Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Updated Guidelines 2008 for the Diagnosis, Surveillance and Therapy of Barrett's Esophagus

The guidelines for the diagnosis, surveillance and therapy of Barrett’s esophagus were originally published by the American College of Gastroenterology in 1998 and updated in 2002. These and other guidelines undergo periodic review. Significant advances have occurred in the area of Barrett’s esophagus over the past four years leading to another revision of the prior guidelines. These advances include the potential use of esophageal capsule endoscopy for the diagnosis and screening of Barrett’s esophagus, data regarding the outcome of low-grade dysplasia, the treatment of high-grade dysplasia using photodynamic therapy, and the development of new ablation techniques such as radiofrequency ablation. These guidelines are intended to be applied by physicians who see Barrett’s esophagus patients and are intended to indicate a preferred, but certainly not the only, acceptable approach. Physicians need to choose the course best suited to the individual patient and to the variables that exist at the time of decision making. The guidelines are for adult patients with the diagnosis of Barrett’s esophagus, as defined herein. Both these and the original guidelines were developed under auspices of the American College of Gastroenterology and the Practice Parameters Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. The world literature was reviewed extensively for the original guidelines and once again reviewed using the National Library of Medicine database. Search terms used included Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal neoplasm, esophagus, intestinal metaplasia, esophageal diseases, and adenocarcinoma, all appropriate studies and any additional ones found in reference to these papers were obtained and reviewed. Evidence was available from a hierarchy of trials and randomized controlled trials were given the greatest weight. Abstracts presented at national and international meetings were only used when unique data from ongoing trials were presented. When scientific data were lacking, recommendations are based on expert opinion. The recommendations made are based on the level of evidence found. Grade A recommendations imply that there is consistent level 1 evidence (randomized controlled trials), Grade B indicates that the evidence would be level 2 or 3 which are cohort studies or case control studies. Grade C recommendations are based on level 4 studies meaning case series or poor quality cohort studies, and Grade D recommendations are based on level 5 evidence meaning expert opinion.
The Learning Organization:: Losing the Luggage in Transit?

Opens up the debate surrounding the wisdom of the attempted implementation of the learning organization approach to deal with environmental uncertainty and examines some potential problems and barriers within traditional organizations. Discusses cultural, structural and socio‐structural factors which have an impact on the individual′s sense of identity with the organization, and focuses on the required realignments to these interrelated variables if the approach is to gain momentum. Considers the view that the process of learning will also necessitate the unlearning of previous behaviours cultivated within former established systems. Argues that the prospect of generating internal confusion, together with a sense of organizational amnesia, might reduce rather than increase stability for some companies. Concludes that, on the basis that cultures and socio‐structures cannot be manipulated at the discretion of managers, alternative strategies to organizational learning may be more appropriate for future surv.
Growth inhibitory effect of a new camptothecin analog, DX-8951f, on various drug-resistant sublines including BCRP-mediated camptothecin derivative-resistant variants derived from the human lung cancer cell line PC-6

DX-8951f, a new water-soluble camptothecin (CPT) derivative, has been reported to show potent antitumor effects against various tumors in vitro and in vivo. We further evaluated the cytotoxic effect of DX-8951f against eight drug-resistant sublines derived by stepwise exposure of human oat cell carcinoma PC-6 to various drugs. In paclitaxel-, adriamycin-, vincristine- and etoposide-resistant cells, overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and a correlative reduction in drug accumulation and typical drug-sensitivity pattern were confirmed. The etoposide-resistant line with the highest P-gp level was cross-resistant also to SN-38, CPT-11 and topotecan (TPT), but not to 9-aminocamptothecin (9-AC), CPT and DX-8951f. SN-38- and CPT-11-resistant cells, of which topoisomerase I activities and levels were similar to those of the parent cells, showed cross-resistance clearly to TPT, 9-AC and mitoxantrone, but hardly to DX-8951f. In these two resistant sublines, the intracellular topotecan level was significantly lower than that in parental PC-6 and the reduced accumulation was found to be mediated by breast cancer resistant protein (BCRP). The cisplatin-resistant variant, which had a 2-fold increase in glutathione content, showed no cross-resistance and the 5-fluorouracil-resistant variant, which had a 50% decrease in glutathione content, exhibited collateral sensitivity to most of the other anticancer agents including DX-8951f. We concluded that DX-8951f showed a potent cytotoxic effect on various types of drug-resistant cells.
135 GHz 98 mW 10 Gbps ASK transmitter and receiver chipset in 40 nm CMOS

An ASK transmitter and receiver chipset using 40 nm CMOS technology for wireless communication systems is described, in which a maximum data rate of 10 Gbps and power consumption of 98.4 mW are obtained with a carrier frequency of 135 GHz. A simple circuit and a modulation method to reduce power consumption are selected for the chipsets. To realize multi-gigabit wireless communication, the receiver is designed with consideration of the group delay optimization.
2,5-Dimethyl-6,7-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline and 2-tert-butyl-5-methyl-6,7-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline.

In both 2,5-dimethyl-6,7-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline, C(16)H(15)N(3), (I), and 2-tert-butyl-5-methyl-6,7-dihydrobenzo[h]pyrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline, C(19)H(21)N(3), (II), which crystallizes with Z' = 2 in the space group P\overline{1}, the non-aromatic carbocyclic rings adopt screw-boat conformations. The molecules of (I) are linked into chains of rings by a combination of C-H.N and C-H.pi(arene) hydrogen bonds, while in (II) there are no hydrogen bonds of any kind.
Brain and Plasma Quinolinic Acid in Profound Insulin‐Induced Hypoglycemia

Abstract: Profound insulin‐induced hypoglycemia is associated with early‐onset neuronal damage that resembles excitotoxic lesions and is attenuated in severity by antagonists of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors. Hypoglycemia increases L‐tryptophan concentrations in brain and could increase the concentration of the L‐tryptophan metabolite quinolinic acid (QUIN), an agonist of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors and an excitotoxin in brain. Therefore, we investigated the effects of 40 min of profound hypoglycemia (isoelectric EEG) and 1–2 h of normoglycemic recovery on the concentrations of QUIN in brain tissue, brain extracellular fluid, and plasma in male Wistar rats. Plasma QUIN increased 6.5‐fold by the time of isoelectricity (2 h after insulin administration). Regional brain QUIN concentrations increased two‐ to threefold during hypoglycemia and increased a further two‐ to threefold during recovery. However, no change in extracellular fluid QUIN concentrations in hippocampus occurred during hypoglycemia or recovery as measured using in vivo microdialysis. Therefore, the increases in brain tissue QUIN concentrations may reflect elevations of QUIN in the intracellular space or be secondary to the increases in QUIN in the vascular compartment in brain per se. L‐Tryptophan concentrations increased more than twofold during recovery only. Serotonin decreased >50% throughout the brain during hypoglycemia, while 5‐hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations increased more than twofold during hypoglycemia and recovery. In striatum, dopamine was decreased 75% during hypoglycemia but returned to control values during recovery, while striatal 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid were increased more than twofold during both hypoglycemia and recovery. The present results do not support a role for increased QUIN in extracellular fluid space during the earlyphase neuronal damage of profound insulin‐induced hypoglycemia.
Investigation of the Cause of Readmission to the Intensive Care Unit for Patients with Lung Edema or Atelectasis

Purpose For patients with acute respiratory failure due to lung edema or atelectasis, Surplus lung water that is not removed during an initial stay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) may be related to early ICU readmission. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study of patient management during the first ICU stay for such patients. Materials and Methods Of 1,835 patients who were admitted to the ICU in the 36 months from January, 2003 to December, 2005, 141 were patients readmitted, and the reason for readmission was lung edema or atelectasis in 21 patients. For these 21 patients, correlations were investigated between body weight gain at the time of initial ICU discharge (weight upon discharge from the ICU ÷ weight when entering the ICU) and the time to ICU readmission, between body weight gain and the P/F ratio at ICU readmission, between the R/E ratio (the period using a respirator (R) ÷ the length of the ICU stay after extubation (E)) and the time to ICU readmission, between the R/E ratio and body weight gain, and between body weight gain until extubation and the time to extubation. Results A negative linear relationship was found between body weight gain at the time of initial ICU discharge and the time to ICU readmission, and between body weight gain at the time of ICU discharge and the P/F ratio at ICU readmission. If body weight had increased by more than 10% at ICU discharge or the P/F ratio was below 150, readmission to the ICU within three days was likely. Patients with a large R/E ratio, a large body weight gain, and a worsening P/F ratio immediately after ICU discharge were likely to be readmitted soon to the ICU. Loss of body weight during the period of respirator support led to early extubation, since a positive correlation was found between the time to extubation and body weight gain. Conclusion Fluid management failure during the first ICU stay might cause ICU readmission for patients who had lung edema or atelectasis. Therefore, a key to the prevention of ICU readmission is to ensure complete recovery from lung failure before the initial ICU discharge. Strict water management is crucial based on body weight measurement and removal of excess lung water is essential. In addition, an apparent improvement in respiratory state may be due to respiratory support, and such an improvement should be viewed cautiously. Loss of weight at the refilling stage of transfusion prevents ICU readmission and may decrease the length of the ICU stay.
Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging of Presumed Sarcoid Retinal and Optic Nerve Nodules

Abstract Purpose: To characterize nodular lesions of the retina and optic nerve with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in patients with sarcoidosis. Methods: This is a retrospective series of 6 eyes from 5 patients with an established diagnosis of sarcoidosis, with clinically detected nodules of the optic nerve or retina. All lesions were imaged with fundus photography and SD-OCT on presentation, and followed with serial imaging after treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunomodulatory therapy. Results: Spectral OCT through the lesions revealed nodular hyperreflective processes obscuring the retinal layers or optic cup, with local structural changes, including subretinal and intraretinal fluid. After treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppression in 4 followed patients, all lesions regressed with improvement in associated structural changes, but did not entirely disappear. Conclusions: Spectral OCT can be useful in identifying lesion morphology and location, and in tracking the response to treatment in eyes with posterior-segment nodules, presumably secondary to sarcoidosis.
Clinical Imaging Characteristics of the Positron Emission Mammography Camera: PEM Flex Solo II

We evaluated a commercial positron emission mammography (PEM) camera, the PEM Flex Solo II. This system comprises two 6 × 16.4 cm detectors that scan together covering up to a 24 × 16.4 cm field of view (FOV). There are no specific standards for testing this detector configuration. We performed several tests important to breast imaging, and we propose tests that should be included in standardized testing of PEM systems. Methods: We measured spatial resolution, uniformity, counting- rate linearity, recovery coefficients, and quantification accuracy using the system's software. Image linearity and coefficient of variation at the edge of the FOV were also characterized. Anecdotal examples of clinical patient data are presented. Results: The spatial resolution was 2.4 mm in full width at half maximum for image planes parallel to the detector faces. The background variability was approximately 5%, and quantification accuracy and recovery coefficients varied within the FOV. Positioning linearity began at approximately 13 mm from the edge of the detector housing. The coefficient of variation was significantly higher close to the edge of the FOV because of limited sensitivity in these image planes. Conclusion: A reconstructed spatial resolution of 2.4 mm represented a significant improvement over conventional whole-body PET scanners and should reduce the lower threshold on lesion size and tracer uptake for detection in the breast. Limited-angle tomography and a lack of data corrections result in spatially variable quantitative results. PEM acquisition geometry limits sampling statistics at the chest-wall edge of the camera, resulting in high variance in that portion of the image. Example patient images demonstrate that lesions can be detected at the chest-wall edge despite variance artifacts, and fine structure is visualized routinely throughout the FOV in the focal plane. The PEM Flex camera should enable the functional imaging of breast cancer earlier in the disease process than whole-body PET.
Title Optimized Receiver Design for Decode-and-Forward Relays using Hierarchical Modulation Permalink

We consider a wireless relay network with a single source, a single destination, and multiple relays. The relays are half-duplex and use the decode-and-forward protocol. The transmit source is a layered bitstream, which can be partitioned into two layers. The source broadcasts both layers to all the relays and the destination using hierarchical 16-QAM. Each relay detects and transmits successfully decoded layers to the destination using either hierarchical 16-QAM or QPSK using orthogonal channels. We derive the optimal linear-combining receiver at the destination, where the uncoded bit error rate is minimized. We also present a suboptimal combining method with a closed-form solution, which performs very close to the optimal. Numerical results show that the two-layer scheme outperforms the classical one-layer scheme using conventional modulation.
Surface modeling and parameterization with manifolds

What do the configuration space of an animation skeleton, a subdivision surface and a panorama have in common? All of these are examples of manifolds. The goal of this course is to present an overview of manifold constructions which are useful for graphics applications, with a focus on two-dimensional manifolds (surfaces). Description Many diverse applications in different areas of computer graphics, including geometric modeling, rendering and animation, require dealing with sets which cannot be easily represented with a single function on a simple domain in a Euclidean space: Examples include surfaces of nontrivial topology, environment maps, reflection/transmission functions, light fields, configuration spaces of animation skeletons, and others. In most cases these objects are described as collections of functions defined on multiple simple domains, with the functions satisfying various constraints (e.g., join smoothly). The unified mathematical view of many such structures is provided by the theory of smooth manifolds. While the concept is standard in mathematics, it is not broadly known in the graphics community and is often perceived as an impractical and complex abstraction. The goal of this half-day course is to present the basic concepts and definitions of manifold theory, demonstrate their computational nature and close connection to applications, and survey a variety of computer graphics applications in which manifolds appear, with a focus on modeling of surfaces and functions on surfaces. The course will be mostly self-contained. The only mathematical prerequisites are basic calculus, complex numbers, and vector and matrix algebra. General familiarity with graphics research is helpful, but not required. Intended Audience researchers from academia and industry interested in applying manifold-based techniques in their work; practitioners interested in applying latest graphics research using mani-fold ideas.
Reproductive parameters and Conversion Efficiency Index (CEI) of Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari : Ixodidae) females under field and laboratory conditions

SUMMARY The Conversion Efficiency Indexes (CEI) of Amblyomma cajennense engorged females, manually collected from equines, were not influenced by climatic conditions, since they were similar when evaluated either under field conditions or under incubation at 27°C and 80 % relative humidity. This index is an important biological parameter used to evaluate the susceptibility of ticks to acaricides. The results obtained in the present study suggest that the ideal weight of A. cajennense engorged females to study biological parameters, aiming a better conversion into eggs, is 451 mg upwards.
Rethinking Rape Law : International and Comparative Perspectives

ethinking Rape Law provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of contemporary rape laws, across a range of jurisdictions. In a context in which there has been considerable legal reform of sexual offences, Rethinking Rape Law engages with developments spanning national, regional and international frameworks. It is only when we fully understand the differences between the law of rape in times of war and in times of peace, between common law and continental jurisdictions, between societies in transition and societies long inured to feminist activism, that we are able to understand and evaluate current practices, with a view to change and a better future for victims of sexual crimes. Written by leading authors from across the world, this is the first authoritative text on rape law that crosses jurisdictions, examines its conceptual and theoretical foundations, and sets the law in its policy context. It is destined to become the primary source for scholarly work and debate on sexual offences laws.
Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein: A Novel Target for Raising HDL and Inhibiting Atherosclerosis

Abstract—Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) promotes the transfer of cholesteryl esters from antiatherogenic HDLs to proatherogenic apolipoprotein B (apoB)–containing lipoproteins, including VLDLs, VLDL remnants, IDLs, and LDLs. A deficiency of CETP is associated with increased HDL levels and decreased LDL levels, a profile that is typically antiatherogenic. Studies in rabbits, a species with naturally high levels of CETP, support the therapeutic potential of CETP inhibition as an approach to retarding atherogenesis. Studies in mice, a species that lacks CETP activity, have provided mixed results. Human subjects with heterozygous CETP deficiency and an HDL cholesterol level >60 mg/dL have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Evidence that atherosclerosis may be increased in CETP-deficient subjects whose HDL levels are not increased is difficult to interpret and may reflect confounding or bias. Small-molecule inhibitors of CETP have now been tested in human subjects and shown to increase the concentration of HDL cholesterol while decreasing that of LDL cholesterol and apoB. Thus, it seems important and timely to test the hypothesis in randomized trials of humans that pharmacological inhibition of CETP retards the development of atherosclerosis.
‘The Best Time is Now!’: The Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Women Opting in to Self‐Employment

This paper explores the potential for the concepts of time and space, together with the analogy of landscapes, to aid the exploration and understandings of women's careers. Drawing upon case studies of women who chose to opt in to self-employment, we examine how the multi-faceted histories of these women are drawn upon as they remember the past, explain contemporary experiences, and anticipate their futures. All the women spoke of opting in to self-employment as the best of times; they talked of greater control over work content, the relationship between family, gender and paid work, and self-determinism and autonomy. They noted times when their careers were frayed but only in retrospect could they assess the context, consequences and impact of events. The framework of careerscapes — our unique blending of the notion of careers along with socio-economic and geographical interpretations of scapes — offers a framework to examine frayed careers and multiple aspects of working and caring over time and space.
Ontological Dimensions Applied to Natural Interaction

This work shows a conceptual model required for natural interaction, that is, imitating human behavior through interaction. This sort of Ontology is characterized by a set of services it should provide, for which both domain knowledge and reasoning mechanisms should be attained. However, special requirements and tasks for which this model is intended force a complete analysis and the design of an abstract knowledge model. In short, the ontology component is expected to unify each concept representation, relate it with proper terms and other concepts, and perform some inference processes. This work tackles both the functional approach and the knowledge structure, thus introducing a first solution to the posed problem.
Anticipation in familial chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Anticipation, a phenomenon in which an inherited disease is diagnosed at an earlier age in each successive generation of a family, has been demonstrated in certain heritable neurological disorders and in multiple myeloma, non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma and other haematological neoplasms. The present study was conducted to determine whether anticipation occurs in familial chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Fourteen published reports of multigenerational familial CLL were analysed for anticipation, together with 10 previously unreported families with familial CLL, and the difference in disease‐free survival between generations was determined. The difference between age at onset for each affected parent–child pair was tested against the null hypothesis that there was no difference in age at onset. The age at onset of the studied cases was also compared with that of the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. The median ages at onset in the child and parent generations of all families (51·0 and 72·0 years respectively) were significantly different (P < 0·000001), and the null hypothesis was rejected (P < 0·000001). A significant difference was observed between the ages of onset of the child generation and the SEER population (P < 0·00001), but not between the parent generation and the SEER population. Anticipation characterizes familial CLL.