Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BRAF mutation testing of thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy specimens for preoperative risk stratification in papillary thyroid cancer.

PURPOSE This study investigated the utility of BRAF mutation testing of thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens for preoperative risk stratification in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). PATIENTS AND METHODS We assessed the T1799A BRAF mutation status in thyroid FNAB specimens obtained from 190 patients before thyroidectomy for PTC and its association with clinicopathologic characteristics of the tumor revealed postoperatively. RESULTS We observed a significant association of BRAF mutation in preoperative FNAB specimens with poorer clinicopathologic outcomes of PTC. In comparison with the wild-type allele, BRAF mutation strongly predicted extrathyroidal extension (23% v 11%; P = .039), thyroid capsular invasion (29% v 16%; P = .045), and lymph node metastasis (38% v 18%; P = .002). During a median follow-up of 3 years (range, 0.6 to 10 years), PTC persistence/recurrence was seen in 36% of BRAF mutation-positive patients versus 12% of BRAF mutation-negative patients, with an odds ratio of 4.16 (95% CI, 1.70 to 10.17; P = .002). The positive and negative predictive values for preoperative FNAB-detected BRAF mutation to predict PTC persistence/recurrence were 36% and 88% for overall PTC and 34% and 92% for conventional PTC, respectively. CONCLUSION Preoperative BRAF mutation testing of FNAB specimens provides a novel tool to preoperatively identify PTC patients at higher risk for extensive disease (extrathyroidal extension and lymph node metastases) and those who are more likely to manifest disease persistence/recurrence. BRAF mutation, as a powerful risk prognostic marker, may therefore be useful in appropriately tailoring the initial surgical extent for patients with PTC.
Driving the Bumpy Road to Commercialization.

Tissue engineering has always had an applied focus and there is hardly an academic publication that does not mention the applicability of its findings to the future development of a medical product. I have been involved in the industry side of tissue engineering from the start, pursuing a variety of applications, some making it to the marketplace. There have been many lessons that I have learned from direct experience (mistakes and successes), observation, through advising others, and now, in developing innovative ways to identify and eliminate the regenerative cell populations within a tumor. This brief overview of some of these lessons is written with the next generation of pioneering product developers in mind: the biologists, biochemists and engineers who will dedicate their careers to driving medical and commercial progress in tissue engineering.
Le secteur privé et la lutte contre la pauvreté

Les grandes entreprises sont aujourd’hui interpellees sur leur contribution a la creation de richesses, a l’emploi, a l’orientation vers de nouveaux modeles industriels et economiques et au developpement des pays du Sud. On peut distinguer quatre responsabilites principales, correspondant aux differentes parties prenantes et dimensions de l’activite de l’entreprise : economique et financiere, sociale, societale et environnementale, et politique. Deux responsabilites moins directes sont ajoutees : une responsabilite extraordinaire, en cas d’urgence, et une responsabilite « surerogatoire », concernant la philanthropie.
The effective deficiency and countermeasures of local university in regional innovation networks

The local university is important part of regional innovation networks and is main resource of regional innovation achievement. However, in china, many local universities make little effect in regional innovation networks and don not paly its due role. We use the theory in degree of maturity of networks relationship to analyze the effective deficiency and reasons of local university in regional innovation networks, then put forward countermeasures to improve the effect of local university in regional innovation networks.
Human Platelet Storage Organelles A Review

Summary Platelets contain numerous electron-dense subcellular organelles which have been referred to in the literature by various names such as α-granules, electron-dense and very electrondense granules, lysosomes, dense bodies, etc. Most of the organelles are secretory granules, since induction of secretion by appropriate stimuli causes degranulation of platelets and the appearance of the granule contents in the extracellular medium. Among the substances that are known to be stored and secreted by platelets are: serotonin, ATP, ADP, calcium, pyrophosphate, acid hydrolases, fibrinogen, vascular permeability factor, β-thromboglobulin, platelet factor 4 and growth factor. The recent literature concerning the localization of the secreted substances within specific platelet organelles is reviewed here. Results from electron microscopy and microprobe analysis, selective secretion experiments, subcellular fractionation studies and studies on platelets from patients with storage pool deficiency indicate that there are as many as four types of storage organelles in human platelets.
Afferent and efferent innervation of the cat cochlea: Quantitative analysis with light and electron microscopy

The purpose of the present study was to describe the longitudinal and radial gradients of cochlear innervation in the cat. To this end, afferent and efferent terminals of both the inner (IHC) and outer hair cell (OHC) regions were reconstructed from serial ultrathin sections at six and eight cochlear locations, respectively, corresponding to roughly octave intervals of characteristic frequency (CF). Analysis of the afferent innervation of the IHCs showed (1) the number of radial fibers per IHC rises from 10 per IHC at the 0.25 kHz region to a maximum of 30 per IHC at the 10 kHz locus; (2) branching of radial fibers is essentially restricted to regions apical to the 1.0 kHz point; and (3) there are significant differences in synaptic‐body morphology for synapses on different sides of the IHC, corresponding to known differences in afferent threshold and rate of spontaneous activity. With respect to efferent innervation in the IHC area, we found (1) that there were numerous vesicle‐filled terminals contacting every IHC examined; however, those with obvious synaptic specialization were confined to the most apical regions; and (2) there were roughly the same numbers of efferent synapses per radial fiber at all cochlear locations; however, at each location, radial fibers contacting the modiolar side of the hair cell (corresponding to high‐threshold afferents) showed significantly more efferent synapses than radial fibers contacting the pillar side. Analysis of the OHC afferent innervation showed (1) a clear rise in numbers of terminals per OHC from roughly 3 per cell in the base to 15 per cell in the apex, (2) no systematic differences in the numbers of terminals as a function of OHC row, and (3) that synaptic bodies at the OHC afferent synapse are common only apical to the 1.0 kHz locus. Counts of efferent terminals on OHCs revealed (1) maximal numbers (9 per OHC) between the 6 and 24 kHz regions and (2) striking decrease in terminal counts from first‐ to third‐row OHCs. Ultrastructural data on efferent innervation were compared quantitatively with light‐microscopic analysis of cochleas immunostained (with antibody to synaptophysin) to reveal all vesiculated terminals.
Transmenopausal Changes in Trabecular Bone Quality

Bone strength depends on its amount and quality. Bone quality includes its structural and material properties. Bone material properties are dependent on bone turnover rates. Remodeling rates are significantly increased immediately after menopause. In the present study, we used Raman microspectroscopic analysis of double iliac crest biopsies with a spatial resolution of 1 µm obtained before and immediately after menopause (1 year after cessation of menses) in healthy females to investigate changes in material properties attributable to menopause. In particular, the mineral/matrix ratio, the relative proteoglycan and lipid content, the mineral maturity/crystallinity, and the relative pyridinoline collagen cross‐link content were determined in trabecular bone as a function of surface metabolic activity and tissue age. The results indicate that significant changes (specifically in mineral/matrix ratio) were evident at active bone forming surfaces, whereas the relative proteoglycan content was altered at resorbing surfaces. These changes were not accompanied by altered mineral content or quality as monitored by Raman microspectroscopic analysis. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Evaluation and Management of Spastic Gait in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury

Damage to the corticospinal system after brain injury interferes with activities of daily living, mobility, and communication. The chief cause of this interference has to do with impairment to produce and regulate voluntary movement accompanied by the presence of spasticity. This review advocates that the evaluation of “spasticity” should focus on 3 issues: (1) identifying the clinical pattern of motor dysfunction and its source; (2) identifying the patient's ability to control muscles involved in the clinical pattern; and (3) the differential role of muscle stiffness and contracture as it relates to the functional problem. We have identified and described 6 clinical patterns of motor dysfunction affecting the lower limbs during gait, found in patients with traumatic brain injury and residual from upper motor neuron lesions. We have presented the use of dynamic electromyography to identify the voluntary and spastic characteristics of individual muscles in gait and the use of anesthetic nerve blocks to identify properties of stiffness and contracture in particular muscle groups. Treatment algorithms for these problems include identification of the muscles that contribute to the deformity across a joint; the stage of patient recovery; and most important, the clinical goals applicable to the patient. The treatment strategies based on the algorithm included in this article were focused on the use of chemodenervation of targeted muscles, neuro-orthopedic surgery, and other therapeutic strategies.
SYNTHESIS AND SECRETION OF COMPLEMENT PROTEINS BY MACROPHAGES *

Macrophages secrete a wide variety of substances, including several that may play a role in inflammatory reactions (prostaglandins, pyrogen, interferon), lysozyme, various acid hydrolases, proteases active at neutral pH ( plasminogen activator, collagenase, and elastase) , colony-stimulating factors, and several factors with less well-characterized activities that may affect the functions of lymphocytes and plasma cells. ' Investigation of the functions of macrophages and monocytes in vitro has led to detailed analyses of the control of synthesis, secretion and, to a lesser extent, catabolism of these secretory products. From these recent studies, some general concepts concerning macrophage secretion and its regulation have developed. First, it is clear that certain products, the neutral proteases for example, are almost entirely exported, while for others most of the sypthesized product remains within the cell. Second, the secretion of certain molecules seems relatively uninfluenced by changes in the local milieu, but other molecules may be secreted only transiently and strictly in relation to some episodic stimulus. For example, the constancy of lysozyme secretion is strikingly different from the fluctuations seen in the secretion of acid hydrolases. In fact, there appears to be a variety of functionally distinct pathways for packaging and secreting macrophage products which allows their synthesis and secretion to be independently regulated by such factors as endocytic stimuli, immunoglobulin or complement components, steroid hormones, proteolytic enzymes, or components of lymphocyte conditioned medium. Finally, the repertoire of secreted products of inflammatory macrophages is dramatically different from that of noninflammatory, or resident, cells. For many years, macrophages were proposed as sites of synthesis of several of the proteins of the complement system. Many of these initial suggestions have since been confirmed or modified, so that now a nearly complete profile of the complement proteins synthesized by monocytes and macrophages has been formulated.
Incipient fault diagnosis and prognosis for hybrid systems with unknown mode changes

This work considers incipient fault diagnosis and prognosis for hybrid systems with unknown mode changes. A set of augmented Analytical Redundancy Relations (ARRs), termed AARRs, is proposed to extend the capability of ARRs to identify degradation of components which are not represented by physical parameters. The methods utilize the unified constraint relations, named global AARRs (GAARRs), for health monitoring of hybrid systems. The mode information is provided by a mode tracker, which is based on Mode-change Signature Matrix (MChSM) and is only triggered when inconsistency between monitored system and its nominal model is detected. Once a fault is detected, a hypothesis set is generated and a multiple hybrid differential evolution algorithm is adopted to identify the degradation dynamics and the unknown mode changes. The optimization problem is efficiently solved by a hybrid differential evolution algorithm, which is able to simultaneously handle real and binary unknown parameters. Simulation results are reported to validate the proposed method.
To construction of the correct algorithm for pattern recognition tasks over fuzzy neuro-operator model

The developed approach allows to construct an algorithm which theoretically gives exact solution of pattern recognition problem if some conditions on input data of the problem hold. For the crisp model the conditions are conditions of solvability for the operator equation and they are the conditions of the correctness of an special algebra over pattern recognition (p.r.) tasks. The approach is not connected with a functional minimization and this is new aspect which differs from classical approaches to neural network constructions including fuzzy models also. The last means that the similar conditions can be given for the appropriate fuzzy recognition model.
Characterization of Nocardia asteroides Isolates from Different Ecological Habitats on the Basis of Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic-PCR Fingerprinting

ABSTRACT Thirteen isolates of Nocardia asteroides from both soils and aquatic samples (lake and moat sediments, as well as scum from activated sludge), together with a type strain and two known clinical isolates of this species, were characterized by repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR fingerprinting with the BOX-A1R primer. The resulting DNA fingerprint patterns proved to be strain specific, and cluster analysis distinguished the soil isolates, the aquatic isolates, and the known strains as being in separate groups.
Antigenicity and N‐terminal amino acid sequnece of a 35 KDa prorin‐like protein of Listonella (Vibrio) anguillarum: Comparison among different serotypes and other bacterial species

Listonella (Vibrio) anguillarum, an important fish pathogen, is divided into 10 serotypes according to O-antigens present on the outer membrane. However, the biochemical and immunological properties of porin proteins have not been reported. In this study, the antigenicity and N-terminal amino acid sequence of the 35 kDa porin-like-major outer membrane protein (Omp35La) were compared among different serotypes of L. anguillarum as well as other bacteria. In Western blotting analysis, antisera against Omp35La from strains of J-O-1, -2 and -3 serotypes could detect Omp35La, but not other proteins, in most L. anguillarum strains and isolated of the genera Vibrio and Photobacterium. This antigenicity of Omp35La is unrelated to the serotype and is conserved in related organisms. An N-terminal sequence showed identification with OmpF and OmpC of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. However, this similarity was lower when compared to other human pathogens. Thus it was concluded that Omp35La does not contribute to the serotypes of L. anguillarum, although the N-terminal structure is well conserved among different serotypes.
Morphological and functional changes in rat hippocampal slice cultures after short‐term oxygen‐glucose deprivation

To study effects of short‐term cerebral ischemia, hippocampal slice cultures were subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by a period of normoxic reoxygenation. Propidium iodide staining, and MTT/formazanassay were used to evaluate cell viability and metabolic activity. CA1 pyramidal cells were analyzed at the light‐and electron microscopic levels. Cell damage was found to be insignificant during the first hour after 10 min OGD but profound following 4 h, showing delayed neuronal cell damage caused by short‐term OGD. Our model can be used to characterize the mechanisms of cell damage caused by mild cerebral ischemia. These data might apply to further development of neuroprotective tools for the treatment of brain diseases.
How do helix–helix interactions help determine the folds of membrane proteins? Perspectives from the study of homo‐oligomeric helical bundles

The final, structure‐determining step in the folding of membrane proteins involves the coalescence of preformed transmembrane helices to form the native tertiary structure. Here, we review recent studies on small peptide and protein systems that are providing quantitative data on the interactions that drive this process. Gel electrophoresis, analytical ultracentrifugation, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) are useful methods for examining the assembly of homo‐oligomeric transmembrane helical proteins. These methods have been used to study the assembly of the M2 proton channel from influenza A virus, glycophorin, phospholamban, and several designed membrane proteins—all of which have a single transmembrane helix that is sufficient for association into a transmembrane helical bundle. These systems are being studied to determine the relative thermodynamic contributions of van der Waals interactions, conformational entropy, and polar interactions in the stabilization of membrane proteins. Although the database of thermodynamic information is not yet large, a few generalities are beginning to emerge concerning the energetic differences between membrane and water‐soluble proteins: the packing of apolar side chains in the interior of helical membrane proteins plays a smaller, but nevertheless significant, role in stabilizing their structure. Polar, hydrogen‐bonded interactions occur less frequently, but, nevertheless, they often provide a strong driving force for folding helix–helix pairs in membrane proteins. These studies are laying the groundwork for the design of sequence motifs that dictate the association of membrane helices.
Gust Response of Highly Flexible Aircraft

The paper presents a methodology for calculating the flight dynamic characteristics and gust response of highly flexible aircraft. The aeroelastic model is based on a geometricallyexact, nonlinear beam model coupled with large angle aerodynamic model. The gust response is calculated based on various gust models. It is shown that the calculated gust response spectrum as well as the RMS values can be very different for different models. For a high-aspect-ratio flying wing example the spanwise non-uniform gust model predicts much higher response as compared to a uniform gust model.
The Association between Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Fasting Indices of Glucose Homoeostasis: The ATTICA Study

Objective: We investigated the association between adherence to Mediterranean diet and fasting indices of glucose homoeostasis, in a Greek adult population. Methods: During 2001–2002 we randomly enrolled 1514 men and 1528 women (18–89 years old) without history of CVD, from the Attica area. Diabetes mellitus (type 2) and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were defined according to the established ADA criteria. Insulin resistance was evaluated by HOMA-IR. Dietary habits were assessed through a validated food frequency questionnaire and a diet score (range 0–55) was developed (higher values means greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet). Results: The overall prevalence of diabetes type 2 was 7.9% in men and 6.0% in women (P = 0.05). Mean diet score was 26.3 ± 6.8 in normoglycemic, 25.7 ± 6.4 in IFG and 22.2 ± 5.8 in diabetic subjects (p < 0.001). In normoglycemic subjects who were in the upper tertile of the diet score we observed 7% lower glucose (p < 0.05), 5% lower insulin (p < 0.05) and 15% lower HOMA-IR (p < 0.01) levels compared to subjects in the lower tertile of the diet score. Additionally, in diabetic/IFG participants who where in the upper tertile of the diet score we observed 15% lower glucose (p < 0.05), 15% lower insulin (p < 0.05) and 27% lower HOMA-IR (p < 0.01) levels compared to those in the lower tertile. However, multiple regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, physical activity, smoking status, and presence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, confirmed the previous associations in normoglycemic, but not in diabetic/IFG people. Conclusion: An inverse association was observed between adherence to Mediterranean diet and indices of glucose homeostasis, only in normoglycemic people.
Simulation and Analysis of Power Factor Correction in Electric Control System for Metal Halide High Intensity Discharge Lamps

Metal Halide High Intensity Discharge lamps are becoming popular because of its high efficacy. The operating characteristic of Metal Halide High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps is complex as it has several stage of operation. So electric control system is required to control the operation of metal halide high intensity discharge lamps. Electric control system involves a number of non linear devices which reduce the power factor. Therefore power factor correction circuit is essential to get better voltage regulation and increase capacity to serve power requirements. The objective of this paper is to design an active power factor correction circuit using boost converter. The circuit is based on the modification of boost converter using active devices. Adaptive switching frequency control technique is used to regulate the output voltage. In this technique two control loops are used, outer loop is voltage loop that senses the output voltage while inner loop is current loop that senses the inductor current. PI Controller is used to stabilize the performance of control loops. Not only the proposed circuit requires few components for its implementation but also size and cost can be effectively reduced. The capacitor and inductor with voltage and current ripple with minimum ripple values was designed and to absorb sinusoidal input current to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) in the input current with output voltage regulation. PSIM simulation software is used to do this analysis.