Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Critical Evaluation of Existing Diabetic Foot Screening Guidelines.

AIM To evaluate critically the current guidelines for foot screening in patients with diabetes, and to examine their relevance in terms of advancement in clinical practice, improvement in technology, and change in socio-cultural structure. METHODS A structured literature search was conducted in Pubmed/Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, and Google between January 2011 and January 2015 using the keywords '(Diabetes) AND (Foot Screening) AND (Guidelines)'. RESULTS Ten complete diabetes foot screening guidelines were identified and selected for analysis. Six of them included the full-process guidelines recommended by the International Diabetes Federation. Evaluation of the existing diabetes foot screening guidelines showed substantial variability in terms of different evidence-based methods and grading systems to achieve targets, making it difficult to compare the guidelines. In some of the guidelines, it is unclear how the authors have derived the recommendations, i.e. on which study results they are based, making it difficult for the users to understand them. CONCLUSIONS Limitations of currently available guidelines and lack of evidence on which the guidelines are based are responsible for the current gaps between guidelines, standard clinical practice, and development of complications. For the development of standard recommendations and everyday clinical practice, it will be necessary to pay more attention to both the limitations of guidelines and the underlying evidence.
An Integrated Dictionary-Learning Entropy-Based Medical Image Fusion Framework

Image fusion is widely used in different areas and can integrate complementary and relevant information of source images captured by multiple sensors into a unitary synthetic image. Medical image fusion, as an important image fusion application, can extract the details of multiple images from different imaging modalities and combine them into an image that contains complete and non-redundant information for increasing the accuracy of medical diagnosis and assessment. The quality of the fused image directly affects medical diagnosis and assessment. However, existing solutions have some drawbacks in contrast, sharpness, brightness, blur and details. This paper proposes an integrated dictionary-learning and entropy-based medical image-fusion framework that consists of three steps. First, the input image information is decomposed into low-frequency and high-frequency components by using a Gaussian filter. Second, low-frequency components are fused by weighted average algorithm and high-frequency components are fused by the dictionary-learning based algorithm. In the dictionary-learning process of high-frequency components, an entropy-based algorithm is used for informative blocks selection. Third, the fused low-frequency and high-frequency components are combined to obtain the final fusion results. The results and analyses of comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed medical image fusion framework has better performance than existing solutions.
Nucleotide sequence and characterization of the sfs1 gene: sfs1 is involved in CRP*-dependent mal gene expression in Escherichia coli

We have cloned at least 12 different Escherichia coli genes which enable strain MK2001 to use maltose. The genes were designated sfs1 through sfs12 (sugar fermentation stimulation). Previously, one (sfs7) of them was mapped at 65 min on the E. coli chromosome and identified as nlp, which has high homology to repressor protein (Ner) of Mu phage, which contains a putative DNA binding region (Y.-L. Choi, T. Nishida, M. Kawamukai, R. Utsumi, H. Sakai, and T. Komano, J. Bacteriol. 171:5222-5225, 1989). In this study, another gene (sfs1) located at 3.5 min was newly found and analyzed. The nucleotide sequence of sfs1 encoded a protein of 234 amino acids (molecular mass, 26,227 Da) which also has a putative DNA binding domain. Overexpression of the sfs1 gene in MK2001 resulted in a 10-fold increase of amylomaltase, which was still dependent on MalT. These results suggest that Sfs1 could be a new regulatory factor involved in maltose metabolism.
Electrothermal Multiscale Modeling and Simulation Concepts for Power Electronics

This paper presents a finite-element-based simulation methodology to improve on multiscale modeling and analysis limitations of power electronics development. The method utilizes homogenization and nonmatching grid concepts to offer a high degree of flexibility and reduce computational effort. The applied homogenization method provides effective material properties to realize full-chip modeling performance without the need to model geometric details. The concept of nonmatching grids allows the inclusion of a subregion with substantially finer mesh than its surrounding regions. This allows the flexible integration of micrometer scale geometries with a high degree of detail within the full-chip model. Both concepts are thoroughly introduced and an application to a state-of-the-art power electronics semiconductor technology is presented. This paper focuses on electrothermal interaction and is experimentally verified on a dedicated test structure. The presented results provide electrothermal insights in current power electronic technologies and emphasize their potential to further improve the robustness and reliability of next generation technologies.
Interhemispheric visual integration in three cases of familial callosal agenesis.

Three cases of callosal agenesis (a 39-year-old woman and her 11- and 12-year-old daughters) were tested on their ability to integrate visual information between the visual hemifields. They were all able to name colors and digits in either hemifield with high accuracy and were able to decide whether letters or digits in opposite hemifields were the same or different. They had greater difficulty deciding whether colors in opposite hemifields were the same or different. When shown 6-letter words made up of pairs of 3-letter words that straddled the midline (e.g., MANAGE, ROTATE), they responded to them as whole words and never as 3-letter words, suggesting perceptual continuity across the midline, at least for verbal material. The most likely interpretation is that the integration of form, but not color, is achieved through the intact anterior commissure in these participants.
Extracting a spatial ontology from a large Flickr tag dataset

We propose an easy framework for automatically constructing spatial ontologies that locate related concepts together in a space. The conventional graph representation is strong in showing direct relationships between entities, but it is difficult to process its topology when extracting features from the network, because similarity between networks is not well determined. Spatial ontologies are easy to cluster and classify according to the similarities or relationships between entities. We propose a method for creating a spatial ontology called “Associated Keyword Space” and apply it to 0.4M tag words collected from more than 1M images in Flickr. Tags in Flickr have many unknown word tags, but the spatial ontology can explain the clusters of meaning including unknown word tags. The results show that these unknown word tags can be found from neighbor tags that have clear meanings. As a result, an “area ontology” can be explained from the spatial ontology.
Optimization of camera positions for free-navigation applications

In the article we deal with the problem of camera positioning in sparse multiview systems with applications to free navigation. The limited number of the cameras, though makes the system relatively practical, implies problems with proper depth estimation and virtual view synthesis, due to increased amount of the occluded areas. We present experimental results for the optimal positioning of the cameras, depending on two factors - characteristics of an acquired scene and the multi-camera system (linear or circular camera setup). The results show the correlation between the number of occlusions in the scene and a gain from using camera pairs instead of uniformly distributed cameras.
SHREC'13 Track: Retrieval of Objects Captured with Low-Cost Depth-Sensing Cameras

The SHREC'13 Track: Retrieval of Objects Captured with Low-Cost Depth-Sensing Cameras is a first attempt at evaluating the effectiveness of 3D shape retrieval algorithms in low fidelity model databases, such as the ones captured with commodity depth cameras. Both target and query set are composed by objects captured with a Kinect camera and the objective is to retrieve the models in the target set who were considered relevant by a human-generated ground truth. Given how widespread such devices are, and how easy it is becoming for an everyday user to capture models in his household, the necessity of algorithms for these new types of 3D models is also increasing. Three groups have participated in the contest, providing rank lists for the set of queries, which is composed of 12 models from the target set.
Factors influencing pain outcome in herpes zoster: an observational study with valaciclovir

Aim of the study An observational study with valaciclovir was conducted to assess clinical outcome in herpes zoster, especially pain and associated neurological signs and symptoms in relation to a series of demographic and disease characteristics discernible at presentation. The safety and acceptability of valaciclovir for treatment of zoster was assessed in a wide variety of primary care and clinic referral settings.
Assessment of the possibility of comparing the infrared thermographs geometric resolution defined by various methods

The geometric (spatial) resolution is defined as the thermograph ability to reproduce the geometrical details in the thermal image. There are numerous methods described in the literature to define the geometric resolution of the thermal imaging systems [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. Sometimes makes it difficult to compare the metrological features of these devices carried to determine their ability to distinguish in the thermal images of tested objects their geometric details. The paper presents some of the most common ways to define this parameter and the methods of comparing their values.
Dry powder inhalation exposures of the endotracheally intubated rat lung, ex vivo and in vivo: the pulmonary pharmacokinetics of fluticasone furoate.

BACKGROUND The isolated perfused rat lung (IPL) is a suitable model for studying lung-specific pharmacokinetics (PK) of inhaled drugs. So far, little has been known, however, whether the PK measured in the ex vivo organ corresponds to the PK measured in similarly exposed animals in vivo, in particular the endotracheally intubated rat (EIR). The purpose of the current research was to compare the PK of inhaled corticosteroid fluticasone furoate (FF) in the IPL and the EIR. METHOD Aerosols of FF with mass median aerodynamic diameters ranging from 2.2 to 3.2 μm were generated with the DustGun aerosol generator. The IPL, perfused in the single-pass mode, was exposed via inhalation to 5.6 and 46 μg of FF. Following inhalation, the perfusate was repeatedly sampled for 100 min, after which the lungs were recovered for quantitation of remaining FF. Two groups of EIR were also exposed via inhalation to 7 μg of FF. One group was immediately euthanized for determination of the initial deposition of FF in the lungs. From the second group, four venous blood samples were drawn up to 4 hr after exposure. The animals were then sacrificed for determination of FF remaining in the lungs. RESULTS Following inhalation, FF was slowly disappearing from both the IPL and the lungs of the EIR, with a half-life of pulmonary retention of 4.3-4.9 hr for all three exposure series. For the low exposure levels, the concentration curve of FF in the IPL perfusate was similar in shape to that in venous blood of the EIR, with a Cmax of 1.0 and 0.8 nM for the IPL and the EIR, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that the IPL and the EIR, when used jointly in PK studies, can provide a detailed characterization of inhaled drugs or toxicants.
A new hybrid-frequency radar system based on compressed sensing theory

Inspired by compressed sensing theory, a novel radar system, called hybrid-frequency radar is proposed. It transmits multiple carrier-frequency modulated by random amplitude in each pulse, and can use much fewer pulses than that of stepped-frequency radar to achieve the same non-ambiguous range interval while the target is sparse spatially.
Culture of bone marrow cells in GM‐CSF plus high doses of lipopolysaccharide generates exclusively immature dendritic cells which induce alloantigen‐ specific CD4 T cell anergy in vitro

Dendritic cells (DC) can be generated from mouse bone marrow (BM) in the presence of granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF). Bacterial stimuli such as endotoxin / lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can induce their final maturation. When BM‐DC cultures were treated at day 6 or later with LPS, this final maturation was induced in vitro within 24 h. Such mature DC exhibited high levels of surface MHC II molecules and potent T cell sensitizing, but reduced endocytosis capacity. In contrast, immature DC express only few MHC II molecules and are weak T cell stimulators but highly endocytic. When BM‐DC cultures in GM‐CSF were treated with 1 μg / ml LPS at day 0 of the culture or throughout the culture, only immature DC developed as defined by phenotype (MHC II low) and function (high endocytosis, weak primary mixed lymphocyte reaction). Those early LPS‐treated immature DC induced alloantigen‐specific anergy of CD4+ T cells in vitro. These findings might contribute to the understanding of reduced T cell immunity in the course of septic shock and find application in DC‐mediated tolerogenic immunotherapy strategies.
Distinct Mutations in Yeast TAFII25 Differentially Affect the Composition of TFIID and SAGA Complexes as Well as Global Gene Expression Patterns

ABSTRACT The RNA polymerase II transcription factor TFIID, composed of the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and TBP-associated factors (TAFIIs), nucleates preinitiation complex formation at protein-coding gene promoters. SAGA, a second TAFII-containing multiprotein complex, is involved in transcription regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of the essential protein components common to SAGA and TFIID is yTAFII25. We define a minimal evolutionarily conserved 91-amino-acid region of TAFII25 containing a histone fold domain that is necessary and sufficient for growth in vivo. Different temperature-sensitive mutations of yTAFII25 or chimeras with the human homologue TAFII30 arrested cell growth at either the G1 or G2/M cell cycle phase and displayed distinct phenotypic changes and gene expression patterns. Immunoprecipitation studies revealed that TAFII25 mutation-dependent gene expression and phenotypic changes correlated at least partially with the integrity of SAGA and TFIID. Genome-wide expression analysis revealed that the five TAFII25 temperature-sensitive mutant alleles individually affect the expression of between 18 and 33% of genes, whereas taken together they affect 64% of all class II genes. Thus, different yTAFII25 mutations induce distinct phenotypes and affect the regulation of different subsets of genes, demonstrating that no individual TAFII mutant allele reflects the full range of its normal functions.
Predictive modeling and in vivo assessment of cerebral blood flow in the management of complex cerebral aneurysms

Cerebral aneurysms are weakened blood vessel dilatations that can result in spontaneous, devastating hemorrhage events. Aneurysm treatment aims to reduce hemorrhage events, and strategies for complex aneurysms often require surgical bypass or endovascular stenting for blood flow diversion. Interventions that divert blood flow from their normal circulation patterns have the potential to result in unintentional ischemia. Recent developments in computational modeling and in vivo assessment of hemodynamics for cerebral aneurysm treatment have entered into clinical practice. Herein, we review how these techniques are currently utilized to improve risk stratification and treatment planning.
Complex disease, gender and epigenetics

Gender differences in susceptibility to complex disease such as asthma, diabetes, lupus, autism and major depression, among numerous other disorders, represent one of the hallmarks of non‐Mendelian biology. It has been generally accepted that endocrinological differences are involved in the sexual dimorphism of complex disease; however, specific molecular mechanisms of such hormonal effects have not been elucidated yet. This paper will review evidence that sex hormone action may be mediated via gene‐specific epigenetic modifications of DNA and histones. The epigenetic modifications can explain sex effects at DNA sequence polymorphisms and haplotypes identified in gender‐stratified genetic linkage and association studies. Hormone‐induced DNA methylation and histone modification changes at specific gene regulatory regions may increase or reduce the risk of a disease. The epigenetic interpretation of sexual dimorphism fits well into the epigenetic theory of complex disease, which argues for the primary pathogenic role of inherited and/or acquired epigenetic misregulation rather than DNA sequence variation. The new experimental strategies, especially the high throughput microarray‐based epigenetic profiling, can be used for testing the epigenetic hypothesis of gender effects in complex diseases.
PROTECTIVE ROLE OF VITAMIN C AND GREEN TEA EXTRACT ON MALATHION-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY AND NEPHROTOXICITY IN RATS

The present study was designed to determine the mod ulating effect of green tea and vitamin C against adverse effects of malathion. Animals were divided into four groups 5 rats /group). Group one was used as a control. Group two given malathion (50 mg /kg/day; 1/50 of the LD50 for four weeks). Group three and Group four were given malathion (50 mg/kg/day; 1/50 of the LD50 for four weeks) plus vitamin C (200 mg/kg/day) and plus green tea (36 mg/kg/day) respectively. At the end of the fourth week, the malathion-treated group had significantly lower Red Blood Cell count (RBCs), Hemoglobin concentration (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV%) and leucocytes (WBCs) than the control group. Compared to the control group, the malathion-treate d group had significantly higher serum Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), urea, creatinine and uric acid levels than the control group. The malathion treated rats also had significantly lower serum tot al protein, albumin and globulin levels than the control group, but the malathion plus vitamin C and malathion plus green tea groups did not differ from the control group in terms of these parameters . Moreover, concomitant vitamin C and green tea treatment significantly normalized, at least partia lly, all of the other hematological and biochemical parameters that were altered by malathion. Liver ti ssue homogenate in malathion treated group had lower Glutathione (GSH), Glutathione Peroxidase (GSH-PX) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) levels accompanied with higher level of Malondialdehyde (MDA) than the control group. Histopathological studies revealed that the malathion-treated, malath ion plus vitamin C and malathion plus green tea treated groups exhibited histopathological changes in liver and kidney tissues, although some pathological features were only observed in the mal athion-treated group. Thus, vitamin C and green tea can reduce malathion hepatotoxicity and nephrptoxic ity.
Enhanced transcriptional activation by E2 proteins from the oncogenic human papillomaviruses

A systematic comparison of transcriptional activation by papillomavirus E2 proteins revealed that the E2 proteins from high-risk human papillomaviruses (human papillomavirus type 16 [HPV-16] and HPV-18) are much more active than are the E2 proteins from low-risk HPVs (HPV-6b and HPV-11). Despite the tropism of HPVs for particular epithelial cell types, this difference in transcriptional activation was observed in a number of different epithelial and nonepithelial cells. The enhanced activities of the E2 proteins from high-risk HPVs did not result from higher steady-state levels of protein in vivo, and in vitro DNA-binding assays revealed similar binding properties for these two classes of E2 proteins. These results demonstrate that the E2 proteins from high-risk HPVs have an intrinsically enhanced potential to activate transcription from promoters with E2-responsive elements. We found that there are also substantial differences between the activation properties of the bovine papillomavirus type 1 E2 protein and those of either of the two classes of HPV E2 proteins, especially with regard to requirements for particular configurations of E2 binding sites in the target promoter. Our results indicate that there are at least three distinct functional classes of E2 proteins and that these classes of E2 proteins may perform different roles during the respective viral life cycles.
Comparison of the effect of the GABAΒ receptor agonist, baclofen, and the positive allosteric modulator of the GABAB receptor, GS39783, on alcohol self-administration in 3 different lines of alcohol-preferring rats.

BACKGROUND Administration of the GABA(B) receptor agonist, baclofen, and positive allosteric modulator, GS39783, has been repeatedly reported to suppress multiple alcohol-related behaviors, including operant oral alcohol self-administration, in rats. This study was designed to compare the effect of baclofen and GS39783 on alcohol self-administration in 3 lines of selectively bred, alcohol-preferring rats: Indiana alcohol-preferring (P), Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP), and Alko Alcohol (AA). METHODS Rats of each line were initially trained to respond on a lever, on a fixed ratio (FR) 4 (FR4) schedule of reinforcement, to orally self-administer alcohol (15%, v/v) in daily 30-minute sessions. Once responding reached stable levels, rats were exposed to a sequence of experiments testing baclofen (0, 1, 1.7, and 3 mg/kg; i.p.) and GS39783 (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg; i.g.) on FR4 and progressive ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement. Finally, to assess the specificity of baclofen and GS39783 action, rats were slightly food-deprived and trained to lever-respond for food pellets. RESULTS The rank of order of the reinforcing and motivational properties of alcohol was P>sP>AA rats. Under both FR and PR schedules of reinforcement, the rank of order of potency and efficacy of baclofen and GS39783 in suppressing alcohol self-administration was P>sP>AA rats. Only the highest dose of baclofen reduced lever-responding for food pellets; this effect was common to all 3 rat lines. Conversely, no dose of GS39783 altered lever-responding for food in any rat line. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that: (i) the strength of the reinforcing and motivational properties of alcohol differ among P, sP, and AA rats; (ii) the reinforcing and motivational properties of alcohol in P, sP, and AA rats are differentially sensitive to treatment with baclofen and GS39783; (iii) the heterogeneity in sensitivity to baclofen and GS39783 of alcohol self-administration in P, sP, and AA rats may resemble the differential effectiveness of pharmacotherapies among the different typologies of human alcoholics; and (iv) the GABA(B) receptor is part of the neural substrate mediating the reinforcing and motivational properties of alcohol.
Minimum quench energies of LHC strands

Within the framework of the LHC project a program has been initiated at CERN to establish the influence of various strand parameters (coating, Cu/Sc ratio, RRR, billet design, cooling) on the minimum quench energy (MQE) of LHC prototype strands operating in superfluid helium at 1.9 K in peak-fields of 9 T. The experimental technique is based on a graphite-paste tip heater. The analysis of the measurements was facilitated by a theoretical model based on the numerical solution of the one-dimensional heat balance equation.