Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic binge alcohol exposure during pregnancy impairs rat maternal uterine vascular function.

BACKGROUND Alcohol exposure during pregnancy results in an array of structural and functional abnormalities called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Alcohol dysregulates the exquisite coordination and regulation of gestational adaptations at the level of the uterine vasculature. We herein hypothesized that chronic binge-like alcohol results in uterine vascular dysfunction and impairs maternal uterine artery reactivity to vasoconstrictors and dilators. METHODS We utilized a once-daily binge alcohol (4.5 g/kg body weight) exposure paradigm (gestational day 7 to 17) in a pregnant rat model system and investigated primary uterine artery function in response to vasoconstrictors and vasodilators utilizing wire myography. RESULTS Alcohol (peak blood alcohol concentration, 216 mg/dl) produced uterine vascular dysfunction. Alcohol did not produce altered uterine vascular reactivity to α1 adrenergic agonist phenylephrine or the prostanoid thromboxane. However, alcohol specifically impaired acetylcholine (ACh)-mediated uterine artery vasodilation but exogenous endothelium-independent vasodilators like sodium nitroprusside exhibited no alcohol effect; ACh significantly decreased vessel relaxation (p = 0.003; ↓pD2 [negative log molar ACh concentration producing the half maximum response], -7.004 ± 0.215 vs. -6.310 ± 0.208; EMax [maximal ACh response], 92% vs. 75%). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that moderate alcohol exposure impairs uterine vascular function in pregnant mothers. Alcohol specifically impairs agonist-induced uterine artery vasodilation. In summary, the maternal uterine compartment may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of FASD. Thus, the mechanistic targets of alcohol at the level of both the mother and the fetus need to be considered in order to develop effective therapeutic treatment strategies for FASD.
Stereotactic Biopsy in Gliomas Guided by 3-Tesla 1H-Chemical-Shift Imaging of Choline

Objective: To investigate chemical-shift imaging (CSI) to guide stereotactic biopsy of the choline ‘hot spot’ in cerebral lesions suggestive of low-grade glioma. Methods: Nine patients with hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted images of standard magnetic resonance imaging without contrast enhancement underwent advanced magnetic resonance studies. These studies included 3-dimensional T1-weighted sequences with contrast enhancement and 2-dimensional 1H-CSI spectroscopy at 3 T. Signal intensity maps with relative signal intensities for choline were generated. The region with the highest choline signal intensity (the hot spot) was chosen as the target for stereotactic biopsy. The histopathological results were correlated with the increase in choline. Results: All spectroscopic data were of sufficient quality. In 5 instances the neuropathological diagnosis was grade II glioma, according to the WHO classification, and in 4 instances it was grade III glioma. According to the CSI criteria, all grade III gliomas and 4 of the 5 grade II gliomas were classified correctly. One grade II glioma was overestimated by CSI as a high-grade glioma. Conclusion:1H-CSI-guided stereotactic biopsy may offer advantages as compared to conventional stereotactic biopsy. The biopsy of the choline hot spot in suggestive low-grade gliomas may help to identify focal points of higher tumor malignancy independent of contrast enhancement.
Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase 1 Modulates the Lethality of CHK1 Inhibitors in Mammary Tumors

The present studies sought to define whether checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) inhibitors and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) inhibitors interact in vitro and in vivo to kill breast cancer cells. PARP1 and CHK1 inhibitors interacted to kill estrogen receptor (ER)+, ER+ fulvestrant-resistant, HER2+, or triple-negative mammary carcinoma cells in a manner that was not apparently affected by phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 functional status. Expression of dominant-negative CHK1 enhanced and overexpression of wild-type CHK1 suppressed the toxicity of PARP1 inhibitors in a dose-dependent fashion. Knockdown of PARP1 enhanced the lethality of CHK1 inhibitors in a dose-dependent fashion. PARP1 and CHK1 inhibitors interacted in vivo both to suppress the growth of large established tumors and to suppress the growth of smaller developing tumors; the combination enhanced animal survival. PARP1 and CHK1 inhibitors profoundly radiosensitized cells in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that the combination of PARP1 and CHK1 inhibitors has antitumor activity in vivo against multiple mammary tumor types and that translation of this approach could prove to be a useful anticancer therapeutic approach.
Cochlear Implantation in Children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

Objective: To report the patient's characteristics, preoperative audiological profiles, surgical outcomes, and postoperative performance for children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) who ultimately received cochlear implants (CIs). Design: Prospective, longitudinal study of children with ANSD who received CIs after a stepwise management protocol that included electrophysiologic and medical assessment, documentation of behavioral audiometric thresholds and subsequent fitting of amplification according to Desired Sensation Level targets, auditory-based intervention with careful monitoring of skills development and communication milestones, and finally implantation when progress with the use of acoustic amplification was insufficient. Results: Of 140 children with ANSD, 52 (37%) received CIs in their affected ears (mean duration of use of 41 mos). Many of these children were born prematurely (42%) and impacted by a variety of medical comorbidities. More than one third (38%) had abnormal findings on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and inner ear, and 81% had a greater than severe (>70 dB HL) degree of hearing loss before implantation. Although 50% of the implanted children with ANSD demonstrated open-set speech perception abilities after implantation, nearly 30% of them with >6 months of implant experience were unable to participate in this type of testing because of their young age or developmental delays. No child with cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) in their implanted ear achieved open-set speech perception abilities. In a subgroup of children, good open-set speech perception skills were associated with robust responses elicited on electrical-evoked intracochlear compound action potential testing when this assessment was possible. Conclusions: This report shows that children with ANSD who receive CIs are a heterogeneous group with a wide variety of impairments. Although many of these children may ultimately benefit from implantation, some will not, presumably because of a lack of electrical-induced neural synchronization, the detrimental effects of their other associated conditions, or a combination of factors. When preoperative magnetic resonance imaging reveals central nervous system pathology, this portends a poor prognosis for the development of open-set speech perception, particularly when CND is evident. These results also show that electrical-evoked intracochlear compound action potential testing may help identify those children who will develop good open-set speech perception. Instead of recommending CI for all children with electrophysiologic evidence of ANSD, the stepwise management procedure described herein allows for the identification of children who may benefit from amplification, those who are appropriate candidates for cochlear implantation, and those who, because of bilateral CND, may not be appropriate candidates for either intervention.
Structural, electronic and magnetic investigations on PLD based La2Ni1-xFexMnO6 disordered thin films

The double perovskite materials show the magnetic semiconductor, magneto-optic and magneto-capacitance like interesting properties. It is predicted that the B-site substitution in this system may results in interesting properties. La 2 Ni 1-x Fe x MnO 6 thin films are deposited on Pt/Ti/ Si(100) substrate by Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) technique. The films were uniform, fine grain and stoichiometric deposited at very low O 2 pressure. The XRD of La 2 Ni 1-x Fe x MnO 6 thin films exhibits rhombohedral (R-3) phase. The peak broadening appears in Raman spectra at antistretching (518 cm -1 ) and stretching (656 cm -1 ) modes with presence of overtone modes at 1308 cm -1 in La 2 Ni 1-x Fe x MnO 6 thin film samples. XPS analysis reveals the presence of La 3+ , NiO, Ni 3+ , Fe 3+ , Mn 3+ and oxygen vacancies in samples. The Ni 3+ and Mn 3+ antiferromagnetic coupling is responsible for decrease in saturation magnetization M s from 4.78 to 2.74 µ B /f.u as Fe substitution increases from 0.1 to 0.3 at 5K. The increase in grain size, peak broadening and decrease in magnetization of La 2 Ni 1-x Fe x MnO 6 thin film samples suggest presence of antisite defects and antisite phase boundary. The present work will helpful to study the effect of B site substitution on La 2 NiMnO 6 thin films structural, electronic and magnetic properties in order to make it suitable candidate for potential applications. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.
Primary Surgical Excision for Pediatric Orbital Capillary Hemangioma

Abstract We report the technique and outcome of surgical excision of subcutaneous orbital capillary hemangioma causing eye globe displacement in two children. Primary surgical excision was performed with blunt dissection along the tumor walls using a cotton-tipped applicator as the dissecting tool with simultaneous outward gentle traction on the tumor wall. Despite the deep and extensive orbital involvement, complete excision of the hemangiomas was achievable with this technique, which permitted excellent visualization of the surgical planes throughout the procedures. Deep and extensive pediatric orbital capillary hemangioma can be surgically excised with the suggested technique, which obviates the need for intralesional or systemic medical therapy, yielding optimal cosmetic and functional outcomes, shortly after surgery.
Cognitive Characteristics of Children With Mathematics Learning Disability (MLD) Vary as a Function of the Cutoff Criterion Used to Define MLD

Researchers of mathematics learning disability (MLD) commonly use cutoff scores to determine which participants have MLD. Some researchers apply more restrictive cutoffs than others (e.g., performance below the 10th vs. below the 35th percentile). Different cutoffs may lead to groups of children that differ in their profile of math and related skills, including reading, visual—spatial, and working memory skills. The present study assesses the characteristics of children with MLD based on varying MLD definitions of math performance either below the 10th percentile (n = 22) or between the 11th and 25th percentile (n = 42) on the Test of Early Math Ability, second edition (TEMA-2). Initial starting levels and growth rates for math and related skills were examined in these two MLD groups relative to a comparison group (n = 146) whose TEMA-2 performance exceeded the 25th percentile. Between kindergarten and third grade, differences emerged in the starting level and growth rate, suggesting qualitative differences among the three groups. Despite some similarities, qualitative group differences were also observed in the profiles of math-related skills across groups. These results highlight differences in student characteristics based on the definition of MLD and illustrate the value of examining skill areas associated with math performance in addition to math performance itself.
Research on Automatic Summarization System Based on Topic Partition

Automatic summarization is an important issue in natural language processing and becomes more and more important in some domains such as web information retrieval. This paper describes an automatic summarization system based on topic partition: Firstly, it analyzes the text structure of the web pages, then proposes an algorithm for multi-topic text partitioning based on semantic distance between paragraphs, and finally get the summarization by extracting the key sentences from different topics. This method can makes the abstract of multi-topic article have more general content and more balanced structure. The experimental result shows that its value is stable.
Computer Aided Detection on Mammography

— A typical definition of the Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD), found in literature, can be: A diagnosis made by a radiologist using the output of a computerized scheme for automated image analysis as a diagnostic aid. Often it is possible to find the expression Computer Aided Detection (CAD or CADe): this definition emphasizes the intent of CAD to support rather than substitute the human observer in the analysis of radiographic images. In this article we will illustrate the application of CAD systems and the aim of these definitions. Commercially available CAD systems use computerized algorithms for identifying suspicious regions of interest. In this paper are described the general CAD systems as an expert system constituted of the following components: segmentation / detection, feature extraction, and classification / decision making. As example, in this work is shown the realization of a Computer-Aided Detection system that is able to assist the radiologist in identifying types of mammary tumor lesions. Furthermore this prototype of station uses a GRID configuration to work on a large distributed database of digitized mammographic images.
Effect of Waste Steel Shavings on Bond Strength between Concrete and Steel Reinforcement

The investigation was carried out to know the effect of waste steel shavings on the bond resistance between concrete and steel reinforcement using 16mm and 20mm diameter high-yield reinforcing bars. Eighty (80) RILEM specimens, made up of forty (40) cubes each of 160mm x 160mm x 160mm and 200mm x 200mm x 200mm were cast and tested with varying percentages of waste steel shavings, (0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%, by weight of concrete) using pull out arrangement. The normal concrete (with no steel shavings) which are ten (10) in number were used as reference. Also, twelve (12) 150mm concrete cubes were cast to monitor the compressive strength of concrete. The results showed that bond strength increased with the addition of 2%, (by weight of concrete), of waste steel shavings.
Modeling of Two-Phase Behavior in the Gas Diffusion Medium of PEFCs via Full Morphology Approach

A full morphology (FM) model has been developed for studying the two-phase characteristics of the gas diffusion medium in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The three-dimensional (3D) fibrous microstructure for the nonwoven gas diffusion layer (GDL) microstructure has been reconstructed using a stochastic technique for Toray090 and SGL10BA carbon papers. The FM model directly solves for the capillary pressure-saturation relations on the detailed morphology of the reconstructed GDL from drainage simulations. The estimated capillary pressure-saturation curves can be used as valuable inputs to macroscopic two-phase models. Additionally, 3D visualization of the water distribution in the gas diffusion medium suggests that only a small number of pores are occupied by liquid water at breakthrough. Based on a reduced compression model, the two-phase behavior of the GDL under mechanical load is also investigated and the capillary pressure-saturation relations are evaluated for different compression levels.
Predictors of the Biomechanical Effects of Customized Foot Orthoses in Adults With Flat-Arched Feet

Objective: To determine the potential presence and characteristics of biomechanical responders to customized foot orthoses during walking in adults with flat-arched feet. Design: Experimental, repeated-measures. Setting: University clinic and laboratory. Participants: Eighteen symptom-free adults with flat-arched feet. Interventions: Customized foot orthoses. Main Outcome Measures: In-shoe foot biomechanics were measured during walking with and without customized foot orthoses using 3D analysis. Selected kinematic and kinetic variables during baseline walking were compared between subgroups who displayed reductions in calcaneal eversion with foot orthoses to those with no change or increases. Results: Biomechanical responders displayed significantly greater peak calcaneal eversion (+2.2 degrees, P = 0.009). Time to peak calcaneal eversion (−11%, P = 0.006), peak dorsiflexion of the hallux (−6 degrees, P = 0.001), and medial–lateral excursion of the center of pressure during loading response were all reduced in the responder subgroup (−2 mm, P ⩽ 0.001). Variables significantly different between subgroups were moderately associated with the response to foot orthoses (canonical correlation = 0.687, effect size = 0.47, P = 0.063). Conclusions: Individuals with increased dynamic foot pronation were more likely to show a favorable biomechanical response to customized foot orthoses, providing preliminary evidence to support the stratified use of foot orthoses to optimize their effectiveness.
Sildenafil treatment for portopulmonary hypertension

Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) is regarded as a subtype of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); however, established PAH therapies have not been evaluated for this condition. The current authors treated 14 patients (four male, 10 female; mean (range) age 55 (39–75) yrs) with moderate (n = 1) or severe (n = 13) POPH caused by alcoholic liver disease (n = 7), chronic viral hepatitis (n = 3), autoimmune hepatitis (n = 3), and hepatic manifestation of hereditary haemorrhagic teleangiectasia (n = 1) with oral sildenafil. Eight patients were newly started on pulmonary vasoactive treatment, while six patients were already on treatment with inhaled prostanoids (iloprost, n = 5; treprostinil, n = 1). During treatment with sildenafil, mean±sd 6-min walk distance increased from 312±111 m to 397±99 m after 3 months, and 407±97 m after 12 months. Mean±sd pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels decreased from 582±315 ng·mL-1 to 230±278 ng·mL-1, and to 189±274ng·mL-1 after 3 and 12 months, respectively. Two patients died after 1 and 2 months from liver failure and cardiac failure, respectively. There was a similar response to sildenafil treatment after 3 and 12 months in patients on monotherapy and those on combination therapy. In conclusion, sildenafil might be effective in monotherapy and in combination therapy with inhaled prostanoids in portopulmonary hypertension, leading to significant improvement by 3 months and sustained response over 12 months.
Facial Expression Recognition for HCI Applications

with significant head movement is a challenging problem. It is required by many applications such as human-computer interaction and computer graphics animation (Canamero, 2005 & Picard, 2001). To clas-sify expressions in still images many techniques have been proposed such as Neural Nets (Tian, 2001), Gabor wavelets (Bartlett, 2004), and active appearance models (Sung, 2006). Recently, more attention has been given to modeling facial deformation in dynamic scenarios. Still image classifiers use feature vectors related to a single frame to perform classification.
MR and Targeted Molecular MRI of Vulnerable Plaques

Plaque rupture or erosion represents a major cause of stroke and the acute coronary syndrome. Information on plaque morphology and composition is essential to identify patients at increased risk for acute cardio- and cerebrovascular events, and may play a key role in individualizing therapeutic strategies and monitoring the effect of interventions. The rapidly emerging field of MR and targeted molecular MRI allows to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize plaque features. We aimed to review the literature regarding the current most promising advanced techniques to image vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques.
Diurnal Emotional States Impact the Sleep Course

Background Diurnal emotional experiences seem to affect several characteristics of sleep architecture. However, this influence remains unclear, especially for positive emotions. In addition, electrodermal activity (EDA), a sympathetic robust indicator of emotional arousal, differs depending on the sleep stage. The present research has a double aim: to identify the specific effects of pre-sleep emotional states on the architecture of the subsequent sleep period; to relate such states to the sympathetic activation during the same sleep period. Methods Twelve healthy volunteers (20.1 ± 1.0 yo.) participated in the experiment and each one slept 9 nights at the laboratory, divided into 3 sessions, one per week. Each session was organized over three nights. A reference night, allowing baseline pre-sleep and sleep recordings, preceded an experimental night before which participants watched a negative, neutral, or positive movie. The third and last night was devoted to analyzing the potential recovery or persistence of emotional effects induced before the experimental night. Standard polysomnography and EDA were recorded during all the nights. Results Firstly, we found that experimental pre-sleep emotional induction increased the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep rate following both negative and positive movies. While this increase was spread over the whole night for positive induction, it was limited to the second half of the sleep period for negative induction. Secondly, the valence of the pre-sleep movie also impacted the sympathetic activation during Non-REM stage 3 sleep, which increased after negative induction and decreased after positive induction. Conclusion Pre-sleep controlled emotional states impacted the subsequent REM sleep rate and modulated the sympathetic activity during the sleep period. The outcomes of this study offer interesting perspectives related to the effect of diurnal emotional influences on sleep regulation and open new avenues for potential practices designed to alleviate sleep disturbances.
Adding Value in the Postanalytical Phase

Apart from maintaining the highest quality of analytical test results, laboratories are now getting more focused on how to achieve the greatest impact of laboratory results on their patient's outcome. Laboratory professionals are now in the learning phase of implementing new practices at different steps of the extra-analytical phases of the testing process where laboratories used to contribute seldom, only sporadically. Recently, the achievable levels of harmonization and responsible contributors at various steps of the testing process have also been proposed. Based on this proposal some tasks of the extra-analytical phase should become primarily the responsibility of laboratories with the involvement of clinicians, like additive testing, individualized interpretative commenting and reporting results with clinical urgency in postanalytical (PA) phase. These tasks can be good targets to start with or to increase patient outcome-oriented extra-analytical activities of laboratories. The status of the present practice of the PA activities for which laboratories proposed to be primarily responsible in the testing process - laboratory-driven PA tasks - will be reviewed below. In addition, approaches of quality assessment (QA) with quality specifications of these laboratory-driven PA tasks and the available best practice recommendations in the light of the achievable level of harmonization will be discussed. Laboratory professionals are encouraged to improve their methodological, theoretical and communicational skills and take the lead and participate in the discussed PA activities that can assist in translating laboratory test results into clinical meaning and thereby lead to better clinical utilization of laboratory test results.