Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Colon diseases: MR evaluation using combined T2‐weighted single‐shot echo train spin‐echo and gadolinium‐enhanced spoiled gradient‐echo sequences

This study demonstrates the appearance of large bowel diseases on magnetic resonance (MR) images using breath‐hold T2‐weighted half‐Fourier acquisition snapshot turbo spin‐echo (HASTE), breath‐hold T1‐weighted spoiled gradient‐echo (SGE), and breath‐hold gadolinium‐enhanced T1‐weighted SGE with and without fat‐suppression sequences. The study represents a collective experience using a generalized combined abdominal‐pelvic imaging protocol. Of 29 patients, 27 had surgical, endoscopic, microbiological, and/or histopathological correlation, and 2 had a diagnosis based on characteristic imaging findings. Fifteen patients had neoplastic disease including colon adenocarcinoma (n = 11), rectosigmoid carcinoid (n = 1), familial adenomatous polyposis (n = 2), and cecal lipoma (n = 1). Fourteen patients had non‐neoplastic disease including diverticulosis (n = 6), ischemic colitis (n = 2), pseudomembranous colitis (n = 2), acute appendicitis with periappendiceal abscess (n = 2), Mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI) colitis (n = 1), and Crohn's proctocolitis (n = 1). In all 15 patients with neoplastic diseases, MR imaging depicted the primary lesions and demonstrated local extent. Mass lesions were best shown on T2‐weighted HASTE and gadolinium‐enhanced fat‐suppressed SGE images. Of 14 patients with non‐neoplastic diseases, inflammatory changes were best shown on gadolinium‐enhanced fat‐suppressed T1‐weighted SGE images in all cases. MR imaging with fast scanning breath‐hold techniques and intravenous gadolinium enhancement provided good depiction and characterization of large bowel diseases. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2000;12:297–305. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fatty acid composition of epicardial and subcutaneous human adipose tissue.

BACKGROUND Epicardial adipose tissue has special properties that distinguish it from the more widely studied depots of adipose tissue. OBJECTIVES We undertook this study to investigate regional differences between epicardial and subcutaneous adipose tissue fat composition, as well as associations between these measures and metabolic variables. METHODS Epicardial and subcutaneous peripheral adipose tissue were collected during coronary artery bypass grafting from 42 patients (ages 37-65) with coronary artery disease (CAD). The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue was determined by gas liquid chromatography (GLC). RESULTS The saturated fatty acids, including myristic acid (14:0), palmitic acid (16:0), and stearic acid (18:0), were higher, and the unsaturated fatty acids, including palmitoleic acid (16:1n-7), oleic acid (18:1n-9), linoleic acid (18:2n-6), and linolenic acid (18:3n-3), were lower than the subcutaneous adipose tissue. The presence of hypertension was positively correlated with the 16:1n-7 (r = 0.407, P = 0.032) and 18:1n-11(r = 0.370, P = 0.027), and negatively correlated with 18:1n-9 (r = -0.367, P = 0.036) and 18:2n-6 (r = -0.446, P = 0.006) contents of epicardial adipose tissue after adjustment for body mass index. CONCLUSIONS Regional differences may be observed in fatty acid composition, suggesting a depot specific impact of stored fatty acids on adipocyte function and metabolism.
Error correction based on redundant Residue Number System

In Residue Number System (RNS), a large integer is represented as a set of smaller integers called residues. Redundant Residue Number System (RRNS) is obtained by adding some redundant residues which brings in error detection and error correction capability. This capability makes RRNS a promising way to provide a very fast arithmetic in the field of digital computers. At the receiver, RRNS codes are decoded using Chinese Remainder theorem (CRT). An alternative scheme called Mixed Radix Conversion (MRC) is also used which results in low decoding complexity when compared to CRT. This paper presents a single bit error correction algorithm using RRNS. This algorithm doesn't require table lookup which helps to save memory during implementation. Representative examples are given.
MicroRNAs in retinoblastoma: Potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is known as one of important childhood malignancies which due to inactivation of the RB gene (tumor suppressor gene in various patients). The early detection of Rb could provide better treatment for Rb patients. Imaging techniques (e.g., MRI and CT) are known as one of effective diagnosis approaches for detection of patients with Rb. It has been shown that utilization of imaging techniques is associated with some limitations. Hence, identification of new diagnosis approaches might provide a better treatment for Rb patients. Identification of new biomarkers could contribute to better understanding of pathogenesis events involved in Rb and provide new insights into design better treatment approaches for these patients. Among the various biomarkers, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as attractive tools for Rb detection. miRNAs are one classes of small non‐coding RNAs which could anticipate in a variety of biological process via targeting sequence of cellular and molecular pathways. Deregulations of these molecules are associated with cancerous condition. Multiple lines of evidence indicated that deregulation of various miRNAs involved in various stages of Rb. Here, we summarized a variety of tissue‐specific and circulating miRNAs involved in Rb pathogenesis which could be used as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic biomarkers in Rb patients.
Analysis and design of large-sized 2d photonic crystal devices

Coupled-mode theory (CMT) is widely used in the analysis of optical systems, such as arrays of parallel waveguides, coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) and phase-locked arrays of VCSELs. In this work, we combined vectorial CMT equations for finite arrays with the concept of Bloch waves. Thus, we extended CMT analysis to the case of infinite perfect photonic structures: arrays of identical waveguides and photonic crystal superlattices. Next, we combined extended CMT with so-called Supercell method for the analysis of infinite photonic crystals with point and linear defects. It has found that this approach can provide very fast and accurate evaluation of finite, but large, 2D photonic crystals, both perfect and with introduced irregularities.
Characterization of the role for calcium influx in mitogen‐induced triggering of human T cells. Identification of calcium‐dependent and calcium‐independent signals

Entry of Ca2+ into the cell is recognized as an important activation signal for mitogeninduced lymphocyte proliferation. Changes in free cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) can now be measured directly using the fluorescent reagent quin‐2. To analyze the role of [Ca2+]i in human T cell activation, we have determined the effect of the calcium channel blocker, nifedipine, on phytohemagglutinin (PHA)‐induced lymphocyte proliferation. At a concentration of 50 μM, nifedipine is nontoxic, and prevents PHA‐induced proliferation. In parallel the drug prevents the lectin‐induced increase in concentration of [Ca2+]i and interleukin 2 (IL2) secretion; IL2 receptor expression is unaffected. In the presence of exogenous IL2, cell proliferation proceeds normally. Treatment of the cells with the tumor promoter 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol 13‐acetate prevents the inhibitory effect of nifedipine on cell proliferation. Since TPA is itself nonmitogenic and does not affect levels of cytosolic Ca2+, these data and the data on IL2 receptor expression indicate that PHA can generate an activation signal(s) which is [Ca2+]i independent.
Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 2 Is a Feedback Inhibitor of TLR-Induced Activation in Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key players in initiating and directing the immune response. Therefore, their activation state and functional differentiation need to be tightly controlled. The activating stimuli and their signaling networks have long been an area of focus in DC research. Recent investigations have also shed light on the mechanisms of counterregulation and fine-tuning of DC functions. One class of proteins involved in these processes is the family of suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS), whose members were originally described as feedback inhibitors of cytokine-induced JAK/STAT signaling. Essential roles in DC function have been assigned to SOCS1 and SOCS3. In this article, we show that SOCS2 also is involved in DC regulation. In human and in murine DCs, SOCS2 is a highly TLR-responsive gene, which is expressed in a time-delayed fashion beginning 8 h after TLR ligation. Functionally, silencing of SOCS2 in DCs results in hyperphosphorylation of STAT3 at later time points. As a consequence, SOCS2-deficient DCs secrete increased amounts of the cytokines IL-1β and IL-10, both being transcriptional targets of STAT3. We propose a model in which SOCS2 acts as a negative regulator of TLR-induced DC activation. The delayed expression of SOCS2 provides a mechanism of late-phase counterregulation and limitation of inflammation-driving DC activity.
Multielectrode system for transcranial stimulation and impedance imaging

Recent works indicate that through the non-invasive application of low current waveforms to the brain, systems implementing both cortical stimulation (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) and imaging (Electrical Impedance Tomography) with a high degree of accuracy and effectiveness can be realised. Safety and physical constraints along with the individually unique and fractal-like functional, structural and electrical complexity of the brain and surrounding cranial tissue hinders legacy systems from achieving enough precision and effectiveness for neurological treatment and investigation. This paper describes a novel system capable of achieving both stimulation and imaging while also ameliorating the shortcomings of legacy systems. Both these functions require multiple independently controlled electrodes distributed on the scalp and have complimentary functional requirements, therefore minimal additional resources are required to achieve both goals. Meeting these requirements also result in the ability to improve on legacy modalities. The system exceeds all appropriate safety requirements and is implemented with a modular architecture enabling cascading of the hardware such that the system capability and cost can be scaled according to the requirements of the application. While resource constraints precluded meeting critical functional requirements, tests and simulation of the subsystems proved the concept justifying further development.
Light limitation of photosynthesis and activation of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase in wheat seedlings.

In limiting light the activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuP(2)) carboxylase [3-phospho-D-glycerate carboxylyase (dimerizing), EC 4.1. 1.39] in leaf extracts of 7- to 8-day-old wheat seedlings changed proportionally with the photosynthetic rate of the intact plants. Higher rates of photosynthesis, induced by increasing irradiances, were accompanied by an increase in activation of the leaf RuP(2) carboxylase, while RuP(2) levels remained unchanged. The degree of activation varied from 20% to 60% of full activation at irradiances of 225-1650 muE/m(2). s (photosynthetically active radiation; E = einstein, 1 mol of photons). Between 225 muE/m(2). s and darkness, activation approached 50% while RuP(2) levels dropped more than 90%. During steady-state photosynthesis, levels of the substrate RuP(2) were 250-300 nmol/mg of chlorophyll in the leaves and were similar at all irradiances above 225 muE/m(2). s (25% of light saturation). When velocities of the carboxylase in leaf extracts were corrected for CO(2) levels estimated to exist within the leaf, they compared favorably with the photosynthetic rates of the intact seedlings. Comparison of CO(2) exchange rate, RuP(2) level, and activation of the carboxylase indicates that light limitation of photosynthesis can be due to two factors: the availability of RuP(2) in dark to dim light and activation of the RuP(2) carboxylase in dim light and higher irradiances.
Assessment of esthetic characteristics of the teeth and surrounding anatomical structures.

PURPOSE To determine the differences in the perception of aesthetic characteristics of the front teeth which include anatomic variations, appearance of the gums and dental arches, smiles and the lower third of the face between three groups of assessors. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included 60 patients with permanent fully toothed dentition with no prosthetic work done and with Angle class I, whose lower third of the face was photographed while smiling. Collected photos were then assessed by people of the general population (21), graduate doctors of dental medicine (20) and specialists in dental prosthetics (20) using a modified OAS questionnaire (Orofacial aesthetic scale). RESULTS General population assessors gave weakest scores to the appearance of teeth, tooth color and appearance of the dental arches, and they gave highest scores to the appearance of the gums. Specialists in dental prosthetics gave top scores (p <0.01) for the shape and color of teeth, the appearance of the dental arches and lips and general appearance of the lower third of the face, and gave the worst scores for the appearance of the gums (p <0.01). Male assessors and people aged 36-55 are the least critical in assessing the shape and the color of teeth, appearance of the arches and lips, and the general appearance of the lower third of the face. In assessing the gums the most tolerant assessors are patients over the age of 55 (p<0.01). CONCLUSION Considering the age and gender it can be concluded that all the criteria contribute to the assessment of the aesthetics of the teeth and surrounding structures. The results of this study may help in the planning of dental prosthetics procedures.
Comparing the efficacy of team based learning strategies in a problem based learning curriculum

We introduced two variants of team based learning (TBL) strategies in pathology course to seek their efficacy in a problem based learning (PBL) curriculum. The TBL strategy was adopted in two different sessions. One during regular resource session (RS‐TBL) and other during a weekly review session (RVS‐TBL) of the PBL curriculum. The study involved 104 second year students during their 8 weeks of cardiovascular‐respiratory units and 3 weeks of hematology units. RS‐TBL was adopted for cardiovascular‐respiratory unit and RVS‐TBL for hematology unit. The first 8 weeks of the course were implemented as RS‐TBL and the last 3 weeks as RVS‐TBL. The results showed that the group performance was markedly improved than individual performance in both RS‐TBL and RVS‐TBL (p < 0.001). Comparison between the RS‐TBL and RVS‐TBL revealed that individual student and group performance was better in the RVS‐BL (p < 0.001). The result of the student attitudinal survey indicated an 88% agreement that TBL enhanced their understanding of pathology concepts and critical analysis. Most of the participants (85%) found RVS‐TBL to be more useful. Post‐TBL, end of semester examination results proved beneficial for the students in risk. The study demonstrated that RVS‐TBL may be preferably adopted to enhance the philosophy of TBL in a PBL curriculum.
A Longitudinal Assessment of Structural and Chemical Alterations in Mixed Martial Arts Fighters.

Growing evidence suggests that temporally proximal acute concussions and repetitive subconcussive head injuries may lead to long-term neurological deficits. However, the underlying mechanisms of injury and their relative time-scales are not well documented in human injury models. The current study therefore investigated whether biomarkers of brain chemistry (magnetic resonance [MR] spectroscopy: N-acetylaspartate [NAA], combined glutamate and glutamine [Glx], total creatine [Cre], choline compounds [Cho], and myo-inositol [mI]) and structure (cortical thickness, white matter [WM]/subcortical volume) differed between mixed martial artists (MMA; n = 13) and matched healthy controls (HC) without a history of contact sport participation (HC; n = 14). A subset of participants (MMA = 9; HC = 10) returned for follow-up visits, with MMA (n = 3) with clinician-documented acute concussions also scanned serially. As expected, MMA self-reported a higher incidence of previous concussions and significantly more cognitive symptoms during prior concussion recovery. Fighters also exhibited reduced memory and processing speed relative to controls on neuropsychological testing coupled with cortical thinning in the left posterior cingulate gyrus and right occipital cortex at baseline assessment. Over a 1-year follow-up period, MMA experienced a significant decrease in both WM volume and NAA concentration, as well as relative thinning in the left middle and superior frontal gyri. These longitudinal changes did not correlate with self-reported metrics of injury (i.e., fight diary). In contrast, HC did not exhibit significant longitudinal changes over a 4-month follow-up period (p > 0.05). Collectively, current results provide preliminary evidence of progressive changes in brain chemistry and structure over a relatively short time period in individuals with high exposure to repetitive head hits. These findings require replication in independent samples.
Entropy Estimation and Multi-Dimensional Scale Saliency

In this paper we survey two multi-dimensional Scale Saliency approaches based on graphs and the k-d partition algorithm. In the latter case we introduce a new divergence metric and we show experimentally its suitability. We also show an application of multi-dimensional Scale Saliency to texture discrimination. We demonstrate that the use of multi-dimensional data can improve the performance of texture retrieval based on feature extraction.
House Dust Mite Extracts Activate Cultured Human Dermal Endothelial Cells to Express Adhesion Molecules and Secrete Cytokines

ABSTRACT The human skin contacts molecules from house dust mites that are ubiquitous in many environments. These mite-derived molecules may penetrate the skin epidermis and dermis and contact microvascular endothelial cells and influence their function. The purpose of this study was to determine the response of normal human dermal microvascular endothelial cells to extracts of the dust mites, Dermatophagoides farinae, D. pteronyssinus, and Euroglyphus maynei with and without endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide). Endothelial cells were stimulated with mite extracts and the expression of surface molecules and the secretion of cytokines were measured in the absence and presence of polymyxin B to bind endotoxin. All three mite extracts stimulated endothelial cells to express intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), and E-selectin and to secrete interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1), and granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Euroglyphus maynei-induced expression of all the cell surface molecules was not inhibited when the endotoxin activity in the mite extract was inhibited. In contrast, endothelial cells challenged with D. farinae or D. pteronyssinus extract depleted of endotoxin activity expressed only constitutive levels of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin. D. farinae and E. maynei extracts depleted of endotoxin activity still induced secretion of IL-8 and MCP-1 but at reduced levels. Only constitutive amounts of IL-6, G-CSF, and GM-CSF were secreted in response to any of the endotoxin-depleted mite extracts. Extracts of D. farinae, D. pteronyssinus, and E. maynei contain both endotoxins and other molecules that can stimulate expression of cell adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors and the secretion of cytokines by normal human microvascular endothelial cells.
Characteristics of P2X7-Like Receptor Activated by Adenosine Triphosphate in HIT-T15 Cells

Objectives: The study examined the presence of a P2X7 receptor subtype and its functional roles in pancreatic &bgr; cells. Methods: In a hamster &bgr;-cell line, HIT-T15 cells, purinergic stimulation was investigated using fluorometry, electrophysiology, flow cytometry, and electrophoresis. Results: Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and 2&vprime;-3&vprime;-O-(4-benzoylbenzoyl)adenosine 5&vprime;-triphosphate (BzATP) increased in the intracellular free Ca2+ concentration, with an EC50 of 398.0 and 136.6 &mgr;M, respectively. Preincubation with oxidized ATP, a P2X7 receptor antagonist, inhibited the ATP- and BzATP-induced increase in the intracellular Ca2+ level. The BzATP-induced increase in the intracellular Ca2+ level was dependent on the extracellular Ca2+ concentration. The extracellular Mg2+ had a significant effect on the ATP-induced increase in the intracellular Ca2+ level. The ATP also induced depolarization like high potassium chloride. In the voltage-clamp experiments, ATP evoked inward currents, which were reversed at almost 0 mV. The ATP stimulated the slow influx of ethidium bromide, indicating permeability to larger molecules. Flow cytometry showed that the number of hypodiploid cells (A0), which are indicative of apoptosis, increased when the cells were exposed to ATP for 24 hours. The ATP also induced DNA fragmentation. Conclusions: These results suggest that the HIT-T15 cells have endogenous P2X7-like receptors and that purinergic stimulation increased the level of intracellular Ca2+, depolarization, inward current, permeability, and apoptosis.
Activation of p38 and c-Jun N-terminal Kinase Pathways and Induction of Apoptosis by Chelerythrine Do Not Require Inhibition of Protein Kinase C*

Chelerythrine, a natural benzophenanthridine alkaloid, has been reported to mediate a variety of biological activities, including inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC). Here we report that chelerythrine induced time- and dose-dependent activation of JNK1 and p38 in HeLa cells, which was mediated the upstream kinases, MEKK1 and MKK4. However, treatment with two other potent and selective PKC inhibitors, GF-109203X and Gö6983, or down-regulation of PKC activity by prolonged treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate had no effect on JNK1 and p38 activities. Furthermore, under the conditions where JNK1 and p38 were activated, we did not observe any significant inhibitory effect of chelerythrine on the activities of PKC isozymes present in HeLa cells. Interestingly, pretreatment with the antioxidants,N-acetyl-l-cysteine, dithiothreitol, and glutathione, impaired chelerythrine-induced JNK1 and p38 activation. In addition, chelerythrine induced apoptosis that was blocked by the antioxidants and the dominant-negative mutants of MEKK1, MKK4, JNK1, and p38. Together, these results uncover a novel biochemical property of chelerythrine, i.e. activation of MEKK1- and MKK4-dependent JNK1 and p38 pathways through an oxidative stress mechanism, which mediate the induction of apoptosis, but are independent of PKC inhibition.
The STC Keyword Search System for OpenKWS 2016 Evaluation

This paper describes the keyword search system developed by the STC team in the framework of OpenKWS 2016 evaluation. The acoustic modeling techniques included i-vectors based speaker adaptation, multilingual speaker-dependent bottleneck features, and a combination of feedforward and recurrent neural networks. To improve the language model, we augmented the training data provided by the organizers with texts generated by the character-level recurrent neural networks trained on different data sets. This led to substantial reductions in the out-of-vocabulary (OOV) and word error rates. The OOV search problem was solved with the help of a novel approach based on lattice generated phone posteriors and a highly optimized decoder. This approach outperformed familiar OOV search implementations in terms of speed and demonstrated comparable or better search quality. The system was among the top three systems in the evaluation.