Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low incidence of adrenal insufficiency after transsphenoidal surgery in patients with acromegaly: a long-term follow-up study.

CONTEXT The long-term prevalence of adrenal insufficiency after transsphenoidal surgery for GH-secreting pituitary adenomas is unknown. However, recently a single study reported a high prevalence of adrenal insufficiency in acromegalic patients after surgical and/or medical treatment without postoperative radiotherapy. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and incidence rates of adrenal insufficiency in consecutive patients during long-term follow-up after successful transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly. DESIGN In 91 consecutive patients in remission after transsphenoidal surgery only, we retrospectively reviewed insulin tolerance tests, CRH stimulation tests, metyrapone tests, and ACTH stimulation tests used to assess corticotrope function. RESULTS Early postoperatively, insufficient adrenal function was observed in 16 patients (18%), which was transient in eight and irreversible in eight other patients in the first year of postoperative follow-up. Therefore, after the first year, the prevalence of adrenal insufficiency was 9%. Late, new-onset adrenal insufficiency developed in only three patients 13, 18, and 24 yr after surgery. The incidence rate of late adrenal insufficiency after successful surgery was 2/1000 person-years. After long-term follow-up, a median of 8.1 (1-31 yr), the prevalence of secondary adrenal insufficiency was 12% in patients in remission after surgery for acromegaly. CONCLUSION The prevalence of adrenal insufficiency 1 yr after surgery was 9%, whereas during prolonged follow-up, the incidence rate of adrenal insufficiency was only 2/1000 person-years in patients in remission after surgery. Therefore, development of late-onset adrenal insufficiency is a very infrequent complication in patients with acromegaly in remission after transsphenoidal surgery only.
Discovering the Bacterial Circular Proteins: Bacteriocins, Cyanobactins, and Pilins*

Over recent years, several examples of natural ribosomally synthesized circular proteins and peptides from diverse organisms have been described. They are a group of proteins for which the precursors must be post-translationally modified to join the N and C termini with a peptide bond. This feature appears to confer a range of potential advantages because these proteins show increased resistance to proteases and higher thermodynamic stability, both of which improve their biological activity. They are produced by prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and show diverse biological activities, related mostly to a self-defense or competition mechanism of the producer organisms, with the only exception being the circular pilins. This minireview highlights ribosomally synthesized circular proteins produced by members of the domain Bacteria: circular bacteriocins, cyanobactins, and circular pilins. We pay special attention to the genetic organization of the biosynthetic machinery of these molecules, the role of circularization, and the differences in the possible circularization mechanisms.
A new fourier transform approach for protein coding measure based on the format of the Z curve

MOTIVATION At the core of most protein gene-finding algorithms are the coding measures used to make a decision on coding/non-coding. Of the protein coding measures, the Fourier measure is one of the most important. However, due to the limited length of the windows usually used, the accuracy of the measure is not satisfactory. This paper is devoted to improving the accuracy by lengthening the sequence to amplify the periodicity of 3 in the coding regions. RESULTS A new algorithm is presented called the lengthen-shuffle Fourier transform algorithm. For the same window length, the percentage accuracy of the new algorithm is 6-7% higher than that of the ordinary Fourier transform algorithm. The resulting percentage accuracy (average of specificity and sensitivity) of the new measure is 84.9% for the window length 162 bp. AVAILABILITY The program is available on request fromC. -T. Zhang. CONTACT ctzhang@tju.edu. cn
SIMULTANEOUS RECORDING AND ANALYSIS OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT FETAL ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY

Recording and analysis of fetal heart rate variability is still the most common method for detection of early symptoms of fetal hypoxia. However, fetal heart rate obtained via ultrasound describes only mechanical activity of fetus heart. Limitations of this technique have stimulated the development of fetal electrocardiography. It ensures more precise determination of fetal heart rate and, which is more important, enables assessment of the morphology of the fetal QRS complexes. In this paper two techniques of obtaining the fetal electrocardiogram are described and their comparative study is presented.
Absorption of Calcium in Premature Infants as Measured With a Stable Isotope 46Ca Extrinsic Tag

ABSTRACT: Absorption of dietary calcium was evaluated with the extrinsic tag approach and stable isotope methodology in growing premature infants. Fractional absorption of a bolus dose of 46Ca was determined on 16 occasions in 13 premature infants (birth weight 1135 ± 40 g, gestational age 29.5 ± 0.4 wk, mean ± SE) and was found to be 84.4 ± 2.2%. Fractional absorption of 46Ca ranged between 65 and 97%, and did not appear to be influenced by postnatal age, postconceptual age, body weight, or intake of preterm human milk, fortified preterm human milk, or premature formula. Therefore, if absorption of the 46Ca dose reflects that of dietary calcium, about 80% of dietary calcium is absorbed.
Use your head: exploring face tracking for mobile interaction

In this paper we present how face tracking can be implemented on mobile devices. Our main contribution is to present how face tracking on mobile systems can be used as a multi-dimensional input technique and to demonstrate how this can be used in different mobile applications. We present at set of different applications based on the tracking, and discuss current and future advantages, challenges and problems with face tracking as input device for mobile systems.
Étude polysomnographique des troubles respiratoires du sommeil dans l’atrophie multisystématisée : impact du syndrome d’apnées du sommeil dans l’évolution de la maladie

Introduction : l’atrophie multisystematisee (AMS) est une maladie neurodegenerative rare et severe. Des troubles respiratoires du sommeil y sont frequemment retrouves, en particulier un syndrome d’apnees du sommeil (SAS). Neanmoins, leur role dans l’evolution de la maladie reste peu connu. L’objectif de cette etude etait de caracteriser les facteurs associes a la presence d’un SAS et l’impact du SAS sur la survie des patients. Methodes : cette etude retrospective monocentrique au centre de reference AMS du CHU de Bordeaux etait basee sur le recueil des donnees clinico-demographiques et de polysomnographies (PSG) realisees sans point d’appel clinique. Les patients etaient suivis de facon annuelle avec des echelles cliniques validees dans l’AMS, concernant l’evolution motrice et l’autonomie (UMSARS), la dysautonomie (COMPASS-31) et la qualite de vie (MSA-QoL). Le suivi du SAS etait possible a travers les PSG successives realisees pour certains patients. Resultats : sur 95 patients inclus, 58% avaient un SAS, defini par un index apnee/hypopnee (IAH) superieur ou egal a 15. Les patients avec et sans SAS avaient des caracteristiques clinico-demographiques equivalentes en dehors de tendances a une progression motrice plus rapide, plus d’AMS-cerebelleuses, un âge de debut de maladie et un indice de masse corporelle plus eleves dans le groupe SAS. En presence de SAS, on retrouvait plus de micro-eveils et de respiration periodique. Au cours du suivi, dans le groupe sans SAS a l’inclusion, on notait une augmentation de l’IAH et 37.5% de SAS. L’IAH etait reduit par la ventilation mecanique a pression positive continue avec 91% d’IAH residuels inferieurs a 15. Il existait une tendance a une reduction de la survie en presence d’un SAS. En analyse multivariee, l’IAH n’etait pas un facteur pronostique de survie significatif. Conclusion : bien que retrouve pour 58% des patients AMS, le SAS ne semble pas avoir d’effet direct sur la survie des patients en analyse multivariee.
A Stereo Matching Method Using the Green's Function

'I'his paDer proposes a new idea of' a stereo matching technique based on the minimal potential energy criterion. The method is concerned with the Plarr's human stereopsis model. According to his model, the real 3-D vorld 1s recognized by internolat,ing identified disparit,ies. We think. however, matching and interpolation should be done simultaneously. Our method realizes this by use of the Green's function, a'nd is indicative of human and machine matching strategic similarity. It is shown that the potential enerey minimum criterion is reduced t.o minimizing a quadratic form, and minimization process can be Localized. The method consists of two parts; 1) Picki-ng up disparity candidates using a sl~pport function. 2) Selection of true disnarities by searching for a surface passing through disparities and being the flattest. time. P'ro~n our irlst,inct it seems more natural and rompat ihle to the actual human visual sl-st,em than the "larr's sequential model. Our method consists of two parts. The former half is t,o pick up disparity rar~didates for each edge hv ttse of a sup~ort function 121, and the latter half is t,o select true dispariti~s hv search for the flattest (notent ial energy minim~lrn J surface ~thich nassps thro~rgh one disparity candidate at each edge. This naper first. t.reat. s the latter half for the convenience of discussion.
Intracarotid etomidate.

To the Editor:—We read with great interest the review by Dr. Joshi et al. on intracarotid delivery of drugs. In spite of recent advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging, the Wada test is still an important test for presurgical evaluation of patients with epilepsy. The intracarotid sodium amytal test (Wada test) has been used to lateralize cerebral dominance for speech and to evaluate memory in each hemisphere. Anesthesiologists are generally not involved in this procedure. In some centers, an anesthesiologist is on stand-by during the procedure to manage potential complications, namely stroke. In the article by Dr. Joshi et al., there is mention that baseline sedation provided by the anesthesiologist in attendance would further complicate the interpretation of the Wada test and also suggests use of a judicious amount of sedation during the procedure. We disagree with the suggestion by the authors for the use of sedation during the procedure. These tests are done for evaluation of memory and language with unilateral intracarotid injection of drugs. Any sedation during the procedure will interfere with the memory testing. As a result of the recurrent shortages in the availability of sodium amytal, other agents are being used for Wada testing. As mentioned in the article, propofol or methohexitone have been used with limited success. Jones-Gotman et al. have published their work in the use of etomidate for the Wada test. They have shown that etomidate is a viable alternative to sodium amytal, and its administration by bolus followed by infusion offers an improvement over the traditional Wada test. It is given as a 2-mg initial bolus (0.03-0.04 mg/kg) over 30 to 60 s, then an infusion of 0.003 to 0.004 mg/kg/min (approximately 6 ml/h neat etomidate 2 mg/ml) until the speech assessment and memory objects have been introduced. Many centers in the world are now switching to this etomidate speech and memory test. Manufacturer’s recommendations mandate an anesthesiologist to administer etomidate, so many anesthesiologists are now involved. In our institution, we have been using etomidate for the Wada test for the past year with great success. In addition, bilateral injection is our standard practice. The second injection is made only after the confirmation of complete clearance of the drug effects (both clinically and electroencephalographically).
Spread and Control of Mobile Benign Worm Based on Two-Stage Repairing Mechanism

Both in traditional social network and in mobile network environment, the worm is a serious threat, and this threat is growing all the time. Mobile smartphones generally promote the development of mobile network. The traditional antivirus technologies have become powerless when facing mobile networks. The development of benign worms, especially active benign worms and passive benign worms, has become a new network security measure. In this paper, we focused on the spread of worm in mobile environment and proposed the benign worm control and repair mechanism. The control process of mobile benign worms is divided into two stages: the first stage is rapid repair control, which uses active benign worm to deal with malicious worm in the mobile network; when the network is relatively stable, it enters the second stage of postrepair and uses passive mode to optimize the environment for the purpose of controlling the mobile network. Considering whether the existence of benign worm, we simplified the model and analyzed the four situations. Finally, we use simulation to verify the model. This control mechanism for benign worm propagation is of guiding significance to control the network security.
Efficacy of the Combination Rifampin-Streptomycin in Preventing Growth of Mycobacterium ulcerans in Early Lesions of Buruli Ulcer in Humans

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium ulcerans disease is common in some humid tropical areas, particularly in parts of West Africa, and current management is by surgical excision of skin lesions ranging from early nodules to extensive ulcers (Buruli ulcer). Antibiotic therapy would be more accessible to patients in areas of Buruli ulcer endemicity. We report a study of the efficacy of antibiotics in converting early lesions (nodules and plaques) from culture positive to culture negative. Lesions were excised either immediately or after treatment with rifampin orally at 10 mg/kg of body weight and streptomycin intramuscularly at 15 mg/kg of body weight daily for 2, 4, 8, or 12 weeks and examined by quantitative bacterial culture, PCR, and histopathology for M. ulcerans. Lesions were measured during treatment. Five lesions excised without antibiotic treatment and five lesions treated with antibiotics for 2 weeks were culture positive, whereas three lesions treated for 4 weeks, five treated for 8 weeks, and three treated for 12 weeks were culture negative. No lesions became enlarged during antibiotic treatment, and most became smaller. Treatment with rifampin and streptomycin for 4 weeks or more inhibited growth of M. ulcerans in human tissue, and it provides a basis for proceeding to a trial of antibiotic therapy as an alternative to surgery for early M. ulcerans disease.
Verifying Critical Cyber-Physical Systems After Deployment

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are increasingly novel hardware and software compositions creating smart, autonomously acting devices, enabling efficient end-to-end workflows and new forms of user-machine interaction. The heterogeneous, evolving and distributed nature of CPS means that there is little chance of performing a top down development or anticipating all critical requirements such devices will need to satisfy individually and collectively. This paper describes an approach to verifying system requirements, when they become known, by performing an automated refinement check of its composed components abstracted from the actual implementation.
Carrier Transport in (110) nMOSFETs: Subband Structures, Non-Parabolicity, Mobility Characteristics, and Uniaxial Stress Engineering

(110) surface orientation have attracted great interests, since pFETs on (110) substrates show much superior mobility to (100) pFETs (Sun, et. al., 2005 and Sato, et, al, 1969). In addition, (110) surface orientation is widely utilized in advanced FET structures such as FinFETs (Liow, 2005) and Tri-gate FETs (Kavalieros, 2005). Thus, there are growing interests in whether, how, and how far the electron mobility, mue, of (110) nFETs can be improved. A few reports have been made on carrier transports in (110) nFETs (Irie, et. al., 2004) its physical mechanisms and stress dependence have not been fully investigated nor understood yet. In this paper, mue of (110) nFETs is studied in terms of channel direction, Ns, and temperature dependences to clarify the carrier transport mechanisms in (110) nFETs. In addition, the impact of stress engineering is investigated in terms of mue enhancements to provide the guidance to boost (110) nFETs performance
Primary Structure and Reactive Site of a Novel Wheat Proteinase Inhibitor of Subtilisin and Chymotrypsin

Abstract The proteinase inhibitor WSCI, active in inhibiting bacterial subtilisin and a number of animal chymotrypsins, was purified from endosperm of exaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum, c.v. San Pastore) by ion exchange chromatography and its complete amino acid sequence was established by automated Edman degradation. WSCI consists of a single polypeptide chain of 72 amino acid residues, has a molecular mass of 8126.3 Da and a pI of 5.8. The inhibition constants (K1) for Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin and bovine pancreatic α-chymotrypsin are 3.92×10 -9 M and 7.24×10 -9 M, respectively. The inhibitor contains one methionine and of tryptophan residue and has a high content of essential amino acids (41 over a total of 72 residues), but no cysteines. The primary structure of WSCI shows high similarity with barley subtilisin-chymotrypsin isoinhibitors of the CI-2 type and with maize subtilisinchymotrypsin inhibitor MPI. Significant degrees of similarity were also found between sequences of WSCI and of other members of the potato inhibitor I family of the serine proteinase inhibitors. The wheat inhibitor WSCI has a single reactive site (the peptide bond between methionyl-48 and glutamyl-49 residues) as identified by affinity chromatography and sequence analysis.
Pyridoxine-Dependent Seizures Caused by Alpha Amino Adipic Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase Deficiency: The First Polish Case with Confirmed Biochemical and Molecular Pathology

Pyridoxine-dependent seizures are a rare condition recognized when numerous seizures respond to pyridoxine treatment and recur on pyridoxine withdrawal. For decades the diagnosis was confirmed only with pyridoxine treatment withdrawal trial. Recently described biochemical and molecular pathology improved the diagnostic process for those cases in which seizures are caused by alpha amino adipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency. This article presents a girl with recurrent status epilepticus episodes resistant to phenobarbital and phenytoin and partly responding to midazolam. Eventually the seizures were completely controlled with pyridoxine; however, due to the severe condition of this child when seizing, no trial of withdrawal has been performed. The diagnosis of pyridoxine-dependent seizures was confirmed with biochemical and molecular testing revealing elevated α-AASA excretion and the presence of 2 different mutations in the antiquitin ( ALDH7A1) gene. Due to the availability of reliable laboratory testing, confirmation of the diagnosis was made without the life-threatening trial of pyridoxine withdrawal.
Infection par le VIH-1 groupe O : étude des caractéristiques épidémiologiques et de la réponse immuno-virologique aux antirétroviraux

Le VIH-1 groupe O (VIH-1/O) est un groupe divergent de VIH-1, endemique au Cameroun, 140 cas ont ete identifies en France depuis 1990. L’objectif de ce travail etait d’evaluer l’impact de la diversite du VIH-1/O sur les caracteristiques epidemiologiques, l’evolution naturelle de l’infection et sur la reponse immuno-virologique aux traitements.En France, le recueil de donnees de suivi uniques portant sur 101 patients ont permis de mettre en evidence que l’evolution naturelle des VIH-1/O etait intermediaire entre celle des VIH-1/M et celle des VIH-2. La resistance aux INNTI des patients VIH-1/O a ete confirmee in vivo. La reponse immuno-virologique aux traitements a ete comparee entre les VIH-1/O et les VIH-1/M suivis dans des cohortes en France et dans le cadre d’un essai clinique au Cameroun.Une des caracteristiques des VIH-1/O est une CVp significativement plus faible que celle des VIH-1/M avant l’initiation du traitement. Cela n’a pas d’impact sur la survenue de l’indetectabilite, qui est similaire dans les deux groupes apres un an de traitement. La reponse immunologique des patients VIH-1/O est globalement proche de celle des patients VIH-1/M en France. Cependant, la comparaison entre deux populations apparies suivis au Cameroun a montre une reponse immuno-virologique plus faible des patients VIH-1/O, sans que cela ait d’impact clinique.La prise en charge des patients VIH-1/O suivant les recommandations mises en place pour les VIH-1/M est donc efficace si elle ne comporte pas d’INNTI.
The Horizontal Segmentation of Lines in Chinese Handwritten Texts Based on the Intervals (Distances) in Fuzzy Triangles

The horizontal segmentation of handwritten text lines is a key step to detect handwritten texts has slant. In this paper, a novel method is proposed based on the fuzzy triangles to bring together and connecting the text lines. This proposed method has been tested on data banks in Chinese languages. In the experiments on the Chinese handwritten texts, a performance of 94.53% was obtained. Abbreviations
Neuroprotective Effects of Vitexin, a Flavonoid, on Pentylenetetrazole‐Induced Seizure in Rats

Flavonoids are important constituents of food and beverages and have several neuropharmacological activities. Many of these compounds are ligands for γ‐aminobutyric acid type A receptors in the central nervous system. This study aimed to investigate the anticonvulsant effects of intracerebroventricularly administered vitexin (5, 7, 4‐trihydroxyflavone‐8‐glucoside), a flavonoid found in plants, in rats treated with pentylenetetrazole (90 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and to clarify the underlying mechanism. Vitexin (100 and 200 μm, i.c.v) affected minimal clonic seizures and generalized tonic–clonic seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole by increasing the seizure onset time. Pretreatment with flumazenil suppressed the anticonvulsant effects of vitexin during the onset of both the seizures. These results indicate that vitexin has anticonvulsant effects in the brain, possibly through interaction at the benzodiazepine site of the γ‐aminobutyric acid type A receptor complex.
Accumulation of human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected cells in the cerebrospinal fluid during the exacerbation of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy

Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is a slowly progressive, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS). We report a patient with transverse myelitis, who exhibited acute onset and rapid progression of the disease and whose symptoms resembled those observed in multiple sclerosis with spinal cord presentation. During neurological exacerbation of the condition, the HTLV-I proviral load in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) increased to 10 times that in the peripheral blood. This suggests that the accumulation of HTLV-I-infected cells in the CNS contributes to neurological exacerbation. Based on the increased proviral load in the CSF, we diagnosed the disease as acute progressive HAM/TSP. The measurement of the HTLV-I proviral load in the CSF is useful for the diagnosis of HAM/TSP and for monitoring its progression.
A 1–6GHz ultra broadband multiple-channel integrated receiver

This paper presents a 1-6GHz ultra broadband multiple-channel integrated receiver. The total dimension of the receiver with 7 channels is 200×220×26mm3. The noise figure of the receiver is less than 2.5dB, the harmonics suppression is greater than 47dBc, the amplitude consistency of the channels is better than 1dB, and the phase consistency of the channels is less than ±5°.