Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic factors in head and neck cancer: Histologic grading, dna ploidy, and nodal status

Histopathologic malignancy score and DNA ploidy were investigated as prognostic factors for 72 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC). The malignancy grading was based upon four different morphologic characteristics for the tumor cell population and four characteristics for the tumorhost relationship. DNA ploidy was determined through flow cytometry on fresh‐frozen tumor samples. The median malignancy score was 20, with 71% of the tumors scoring < 20 being diploid and 68% of the tumors scoring ⩾ 20 being nondiploid (p = 0.003). Univariate analysis revealed that tumors scoring < 20 and diploid tumors had a significantly higher proportion of complete response and better survival as compared to tumors scoring ⩾ 20 and nondiploid tumors, respectively. There was a tendency toward better survival among patients without regional metastasis (NO) as compared with patients with regional spread (N+), whereas the other single factors, patient age, clinical stage, histologic grade, and tumor size did not correlate with prognosis. In N+ patients both malignancy score and DNA ploidy were predictive for survival, whereas in NO patients only malignancy score was related to prognosis. A multivariate analysis showed that the combination of malignancy score and nodal status were the strongest predictors for survival. DNA ploidy did not contribute further information in this test, due to its close relation with the histopathologic malignancy score.
Membrane Lipid-KIR2.x Channel Interactions Enable Hemodynamic Sensing in Cerebral Arteries

Inward rectifying (KIR) K+ channels are present in cerebral arterial smooth muscle and endothelial cells, a tandem arrangement suggestive of a dynamic yet undiscovered role for this channel. We explored whether vascular KIR channels were uniquely modulated by membrane lipids and hemodynamic stimuli. A KIR current was isolated in smooth muscle and endothelial cells of rat cerebral arteries and molecular analyses confirmed KIR2.1/KIR2.2 mRNA and protein expression. Electrophysiology next revealed that endothelial KIR was sensitive to phosphatidylinositol 4,5- bisphosphate (PIP2), with depletion impairing flow-induced activation of the channel. In contrast, smooth muscle KIR was sensitive to membrane cholesterol, with sequestration blocking pressure’s ability to inhibit this channel. Membrane lipids helped confer KIR mechanosensitivity to intact arteries; virtual models then reconceptualised KIR as a dynamic regulator of basal tone development. We conclude that specific membrane lipid-KIR interactions enable unique channel populations to sense hemodynamic stimuli and set brain perfusion.
Postoperative Pancreatic Swelling Predicts Pancreatic Fistula after Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a serious complication of pancreaticoduodenectomy. However, the criteria for prompting drainage have not been clarified yet. We evaluated 80 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy between 2011 and 2016. Clinically relevant POPF (International Study Group of Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula grade B or C) was evaluated on the basis of the following parameters: changes in pancreatic thickness between preoperation and postoperative day (POD) 4 identified via enhanced CT, drain amylase level, laboratory data, and operative factors. POPF occurred in 21 patients (26.3%). The median change in pancreatic thickness before and after operation was 8.33 mm in the POPF-positive group, which was significantly larger than that in the POPF-negative group (3.79 mm, P <0.001). In addition, operation time, pancreatic texture, main pancreatic duct diameter, WBC count, C-reactive protein level, and drain amylase level demonstrated significant differences between the groups. In the multivariate analysis, operation time, C-reactive protein level on POD 3, drain amylase level on POD 1, and the change in pancreatic thickness before and after operation were independent risk factors of POPF. The drastic change in pancreatic thickness before and after operation predicted POPF in this study. This might be one of the factors that determine the requirement for drainage.
The role of low-level image features in the affective categorization of rapidly presented scenes

It remains unclear how the visual system is able to extract affective content from complex scenes even with extremely brief (< 100 millisecond) exposures. One possibility, suggested by findings in machine vision, is that low-level features such as unlocalized, two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier spectra can be diagnostic of scene content. To determine whether Fourier image amplitude carries any information about the affective quality of scenes, we first validated the existence of image category differences through a support vector machine (SVM) model that was able to discriminate our intact aversive and neutral images with ~ 70% accuracy using amplitude-only features as inputs. This model allowed us to confirm that scenes belonging to different affective categories could be mathematically distinguished on the basis of amplitude spectra alone. The next question is whether these same features are also exploited by the human visual system. Subsequently, we tested observers’ rapid classification of affective and neutral naturalistic scenes, presented briefly (~33.3 ms) and backward masked with synthetic textures. We tested categorization accuracy across three distinct experimental conditions, using: (i) original images, (ii) images having their amplitude spectra swapped within a single affective image category (e.g., an aversive image whose amplitude spectrum has been swapped with another aversive image) or (iii) images having their amplitude spectra swapped between affective categories (e.g., an aversive image containing the amplitude spectrum of a neutral image). Despite its discriminative potential, the human visual system does not seem to use Fourier amplitude differences as the chief strategy for affectively categorizing scenes at a glance. The contribution of image amplitude to affective categorization is largely dependent on interactions with the phase spectrum, although it is impossible to completely rule out a residual role for unlocalized 2-D amplitude measures.
The Structure of the Global Reinsurance Market: An Analysis of Efficiency, Scale, and Scope

We estimate economies of scale and scope as well as cost and revenue efficiency to explain the structure of the global reinsurance market, where large reinsurers dominate but both diversified and specialized reinsurers are competitive. The costs and benefits of size and product diversification are particularly relevant to the reinsurance industry, as risk diversification is central to the industry's business model. We find that reinsurers with total assets less than USD 2.9 billion exhibit scale economies, while those with total assets greater than USD 15.5 billion do not. Large reinsurers are characterized by high cost efficiency, while small reinsurers exhibit superior efficiency only when specialized. Large reinsurers also exhibit revenue scope economies when operating both life and nonlife reinsurance. Moreover, the evidence is in line with the efficient structure hypothesis: cost-efficient reinsurers can charge lower prices without sacrificing profitability.
Compliance boundaries for LTE base station antennas at 2600 MHz

Compliance boundaries and allowed output powers based on on the whole body averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) and the 10 g averaged SAR in both the limbs and the head and trunk and the root mean squared electrical field, are determined for three orientations regarding three base station antennas (BSAs) emitting at 2600 MHz. The ICNIRP basic restrictions and reference levels for both the general public and occupational exposure, are used to determine these compliance boundaries. FDTD simulations are carried out using the virtual family male and CAD models of the three antennas. The results for the different basic restrictions and reference levels are compared and we observed that the reference levels are not conservative when the antenna is only partially radiating. The simulation results show that the basic restriction on the 10g averaged SAR in the head and trunk of the body determines the compliance boundaries at lower antenna powers. Combined compliance distances, which ensure compliance with all reference levels and basic restrictions, have been determined for every frequency. The errors on the estimated allowed power are used for an uncertainty analysis for the compliance distances.
Serial proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in acute multiple sclerosis lesions.

Serial proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), was carried out at 1-2 monthly intervals on eight patients with multiple sclerosis who presented with evidence of a large acute cerebral white matter lesion. An MRS was obtained from acute lesions (volumes of interest 4-12 ml), which at presentation showed gadolinium-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid enhancement, and from similar volumes of normal appearing white matter lateral to the lesion and nearer the scalp. Follow-up ranged from 4 to 9 months (mean 6 months). Short echo spectra from acute enhancing lesions invariably showed the presence of large resonances at 0.9 and 1.3 p.p.m. compared with normal appearing white matter and healthy age matched controls, indicating that these peaks were not the result of voxel contamination from scalp fat. These resonances, which probably represent lipid products of myelin breakdown, were detected in lesions which had been enhancing for < 1 month and remained elevated for a mean of 5 months (range 4-8 months). The results provide evidence that short echo proton MRS can detect myelin breakdown products and that myelin breakdown occurs during the initial inflammatory stage of lesion development. The ratio of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) (a neuronal marker) relative to creatine was reduced in acute lesions and in normal appearing white matter. In six of the lesions studied there was, however, a subsequent rise in the NAA/creatine ratio indicating that axonal loss is not the only mechanism of reduction in the NAA/creatine ratio.
Comparison of Quality of Life, Productivity, Functioning and Self-Esteem in Adults Diagnosed With ADHD and With Symptomatic ADHD

Objective: Investigate the association between diagnosis and outcomes in adults with symptoms of ADHD. Method: The Validate Attitudes and Lifestyle Issues in Depression, ADHD and Troubles with Eating (VALIDATE) study collected sociodemographic and clinical characteristics data, and responses from validated questionnaires on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), work productivity, functioning, and self-esteem. ADHD-diagnosed respondents (n = 444) were matched with respondents with symptomatic ADHD (n = 1,055) within the same sex-by-age group using propensity score matching. Effects of ADHD diagnosis on each outcome were adjusted for covariates that remained imbalanced after matching, using generalized mixed models. Results: After matching, symptomatic respondents (n = 867) had worse outcomes than ADHD-diagnosed respondents (n = 436), as measured by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment: General Health questionnaire and Sheehan Disability Scale (p < .001). ADHD-diagnosed respondents had better mean EuroQol five-dimensional five-level (EQ-5D-5L) scores and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale scores than symptomatic respondents (p < .001). Conclusion: ADHD-diagnosed individuals are more likely to experience better functional performance, work-related productivity, HRQoL, and self-esteem than individuals with symptomatic ADHD.
Majorization and the time complexity of linear optical networks

This work shows that the majorization of photon distributions is related to the runtime of classically simulating multimode passive linear optics, which explains one aspect of the boson sampling hardness. A Shur-concave quantity which we name the Boltzmann entropy of elementary quantum complexity () is introduced to present some quantitative analysis of the relation between the majorization and the classical runtime for simulating linear optics. We compare with two quantities that are important criteria for understanding the computational cost of the photon scattering process, (the runtime for the classical simulation of linear optics) and (the additive error bound for an approximated amplitude estimator). First, for all the known algorithms for computing the permanents of matrices with repeated rows and columns, the runtime becomes shorter as the input and output distribution vectors are more majorized. Second, the error bound decreases as the majorization difference of input and output states increases. We expect that our current results would help in understanding the feature of linear optical networks from the perspective of quantum computation.
Participation of angiotensin receptors in acute hypoxia in mice. II. Effects of angiotensin II nonpeptide receptor ligands losartan (DuP-753) and PD-123319.

The effects of intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) administered angiotensin nonpeptide receptor ligands losartan (DuP-753) and PD-123319 and their interactions with Ang II were examined on acute anoxic hypoxia in male mice. Results showed that losartan and PD-123319 exerted antihypoxic effects including increased latency to convulsive seizures and survival time and pretreatment with both drugs enhanced Ang II-increased survival time. Taken together, the results suggest that the antihypoxic effect of losartan and PD-123319 is most likely due to action on brain AT1 and AT2 receptors with both drugs behaving as partial agonists.
Pressure overload leads to coronary plaque formation, progression and myocardial events in ApoE-/- mice

Hypercholesterolemia and hypertension are two major risk factors for coronary artery diseases, which remain the major cause of mortality in the industrialized world. Current animal models of atherosclerosis do not recapitulate coronary plaque disruption, thrombosis and myocardial infarction occurring in human. Recently, we demonstrated that exposure of the heart to high pressure, by transverse aortic constriction (TAC), induced coronary lesions in ApoE-/- mice on chow diet. The aim of this study was to characterize the magnitude and location of coronary lesions in ApoE-/- mice post-TAC, and to assess the susceptibility of coronary plaque to disruption, leading to myocardial events. Here we describe a reliable pathological condition in mice characterized by the development of coronary lesions and its progression leading to myocardial infarction, which better recapitulate human disease. Following TAC surgery, about 90% of ApoE-/- mice develop coronary lesions, especially in the left anterior descending artery, with 59% of the mice manifesting different magnitude of LAD stenosis. Myocardial events, identified in 74% of the mice, were mainly due to coronary plaque thrombosis and occlusion. That TAC induces the development and progression of coronary lesions in ApoE-/- mice leading to myocardial events represents a novel and important tool to investigate the development of coronary lesions and its sequelae in a setting that better resemble human conditions.
Patterns of alcohol and drug use among depressed older adults seeking outpatient psychiatric services.

OBJECTIVE Alcohol and drug use and related problems may compromise depression treatment, and older adults may be especially at risk for poor outcomes. However, alcohol and drug use among older adults have not been studied in settings in which depression treatment is provided. This study examined the prevalence and clinical and demographic correlates of alcohol and drug use and misuse of prescription drugs among adults with depression seeking outpatient psychiatric care (excluding chemical dependency treatment). METHODS The sample included 154 older adults (age 60 years and older who scored ≥10 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II] at intake). Participants also completed alcohol and drug use questions and the Short Michigan Alcohol Screening Test. RESULTS Recent alcohol and drug use, heavy episodic drinking, and history of alcohol-related problems were common. Alcohol use in the prior 30 days was reported by 53% of men and 50% of women. Cannabis use in the prior 30 days was reported by 12% of men and 4% of women; and misuse of sedatives in the prior 30 days was reported by 16% of men and 9% of women. In exact logistic regression, higher BDI-II score was associated with cannabis use (odds ratio = 15.8, 95% confidence interval = 2.0-734.0, exactp = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS Older adults with depression are likely to present for treatment with a range of concurrent alcohol and drug use patterns, including cannabis use and misuse of prescription medication. Clinicians should evaluate depressed patients for substance use and related problems and consider appropriate interventions.
Monte-Carlo Planning for Pathfinding in Real-Time Strategy Games

In this work, we explore two Monte-Carlo planning approaches: Upper Confidence Tree (UCT) and Rapidlyexploring Random Tree (RRT). These Monte-Carlo planning approaches are applied in a real-time strategy game for solving the path finding problem. The planners are evaluated using a grid-based representation of our game world. The results show that the UCT planner solves the path planning problem with significantly less search effort than the RRT planner. The game playing performance of each planner is evaluated using the mean, maximum and minimum scores in the test games. With respect to the mean scores, the RRT planner shows better performance than the UCT planner. The RRT planner achieves more maximum scores than the UCT planner in the test games.
Brain derived neurotrophic factor expression and DNA methylation in response to subchronic valproic acid and/or aldosterone treatment

Aim To test the hypothesis that valproic acid treatment positively affects brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression and DNA methylation in the hippocampus and brain cortex of rats simultaneously treated with aldosterone. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats (N = 40) were treated for two weeks with valproic acid (100 mg/1 kg body weight/day) in drinking water and aldosterone (2 μg/100 g body weight/day) or placebo via subcutaneous osmotic minipumps. Results Treatment with valproic acid did not modify BDNF gene expression in the hippocampus but reduced BDNF mRNA levels in the brain cortex. Valproic acid treatment marginally enhanced global DNA methylation in the frontal cortex. BDNF expression negatively correlated with DNA methylation in the hippocampus of valproic acid-treated rats. An unexpected finding was that aldosterone treatment significantly decreased global DNA methylation in the hippocampus. Conclusion The effect of valproic acid on BDNF expression in the brain may depend on the extent of pathological changes present at the time of treatment onset. The observed negative correlation between BDNF expression and DNA methylation in the hippocampus of valproic acid-treated rats encourages further studies.
Challenges in Use of Adolescent Anthropometry for Understanding the Burden of Malnutrition.

Improving nutritional status during adolescence is an opportunity to improve the lives of this generation and the next. Estimating the burden of malnutrition at a population level is fundamental to targeting interventions and measuring progress over time, and for adolescents, we usually depend on survey data and the 2007 WHO Growth Reference to do so. There is substantial risk of misguided conclusions regarding adolescent prevalence estimates, however, when underlying methodological limitations of the indicators and reference are not adequately considered. We use national prevalence estimates among girls and young women 10-22 y of age from the 2014 State of Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh report as an example to demonstrate that determining the true prevalence of undernutrition, overweight, and obesity is complicated by racial/ethnic variation across populations in timing of the adolescent growth spurt, growth potential, and body build. Further challenging the task are inherent limitations of the body mass index as an indicator of thinness and adiposity, and cutoffs that poorly distinguish a well-nourished population from a malnourished one. We provide recommendations for adolescent nutrition policy and program decision-making, emphasizing the importance of 1) critically interpreting indicators and distributions by age when using the 2007 WHO Growth Reference; 2) examining what is happening before and after adolescence, when interpretation of anthropometry is more straightforward, as well as trends over time; and 3) complementing anthropometry with other information, particularly dietary intake. Finally, we advocate that nutrition researchers prioritize exploration of better methods to predict peak height velocity, for development of standardized indicators to measure dietary quality among adolescents, and for studies that will illuminate causal paths so that we can effectively improve adolescent dietary intake and nutritional status.
p53 involvement in clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) increases with age and occurs when a single mutant hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) contributes to a significant clonal proportion of mature blood lineages. Somatic mutations in the TP53 gene, which encodes the tumor suppressor protein p53, rank in the top five among genes that were mutated in CHIP. This review focuses on mechanisms by which mutant p53 promotes CHIP progression and drives the pathogenesis of hematological malignancies, including myelodysplastic syndromes, and acute myeloid leukemia. RECENT FINDINGS TP53 was frequently mutated in individuals with CHIP. Although clinical studies suggest that expansion of HSCs with TP53 mutations predisposes the elderly to hematological neoplasms, there is a significant gap in knowledge regarding the mechanisms by which TP53 mutations promote HSC expansion. Recent findings suggest that several cellular stressors, including hematopoietic transplantation, genotoxic stress, and inflammation, promote the expansion of HSCs with TP53 mutations. Further, TP53 mutations identified in CHIP cooperate with genetic and/or epigenetic changes in leukemogenesis. SUMMARY TP53 mutations identified in CHIP are associated with increased risks of de novo and therapy-related hematological neoplasms. Thus, targeting mutant p53 and related pathways holds great potential in preventing CHIP progression and treating hematological malignancies.