J1909 − 3744 from the NANOGrav 9-yr Dataset. We also explore the periodic binary-AGN candidate PG1302 − 102 using datasets from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey, All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae, and the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research. We present our ﬁndings and outline future work that could improve outlier modeling and isolation for multimessenger time-domain searches.
A Survey on Electric Power Demand Forecasting: Future Trends in Smart Grids, Microgrids and Smart Buildings

Recently there has been a significant proliferation in the use of forecasting techniques, mainly due to the increased availability and power of computation systems and, in particular, to the usage of personal computers. This is also true for power network systems, where energy demand forecasting has been an important field in order to allow generation planning and adaptation. Apart from the quantitative progression, there has also been a change in the type of models proposed and used. In the `70s, the usage of non-linear techniques was generally not popular among scientists and engineers. However, in the last two decades they have become very important techniques in solving complex problems which would be very difficult to tackle otherwise. With the recent emergence of smart grids, new environments have appeared capable of integrating demand, generation, and storage. These employ intelligent and adaptive elements that require more advanced techniques for accurate and precise demand and generation forecasting in order to work optimally. This review discusses the most relevant studies on electric demand prediction over the last 40 years, and presents the different models used as well as the future trends. Additionally, it analyzes the latest studies on demand forecasting in the future environments that emerge from the usage of smart grids.
The Process of Reinnervation in the Dentate Gyrus of Adult Rats: Temporal Relationship between Changes in the Levels of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) and GFAP mRNA in Reactive Astrocytes

The present study evaluates the temporal relationships between increases in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mRNA, GFA protein levels, and GFAP immunostaining in the hippocampus of adult rats following unilateral lesions of the entorhinal cortex (EC). GFAP mRNA levels were assessed at 12 h, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 30 days postlesion by dot blot assays using 35S-labeled cRNA probes against the mRNA. Animals were also prepared for in situ hybridization during the peak of GFAP mRNA expression (2 days postlesion) to explore the nature of individual differences in the spatial extent of the increases. GFA protein levels were assessed by Western blot and dot immunoblot techniques in a separate group of animals prepared at 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 days postlesion and by immunostaining at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 days postlesion. The dot blot analyses of GFAP mRNA levels confirmed previous studies, in that we observed dramatic increases in the levels of GFAP mRNA in the hippocampus ipsilateral to the EC lesions. The increases were biphasic, with a large peak in mRNA levels at 1-2 days postlesion (about 10-fold greater than control) and a second peak at 6-8 days. In most animals, the increases were predominantly ipsilateral to the lesion. However, in some animals, there were also large increases on the contralateral side. In situ hybridization experiments revealed two different spatial patterns of increased gene expression, one in which the increases in GFAP mRNA occurred bilaterally and one in which increases were restricted primarily to the hippocampus ipsilateral to the lesion. Immunochemical measures revealed that GFA protein levels increased gradually in the hippocampus ipsilateral to the lesion, reaching a peak at about 2-fold higher than control at 4 days postlesion, and then remained near this level until at least 10 days postlesion. In the contralateral hippocampus, GFA protein levels were increased to about the same extent as on the ipsilateral side at 1, 2, and 4 days postlesion, but then began to decline, returning to near control levels by 8 days. Increases in immunostaining occurred with about the same time course as the increases in GFA protein levels as measured immunochemically. These results define the temporal relationship between increases in GFAP mRNA and increases in GFA protein, providing new insights into the regulation of gene expression in reactive astrocytes.
Legal Protection of the Registered Trademark Owner in the Constitutive System (First to File) in Indonesia

Since the enactment of Law Number 19 of 1992 on Trademarks that had been amended last with the enactment of Law Number 20 of 2016 on Trademarks, it applies the Constitutive System (First to File ) which is a change from the old system of the Declarative System (First to Use ). Therefore, the legal protection is determined by a registration. However, there are still many lawsuit cases of trademark cancellation. Based on the Constitutive System, the right is granted to the first registrant. Some cases are based on a lawsuit from a party who feels as the owner of the trademark, but registered by another party. The research study, titled Legal Protection of the Registered Trademark Owner in the Constitutive System (First to File ) in Indonesia, based on the problem: the first problem is how is the form of legal protection of registered trademark owner in the Constitutive System in Indonesia? The second problem is why with the Constitutive System are there still many trademarks that have not been registered? The research method used normative research method, by reviewing the documents, court decisions and applicable legislation.
Resistance training and aerobic training improve muscle strength and aerobic capacity in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

Introduction: We investigated the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Methods: Eighteen CIDP patients treated with subcutaneous immunoglobulin performed 12 weeks of aerobic exercise and 12 weeks of resistance exercise after a run‐in period of 12 weeks without exercise. Three times weekly the participants performed aerobic exercise on an ergometer bike or resistance exercise with unilateral training of knee and elbow flexion/extension. Primary outcomes were maximal oxygen consumption velocity (VO2‐max) and maximal combined isokinetic muscle strength (cIKS) of knee and elbow flexion/extension. Results: VO2‐max and muscle strength were unchanged during run‐in (−4.9% ± 10.3%, P = 0.80 and −3.7% ± 10.1%, P = 0.17, respectively). Aerobic exercise increased VO2‐max by 11.0% ± 14.7% (P = 0.02). Resistance exercise resulted in an increase of 13.8% ± 16.0% (P = 0.0004) in cIKS. Discussion: Aerobic exercise training and resistance exercise training improve fitness and strength in CIDP patients. Muscle Nerve 57: 70–76, 2018
Effect of spironolactone and amiloride on thiazolidinedione-induced fluid retention in South Indian patients with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Thiazolidinediones (pioglitazone and rosiglitazone) induce renal epithelial sodium channel (ENaC)-mediated sodium reabsorption, resulting in plasma volume (PV) expansion. Incidence and long-term management of fluid retention induced by thiazolidinediones remain unclear. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS In a 4-week run-in period, rosiglitazone, 4 mg twice daily, was added to a background anti-diabetic therapy in 260 South Indian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients with PV expansion (absolute reduction in hematocrit in run-in, ≥1.5 percentage points) entered a randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate effects of amiloride and spironolactone on attenuating rosiglitazone-induced fluid retention. Primary endpoint was change in hematocrit in each diuretic group versus placebo (control group). RESULTS Of the 260 patients, 70% (n=180) had PV expansion. These 180 patients (70% male; mean age, 47.8 years [range, 30-80 years]) were randomly assigned to rosiglitazone, 4 mg twice daily, plus spironolactone, 50 mg once daily; rosiglitazone, 4 mg twice daily, plus amiloride, 10 mg once daily; or rosiglitazone, 4 mg twice daily, plus placebo for 24 weeks. Hematocrit continued to decrease significantly in control and spironolactone groups (mean absolute change, -1.2 [P=0.01] and -0.7 [P=0.02] percentage points, respectively), suggesting continued PV expansion. No change occurred with amiloride (mean change, 0.0 percentage points). Amiloride, but not spironolactone, was superior to control (mean hematocrit difference [95% confidence interval] relative to control, 1.27 [0.21-2.55] and 0.49 [-0.79-1.77] percentage points [P=0.04 and P=0.61], respectively). CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of rosiglitazone-induced fluid retention in South Indian patients with type 2 diabetes is high. Amiloride, a direct ENaC blocker, but not spironolactone, prevented protracted fluid retention in these patients.
Aquabis(2-iodoacetato-κO)(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2 N,N′)copper(II)

In the title compound, [Cu(C2H2IO2)2(C12H8N2)(H2O)], the CuII ion is coordinated by two N atoms [Cu—N = 2.013 (4) and 2.024 (4) Å] from a 1,10-phenanthroline ligand and three O atoms [Cu—O = 1.940 (4)–2.261 (4) Å] from two carboxyl ligands and a water molecule in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. One iodoacetate O atom [Cu—O = 2.775 (4) Å] completes the coordination to form a distorted octahedron. Intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into centrosymmetric dimers, which are further packed by π–π interactions between the 1,10-phenanthroline ligands into layers parallel to the ab plane. The crystal packing also exhibits short intermolecular I⋯I contacts of 3.6772 (9) Å and weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.
Cutting Edge: Toll-Like Receptor 9 Expression Is Not Required for CpG DNA-Aided Cross-Presentation of DNA-Conjugated Antigens but Essential for Cross-Priming of CD8 T Cells1

Covalent linkage of immunostimulatory CpG DNA to OVA results in CpG DNA-aided cross-presentation of OVA by dendritic cells (DCs). In vivo, cross-presentation is conditional for cross-priming of OVA-specific CD8 T cells. In this study, we investigated the involvement of the CpG DNA receptor Toll-like receptor (TLR)9 in CpG DNA-aided cross-presentation and cross-priming. Although CpG DNA-aided cross-presentation is not altered in TLR9-deficient cells, TLR9 is required for maturation of APC allowing cross-priming, as resulting in CTL function. These findings imply that TLR9 does not trigger endocytosis of CpG-OVA conjugates, but activates DCs downstream of endocytosis.
Block Markov superposition transmission of BCH codes with iterative hard-decision decoding

This paper is concerned with block Markov super-position transmission of BCH (BMST-BCH) codes. Compared with other BMST codes, BMST-BCH codes can achieve a lower error floor with an encoding memory of two, which is critical to reduce both delay and implementation complexity. To further reduce the implementation complexity, we propose a hard-decision sliding-window decoding algorithm, in which only binary and/or erasure messages are processed and exchanged between nodes. A fast simulation approach is proposed, with the help of the genie-aided lower bound and the density evolution analysis, to evaluate the performance of BMST-BCH codes at the BER of 10−15. BMST-BCH codes are constructed with overheads ranging from 15% to 25%, exhibiting performances comparable to staircase codes with similar latencies. The proposed construction is more flexible to trade off latency against performance, and may find applications in optical transport networks as an attractive candidate.
Effects of physiologic human brain motion on proton spectroscopy: quantitative analysis and correction with cardiac gating.

SUMMARY Proton MR spectroscopy is a powerful noninvasive method that enables measurement of certain brain metabolites in healthy subjects and patients with diseases. A major difficulty with clinical and research applications of in vivo proton MR spectroscopy is the variability of metabolite concentrations, especially in regions with substantial physiologic motion. In our preliminary evaluation, we tested the hypothesis that physiologic brain motion leads to lower mean metabolite concentrations and higher SDs for the measured metabolite concentrations.