Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-Invasive Diagnostic Tests for Bladder Cancer: A Review of the Literature

Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder is the second most common malignancy of the genitourinary tract. Cystoscopy and urine cytology are the traditional most used techniques for diagnosis and surveillance of superficial bladder cancer. Urine cytology is specific for diagnosis of bladder cancer but sensitivity results not high, particularly in low-grade disease. Voided urine can be easily obtained and therefore additional diagnostic urine tests would be ideal for screening or follow-up of transitional cell carcinoma. A number of studies have focused on the evaluation of urinary markers that hold promise as non-invasive adjuncts to conventional diagnostic or surveillance techniques. In this review we discuss several new urinary markers (test for bladder tumor antigen, NMP22®, fibrin degradation products, telomerase, fluorescence in situ hybridization test, flow cytometry) and their role in detection and follow-up of bladder cancer. Most of these markers have higher sensitivity than urine cytology, but voided urine cytology has the highest specificity.
Efficacy and tolerability of the fixed lercanidipine-enalapril combination in the treatment of patients with essential hypertension

Abstract The purpose of this first prospective observational cohort study after launch was to document the efficacy and tolerability of therapy with the fixed combination of lercanidipine HC1 (CAS 132866-11-6), a third-generation calcium antagonist, and the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor enalapril maleate (CAS 76095-16-4) in patients with essential hypertension in daily practice. Both parts of the observational study were conducted with the fixed combination of enalapril maleate 10 respectively 20 mg and lercanidipine HC1 10 mg, one part with Zaneril® and the other with Zanipress®. The fixed combination is marketed under these product names in Germany. The data of 8,440 patients with a mean age of 62 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 28 kg/m2 were evaluated. 84% of the patients had already received pre-treatment for essential hypertension. 26% of all the patients were known to have had hypertension for at least 10 years. Around 70% had further concomitant diseases. The mean blood pressure before the beginning of the study was 162.5/94.5 mmHg, the mean reduction after around three months was 28.4/13.5 mmHg. Just under 80% of the patients reached the desired target blood pressure after the observation period. The global assessment of the physicians shows that the efficacy of the drugs was “very good” to “good” for 94% of the patients. Global tolerability was assessed as “very good” and “good” for 97% of the patients. Compliance was stated as “very good” and “good” for 97% of the patients. Adverse drug reactions were documented for 2% of all patients.
Theory Predicting C 4 Photosynthesis Evolution : Modular , Individually Adaptive Steps on a Mount Fuji Fitness Landscape

David Heckmann,1 Stefanie Schulze,2 Alisandra Denton,3 Udo Gowik,2 Peter Westhoff,2,4 Andreas P.M. Weber,3,4 and Martin J. Lercher1,4,* 1Institute for Computer Science 2Institute for Plant Molecular and Developmental Biology 3Institute for Plant Biochemistry Heinrich Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany 4Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) *Correspondence: lercher@cs.uni-duesseldorf.de http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.cell. 2013.04. 058
IEEE 802.3av™-2009 10G-EPON and support for loss budgets beyond 29dB

The recently approved 10 G-EPON support the maximum loss budget of 29 dB. Through straightforward reconfiguration of existing PMD components, 32 dB loss budget can be supported (providing 1:512 split at approx. 6.4 km), exceeding G.987. 2 XG-PON Nominal2 class
Robust time series forecasting using fuzzy inference systems

This paper aims to develop a framework of fuzzy systems for robust time-series forecasting. An improved fuzzy rule extraction algorithm using data mining concept is employed to make the resulting fuzzy system be more robust with respect to the input noises or outliers. The proposed technique in this paper is examined with comprehensive robustness analysis by a classical benchmark time-series forecasting problem: the Mackey-Glass time series. Results and comparisons show that the method performs favorably in terms of both accuracy and robustness.
Phase II trial of continuous low-dose temozolomide for patients with recurrent malignant glioma.

BACKGROUND In this phase II trial, we investigated the efficacy of a metronomic temozolomide schedule in the treatment of recurrent malignant gliomas (MGs). METHODS Eligible patients received daily temozolomide (50 mg/m2) continuously until progression. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival rate at 6 months in the glioblastoma cohort (N = 37). In an exploratory analysis, 10 additional recurrent grade III MG patients were enrolled. Correlative studies included evaluation of 76 frequent mutations in glioblastoma (iPLEX assay, Sequenom) aiming at establishing the frequency of potentially "drugable" mutations in patients entering recurrent MG clinical trials. RESULTS Among glioblastoma patients, median age was 56 y; median Karnofsky performance score (KPS) was 80; 62% of patients had been treated for ≥2 recurrences, including 49% of patients having failed bevacizumab. Treatment was well tolerated; clinical benefit (complete response + partial response + stable disease) was seen in 10 (36%) patients. Progression-free survival rate at 6 months was 19% and median overall survival was 7 months. Patients with previous bevacizumab exposure survived significantly less than bevacizumab-naive patients (median overall survival: 4.3 mo vs 13 mo; hazard ratio = 3.2; P = .001), but those patients had lower KPS (P = .04) and higher number of recurrences (P < .0001). Mutations were found in 13 of the 38 MGs tested, including mutations of EGFR (N = 10), IDH1 (N = 5), and ERBB2 (N = 1). CONCLUSIONS In spite of a heavily pretreated population, including nearly half of patients having failed bevacizumab, the primary endpoint was met, suggesting that this regimen deserves further investigation. Results in bevacizumab-naive patients seemed particularly favorable, while results in bevacizumab-failing patients highlight the need to develop further treatment strategies for advanced MG. Clinical trials.gov identifier NCT00498927 (available at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00498927).
Camera Control for Generating comics from Virtual Museum Visitors' Experiences

We present a camerawork module for representing events in a virtual museum with a comic style. The module uses four basic camera shots, i.e., internal, external, apex, and group, to compose a shot sequence of two main events happening in a museum, i.e., move and stay. This module is fully implemented in a comic generation system we have been developing for summarizing user experiences in Second Life. We also discuss a user evaluation that compares comics whose camerawork is decided by the presented module with those decided by a baseline module that simply uses the same camera parameters as those of the Second Life's viewer. User evaluation results as well as visual comparisons confirm the effectiveness of the proposed camerawork module.
Infertility in mice caused by fasting at about the time of mating. II. Pathological changes.

The internal genitalia of female mice, which had been fasted for one 30-hr period at about the time of mating, were examined 0 to 7 days after mating. The major causes of infertility of mice fasted before mating were failure of ovulation and death of ova before implantation. Ovulation of primary o\l=o"\cytes,and the presence of `supplementary' spermatozoa in ova, were observed, but these were too infrequent to be the results of the treatment. When the fast ended 2 to 4 days after mating the major cause of infertility was death of the ova before implantation. Much less frequently implantation failed.
Comparison of total and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase in patients with nonskeletal disorder or metabolic bone diseases.

To evaluate the diagnostic validity of new assays for bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), we compared measurements of total alkaline phosphatase (TAP) in serum with results for three different assays of serum BAP in healthy adults (n = 119), patients with chronic nonskeletal disorders (n = 123), and patients with metabolic bone diseases (n = 113). Serum TAP was determined by a standard colorimetric assay, BAP by the methods of lectin precipitation (L-BAP), enzyme immunoassay (E-BAP), and immunoradiometric assay (I-BAP). Impairment of liver function resulted in significant increases of all alkaline phosphatase (AP) measurements, with the smallest changes being exhibited by E-BAP. Compared with the results by TAP, diagnostic sensitivity (i.e., of values exceeding the reference interval) was not improved by BAP, but receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses revealed improved discrimination for primary hyperparathyroidism by E-BAP. These results indicate that, in the presence of liver disease, the specificity of AP measurements is improved by measuring BAP. In most other clinical situations, serum TAP appears to provide sufficient clinical information; however, the cross-sectional study design used here allows no statement about the usefulness of BAP in serial measurements.
Herceptin Sensitizes ErbB2–Overexpressing Cells to Apoptosis by Reducing Antiapoptotic Mcl-1 Expression

Purpose: Monoclonal antibodies, such as herceptin and trastuzumab, against the epidermal growth factor receptor ErbB2 (also known as HER2/neu) are an effective therapy for breast cancer patients with overexpression of ErbB2. Herceptin, in combination with standard chemotherapy, such as taxol or etoposide, gives a synergistically apoptotic response in breast tumors. Experimental Design: The mechanism underlying this synergy between chemotherapy and herceptin treatment is not well understood. Herein, we have determined that addition of herceptin, sensitized breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 to etoposide- or taxol-induced apoptosis. Results: This treatment resulted in reduced expression of ErbB2 and the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 in MDA-MB-231 cells. Using antisense oligonucleotides against Mcl-1, MDA-MB-231 cells were rendered sensitive to etoposide-induced apoptosis similar to herceptin, but combined treatment of antisense against Mcl-1 and herceptin failed to give a significant increase in apoptosis. In 29 human breast tumors immunostained for ErbB2 and Mcl-1, we found that when ErbB2 was overexpressed, there was a corresponding increase in Mcl-1 expression. Discussion: Using murine fibroblasts that express human ErbB2, but no other ErbB family member (NE2), these cells showed resistance to both taxol- and etoposide-induced apoptosis compared with parental cells. In addition, NE2 cells preferentially express the antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1 compared with parental cells, and treatment with herceptin reduces Mcl-1 expression. Taken together, these results suggest that herceptin sensitizes ErbB2-overexpressing cells to apoptosis by reducing antiapoptotic Mcl-1 protein levels.
Biotransformation of acrolein in rat: excretion of mercapturic acids after inhalation and intraperitoneal injection.

Biotransformation of acrolein (ACR) was studied in vivo in the rat following inhalation and ip administration. The major and minor urinary metabolites were 3-hydroxypropylmercapturic acid (HPMA) and 2-carboxyethylmercapturic acid (CEMA), respectively. Male Wistar rats were exposed to ACR, 23, 42, 77 and 126 mg/m3, for 1 hr. The sum of mercapturic acids HPMA and CEMA excreted within 24 hr after the exposure amounted to 0.87 +/- 0.12, 1.34 +/- 0.5, 2.81 +/- 1.15, and 7.13 +/- 1.56 mumol/kg, i.e., 10.9 +/- 1.5, 13.3 +/- 5.0, 16.7 +/- 6.9, and 21.5 +/- 4.8% of the estimated absorbed dose, respectively. The dose estimate was based on reported values of minute respiratory volume and respiratory tract retention and was corrected for the ACR-induced changes in minute respiratory volume. In the relevant dose range (8.9 to 35.7 mumol/kg) the portion of mercapturic acids excreted was nearly constant for ip exposed rats. The sum of HPMA and CEMA amounted to 29.1 +/- 6.5% of the dose. These results indicate that the deficiency in rat lung metabolism of ACR to acrylic acid previously observed is not compensated by the other detoxication pathway in vivo, mercapturic acid formation. The health hazard arising from inhalation of ACR is likely to be higher than that from other routes of exposure.
Down syndrome, autoimmunity and T regulatory cells

Autoimmune diseases are more represented in Down syndrome (DS) individuals compared to chromosomally normal people. Natural T regulatory cells (nTreg) have been considered to be primary in the role of controlling the intensity and targets of the immune response. We have investigated the phenotypical and functional alteration of nTreg in a group of DS people. The phenotypical characteristic of Treg cells of 29 DS was analysed and compared with an age‐matched healthy control group. The inhibitory potential of CD4+CD25highCD127low T regulatory cells was evaluated on autologous CD4+CD25‐ T cell proliferation in response to activation with a mytogenic pan‐stimulus (anti‐CD2, anti‐CD3 and anti‐CD28 antibodies). The CD4+CD25high cells in the DS and control groups were 2·692 ± 0·3808%, n = 29 and 1·246 ± 0·119, n = 29%, respectively (P = 0.0007), with a percentage of forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)‐expressing cells of 79·21 ± 3·376%, n = 29 and 59·75 ± 4·496%, respectively (P = 0.0015). CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ cells were increased in peripheral blood from DS subjects (DS mean 5·231 ± 0·6065% n = 29, control mean 3·076 ± 0·3140% n = 29). The majority of CD4+CD25high were CD127low and expressed a high percentage of FoxP3 (natural Treg phenotype). While the proliferative capacity of DS T cells was not altered significantly compared to normal individuals, a reduced inhibitory potential of Treg compared to healthy controls was clearly observed (mean healthy control inhibition in Teff : Treg 1:1 co‐culture: 58·9% ± 4·157%, n = 10 versus mean DS inhibition in Teff : Treg 1:1 co‐culture: 39·8 ± 4·788%, n = 10, P = 0.0075; mean healthy control inhibition in Teff : Treg 1:0·5 co‐culture: 45·10 ± 5·858%, n = 10 versus DS inhibition in Teff : Treg 1:0·5 co‐culture: 24·10 ± 5·517%, n = 10, P = 0.0177). DS people present an over‐expressed peripheral nTreg population with a defective inhibitory activity that may partially explain the increased frequency of autoimmune disease.
Pathogenic potential of adipose tissue and metabolic consequences of adipocyte hypertrophy and increased visceral adiposity

When caloric intake exceeds caloric expenditure, the positive caloric balance and storage of energy in adipose tissue often causes adipocyte hypertrophy and visceral adipose tissue accumulation. These pathogenic anatomic abnormalities may incite metabolic and immune responses that promote Type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia. These are the most common metabolic diseases managed by clinicians and are all major cardiovascular disease risk factors. ‘Disease’ is traditionally characterized as anatomic and physiologic abnormalities of an organ or organ system that contributes to adverse health consequences. Using this definition, pathogenic adipose tissue is no less a disease than diseases of other body organs. This review describes the consequences of pathogenic fat cell hypertrophy and visceral adiposity, emphasizing the mechanistic contributions of genetic and environmental predispositions, adipogenesis, fat storage, free fatty acid metabolism, adipocyte factors and inflammation. Appreciating the full pathogenic potential of adipose tissue requires an integrated perspective, recognizing the importance of ‘cross-talk’ and interactions between adipose tissue and other body systems. Thus, the adverse metabolic consequences that accompany fat cell hypertrophy and visceral adiposity are best viewed as a pathologic partnership between the pathogenic potential adipose tissue and the inherited or acquired limitations and/or impairments of other body organs. A better understanding of the physiological and pathological interplay of pathogenic adipose tissue with other organs and organ systems may assist in developing better strategies in treating metabolic disease and reducing cardiovascular disease risk.
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) HYDROGELS PREPARED BY FREEZING/THAWING TECHNIQUE (PROPIEDADES DIELÉCTRICAS DE HIDROGELES DE ALCOHOL POLIVINÍLICO OBTENIDOS POR LA TÉCNICA DE CONGELAMIENTO/ DESCONGELAMIENTO)

The dielectric behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol) –PVA– crosslinked hydrogels obtained by the repeated freezing/ thawing (F/T) technique have been investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The crosslinked polymer is produced by the clustering of chains caused by the association of a polar group of the dissolved polymer followed by polymer crystallization. The dielectric spectra obtained from -50 °C to -10 °C show a broad secondary relaxation process associated to local mobility, s relaxation, which is related to the terminal polar groups (OH). This process is strongly affected by the freezing/thawing cycles applied. The values of tan d are below 1 indicating the dielectric phenomenon is predominant in all samples. The effect of crosslinking PVA on the dynamics of the secondary relaxation process was further analyzed. Resumen: Por medio de espectroscopia dielectrica (DRS) y calorimetria diferencial de barrido (DSC) se investigaron las propiedades dielectricas de los hidrogeles de alcohol polivinilico –PVA– entrecruzados por ciclos repetidos d la tecnica congelamiento/descongelamiento. La asociacion de los grupos polares del polimero disuelto seguida de su cristalizacion produce la reticulacion del polimero. La espectroscopia dielectrica obtenida entre -50 °C y -10 °C demostro la existencia de un proceso de relajacion secundario asociado con la movilidad de grupos laterales polares OH de la cadena principal, la relajacion b. Los ciclos de congelamiento/descongelamiento afectan fuertemente este proceso. El fenomeno dielectrico predomina en todas las muestras como lo evidencia el valor menor de 1 de tan d. Ademas, se analizo el efecto del entrecruzamiento en la dinamica de la relajacion secundaria.
[Inhibition effects of constituents of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae on proliferation and procollagen transcription of dermal fibroblasts in systemic sclerosis].

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of tanshinone IIA, danshensu, lithospermate, and protocatechualdehyde on proliferation and procollagen mRNA synthesis of dermal fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS Dermal fibroblasts were obtained from 5 patients with SSc, 2 males and 3 females, and sex and age-matched 5 patients undergoing plastic surgery, cultured, and then co-cultured with tanshinone IIA, danshensu, lithospermate, and protocatechualdehyde respectively. MTT test was used to study the effects of the four constituents on fibroblasts cell proliferation. RT-PCR was used to detect the level of procollagen mRNA expression in the control fibroblasts and in the SSc fibroblasts before and after the addition of the four constituents. RESULTS The 4 constituents all suppressed the proliferation of fibroblasts from SSc patients, with tanshinone IIA being the most effective. The 4 constituents remarkably inhibited the mRNA expression of type I and III procollagen of the fibroblasts with tanshinone II A showing the most inhibition effect that reduced the expressions of procollagen I mRNA by 47% and procollagen III mRNA by 45%. CONCLUSION Of the four constituents, tanshinone IIA is the most suppressive effect on the cell proliferation and type I and type III procollagen synthesis of SSc fibroblasts, demonstrating that it has a more antifibrotic effect.
Maternal Use of Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, and Acetylsalicylic Acid During Pregnancy and Risk of Cryptorchidism

Background: Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors—acetaminophen, ibuprofen and acetylsalicylic acid—have endocrine-disruptive properties in the rainbow trout. In humans, aspirin blocks the androgen response to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and, because hCG-stimulated androgen production in utero is crucial for normal testicular descent, exposure to COX inhibitors at vulnerable times during gestation may impair testicular descent. We examined whether prenatal exposure to acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and acetylsalicylic acid was associated with increased occurrence of cryptorchidism. Methods: Our study used data on 47,400 live-born singleton sons of mothers enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort during 1996-2002. Cryptorchidism was identified in 980 boys during childhood, of whom 565 underwent orchiopexy. The use of acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and acetylsalicylic acid during pregnancy was assessed in 3 computer-assisted telephone interviews and 1 self-administered questionnaire. We estimated adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of cryptorchidism by Cox regression analysis. Results: Exposure to acetaminophen during both the first and second trimesters was associated with increased occurrence of cryptorchidism (HR = 1.33 [95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.77]). Exposure for more than 4 weeks within the postulated time-window of programming testicular descent (gestational weeks 8-14) was associated with a HR of 1.38 (1.05-1.83) for cryptorchidism. Exposure to ibuprofen and acetylsalicylic acid was not associated with cryptorchidism. Conclusion: Maternal intake of acetaminophen for more than 4 weeks during pregnancy, especially during the first and second trimesters, may moderately increase the occurrence of cryptorchidism.
Kohonen neural network model reference for nonlinear discrete time systems

In this work, an adaptive neural network like Kohonen neural network (KNN) model reference is used for tracking control of nonlinear system. Proposed adaptive Kohonen neural network (ADKNN) are used to minimize the error between output and target signal for nonlinear discrete-time systems. The ADKNN is a feed-forward neural network help for approximation of the nonlinearities in the industrial plant and main characteristic of the system is taken into account is disturbances in the system. Tracking error by the adaptive ADKNN based approximation system is an important characteristic for the design and analysis. It is shown in results that the preference of the error system is decisive to the solution of tracking control. Difference between ADKNN output and reference signal can be made arbitrarily small in the close neighbourhood of zero. The viability of the ADKNN is verified via simulation example of nonlinear system.
SENSORLESS VECTOR CONTROL OF PM SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS USING ADAPTIVE STATE OBSERVERS WITH DISTURBANCE TORQUE ESTIMATION

In this paper, a novel sensorless nonlinear speed control for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) driving an unknown load torque is developed and integrated with the vector control scheme. An extended nonlinear state observer with parameter adaptive scheme is used to estimate the states of the motor and disturbance torque avoiding the use of mechanical sensors. The parameter identified adaptively is stator resistance which varies with motor temperature and frequency. Furthermore, to improve the performance of the speed controller the load inertia is identified by the periodic test signal. The proposed sensorless makes the drive system accurate, robust and insensitive to parameter variation. The steady state and dynamic performances of the proposed sensorless drive using digital simulation results are demonstrated.
Use of abciximab in massive pulmonary embolism with free-floating, intra-cardiac thrombi

Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism are the two manifestations of venous thromboembolism. Accurate diagnosis plus anticoagulant therapy reduces mortality from 30% in untreated cases to 2-8%. Free-floating thrombi in the right heart are very rare and are diagnosed by echocardiography exclusively in patients with suspected or proven pulmonary embolism.