Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histopathologic and Ultrasound Characteristics of Cutaneous Capillary Malformations in a Patient with Capillary Malformation–Arteriovenous Malformation Syndrome

Capillary malformation–arteriovenous malformation (CM‐AVM) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutations in RASA1. Multifocal, small, round‐to‐oval, pinkish‐to‐red cutaneous capillary malformations are seen in more than 90% of people with RASA1 mutations. These RASA1‐associated cutaneous capillary malformations (CMs) can accompany internal or cutaneous arteriovenous malformation (AVM) or arteriovenous fistula to constitute CM‐AVM syndrome. The cutaneous capillary malformations in CM‐AVM syndrome are unusual in that some lesions have high‐flow characteristics (according to Doppler or a white halo). We describe the histopathologic and corresponding ultrasound and Doppler findings in a CM from a patient with clinical CM‐AVM syndrome and show that an arterial component is not present in the dermis or the most superficial portions of the subcutaneous fat but that there is ultrasound evidence that an AVM resides in the underlying adipose tissue.
Using MusicXML for file interchange

The MusicXML format is designed to be a universal translator for programs that understand common Western musical notation. We have made significant progress towards this goal, with over a dozen programs supporting MusicXML as of June 2003. We describe some of the ways that MusicXML has been used for file interchange, and will demonstrate several scenarios.
Evaluation of an improved algorithm for producing realistic 3D breast software phantoms: application for mammography.

PURPOSE This work presents an improved algorithm for the generation of 3D breast software phantoms and its evaluation for mammography. METHODS The improved methodology has evolved from a previously presented 3D noncompressed breast modeling method used for the creation of breast models of different size, shape, and composition. The breast phantom is composed of breast surface, duct system and terminal ductal lobular units, Cooper's ligaments, lymphatic and blood vessel systems, pectoral muscle, skin, 3D mammographic background texture, and breast abnormalities. The key improvement is the development of a new algorithm for 3D mammographic texture generation. Simulated images of the enhanced 3D breast model without lesions were produced by simulating mammographic image acquisition and were evaluated subjectively and quantitatively. For evaluation purposes, a database with regions of interest taken from simulated and real mammograms was created. Four experienced radiologists participated in a visual subjective evaluation trial, as they judged the quality of the simulated mammograms, using the new algorithm compared to mammograms, obtained with the old modeling approach. In addition, extensive quantitative evaluation included power spectral analysis and calculation of fractal dimension, skewness, and kurtosis of simulated and real mammograms from the database. RESULTS The results from the subjective evaluation strongly suggest that the new methodology for mammographic breast texture creates improved breast models compared to the old approach. Calculated parameters on simulated images such as beta exponent deducted from the power law spectral analysis and fractal dimension are similar to those calculated on real mammograms. The results for the kurtosis and skewness are also in good coincidence with those calculated from clinical images. Comparison with similar calculations published in the literature showed good agreement in the majority of cases. CONCLUSIONS The improved methodology generated breast models with increased realism compared to the older model as shown in evaluations of simulated images by experienced radiologists. It is anticipated that the realism will be further improved using an advanced image simulator so that simulated images may be used in feasibility studies in mammography.
Thai Consumers Willingness to Pay for Food Products with Geographical Indications

Geographical Indication (GI) is a name, or sign, that refers to a specific characteristic of geographical location or origin. GI is used to both protect and guarantee that the product has a unique characteristic, resulting from being qualifiedly produced in a specific place. There are many products in Thailand that have been certified by the Ministry of Commerce, carrying the GI label. The purpose of conducting this research is to study Thai consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for products with GI labels. This experiment was carried out under the n th price auction method on Doi Tung coffee, Tung Kula Ronghai Thai Hom Mali rice, and Chaiya salted eggs. Sixty participants were asked to offer bids for three products each with different types of labels, a normal label; a label stating the product’s origin; and a label which stated the product’s origin and contained a GI sign. The results show that Thai consumers’ WTPs are influenced by the origin of the product. However, the WTPs of GI labels do not significantly differ from the WTPs of labels which state the product’s origin. This implies that Thai consumers value the product’s origin, but do not recognize the importance of the GI label.
Care management of spasticity with botulinum toxin-A in patients with severe acquired brain injury: A 1-year follow-up prospective study

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and the safety of repeated botulinum toxin type A (BT-A) injections in patients with severe acquired brain injury (ABI) and to gain a better knowledge of possible clinical or demographic characteristics associated with a better rehabilitation outcome. Design: Prospective study with a 1-year follow-up period. Subjects: Twenty-one patients with spasticity due to severe ABI and no further improving with rehabilitation treatment and oral anti-spastic drugs. Intervention: Repeated BT-A injections associated to a rehabilitation programme. Main measures: Barthel Index (BI), Modified Ashworth Score (MAS) and VAS score for pain subjective perception were recorded. Results: At the end of the follow-up study, MAS, BI and VAS significantly improved. Despite the number of BT-A injections, a shorter interval between severe ABI onset and first BT-A treatment correlated to a better BI improvement. None of the patients experienced adverse events attributable to BT-A. Conclusion: BT-A was effective and safe in the treatment of spasticity in severe ABI patients, with a better functional outcome in those subjects treated earlier after spasticity onset. The lack of correlation between clinical outcome and number of injections suggests, in addition to a direct inhibition at the neuromuscular junction, a more distant BT-A long-term effect.
Modeling the Timing of Antilatency Drug Administration during HIV Treatment

ABSTRACT Latently infected cells are considered a major barrier to the cure of HIV infection, since they are long-lived under antiretroviral therapy (ART) and cause viral replication to restart soon after stopping ART. In the last decade, different types of antilatency drugs have been explored with the aim of reactivating and purging this latent reservoir and the hope of achieving a cure. Because of toxicity and safety considerations, antilatency drugs can only be given for a short time to patients on long-term ART, with little effect. We recently investigated the turnover of latently infected cells during active infection and have found that it was strongly correlated with viral load. This implies that although latently infected cells had long life spans in a setting of a low viral load (such as during ART), they turned over quickly under a high viral load. Possible reasons for this could be that an increased viral load causes increased activation or death of CD4+ T cells, including those that are latently infected. Taking these results into account, we developed a mathematical model to study the most appropriate timing of antilatency drugs in relationship to the initiation of ART. We found that the best timing of a short-term antilatency drug would be the start of ART, when viral load, CD4+ T cell activation, and latent cell turnover are all high. These results have important implications for the design of HIV cure-related clinical trials. IMPORTANCE The antiretroviral therapy (ART) of HIV-infected patients currently needs to be lifelong, because the cells latently infected with HIV start new rounds of infection as soon as the treatment is stopped. In the last decade, a number of different types of antilatency drugs have been explored with the aim of “reactivating” and “purging” this latent reservoir and thus achieving a cure. These drugs have thus far been tested on patients only after long-term ART and have demonstrated little or no effect. We use mathematical modeling to show that the most efficacious timing of a short-term antilatency treatment may be the start of ART because of possible interactions of antilatency drugs with natural activation pathways.
Ribosomes Regulate the Stability and Action of RNase R

Background: Cells require mechanisms to regulate the potentially destructive action of RNases. Results: RNase R is largely bound to ribosomes in growing cells dependent on tmRNA-SmpB and non-stop mRNA. Conclusion: Ribosome binding stabilizes RNase R and sequesters it away from action on many functional RNAs. Significance: This work defines a previously unknown mechanism by which ribosomes regulate a deleterious enzyme. ABSTRACT Ribonucleases play an important role in RNA metabolism. Yet, they are also potentially destructive enzymes whose activity must be controlled. We describe here a novel regulatory mechanism affecting RNase R, a 3' to 5' exoribonuclease able to act on essentially all RNAs including those with extensive secondary structure. Most RNase R is sequestered on ribosomes in growing cells where it is stable and participates in trans -translation. In contrast, the free form of the enzyme, which is deleterious to cells, is extremely unstable, turning over with a half-life of 2 min. RNase R binding to ribosomes is dependent on tmRNA-SmpB, non-stop mRNA and the modified form of ribosomal protein S12. Degradation of the free form of RNase R also requires tmRNA-SmpB, but this process is independent of ribosomes, indicating two distinct roles for tmRNA-SmpB. slower growth and a massive increase in RNA degradation. These studies indicate a previously unknown role for ribosomes in cellular homeostasis.
Selective deficit in executive functioning among patients with borderline personality disorder

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the functioning of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) compared to healthy controls on five neuropsychological domains, with regard to the possible effect of differences in IQ. Method Out-patients and in-patients with BPD (n=35) and healthy comparison subjects (n=35) were tested with an extensive neuropsychological battery, where most cognitive domains were covered by several tests. Results When controlling for the effect of IQ, patients were found to have reduced executive functioning as compared to healthy controls. With regard to the other neuropsychological domains (working memory, attention, long-term verbal memory, and long-term non-verbal memory), no differences were found between the two groups. Within-subject analyses also identified executive functioning as a selective deficit among patients whereas long-term verbal memory was identified as a relative strength. An association was identified between the covariate general intellectual functioning and every neuropsychological domain. No statistically significant differences were found between the subgroups of patients with and without co-morbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or between those with and without co-morbid major depression, or between the medicated and unmedicated subgroups on any of the neuropsychological domains. Conclusions Patients with BPD demonstrate a selective deficit in executive functioning. This corroborates studies that have identified frontal regions as potential neurobiological substrates of the BPD syndrome. The relative strength of the verbal long-term memory function raises pertinent questions regarding the presumed importance of hippocampal structures.
Prophylactic oophorectomy in carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

BACKGROUND Data concerning the efficacy of bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy for reducing the risk of gynecologic cancer in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are limited. We investigated whether this procedure reduces the risk of cancers of the coelomic epithelium and breast in women who carry such mutations. METHODS A total of 551 women with disease-associated germ-line BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations were identified from registries and studied for the occurrence of ovarian and breast cancer. We determined the incidence of ovarian cancer in 259 women who had undergone bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and in 292 matched controls who had not undergone the procedure. In a subgroup of 241 women with no history of breast cancer or prophylactic mastectomy, the incidence of breast cancer was determined in 99 women who had undergone bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and in 142 matched controls. The length of postoperative follow-up for both groups was at least eight years. RESULTS Six women who underwent prophylactic oophorectomy (2.3 percent) received a diagnosis of stage I ovarian cancer at the time of the procedure; two women (0.8 percent) received a diagnosis of papillary serous peritoneal carcinoma 3.8 and 8.6 years after bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy. Among the controls, 58 women (19.9 percent) received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, after a mean follow-up of 8.8 years. With the exclusion of the six women whose cancer was diagnosed at surgery, prophylactic oophorectomy significantly reduced the risk of coelomic epithelial cancer (hazard ratio, 0.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.01 to 0.16). Of 99 women who underwent bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy and who were studied to determine the risk of breast cancer, breast cancer developed in 21 (21.2 percent), as compared with 60 (42.3 percent) in the control group (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.29 to 0.77). CONCLUSIONS Bilateral prophylactic oophorectomy reduces the risk of coelomic epithelial cancer and breast cancer in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.
Effects of protein kinase C on delayed rectifier K+ channel regulation by tyrosine kinase in rat retinal pigment epithelial cells.

PURPOSE Investigation of the regulation of delayed rectifier potassium channels by protein kinases in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. METHODS Membrane currents of cultured RPE cells were measured in either the perforated-patch or whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. RESULTS Different potassium channel blockers from animal venoms (charybdotoxin, hanatoxin, agitoxin, tityustoxin) were used to identify the delayed rectifying outward current in RPE cells as current through potassium channels, mainly composed of Kv1.3 subunits. Extracellular application of a tyrosine kinase blocker, such as genistein (100 microM), lavendustin A (10 microM), or herbimycin A (4 microM), almost completely abolished the delayed rectifier currents. Intracellular application of the tyrosine kinase pp60(c-src) (30 U/mL) through a patch pipette led to an increase of the delayed rectifier current consistent with an activation of the delayed rectifier channels by src subtype tyrosine kinase. Inhibition (with 1 microM chelerythrine) or activation (with 1 microM phorbol ester PMA) of protein kinase C (PKC) did not change the activity of delayed rectifier channels. Inhibition of PKC also did not change the effect of tyrosine kinase inhibition of delayed rectifier currents. However, in cells with stimulated PKC, inhibition of tyrosine kinase by genistein led to an increase of delayed rectifier currents. Intracellular application of pp60(c-src) (30 U/mL) in cells with stimulated PKC led to inhibition of delayed rectifier currents. CONCLUSIONS. Tyrosine kinase, of the src family, can activate or inhibit delayed rectifier channels composed of Kv1.3 subunits in RPE cells. The activity of PKC determines whether tyrosine kinase activates or inhibits these K+ channels.
Cross-view gait recognition by fusion of multiple transformation consistency measures

Gait is a promising modality for forensic science because it has discrimination ability even if the gait features are extracted from low-quality image sequences captured at a distance. However, in forensic cases the observation view is often different, leading to accuracy degradation. Therefore the authors propose a gait recognition algorithm that achieves high accuracy in cases where observation views are different. They used a view transformation technique, and generated multiple joint gait features by changing the source gait features. They formed a hypothesis that the multiple transformed features and original features should be similar to each other if the target subjects are the same. They calculated multiple scores that measured the consistency of the features, and a likelihood ratio from the scores. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method, they drew Tippett plots and empirical cross-entropy plots, together with cumulative match characteristic curves and receiver operator characteristic curves, and evaluated discrimination ability and calibration quality. The results showed that their proposed method achieves good results in terms of discrimination and calibration.
Clinical and radiographic features of dural arteriovenous fistula, a treatable cause of myelopathy.

OBJECTIVE To assess presentation, imaging, treatment, and outcome of patients with myelopathy due to a dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF). PATIENTS AND METHODS This retrospective review identified 94 patients with DAVF surgically treated at our institution between June 1985 and December 1999. The mean ages of the 75 men and 19 women were 62.6 years and 63.0 years, respectively (range, 31-83 years). Magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 87 patients, computed tomography-myelography was performed in 37 patients, and spinal angiography was performed in all patients. Initial examination findings were retrospectively adjusted to a modified Aminoff-Logue myelopathy scale. RESULTS Of the 94 patients, 47 presented with symptoms that worsened with erect posture or Valsalva maneuver. As myelopathy progressed, patients' symptoms increased, and 6 patients had paraplegia at presentation. The mean time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 23 months (range, 2-120 months). Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis in 86 patients; computed tomography-myelography was needed to confirm the fistula in 1 patient. Spinal angiography detected the fistula in all patients. Surgical obliteration of the DAVF was successful in 93 patients; in 1 patient surgery failed because the DAVF was not localized, but acrylic endovascular embolization was successful. No patient experienced permanent morbidity or mortality. Of the 94 patients, 93 improved postoperatively 1 or 2 levels based on a modified Aminoff-Logue scale. Older patients with severe long-term deficits had poor outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The diagnosis of a DAVF seems to be delayed considerably because DAVF is not included in the differential diagnosis of myelopathy and because of clinicians' unfamiliarity with suggestive or revealing findings on diagnostic imaging. Neurodiagnostic imaging confirms the diagnosis, and spinal angiography localizes the fistula. Surgical intradural disconnection of the DAVF clinically reverses the pathophysiology. Additionally, surgical treatment is associated with low short-term morbidity, no permanent morbidity, and no mortality. If the diagnosis is made early and treatment initiated in such patients, they generally do well.
Contact and delayed hypersensitivity in the mouse. 3. Depression of contact sensitivity by pre-treatment with antigen and the restoration of immune competence in tolerant mice by normal lymphoid and bone marrow cells.

Contact sensitivity was produced in mice by applying an alcoholic solution of picryl chloride or 2-phenyl-4-ethoxymethylene oxazolone (oxazolone) to the abdominal wall. It was assessed by painting the ear with the contact sensitizing agent dissolved in olive oil and measuring the increase in ear thickness 24 hours later. Contact sensitivity to picryl chloride was depressed by pre-treatment with the sulphonic acid derivative of picric acid. Complete depression was obtained when either two large doses or multiple small doses were given and in the former case this complete depression was still present 6 weeks after the last injection of the sulphonic acid. Similar pre-treatment with oxazolone depressed contact sensitivity to oxazolone in some but not all mice. Pre-treatment with the folic acid antagonist amethopterin before and during sensitization almost completely abolished contact sensitivity, while a single larger dose given 48 hours before sensitization only had a small effect. Mice whose immune response to picryl chloride had been depressed by pretreatment with sulphonic acid and methotrexate were used to study restoration of immune competence by normal lymphoid cells. No restoration was observed when unirradiated recipients were used. However, a mixture of lymph node and bone marrow cells and, to a lesser extent thymus and bone marrow cells, restored immune competence to picryl chloride in irradiated recipients. It was concluded that irradiation favoured the restoration of immune competence by normal lymphoid cells and that a mixture of lymph node and possibly thymus cells with bone marrow cells was able to cause restoration.
K‐complexes: are they signs of arousal or sleep protective?

SUMMARY The number of K‐complexes recorded at the central‐temporal EEG derivation (C3‐T3) during 5 min periods for both the ascending and descending phase of Stage 2 of NREM sleep for cycles 1,2… etc. were counted in 10 subjects for each of the following five groups: normal persons, patients with a primary generalized form of epilepsy, narcolepsy, insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea. The differences in time spent in different stages of sleep were as expected for these types of patients. A 2‐within, 1‐between factors, repeated measure ANOVA was applied to the data on K‐complexes. Overall, there was no significant difference between the number of K‐complexes observed during the ascending and descending phases of the different sleep cycles. Patients with a sleep disorder had significantly less well‐defined K‐complexes than the normals and the patients with a primary form of generalized epilepsy: for insomnia (P= 0.035), for apnoea (P= 0.011) and for narcolepsy (P= 0.001). There was a significant, but very low correlation coefficient between the number of K‐complexes observed during Stage 2 of NREM sleep and the time spent during that stage for all groups combined (Rho 0.27, P= 0.002) and for the narcoleptic patients (Rho 0.44, P= 0.017). In all, the findings lend support to the hypothesis that a K‐complex can be seen as a ‘defensive response’, or has a sleep protective function.