Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incidence of malignancies in patients with IgG4-related disease.

OBJECTIVE It has been discussed whether IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), including autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP), is associated with malignancy; however, the issue has not been clarified. METHODS We analyzed 113 patients with IgG4-RD in whom malignancy was not diagnosed at the time of IgG4-RD onset and the follow-up period was longer than six months. A total of 95 patients had AIP. The mean follow-up period was 73 months. The incidence of the observed malignancies was compared with the expected incidence in an age- and sex-matched general Japanese population based on the Vital Statistics of Japan. RESULTS There were 15 malignancies (lung cancer in five patients, pancreatic cancer in two patients, gastric cancer in two patients, bile duct cancer in one patient, renal cancer in one patient, breast cancer in one patient, tongue cancer in one patient, malignant melanoma in one patient and acute myeloid leukemia in one patient) in 14 patients during the follow-up period. The calculated standardized incidence rate of the total malignancies was not significant, that is, 1.04 (95% CI 0.57-1.75). CONCLUSION The incidence of total malignancies in IgG4-RD patients is similar to that observed in the general population. At present, it is reasonable to conclude that IgG4-RD is not associated with an increased incidence of total malignancies.
DeNovo: virus-host sequence-based protein-protein interaction prediction

MOTIVATION Can we predict protein-protein interactions (PPIs) of a novel virus with its host? Three major problems arise: the lack of known PPIs for that virus to learn from, the cost of learning about its proteins and the sequence dissimilarity among viral families that makes most methods inapplicable or inefficient. We develop DeNovo, a sequence-based negative sampling and machine learning framework that learns from PPIs of different viruses to predict for a novel one, exploiting the shared host proteins. We tested DeNovo on PPIs from different domains to assess generalization. RESULTS By solving the challenge of generating less noisy negative interactions, DeNovo achieved accuracy up to 81 and 86% when predicting PPIs of viral proteins that have no and distant sequence similarity to the ones used for training, receptively. This result is comparable to the best achieved in single virus-host and intra-species PPI prediction cases. Thus, we can now predict PPIs for virtually any virus infecting human. DeNovo generalizes well; it achieved near optimal accuracy when tested on bacteria-human interactions. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Code, data and additional supplementary materials needed to reproduce this study are available at: https://bioinformatics.cs. vt.edu/~alzahraa/denovo CONTACT alzahraa@vt.edu SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Number of neurons in individual laminae of areas 3B, 4 gamma, and 6a alpha of the cat cerebral cortex: a comparison with major visual areas.

The number of neurons per mm3 of tissue (number per volume) and the number under 1 mm2 of cortical surface (number per column) have been estimated for each lamina of seven cytoarchitectural areas of the cat cortex by using a method of size frequency distribution. The areas studied consisted of four visual areas (the binocular and monocular portions of area 17: 17B and 17M; area 18; and the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian area: PMLS), a somatosensory area (3B), and two motor areas (4 gamma and 6a alpha). For both series of measurements, significant differences could be demonstrated among the seven areas studied (one-way ANOVA; P less than .001). The number of neurons per volume in the binocular and monocular regions of area 17 (approximately 49,000/mm3) is 85% greater than that of each of the other regions (approximately 27,000) with a P less than . 01 on an a posteriori Tukey test, but there are no significant differences between the latter areas. The number of neurons per column is greater in the binocular portion of area 17 (78,000 under 1 mm2 of cortical surface) than in any other area (P less than .01). Other sensory areas (17M, 18, PMLS, and 3B) have fewer neurons per column (P less than .01) and the numbers do not vary significantly between these regions (range from 56,100 to 61,900). Areas 4 gamma and 6a alpha have still fewer neurons (approximately 44,000; P less than .01, except P less than .05 when compared to PMLS). Thus, the seven areas studied fall under three different categories. Motor areas have the smallest number of neurons per column, sensory areas have more, and the greatest number is found in the binocular region of area 17. It appears that these differences are principally (but not exclusively) due to variations in the number of neurons in layer IV: These variations are largely responsible for the differences that we have found between the binocular portion of area 17 and other sensory areas as well as between the latter and motor areas. We thus cannot confirm the view of Rockel et al. (Brain 103:221-244, '80) that there is a basic uniformity of the number of neurons per unit of cortical surface in different cortical areas of the cat.
The levodopa wearing-off phenomenon in Parkinson’s disease: pharmacokinetic considerations

Levodopa is the most efficacious treatment in the management of Parkinson’s disease. Unfortunately, chronic use of traditional levodopa/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor formulations is associated with the development of complications, such as wearing-off and dyskinesia. In an attempt to avoid these complications, some physicians delay the introduction of levodopa or employ levodopa-sparing strategies; however, these strategies are frequently suboptimal for patients. As most patients require the superior efficacy of levodopa during the course of their disease, an appreciation of the changing response to levodopa over time and an understanding of the pharmacokinetic principles underlying the development of complications such as wearing-off is essential in the long-term management of the patient.
Medical Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease is a serious ailment that afflicts nearly one million people in the U.S. alone. The medical management of this disorder currently includes salicylates, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive therapy, and symptomatic treatment with antidiarrheal agents, although several promising new drugs have been developed. The epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, and medical management of the disease are discussed in this article.
Proteolysis of SNAP‐25 Isoforms by Botulinum Neurotoxin Types A, C, and E

Abstract : Tetanus toxin and the seven serologically distinct botulinal neurotoxins (BoNT/A to BoNT/G) abrogate synaptic transmission at nerve endings through the action of their light chains (L chains), which proteolytically cleave VAMP (vesicle‐associated membrane protein)/synaptobrevin, SNAP‐25 (synaptosome‐associated protein of 25 kDa), or syntaxin. BoNT/C was reported to proteolyze both syntaxin and SNAP‐25. Here, we demonstrate that cleavage of SNAP‐25 occurs between Arg198 and Ala199, depends on the presence of regions Asn93 to Glu145 and Ile156 to Met202, and requires about 1,000‐fold higher L chain concentrations in comparison with BoNT/A and BoNT/E. Analyses of the BoNT/A and BoNT/E cleavage sites revealed that changes in the carboxyl‐terminal residues, in contrast with changes in the amino‐terminal residues, drastically impair proteolysis. A proteolytically inactive BoNT/A L chain mutant failed to bind to VAMP/synaptobrevin and syntaxin, but formed a stable complex (KD = 1.9 × 10‐7M) with SNAP‐25. The minimal essential domain of SNAP‐25 required for cleavage by BoNT/A involves the segment Met146‐Gln197, and binding was optimal only with full‐length SNAP‐25. Proteolysis by BoNT/E required the presence of the domain Ile156‐Asp186. Murine SNAP‐23 was cleaved by BoNT/E and, to a reduced extent, by BoNT/A, whereas human SNAP‐23 was resistant to all clostridial L chains. Lys185Asp or Pro182Arg mutations of human SNAP‐23 induced susceptibility toward BoNT/E or toward both BoNT/A and BoNT/E, respectively.
Sorafenib Therapy for BCLC Stage B/C Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Clinical Outcome and Safety in Aged Patients: A Multicenter Study in Japan

Background and aims: We aimed to compare clinical outcomes and safety after sorafenib therapy between patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B or C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) aged ≥75 years (aged group, n=179) and those with BCLC stage B or C HCC aged <75 years (control group, n=279). Patients and methods: We compared overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), best treatment response and sorafenib related serious adverse events (SAEs) of grade 3 or more in the two groups. Furthermore, for reducing the selection bias, we compared clinical outcome of these two groups using propensity score matching analysis. Results: The median OS and PFS intervals were 9.7 and 3.8 months in the aged group and 8.2 and 3.3 months in the control group (P=0.641 for OS and P=0.068 for PFS). Disease control rates were 49.2% (88/179) in the aged group and 49.1% (137/279) in the control group (P>0.999). Objective response rates were 15.1% (27/179) in the aged group and 14.3% (40/279) in the control group (P=0.892). Treatment related SAEs of grade 3 or more were observed in 51 patients (28.5%) in the aged group and in 69 patients (24.7%) in the control group (P=0.385). In the propensity score matched cohort (132 pairs), no significant difference in the two groups was observed in terms of OS (P=0.898) and PFS (P=0.407). Conclusion: In BCLC stage B or C HCC patients treated with sorafenib, life expectancy, disease progression, treatment efficacy and SAEs are unaffected by age over 75 years.
Association of MAMLD 1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms with hypospadias in Chinese Han population

Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital malformations among children. Both gene mutations and environmental factors are thought to be involved in the development of hypospadias. The mastermind-like domain-containing 1 gene (MAMLD1, formerly CXorf6) is a new candidate gene and its mutation has been shown in some cases of hypospadias. Here, by direct sequencing of PCR products, we assessed and found mutations that occur in 220 sporadic cases of hypospadias. The mutations p.N589S (c.1766A>G) was found at a significantly higher rate among patients with hypospadias.
Effectiveness of agricultural interventions that aim to improve nutritional status of children: systematic review

Objective To assess the effectiveness of agricultural interventions in improving the nutritional status of children in developing countries. Design Systematic review. Data sources Published and unpublished reports (after 1990) in English identified by searching 10 databases (Agris, Econlit, Eldis, IBSS, IDEAS, IFPRI, Jolis, PubMed, Web of Science, and World Bank), websites, previous systematic reviews, and reference lists and by contacting experts. Study selection Included studies assessed effects of agricultural interventions aiming at improving the nutritional status of children (bio-fortification, home gardens, small scale fisheries and aquaculture, dairy development, and animal husbandry and poultry development). Only studies that used a valid counterfactual analysis were included. Before/after studies and participants/non-participants comparisons affected by selection bias were excluded. Data analysis Results were analysed for four intermediate outcomes (programme participation, income, dietary diversity, and micronutrient intake) and one final outcome (prevalence of under-nutrition). Analysis was by summary tables of mean effects and by meta-analysis (for vitamin A absorption). Results The review included 23 studies, mostly evaluating home garden interventions. The studies reviewed did not report participation rates or the characteristics of participants in programmes. The interventions had a positive effect on the production of the agricultural goods promoted, but not on households’ total income. The interventions were successful in promoting the consumption of food rich in protein and micronutrients, but the effect on the overall diet of poor people remains unclear. No evidence was found of an effect on the absorption of iron, but some evidence exists of a positive effect on absorption of vitamin A. Very little evidence was found of a positive effect on the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children aged under 5. Conclusions The question posed by the review cannot be answered with any level of confidence. The data available show a poor effect of these interventions on nutritional status, but methodological weaknesses of the studies cast serious doubts on the validity of these results. More rigorous and better designed studies are needed, as well as the establishment of agreed quality standards to guide researchers in this important area.
Registration using projective reconstruction for augmented reality systems

In AR systems, registration is one of the most difficult problems currently limiting its applications. In this paper, we proposed a simple registration method using projective reconstruction. This method includes two steps: embedding and tracking. Embedding involves specifying four points to build the world coordinate system on which a virtual object will be superimposed. In tracking, a projective reconstruction technique in computer vision is used to track these specified four points to compute the modelview transformation for augmentation. This method is simple as only four points need to be specified at the embedding stage, and the virtual object can then be easily augmented onto a real video sequence. In addition, it can be extended to a general scenario using a generic projective matrix. The proposed method has three advantages: (1) It is fast because the linear least square method can be used to estimate the related matrix in the algorithm and it is not necessary to calculate the fundamental matrix in the extended case; (2) A virtual object can still be superimposed on a related area even if some parts of the specified area are occluded during the whole process; (3) This method is robust because it remains effective even when not all the reference points are detected during the whole process (in the rendering process), if at least six pairs of related reference point correspondences can be found. Several projective matrices obtained from the authors' previous work, which is unrelated with the present AR system, have been tested on this extended registration method. Experiments showed that these projective matrices can also be utilized for tracking the specified points.
US-guided catheter drainage of postoperative head and neck fluid collections.

PURPOSE To analyze results of percutaneous catheter drainage of large fluid collections in the head and neck region noted in the immediate postoperative period. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-four consecutive patients with 41 large fluid collections in the head and neck detected 7-10 days after oncologic surgery underwent percutaneous catheter drainage. There were 29 men and five women, with a mean age of 52.2 years (95% CI: 47.8-56.7). Each patient had a surgical drain placed in the posterior neck triangle; three patients had low-grade fever and six had diabetes at the time of percutaneous catheter drainage. Conventional management consisting of serial needle aspirations at bedside followed by pressure dressing failed in 15 of 34 patients (44%). Ultrasound-guided drainage was performed and catheters were connected to vacuum balls for continuous suction drainage. RESULTS The average fluid volume estimated by sonographic measurement was 84 cm(3) (95% CI: 57-112 cm(3)). The fluid content was serosanguinous in 46% (19 of 41), uncoagulated blood in 32% (13 of 41), pus in 15% (six of 41), and saliva in 7% (three of 41). The mean duration of catheter drainage was nine days (95% CI: 7-10 d) and mean fluid drainage was 287 mL (95% CI: 188-387 mL). Ninety-one percent of patients (31 of 34) were successfully treated with initial catheter drainage. Three patients had recurrent fluid collections at the same locations: two were treated with repeated catheter insertions and one required a limited open drainage. No complication related to catheter drainage was noted at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION Percutaneous catheter drainage is effective for large fluid collections in the head and neck region noted in the immediate postoperative period irrespective of contents.
A dual perspective on separable semidefinite programming with applications to optimal beamforming

Consider the downlink beamforming optimization problem with signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio constraints, null-shaping interference constraints and multiple groups of individual shaping constraints. We propose an efficient algorithm for the problem, which consists of firstly solving the dual of the semidefinite programm (SDP) relaxation, secondly formulating a linear program (LP) and solving it to find a rank-one solution of the SDP relaxation. In contrast to the existing algorithms, the analysis of the proposed algorithm includes neither the rank reduction steps (purification process) nor the Perron-Frobenius theorem.
Urinary Kidney Injury Molecules in Children with Iron-Deficiency Anemia

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the urine levels of human kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), and liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) in children with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA). Material/Methods Thirty-five children with IDA and 32 matched healthy controls were recruited. We assessed complete blood count, serum iron, iron-binding capacity, ferritin, serum levels of urea, creatinine (Cr), sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and glucose levels. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated. Urinary NAG, NGAL, KIM-1, and L-FABP were measured and divided by urine creatinine for comparisons. Results There were no significant differences in serum urea, Cr, or eGFR between the IDA group and the control group (p>0.05, for all). IDA patients had significantly higher urine NGAL/Cr, L-FABP/Cr, KIM-1/Cr, and NAG/Cr compared with the control group (p<0.05). There were significant negative correlations between hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cell count, and urine NGAL/Cr, NAG/Cr, L-FABP/Cr, KIM-1/Cr levels (p<0.05). Conclusions Higher urinary kidney injury molecule levels in IDA patients suggest a possible subclinical renal injury in pediatric IDA patients whose renal functions and serum electrolytes were normal.
Pattern of Blood Pressure Distribution Among Members of Staff in Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko , Ondo State , Nigeria

This study was designed to find out the pattern of blood pressure distribution among members of staff in Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study and 500 respondents sampled using population proportional to size was used. Two instruments were used for data collection. A digital sphygmomanometer and a self constructed questionnaire designed and built around the research questions. It was validated by three experts in Health Education and it has a reliability coefficient of 0.85. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 20 using simple percentages, bar graph, mean of scores and hypotheses were tested with t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that: 5.8% of the study population have their blood pressure above 140/90mmhg; age has significant influence on pattern of blood pressure distribution; sex; religion; nature of work; family type and length of service have no significant influence on the pattern of blood pressure distribution among members of staff in AAUA. It was recommended that stress should be reduced in the work place to avoid raised blood pressure; the working environment should be made healthy so as to enhance the growth and sustenance of positive emotion and members of staff should be encouraged to visit the university health centre on routine basis for checkups.
Diagnostic value of prolonged latencies in the vestibular evoked myogenic potential.

BACKGROUND As a parameter for the evaluation of the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP), amplitude has been used clinically. However, the significance of latency has not been considered. OBJECTIVE To clarify the diagnostic value of latencies of the VEMP. DESIGN We reviewed records of the VEMP of patients with various diseases and compared them with records of healthy volunteers. SETTING Data were collected from patients in an outpatient clinic of a tertiary care center and healthy volunteers. SUBJECTS Clinical records of 134 patients (61 men and 73 women, aged 20-75 years) were reviewed. Diagnoses were Meniere disease in 43 patients, acoustic neuroma in 62 patients, vestibular neuritis in 23 patients, and multiple sclerosis in 6 patients. Also, 18 healthy volunteers (13 men and 5 women, aged 25-38 years) were enrolled. INTERVENTION Diagnostic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Click-evoked myogenic potentials were recorded with surface electrodes over each sternocleidomastoid muscle. Latencies and amplitudes of responses were measured. RESULTS Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials were absent or decreased in 51% of patients with Meniere disease (n = 22), 39% with vestibular neuritis (n = 9), 77% with acoustic neuroma (n = 48), and 25% with multiple sclerosis (3 of 12 sides of 6 patients). Concerning latency, patients with Meniere disease or vestibular neuritis hardly showed any latency prolongation. Four patients with acoustic neuroma showed prolonged p13; all had large tumors. All patients with multiple sclerosis showed prolonged p13. CONCLUSION Prolonged latencies of the VEMP suggest lesions in the retrolabyrinthine, especially in the vestibulospinal tract.
Evaluation of pre-treatment with chlorexidine in the marginal microinfiltration of three different materials: In vitro study

Objective: To evaluate the restorations microleakage in three materials with and without 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) pre-treatment and in two storage times. Materials and methods: 120 class V cavities were prepared in healthy bovine incisors, divided according to restorative material: CCR (conventional composite resin); CBFR (composite bulk fill resin) and GIC (resin-reinforced glass ionomer cement) and subdivided according to storage time (7 and 60 days) and pretreatment (with or without CHX), with 10 wells for each subgroup. After the restorative procedure of each subgroup, the teeth were sealed and immersed in 0.5% basic fuchsin buffer for 24 hours. The teeth were sectioned and analyzed for the degree of microleakage. Results: Data were submitted to Kruskall-Wallis analysis, which showed no statistically significant differences between the variables evaluated. Conclusion: Based on the results found, the pre-treatment with chlorhexidine did not interfere in the marginal microleakage scores for the different storage times and in the different types of materials used. *Correspondence to: Veridiana Camilotti, Department of Restorative Dentistry, Dental School Rua Universitária, 2069–Faculdade, Cascavel-PR, Brazil, CEP 85.819-110, Tel. +554532203168, Fax: +554532203208, E-mail: vericamilotti@hotmail.com
An unusual life threatening cause of torticollis in a child

Although bladder function is thought to be unaffected in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, 46/88 boys interviewed had urinary problems. Nine underwent video urodynamics, showing in eight a small capacity, hyperreflexic bladder, and in the ninth (post spinal surgery) hyperreflexia and detrusor sphincter dyssynergia. Urinary dysfunction is a treatable feature of DMD.