Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advanced Gastric Carcinoma with Signet Ring Cell Histology

Background: Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC) is a histological type based on microscopic characteristics and not on biological behavior. This study compared the clinicopathological features and prognosis of advanced SRC with non-signet ring cell adenocarcinoma (NSRC) of the stomach. Methods: We reviewed the records of 4,759 consecutive patients diagnosed with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who were resected surgically from 1987 to 2003. Of these, 662 patients (13.9%) had SRC and were compared with 4,097 patients with NSRC. Results: Significant differences were noted in tumor size, Borrmann type, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, peritoneal dissemination and TNM stage. The cumulative 5-year survival rate for advanced SRC was 42.4%, compared with 50.1% in NSRC (p = 0.009). Multivariate analysis showed that tumor size ≧5 cm, Borrmann III and IV, T3–4 invasion and SRC histology were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. Depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, hepatic and peritoneal metastasis and surgical curability were significant factors affecting survival. SRC histology alone was not an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: Advanced gastric SRC tends toward deeper tumor invasion and more lymph node and peritoneal metastasis than NSRC. Advanced gastric SRC had a worse prognosis than NSRC. Therefore, curative surgical operation with extended lymph node dissection is recommended.
Cardiac neural crest is essential for the persistence rather than the formation of an arch artery

Double‐label immunohistochemistry was used to compare early aortic arch artery development in cardiac neural crest‐ablated and sham‐operated quail embryos ranging from stage 13 to stage 18. The monoclonal antibody QH‐1 labeled endothelial cells and their precursors, and HNK‐1 labeled migrating neural crest cells. In the sham‐operated embryos, the third aortic arch artery developed from a lumenizing strand of endothelial precursors that became separated from the pharyngeal endoderm by migrating cardiac neural crest cells as they ensheathed the artery. The arch artery of the neural crest‐ablated embryos lumenized but failed to become separated from the pharyngeal endoderm, indicating that neural crest is unnecessary for the early formation of the aortic arch artery. However, once blood flow was initiated through the third arch artery of crest‐ablated embryos at stage 16, the artery became misshapen and sinusoidal. By embryonic day 3, abnormal connections to the dorsal aorta occurred and bilateral symmetry was lost, suggesting that the loss of neural crest‐derived ectomesenchyme destabilizes the nascent artery. Although here we show no loss of the third arch artery, past studies have reported hypoplasia or missing carotids in older neural crest‐ablated embryos (Bockman et al. [1987] Am. J. Anat. 180:332–341; Bockman et al. [1989] Anat. Rec. 225:209–217; Nishibatake et al. [1987] Circulation 75:255–264; Tomita et al. [1991] Circulation 84:1289–1295). We suggest that the cardiac neural crest is essential for the persistence of an arch artery, but not its formation. Furthermore, since changes in the development of the arch artery are seen prior to the formation of the tunica media, it is suggested that a critical period is reached in the development of the arch artery, after lumenization, but prior to the formation of the tunica media, which necessitates the presence of the cardiac neural crest. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evolution in the management of locally advanced cervical cancer: the experience of Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a retrospective analysis of disease free survival (DFS) of locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) in relation to evolution of treatment and related factors. METHODS A total of 3,892 cases of LACC treated at the Cancer Institute (WIA), Chennai, India, during 1990-1999 were analyzed. Management of LACC including concurrent chemo-radiation (CCRT) has evolved through trials conducted at the institute. DFS and risk of second cancer were elicited using actuarial and Kaplan-Meier methods, respectively. RESULTS A majority belonged to stage III (54%) and complete follow-up at 5-years was 90%. DFS at 5, 10 and 15-years were 58%, 49% and 42% for stage IIB and 43%, 35% and 31% for stage III, respectively. External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) alone as treatment modality reported the poorest 5-year DFS (37%). Addition of chemotherapy to EBRT resulted in marginal increase in survival (41%) but inclusion of brachytherapy to EBRT enhanced survival (58%) significantly (p<0.001). CCRT with brachytherapy as a planned component resulted in the best DFS (69%), irrespective of disease stage. In a carefully selected group of patients who were suitable for salvage surgery, the long-term DFS was 71%, 63% and 63% at 5, 10 and 15 years, respectively, for stages IIB and III together. Complete response was achieved in 67% and 15% of them recurred. Remote metastasis occurred in 13%. The cumulative risk of developing any second cancer was 0.5% at 5 years, 1.9% at 10 years and 2.8% at 15 years of follow up. CONCLUSION Our data indicates satisfactory treatment outcome even in advanced disease and with the present state of knowledge, the recommended standard treatment for LACC is careful pre-treatment evaluation followed by CCRT which includes brachytherapy.
Immunization of HIV-infected children with varicella vaccine.

OBJECTIVE To determine the safety and immunogenicity of varicella vaccine in children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Children (n = 41) who were mildly affected by HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stage N1 or A1) and had no history or serum antibody indicative of prior varicella infection were immunized with two doses of live attenuated varicella vaccine. RESULTS A minority of the vaccine recipients had mild local or systemic reactions. Vaccination had no effect on the clinical stage of HIV or the HIV RNA plasma load. CD4 cell percentage and CD4 cell count were marginally decreased at week 4 after the first vaccination; this effect was no longer present at week 8 after vaccination. Two months after the second dose of vaccine, 60% of vaccine recipients had anti-varicella antibody in their serum, and 83% had a positive lymphocyte proliferation assay response to varicella antigen. CONCLUSION On the basis of its safety and immunogenicity, varicella vaccine should be considered in the childhood vaccines given to mildly affected HIV-infected children.
Feedback from incident reporting: information and action to improve patient safety

Introduction: Effective feedback from incident reporting systems in healthcare is essential if organisations are to learn from failures in the delivery of care. Despite the wide-scale development and implementation of incident reporting in healthcare, studies in the UK suggest that information concerning system vulnerabilities could be better applied to improve operational safety within organisations. In this article, the findings and implications of research to identify forms of effective feedback from incident reporting are discussed, to promote best practices in this area. Methods: The research comprised a mixed methods review to investigate mechanisms of effective feedback for healthcare, drawing upon experience within established reporting programmes in high-risk industry and transport domains. Systematic searches of published literature were undertaken, and 23 case studies describing incident reporting programmes with feedback were identified for analysis from the international healthcare literature. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with 19 subject matter experts across a range of domains, including: civil aviation, maritime, energy, rail, offshore production and healthcare. Results: In analysis, qualitative information from several sources was synthesised into practical requirements for developing effective feedback in healthcare. Both action and information feedback mechanisms were identified, serving safety awareness, improvement and motivational functions. The provision of actionable feedback that visibly improved systems was highlighted as important in promoting future reporting. Fifteen requirements for the design of effective feedback systems were identified, concerning: the role of leadership, the credibility and content of information, effective dissemination channels, the capacity for rapid action and the need for feedback at all levels of the organisation, among others. Above all, the safety-feedback cycle must be closed by ensuring that reporting, analysis and investigation result in timely corrective actions that effectively address vulnerabilities in existing work systems. Conclusions: Limited research evidence exists concerning the issue of effective forms of safety feedback within healthcare. Much valuable operational knowledge resides in safety management communities within high-risk industries. Multiple means of feeding back recommended actions and safety information may be usefully employed to promote safety awareness, improve clinical processes and promote future reporting. Further work is needed to establish best practices for feedback systems in healthcare that effectively close the safety loop.
Sexual Activity after First Acute Myocardial Infarction in Middle-Aged Men: Demographic, Psychological and Medical Predictors

The study examined important diverse sociodemographic, medical and psychological variables as potential predictors of sexual activity frequency/satisfaction in male patients following a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The sample comprised 276 Israeli male patients, age range 30–65 years, with a documented first AMI who were admitted to any of eight medical centers in Israel. All patients were sexually active prior to AMI. Data were elicited from interviews and medical charts on two occasions: before discharge and 3–6 months after AMI. The research variables explained a greater extent of the variance in sexual activity frequency than in satisfaction 3–6 months after AMI (32 and 23%, respectively). Sexual activity frequency/satisfaction prior to AMI were the major contributors to frequency/satisfaction after AMI. Of the other variables, age and education were the major contributors to sexual activity frequency; of these two variables, age was the sole contributor to sexual satisfaction. Medical and psychological variables (diabetes and depression) were minor contributors.
Using the Lomb periodogram for non-contact estimation of respiration rates

We describe a contact-less method for measurement of respiration rate during sleep using a 5.8GHz radio-frequency bio-motion sensor. The sensor operates by sensing phase shifts in reflected radio waves from the torso caused by respiratory movements and other bodily movements such as twitches, positional changes etc. These non-respiratory motion artefacts can obscure reliable estimation of breathinig rates if conventional spectral analysis is used. This paper reports on the accuracy of the respiration rate estimates obtained via algorithmic approaches using Lomb-periodogram based analysis (which can deal with missing or corrupted data), as compared to conventional spectral analysis. Gold-standard respiration rates are derived by expert scoring of respiration rates measured through polysomnography (PSG) from sensors (Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography (RIP) belts) in contact with the subject in an accredited sleep laboratory. Specifically, respiration rates for 15-minute segments chosen from 10 subjects free of Sleep-Disorded Breathing (AHI<5) were selected for analysis in this paper. Comparison to the expert annotation indicates strong agreement, with the Lomb-periodogram respiration rates with the average error between the measurements being less than 0.4 breaths/min and a standard deviation of 0.3 breaths/minute. Moreover, we showed that the proposed algorithm could track respiration rate over the complete night's recordings for those 10 subjects. We conclude that the non-contact biomotion sensor may provide a promising approach to continuous respiration rate monitoring of reasonable accuracy.
Low cost, rigid to flex interposer using a spray coated intrinsically conductive polymer in a roll to-roll process

We report on a complete roll-to-roll (R2R) processed rigid-to-flex interposer using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) : poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) doped with ethylene glycol (EG), spray coated onto a plastic polyethylene naphtalate (PEN) substrate with another single-sided adhesive PEN foil acting as a contact stencil mask for the interposer structures. A 355 nm solidstate R2R integrated laser, with a beam width of 20 μm in focus, is used to cut the pattern of the interposer layer onto the adhesive foil, this foil is then laminated onto the primary substrate foil at 150°C to enable a contact stencil. Multiple layers of the doped PEDOT:PSS is sprayed over the whole surface, then the substrate is processed in an EG bath to improve the conductivity. The PEN masking-layer is then delaminated from the substrate at 65°C, leaving behind only the interposer structures having a sheet resistance of ~15 Ω at room temperature with a 250/150 μm line/space finger geometry. The resulting structures are robust to flexing, have good current carrying capability (50 mA constant, 100 mA short-duration) and are air stable. The structures also exhibit a positive temperature coefficient of resistance, fair heat dissipation, transparencies of ~85% and can be bonded to an IC easily with silver conductive paste or an anisotropic conductive polymer.
Upstream stimulating factor‐1 (USF1) and USF2 bind to and activate the promoter of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene product is involved in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and loss of function is associated with the development of colorectal carcinogenesis. Although it has been demonstrated that the APC gene is inducible, its transcriptional regulation has not been elucidated. Therefore, we characterized the promoter region of the APC gene and transcription factors required for basal expression. The APC gene has a TATA‐less promoter and contains consensus binding sites for Octamer, AP2, Sp1, a CAAT‐box, and three nucleotide sequences for E‐box A, B, and M. The E‐boxes are functional in several cancer cell lines and upstream stimulating factor‐1 (USF1) and USF2 interact with these sites, with a preferred sequence‐specificity for the B site. Analysis of activation of the cloned APC promoter by USF1 and USF2 in transient transfection assays in HCT‐116 cells demonstrated that mutation of the E‐box B site completely abolished the basal promoter activity. Further, the ectopic USF1 and USF2 expression in HCT‐116 cells with deletion mutations of E‐box A, B, and M sites showed that these E‐boxes contribute to USF1‐ and USF2‐mediated transcriptional activation of the APC promoter, with maximum promoter activity being associated with the E‐box B site. Thus, USF1 and USF2 transcription factors are critical for APC gene expression. J. Cell. Biochem. 80:262–277, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bone metastases from squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Carcinoma of the head and neck is an uncommon primary source of bone metastases. The increasing duration of survival of these patients, however, increases the probability of late bone involvement. The objective was to identify the frequency, clinical presentation, and clinical course of metastatic disease to bone from head and neck primaries.
Multidrug Resistance following Expression of the Escherichia coli marA Gene in Mycobacterium smegmatis

ABSTRACT Expression of the Escherichia coli multiple antibiotic resistance marA gene cloned in Mycobacterium smegmatis produced increased resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents, including rifampin, isoniazid, ethambutol, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol. Cloned marR or marA cloned in the antisense direction had no effect. Resistance changes were lost with spontaneous loss of the plasmid bearing marA. A MarA mutant protein, having an insertional mutation within either of its two alpha-helices of the first putative helix-turn-helix domain, failed to produce the multiresistance phenotype in E. coli andM. smegmatis, indicating that this region is critical for MarA function. These results strongly suggest that E. coli marA functions in M. smegmatis and that amar-like regulatory system exists in this organism.
The effect of a geriatric evaluation on treatment decisions for older cancer patients – a systematic review

Abstract Aim. The aim of this systematic review is to summarise all available data on the effect of a geriatric evaluation on the multidisciplinary treatment of older cancer patients, focussing on oncologic treatment decisions and the implementation of non-oncologic interventions. Methods. A systematic search in MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies on the effect of a geriatric evaluation on oncologic and non-oncologic treatment for older cancer patients. Results. Literature search identified 1654 reports (624 from Medline and 1030 from Embase), of which 10 studies were included in the review. Three studies used a geriatric consultation while seven used a geriatric assessment performed by a cancer specialist, healthcare worker or (research) nurse. Six studies addressed a change in oncologic treatment, the initial treatment plan was modified in a median of 39% of patients after geriatric evaluation, of which two thirds resulted in less intensive treatment. Seven studies focused on the implementation of non-oncologic interventions based on the results of the geriatric evaluation; all but one reported that interventions were suggested for over 70% of patients, even in studies that did not focus specifically on frail older patients. In the other study, implementation of non-oncologic interventions was left to the cancer specialist's discretion. Conclusion. A geriatric evaluation has significant impact on oncologic and non-oncologic treatment decisions in older cancer patients and deserves consideration in the oncologic work-up for these patients.
Unified PWM control to minimize conduction losses under ZVS in the whole operating range of dual active bridge converters

The dual active bridge (DAB) topology has great advantages for high power dc-dc conversion, especially in applications that bidirectional power transfer is required. Characteristics of dual active bridge are studied while approximating the power transfer by considering the fundamental components. Switching modes for each working mode of DAB are confirmed base on the criteria that extending the soft switching range and minimizing the conduction losses. Unified pulse-width-modulation (PWM) control that minimizes the conduction losses and allows all switches to be operated under zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) in the whole load range is proposed. The optimal relative values of duty cycles used for the two full bridges and the phase-shift are derived with respect to minimize the conduction losses under ZVS range in the chosen switching mode by applying the method of Lagrange Multiplier Rule. A DAB converter is modeled in Saber and the efficiency improving is verified by the simulation results.
Pulse wave velocity reference values in healthy adults aged 26–75 years

The stiffening of arteries is associated with various cardiovascular diseases. Arterial stiffening can be studied utilizing arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV), but the absence of reliable reference values for PWV has limited its use in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to establish a range of reference values for PWV. PWV was examined by measuring the time difference of systolic pulse waves in arteries from the aortic arch to the popliteal artery using whole‐body impedance cardiography (ICG). The study population consisted of 799 individuals (age range 25–76 years), 283 of whom had no evidence of cardiovascular disease, and a low burden of risk factors was selected to represent an apparently healthy population. In healthy study population, PWV was higher in males (8·9 ± 1·8 m s−1) than females (8·1 ± 2·0 m s−1, P<0·001). Young males had lower PWV values than old males. Correspondingly, young females also had lower PWV values than old females. PWV was clearly associated with age, and PWV was higher in young and middle‐aged males than in females. There was no statistically significant difference between old males and females in PWV. In conclusion, whole‐body ICG provides a practical method for PWV measurement. Reference values can be useful in the clinical management of patients, especially in detecting early vascular disease or an increased risk of cardiovascular complications.
Factors Influencing the Willingness to Donate Body Parts for Transplantation

Abstract Three hundred and thirty-six people representing three ethnic groups (White, Asian, and Afro-Caribbean) were asked to rank their preferences concerning various incentives that might induce them to agree to the posthumous donation of their body parts. A conjoint analysis of the responses suggested that 's elf centred’ options (notably upfront cash payments and priority on waiting lists) were generally more popular than ‘altruistic’ alternatives. Members of the sample already possessing donor cards were more knowledgeable about the issue of organ transplantation than others, were less squeamish, and had relatives who favoured organ donation. The strength of a person's desire to donate body parts was related positively to self-respect and whether the individual was ‘religious‘; and negatively to (i) squeamishness and (ii) having relatives who objected to transplantation. Altruistic preferences vis-à-visorgan donation were associated with knowledgeability, self-esteem, family background, low levels of squeamishness, and the extent to which a person experienced ‘helper's high. ’ People who were financially well-off were the most self-centred in the organ donation context. Overall the results imply substantial disparities between public policy and contemporary public opinion regarding transplant donation incentives.
A defective level monitor of open defects in 3D ICs with a comparator of offset cancellation type

Resistive open defects in 3D ICs may change into hard open ones that cause logical errors after shipping to a market. In this paper, a built-in defective level monitoring circuit is proposed to monitor the changing process of resistive open defects occurring at interconnects among dies of 3D ICs in a market. The defect level of a resistive open defect is monitored by means of quiescent supply current made flow with an IEEE 1149.1 test circuit embedded inside dies in the ICs. The monitoring circuit consists of an I-V converter and a comparator of offset cancellation type. Feasibility of the process monitoring is examined by SPICE simulation in this paper. It is shown that the changing process of a resistive open defect can be monitored at the sensitivity of 5Ω.