Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic Value of Neck Node Status Using 18F-FDG PET for Salivary Duct Carcinoma of the Major Salivary Glands

18F-FDG PET and PET/CT have shown clinical usefulness in the initial staging and follow-up of patients with salivary malignancy. Therefore, we evaluated the utility of 18F-FDG PET in preoperative staging, determining the extent of neck node involvement, and surgical planning for patients with salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) of the major salivary gland. Methods: We evaluated 18 patients with SDC who were assessed by 18F-FDG PET and CT before surgery. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and predictive values of CT and PET/CT for predicting the primary tumor site and determining the extent of neck node involvement at each dissected neck level were evaluated by comparing imaging findings with pathologic nodal stage. Results: The median maximum standardized uptake value of the primary lesions and cervical nodes were 4.7 (range, 1.8–12.1) and 5.8 (range, 1.7–13.0), respectively. The sensitivities of 18F-FDG PET and CT for predicting the primary tumor site were 100% (18/18) and 94.4% (17/18), respectively. In analyzing cervical lymph nodes at 73 dissected neck levels, 18F-FDG PET had a sensitivity of 76.1%, a specificity of 96.3%, a positive predictive value of 97.2%, and a negative predictive value of 70.3%; the corresponding values for CT were 39.1%, 92.6%, 90.0%, and 47.2%, respectively. The sensitivity and negative predictive value were significantly higher for 18F-FDG PET than for CT (P < 0.001 and P = 0.03, respectively). 18F-FDG PET determination of the extent of neck node involvement changed the neck dissection regimen in 5 patients (27.8%). Conclusion: SDC of the major salivary gland is a highly metabolic tumor with high 18F-FDG uptake. 18F-FDG PET is useful for evaluating neck node status and for determining surgical planning in patients with major salivary gland SDC.
Image-Guided Po2 Probe Measurements Correlated with Parametric Images Derived from 18F-Fluoromisonidazole Small-Animal PET Data in Rats

18F-fluoromisonidazole PET, a noninvasive means of identifying hypoxia in tumors, has been widely applied but with mixed results, raising concerns about its accuracy. The objective of this study was to determine whether kinetic analysis of dynamic 18F-fluoromisonidazole data provides better discrimination of tumor hypoxia than methods based on a simple tissue-to-plasma ratio. Methods: Eleven Dunning R3327-AT prostate tumor-bearing nude rats were immobilized in custom-fabricated whole-body molds, injected intravenously with 18F-fluoromisonidazole, and imaged dynamically for 105 min. They were then transferred to a robotic system for image-guided measurement of intratumoral partial pressure of oxygen (Po2). The dynamic 18F-fluoromisonidazole uptake data were fitted with 2 variants of a 2-compartment, 3-rate-constant model, one constrained to have K1 equal to k2 and the other unconstrained. Parametric images of the rate constants were generated. The Po2 measurements were compared with spatially registered maps of kinetic rate constants and tumor-to-plasma ratios. Results: The constrained pharmacokinetic model variant was shown to provide fits similar to that of the unconstrained model and did not introduce significant bias in the results. The trapping rate constant, k3, of the constrained model provided a better discrimination of low Po2 than the tissue-to-plasma ratio or the k3 of the unconstrained model. Conclusion: The use of kinetic modeling on a voxelwise basis can identify tumor hypoxia with improved accuracy over simple tumor-to-plasma ratios. An effective means of controlling noise in the trapping rate constant, k3, without introducing significant bias, is to constrain K1 equal to k2 during the fitting process.
1. An Autopsy Case of Fatal Arrhythmia Induced by Injuries of the Atrioventricular Conduction System: A case report

A 65-year-old woman died three days after being involved in a traffic accident, following an episode of ventricular fibrillation. She was diagnosed as having suffered cardiac contusion, liver contusion, mediastinal hematoma and rib fracture on admission. Her electrocardiogram showed complete right bundle branch block, complete atrioventricular block, and right axis deviation. Aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase-MB were found to be elevated on biochemical blood analysis. These findings recovered and her condition appeared to improve daily. At autopsy, epicardial and intramyocardial haemorrhage were macroscopically seen in the posterior wall of the bilateral ventricles. On microscopic examination, there was evidence of fresh haemorrhage and coagulative necrosis with inflammatory reaction in the ordinary myocardium and adipose tissue around the atrioventricular node, which had spread to the proximal portion of the His' bundle. It is considered that these findings caused ventricular fibrillation to occur, and that the cause of death in this case was myocardial contusion due to blunt thoracic injury. This case would indicate that myocardium nearby atrioventricular junction is vulnerable to external force. Moreover, it would seem that fatal arrhythmia occasionally occurs during the follow-up stage, despite the lack of any significant clinical findings.
Characterisation of Zinc Oxide and Cadmium Oxide Nanostructures Obtained from the Low Temperature Thermal Decomposition of Inorganic Precursors

Low temperature syntheses of zinc oxide and cadmium oxide nanoparticles are reported in this paper. The inorganic precursor complexes were prepared and characterised by hydrazine and metal analyses, infrared spectral analysis, and thermal analysis. Using appropriate annealing conditions, zinc oxide and cadmium oxide nanoparticles of average particle sizes around 13 nm and 30 nm were synthesised from the precursors by a simple thermal decomposition route. The synthesised nanoparticles were characterised for their size and structure using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques.
18F-FES and 18F-FDG PET for Differential Diagnosis and Quantitative Evaluation of Mesenchymal Uterine Tumors: Correlation with Immunohistochemical Analysis

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the tumor uptake of 16α-18F-fluoro-17β-estradiol (18F-FES) and 18F-FDG using PET and expressions of sex hormone receptors, such as estrogen receptor (ER), as well as glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) and Ki-67 analyzed by the immunohistochemistry method in mesenchymal uterine tumors. Methods: Forty-seven patients with mesenchymal uterine tumors were studied with 18F-FES and 18F-FDG PET. Postoperative pathologic diagnosis revealed 33 uterine leiomyomas and 14 uterine sarcomas. Tissue samples were assayed for expression of ERα, ERβ, progesterone receptor (PR), PR-B, GLUT-1, and Ki-67 by an immunohistochemistry method. Standardized uptake values (SUVs) for 18F-FES and 18F-FDG were compared with the semiquantitative immunoreactive score (0–12) and quantitative labeling index (LI) for Ki-67 in immunohistochemistry. Results: 18F-FES uptake was significantly lower (P < 0.001) and the 18F-FDG uptake and SUV ratio of 18F-FDG to 18F-FES (18F-FDG/18F-FES ratio) (P < 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively) were significantly higher in uterine sarcomas than in leiomyomas. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed significantly higher expressions of ERα, PR, and PR-B in uterine leiomyomas than in sarcomas. The Ki-67 LI was significantly greater in uterine sarcomas than in leiomyomas. Correlation analysis for all tumors showed positive correlations between 18F-FES SUV and immunohistochemistry scores of ERα, PR (P < 0.001), and PR-B (P < 0.005) as well as between 18F-FDG SUV and GLUT-1 and Ki-67 (P < 0.001). However, the 18F-FDG/18F-FES ratio showed significantly negative correlations with ERα, PR (P < 0.001), and PR-B (P < 0.005) and a positive correlation with Ki-67 LI (P < 0.001). In uterine sarcomas, ERα and 18F-FES SUV showed a positive correlation (P < 0.001) in a low SUV range, and the 18F-FDG/18F-FES ratio showed positive correlations with ERβ and GLUT-1 expression (P < 0.005). Conclusion: 18F-FES and 18F-FDG PET showed correlations between tracer uptake and expressions of sex hormone receptors, GLUT-1, and Ki-67 in mesenchymal uterine tumors. The 18F-FDG/18F-FES ratio was correlated with Ki-67, GLUT-1, and ERβ in uterine sarcoma. Functional PET imaging and PET parameters would be useful noninvasive biomarkers for the assessment of tumor hormone receptor expression, glucose metabolism, and proliferation and for differential diagnosis of uterine leiomyoma and sarcoma.
Imaging Cell Death

There is currently a need for imaging methods capable of detecting cell death in tissues and the early onset of tumor cell death resulting from therapy. However, to date, no probe has been approved for routine imaging of cell death in the clinic. The challenge is to identify hallmarks of cell death, which have clinical relevance, and then to develop and validate imaging biomarkers for these hallmarks. We focus here on cell death imaging probes, which either have been trialed in the clinic or have significant promise, based on preclinical studies.
In Vivo Kinetic and Steady-State Quantification of 18F-CPFPX Binding to Rat Cerebral A1 Adenosine Receptors: Validation by Displacement and Autoradiographic Experiments

In vivo imaging of the A1 adenosine receptor (A1AR) using 18F-8-cyclopentyl-3-(3-fluoropropyl)-1-propylxanthine (18F-CPFPX) and PET has become an important tool for studying physiologic and pathologic states of the human brain. However, dedicated experimental settings for small-animal studies are still lacking. The aim of the present study was therefore to develop and evaluate suitable pharmacokinetic models for the quantification of the cerebral A1AR in high-resolution PET. Methods: On a dedicated animal PET scanner, 15 rats underwent 18F-CPFPX PET scans of 120-min duration. In all animals, arterial blood samples were drawn and corrected for metabolites. The radioligand was injected either as a bolus or as a bolus plus constant infusion. For the definition of unspecific binding, the A1AR selective antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX) was applied. After PET, the brains of 9 animals were dissected and in vitro saturation binding was performed using high-resolution 3H-DPCPX autoradiography. Results: The kinetics of 18F-CPFPX were well described by either compartmental or noncompartmental models based on arterial input function. The resulting distribution volume ratio correlated with a low bias toward identity with the binding potential derived from a reference region (olfactory bulb) approach. Furthermore, PET quantification correlated significantly with autoradiographic in vitro data. Blockade of the A1AR with DPCPX identified specific binding of about 45% in the reference region olfactory bulb. Conclusion: The present study provides evidence that 18F-CPFPX PET based on a reference tissue approach can be performed quantitatively in rodents in selected applications. Specific binding in the reference region needs careful consideration for quantitative investigations.
Stratification of 18F-Labeled PET Imaging Agents for the Assessment of Antiangiogenic Therapy Responses in Tumors

Successful antiangiogenic therapies have been developed for the treatment of various cancers, but not all patients respond. Therefore, the early determination of therapy efficacy is essential for patient management. This study was done to evaluate the utility of various PET imaging biomarkers for early determination of the response to therapy with the antiangiogenic agent axitinib, a multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in tumors with diverse biologic characteristics. Methods: Mice bearing U87-MG and MDA-MB-231 subcutaneous tumors were treated with axitinib (25 mg/kg intraperitoneally daily for 10 d), and tumor volumes were assessed with caliper measurements. The animals were concurrently imaged longitudinally with 18F-FDG, 3′-deoxy-3′-18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT), and 2-18F-fluoroethyl-triazolyl conjugated c(RGDyK) peptide (18F-FtRGD) to determine the optimal radiopharmaceutical for measuring the early treatment response in the 2 tumor types. Results: Daily administration of axitinib successfully retarded the growth of both U87-MG and MDA-MB-231 subcutaneous tumors, with significant differences in tumor volumes being observed from day 7 after therapy on. 18F-FDG revealed a treatment efficacy response only at day 10 after treatment in both U87-MG tumor–bearing and MDA-MB-231 tumor–bearing animals. 18F-FLT afforded earlier detection of the therapy response, revealing a significant difference between drug- and vehicle-treated animals at day 3 for animals bearing U87-MG tumors and at day 7 for animals bearing the more slowly growing MDA-MB-231 tumors. 18F-FtRGD showed a rapid change in tumor retention that reached significance by day 7 in U87-MG tumor–bearing animals; in contrast, no significant difference in tumor retention was observed in MDA-MB-231 tumor–bearing animals. Conclusion: Longitudinal imaging with different radiopharmaceuticals displays various characteristics in different tumor types, depending on their biologic characteristics. Such studies may provide clinically important information to guide patient management and monitor the response to antiangiogenic therapy with the optimum noninvasive imaging agent in the relevant cancer type.
Inference of hierarchical regulatory network of TCF7L2 binding sites in MCF7 cell line

The TCF7L2 transcription factor (TF) is a member of Wnt signalling pathway, and may influence transcription of several genes by binding to distinct regulatory regions. Genome-wide studies have identified thousands of TCF7L2 binding sites and have revealed some associated TF partners. However, there is still a large uncharted region in the hierarchical regulatory network for TCF7L2 and the partner TFs in MCF7 cells. We analysed ChIP-seq data by searching for motifs in the enriched peak region based on TF-specific position weight matrix (PWM). We found association of FOXO1 and CAD with up-regulated genes, AP2α, PBF and AP1 with down-regulated genes. TCF7L2 and GATA3 were found to be associated with both up and down-regulated genes. Our study uncovers new TCF7L2 associated regulatory networks by mining ChIP-seq data in MCF7 cell, which may contribute to further study of the mechanisms related to Wnt pathway in breast cancer or other diseases.
Family involvement and outcome in adolescent wilderness treatment: A mixed-methods evaluation

Wilderness treatment programmes, like residential programmes, serve children and adolescents with serious emotional, behavioural and substance use issues. Wilderness treatment programmes have limited empirical support for their effectiveness relative to other treatment modalities and require critical examination to delineate themselves from unregulated wilderness programmes currently under increased scrutiny in the United States for malpractice and unethical ‘treatment’ of troubled teens. While demonstrating promise in adolescent treatment outcomes, the family, and related family outcomes have received limited attention. This paper describes the wilderness treatment model, reviews the role of family involvement in adolescent treatment and presents the results of a mixed-methods examination of family involvement. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Development of a Nutrition Care Process implementation package for hospital dietetic departments

Aim The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has led the development and dissemination of the Nutrition Care Process (NCP), incorporating the Nutrition Care Process Terminology as the standardised language. This research investigates and compares the views of Australian dietitians pre and post NCP implementation to inform development of an NCP implementation package. Methods Dietitians from two hospitals that had undergone informal NCP implementation (post-implementers, n = 35) and three hospitals yet to implement NCP (pre-implementers, n = 35) completed an online questionnaire (ASK NCP) surveying demographics and constructs relating to knowledge, familiarity, confidence, support, value, barriers, training and NCP education. Results Post-implementers had higher knowledge scores (P < 0.05), were more familiar with NCP (P < 0.01), confident to implement (P < 0.01) and supported to use NCP (P < 0.01) than pre-implementers. Lack of knowledge, support, training and resources was identified as a barrier by pre-implementers. Busy workloads and work status were identified as barriers by post-implementers. Pre-implementers felt they had insufficient NCP training; however, if further training and support were to be provided, almost all reported they would be more confident to implement. Keys to successful implementation included allocated time to practice and regular tutorials; support and leadership from their management and NCP department leader; and professional growth through understanding how change could benefit practice. Conclusions The results of the study were used to inform the development of an NCP implementation package. Kotter's eight stages of change were identified as the most appropriate change management model with the framework incorporated into the package development.
Digital analysis of transmitral color Doppler M-mode data: a potential new approach to the noninvasive assessment of diastolic function

Color Doppler-M is an echocardiographic technique which reports blood velocity along a single echocardiographic scan line at <1 mm intervals, updated every 4 to 8 ms. To investigate regional ventricular pressure gradients associated with diastolic relaxation, the authors have designed a computer system for the processing and analysis of Doppler M-mode representations of blood passing from the left atrium to the ventricle. Data were obtained digitally from a commercial echocardiographic machine with velocity output at 5-b resolution on a 0.67-mm*4-ms spatiotemporal grid. After correcting the velocity for aliasing, data were smoothed by median and Gaussian filtration to remove both random and nonrandom noise. Data extracted included peak velocity, its spatial peak, and the inertial mass of transmitral blood. Availability of these methods should allow the use of color M-mode echocardiography in the clinical and research investigation of ventricular diastolic function. <<ETX>>
Noninvasive preclinical assessment of CAD

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the Western world. More than 500,000 men and women die from coronary artery disease (CAD) each year in the USA. Despite recent decreases in mortality, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the USA for men and women. The search for an accurate, noninvasive and lower-risk technique for diagnosing CAD continues to challenge researchers globally. This is complicated by the fact that in up to 50% of the patients the first manifestation of CAD is either myocardial infarction or death. During the past 2 decades, major strides have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Major emphasis has been placed on early screening, diagnosis and risk stratification. The ideal screening test should be one that is noninvasive, inexpensive, accurate and easily accessible and has higher sensitivity and specificity. In this article, the authors review the current noninvasive tools available to cardiologists and primary care physicians for early scree.
A perspective overview of topological approaches for vulnerability analysis of power transmission grids

Vulnerability analysis is a key issue in power systems since power transmission grids play a crucial role as a critical infrastructure. The power grid structure (number of nodes and lines, their connections, and their physical properties and operational constraints) is one of the main factors to assure power system security. Complex network theory as a promising topological approach for the structural vulnerability analysis has been widely used in many different fields. Recently, many complex network metrics have been proposed to assess the topological vulnerability of power transmission grids. However, these approaches are purely topological and fail in capturing the specific features of power systems. In this paper, an extended topological approach which incorporates electrical features such as flow path, line flow limits, etc., is presented. Three new metrics, net-ability, electrical betweenness and entropy degree are provided and used to assess structural vulnerability in power transmission grids.
Pharmacotherapy of obesity: emerging drugs and targets

Background: Obesity and its associated morbidities are the effects of imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Present drugs either regulate food intake by acting on neural circuits or reduce nutrient absorption from gut. These approaches have shown moderate success, with several safety concerns, leaving an unmet need for effective and safe therapy for obesity. Objective: To provide a brief background on obesity, summarize approved drugs and give an overview of emerging therapeutic targets, their potential benefits and disadvantages. Methods: A review based on information available from medical literature. Conclusions: Potential anti-obesity targets investigated can be classified into five broad categories: i) decreasing appetite through central action; ii) increasing metabolic rate or affecting metabolism through peripheral action; iii) modulating gut peptide receptors; iv) modulating targets to affect overall cardiometabolic parameters; and v) combination therapies directed against several targets.