Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of improvement of brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation with cardiovascular events

The aim of this pilot study was to test the prognostic value of serial measurements of peripheral endothelial function, assessed by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease. In 68 patients, FMD was measured on the day after coronary angiography and again after a mean of 14 ± 12 months. Patients were divided into two groups: absolute improvement in FMD ≥ 3% (FMD-improver += FMD-i) and <3% (FMD-non-improver = FMD-ni). After a mean follow-up of 44 ± 12 months, cardiovascular events were recorded. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups, except the number of risk factors which was smaller in FMD-i (1.6 ± 0.7 vs 2.1 ± 0.9, p < 0.02). Cardiovascular events were more frequent in FMD-ni (9 vs 1 event; p < 0.05). In Kaplan–Meier analysis, a trend towards a better outcome in patients with improved FMD was found using the log-rank test (p = 0.08). The single baseline FMD showed no relationship with late cardiovascular events. Thus, ‘delta-FMD’ may be more closely related to prognosis than a single FMD measurement.
Friction modeling of a high-precision positioning system

Friction modeling of a high-precision positioning system using linear permanent magnet synchronous motors is investigated. The friction force is measured precisely by some specific experiments to eliminate the parasitic ripple force. The experimental data show that the relation between the lubrication force and the velocity is not linear as it is assumed in the conventional friction models used in automatic control. A new model for the lubrication force based on tribological observations is proposed and introduced to the LuGre friction model. The new model can characterize the lubrication force saturation which is encountered in the acquired data. The parameters of the new friction model are identified and compared with the standard ones
Short-term clinical effects of tolvaptan, an oral vasopressin antagonist, in patients hospitalized for heart failure: the EVEREST Clinical Status Trials.

CONTEXT Heart failure causes more than 1 million US hospitalizations yearly, mostly related to congestion. Tolvaptan, an oral, nonpeptide, selective vasopressin V2-receptor antagonist, shows promise in this condition. OBJECTIVE To evaluate short-term effects of tolvaptan when added to standard therapy in patients hospitalized with heart failure. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Two identical prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials at 359 sites in North America, South America, and Europe were conducted during the inpatient period of the Efficacy of Vasopressin Antagonism in Heart Failure Outcome Study With Tolvaptan (EVEREST) between October 7, 2003, and February 3, 2006. A total of 2048 (trial A) and 2085 (trial B) patients hospitalized with heart failure and congestion were studied. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to receive either tolvaptan (30 mg/d) or matching placebo, within 48 hours of admission. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Primary end point was a composite of changes in global clinical status based on a visual analog scale and body weight at day 7 or discharge if earlier. Secondary end points included dyspnea (day 1), global clinical status (day 7 or discharge), body weight (days 1 and 7 or discharge), and peripheral edema (day 7 or discharge). RESULTS Rank sum analysis of the composite primary end point showed greater improvement with tolvaptan vs placebo (trial A, mean [SD], 1.06 [0.43] vs 0.99 [0.44]; and trial B, 1.07 [0.42] vs 0.97 [0.43]; both trials P<.001). Mean (SD) body weight reduction was greater with tolvaptan on day 1 (trial A, 1.71 [1.80] vs 0.99 [1.83] kg; P<.001; and trial B, 1.82 [2.01] vs 0.95 [1.85] kg; P<.001) and day 7 or discharge (trial A, 3.35 [3.27] vs 2.73 [3.34] kg; P<.001; and trial B, 3.77 [3.59] vs 2.79 [3.46] kg; P<.001), whereas improvements in global clinical status were not different between groups. More patients receiving tolvaptan (684 [76.7%] and 678 [72.1%] for trial A and trial B, respectively) vs patients receiving placebo (646 [70.6%] and 597 [65.3%], respectively) reported improvement in dyspnea at day 1 (both trials P<.001). Edema at day 7 or discharge improved significantly with tolvaptan in trial B (P = .02) but did not reach significance in trial A (P = .07). Serious adverse event frequencies were similar between groups, without excess renal failure or hypotension. CONCLUSION In patients hospitalized with heart failure, oral tolvaptan in addition to standard therapy including diuretics improved many, though not all, heart failure signs and symptoms, without serious adverse events. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00071331
Konsensustreffen der Kursleiter in der Mammadiagnostik am 9.5.2009 in Frankfurt am Main – Thema: Herdbefunde

Fourteen directors of breast imaging courses met on behalf of the German Society of Radiology to discuss the actual standards of the diagnosis of masses. Open questions on the fields of mammography, breast ultrasound and breast MRI were elucidated by a presentation of one of the 14 panel members, followed by an electronic anonymous voting. Beside of the panel members, more than 300 participants of the consensus meeting contributed their opinions by electronic voting. Answers with definite majorities (> 75 %), answers with narrow majorities and those with missing majorities were discriminated from each other. The opinions of the plenum were compared to the majorities of the podium and showed only a few critical differences. Due to unequivocal majorities seven answers to important questions concerning the diagnosis of masses can lead to a further standardization of breast cancer diagnosis.
Adaptive Control for Revolute Joints Robot Manipulator with Uncertain/Unknown Dynamic Parameters and in Presence of Disturbance in Control Input

This paper presents an effective adaptive controller for revolute joints robot manipulator where the control input is accompanied with a random disturbance (with unknown PSD). It is clear that, disturbance can compromise the overall performance of the system. To cope with this problem, a control technique is proposed which uses the concept of exponential practical stability. Unlike other counterparts, the proposed method does not need information such as the physical parameters of robot and gravitational acceleration. The results show that the proposed controller achieves an excellent performance clearly seen from the tracking error and its derivatives.
Prevalence and serotyping of Listeria monocytogenes in Portuguese live bivalve molluscs sampled in various steps along the sanitary control process

The prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria monocytogenes were investigated in live bivalve molluscs for human consumption, collected in various steps of the commercial and sanitary circuits in the North of Portugal. Samples of different species were collected per lot before and after depuration treatment in two depuration units and further, when placed in retail markets. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from 4% of the samples although with very low contamination levels (less than 100 MPN g−1). None of the environmental (non-depurated) samples were contaminated with the food-borne pathogen. The positive samples involved depurated and commercialized samples from two lots, one in each circuit. Two serotypes (1/2a and 3b) were detected among the isolated strains. This study demonstrated the possibility of occurrence of L. monocytogenes contamination of live bivalve molluscs along the sanitary control circuit, including at the retail market level. As L. monocytogenes grows well at refrigerated temperatures and in high salt matrixes such as seafood its presence in these products should not be overlooked.
Understanding Wicked Problems: A Key to Advancing Environmental Health Promotion

Complex environmental health problems—like air and water pollution, hazardous waste sites, and lead poisoning—are in reality a constellation of linked problems embedded in the fabric of the communities in which they occur. These kinds of complex problems have been characterized by some as “wicked problems” wherein stakeholders may have conflicting interpretations of the problem and the science behind it, as well as different values, goals, and life experiences. Accordingly, policy makers, public health professionals, and other stake-holders who grapple with these problems cannot expect to effectively resolve them by relying solely on expert-driven approaches to problem solving. Rather, they need to acknowledge that wicked environmental health problems are most likely to yield to (1) the application of effective community health promotionskills, (2) a sustained commitment to sound toxicological and epidemiological science, (3) the application of systems thinking, and (4) transparent communication among all stakeholders.
Dystonic posturing in complex partial seizures of temporal lobe onset

We observed unilateral dystonic posturing of an arm or leg in 41 complex partial seizures (CPS) from 18 patients. In all cases this was contralateral to the ictal discharge. Unilateral automatisms occurred in 39 of 41 seizures on the side opposite the dystonic limb. Version occurred in 11 of the 41 CPS to the same side as the dystonic posturing and always followed the posturing. Subdural recordings of seven seizures showed ictal onset from the mesial basal temporal lobe. At the onset of dystonic posturing, maximum ictal activity was in the basal temporal lobe with minimal involvement of the cerebral convexity. Unilateral dystonic posturing occurs frequently in CPS of temporal lobe onset and is a lateralizing sign with a high degree of specificity. It probably reflects spread of the ictal discharge to basal ganglia structures.
A New Method for Measuring the Properties of Dielectric Materials

This letter proposes a new method for determining the properties of dielectric materials. A dielectric sample in free space illuminated by an incident field from a nearby antenna produces a scattered field, which will affect the input impedance of the antenna. The change of the input impedance of the antenna can then be used to determine the permittivity and the loss of the dielectric sample. The measurement setup using a microstrip antenna has been examined in detail. Experimental results have been presented to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed method.
Single cell enzyme activity and proliferation in the growth plate: Effects of growth hormone

Longitudinal growth is a result of proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes in the growth plate. Growth hormone (GH) stimulates longitudinal growth, and GH receptors have been shown on growth plate chondrocytes, but the effects of GH on chondrocytes of different cell layers are not clear. To study the effect of GH on chondrocyte activity, in situ biochemical techniques were used to measure enzyme activities, which are associated with cell differentiation (alkaline phosphatase [ALP]) and osteoclast activity (tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase [TRAP]), within single cells of the growth plate. Uptake of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was used as a parameter for proliferative activity. In addition, glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) was measured since increased proliferation has been associated with increased G6PD activity. The role of GH was studied in a model of isolated GH deficiency (dwarf rat) and complete pituitary deficiency (hypophysectomized rat). Groups of GH‐deficient dwarf rats were infused with recombinant human GH in either a continuous or a pulsatile manner, since the pattern of GH secretion is an important regulator of growth in the rat. After 7 days, G6PD activity in proliferative chondrocytes and TRAP activity in osteoclasts was increased, while ALP activity in hypertrophic chondrocytes was decreased. GH not only increased the number of chondrocytes that incorporated BrdU but also the total number of chondrocytes in the proliferative zone; therefore, its ratio, the labeling index (an indicator of proliferative rate), was not increased. The widths of the proliferative and hypertrophic zones were increased by both patterns of GH administration. The width of the resting zone was unaffected by continuous GH but decreased by pulsatile GH. ALP and TRAP activities were, respectively, higher and lower in hypophysectomized rats compared with the GH‐deficient animals. Hypophysectomized rats had smaller growth plates than dwarf rats with a disproportionally wide resting zone, which, like BrdU uptake, was not affected by GH. GH treatment resulted in increased TRAP and decreased ALP activity. These results indicate that GH stimulates the commitment of chondrocytes within the resting/germinal layer to a proliferative phenotype (as opposed to stimulating the rate of chondrocyte proliferation) but only in the presence of other pituitary hormones. Furthermore, this study shows that enzyme activities within single chondrocytes and osteoclasts are GH‐sensitive. The extent to which these effects are direct or mediated by systemic or local growth factors remains to be clarified.
Interneocortical connections in the opossum, Didelphis virginiana

Discrete neocortical lesions were placed in the brains of 12 opossums. After a survival time of 1 to 3 weeks, the brains were subjected to the Nauta‐Gygax technique for degenerating axons or to the Swank‐Davenport modification of the Marchi technique for degenerating myelin. A partial hemispherectomy was performed on the brains of two additional animals. The entire intact hemisphere opposite the lesion was then subjected to the Nauta‐Gygax technique.
PHOTOCHEMOTHERAPY OF CANCER: EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Worldwide, photochemotherapy ( P a ) * is being evaluated as a new modality of cancer treatment. It is based on injection of photosensitizing and tumor localizing dyes followed by exposure of the tumor region to high fluence rates of light, usually from a laser. A variety of different types of tumors respond to PCT. However, PCT is efficient only in cases where the entire tumor can be reached by light. Thus, tumors thicker than 5-7 mm are rarely eradicated by PCT, unless the light is applied interstitially through fibers. Extracorporal PCT, with 8methoxypsoralen as sensitizer, of T-cells of patients suffering from the erythrodermic form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma has been reported to give good clinical results. Extracorporal PCT for elimination of residual tumor cells from autologous bone marrow grafts is also being evaluated. The biological effects of surgical lasers, like the C0,-laser and the Nd:YAG-laser, are based on the heating that occurs when the laser radiation is absorbed by tissues. Unlike this, PCT is based on photochemical reactions and not on tissue heating. A combination of injection of a tumor localizing and photosensitizing dye and local exposure of the tumor region to light constitutes the basis for PCT. The fact that certain porphyrins administered to tumor-bearing animals tend to accumulate in tumor tissue has been known for more than 50 years (Policard, 1924). Since most porphyrins exhibit a characteristic red fluorescence, their tumor localizing properties can be used for tumor detection (Lipson, 1976; Pope et al . , 1991). The photosensitizing properties of porphyrins, together with their tumor-localizing properties, were first exploited for therapeutic purposes by Auler and Banzer in 1943 (Auler and Banzer, 1943). The first cancer patients were treated with PCT in 1976 (Kelly and Snell, 1976). Since that time a number of clinical trials have been performed (Dougherty, 1987). Also a large number of experimental investigations have been carried out (Moan, 1986a; Henderson and Dougherty; 1992). In the following some of the most recent knowledge gained through experimental and clinical research on PCT will be reviewed.
Design of Asymmetric Large-mode Area Optical Fiber With Low-bending Loss

We propose the design of a simple large-mode area microstructured optical fiber with low bending loss and large loss difference between the fundamental mode and the high-order modes. Single-mode operation in the fiber is realized by the introduction of small diameter holes, whereas the bending loss of the fiber is realized by the introduction of three large holes in the two-ring hole microstructured optical fiber. We also introduce low-index rods into the core of the fiber, which can effectively compensate the reduction of mode area induced by bending the fiber.
Pharmacokinetics of the 8-methoxyquinolone, moxifloxacin: tissue distribution in male rats.

BAY 12-8039 (moxifloxacin-HCl) and 14C-labelled BAY 12-8039 were administered to male rats as single i.v. and oral doses of 4.6 and 5.0 mg/kg bodyweight respectively. The distribution of substance-associated radioactivity in the body was investigated by whole-body autoradiography. The concentrations of the unchanged compound in plasma, skin suction blister fluid and lung tissue were determined by HPLC. Whole-body autoradiography revealed distinctly higher concentrations of radioactivity in the gastrointestinal tract, urinary bladder and in most organs and tissues (e.g. kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs, various glands, cartilaginous tissues and in melanin-containing structures located in the eye, meninges and hair follicles of pigmented skin) than in blood. Radioactivity crossed the blood-brain barrier only to a small extent. The results show a high tissue affinity and a rapid and homogeneous distribution of radioactivity from blood to organs or tissues. No relevant difference in the distribution of radioactivity was found following i.v. and oral administration. After i.v. and oral dosing similar concentrations of the unchanged compound were determined in skin suction blister fluid and plasma. The concentrations of the unchanged compound in lung tissue were about three times higher than those in plasma following both i.v. and oral administration. The concentration-time courses for moxifloxacin in plasma and lung tissue were parallel.
Key Technologies and Applications of Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) has been paid more and more attention by the government, academe and industry all over the world because of its great prospect. This article introduced the concept of IoT, the basic properties and characteristics. Then it discussed the key technologies of IoT in detail taking the wire-less sensor network as an example, and the application of IoT was illustrated by its typical use in environment monitoring.
Lesions on DWI and the Outcome in Hyperacute Posterior Circulation Stroke

Background: few studies have addressed the association between the characteristics of ischemic lesions detected by diffusion-weighted imaging (dWi) and the clinical outcome in patients with hyperacute posterior circulation ischemic stroke. this study demonstrates a relationship between the findings assessed by dWi and the outcome in patients with hyperacute posterior circulation ischemic stroke. Methods: We reviewed data from 118 patients who had posterior circulation ischemic stroke within six hours from the onset of their symptoms. the clinical outcome included early neurological deterioration (end) and a favorable outcome at three months after the onset of symptoms. using dWi, the lesion volume and the number and location of injured anatomical regions were analyzed to evaluate whether the results correlated with the clinical outcome measures. Results: the number of injured anatomical regions assessed by dWi was associated with the initial and delayed neurological status. Both the total volume and the number of injured anatomical regions associated with end and a favorable outcome. analysis of the location of the injured regions determined that only a pontine lesion independently associated with end. interestingly, four out of five patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy exhibited a large infarction volume but minor symptoms. Conclusions: in patients with hyperacute posterior circulation ischemic strokes, the lesions assessed by dWi were associated with the clinical outcome, regardless of the initial neurological status. dWi is an effective initial imaging tool for assessing the extent of lesions and clinical outcomes in patients with hyperacute posterior circulation ischemic stroke.
Distribution and heritability of intraocular pressure in chinese children: the Guangzhou twin eye study.

PURPOSE To assess the distribution and heritability of intraocular pressure (IOP) in Chinese children. METHODS Twins aged 8 to 16 years were recruited from the Guangzhou Twin Registry. IOP was measured in each twin and co-twin together, with a handheld tonometer by the same operator. Zygosity was determined based on genotyping with 16 polymorphic markers in all same-sex twin pairs. Heritability was estimated with a univariate variance component model. RESULTS Four hundred seventy-three twin pairs (309 monozygotic [MZ] and 164 dizygotic [DZ] twins) were available for data analyses. The mean IOP was 14.2 (SD 2.3) mm Hg. Neither age nor sex was correlated with IOP. Phenotypic correlation was 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.74) in MZ twins and 0.40 (95% CI, 0.26-0.52) in DZ twins. A genetic model involving additive genetic and unique environmental effects was the best fit. Heritability was estimated as 66.5% (95% CI, 60.6%-71.6%). CONCLUSIONS IOP is not correlated with age and sex in young children. Similar to the European population, the variation of IOP in healthy Chinese children is mainly attributable to additive genetic effects.
Vitamin D status and outcomes in heart failure patients

Vitamin D status has been implicated in the pathophysiology of heart failure (HF). The aims of this study were to determine whether a low vitamin D status is associated with prognosis in HF and whether activation of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) and inflammatory markers could explain this potential association.
Interpersonal–psychological theory and parental bonding predict suicidal ideation among soldiers in Taiwan

Suicide is an important issue among military personnel, who have higher suicide rates compared with the general population. The interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) might provide an empirical explanation of this phenomenon, and parental bonding influences social adjustment and suicide. To investigate the relevance of IPTS and parental bonding for suicide among Taiwanese soldiers, a case–control study was conducted.