Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Aortic Valve Area in Aortic Stenosis Using Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Tomography: Comparison with Echocardiography

Background: Cardiac magnetic resonance tomography (CMR) is a new imaging technique capable of imaging the aortic valve with high resolution. We assessed the aortic valve area (AVA) in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) using CMR and compared the results to those obtained by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Methods: Forty-two patients (36% female, 71 ± 8 years) symptomatic for AS underwent TTE followed by TEE to determine the AVA; the continuity equation was used with TTE and the planimetry technique with TEE. In 26 of these patients, the AVA was additionally obtained by CMR planimetry. Results: The mean AVA derived by TTE, TEE and CMR were 0.74 ± 0.27, 0.87 ± 25 and 0.97 ± 0.30 cm2, respectively. The mean absolute differences in AVA were 0.13 ± 0.19 cm2 for TTE vs. TEE, 0.21 ± 0.25 cm2 for TTE vs. CMR and 0.05 ± 0.11 cm2 for CMR vs. TEE. Conclusion: There is a good agreement between CMR and the echocardiographic determination of the AVA. If multicenter, large-scale studies confirm these observations, CMR could serve as a noninvasive alternative to TTE/TEE for the assessment of AVA in AS.
Marked association between obesity and glomerular hyperfiltration: a cross-sectional study in an African population.

BACKGROUND Obesity and African American ethnicity are established independent risk factors for the development of chronic kidney disease. No data exist about the association between obesity and renal hemodynamics in the African region. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS 301 nondiabetic participants (97 lean, 108 overweight, and 96 obese) of African descent with a positive family history of hypertension from the Seychelles islands. PREDICTOR Body mass index (BMI). OUTCOMES Glomerular hyperfiltration, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), effective renal plasma flow (ERPF), and filtration fraction. MEASUREMENTS GFR and ERPF were measured using inulin and para-aminohippurate clearances, respectively. Participants' baseline demographics, laboratory data, and blood pressure were measured using standard techniques. RESULTS The prevalence of glomerular hyperfiltration (defined as GFR >or=140 mL/min) increased across BMI categories (7.2%, 14.8%, and 27.1% for lean, overweight, and obese participants, respectively; P < 0.001). Higher BMI was associated with higher median GFR (99, 110, and 117 mL/min for lean, overweight, and obese participants, respectively; P < 0.001), ERPF (424, 462, and 477 mL/min, respectively; P = 0.01), and filtration fraction (0.23, 0.24, and 0.25; P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses adjusting for age, sex, blood pressure, fasting glucose level, and urinary sodium excretion and accounting for familial correlations confirmed the associations between high BMI (>25 kg/m(2)) and increased GFR, ERPF, and filtration fraction. No association between BMI categories and GFR was found with adjustment for body surface area. LIMITATIONS Participants had a positive family history of hypertension. CONCLUSION Overweight and obesity are associated with increased GFR, ERPF, and filtration fraction and a high prevalence of glomerular hyperfiltration in nondiabetic individuals of African descent. The absence of associations between BMI categories and GFR indexed for body surface area raises questions regarding the appropriateness of indexing GFR for body surface area in overweight populations.
Efficacy of Corrected Rapid Turnover Protein Increment Index (CRII) for Early Detection of Improvement of Nutrition Status in Patients with Malnutrition

Serum prealbumin level is useful for assessment of changes in nutritional status but it is markedly affected by the inflammation. In this study, we examined the efficacy of the corrected rapid turnover protein increment index (CRII) for prealbumin, which is calculated as [prealbumin level/C-reactive protein (CRP) level on the assessment day]/[prealbumin level/CRP level on the day of starting nutritional care], for prediction of improvement of nutritional status in patients with malnutrition. The subjects were 50 hospitalized patients with low albuminemia, who were receiving nutritional care. Serum concentrations of albumin, prealbumin and CRP were measured every week for 5 weeks. We defined patients whose serum albumin level was elevated by more than 0.2 g/dl after 5 weeks as those showing improved nutritional status. There was a significant difference in the prealbumin level between improved and unimproved patients at 5 weeks after the start of nutritional support. On the other hand, the prealbumin CRII value showed a significant difference between the groups at 1 and 2 weeks after the start of nutritional support. In conclusion, assessment of prealbumin CRII is useful for early prediction of improved nutritional status in patients with malnutrition.
Heterogeneity of muscarinic receptor-mediated Ca 2 (cid:1) responses in cultured urothelial cells from rat

receptor-mediated responses in cultured urothelial cells from rat. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol F971–F981, receptors (mAChRs) have been identiﬁed in the urothelium, a tissue that may be involved in bladder sensory mechanisms. This study investigates the expression and function of mAChRs using cultured urothelial cells from the rat. RT-PCR established the expression of all ﬁve mAChR subtypes. transient repeatable increases in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i ) in (cid:3) 50% of cells. the (10 (cid:2) of 2 (cid:1) ] i inﬂux from external milieu in 63% of cells and inﬂux from external milieu plus release from internal stores in 27% of cells. The use of speciﬁc agonists and antagonists (cid:2) M M 1 agonist McN-A-343; 10 (cid:2) M M 2 , M 3 antagonists AF-DX 116, 4-DAMP) revealed that M 1 , M 2 , M 3 subtypes were involved in [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i changes. The PLC inhibitor U-73122 (10 (cid:2) M) abolished OxoM-elicited Ca 2 (cid:1) responses in the presence of the M 2 antagonist AF-DX 116, suggesting that M 1 , M 3 , or M 5 mediates [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i increases via PLC pathway. ACh (0.1 (cid:2) M), Musc (10 (cid:2) M), oxotremorine sesquifumarate (20 (cid:2) M), and McN-A-343 (1 (cid:2) M) acting on M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 mAChR subtypes stimulated ATP release from cultured urothelial cells. In summary, cultured urothelial cells express functional M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 mAChR subtypes whose activation results in ATP release, possibly through mechanisms involving [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i changes. Ca 2 (cid:1) levels and trigger release of ATP. These data provide support for the proposed role of urothelial mAChRs in bladder function and for interactions between urothelium (via urothe-lium-derived factors), efferent and afferent nerves, that together can
RuDriCo2 - a faster disambiguator and segmentation modifier

Currently, L 2 F 's NLP chain has a bottleneck. Module Ru- DriCo (Rule Driven Converter) is substantially slower than the remaining modules of the chain. RuDriCo is a rule-based morphological disambigua- tor with the possibility to change segmentation (join or split tokens). This paper describes the changes made to the system to improve its perfor- mance by using the concept of layers and also by reducing the number of variables contained in the rules. It also describes the changes in rule syntax, such as the addition of new operators and contexts, which makes the rules more expressive. Resumo. Actualmente, a cadeia de PLN do L 2 F tem um modulo que ´ substancialmente mais lento que os outros, o RuDriCo. O RuDriCo ´ um desambiguador morfologico baseado em regras que tambem permite alterar a segmentacao de texto. Este trabalho descreve os melhoramen- tos realizados, nomeadamente a introducao de novos operadores, a in- troducao do conceito de camada e a reducao do numero de variaveis usadas na especificacao das regras.
Impact of Disease and Treatments on Growth and Puberty of Pediatric Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Growth retardation, associated with delayed puberty, is a frequent feature in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially with Crohn’s disease. It is mainly induced by malnutrition and the effects of the inflammatory process on the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 axis or on the growth plate. Therefore, control of disease activity and mucosal healing are paramount to promote growth and adequate pubertal onset. Current therapeutic strategies for maintenance in IBD include anti-inflammatory drugs, immunosuppressives, and, more recently, biologic agents. Although these treatments are efficient in minimizing inflammation and inducing prolonged remission, their long-term effects on growth and final height remain controversial. Furthermore, glucocorticoid therapy, even though very efficient in inducing remission, clearly shows deleterious effects on growth, which is not the case for exclusive enteral nutrition showing comparable results regarding induction of remission. Thus regular assessment of weight, height and pubertal stage is essential in children and adolescents with chronic disease, namely IBD.
D-mystifying the D-root address change

On January 3, 2013, the D-root DNS server hosted at the University of Maryland changed IP address. To avoid service disruption, the old address continues to answer queries. In this paper, we perform an initial investigation of the traffic at both the new and old addresses before, during, and since the flag day. The data we collected show non-obvious behavior: the overall query volume to the D-roots increases by roughly 50%, the old address continues to receive a high volume of queries months after the changeover, and far more queries to the old address succeed than those to the new one. Our analysis provides a window into how compliant resolvers change over and how non-standard and seemingly malicious resolvers react (or not) to the IP address change. We provide evidence that a relatively small number of implementation errors account for nearly all discrepancies that are not misconfigurations or attacks.
In situ molecular hybridization for detection of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus DNA by using strand-specific probes: identification of target cells for viral replication in cell cultures and in mink kits with virus-induced interstitial pneumonia

Strand-specific hybridization probes were utilized in in situ molecular hybridization specifically to localize replicative form DNA of Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV). Throughout in vitro infection, duplex replicative form DNA of ADV was located in the cell nuclei. Single-stranded virion DNA and capsid proteins were present in the nuclei early in infection, but were later translocated to the cytoplasm. In neonatal mink, ADV causes acute interstitial pneumonia, and replicative forms of viral DNA were found predominantly in alveolar type II cells of the lung. Viral DNA was also found in other organs, but strand-specific probes made it possible to show that most of this DNA represented virus sequestration. In addition, glomerular immune complexes containing intact virions were detected, suggesting that ADV virions may have a role in the genesis of ADV-induced glomerulonephritis.
Rapid Development of Characters in FPS/3PS Games Using Visually-Specified Behavior-based Control

First/third-person simulations in virtual environments have become increasingly used in training; however, creating intelligent, interactive characters to populate these environments presents a large authorial burden. Our work focuses on building tools to enable rapid creation of intelligent characters for first/third-person game-like environments with no programming knowledge required by the user. This is made possible using behavior-based control combined with a user interface employing natural language-like character specification in the form of English sentences and interactive testing during development.
Human IFT52 mutations uncover a novel role for the protein in microtubule dynamics and centrosome cohesion.

Mutations in genes encoding components of the intraflagellar transport IFT complexes have previously been associated with a spectrum of diseases collectively termed ciliopathies. Ciliopathies relate to defects in the formation or function of the cilium, a sensory or motile organelle present on the surface of most cell types. IFT52 is a key component of the IFT-B complex and ensures the interaction of the two subcomplexes IFT-B1 and IFT-B2. Here, we report novel IFT52 biallelic mutations in cases with a short-rib thoracic dysplasia (SRTD) or a congenital anomaly of kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). Combining in vitro and in vivo studies in zebrafish, we showed that SRTD-associated missense mutation impairs IFT-B complex assembly and IFT-B2 ciliary localization, resulting in decreased cilia length. In comparison, CAKUT-associated missense mutation has a mild pathogenicity, thus explaining the lack of skeletal defects in CAKUT case. In parallel, we demonstrated that the previously reported homozygous nonsense IFT52 mutation associated with Sensenbrenner syndrome (Girisha et al, 2016) leads to exon skipping and results in a partially functional protein. Finally, our work uncovered a novel role for IFT52 in microtubule network regulation. We showed that IFT52 interacts and partially co-localised with centrin at the distal end of centrioles, where it is involved in its recruitment and/or maintenance. Alteration of this function likely contributes to centriole splitting observed in Ift52-/- cells. Altogether, our findings allow a better comprehensive genotype-phenotype correlation amongst IFT52-related cases and revealed a novel, extra-ciliary role for IFT52 which disruption may contribute to pathophysiological mechanisms.
Comparison of desflurane and fentanyl-based anaesthetic techniques for coronary artery bypass surgery.

We have compared, in 51 ASA II and III patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, an inhaled anaesthetic technique based on desflurane, supplemented with low-dose (10 micrograms kg-1) fentanyl, with an i.v. technique using high-dose (50 micrograms kg-1) fentanyl with midazolam for induction. Satisfactory records were available for analysis in 50 patients. There were no differences between groups in operating time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time or duration of stay in the intensive care unit after surgery. Desflurane maintained mean systemic arterial pressure at the awake level during incision and sternotomy (end-tidal concentrations 3.7% and 4.6%, respectively) but decreased it significantly at all other times. With fentanyl, mean systemic arterial pressure was unchanged from awake values during induction and laryngoscopy but increased significantly at incision and sternotomy by 8% and 12.8%, respectively, to exceed the desflurane group at sternotomy by 20 mm Hg (P < 0.001). With desflurane, heart rate remained at 60-67 beat min-1 at all times before cardiopulmonary bypass. This was always lower than the fentanyl group by 5-15 beat min-1 and the difference was significant at induction, during skin preparation and before aortic cannulation. In comparison with the desflurane group, cardiac index was significantly greater in the fentanyl group at induction, laryngoscopy and during skin preparation, but was significantly less before aortic cannulation. The need for vasodilator intervention was significantly more common in the fentanyl group before, during and after cardiopulmonary bypass and for beta adrenoceptor block before cardiopulmonary bypass. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Anergy induced by thymic medullary epithelium

Thymocytes can be rendered tolerant by non‐deletional mechanisms upon interaction with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens on thymic epithelium. Whether the epithelial cells in the cortex or medulla could mediate this effect was not clear so far. To address this question, a transgenic mouse was generated in which the bovine keratin IV promoter was used to control expression of the alloantigen Kb. In the periphery the Kb transgene was expressed on a subset of keratinocytes. In the thymus expression was restricted to a subpopulation of medullary epithelial cells. No expression was found in the cortex. Such a tissue distribution has been reported for the keratin IV molecule demonstrating the faithfulness of the promoter used here.
Reproducibility of functional MR imaging results using two different MR systems.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the application of functional MR imaging for presurgical planning, high reproducibility is required. We investigated whether the reproducibility of functional MR imaging results in healthy volunteers depended on the MR system used. METHODS Visual functional MR imaging reproducibility experiments were performed with 12 subjects, by using two comparable 1.5-T MR systems from different manufacturers. Each session consisted of two runs, and each subject underwent three sessions, two on one system and one on the other. Reproducibility measures D (distance in millimeters) and R(size) and R(overlap) (ratios) were calculated under three conditions: same session, which compared runs from one session; intersession, which compared runs from different sessions but from the same system; and intermachine, which compared runs from the two different systems. The data were averaged per condition and per system, and were compared. RESULTS The average same-session values of the reproducibility measures did not differ significantly between the two systems. The average intersession values did not differ significantly as to the volume of activation (R(size)), but did differ significantly as to the location of this volume (D and R(overlap)). The average intermachine reproducibility did not differ significantly from the average intersession reproducibility of the MR system with the worst reproducibility. CONCLUSION The location of activated voxels from visual functional MR imaging experiments varied more between sessions on one MR system than on other MR system. The amount of the activated voxels is independent of the MR system used. We suggest that sites performing functional MR imaging for presurgical planning measure the intersession reproducibility to determine an accurate surgical safety margin.
Can the mass of the lightest Higgs boson of the minimal supersymmetric model be larger than mZ?

In the minimal supersymmetric model (MSSM), the {ital tree}{minus}{ital level} mass of the lightest Higgs scalar {ital h}{sup 0} cannot be larger than the mass of the {ital Z} boson. We have computed the one-loop radiative correction to the upper bound on {ital m}{sub {ital h}}{sup 0} as a function of the free parameters of the MSSM. We find that the dominant correction to {ital m}{sub {ital h}}{sup 0}{minus}{ital m}{sub {ital Z}} is large and positive and grows like {ital m}{sub {ital t}}{sup 4}, where {ital m}{sub {ital t}} is the top-quark mass. As a result, the MSSM cannot be ruled out if the CERN {ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}} collider LEP-200 fails to discover the Higgs boson.
Binding of Flavivirus Nonstructural Protein NS1 to C4b Binding Protein Modulates Complement Activation

The complement system plays a pivotal protective role in the innate immune response to many pathogens including flaviviruses. Flavivirus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) is a secreted nonstructural glycoprotein that accumulates in plasma to high levels and is displayed on the surface of infected cells but absent from viral particles. Previous work has defined an immune evasion role of flavivirus NS1 in limiting complement activation by forming a complex with C1s and C4 to promote cleavage of C4 to C4b. In this study, we demonstrate a second mechanism, also involving C4 and its active fragment C4b, by which NS1 antagonizes complement activation. Dengue, West Nile, or yellow fever virus NS1 directly associated with C4b binding protein (C4BP), a complement regulatory plasma protein that attenuates the classical and lectin pathways. Soluble NS1 recruited C4BP to inactivate C4b in solution and on the plasma membrane. Mapping studies revealed that the interaction sites of NS1 on C4BP partially overlap with the C4b binding sites. Together, these studies further define the immune evasion potential of NS1 in reducing the functional capacity of C4 in complement activation and control of flavivirus infection.
Image Retrieval Based on the Wavelet Features of Interest

This paper presents a content-based image retrieval method based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Due to the superiority in multiresolution analysis and spatial-frequency localization, the DWT is used to extract wavelet features (i.e., approximations, horizontal details, vertical details, and diagonal details) at each resolution level. Based on the observation that the YUV color space is rather effective in terms of the extraction of color features, each image is first transformed from the standard RGB color space to the YUV space, and then each component (i.e., Y, U, and V) of the image is further transformed to the Wavelet domain. In the image database establishing phase, the wavelet coefficients of each image are stored; in the image retrieving phase, the system compares the most significant wavelet coefficients of the Y, U, and V components of the query image with those of the images in the database, coupled with the weight factors assigned by users, and find out the matches based on the users' interested features. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our system.
Studies of human depth perception in real and pictured environments

Determining the three-dimensional (3D) layout of the natural environment is an important but difficult visual function. It is difficult because the 3D layout of a scene and the shapes of 3D objects are not explicit in the 2D retinal images. The visual system uses both binocular (two eyes) and monocular (one eye) cues to determine 3D layout from these images. The same cues that are used to determine the layout of real scenes are also present in photographs and realistic pictures of 3D scenes. The work described in this dissertation examines how people perceive 3D layout in the natural environment and in pictures. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the specific 3D cues that will be studied. Chapter 2 describes a series of experiments examining how the visual system's use of binocular cues might be adaptive to improve depth perception in the natural environment. Chapter 3 describes a series of experiments examining how the visual system interprets monocular linear perspective cues, and how this can lead to perceptual distortions in perceived 3D from pictures. Chapter 4, the Conclusion, discusses how the work described in this dissertation might be applied to creating better displays and pictures.