Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Multimodality Imaging Techniques on Differential Diagnosis of Precancerous Nodules and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

In recent years, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been increasing worldwide, and its high mortality seriously threatens public health. Early detection and treatment are crucial to improving the survival rate. Imaging examination widely used for the diagnosis of HCC and provides a non-invasive means of tumor visualization. The rapid development of medical imaging technology is expected to improve early-stage diagnosis rates for HCC. This article summarizes the methods for the differential diagnosis of premalignant dysplastic nodule (DN) and small hepatocellular carcinoma during the carcinogenesis of cirrhosis and reviews their application. In addition, a discussion on some recently patented medical imaging development was also presented.
Gytomegalovirus Infections with Reference to Isolations from Lymph Nodes and Blood.∗

Summary A search for evidence of cy-tomegalovirus (CMV) infection was made in a group of patients with hemolytic anemia associated with lymphadenopathy as well as several other diseases in which CMV infections often occur. A total of 173 specimens from 42 patients with a variety of diseases yielded 9 CMV isolations from 5 of 6 patients exhibiting CMV inclusions. The 5 patients included 1 with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, 1 with acquired hemolytic anemia of the non-immune type, 2 with neonatal hepatitis and 1 with congenital cytomegalic inclusion disease. CMV was isolated from biopsied lymph nodes of both hemolytic anemia patients and variously from blood, urine, liver, lung, and spleen of the 5 patients depending on the condition, time, or the disease of the patient involved.
Mitochondrial DNA Is Required for Regulation of Glucose-stimulated Insulin Secretion in a Mouse Pancreatic Beta Cell Line, MIN6*

To determine whether mtDNA and mitochondrial respiratory function in pancreatic beta cells are necessary for the phenotypic expression of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, we used a cultured mouse pancreatic beta cell line, MIN6, and two derivative lines, mtDNA knockout MIN6 (ρ0 MIN6) and mtDNA repopulated cybrid MIN6. The MIN6 cells retain the property of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, but their mtDNA knockout induced the loss of mitochondrial transcription, translation, and respiration activity, without inhibition of transcription of the insulin gene or loss of succinate dehydrogenase activity, indicating that the observed mitochondrial dysfunction in ρ0 MIN6 cells was not due to a cytotoxic side effect derived from the mtDNA knockout. Moreover, the mtDNA depletion also inhibited both the glucose-stimulated increase in the intracellular free Ca2+ content and the elevation of insulin secretion. The possibility of the involvement of nuclear genome-encoded factors in this process was excluded by the observation that the missing sensitivity to extracellular glucose stimulation in ρ0 MIN6 cells was restored reversibly by repopulation with foreign mtDNA and isolating cybrid MIN6 clones. Therefore, these findings provide unambiguous evidence for the involvement of the mitochondrial dysfunction induced by mtDNA impairment in developing pathogeneses of some forms of diabetes mellitus.
The Weanling's dilemma: Are we making progress?

ABSTRACT. In many developing countries the weanling child (the breastfed child who is regularly receiving additional food) still suffers a high level of morbidity and mortality from diarrhoeal disease. The initiation of weaning is a critical event. No clear strategy exists for substantially enhancing the breast milk output of demand feeding mothers in underprivileged communities. Remarkably little progress has been made in our ability to advise mothers, either on a collective or an individual basis, as to when they should supplement the diet of their breastfed offspring, one continuing problem being the failure to adopt appropriate growth standards for infants. Furthermore there has been little attempt to improve traditional weaning foods in terms of consistency, shelf life and bioavailability of nutrients. Increasing insights into the normal growth pattern of breastfed infants and knowledge of localised appropriate traditional food technology remain grossly underexploited.
Design of two-channel linear-phase fir biorthogonal filter banks

In the paper, a new method for the design of two-channel linear-phase biorthogonal FIR filter banks is presented. The method is based on the trade-off between obtaining the equiripple reconstruction error and satisfying other additional requirements. The filter bank design problem is solved by means of its transformation into an equivalent multicriterion optimization problem. Two design examples are given to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed technique.
Chapter 16 Robust options for decarbonization

Thomas Bruckner, born in 1966, completed his doctoral studies in theoretical physics at the University of Würzburg, Germany. After four years at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), he led the research group on Energy System Optimization and Climate Protection at the Institute for Energy Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin (2000 – 2008). Currently, he holds the Chair of Energy Management and Sustainability at Leipzig University, Germany. He is a fellow of the Heisenberg Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG), a visiting scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His current research focuses on integrated assessment modelling and the investigation of liberalized energy markets facing climate protection constraints.
Research on Interventions for Stepfamily Couples : The State of the Field

HIGH RATES of remarriage in most Western countries (around 40% of all new marriages; Kreider, 2005) have resulted in many adults living in households that include children from a previous relationship. For example, 10% of U.S. fathers and 2% of U.S. mothers live with their partner’s child (Kreider & Fields, 2005). Many couples in stepfamilies are happy in their relationships; others struggle with the challenges inherent in forming a stepfamily. Research suggests that living in a stepfamily confers an elevated risk for negative couple outcomes, including high rates of conflict and divorce. Unfortunately, clinical interventions to prevent or treat couple relationship problems in the context of a stepfamily are extremely limited. Much of the early clinical work with stepfamilies focused on stepparent-stepchild relationships and parenting, with little or no attention to the couple’s relationship (reviewed by Lawton & Sanders, 1994). On the other hand, general couple interventions that are effective in promoting healthy relationships (e.g., Halford, Markman, Kline, & Stanley, 2003) may be of limited efficacy when applied to couples in stepfamilies if they do not address stepfamilyspecific factors that confer additional risks. In this chapter, we present a brief overview of the factors associated with couple functioning in stepfamilies, which may represent appropriate targets for clinical interventions. Next, we review the existing research on clinical stepfamily interventions, describing the content and formats of the interventions, assessing the methodological quality of program
Animal antimicrobial peptides: an overview.

Antibiotic peptides are a key component of the innate immune systems of most multicellular organisms. Despite broad divergences in sequence and taxonomy, most antibiotic peptides share a common mechanism of action, i.e., membrane permeabilization of the pathogen. This review provides a general introduction to the subject, with emphasis on aspects such as structural types, post-translational modifications, mode of action or mechanisms of resistance. Some of these questions are treated in depth in other reviews in this issue. The review also discusses the role of antimicrobial peptides in nature, including several pathological conditions, as well as recent accounts of their application at the preclinical level.
Fence - A Context-free Grammar Parser with Constraints for Model-driven Language Specification

Traditional language processing tools constrain language designers to specific kinds of grammars. In contrast, model-based language specification decouples language design from language processing. As a consequence, model-based language specification tools need general parsers able to parse unrestricted context-free grammars. As languages specified following this approach may be ambiguous, parsers must deal with ambiguities. Model-based language specification also allows the definition of associativity, precedence, and custom constraints. Therefore parsers generated by model-driven language specification tools need to enforce constraints. In this paper, we propose Fence, an efficient bottom-up chart parser with lexical and syntactic ambiguity support that allows the specification of constraints and, therefore, enables the use of model-based language specification in practice.
Questionnaires for eliciting evaluation data from users of interactive question answering systems

Abstract Evaluating interactive question answering (QA) systems with real users can be challenging because traditional evaluation measures based on the relevance of items returned are difficult to employ since relevance judgments can be unstable in multi-user evaluations. The work reported in this paper evaluates, in distinguishing among a set of interactive QA systems, the effectiveness of three questionnaires: a Cognitive Workload Questionnaire (NASA TLX), and Task and System Questionnaires customized to a specific interactive QA application. These Questionnaires were evaluated with four systems, seven analysts, and eight scenarios during a 2-week workshop. Overall, results demonstrate that all three Questionnaires are effective at distinguishing among systems, with the Task Questionnaire being the most sensitive. Results also provide initial support for the validity and reliability of the Questionnaires.
Aparición de segundo tumor en paciente afectado por retinoblastoma

El retinoblastoma es un tumor intraocular maligno que se origina en las células fotorreceptoras de la retina y se presenta principalmente durante la infancia, supone el 1 a 3% de todos los tumores pediátricos. Se origina de la retina neural y puede afectar uno o ambos ojos, siendo la leucocoria el síntoma más frecuente. Su incidencia es baja afectando a 1 de cada 15 000 - 20 000 nacidos vivos. Es una neoplasia de alta malignidad si no se trata; su etiopatogenia puede ser hereditaria (40% de los casos) o esporádica (60%). El paciente con retinoblastoma tiene 5% de posibilidad de desarrollar otra neoplasia durante los primeros 10 años de vida. Se reporta el caso de paciente femenina de 17 años de edad, con tumoración prominente en cavidad ocular izquierda debida a exeresis por retinoblastoma que presento a los 18 meses de edad, el cual fue tratado con radioterapia y quimioterapia tras enucleación.
$\chi ^{(2)}$ Modulator With 40-GHz Modulation Utilizing BaTiO3 Photonic Crystal Waveguides

Future telecommunication and data center networks as well as quantum optical communication systems will require optical modulators with wide bandwidths, large extinction, low operating voltage, and small size. We report the first quantitative demonstration of slow light enhancement of the electro-optic (EO) coefficient in a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\chi ^{\mathrm {(2)}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ferroelectric waveguide at microwave modulation frequencies. This is demonstrated in a compact (1 mm) photonic crystal (PC) device with a voltage-length product (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{\pi }\mathrm {\cdot }L)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 0.66 V-cm at 10 GHz and measured EO modulation out to 40 GHz. A local enhancement factor of 12 and effective EO coefficient of 900 pm/V is measured in the PC region at a wavelength of 1530 nm. By further optimizing the PC structure, devices with EO 3-dB bandwidths greater than 40 GHz and voltage-length product of 0.16 V-cm are predicted with 100-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> interaction length.
Mining Wikipedia's Article Revision History for Training Computational Linguistics Algorithms

We present a novel paradigm for obtaining large amounts of training data for computational linguistics tasks by mining Wikipedia’s article revision history. By comparing adjacent versions of the same article, we extract voluminous training data for tasks for which data is usually scarce or costly to obtain. We illustrate this paradigm by applying it to three separate text processing tasks at various levels of linguistic granularity. We first apply this approach to the collection of textual errors and their correction, focusing on the specific type of lexical errors known as “eggcorns”. Second, moving up to the sentential level, we show how to mine Wikipedia revisions for training sentence compression algorithms. By dramatically increasing the size of the available training data, we are able to create more discerning lexicalized models, providing improved compression results. Finally, moving up to the document level, we present some preliminary ideas on how to use the Wikipedia data to bootstrap text summarization systems. We propose to use a sentence’s persistence throughout a document’s evolution as an indicator of its fitness as part of an extractive summary.
Cluster-randomized , controlled trial of computer-based decision support for selecting long-term anti-thrombotic therapy after acute ischaemic stroke Prescription in Ischaemic Stroke Management ( PRISM ) Study Group

Background: Identifying the appropriate long-term anti-thrombotic therapy following acute ischaemic stroke is a challenging area in which computer-based decision support may provide assistance. Aim: To evaluate the influence on prescribing practice of a computer-based decision support system (CDSS) that provided patient-specific estimates of the expected ischaemic and haemorrhagic vascular event rates under each potential anti-thrombotic therapy. Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial. Methods: We recruited patients who presented for a first investigation of ischaemic stroke or TIA symptoms, excluding those with a poor prognosis or major contraindication to anticoagulation. After observation of routine prescribing practice (6 months) in each hospital, centres were randomized for 6 months to either control (routine practice observed) or intervention (practice observed while the CDSS provided patient-specific information). We compared, between control and intervention centres, the risk reduction (estimated by the CDSS) in ischaemic and haemorrhagic vascular events achieved by long-term anti-thrombotic therapy, and the proportions of subjects prescribed the optimal therapy identified by the CDSS. Results: Sixteen hospitals recruited 1952 subjects. When the CDSS provided information, the mean relative risk reduction attained by prescribing increased by 2.7 percentage units (95%CI 0.3 to 5.7) and the odds ratio for the optimal therapy being prescribed was 1.32 (0.83 to 1.80). Some 55% (5/9) of clinicians believed the CDSS had influenced their prescribing. Conclusions: Cluster-randomized trials provide excellent frameworks for evaluating novel clinical management methods. Our CDSS was feasible to implement and acceptable to clinicians, but did not substantially influence prescribing practice for anti-thrombotic drugs after acute ischaemic stroke.
Genetic Manipulation of Treponema denticola

The oral anaerobic spirochete, Treponema denticola, has been implicated in the etiology of human periodontal diseases; however, the molecular basis for the virulence of these organisms is still unclear. Potential pathogenic factors expressed by T. denticola have recently begun to be identified through the development of gene transfer approaches in this organism following electroporetic transformation. Several antibiotic resistance markers have been developed for use in the construction of monospecific mutants in these organisms. In addition, these antibiotic resistance cassettes have been more recently utilized to construct shuttle plasmids for complementation analysis of the mutants. These plasmids were also used to express heterologous spirochete genes in T. denticola. The transformation of other spirochetes such as T. phagedenis with these plasmids further suggests that it should be possible to develop similar gene transfer systems in other cultivable treponemes.
Memory B Cells in Systemic and Mucosal Immune Response: Implications for Successful Vaccination

B-cell memory has been extensively analyzed in the systemic immune response elicited by hapten-carrier antigens, and the regulatory mechanisms underlying the process are beginning to be elucidated. Memory B cells can be generated through heterogeneous pathways within and outside germinal centers (GCs). Once developed, they appear to be maintained like stem cells for long periods by homeostatic proliferation. In response to reencountered antigens, memory B cells robustly secrete antibodies with help of the anti-apoptotic effect of Ras-mediated signals. We have recently found that following intranasal infection with an influenza virus, virus-specific memory B cells develop in the lungs and persist for a long time along with GC B cells and plasma cells; this appears to be unique feature of the mucosal memory response. Thus memory B cell responses in the systemic and mucosal sites are regulated by distinct processes and further understanding of them should provide a theoretical framework for the development of new vaccine strategies.
Mitochondrial Studies in Haart-Related Lipodystrophy: From Experimental Hypothesis to Clinical Findings

Chronic use of antiretrovirals (ARVs) to treat HIV infection, along with more prolonged patient survival, has been associated with an increase in adverse drug effects in HIV-infected patients on treatment. It has been proposed that some of these adverse effects (including myopathy, cardiomyopathy, anaemia, hyperlactataemia/ lactic acidosis, pancreatitis, polyneuritis and lipodystrophy) could be mediated by mitochondrial (mt) toxicity. From the experimental data, it has been proposed that nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) also inhibit γ-polymerase, the enzyme devoted to replicate (and, to a lesser extent, repair) mtDNA. It is now widely accepted that the use of most NRTIs in HIV-infected patients is associated with mtDNA depletion. Although cross-sectional studies suggest that certain ARVs, especially stavudine, are more toxic to mitochondria, the differences among different highly active ARV therapy (HAART) schedules detected in the analysis of longitudinal studies are not so clear. These types of study in previously untreated individuals suggest that the greatest mtDNA loss appears at the beginning of the treatment. Conversely, in ARV-experienced patients, the potential beneficial effects of HAART changes in terms of mtDNA content remain controversial and must be further investigated. Functional studies accompanying genetic investigations are needed for the correct pathogenic interpretation of the mtDNA abnormalities.
Characteristics, clinical outcome, and prognostic significance of IDH mutations in AML

The pathophysiology of IDH mutations in tumorigenesis is increasingly described, yet the prognostic significance of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in AML remains controversial. The primary objective of this study was to define the natural history and prognosis of patients with AML and IDH1 or IDH2 mutations and provide historical survival expectations. A total of 826 patients treated from 2010 to 2014 at a single institution were evaluated, including 167 patients (20%) with AML and IDH1 or IDH2 mutations. Median age was 62 years (range 18–92). There were 59 IDH1‐R132, 83 IDH2‐R140, and 23 IDH2‐R172 mutations. Clinicopathologic characteristics associated with IDH‐mutations included older age, less frequent therapy‐related status, and increased incidence of intermediate‐risk cytogenetics, FLT3‐ITD mutations, and NPM1 mutations. Remission rates (CR/CRi) by AML treatment status were: induction, 68%; Salvage‐1 (S1), 42%; and Salvage‐2 and beyond (S2+), 27%. No difference in response was identified by IDH mutation status. Similarly, overall survival (OS) was not dependent on IDH status within any cohort. The median OS was 15.4 months in induction, 8.7 months in S1, and 4.8 months in S2+. This analysis defines the clinical outcome associated with IDH‐mutations in both the front‐line and salvage AML treatment settings, and confirms that response rate and OS for both IDH‐mutated and IDH wild‐type AML patients is comparable. This provides contemporary data to be used for comparison with results of novel investigational (e.g., selective IDH inhibitor) strategies. Am. J. Hematol. 90:732–736, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Quantitative Differences in Chemokine Receptor Engagement Generate Diversity in Integrin-Dependent Lymphocyte Adhesion1

Chemokines control the specificity of lymphocyte homing. Numerous chemokines have been identified but the significance of redundancy in chemokine networks is unexplained. Here we investigated the biological significance of distinct chemokines binding to the same receptor. Among CCR4 ligands, skin vessels endothelial cells present C-C chemokine ligand (CCL) 17 but not CCL22 consistent with CCL17 involvement in T lymphocyte arrest on endothelial cells. However, CCL22 is much more powerful than CCL17 in the induction of rapid integrin-dependent T cell adhesion on VCAM-1 under conditions of physiological flow. The dominance of CCL22 over CCL17 extends to other CCR4-mediated phenomena such as receptor desensitization and internalization and correlates with the peculiar kinetics of CCR4 engagement by the two ligands. A similar phenomenological pattern is also shown for CXC chemokine ligand 9 and CXC chemokine ligand 11, which share binding to CXCR3. Our analysis shows how quantitative variations in chemokine receptor expression level and ligand engagement may alter the selectivity of integrin-dependent lymphocyte adhesive responses, suggesting a mechanism by which chemokine networks may either generate or break the specificity of lymphocyte subset recruitment.