Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis and treatment of benign focal liver lesions

Background. With the routine use of improved imaging modalities, more benign liver lesions are detected nowadays. An accurate characterization of these incidental lesions may be a challenge, and frequently a biopsy or even unnecessary surgery is being performed. However, these interventions are not always to the benefit of the patient. Methods. A Medline search of studies relevant to imaging diagnosis and management of the most common, benign, solid and non-solid liver lesions was undertaken. References from identified articles were handsearched for further relevant articles. The authors’ own experiences with benign liver lesions were also taken into account. Results. Although atypical imaging features are the exception rather than the rule, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions, and knowledge of their imaging features is essential if unnecessary work-up is to be avoided. The use of tissue-specific contrast media, which has clearly improved the accuracy of highly advanced radiological techniques, may be helpful during differential diagnosis. Once having established an accurate diagnosis, surgery is rarely indicated for a benign liver lesion because of its asymptomatic nature. Conclusion. Knowledge of imaging features and a clear management strategy during diagnostic work-up, emphasizing the indications for surgery, will minimize the number of patients who have to undergo biopsy or unnecessary surgery.
Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) 1998–2000 tropical ozone climatology 1. Comparison with Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and ground-based measurements

[1] A network of 10 southern hemisphere tropical and subtropical stations, designated the Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) project and established from operational sites, provided over 1000 ozone profiles during the period 1998–2000. Balloon-borne electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesondes, combined with standard radiosondes for pressure, temperature, and relative humidity measurements, collected profiles in the troposphere and lower to midstratosphere at: Ascension Island; Nairobi, Kenya; Irene, South Africa; Reunion Island; Watukosek, Java; Fiji; Tahiti; American Samoa; San Cristobal, Galapagos; and Natal, Brazil. The archived data are available at: 〈http://croc.gsfc. nasa.gov/shadoz〉. 1 In this paper, uncertainties and accuracies within the SHADOZ ozone data set are evaluated by analyzing: (1) imprecisions in profiles and in methods of extrapolating ozone above balloon burst; (2) comparisons of column-integrated total ozone from sondes with total ozone from the Earth-Probe/Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite and ground-based instruments; and (3) possible biases from station to station due to variations in ozonesonde characteristics. The key results are the following: (1) Ozonesonde precision is 5%. (2) Integrated total ozone column amounts from the sondes are usually to within 5% of independent measurements from ground-based instruments at five SHADOZ sites and overpass measurements from the TOMS satellite (version 7 data). (3) Systematic variations in TOMS-sonde offsets and in ground-based-sonde offsets from station to station reflect biases in sonde technique as well as in satellite retrieval. Discrepancies are present in both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone. (4) There is evidence for a zonal wave-one pattern in total and tropospheric ozone, but not in stratospheric ozone.
Decomposition of Inverted Lists and Word Labeling : A New Index Structure for Text Search

In a text database, a set of documents is maintained. To enquiry such a database, two kinds of queries are quite often used. One is the so-called conjunctive query, represented by a set of terms connected by conjunction (); and the other is the disjunctive query, which is also a set of terms, but connected by disjunction (). In this paper, we discuss an efficient and effective index mechanism to support the evaluation of both these two kinds of queries based on the inverted files. The main idea behind it is to associate each document word with an interval sequence based on a trie structure constructed over documents; and decompose an inverted list into a collection of disjoint sub-lists. In this way, both conjunctive and disjunctive queries can be conducted by performing a series of simple interval containment checkings. Experiments have been conducted, which shows that the new index is promising.
Optical Heterodyne Generation of High-Dimensional and Broadband White Chaos

White chaos with a colorless spectral bandwidth of 14 GHz contained within a range of 3 dB is experimentally generated by optical heterodyning of two external-cavity laser diodes. Experimental and numerical results show that the signatures of laser relaxation oscillation and external-cavity resonance (i.e., time delay signature), which are intrinsic to the laser dynamics are totally eliminated in the heterodyne-generated chaos. Correlation dimensional analysis shows that the generated chaos has a high dimensionality, being greater than 10. In addition, the effects on the heterodyne spectral bandwidth of variations in the optical feedback strength and frequency detuning of the lasers are studied experimentally and theoretically. Opportunities are identified for the deployment of white chaos.
Look-up table approach for RF circuit simulation using a novel measurement technique

A simple and novel measurement technique to obtain three-port network-parameters of MOS transistors from two-port measurements on a single test structure is presented. The measured data is used in the form of a lookup table (LUT) for RF circuit simulation. It is shown that simulation results obtained with the LUT approach for a 2.4-GHz low-noise amplifier match very well with measurements, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the LUT approach. It is also shown that, for high frequencies, it is important to use the tables of y-parameters actually measured rather than those interpolated from low-frequency measurements. This is illustrated with a tuned amplifier simulation example.
Serum and dialysate potassium concentrations and survival in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Controlling serum potassium is an important goal in maintenance hemodialysis patients. We examined the achievement of potassium balance through hemodialysis treatments and the associated fluctuations in serum potassium. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS A 3-yr (July 2001 to June 2004) cohort of 81,013 maintenance hemodialysis patients from all DaVita dialysis clinics across the United States were studied. Nine quarterly-averaged serum potassium groups (< 4.0, > or = 6.3 mEq/L and seven increments in-between) and four dialysate potassium concentration groups were created in each of the 12 calendar quarters. The death risk associated with predialysis potassium level and dialysate potassium concentration was examined using unadjusted, case-mix adjusted, and malnutrition-inflammation-adjusted time-dependent survival models. RESULTS Serum potassium correlated with nutritional markers. Serum potassium between 4.6 and 5.3 mEq/L was associated with the greatest survival, whereas potassium < 4.0 or > or = 5.6 mEq/L was associated with increased mortality. The death risk of serum potassium > or = 5.6 mEq/L remained consistent after adjustments. Higher dialysate potassium concentration was associated with increased mortality in hyperkalemic patients with predialysis serum potassium > or = 5.0 mEq/L. CONCLUSIONS A predialysis serum potassium of 4.6 to 5.3 mEq/L is associated with the greatest survival in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Hyperkalemic patients who undergo maintenance hemodialysis against lower dialysate bath may have better survival. Limitations of observational studies including confounding by indication should be considered when interpreting these results.
Endothelial Shear Stress: A Critical Determinant of Arterial Remodeling and Arterial Stiffness in Humans—A Carotid 3.0-T MRI Study

Background—Low endothelial shear stress (ESS) elicits endothelial dysfunction. However, the relationship between ESS and arterial remodeling and arterial stiffness is unknown in humans. We developed a 3.0-T MRI protocol to evaluate the contribution of ESS to arterial remodeling and stiffness. Methods and Results—Fifteen young (aged 26±3 years) and 15 older (aged 57±3 years) healthy volunteers as well as 15 patients with cardiovascular disease (aged 63±10 years) were enrolled. Phase-contrast MRI of the common carotid arteries was used to derive ESS data from the spatial velocity gradients close to the arterial wall. ESS measurements were performed on 3 occasions and showed excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.79). Multiple linear regression analysis accounting for age and blood pressure revealed that ESS was an independent predictor of the following response variables: carotid wall thickness (regression coefficient [b], −0.19 mm2 per N/m2; P=0.02), lumen area (b, −15.5 mm2 per N/m2; P<0.001), and vessel size (b, −24.0 mm2 per N/m2; P<0.001). Segments of the artery wall exposed to lower ESS were significantly thicker than segments exposed to higher ESS within the same artery (P=0.009). Furthermore, ESS was associated with arterial compliance, accounting for age, blood pressure, and wall thickness (b, −0.003 mm2/mm Hg per N/m2; P=0.04). Conclusions—Our carotid MRI data show that ESS is an important determinant of arterial remodeling and arterial stiffness in humans. The data warrant further studies to evaluate use of carotid ESS as a noninvasive tool to improve the understanding of individual cardiovascular disease risk and to assess novel drug therapies in cardiovascular disease prevention.
Alendronate Increases Bone Density and Bone Strength at the Distal Radius in Postmenopausal Women

In addition to the alendronate Osteoporosis Intervention Trial (FOSIT) core protocol 901–0A of 1908 enrolled patients, the use of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) was explored for the assessment of response to therapy. Bone mineral and strength related parameters at two different sites at the distal radius were explored in a subset of the multicenter core study. One hundred and three patients were entered into the substudy and given either a daily dose of 10 mg of alendronate or placebo for 1 year. Measurements were done at months 0, 3, 6, and 12. Inclusion criteria were bone mineral density (BMD) measurements at the lumbar spine of −2 SD. The response to therapy was assessed by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in the lumbar spine and the hip, and by pQCT in the ultradistal and the shaft sites of the radius. In line with the FOSIT core study, alendronate increased BMD at the lumbar spine and the hip, and it decreased the serum biochemical markers of bone turnover. The substudy showed differences between the therapy and placebo group in trabecular bone density (8.4%, p = 0.095), in total density (6.8%, p = 0.009), and in the bone strength index (BSI) (15.6 mm3, p = 0.037) at the ultradistal site due to treatment and no changes at the radius shaft. A significant correlation was observed between percentage changes from baseline in BMD of the lumbar spine, and in total density and bone strength at the ultradistal radius site in the treatment group, but not in the placebo group. Thus, the ultradistal radius site did respond to alendronate therapy. The increased bone density accompanied a significant gain in the BSI at the ultradistal site, a finding that might help explain the reduced wrist fractures in the alendronate Fracture Intervention Trial.
Emergency recognition system based on multimodal information

This paper aims to propose an emergency recognition system using multimodal information extracted by an image processing module, a voice processing module, and a gravity sensor processing module. Each processing module detects predefined events such as moving, stopping, fainting, and transfer them to the multimodal integration module. Multimodal integration module recognizes emergency situation by using the transferred events and rechecks it by asking the user some question and recognizing the answer. The experiment was conducted for a faint motion in the living room and bathroom. The results of the experiment show that the proposed system is robust than previous methods and effectively recognizes emergency situations at various situations.
Transcriptional regulation of human Oct4 by steroidogenic factor‐1

Oct4 encodes a transcription factor that is involved in the maintenance of self‐renewal in stem cells. Recently, the molecular mechanisms that regulate Oct4 expression have come under investigation. In this study, we demonstrate that the orphan nuclear receptor steroidogenic factor‐1 (SF‐1) behaves as a transcriptional activator of human Oct4 (hOct4) through direct interaction with a SF‐1 binding element in the hOct4 proximal promoter. We found that Oct4 and SF‐1 were co‐expressed in undifferentiated human embryonal carcinoma NCCIT cells and downregulated during retinoic acid‐mediated differentiation. We examined the functional role played by SF‐1 in regulation of hOct4 transcription using a luciferase reporter assay and Western blot analysis. Overexpression of SF‐1 increased up to about threefold hOct4 promoter activity and endogenous hOct4 protein expression. Sequence analysis of the hOct4 promoter revealed that the transcriptional activity was closely linked to Conserved Regions 1 (CR1) and 2 (CR2), which contain three putative SF‐1‐binding sites (1st, 2nd, and 3rd SF‐1). Binding assays and mutagenesis of binding sites indicated that the 1st and 2nd SF‐1 elements (in CR1 and CR2, respectively) might be important cis‐regulatory elements in hOct4 promoter activity. However, differences in response to SF‐1 overexpression between wild‐type and mutant hOct4 promoters revealed that the 1st SF‐1 element is the key binding site for SF‐1‐mediated transcriptional activation. Thus, our data indicate that SF‐1 plays a crucial role in the regulation of hOct4 transcription through direct binding to the 1st SF‐1 in CR1 of the hOct4 proximal promoter. J. Cell. Biochem. 101:1198–1209, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Lying Stones of Marrakech: Penultimate Reflections in Natural History

Stephen Jay Gould's writing remains the modern standard by which popular science writing is judged. Ever since the late 1970s up until till his death in 2002, his monthly essay in Natural History and his full-length books bridged the yawning gap between science and wider culture. In this fascinating new collection of essays from Natural History, Gould applied biographical perspectives to the illumination of key scientific concepts and their history, ranging from the origins of palaeontology to modern eugenics and genetic engineering. The essays brilliantly illuminate and elucidate the puzzles and paradoxes great and small that have fuelled the enterprise of science and opened our eyes to a world of unexpected wonders.
Extracting relation between brain region pairs from white text

Neuroscience researchers have a keen interest in finding the connection between various brain regions of an organism. Researchers all across the globe are finding new connections everyday and it is very difficult to keep track of all those, so it is important to create a centralized system which is able to give the relation between brain entities. Databases like PubMed contains abstracts and references from a large number of publications in the bio-medical domain. White text is the structured database (a part of PubMed) having structured collection of sentences from various documents containing several neuroscience entities (Brain Regions) and the neuroanatomical connections between them. Identifying such connectivity details automatically in such database is always a point of interest as it helps to centralize all the connectivity in brain regions from various literature. A word vector based machine learning solution is provided to find the relation between 2 entities present in a sentence having a binary label whether a connection is present or not.
The effect of temperature on neuromuscular transmission in the vas deferens of the guinea‐pig

In the isolated hypogastric-nerve-vas-deferens preparation submaximal nerve stimulation produces a small depolarization of the smooth muscle cell membrane. This so-called 'junction potential' (Burstock & Holman, 1961) is also produced by field stimulation of the muscle with stimuli too short to excite the muscle fibres directly (Kuriyama, 1963). Repetitive stimulation of the hypogastric nerve or repetitive field stimulation enhances the amplitude of these junction potentials. In this respect it resembles the end-plate potential of skeletal muscle. However, in contrast to the end-plate potential, the junction potential is also increased by increasing the strength or the duration of the stimulus. It is therefore likely that several nerve fibres innervate a single smooth-muscle cell and that more than one must be excited before the junction potential reaches the threshold for spike generation. This conclusion is supported by a detailed study of facilitation in this preparation (Burnstock, Holman & Kuriyama, 1964). The experiments to be described in this paper were designed to observe the effect oftemperature on neuromuscular transmission in smooth muscle, by studying separately, as far as possible, its effect on each of the different stages of the process of transmission of excitation from the nerve to the muscle cell.
Les dérapages racistes à l’égard du Québec au Canada anglais depuis 1995

L’article analyse certaines « derives racistes » survenues au Canada anglais depuis le referendum de 1995. A partir d’une selection d’articles de la presse anglo-canadienne et a travers l’examen de plusieurs « evenements » mediatises (« affaires » Rakoff, Lawrence Martin, Diane Francis, Gerry Weiner, David Levine), l’analyse indique comment les discours « marginalises » ont franchi plusieurs « paliers » du racisme (Wieviorka, 1991), en faisant place a une opinion un peu plus sytematique dans le « Reste du Canada » et a une violence verbale suffisamment repetitive pour que le probleme ne soit plus juge secondaire. Dans un cas particulier, celui de « l’affaire Levine », le racisme est meme devenu un principe d’action et de mobilisation atteignant plusieurs milieux (journalistique, politique, populaire). Afin d’illustrer a la fois l’extension, la banalisation et la legitimation d’un certain discours raciste (qui fait usage d’arguments universalistes a des fins de delegitimation de « l’Autre »), l’analyse fait ressortir les liens entre discours et theories a la lumiere des travaux scientifiques recents qui definissent la structure, les elements de discours et les mecanismes de production du racisme.
Effectiveness and Safety of Fentanyl Compared with Morphine for Out-of-Hospital Analgesia

Abstract Background. Fentanyl has several potential advantages for out-of-hospital analgesia, including rapid onset, short duration, and less histamine release. Objective. To compare the effectiveness and safety of fentanyl with that of morphine. Methods. This was a retrospective before-and-after study of a protocol change from morphine to fentanyl in an advanced life support emergency medical services system in January 2007. Charts from nine months prior to the change and for nine months afterward were abstracted by two reviewers using a standardized instrument. The first three months after the change were excluded. Effectiveness was measured by change in pain scores on a 0–10 scale. A priori–defined adverse events included out-of-hospital events: respiratory rate <12 breaths/min, pulse oximetry <92%%, systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg, any fall in Glasgow Coma Scale score, nausea or vomiting, intubation, and use of antiemetic agents or naloxone. Emergency department charts were reviewed for initial pain scores and the same adverse events during the first two hours. Events clearly not attributable to the opioid were discounted. The changes in pain scores were also compared adjusting for confounders by multivariable linear regression. Results. Three hundred fifty-five patients aged 13 to 99 years received morphine during the nine months before the protocol change and 363 received fentanyl following the washout period. Initial pain scores for morphine (8.1) and fentanyl (8.3) were comparable (95%% confidence interval [CI] for difference –1.1 to 0.3). Fentanyl patients received a higher equivalent dose of opioid (7.7 mg morphine equivalents for morphine, 9.2 mg for fentanyl, CI for the difference 0.9 to 2.3). The mean decreases in pain score were similar between the drugs (2.9 for morphine, 3.1 for fentanyl, CI for the difference –0.3 to 0.7). With regard to adverse events, 9.9%% of the morphine patients and 6.6%% of the fentanyl patients experienced an adverse event in the field (CI for the difference –0.8 to 7.3%%). The most common event was nausea, with a rate of 7.0%% for morphine vs. 3.8%% for fentanyl (CI for the difference –0.1%% to 6.5%%). Conclusion. Morphine and fentanyl provide similar degrees of out-of-hospital analgesia, although this was achieved with a higher dose of fentanyl. Both medications had low rates of adverse events, which were easily controlled.