Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rare solitary fibrous tumor of the stomach: A case report.

INTRODUCTION Solitary fibrous tumors are rare soft tissue tumors of submesothelial origin and variable malignant potential. The most common localization is pleural, whereas only 0.6% are of extrapleural localization. Solitary fibrous tumor of the peritoneum, especially of gastric serosa is an extremely rare form of this tumor. CASE REPORT We presented a 65-year-old female patient with solitary fibrous tumor of the stomach. Histopathological analysis of removed tissue showed the presence of tumor tissue built of spindle cells, elongated nuclei with moderately abundant cytoplasm. Cells were in a noncohesive arrangement, in smaller areas distributed in the form of palisade. There were amounts of hipocellular connective tissue, hyalinised, with small foci of dystrophic calcification. Mitoses were rare (less than 3/10 HPF). Blood vessels surrounded the connective tissue. Reviewed material did not contain elements of the parent organ. Immunohistochemically there were positivity on CD34 and vimentin, and negativity to S100, SMA, CD117, dezmin, and Ki-67 is < 2%. The change was diagnosed as a solitary fibrous tumor. CONCLUSION Considering that benign solitary fibrous tumors of extrathoracic localizations are extremely rare neoplasms with unpredictable biological behavior and the possibility of recurrence, a long-term clinical and endoscopic follow-up on yearly basis of patients with this disease is recommended.
Role of autophagy in cadmium-induced testicular injury

The testis is sensitive to cadmium, but studies investigating cadmium-induced testicular injury have not yet clearly revealed the underlying mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate the injurious effects of cadmium on rat testes and the role that autophagy plays in this process. Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups and intraperitoneally injected with 0.2 (low), 0.4 (middle), and 0.8 mg/kg·body weight (high) cadmium chloride for 5 weeks, while the control rats were injected with equal volume of saline. Rats exposed to cadmium appeared inactive and had reduced body weights and increased testicular organ coefficients at the end of treatment compared with control rats. Atomic absorption results showed that cadmium levels increased with increased cadmium exposure. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of testicular sections showed seminiferous tubular atrophy, decreased pipe diameter, spermatogonial stem cells falling off the inner lining, and reduced germ cell layers of disorderly arrangements in cadmium-treated rats. Immunohistochemical and western blot results both showed that levels of the autophagy-related proteins Beclin1 and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B) increased with increased cadmium exposure. We also found that LC3B-II and calcium-sensing receptor (CSR) levels in cadmium-exposed rats significantly increased. By immunofluorescence, we found that the percentage of cells that expressed the CSR was significantly higher in LC3B-positive than LC3B-negative cells. Together, our results showed that cadmium accumulates in the testes causing testicular injury, which may be related to increased autophagy levels. Furthermore, calcium disorders associated with the CSR may reveal a potential way to activate autophagy.
Performance enhancement of wireless sensor network (WSN) with the implementation of Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) and Transmission Power Control (TPC)

The challenges of wireless sensor network (WSN) have commonly referred to error-prone and degraded in performances when it gets congested. One possible solution to mitigate the problem is by combining the technique of Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) with Transmission Power Control (TPC). This research experiments the combination techniques of HARQ error control with TPC in order to improve the performances of WSN with respect to latency, throughputs, packet loss, and energy consumption. The existing HARQ scheme and HARQ with TPC scheme will be simulated using Ns2 simulator and the result will be recorded. The output from simulations is collected and comparison between the two schemes is made. The results show that the scheme of HARQ with TPC have improved the performances of latency, packet loss, throughputs and energy consumption in several test cases such as changing number of nodes, packet sizes, localization and routing protocols.
Mothers supporting children with autistic spectrum disorders

Parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) are more likely to experience serious psychological distress than parents of children with other developmental disabilities. To examine the impact of a range of factors on psychological wellbeing, interviews were undertaken with 68 mothers of children with ASDs to explore aspects of social support, mental health status and satisfaction with services. Findings indicated that over half of mothers screened positive for significant psychological distress and that this was associated with low levels of family support and with bringing up a child with higher levels of challenging behaviour. Mothers were more likely to report lower levels of support if they were a lone parent, were living in poor housing, or were the mother of a boy with ASD. The study also investigated areas of useful support and areas of unmet need, the latter including care breaks and advice needs.
Emprego da Escala SERVQUAL na avaliação da Qualidade de Serviços de Hospedagem durante uma romaria em Juazeiro do Norte (CE)

A qualidade é tida como fator obrigatório nos dias atuais e considerando que o turismo religioso é o que mais tende a crescer, objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade percebida pelos romeiros de Juazeiro do Norte (CE) quanto aos serviços prestados pelo setor hoteleiro. Para esta avaliação aplicou-se o modelo SERVQUAL, em duas fases para obter o grau de expectativa e depois então o nível de percepção sobre os serviços prestados. A pesquisa foi realizada no período de 29 de outubro a 02 de novembro de 2011, com 390 romeiros, o que assegurou um nível de 95% de confiança sobre o número total da população. Obteve-se gap negativo em todos os itens de todas as cinco dimensões avaliadas, sendo a maior discrepância de – 45% em relação aos aspectos tangíveis e a menor com – 29% referente à segurança. Este resultado sugere que os empresários hoteleiros devem tomar medidas urgentes que possam alavancar positivamente a percepção dos romeiros.
The oxygen free radical system: from equations through membrane-protein interactions to cardiovascular injury and protection.

Highly toxic oxygen radicals and their metabolites have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischaemia/reperfusion injury. These reactive oxygen species include the superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, and singlet oxygen. The central theme of this review is first to discuss the basic mechanisms of free radical generation from various potential sources, to point out and emphasise the growing importance of the role of singlet oxygen, and then to discuss in depth membrane-protein interactions that ultimately lead to myocardial damage and dysfunction. With this background, we highlight several novel therapeutic strategies aimed at interrupting the oxygen free radical mediated component of ischaemia/reperfusion injury. It is hoped that this thesis will then serve as a future impetus to challenge these hypotheses and further build on this truly unique system that has assumed such an important role in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion and inflammation. "To those of us who are humbly exploring the mysteries of science, we must project our findings and model our systems. For if correct, we have made a small contribution and, if wrong, we have forced others to eventually think. " A V Hill, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of E H Starling's Linacre lecture (University College, London, 1968).
Neurotoxic and neurotrophic roles of proNGF and the receptor sortilin in the adult and ageing nervous system

The precursor form of the nerve growth factor (proNGF), forms a heterotrimeric complex with the receptors p75 and sortilin; this complex has been implicated in neuron cell death. However, it is not known whether proNGF and the receptors p75 and sortilin contribute to age‐ and disease‐related neurodegeneration. Here we show that proNGF induces cell death in subpopulations of basal forebrain and peripheral sympathetic neurons of old, but not of young, adult rodents. In contrast, proNGF appears to induce neurite outgrowth rather than cell death of young adult sympathetic neurons. We have examined the neurotoxic role of proNGF in old age, and find that proNGF protein is elevated during ageing in the projection areas of some populations of vulnerable central and peripheral neurons; caloric restriction, which has known neuroprotective effects, partially prevents these increases. Sortilin was found to play a significant part in the observed patterns of age‐related proNGF‐mediated neurotoxicity. In particular, survival of aged neurons was rescued by neurotensin, an alternative sortilin ligand that blocks the sortilin‐mediated effects of proNGF. Furthermore, sortilin immunoreactivity increases markedly in ageing rodent basal forebrain and sympathetic neurons; in contrast, p75 levels are either unchanged or reduced. From these data we propose that selective age‐related neuronal atrophy and neurodegeneration may be mediated by increased sortilin expression in neurons, together with elevated levels of proNGF expression in some targets.
The capsid determinant of fibrotropism for the MVMp strain of minute virus of mice functions via VP2 and not VP1

The minute virus of mice, prototype strain MVMp, productively infects cultured murine fibroblasts but not T cells. The immunosuppressive strain, MVMi, shows the converse tropism. These reciprocal tropisms are mediated by the viral capsids, in which their determinants have been mapped to a few specific amino acids in the primary sequence shared by VP1 and VP2. Which of these proteins is relevant in presenting these determinants during infection is not known. We have approached this question using a recombinant parvovirus system in which a LuIII-derived transducing genome, containing the luciferase reporter in place of viral coding sequences, can be packaged by capsid proteins from separate helper sources. We generated transducing virions by using helper constructs expressing either VP1 or VP2, containing the MVMp or MVMi tropic determinant region, in various combinations. The virions were used to infect human NB324K cells and murine A9 fibroblasts. Transduction of the human cells (permissive for both MVMp and MVMi) required both VP1 and VP2 and was successful with all combinations of these proteins. In contrast, significant transducing activity for A9 cells was detected only with recombinant virions containing VP2 of MVMp, while the use of either source of VP1 had little effect. We conclude that VP2 from MVMp is necessary to enable infection of murine A9 fibroblasts.
Antimicrobial Activity of Punica granatum and Cichorium intybus Extracts against some Pathogenic Bacteria

Humans use various kinds of herbs and shrubs for medicinal purposes since time immemorial. Punicagranatum (pomegranate) and Cichoriumintybus (chicory) are example of such plants. The undertaken study of selected medicinal plants was screened for their antibacterial activity. Peel extracts of Punicagranatum(pomegranate) and leaves of Cichoriumintybus(chicory) were evaluated for antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Two types of solvents were used to prepare the plant extracts; water and an organic solvent Dimethylesulfoxide (DMSO). The results reveal that DMSO dissolved plants extracts had higher solubility when compared with water. The Cichoriumintybus showed antimicrobial activity against all the pathogenic strains. We also observed that Cichoriumintybus is more effective against Gram (+) bacteria then that of Gram (-) bacteria. Whereas Punicagranatum showed zone of inhibition against S.epidermidisonly. Finding from the present study showed thatboth of the plants have potent antibacterial activity.Further study will be helpful for the future elucidation of novel therapeutic agents.
Cloning and sequence analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9 gene and further evidence that its product is required for cell cycle arrest induced by DNA damage

Procaryotic and eucaryotic cells possess mechanisms for arresting cell division in response to DNA damage. Eucaryotic cells arrest division in the G2 stage of the cell cycle, and various observations suggest that this arrest is necessary to ensure the completion of repair of damaged DNA before the entry of cells into mitosis. Here, we provide evidence that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9 gene, mutations of which confer sensitivity to DNA-damaging agents, is necessary for the cell cycle arrest phenomenon. Our studies with the rad9 delta mutation show that RAD9 plays a role in the cell cycle arrest of methyl methanesulfonate-treated cells and is absolutely required for the cell cycle arrest in the temperature-sensitive cdc9 mutant, which is defective in DNA ligase. At the restrictive temperature, cell cycle progression of cdc9 cells is blocked sometime after the DNA chain elongation step, whereas cdc9 rad9 delta cells do not arrest at this point and undergo one or two additional divisions. Upon transfer from the restrictive to the permissive temperature, a larger proportion of the cdc9 cells than of the cdc9 rad9 delta cells forms viable colonies, indicating that RAD9-mediated cell cycle arrest allows for proper ligation of DNA breaks before the entry of cells into mitosis. The rad9 delta mutation does not affect the frequency of spontaneous or UV-induced mutation and recombination, suggesting that RAD9 is not directly involved in mutagenic or recombinational repair processes. The RAD9 gene encodes a transcript of approximately 4.2 kilobases and a protein of 1,309 amino acids of Mr 148,412. We suggest that RAD9 may be involved in regulating the expression of genes required for the transition from G2 to mitosis.
Myelodysplastic syndromes: 2018 update on diagnosis, risk‐stratification and management

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a very heterogeneous group of myeloid disorders characterized by peripheral blood cytopenias and increased risk of transformation to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). MDS occurs more frequently in older males and in individuals with prior exposure to cytotoxic therapy.
A novel approach for the inference of insulator pollution severity

In this paper, experiments aimed at achieving information on partial discharge activity on polluted ceramic insulators are reported. The investigation serves the purpose of collecting typical partial discharge patterns from outdoor insulators in order to develop a technique to infer insulator pollution level. The reported results indicate that partial discharge analysis of polluted insulators provides useful information concerning the degree of pollution of insulator surfaces and, therefore, can be used to establish condition-based maintenance practices
High mutation detection rate in TCOF1 among Treacher Collins syndrome patients reveals clustering of mutations and 16 novel pathogenic changes

Twenty‐eight families with a clinical diagnosis of Treacher Collins syndrome were screened for mutations in the 25 coding exons of TCOF1 and their adjacent splice junctions through SSCP and direct sequencing. Pathogenic mutations were detected in 26 patients, yielding the highest detection rate reported so far for this disease (93%) and bringing the number of known disease‐causing mutations from 35 to 51. This is the first report to describe clustering of pathogenic mutations. Thirteen novel polymorphic alterations were characterized, confirming previous reports that TCOF1 has an unusually high rate of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within its coding region. We suggest a possible different mechanism leading to TCS or genetic heterogeneity for this condition, as we identified two families with no apparent pathogenic mutation in the gene. Furthermore, our data confirm the absence of genotype–phenotype correlation and reinforce that the apparent anticipation often observed in TCS families is due to ascertainment bias. Hum Mutat 16:315–322, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Congenital vascular lesions of the head and neck

There is no universally acceptable classification method of treating congenital vascular lesions of the head and neck. An historical perspective, the hemodynamics of arteriovenous fistulas, and the various modalities of treatment are presented. The importance of superselective angiography in studying these lesions is emphasized. Embolization represents a major advance in the treatment of these patients and cooperation between head and neck surgeon and the vascular radiologist is encouraged. The evaluation and treatment of 66 patients with congenital head and neck vascular lesions are presented. The rationale for various types of treatment is reviewed.
Diagnosis of tuberculosis by a visually detectable immunoassay for lipoarabinomannan.

Recovery of tubercle bacilli from sputum, tissue, or body fluid is the standard for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) although this process is technically demanding and relatively insensitive. We have developed a simplified, visually detectable, colloidal gold-based serological assay to qualitatively detect IgG directed against the mycobacterial cell wall component lipoarabinomannan (LAM). The objective of this investigation is to determine the accuracy of this assay in patients with active pulmonary TB and in control patients with or without latent infection. In patients with active TB, the sensitivity of anti-LAM IgG was 85 to 93%. In five patients with active TB who were smear-negative, all tested positive for anti-LAM IgG. The specificity of the test depended on the presence of tuberculous infection. In U.S. citizens comprised of young healthy adults and rheumatology patients, the specificity was 100%. In an at-risk population for tuberculous infection who were either tuberculin skin test-negative or positive, the specificity was 89%. The negative and positive predictive values of the test were 98% and 52%, respectively. We conclude that anti-LAM IgG immunoassay is relatively sensitive and specific for active TB and thus, a potentially useful screening test for active TB.
La cinétique d’obtention de la réponse moléculaire à l’imatinib permet de prévoir la chance de guérison à long terme de la LMC

L’imatinib mesylate (IM) ou Glivec® a revolutionne la prise en charge des patients presentant une leucemie myeloide chronique durant la derniere decade. Selon l’experience historique du MD Anderson [1], avec un recul de huit ans de suivi, l’esperance de vie des patients est passee de 15 % avant 1983, a 42-65 % de 1983 a 2000, et a plus de 87 % depuis 2001, se rapprochant ainsi de la duree de vie de la population generale, selon les estimations a long terme. Les premiers [. ]
How Do Pensions Affect Corporate Capital Structure Decisions?

This article examines the capital structure implications of defined benefit corporate pension plans. The magnitude of the liabilities arising from these pension plans is substantial. We show that leverage ratios for firms with pension plans are about 35% higher when pension assets and liabilities are incorporated into the capital structure. We estimate that the tax shields from pension contributions are about a third of those from interest payments. Pension contributions have a modest effect in lowering firms' marginal corporate tax rates. Once pensions are considered, firms are less conservative in their choice of leverage than has been previously thought. We show that firms incorporate the magnitude of their pension assets and liabilities into their capital structure decisions. The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org. , Oxford University Press.
High Molecular-Weight Thermoplastic Polymerization of Kraft Lignin Macromers with Diisocyanate

A high molecular-weight thermoplastic lignin-based polymer was successfully synthesized by adjusting the degree of polymerization while inducing linear growth of lignin macromers via methylene diphenyldiisocyanate. The thermoplastic lignin-urethane polymer was desirably achieved in a narrow range of reaction conditions of 2.5 to 3.5 h at 80 oC in this study, and the molecular weight of the resulting lignin-based polyurethanes (LigPU) reached as high as 912,000 g/mole, which is far above any reported values of lignin-based polymer derivatives. The thermal stability of LigPU was greatly improved by the urethane polymerization, giving the initial degradation temperature (T2%) at 204 °C, which should be compared with T2% = 104 °C of the pristine lignin. This was due to the fact that the OH groups in the lignin macromers, having low bond-dissociation energy, were replaced by the urethane bonds. In dielectric analysis, the synthesized LigPU exhibited a softening transition at 175 °C corresponding to a combinatorial dual process of the dry Tg,dry of the lignin macromers and the softening of methylenediphenyl urethane chains. This work clearly demonstrated that a high molecular weight of thermoplastic LigPU could be desirably synthesized, broadening the lignin application for value added and eco-friendly products through common melt processes of polymer blend or composites.
The role of haemodynamic and metabolic factors in the development of diabetic nephropathy

1Department of Internal Medicine, Diabetology and Nephrology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice Head of Department: prof. Władysław Grzeszczak, MD, PhD 2Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Diabetology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior, Warszawa Head of Department: prof. Edward Franek, MD, PhD 3Department of Human Epigenetics, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa Head of Department: prof. Monika Puzianowska-Kuźnicka, MD, PhD
Emphysema in the blotchy mouse: A morphometric study

Inheritance of the Blotchy allele at the X‐chromosomal Mottled locus of mice results in changes in the lung which resemble emphysema. Previous studies using measurements of mean linear intercept have recognized emphysema in the hemizygous, Blo/Y, male and homozygous, Blo/Blo, female, but not in the heterozygous, Blo/+, female.