Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The prognostic value of 18 F-FDG PET-CT in the management of Hodgkin’s lymphoma: preliminary results of a prospective study

BACKGROUND: To date, Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) patients have achieved long-term survival of more than 80%. Unfortunately, longer follow-up has shown serious adverse effects of the treatments used. For this reason, therapeutic strategies are becoming more tailored to the individual patient´s prognosis. Pre-treatment risk factors for early-stage and advanced-stage HL are well known indicators of prognosis. Recently, early interim 18 F-FDG PET has been shown as a strong and independent predictor of progression-free survival in HL. Our aim was to assess response to therapy by repeating 18 F-FDG-PET/CT after four and six chemotherapy cycles. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated 21 consecutive patients affected by (HL) and presenting for assessment over a period of three years. All patients underwent initial staging with 18 F-FDG-PET/CT along with standard staging procedures. We tailored an individual treatment plan dependent on pre-treatment risk factors and initial 18 F-FDG-PET/CT. With the aim of the best definition of response to treatment, we repeated 18 F-FDG-PET/CT after two (FDG-PET 2), four (FDG-PET 4) and six (FDG-PET 6) chemotherapy cycles. Chemotherapy was typically given for four cycles in early disease stages and was prolonged to six to eight cycles in advanced disease stages, depending on PET findings. RESULTS: Our results showed a strong negative predictive value in detecting responders in early stage HL and a positive predictive value in advanced-stage patients. Clinical stage, extra-nodal sites and the positivity of the 18 F-FDG-PET/CT performed during chemotherapy were also noted as strong determinants of response to treatment. Moreover, in our series the 18 F-FDG-PET/CT data obtained after only two chemotherapy cycles (FDG-PET 2) were the same of those obtained after FDGPET 4 and FDG-PET 6 controls. CONCLUSION: The preliminary data of the present study confirm those of previous published studies about the negative predictive value of 18 F-FDG-PET/CT performed after four and six chemotherapy cycles, which contributed to the decision to stop treatment and to avoid radiotherapy in HL patients. Nonetheless, our preliminary data seems to suggest that only the 18 F-FDG-PET/CT performed after two cycles of chemotherapy (FDG-PET 2) is able to provide the same prognostic information of the FDG-PET 4 and FDG-PET 6 earlier.
Early 18fluorodeoxyglucose PET Scan as a Prognostic Tool in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Patients Treated with An Anthracycline-Based Chemotherapy Plus Rituximab.

Abstract 98 Background: 18 Fluorodeoxyglucose PET has been quickly integrated to the diagnostic and therapeutic armamentarium in diffuse large-B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Moreover, early PET appears a promising prognostic tool for tailoring treatment strategies. We evaluated the predictive value of early PET in a large prospective cohort of patients treated with immunochemotherapy. Patients and methods: 112 previously untreated patients from three institutions were treated between January 2000 and October 2008 for DLBCL using an anthracycline-based regimen plus Rituximab. Chemotherapy was either an R-CHOP21 regimen (n=57) or a dose-dense regimen (R-ACVBP, n=31 or R-CHOP14, n= 24). PET was performed at diagnosis and after two cycles of treatment. Early PET results were interpreted visually as positive (PET2p) or negative (PET2n), as previously described 1 , but did not modify the scheduled therapy. Results: Median age at diagnosis was 59 years (range 20–79 years) and 67% of patients were males, 44% were over 60 years, 81% presented with an advanced Ann Arbor stage (III–IV), 29% had a poor performance status (ECOG 2-4), 36% had more than one extra-nodal site involved and LDH were elevated in 68%. The repartition on the basis of the International Prognosis Index was the following: low=5%, low-intermediate =35%, intermediate-high=37% and high risk=23%. After two cycles, 70 patients (63%) were PET2n and 42 (38%) were PET2p (38 patients in partial response and 4 with stable disease). Median follow-up was 38 months for living patients. Ten of 70 (14%) PET2n patients showed progression versus 22 of 42 (52%) PET2p patients. The estimated 5-year progression free survival (PFS) was 81% for PET2n and 47% for PET2p patients (log rank test, p Conclusion: Early PET after 2 cycles of treatment is a powerful tool to predict outcome in DLBCL patients treated with Rituximab combined with an anthracycline-based chemotherapy. It brings promising opportunities in the designing of new treatment strategies for DLBCL. Reference : 1 Haioun et al. Blood 2005; 106(4):1376–81. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Network Parameters Evaluation in Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) Routing Protocols for Efficient Message Delivery in City Environment

Abstract- Efficient message delivery in city environment is required to ensure driver’s safety and passenger’s comfortability. In cities of developed nations, routing of data in vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) faces many challenges such as radio obstacles, mobility constraints and uneven nodes distribution. These factors primarily makes communication between vehicles complex. To overcome and transmit data traffic effectively in city environment in the presence of above-mentioned challenges, evaluation of some network parameters conducted. The selected metrics are packet delivery ratio (PDR), end-to-end delay and routing overhead. These are based on three performance of position-based routing protocols: Anchor–based Street and Traffic Awareness Routing (A-STAR), Greedy Perimeter Coordinator Routing (GPCR) and Contention Based Forwarding (CBF) with the help of Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) to generates vehicle mobility in city environment and network simulator (OMNeT++) to creates and calculates needed components. The speed of the vehicles and node density were varied in this process, and the simulated results showed that CBF outperforms significantly than A-STAR and GPCR in terms of packet delivery ratio as the speed varied and with a better end-to-end delays and routing overhead at a lower speed. In addition, CBF performs better than A-STAR and GPCR in terms of packet delivery ratio as the node varied with a better end-to-end delay, and a better routing overhead at a lower node density.
Neuroprotection in glaucoma: current and emerging approaches

Neuroprotection in glaucoma aims to prevent degeneration of RGCs, independent of reduction in intraocular pressure, in order to maintain visual function. The vast potential for neuroprotection to prevent decline in visual function and preserve quality of life has stimulated research into multiple therapeutic approaches. Current strategies have focused on drug therapies that have the ability to preserve visual function by prevention of RGC apoptosis. There is promise in new treatments in stem cell and gene therapy. Despite such innovation, there has been a delay in translating research from bench to the clinic; conventional clinical trial designs in glaucoma have proven to be lengthy, expensive and difficult to define. This review highlights new and emerging approaches in neuroprotection for glaucoma. Additionally, it explores the ability of alternative clinical trial design to investigate therapeutic concepts and facilitate the development of novel therapy for patients.
The Effectiveness of Two Manual Slim Bristles Toothbrushes Among Fixed Orthodontic Appliance Patients

This research aimed to evaluate the oral hygiene status in fixed orthodontic appliance patients when using two different slim bristles toothbrushes and to assess patients’ toothbrush perception. Twenty six fixed orthodontic appliance patients participated in the six weeks prospective, crossover clinical trial. All patients used two different slim bristles toothbrushes (Toothbrush A and Toothbrush B) for two weeks each with a washout period in between. Gingival health and plaque value were assessed based on Lӧe & Silness Gingival Index and Silness & Lӧe Plaque Index at baseline, week 2, week 4 (washout) and week 6. At the end of the trial, patients’ toothbrush perception was assessed through questionnaire. All data were analysed using SPSS version 22. The mean age of the patients was 21.5 ± 4.3 years, with female predominant (n= 17, 65.4%). More than half were Malay (n= 15, 57.7%) and had tertiary education (n=14, 53.8%). Patients could achieve good oral hygiene when using Toothbrush A (65.4%) and Toothbrush B (69.2%). However, the occurrence of gingivitis was significantly higher when using Toothbrush A (OR=1.889, 95% CI=1.207-2.957, p value < 0.05). Toothbrush B was felt to clean better (n= 14, 53.8%) while Toothbrush A was perceived to be easier to use (n=14, 53.8%). Both toothbrushes maintained patients’ oral hygiene status. However, when using Toothbrush B, oral health status was better as it significantly reduced gingivitis occurrence compared to Toothbrush A. As for the toothbrush perception, most patients preferred Toothbrush A to be taken home. DOI : http://dx.doi. org. /10.17576/JSKM-2019-1701-06
Temsirolimus as a Prospective Treatment Option in Sarcomatoid Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) consists of a heterogeneous group of tumors with distinct genetic and metabolic defects, as well as histopathologic and clinical features. RCC has an inclination for metastatic spread to uncommon sites, with an aggressive behaviour. Here, we share an unusual case of sarcomatoid RCC (sRCC) with lung metastasis, in a patient who underwent left-sided radical nephrectomy nearly 15 years ago. We used an emerging treatment option, with a positive outcome in the case.
Evaluation of safety and efficacy of somatuline autogel in combination with molecular targeted therapies (MTT) in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs): Data from one Spanish cohort.

e14671 Background: Analysis of the mechanisms of action of somatostatin analogs (SSAs) and mTOR inhibitors or tyrosine kinase inhibitors suggest that they may provide synergistic effects when used in combination for the treatment of pts with NETs. Methods: This is a Spanish multicenter cohort of pts with NETs treated with the SSAs lanreotide (LAN) and MTTs at 35 Spanish referral centers. Data of 159 combined treatments (133 pts) was retrospectively collected in order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of such combinations. Results: 133 pts (52,6% M) with a median age of 59,9 years; ECOG 0/1/2/3: 34%/49%/16%/1%; Lung/Pancreas/Gastrointestinal//Unknown(UK) origin: 9%/48% /32%/11%; G1/G2/G3/UK: 41%/32%/1%/26%; Non Functioning/ Functioning (69%/31%) received treatment with MTT + LAN for synergistic antiproliferative purpose in 85% of the cases, hormonal control (13,5%) or both objectives (1,5%). 115 pts received one combination treatment and 18 pts received between 2 (12 pts) and 5 (1 pt). LAN was administra.
Association of Zinc Deficiency with Iron Deficiency Anemia and its Symptoms: Results from a Case-control Study

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common type of anemia. Impaired iron absorption can be caused by a decrease in trace elements as zinc, which is found in the structure of enzymes that coordinate or catalyst iron metabolism. The aim of this study is to detect if zinc deficiency is associated with IDA and to determine the effect of associated zinc deficiency on symptoms of IDA in adult IDA patients. This case-control study included 30 IDA patients with matched healthy control group (n = 30) for age and sex. For each subject, the parameters were evaluated: hemoglobin (Hb); mean corpuscular volume (MCV), total iron binding capacity (TIBC), serum iron, serum ferritin (SF). Serum zinc levels were measured by atomic absorption method with the PerkinElmer Analyst. Symptoms attributed to iron deficiency or depletion, defined as fatigue, cardiopulmonary symptoms, mental manifestations, epithelial manifestations, and neuromuscular symptoms were recorded. Serum zinc levels were lower in IDA patients (43.4 ± 7.9 mg/dL) than in the control subjects (94.7 ± 16.75 mg/dL; p < 0.0001). Zinc deficiency was associated with worse cardiovascular symptoms (p = 0.04), epithelial symptoms (p = 0.027), and restless leg syndrome (p < 0.001) in patients with IDA. Measurement of zinc levels should be considered for IDA patients. With the help of our study, iron and zinc supplementation instead of only iron replacement may be considered in cases of iron deficiency particularly, in patients with severe epithelial dysfunctions. Further studies are still needed to evaluate the benefit of zinc and iron supplementation in IDA patients.
Healthcare Handover and Patient Safety

The current literature shows a growing awareness that high-quality handover practices (i.e. mechanisms for transferring information, responsibility, and authority) are critical to ensure continuity of care and patient safety. Inadequate patient handover consistently appears as a factor contributing to adverse events, across healthcare settings and practitioners. Impacts of inadequate handover include delays in diagnosis and treatment, redundant activities such as additional procedures and tests, longer hospital stays, decreased patient and provider satisfaction etc. It has been pointed out that handover processes are highly variable in quality and structure and that there seems to be a lack of consensus about the primary purpose of patient handover resulting in diverse measurement approaches and a broad spectrum of interventions to improve handover. The aim of this symposium is to present recent conceptual, empirical and implementation work on patient handover in a variety of clinical settings and to discuss implications for patient safety.
Impact vasculaire du traitement antihypertenseur et néphroprotection

Résumé L’hypertension artérielle contribue à altérer la fonction rénale en accélérant les remaniements structurels au niveau des reins, ce qui entraîne une diminution progressive de la filtration glomérulaire. L’hypertension artérielle et les anomalies microcirculatoires peuvent créer un cercle vicieux, dans lequel les lésions rénales contribuent à majorer le niveau de pression artérielle. La prévention de l’altération de la fonction rénale est une priorité, en particulier dans la population de plus en plus nombreuse des patients hypertendus diabétiques. Il est établi que les inhibiteurs de l’enzyme de conversion (IEC) et les antagonistes des récepteurs à l’angiotensine II (AAII) exercent des effets néphroprotecteurs; de plus, les IEC diminuent le risque de survenue d’une microalbuminurie, laquelle constitue le stade inaugural de l’insuffisance rénale chez le diabétique. Des résultats trÈs intéressants ont été obtenus avec une plurithérapie fixe faiblement dosée associant un IEC, le perindopril, et un diurétique, l’indapamide; en effet, non seulement cette association fixe a entraîné des réductions de la pression artérielle plus marquées que celles obtenues avec l’énalapril, mais, de plus, comparativement à ce dernier, elle a induit une diminution de l’albuminurie supérieure de 24 %. La plurithérapie perindopril/indapamide a également démontré une tendance à réduire l’incidence des événements cardiovasculaires dÈs la premiÈre année de traitement. Des études chez l’animal, enfin, ont démontré que cette association protÈge le rein tant sur un plan structurel que fonctionnel.
Analysis of CDMA for non-geostationary satellite systems .1. Forward service link in Rician fading channel with satellite diversity and power control

Analytical methods to analyze the forward service link from satellites to users of non-geostationary multi-beam satellite systems using direct-sequence spread-spectrum code-division multiple-access (DS-SS CDMA) techniques in a Rician fading channel with satellite diversity and power control are presented. Specifically, analytical expressions of the probability of the received ratio of bit-energy to noise-plus-interference density at the user's RAKE receiver output less than the required ratio are derived. The derived expressions are functions of the satellite constellation, user distribution, loading scenario for satellite antenna beams, spread-spectrum chip rate, information rate, traffic loading for each CDMA carrier, path loss, transmit power, transmit antenna patterns of the satellite antenna beams, receive antenna patterns of the users, Rician fading parameters, satellite diversity order, as well as power control scenario. Thus, this paper provides the analytical methods to determine system availability and capacity for the specified system parameters.
Analise de desempenho do sistema de TV digital DVB-T com entrelaçador temporal em canais com ruido impulsivo

O objetivo deste trabalho e estudar o desempenho do sistema europeu de televisao digital terrestre DVB-T, quando implementado com um entrelacador temporal semelhante ao utilizado no sistema japones de televisao digital terrestre ISDB-T. Contribui-se com o desenvolvimento de um simulador denominado de DVB-T Modificado (DVBM-T). Para avaliar o desempenho do sistema DVBM-T, duas propostas de estimadores de canal (2D combinado com Cubic-Spline e 1D com Piecewice) foram testados. As simulacoes ocorreram em canais com ruido impulsivo, multipercurso, doppler, ruido gaussiano Branco e outros canais tipicos de radiodifusao utilizados no Brasil para testes de sistemas de TV Digital Terrestre. Neste trabalho, ainda foram realizadas comparacoes entre resultados obtidos em receptores domesticos dos sistemas DVB-T e ISDB-T com a versao modificada do sistema DVB-T. Os resultados obtidos sao apresentados e discutidos. Abstract
Fast OMP reconstruction for compressive hyperspectral imaging using joint spatial-spectral sparsity model

Hyperspectral imaging typically produces huge data volume that demands enormous computational resources in terms of storage, computation and transmission, particularly when real-time processing is desired. In this paper, we study a lowcomplexity scheme for hyperspectral imaging completely bypassing high-complexity compression task. In this scheme, compressive hyperspectral data are acquired directly by a device similar to the single-pixel camera based on the principle of compressive sensing (CS). To decode the compressive data, we propose a flexible recovery strategy by taking advantage of the joint spatial-spectral correlation model of hyperspectral images. Moreover, a thorough investigation is analytically conducted on compressive hyperspectral data and we find that the compressive data still have strong spectral correlation. To make the recovery more accurate, an adaptive spectral band reordering algorithm is directly added to the compressive data before the reconstruction by making best use of spectral correlation. The real hyperspectral images are tested to demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed recover algorithm can speed up the reconstruction process with reliable recovery quality.
Progress in Neuroengineering for brain repair: New challenges and open issues

Background: In recent years, biomedical devices have proven to be able to target also different neurological disorders. Given the rapid ageing of the population and the increase of invalidating diseases affecting the central nervous system, there is a growing demand for biomedical devices of immediate clinical use. However, to reach useful therapeutic results, these tools need a multidisciplinary approach and a continuous dialogue between neuroscience and engineering, a field that is named neuroengineering. This is because it is fundamental to understand how to read and perturb the neural code in order to produce a significant clinical outcome. Results: In this review, we first highlight the importance of developing novel neurotechnological devices for brain repair and the major challenges expected in the next years. We describe the different types of brain repair strategies being developed in basic and clinical research and provide a brief overview of recent advances in artificial intelligence that have the potential to improve the devices themselves. We conclude by providing our perspective on their implementation to humans and the ethical issues that can arise. Conclusions: Neuroengineering approaches promise to be at the core of future developments for clinical applications in brain repair, where the boundary between biology and artificial intelligence will become increasingly less pronounced.
Molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer – brief review

Summary Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers and one of the leading causes of cancer death in the Western world. The majority of colorectal cancers arise in sporadic form. The disease arises from the accumulation of mutations in oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and mismatch repair genes during progression from normal colon epithelium to adenoma and metastatic carcinoma. Colorectal Cancer Subtyping Consortium describes four consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) of CRC: CMS1 (14%, microsatellite instability, immune, strong immune activation), CMS2 (37%, canonical, WNT and MYC signaling activation), CMS3 (13%, metabolic, epithelial and metabolic dysregulation) and CMS4 (23%, mesenchymal, transforming growth factor-β activation), while 13% of colorectal cancers remained mixed or “unclassified”. This mini review will give some information about the most frequent molecular genetics changes in colorectal cancer and its molecular classification in four CMS subtypes due to its morphology, gene expression profile, somatic mutations and microsatellite instability.
Implementation of a 1 volt supply voltage CMOS subbandgap reference circuit

This paper presents a CMOS subbandgap reference circuit with a 1 V power supply voltage. To obtain a subbandgap reference voltage with a 1 V supply voltage, threshold voltage reduction and subthreshold operation techniques are aggressively used. Large /spl Delta/ 0.631V/sub BE/ (100 mV) as well as a 90 dB operational amplifier are used to circumvent amplifier offset problem. This circuit is implemented using a 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS standard process without special process modification and its size is 1370 /spl mu/m/spl times/1390 /spl mu/m. The temperature coefficient of this circuit is 17 ppm from -40 /spl deg/C to 125/spl deg/C after resistor trimming, and the minimum operation power supply voltage is 0.95 V. The measured total current consumption is below 10 /spl mu/A and the measured output voltage is 0.631 V at room temperature.
Rise of the Otaku : investigating the anime fandom in South Africa.

This ethnographic research project is an empirical investigation into the nature of the anime subculture and the practices of its fans (popularly known as ‘otaku’ in Japanese culture) in South Africa. Subcultural theory was used to outline the key characteristics of a typical subculture. My work has drawn heavily from Paul Hodkinson’s (2002) interesting attempt to combine the theoretical strengths of both ‘traditional’ subcultural theories and their post-modern critiques. Resisting the post-modern tendency to see subcultures as ephemeral and fluid, Hodkinson outlines four key elements that define a grouping of people as having sub-cultural substance: autonomy, identity, consistent distinctiveness and commitment. In order to introduce, explore, and investigate the practices of the anime fandom in South Africa, I have made extensive use of these four subcultural characteristics. Henry Jenkins and John Fiske’s seminal work on fandom and fan studies will be useful in this paper as I shall be attempting to understand how and why fans in South Africa enjoy and relate to anime. While utilising the testimonies of otaku, this thesis is also self-reflexive, and places my fandom within the context of cultural studies research, in order to provide a more indepth investigation.