Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Helical computed tomographic dacryocystography and its role in the diagnosis and management of lacrimal drainage system blocks and medial canthal masses

Aim: To study the indications, technique and diagnostic utility of helical computed tomographic dacryocystography (CTDCG). Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 13 patients who underwent CTDCG with subsequent surgical intervention, during the period January 2003 to December 2005, was done. Axial plain computed tomography (CT) scan was performed, followed by administration of water-soluble contrast in the conjunctival cul de sac or by cannulation of the lacrimal passages. Thin-slice helical CT with two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) coronal and sagittal reformation was done. Results: Four patients were males and 9 were females. Age range was 5 to 62 years. Seven patients presented with watering and 6 patients with a medial canthal mass. Three patients had history of trauma. CTDCG was performed by instillation technique in 10 patients and by cannulation in 3 patients. CTDCG showed mass lesion displacing the sac in 5 cases, nasolacrimal duct obstruction in 6 cases and mucocele in 2 cases. Based on the findings on CTDCG, 5 patients underwent mass excision, 7 underwent dacryocystorhinostomy and 1 patient underwent primary silicone tube intubation. Conclusion: Helical CTDCG is a safe and useful diagnostic tool for the lacrimal surgeon. Instillation technique is a physiological and convenient method, and cannulation is needed only in cases where adequate visualization is not achieved.
Designing games for learning: insights from conversations with designers

This paper presents insights about design practices that can lead to effective and fun games for learning, gleaned from interviews with experienced game developers. We based our approach on Schön's notion of practitioners evolving shared 'appreciation systems' for discussing and critiquing work, and aimed to gather and share some of game designers' 'appreciation system' for games and learning. The resulting insights provide valuable pointers to other designers in the CHI community crafting game-like experiences.
Cancer care in the United Kingdom: new solutions are needed

An extra £1.26bn has been spent on UK cancer services in the past three years. So why haven't we seen greater improvements in quality of care? The NHS cancer plan was born out of major deficiencies in care going back three decades. Doing something for cancer became a political imperative after the Eurocare-2 study showed that the United Kingdom was low in the league table of five year survival for several common cancers.1 From a system with glaring equipment deficits, staff shortages, and gross inequity in use of high cost drugs, the cancer plan created an infrastructure for change based on a classic public sector model.2 Although the strategy is excellent, the plan has only partially fulfilled its ambitions because of problems such as local inertia, divergence of priorities, and the inability to resolve severe professional staff shortages. The NHS cancer plan identified the need for fast, convenient, high quality care with patients at the centre.3 It set out the actions and milestones to deliver the fastest improvement anywhere in Europe within five years based on a massive injection of funding. It included three major commitments: Several hundred new administrative staff have been appointed to re-engineer the journey of cancer patients. But this has not been followed by an increase in clinical capacity because of staffing shortages and the lack of a uniform information technology platform to ensure smooth patient flow and good quality control. A review of the 34 cancer networks shows considerable variation in uptake of new money for cancer, with 10 networks spending less than 80% and three …
On Broadcasting in Radio Networks - Problem Analysis and Protocol Design

In this paper we develop a graph-oriented model for dealing with broadcasting in radio networks. Using this model, optimality in broadcasting protocols is defined, and it is shown that the problem of finding an optimal protocol is NP-hard. A polynomial time algorithm is proposed under which a channel is assigned to nodes from global, multiple-source broadcasting considerations. In particular, nodes participating in the broadcast do not interfere with each other's transmissions, but otherwise simultaneous channel reuse is permitted. Protocol implementations of this approach by frequency division and by time division are given. It is shown that, using these protocols, bounded delay for broadcasted messages can be guaranteed.
Silencing of TCTN1 inhibits proliferation, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human thyroid cancer

Tectonic family member 1 (TCTN1) is one of the tectonic family members, and a regulator of the hedgehog signaling pathway, which has been studied in various cancer types, including prostate and pancreatic cancer. However, its function in thyroid cancer has not been well documented. Therefore, the present study investigated the function of TCTN1 in thyroid cancer using a loss-of-function assay. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference was applied to downregulate TCTN1 in the thyroid cancer cell lines, CAL62 and 8305C. A series of functional properties, including cell viability, colony formation, cell cycle and apoptosis were determined using MTT, colony formation assay and flow cytometry analyses, respectively. The results demonstrated that lentivirus-medicated RNAi could specifically suppress the expression of TCTN1 at the mRNA and protein levels in CAL62, and 8305C cells. Knockdown of TCTN1 inhibited cell growth and proliferation via inducing S phase arrest, and apoptosis. Mechanistically, the S phase arrest was accompanied by the upregulation of cyclin dependent kinase 2, cyclin A2 and downregulation of cyclin B1. Knockdown of TCTN1 induced apoptosis through increasing the expression of Bcl2-associated agonist of cell death, cleaved caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase, and decreasing apoptosis regulator Bcl-2 expression. The current study highlights the essential role of TCTN1 in promoting thyroid cancer cell proliferation, and its knockdown may serve as a potential therapeutic treatment for thyroid cancer.
Pomalidomide: A new IMiD with remarkable activity in both multiple myeloma and myelofibrosis

Immunomudulatory drugs (IMiDs) including thalidomide and lenalidomide have a proven role in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) and have signiﬁcant activity in mye-loﬁbrosis (MF). Pomalidomide is the newest IMiD and appears to be promising for use in both MM and MF (see Fig. 1). IMiDs are hypothesized to act through multiple mechanisms including effects on angiogenesis [1] and cytokine production. IMiDs may also have antineoplastic effects by blocking signaling through nuclear factor-kappa B [2] and may induce apoptosis via the caspase-8/death receptor pathway [3]. IMiDs have potent immunomodulatory properties including augmentation of natural killer cell activity [4,5] and stimulation of cytotoxic T-cells [6,7]. Data suggest pomalidomide is the most potent of the IMiDs [8–11]. In this issue of American Journal of Hematology , Mesa et al. present their dose escalation study of pomalidomide for use in MF [12]. Using International Working Group for Myeloﬁbrosis Research and Treatment criteria [13], they show anemia response rates of 37% among 19 patients treated at doses varying from 0.5–3.0 mg/day with most responses occurring in the 0.5 mg/day group. The current study builds on an earlier randomized phase II study published by Tefferi et al. [14] that established pomalidomide has activity in MF. Tefferi et al. showed an overall response rate of 24% with the highest response rates in the group receiving just 0.5 mg/day with prednisone. Among those that received 0.5 mg/day with prednisone for (cid:1) 3 cycles, the response rate was 40%. Pomalidomide was exceedingly well-tolerated with the major toxicity consisting of myelo-suppression seen in the higher dose ranges in
Equalization Scheme with QPSK and MIMO in Rayleigh Channel

This paper addresses the joint design of transmit and receive antennas or linear processing for multicarrier MIMO channels under a variety of design criteria. Instead of considering each design criterion in a separate way, It is generalized that the existing results by developing an existing unified framework based on considering two families of objective functions that embraced most reasonable criteria to design a communication system. The inherent flexibility of the proposed transceivers is exploited to derive as special cases, zero forcing and minimum mean square filter bank and ML receiver is considered. The structure comprises a sampled linear filter. It is considered a MIMO detector to enhance the performance in MIMO channels. In this paper, the study is about MIMO systems, the spatial multiplexing with BPSK and QPSK Modulation and simulation of this structure in a Rayleigh fading channel and also with AWGN. It is needed to convert the MIMO channels to enhance the performance in MIMO systems and with Zero Forcing.
A Novel Timing Series Calculation Algorithm based on Statistical Extremum for Process Object

In this paper, an algorithm for computing timing series among process objects is proposed. The algorithm is designed based on statistical time distance among extremum points of sampling data set which is collected from process industry, and the delay time between any two production links can be calculated, and then the timing series between any two links can be obtained. By a series of experiments, the validity of this algorithm is proved that the algorithm can obtain the delay time interval among production links and the timing series of these links can be calculated.
Culture of Serum-induced Spheroplasts from Vibrio cholerae

Spheroplasts of Vibrio cholerae types Inaba, Hikojima, and Ogawa were produced in serum. An excess of lysozyme was added to expedite transformation, and CaCl2 was used as the stabilizing agent. At the optimal time for each strain, when less than 1% classical rod forms were observed microscopically, samples were plated on both conventional and modified L-form media. No growth occurred on conventional media; L-form type colonies appeared on L-form media after 2 to 6 days of incubation. L-form colonies could be subcultured on conventional media and required from four to six passages for complete reversion to classical parent forms. Reaction mixtures of Hikojima and Inaba types were passed through membrane filters (0.45 μ); L-form colonies were grown from both strains after spheroplast transformation. Appropriate controls were negative. It is suggested that the replicative particle may be filtrable.
ism for the Visual Control of Movement

The human motor system is remarkably proficient in the online control of visually guided movements, adjusting to changes in the visual scene within 100 ms [1–3]. This is achieved through a set of highly automatic processes [4] translating visual information into representations suitable for motor control [5, 6]. For this to be accomplished, visual information pertaining to target and hand need to be identified and linked to the appropriate internal representations during the movement. Meanwhile, other visual information must be filtered out, which is especially demanding in visually cluttered natural environments. If selection of relevant sensory information for online control was achieved by visual attention, its limited capacity [7] would substantially constrain the efficiency of visuomotor feedback control. Here we demonstrate that both exogenously and endogenously cued attention facilitate the processing of visual target information [8], but not of visual hand information. Moreover, distracting visual information is more efficiently filtered out during the extraction of hand compared to target information. Our results therefore suggest the existence of a dedicated visuomotor binding mechanism that links the hand representation in visual and motor systems.
OR Practice - Application of a Probabilistic Decision Model to Airline Seat Inventory Control

The application of booking limits on the number of seats available at different prices on the same flight allows airlines to increase revenues. Effective seat inventory control by an airline depends on forecasts of future bookings, the revenue values associated with each fare type, and an ability to make systematic tradeoffs between booking requests so as to maximize total flight revenues. This article describes the implementation of a computerized system for making these tradeoffs and setting booking limits on future flights at Western Airlines in early 1987. The Expected Marginal Seat Revenue (EMSR) decision model developed for this application takes account of the uncertainty associated with estimates of future demand as well as the nested structure of booking limits in airline reservations systems. The Automated Booking Limit System implemented at Western made use of the EMSR model to set and revise booking limits periodically prior to flight departure. Although the system did not take into account several important components of the seat inventory control problem, a revenue impact test on a sample of actual flights showed a significant revenue improvement over the judgmental methods used previously.
Synergistic inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis by combined treatment with TNP-470 and gemcitabine in a human bladder cancer KoTCC-1 model.

PURPOSE TNP-470 (O-(chloroacetylcarbamoyl)fumagillol) is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis that was reported to enhance synergistically the antitumor effects of cytotoxic agents. We evaluated the effectiveness of combined treatment with TNP-470 and gemcitabine in vitro and in vivo using highly metastatic human bladder cancer KoTCC-1 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS The in vitro growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of gemcitabine and/or TNP-470 on KoTCC-1 cells were assessed using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay and TUNEL staining, respectively. We then evaluated the combined effect of gemcitabine and TNP-470 therapy after subcutaneous and orthotopic injection of KoTCC-1 cells into athymic nude mice. Established tumors were analyzed by TUNEL staining and immunohistochemical staining of CD31 to quantify microvessel density. RESULTS In vitro TNP-470 enhanced the cytotoxic effect of gemcitabine on KoTCC-1 cells, decreasing its IC50 by more than 50%. This combined treatment significantly induced apoptosis compared with treatment with either agent alone. In vivo combined treatment with TNP-470 and gemcitabine significantly decreased tumor growth after subcutaneous and orthotopic injection into athymic nude mice and significantly decreased the incidence of lymph node metastasis after arthotopic injection compared with either agent alone. Immunohistochemical analysis of the subcutaneous tumor after each treatment demonstrated that gemcitabine administration significantly induced apoptotic cell death. In contrast, a significant decrease in microvessel density was observed after TNP-470 treatment. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate that TNP-470 and gemcitabine act synergistically to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis by enhancing apoptosis and suppressing angiogenesis.
N-Methyl-DD-aspartate Blocks Activation of JNK and Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway Induced by Potassium Deprivation in Cerebellar Granule Cells*

During the postnatal development of cerebellum, lack of excitatory innervation from the mossy fibers results in cerebellar granule cell (CGC) apoptosis during the migration of the cells toward the internal granule cell layer. Accordingly, CGCs die by apoptosis when cultured in physiological KCl concentrations (5 mm; K5), and they survive in the presence of depolarizing conditions such as high KCl concentration (25 mm; K25) or N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA). We have recently shown that NMDA is able to exert a long lasting neuroprotective effect when added to immature (2 days in vitro) CGC cultures by inhibition of caspase-3 activity. Here we show that NMDA- and K25-mediated neuroprotection is associated with an increase in the levels of Bcl-2, an inhibition of K5-mediated increase in Bax, and the inhibition of the release of apoptogenic factors from mitochondria such as Smac/DIABLO and cytochrome c. Moreover, we have shown that similar effects are observed when c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) are inhibited and that treatment of CGC cultures with NMDA blocks K5-mediated JNK activation. These results allow us to postulate that the inhibition of JNK-mediated release of apoptogenic factors from mitochondria is involved in the NMDA protection from K5-mediated apoptosis of CGCs.
Circumnutation as a visible plant action and reaction

Circumnutation is a helical organ movement widespread among plants. It is variable due to a different magnitude of trajectory (amplitude) outlined by the organ tip, duration of one cycle (period), circular, elliptical, pendulum-like or irregular shape and clock- and counterclockwise direction of rotation. Some of those movement parameters are regulated by circadian clock and show daily and infradian rhythms. Circumnutation is influenced by light, temperature, chemicals and can depend on organ morphology. The diversity of this phenomenon is easier to see now that the digital time-lapse video method is developing fast. Whether circumnutation is an endogenous action, a reaction to exogenous stimuli or has a combined character has been discussed for a long time. Similarly, the relationship between growth and circumnutation is still unclear. In the mechanism of circumnutation, epidermal and endodermal cells as well as plasmodesmata, plasma membrane, ions (Ca2+, K+, and Cl-), ion channels and the proton pump (H+ATPase) are engaged. Based on these data, the hypothetical electrophysiological model of the circumnutation mechanism has been proposed here. In the recent circumnutation studies, a gravitropic, auxin, clock and phytochrome mutants are used and new functions of circumnutation in plants’ life have been investigated and described.
A character segmentation algorithm for the palm leaf manuscripts

To tackle the problem of character segmentation for the palm leaf manuscripts, a character segmentation algorithm is proposed in this paper. The whole process of the algorithm consists of two steps, interleaving character segmentation and touching character segmentation. In the first step, the improved Viterbi algorithm and some path filtering rules are used to perform path detecting and path filtering respectively. In the second step, the Concave spot detecting method based segmentation algorithm is proposed to solve the touching character segmentation problem. The experiments in this work base on a text line database obtained by our previous works and the experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in the character segmentation for the palm leaf manuscripts.
Dual role for macrophages in vivo in pathogenesis and control of murine Salmonella enterica var. Typhimurium infections

Salmonella spp. are regarded as facultative intracellular bacterial pathogens which are found inside macrophages (Mϕ) after i. v. infection. It is generally assumed that Mϕ restrict the replication of the bacteria during infection. In this study we examined the in vivo activities of Mϕ during experimental S. typhimurium infections, using a selective liposome‐based Mϕ elimination technique. Unexpectedly, elimination of Mϕ prior to infection with virulent S. typhimurium decreased morbidity and mortality, suggesting that Mϕ mediate the pathology caused by S. typhimurium. Removal of Mϕ during vaccination with attenuated S. typhimurium did not affect protection against challenge with virulent S. typhimurium, suggesting that Mϕ are not required for the induction of protective immunity and that other cells must function as antigen‐presenting cell to elicit T cell‐mediated protection. However, Mϕ appeared to be important effectors of protection against challenge infection since elimination of Mϕ from vaccinated mice prior to challenge infection with virulent S. typhimurium significantly decreased protection. These results enhance our understanding of the control of S. typhimurium growth in vivo, and moreover suggest that Mϕ play a major role in the pathology of virulent S. typhimurium infections. As such, these cells may present a novel target for therapeutic intervention.
Thermodynamics of a Homogeneous Limit-Periodic System

Limit-periodicity describes structures without translational symmetry but which are the union of infinitely many patterns with translational symmetry on increasing scales. Because of its relative simplicity, the limit-perodic Socolar-Taylor tiling offers an ideal system to probe the physical consequences of this distinct type of order. In this undergraduate thesis, we construct a two-deminsional lattice model that possesses this tiling as its ground state, and investigate its properties through simulation and analysis. We find that during a slow quench from the high temperature, disordered phase, the ground state emerges through an infinite series of phase transitions. These transitions are related through scalings of an effective temperature and interaction energy. The system enters a glass-like state during a rapid quench due to the creation of kinetic barriers resulting from a simultaneous occurance of these transtitions. The diffraction pattern of the system is computed for fully and partially ordered states.
A family with factor X deficiency from Argentina: a compound heterozygosis because of the combination of a new mutation (Gln138Arg) with an already known one (Glu350Lys)

The objective was to investigate a family from Argentina. The proposita was a 51-year-old woman who had a moderate bleeding tendency. Some of her children showed a mild bleeding tendency. Her mother and the husband were asymptomatic. Clotting, immunological and molecular biology techniques were used. Partial thromboplastin, prothrombin, Russell Viper venom-clotting times were moderately prolonged in the proposita, whereas they were slightly prolonged in the children and in her mother. Factor X (FX) activity was about 2–3% of normal in all assay systems. FX antigen was less than 5%. Other clotting factors and platelet were normal. Genetic analysis showed a compound heterozygosis: combination of a ‘new’ mutation (Gln138Arg) with an already known mutation (Glu350Lys). The children had intermediate FX levels (35–63% of normal) and were carriers of one of the two mutations present in the proposita. This is the first observation of a FX deficiency in Argentina.
Modulation of ppp(A2'p)nA-dependent RNase by a temperature-sensitive mutant of vaccinia virus

Activation of the ppp(A2'p)nA (2-5A)-dependent RNase was investigated during the abortive infection of BSC40 cells by a temperature-sensitive mutant of vaccinia virus, ts22. At the nonpermissive temperature, ts22 has an abortive late phenotype. At the onset of late-viral-gene expression, viral mRNA is degraded and rRNA is cleaved into discrete fragments in the absence of prior interferon treatment (R. F. Pacha and R. C. Condit, J. Virol. 56:395-403, 1985). Concomitant with rRNA cleavage, an increase in 2-5A occurred late during infection. Discrete 18S- and 28S-rRNA degradation products from BSC40 cells infected with ts22 at the nonpermissive temperature comigrated in denaturing agarose gels with rRNA cleaved fragments produced by the activation of 2-5A-dependent RNase in uninfected cells transfected with exogenous 2-5A. An increase in 2-5A levels and a similar discrete and characteristic degradation of rRNA were observed in BSC40 cells infected with wild-type vaccinia virus in the presence of isatin-beta-thiosemicarbazone. The results show that the ts22 lesion and the action of isatin-beta-thiosemicarbazone may affect the same pathway, leading to the activation of latent 2-5A-dependent RNase and resulting in indiscriminate RNA degradation and inhibition of viral replication.