Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modified Pfirrmann Grading System for Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Study Design. A reliability study was conducted. Objective. To modify a grading system for lumbar disc degeneration and to test the reliability of this modified grading system. Summary of Background Data. The 5-level Pfirrmann grading system for disc degeneration did not prove discriminatory when used to assess disc degeneration in the elderly spine. Such discriminatory power is necessary to test the association between other variables and severity of disc degeneration. Methods. An 8-level modified grading system for lumbar disc degeneration was developed including a description of the changes expected for each grade and a 24-image reference panel. The reliability of the modified grading system was tested on 260 lumbar intervertebral discs in 52 subjects (26 men, 26 female) with a mean age of 73 years (range, 67–83 years). All examinations were analyzed independently by 3 readers. Intraobserver and interobserver reliabilities were assessed by calculating weighted kappa statistics. Results. On average, for all 3 readers, 0.39% of the 260 discs were classified as Grade 2, 22% were classified as Grade 3, 21.5% were classified as Grade 4, 25.3% were classified as Grade 5, 19.1% were classified as Grade 6, 7.1% were classified as Grade 7, and 4.8% were classified as Grade 8. Intraobserver agreement was excellent (weighted kappa range, 0.79–0.91) with substantial interobserver agreement (weighted kappa range, 0.65–0.67). Complete intraobserver agreement was obtained, on average, in 85% of all discs with 84% of disagreement being as a result of a 1 grade difference. Complete interobserver agreement was obtained, on average, in 66% of all discs with 91% of disagreement being as a result of a 1 grade difference. Conclusion. The modified Pfirrmann grading system is useful at discriminating severity of disc degeneration in elderly subjects. The system can be applied with good intra- and interobserver agreement.
Pulmonary Responses to Welding Fumes: Role of Metal Constituents

It is estimated that more than 1 million workers worldwide perform some type of welding as part of their work duties. Epidemiology studies have shown that a large number of welders experience some type of respiratory illness. Respiratory effects seen in full-time welders have included bronchitis, siderosis, asthma, and a possible increase in the incidence of lung cancer. Pulmonary infections are increased in terms of severity, duration, and frequency among welders. Inhalation exposure to welding fumes may vary due to differences in the materials used and methods employed. The chemical properties of welding fumes can be quite complex. Most welding materials are alloy mixtures of metals characterized by different steels that may contain iron, manganese, chromium, and nickel. Animal studies have indicated that the presence and combination of different metal constituents is an important determinant in the potential pneumotoxic responses associated with welding fumes. Animal models have demonstrated that stainless steel (SS) welding fumes, which contain significant levels of nickel and chromium, induce more lung injury and inflammation, and are retained in the lungs longer than mild steel (MS) welding fumes, which contain mostly iron. In addition, SS fumes generated from welding processes using fluxes to protect the resulting weld contain elevated levels of soluble metals, which may affect respiratory health. Recent animal studies have indicated that the lung injury and inflammation induced by SS welding fumes that contain water-soluble metals are dependent on both the soluble and insoluble fractions of the fume. This article reviews the role that metals play in the pulmonary effects associated with welding fume exposure in workers and laboratory animals.
Intensity-based registration of medical images

We propose an intensity-based image registration technique for medical images. The registration is performed by the use of a measure based on the entropy of conditional probabilities. To achieve the registration, we define a modified conditional entropy (MCE) computed from the joint histograms for the area intensities of two given images. To evaluate the performance, we conduct various experiments with our method as well as existing methods based on the mutual information (MI) criteria. We evaluate the precision of MI- and MCE-based measurements by comparing the registration obtained from magnetic resonance (MR) images and transformed MR/transformed CT images. The experimental results show that the proposed method is faster and more accurate than MI optimization method.
Could hypoxia increase the prevalence of thrombotic complications in polycythemia vera?

Thromboses represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in polycythemia vera but the contributing mechanisms are not fully described. To evaluate whether environmental conditions such as altitude/hypoxia could impact thrombosis history, we retrospectively analyzed thrombosis history in 71 polycythemia vera patients living at an elevation of 5000 feet or more in the Salt Lake City (SLC) area and 166 polycythemia vera patients living near sea level in the Baltimore (BLM) area. The SLC cohort was older with a longer disease duration. No significant differences in type of anticoagulation therapy or prothrombotic factors were present between the two cohorts. After adjusting for age, sex and disease duration, SLC patients experienced an estimated 3.9-fold increase in the odds of a history of thrombosis compared with BLM patients (95% confidence interval 1.8–7.6; P = 0.0004). A history of a cardiovascular event was present in 58% of the SLC patients compared with 27% of the BLM patients (P < 0.0001). Before diagnosis, thrombosis occurred in 18 and 4% of the SLC and BLM groups, respectively (P = 0.003). No correlation between the JAK2V617F allele burden and thrombosis was observed in this study. This retrospective study suggests that even moderate hypoxia associated with 5000 feet elevation should be considered as an independent prothrombotic risk factor. This observation needs to be confirmed by prospective studies.
Evaluation of the 3M Rapid Detection Test for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in Children during the Early Stages of the 2009 RSV Season

ABSTRACT We report the results of the 3M rapid detection respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) assay. This study includes pediatric patient results from nasopharyngeal swabs submitted from October to December 2009. There was a sensitivity of 74% and specificity approaching 100% compared to the PCR-based xTAG respiratory viral panel.
PDK1‐dependent activation of atypical PKC leads to degradation of the p21 tumour modifier protein

p21WAF1/CIP1 contributes to positive and negative growth control on multiple levels. We previously mapped phosphorylation sites within the C‐terminal domain of p21 that regulate proliferating cell nucear antigen binding. In the current study, a kinase has been fractionated from mammalian cells that stoichiometrically phosphorylates p21 at the Ser146 site, and the enzyme has been identified as an insulin‐responsive atypical protein kinase C (aPKC). Expression of PKCζ or activation of the endogenous kinase by 3‐phosphoinositide dependent protein kinase‐1 (PDK1) decreased the half‐life of p21. Conversely, dnPKCζ or dnPDK1 increased p21 protein half‐life, and a PDK1‐dependent increase in the rate of p21 degradation was mediated by aPKC. Insulin stimulation gave a biphasic response with a rapid transient decrease in p21 protein levels during the initial signalling phase that was dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3‐ kinase, PKC and proteasome activity. Thus, aPKC provides a physiological signal for the degradation of p21. The rapid degradation of p21 protein during the signalling phase of insulin stimulation identifies a novel link between energy metabolism and a key modulator of cell cycle progression.
ECA Rules for IoT Environment: A Case Study in Safe Design

Reactive systems operate in various fields such as, surveillance systems, embedded systems and Internet of things. This paradigm can employ mechanisms of type Event - Condition -Action (ECA). It is a powerful and flexible tool to respond to complex situations. However, the behaviour of a rules based system is difficult to analyse because of the ability of rules to interact with each other. Particularly, in IoT area the rules that govern the relations between sensors and actuators will lead to highly distributed collaborative applications. Runtime coordination and formal analysis becomes a necessity to avoid side effects mainly when applications are critical. This paper presents a case study for safe applications development in IoT. Our approach proposes an extension of ECA semantic by discrete control. We defined a safe interaction properties and developed autonomous controllers that support ECA distribution.
Sodium citrate 4% versus heparin as a lock solution in hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters.

PURPOSE The effects of heparin versus sodium citrate 4% as a lock solution on catheter-related infections (CRIs), catheter patency, and hospitalizations in long-term hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters (CVCs) were compared. METHODS Data for patients receiving heparin lock solutions were collected from July 2008 to July 2009. Data on patients receiving sodium citrate 4% lock solution were collected from September 2009 through December 2010. Patients who were receiving the heparin lock solution who continued to have a CVC in September 2009 were transitioned from heparin to sodium citrate catheter 4% lock solution. New patients with CVCs placed after September 2009 received sodium citrate 4% without a period of using heparin lock solution. Pertinent information on patient medical history, bleeding or clotting events, infections, and hospitalization was collected. Data were collected retrospectively for the heparin group and prospectively for the sodium citrate group. RESULTS Data were collected from 360 patient-months among 60 patients during the heparin treatment period and from 451 patient-months among 58 patients during the sodium citrate period. Thirty-three patients were common to both study groups. There were significantly more CRIs and CRIs per 1000 catheter-days in the heparin than the sodium citrate treatment group. Secondary outcomes of hospitalizations and catheter thrombosis were comparable. CRIs and thrombosis led to significantly more catheter exchanges or removals in the heparin group than the sodium citrate group. CONCLUSION In patients with long-term hemodialysis catheters, a lock solution of sodium citrate 4% was associated with fewer CRIs and similar effectiveness when compared with heparin 5000 units/mL.
Comparison of five topologies rotor permanent magnet motors with improved fault-tolerance

This paper presents a detailed comparison of five topologies for rotor permanent magnet (RPM) motors with improved fault-tolerance. The five topologies include one surface-mounted topology, one surface-insert topology and three interior topologies (spoke-type, conventional and V shape). In these motors, the fault-tolerant teeth (FTT) and the concentrated winding are adopted to offer the merit of phase decoupling, which can make these motors offer the fault-tolerance. The performance characteristics, which include the flux density of air-gap, back electromotive force (back-EMF) and its harmonics, magnet mass and cogging torque are compared and analyzed. These electromagnetic characteristics of these proposed motors are analyzed by using the time-stepping finite-element method (FEM). The aim of the paper is to give some guidance and references for RPM motor designers.
Mesenchymal stem cells in kidney inflammation and repairnep

Mesenchymal stem cells are a heterogeneous population of fibroblast-like stromal cells that have been isolated from the bone marrow and a number of organs and tissues including the kidney. They have multipotent and selfrenewing properties and can differentiate into cells of the mesodermal lineage. Following their administration in vivo, mesenchymal stem cells migrate to damaged kidney tissue where they produce an array of antiinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that can alter the course of injury. Mesenchymal stem cells are thought to elicit repair through paracrine and/or endocrine mechanisms that modulate the immune response resulting in tissue repair and cellular replacement. This review will discuss the features of mesenchymal stem cells and the factors they release that protect against kidney injury; the mechanisms of homing and engraftment to sites of inflammation; and further elucidate the immunomodulatory effect of mesenchymal stem cells and their ability to alter macrophage phenotype in a setting of kidney damage and repair.
ATTENUATION IN EXTENDED STRUCTURES COATED WITH THIN MAGNETO-DIELECTRIC ABSORBER LAYER

Thin absorbing layers containing magnetic alloy or ferrite inclusions can be efiectively used for attenuating common-mode currents on extended structures, such as power cords, cables, or edge- coupled microstrip lines. An analytical model to evaluate attenuation on the coaxial line with the central conductor coated with a magneto- dielectric layer is proposed and validated by the experiments and numerical modeling. The analytical model is validated using available magneto-dielectric samples of difierent thicknesses. This model can serve for comparing and predicting the absorptive properties of difierent samples of magneto-dielectric materials, whose compositions may be unknown, but dielectric and magnetic properties can be determined by independent measurements over the specifled frequency ranges. From modeling the absorption in a coaxial line with a wrapped central conductor, it could be concluded whether it is reasonable to use this particular material in such applications as a shield on an Ethernet or other cable, for reducing potential common-mode currents and unwanted radiation in the frequency range of interest.
EFFECTS OF SHORT AND LONG RUN SUBPRIME CRISIS ON THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR IN THE EMERGING COUNTRIES: ARDL APPROACH

This paper deals with the relationship between the 2007 financial crisis and theindustrial sector for a panel of six emerging countries over the period 2002-2011. This crisis hasspread through several transmission channels and caused many problems in the financial systemsand in the economies in general. Any open economy cannot be immune from this crisis. The emergingcountries are not isolated from the rest of the world and, as a result, they are affected by the negativeeffects of the financial crisis because of their interference with the developed economies. The effectsare very clear in many real sectors mainly, in the industrial one. Our objective, in this paper, is tostudy the impact of the subprime crisis on the industrial sector in the emerging countries through theuse of the ARDL approach so that we can derive the various short and long-run relationship betweenthe variables question. The estimation results show that recession in the developed economies hasreduced industrial production in the emerging countries through the trade channel since it suddenlylimited direct investment and threatened the sectors related to the decomposition of the productiveprocess.
The Proportions and Rates of Economic Activities as a Factor of Gross Value Added Maximization in Transition Economy

Abstract Sustain growth of value added is one of the most important problem in many countries with transition economy. The article provides new evidence about determining the future dynamics of the economic activities with increasing value added. In this paper, we have used Hopfield’s neural network to clarify the strategies of social and economic development of country. Three types of strategies have been created with using mathematical models and quantitative assessment of their efficiency has been made. From the simulation results, it is observed that state regulation based on this methodology can build the basis for further improvements in economic policy.
Development of adjustable knee joint for walking assistance devices

This paper presents an adjustable knee mechanism for walking assistance devices for the elderly to provide physical gait assistance. The adjustable knee mechanism can assist in flexion/extension motions of the knee joint and compensate for the transitional movements of the knee in the sagittal plane as well as aligning the frontal plane. In order to compensate for the center of rotation, the proposed adjustable knee mechanism is implemented by connecting several rolling cams with unique and precisely calculated contact geometries. The key idea of the proposed mechanism is to realize linear motion and accurate torque transmission by a pulley method using the rolling joint in which the distance of the center between the rolling cams is changed. The proposed articulated joint can effectively deliver the torque required for assistance while adapting to the joint motion of the wearer. This paper describes the mechanical design of this knee mechanism and its implementation on a wearable robot and in preliminary experiments. The performance of the proposed mechanism was verified by simulations and experiments.
A Modified Reduced-Temperature Antigen Retrieval Protocol Effective for Use With a Polyclonal Antibody to Cyclooxygenase-2 (PG 27)

Antigen retrieval is now a standard procedure in immunohistochemical studies of tissues for diagnosis and research. While the most commonly used protocol (20 minutes at 100°C in citrate buffer pH 6.0) is effective for many antibody/antigen combinations, experience has shown that in some instances, this standard approach fails. Under these circumstances, a successful antigen retrieval protocol may still be established by varying key conditions in the antigen retrieval process. The authors previously have advocated a test battery approach to determine the optimal conditions for antigen retrieval, illustrated here with respect to a polyclonal antibody to cyclooxygenase-2 (PG-27) that failed to give a positive staining result after orthodox antigen retrieval. The key feature of this modified antigen retrieval protocol is heating the deparaffinized tissue sections at a reduced temperature (90°C as opposed to 100°C). For this particular antibody, a boiling condition yields a negative result, a principal reason why previous investigators have used a tyramide signal amplification system to achieve satisfactory immunohistochemical results with this antibody. The optimal antigen retrieval protocol established in the authors' laboratory for this polyclonal antibody to cyclooxygenase-2 (PG-27) was evaluated in a study of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cell lines and 31 bladder cancer tissue blocks using the tissue microarray technique, with side-by-side comparison between the results obtained by a tyramide signal amplification method (without antigen retrieval) and a standard immunohistochemical method with the optimized antigen retrieval protocol. The reduced temperature antigen retrieval protocol yielded a comparable or superior immunostaining for cyclooxygenase-2 both in cell lines and tissue blocks. In conclusion, use of the test battery approach allowed development of a modified antigen retrieval technique that provides a more reliable, much simpler approach for the demonstration of cyclooxygenase-2 in archival tissues.
Anti-Glypican 3, a Novel Ancillary Maker in the Histological Assessment of Hirschsprung's Disease

Objectives: Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) results from a malformation of the enteric nervous system. A congenital absence of intrinsic ganglion cells from the distal rectum and a variable length of the contiguous bowel is the required diagnostic feature of Hirschsprung's disease and total colonic aganglionosis (TCA). We evaluated the utility of a monoclonal antibody directed against glypican 3 (GPC-3), a membrane bound protein involved in regulation of the signaling of Wingless-types (WNTs), Hedgehogs (Hh), Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs), and Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs), in the detection of ganglion cells in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Methods: The presence/absence of ganglion cells was evaluated retrospectively by immunohistochemical staining for calretinin and GPC-3 in tissue specimens; a total of 15 patients who underwent colectomy (total or sub-total) for histologically proven aganglionosis (14 HSCR, 1 TCA) and 5 rectal suction biopsies (4HSCR-B, 1 TCA-B) were considered. Of the 20 considered cases, a total of 60 tissue specimens (3 for each patient) were selected. A total of 30 additional normal (N) colonic mucosa biopsy samples were also included. Results: GPC-3 constantly identified ganglion cell bodies in all but 2 normal biopsies (with normal presentation of ganglion cells on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain), and was negative in all 60 aganglionotic biopsies; these results were reflective of calretinin staining pattern. Conclusions: The present study indicates that monoclonal anti-GPC-3 might prove to be useful immunohistochemical marker in the identification of ganglion cells in paraffin-embedded rectal tissue specimens and suction biopsies. Further studies in larger series will contribute to demonstrate its utility as an ancillary marker in the histological assessment of HSCR aganglionosis.
Cystathione gamma lyase/Hydrogen Sulphide Pathway Up Regulation Enhances the Responsiveness of α1A and α1B-Adrenoreceptors in the Kidney of Rats with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interaction between H2S and NO (nitric oxide) in the kidney and to evaluate its impact on the functional contribution of α1A and α1B-adrenoreceptors subtypes mediating the renal vasoconstriction in the kidney of rats with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). In rats the LVH induction was by isoprenaline administration and caffeine in the drinking water together with intraperitoneal administration of H2S. The responsiveness of α1A and α1B to exogenous noradrenaline, phenylephrine and methoxaminein the absence and presence of 5-methylurapidil (5-MeU) and chloroethylclonidine (CEC) was studied. Cystathione gamma lyase (CSE), cystathione β synthase (CBS), 3-mercaptopyruvate sulphar transferase (3-MST) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were quantified. There was significant up regulation of CSE and eNOS in the LVH-H2S compared to the LVH group (P<0.05). Baseline renal cortical blood perfusion (RCBP) was increased (P<0.05) in the LVH-H2S compared to the LVH group. The responsiveness of α1A-adrenergic receptors to adrenergic agonists was increased (P<0.05) after administration of low dose 5-Methylurapidil in the LVH-H2S group while α1B-adrenergic receptors responsiveness to adrenergic agonists were increased (P<0.05) by both low and high dose chloroethylclonidine in the LVH-H2S group. Treatment of LVH with H2S resulted in up-regulation of CSE/H2S, CBS, and 3-MST and eNOS/NO/cGMP pathways in the kidney. These up regulation of CSE/H2S, CBS, and 3-MST and eNOS/NO/cGMP pathways enhanced the responsiveness of α1A and α1B-adrenoreceptors subtypes to adrenergic agonists in LVH-H2S. These findings indicate an important role for H2S in modulating deranged signalling in the renal vasculature resulting from LVH development.