Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional Cerebral Blood Volume Ratio on Perfusion MRI on the Growth of Infarct Size in Acute Ischemic Stroke

We hypothesized that the relative regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) ratio could help predict the risk of infarct growth on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with diffusion perfusion mismatch (DPM) on the time-to-peak (TTP) map. We recruited 60 patients with acute middle cerebral arterial (MCA) infarction who had been evaluated by perfusion MRI within 24 h of initial ischemic events, and assessed the predictive role of the rCBV ratio on infarct growth in patients with DPM. Among 60 patients with acute MCA ischemic stroke, 41 (68.3%) patients had DPM on the initial MRI. Follow-up MRI revealed ischemic lesion enlargement in 19 (31.7%) of these 41 patients. The presence of DPM had no effect on the rate of lesion enlargement. Patients with ischemic lesion growth in follow-up images had a significantly lower rCBV ratio than patients without (0.81 ± 0.22 vs. 1.08 ± 0.20, p < 0.01). In this study, the decreased rCBV ratio on perfusion MRI has a predictive value for the growth of ischemic lesions after acute ischemic stroke with DPM on the TTP map.
MAPK Regulation of IL-4/IL-13 Receptors Contributes to the Synergistic Increase in CCL11/Eotaxin-1 in Response to TGF-β1 and IL-13 in Human Airway Fibroblasts

CCL11/eotaxin-1 is a potent eosinophilic CC chemokine expressed by primary human fibroblasts. The combination of TGF-β1 and IL-13 synergistically increases CCL11 expression, but the mechanisms behind the synergy are unclear. To address this, human airway fibroblast cultures from normal and asthmatic subjects were exposed to IL-13 alone or TGF-β1 plus IL-13. Transcriptional (nuclear run-on) and posttranscriptional (mRNA stability) assays confirmed that transcriptional regulation is critical for synergistic expression of CCL11. TGF-β1 plus IL-13 synergistically increased STAT-6 phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, and binding to the CCL11 promoter as compared with IL-13 alone. STAT-6 small interfering RNA significantly knocked down both STAT-6 mRNA expression and phosphorylation and inhibited CCL11 mRNA and protein expression. Regulation of the IL-4Rα complex by TGF-β1 augmented IL-13 signaling by dampening IL-13Rα2 expression, overcoming IL-13’s autoregulation of its pathway and enhancing the expression of CCL11. Our data suggest that TGF-β1 induced activation of the MEK/ERK pathway reduces IL-13Rα2 expression induced by IL-13. Thus, TGF-β1, a pleiotropic cytokine upregulated in asthmatic airways, can augment eosinophilic inflammation by interfering with IL-13’s negative feedback autoregulatory loop under MEK/ERK-dependent conditions.
ERK and Not p38 Pathway Is Required for IL-12 Restoration of T Cell IL-2 and IFN-γ in a Rodent Model of Alcohol Intoxication and Burn Injury1

Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that acute alcohol/ethanol (EtOH) intoxication combined with burn injury suppresses T cell IL-2 and IFN-γ production by inhibiting p38 and ERK activation. Because IL-12 plays a major role in Th1 differentiation and IFN-γ production, we examined whether diminished IL-2 and IFN-γ production after EtOH plus burn injury resulted from a decrease in IL-12. Furthermore, we investigated whether IL-12 utilizes the p38/ERK pathway to modulate T cell IL-2 and IFN-γ production after EtOH and burn injury. Male rats (∼250 g) were gavaged with 5 ml of 20% EtOH 4 h before ∼12.5% total body surface area burn or sham injury. Rats were sacrificed on day 1 after injury, and mesenteric lymph node T cells were isolated. T cells were stimulated with anti-CD3 in the absence or presence of rIL-12 (10 ng/ml) for 5 min and lysed. Lysates were analyzed for p38/ERK protein and phosphorylation levels using specific Abs and Western blot. In some experiments, T cells were cultured for 48 h with or without the inhibitors of p38 (10 μM SB203580/SB202190) or ERK (50 μM PD98059) to delineate the role of p38 and ERK in IL-12-mediated restoration of IL-2 and IFN-γ. Our findings indicate that IL-12 normalizes both p38 and ERK activation in T cells, but the results obtained using p38 and ERK inhibitors indicate that the restoration of ERK plays a predominant role in IL-12-mediated restoration of T cell IL-2 and IFN-γ production after EtOH and burn injury.
Subcutaneous seeding of hepatocellular carcinoma after percutaneous needle biopsy

Background— In patients with a hepatic mass, malignancy can be diagnosed or excluded by a needle biopsy. However, this procedure can cause the formation of subcutaneous metastatic nodules in the needle tract. We present a case of recurrent subcutaneous seeding four years after a biopsy of a small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Case report— A 30 year old woman with hepatitis B liver cirrhosis presented with a raised serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) (271 μg/l; normal: <20 μg/l); ultrasound detected a liver mass. Additional spiral computed tomography showed a 2 cm diameter subcapsular mass in segment V. There were also two satellite lesions, measuring less than 1 cm in the same segment. To confirm the diagnosis of HCC, an ultrasound guided needle biopsy was performed using an 18 gauge Tru-cut needle and Biopty-gun. Two passes were needed to …
Distribution of TGF‐β isoforms and signaling intermediates in corneal fibrotic wound repair

In this study, temporal and spatial distribution of three TGF‐β isoforms and their downstream signaling pathways including pSmad2 and p38MAPK were examined during fibrotic wound repair. In normal chick corneas, TGF‐β1, ‐2, and ‐3 were weakly detected in Bowman's layer (BL). In healing corneas, TGF‐β1 was primarily deposited in the fibrin clot and the unwounded BL. TGF‐β2 was highly expressed in healing epithelial and endothelial cells, and numerous active fibroblasts/myofibroblasts. TGF‐β3 was mainly detected in the unwound region of basal epithelial cells. α‐Smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) was initially appeared in the posterior region of repairing stroma at day 3, and was detected in the entire healing stroma by day 7. Notably, α‐SMA was absent in the central region of healing stroma by day 14, and its staining pattern was similar to those of TGF‐β2 and p38MAPK. By contrast, pSmad2 was mainly detected in the fibroblasts. In normal cornea, laminin was mainly detected in both epithelial basement membrane (BM) and Descemet's membrane (DM). By contrast to reconstitution of the BM in the wound region, the DM was not repaired although endothelial layer was regenerated, indicating that high levels of TGF‐β2 were released into the posterior region of healing stroma on day 14. High levels of α‐SMA staining, shown in cultured repair stromal cells from healing corneas on day 14 and in TGF‐β2 treated normal stromal cells, were significantly reduced by p38MAPK inhibition. Collectively, this study suggests that TGF‐β2‐mediated myofibroblast transformation is mediated, at least partly, by the p38MAPK pathway in vivo. J. Cell. Biochem. 108: 476–488, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
IMPLEMENTING TOOLS TO PROMOTE ADHERENCE TO ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY AT FACILITIES IN KENYA.

BACKGROUND Lack of effective systems and tools to identify and track defaulters are some of the factors that pose challenges in adherence monitoring for patients on anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An intervention was performed to introduce a facility-based appointment keeping system, and a revised clinic form to monitor patients' adherence to ART. OBJECTIVE To assess facility staff perceptions of, motivation for and self-reported practice in the implementation, and on the use of adherence-based indicators to inform decisions for performance improvement. DESIGN Qualitative explorative study aiming to evaluate a quasi-experimental intervention. SETTINGS Six conveniently sampled health facilities in Kenya located in Central, Eastern and Rift Valley provinces. SUBJECTS Thirty-six clinic staff members were interviewed, six at each facility, including facility managers, clinicians, nursing and pharmacy staff, counsellors, health records information officers and social workers. Analysis was performed in line with the Pettigrew and Whipp framework. RESULTS Providers perceived that the intervention had empowered them to assess their clinic's daily workload and to identify those patients who missed their appointments. Factors enhancing the positive uptake of the intervention included the availability of tools to monitor appointment keeping, training on adherence principles and supervisory support. Early detection of treatment defaulters helped the providers design targeted patient support to enhance appointment keeping. CONCLUSION The effect of the intervention led to implementation of changes within the clinic to enhance patients' appointment keeping and improve adherence to treatment. We expect the reported and observed changes to be sustainable as data generation and calculation of indicators to inform decision-making were performed by the providers themselves.
Optimized harmonic detecting and repetitive control scheme for shunt active power filter in synchronous reference frame

Two optimized control schemes of shunt active power filter (SAPF) in balanced three-phase three-wire system are proposed in this paper, including a fast fractional-order repetitive control (RC) strategy and a computation reduced harmonic detecting method. The improved RC is implemented in the synchronous reference frame (SRF) and based on the fractional-delayed-filter. Compared with the conventional RC (CRC), the proposed strategy can reduce the repetitive period from one fundamental cycle to one-sixth of the fundamental cycle, which results in the faster dynamic response. The fractional-delayed-filter, as the delay part of the proposed improved RC strategy, is used to achieve the high tracking accuracy of reference signals for control systems with different sampling rates. This paper also proposes a harmonic detecting method in the SRF based on the sliding Discrete Fourier transform (SDFT) with reduced computational burden, catering for selective harmonic elimination. Simulations and experiments show the validity of the proposed solutions.
The potential for stem cell therapy in cystic fibrosis.

Gene therapy by topical delivery to the airway of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has proven disappointing to date. Vectors are either inefficient1 or induce an inflammatory response.2 In addition barriers such as mucus prevent transfection of airway cells, even in relatively well patients.3 It could be argued that even if these hurdles were overcome, this approach can at best offer a treatment rather than a ‘cure’ for CF. Another approach in which gene therapy may work in CF is by the utilization of stem cells, which has been successful in children with single-gene blood disorders such as adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency and X-linked severe combined immune deficiency disease (SCID). 4,5 This method offers a potential cure to patients with CF. We envisage that the ultimate therapy will be gene therapy to CF babies by utilizing their own stored umbilical cord blood stem cells. In recent years there has been a great deal of interest and research into stem cells, with the hope of using such cells in tissue regeneration. Stem cells are a heterogeneous group with differing potentials for self-renewal and differentiation. Much interest in their potential for treating lung disease has come from several recent studies which have demonstrated that adult stem cells may show considerable plasticity with regard to their development potential. This may overcome some of the ethical concerns of using embryonic stem cells for research and therapy. This review will discuss basic stem cell biology and consider the evidence for plasticity in the lung and potential for future novel therapies for CF.
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Energy Storage Resources in the Frequency Regulation of a Single-Area Power System

An energy storage resource (ESR) has outstanding ramping capability, but its limited energy disables the provision of regulation service around the clock. As a comparison, a conventional generator (CG) is not restricted by the released energy, but the ramp rate is limited. In this paper, a method is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of ESRs providing frequency regulation service in a single-area system. We measure the performance of frequency regulation by the standard deviation of system frequency excursions, and define the regulation requirement of an isolated power system as the minimum regulation capacity which satisfies the desired regulation performance. By analyzing the regulation requirements under different combinations of regulation resources, we can quantitatively compare the effectiveness of CGs and ESRs. Case studies show that ESRs can reduce regulation requirements, indicating that they are more effective than CGs in frequency regulation. However, they become less effective and even outperformed by CGs when they constitute a larger portion of the system regulation capacity.
Distortion product otoacoustic emmissions in Ménière's disease.

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are an objective, non-invasive measure for evaluating outer hair cell (OHC) activity. In this study DPOAEs were measured in 70 patients affected by Meniere's disease (MD). In addition 58 out of 70 patients performed both an audiometric threshold evaluation pre- and postglycerol administration (i.e. glycerol test) and DPOAEs pre- and post-osmotic drug assumption. The purpose of this combined form of testing was to explore the effects of glycerol on the active non-linear mechanisms of the cochlea. More than 60% of the ears with MD emitted DPOAEs despite the presence of an average hearing threshold level above 40 dB (HTL). Changes in the DPOAE baseline measures were observed in 32.4% of cases after glycerol administration. Patients were divided in four groups according to the different pattern of DPOAEs shown after the glycerol test. In particular, three-quarters of cases showed a significant increase in DPOAE amplitude, one-quarter of patients, who initially did not express DPOAEs, eventually did after intake of the osmotic agent, while no decreased DPOAEs were observed in these series. The different expressions of DPOAEs should be associated with the evolutive phases of MD. In addiction, elucidation of the relationship between DPOAEs and the stages of MD was an outcome of this test.
High performance, confidence, and disinclination to explore: a case study

This video-stimulated interview study of problem-solving activity of a high performing Grade 6 girl who displayed confidence in her mathematical ability, provides a microanalysis of tensions she encountered when her findings using concrete aides did not match her rule application. It highlights her disinclination to explore these inconsistencies. This study points to the problematic nature of pedagogical approaches that develop only instrumental understandings and emphasises the need to explicitly value what policies promote; creative and innovative thinking.
Morphological and Elemental Classification of Freshly Emitted Soot Particles and Atmospheric Ultrafine Particles using the TEM/EDS

The Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) were used to determine morphology and elemental composition of a variety of freshly emitted soot particles (acetylene flame, candle flame, kerosene flame, diesel exhaust, electric arc, plastic burning, styrofoam burning, wood burning [white oak and pine bark], and rice straw burning), which can be possible candidate soot in the ambient atmosphere, and ultrafine particles sampled in urban, industrial, and coastal sites during ultrafine particle formation events (combustion and photochemical events). By using mobility-classified non-refractory ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) and refractory (Polystyrene latex (PSL) and salt (NaCl)) particles, limitation of the TEM was tested. Data showed that the TEM method can be used to examine shapes of both volatile particles such as (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 (100 nm) at low, but not high magnification (refer to low and high beam intensity, respectively), and non-volatile particles like NaCl (100 nm) and PSL (84 nm) at either low or high magnification. Distinct differences in morphological properties such as primary particle diameter, fractal dimension, and microstructure were observed among the different types of fresh soot particles. The atmospheric ultrafine particles were classified as agglomerates, sulfate mixtures (spherical), metallic oxides (spherical and polygonal), C-rich refractory (not agglomerated), C-rich non-refractory (not agglomerated), Si-rich (spherical), Na-rich (porous), or P-containing (non-spherical) particles. At the urban Gwangju site, a higher fraction of fresh and aged agglomerates was observed than at other sites. The C-rich non-refractory and sulfate mixtures were often observed in the photochemical event. The C-rich refractory particles were abundant at the Gwangju and Yeosu sites. The coastal Taean site had few agglomerates due to limited anthropogenic combustion source.
Skillrank: Towards a Hybrid Method to Assess Quality and Confidence of Professional Skills in Social Networks

The present paper introduces a hybrid technique to measure the expertise of users by analyzing their profiles and activities in social networks. Currently, both job seekers and talent hunters are looking for new and innovative techniques to filter jobs and candidates where candidates are trying to improve and make their profiles more attractive. In this sense, the Skill rank approach is based on the conjunction of existing and well-known information and expertise retrieval techniques that perfectly fit the existing web and social media environment to deliver an intelligent component to integrate the user context in the analysis of skills confidence. A major outcome of this approach is that it actually takes advantage of existing data and information available on the web to perform both a ranked list of experts in a field and a confidence value for every professional skill. Thus, expertise and experts can be detected, verified, and ranked using a suited trust metric. An experiment to validate the Skillrank technique based on precision and recall metrics is also presented using two different datasets: (1) ad hoc created using real data from a professional social network and (2) real data extracted from the LinkedIn API.
Mismatch repair pathway: molecules, functions, and role in colorectal carcinogenesis

The microsatellite instability (MSI) pathway is one of the important mutational pathways that play a critical role in colorectal carcinogenesis. About 15% of colorectal cancers (CRCs) are characterized by MSI. MSI tumors usually arise because of a genetic defect in mismatch repair (MMR) genes, one of the main DNA-repairing systems. MMR is a highly conserved biological pathway that plays a key role in maintaining genomic stability by correcting the base–base mismatches and insertion/deletion mispairs generated during DNA replication and recombination. Escherichia coli MutS and MutL and their eukaryotic homologs, MutS&agr; and MutL&agr;, respectively, are key players in MMR-associated genome maintenance. Mutations in at least five pivotal genes of MMR, namely, in those encoding mutS homolog 2 (MSH2), mutL homolog 1 (MLH1), mutS homolog 6 (MSH6), postmeiotic segregation increased 1 (PMS1), and postmeiotic segregation, increased 2 (PMS2) have been found in CRC, highlighting the importance of understanding the basic structure and functions of the essential molecules that make up the MMR system. In this review, we have attempted to focus on this aspect, that is, the role that MMR molecules play in CRC carcinogenesis.
Simulation of arbitrary fault-conditions in PM-machines by generalized unsymmetrical modeling

Nowadays, fault tolerance and reliability in electrical machines have become additional important design features besides functionality and efficiency. However, fault tolerant design often comes along with more space requirement and cost, which is not acceptable in many industrial applications. It is rather desirable to have standard machines working also in safety relevant applications and providing fault tolerance by sophisticated control methods. However, these require a detailed knowledge of the dynamic machine behavior in case a failure occurs and the electric and magnetic conditions are no longer symmetrical. Moreover, restoring of feasible operation conditions can also necessitate unsymmetrical voltage supply of the machine. In this paper, the commonly known modeling approaches of symmetrical machines during healthy operation and symmetrical voltage supply are extensively generalized. A general model for PM-machines with arbitrary fault injection capability and unsymmetrical voltage supply and machine operation conditions is set up and evaluated for different important machine faults.
The use of a dermal regeneration template (Integra) for acute resurfacing and reconstruction of defects created by excision of giant hairy nevi.

Giant hairy nevi are present in approximately 0.1 percent of newborns.1 These melanocytic lesions may cover a large skin surface area, and patients are often referred to a plastic surgeon for excision due to cosmetic concerns as well as the associated risk of malignant degeneration. The standard treatment advocated for these lesions is complete resection of the involved skin and underlying soft tissue. Closure and coverage of the large wounds created after resection pose a challenge to the plastic surgeon. There are various ways to close large skin defects. The application of split-thickness skin grafts is one method. Others have used fullthickness skin grafts or a variety of flaps. In most cases of giant hairy nevi, however, the wounds are covered by adjacent skin following the use of tissue expanders. This process may be painful and time-consuming for the patient, requiring multiple procedures and visits to the office for serial expansion. In addition, some of these lesions may be very large or located in a specific area of the body that makes adequate tissue expansion impossible. Due to the high complication rate and large number of procedures required with the use of tissue expanders,2 we elected to use a dermal regeneration template to heal these large defects. Integra (Integra LifeSciences, Plainsboro, N.J.) is a bilayer membrane system for skin replacement. The dermal layer provides a matrix for migration and growth of fibroblasts and other cells involved in wound healing; the temporary epidermal layer is made of silicone. The wounds are closed in two procedures performed 3 to 4 weeks apart. We present our experience with four patients treated with Integra.
Reneging Phenomena in Single Channel Queues

We consider a GI/G/1 queueing system where the nth arrival may renege if his service does not commence before an elapsed random time Zn. Results for the general case include relations analogous to Little's formula L = λW, an expression for the average fraction of customers who renege from the system, expressions for the waiting time distribution for all arrivals to the system, the waiting time distribution for arrivals who reach the server, the distribution for virtual waiting time in the queue, and the distribution of the steady-state number of customers in the system and the number of customers left in the system by a completed service. These expressions are written in terms of the distribution of the work seen by an arbitrary arrival to the system, and an integral equation for this distribution is given along with necessary and sufficient conditions for existence of the distribution. Solutions to the integral equation are found for a number of forms for customer interarrival, service, and reneging dist.