Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Capsule endoscopy in diagnosis of small bowel Crohn's disease.

AIM To evaluate the effectiveness of wireless capsule endoscopy in patients with suspected Crohn's disease (CD) of the small bowel undetected by conventional modalities, and to determine the diagnostic yield of M2A Given Capsule. METHODS From May 2002 to April 2003, we prospectively examined 20 patients with suspected CD by capsule endoscopy. The patients had the following features: abdominal pain, weight loss, positive fecal occult blood test, iron deficiency anaemia, diarrhoea and fever. All the patients had normal results in small bowel series (SBS) and in upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy before they were examined. Mean duration of symptoms before diagnosis was 6.5 years. RESULTS Of the 20 patients, 13 (65%) were diagnosed as CD of the small bowel according to the findings of M2A Given Capsule. The findings detected by the capsule were mucosal erosions (2 patients), aphthas (5 patients), nodularity (1 patient), large ulcers (2 patients), and ulcerated stenosis (3 patients). The distribution of the lesions was mainly in the distal part of the small bowel, and the mild degree of lesions was 54%. CONCLUSION Wireless capsule endoscopy is effective in diagnosing patients with suspected CD undetected by conventional diagnostic methods. It can be used to detect early lesions in the small bowel of patients with CD.
Effects of crude protein concentration in diets of feedlot steers fed to achieve stepwise increases in rate of gain.

Two experiments were conducted to determine supplemental CP requirements for feedlot steers prescription-fed to achieve stepwise increases in ADG during the feeding period. In Exp. 1, 106 steers (initial BW = 285.7 +/- 3.4 kg) were allotted to 12 pens. Treatments consisted of ad libitum consumption of a 12% CP diet throughout the experiment (AL12%), prescription intake of a 12% CP diet (PI12%), or prescription intake of high-CP diets (PIHCP). The PIHCP diets were formulated to provide the same grams of CP per day as the AL12% diet. Steers in the prescription intake feeding regimens were fed to gain 1.13 kg/d for the first 87 kg of gain and 1.36 kg/d for the next 134 kg of gain and were offered feed for ad libitum consumption for the final 52 kg of gain before slaughter at 559 kg. Overall ADG was lower (P < 0.05) for steers fed PI12% and PIHCP diets than for those fed the AL12% diet (1.48 and 1.50 vs 1.60 kg/d, respectively). Total DM intake was lower (P < 0.08) for steers fed the PI12% and PIHCP diets than for steers fed the AL12% diet (1,359, 1,370, and 1,421 kg, respectively). Dressing percentage, back-fat thickness, and quality grade were lower (P < 0.05) for steers fed the PI12% and PIHCP diets than for steers fed the AL12% diet. In Exp. 2, 142 steers (initial BW = 285.4 +/- 3.1 kg) were allotted to 16 pens. System 1 was ad libitum consumption of a 12% CP diet throughout the experiment. Steers in Systems 2, 3, 4, and 5 were subjected to the same prescription intake strategy as steers in Exp. 1. During the three phases of growth (1.13 kg/d, 1.36 kg/d, and ad libitum), steers were fed the following CP concentrations: System 2(12, 14, and 12%); System 3(12, 14, and 14%); System 4(12, 16, and 12%); and System 5(12, 16, and 14%). No differences (P > 0.06) in total steer performance, carcass characteristics, or carcass chemical composition were observed among systems. Increasing percentage of CP in diets of prescription-fed steers to provide the same daily intake of CP as steers consuming feed ad libitum was not beneficial.
Natal teeth: A Case report

The presence of teeth at birth or within a month post-delivery is a rare condition. Natal teeth are those teeth that are present at the time of birth and neonatal teeth are those that erupt within 30 days of life. Natal teeth are poorly developed with hypoplastic enamel and dentin, poor in texture, and have a poor or absent development of roots. Natal teeth are more frequent, approximately three times more common than neonatal teeth, with the most common localization being the mandibular region of central incisors. The purpose of this paper is to present one such case where two natal teeth in the mandible were present at the time of birth. These should be carefully examined for further treatment planning. The decision to keep or to extract these teeth should be evaluated in each case, keeping in mind the scientific knowledge, and parental opinion.
Decreasing radiation exposure on pediatric portable chest radiographs.

PURPOSE To determine whether additional shielding designed for pediatric patients during portable chest exams that ascertain endotracheal tube placement would significantly decrease the amount of scatter radiation. METHODS Children aged 24 months or younger were intubated and received daily morning chest radiographs to determine endotracheal tube placement. RESULTS For each measurement, the amount of scatter radiation decreased by more than 20% from a nonshielded exposure to a shielded exposure. DISCUSSION There was a significant decrease in scatter radiation when using the lead shielding device along with appropriate collimation vs appropriate collimation alone. CONCLUSION These results suggest that applying additional shielding to appropriately collimated chest radiographs could significantly reduce scatter radiation and therefore the overall dose to young children.
Efficient RMSD measures for the comparison of two molecular ensembles

Quantitative measures are presented for comparing the conformations of two molecular ensembles. The measures are based on Kabsch's formula for the root‐mean‐square deviation (RMSD) and the covariance matrix of atomic positions of isotropically distributed ensembles (IDE). By using a Taylor series expansion, it is shown that the RMSD can be expressed solely in terms of the IDE matrices. A fast approximate method is introduced for the pairwise RMSD determination whose computational cost scales linearly with the number of structures. A similarity measure for two structural ensembles that is based on the trace metric of the differences of powers of the IDE matrices is presented. The measures are illustrated for conformational ensembles generated by a molecular dynamics computer simulation of a partially folded A‐state analog of ubiquitin. Proteins 2003;50:26–34. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stimulus Pairings Of Snakes and Succor : Learning Secure Attachment Associations With Novel Faces via Negative

Integrating ideas from Mikulincer and Shaver’s (2003) process model of attachment and Nelson and Panksepp’s (1998) neurobiological theory of an integrated social emotion system, we predicted novel attachment-related learning effects. In two experiments, we tested for a unique form of conditioning based on the social regulation of emotion. Consistent with this theoretical integration, the results indicated that people develop more positive and less negative associations with faces of people who display genuine smiles if those faces have been implicitly paired with a distressing stimulus (e.g., a striking snake). These findings could have broad implications and should be of interest to researchers who study attachment, social and affective neuroscience, emotion, learning and memory, attitudes, and interpersonal relationships.
Life history and population biology of adult Acanthocephalus lucii (Acanthocephala: Echinorhynchidae).

The life history and population biology of adult A. lucii in perch, Perca fluviatilis L. , from the Forth and Clyde canal, Scotland, was investigated during May 1979-September 1981. There was an annual cycle in the size of the parasite population; prevalence and abundance (+/- SE) were highest during late spring and summer (70-90% and 14 +/- 4.3 to 16 +/- 5.6 worms/fish, respectively) but declined during late autumn and reached a minimum during winter (50-60% and 2.1 +/- 0.9 to 3.2 +/- 0.6 worms/fish). Parasite maturation was associated with higher water temperatures during spring and summer and most shelled acanthors were probably produced during summer and fall. There was only 1 generation of A. lucii per year, although generations tended to overlap and individuals within each generation did not develop synchronously. The sex ratio of adults was initially near unity but favoured females in the later stages of the infection. The distribution of A. lucii among perch was highly aggregated and stomach content analysis suggested that this was partly due to heterogeneity in perch feeding behaviour. The negative binomial and Poisson lognormal models fitted the data on worm distribution. Seasonal changes in the degree of parasite aggregation were detected, but no conclusive evidence of density-dependent controls on parasite population growth was obtained.
The DEFINE study: a bright future for CETP inhibitors?

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) modulates the transfer of triglycerides and cholesteryl esters between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and other lipoproteins fractions (e.g., very low-density lipoprotein, VLDL) [1,2]. CETP inhibition is associated with a rise in HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, thus representing a potential target for drug action [1,3-6]. However, the future of CETP inhibitors was rather bleak following the disappointing results of the torcetrapib (a CETP inhibitor) trials [1,3-6]. In particular, the Investigation of Lipid Level Management to Understand Its Impact in Atherosclerotic Events trial (ILLUMINATE) compared torcetrapib (60 mg daily) + atorvastatin (at a dose established during the run-in period to achieve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels of < 100 mg/dl [2.7 mmol/l]) with atorvastatin alone [3]. After 12 months, a significant increase in HDL-C (by 72.1%) and a decrease in LDL-C (by 24.9%) levels was observed in 15,067 patients at high cardiovascular risk. Despite these apparently beneficial changes, cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 1.25; 95% CI, 1.09 -1.44; p = 0.001) and death from any cause (HR 1.58; 95% CI, 1.14 -2.19; p = 0.006) were significantly higher in the torcetrapib group [3]. These findings led to premature discontinuation of the ILLUMINATE trial. Surrogate trials with a similar design that assessed carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) or coronary artery atherosclerosis (by intravascular ultrasound, IVUS) were also essentially negative [4-6]. The negative findings with torcetrapib were attributed to certain adverse effects divided into two categories: ‘on target’ and ‘off target’ effects. The ‘on target’ effects mainly relate to the quality of HDL [3-11], a lipoprotein with multiple actions [12,13]. In an analysis of the Investigation of Lipid Level Management Using Coronary Ultrasound to Assess Reduction of Atherosclerosis by CETP Inhibition and HDL Elevation (ILLUSTRATE) trial [7], an inverse relationship was observed between changes in HDL-C levels and the percentage of coronary artery atheroma volume (r = -0.17, p < 0.001) in torcetrapib-treated patients. Participants with regression had greater increases in HDL-C concentrations (p = 0.002) [7]. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that alterations in HDL-C levels independently predicted atherosclerosis progression (p = 0.001). The highest HDL-C levels were associated with improvement as assessed by coronary IVUS. These findings do not support the notion of poor HDL ‘quality’. In contrast, in the Rating Atherosclerotic Disease Change by Imaging with a New CETP Inhibitor (RADIANCE) studies [14] there was no inverse correlation between HDL-C change and cIMT, suggesting that torcetrapib-induced HDL-C increase was not effective. There is also evidence that after administration of torcetrapib the ability of HDL to promote net cholesterol efflux from human THP-1 macrophage foam cells is increased [15].
Phytoremediation—An Overview

The use of plants (directly or indirectly) to remediate contaminated soil or water is known as phytoremediation. This technology has emerged as a more cost effective, noninvasive, and publicly acceptable way to address the removal of environmental contaminants. Plants can be used to accumulate inorganic and organic contaminants, metabolize organic contaminants, and encourage microbial degradation of organic contaminants in the root zone. Widespread utilization of phytoremediation can be limited by the small habitat range or size of plants expressing remediation potential, and insufficient abilities of native plants to tolerate, detoxify, and accumulate contaminants. A better understanding and appreciation of the potential mechanisms for removing contaminants from the root zone and the interaction between plants, microorganisms, and contaminants will be useful in extending the application of phytoremediation to additional contaminated sites.
Use of the Boltzmann equation to simulate lattice gas automata.

On discute d'une technique alternative aux automates des gaz sur reseau pour etudier des proprietes hydrodynamiques, a savoir la modelisation d'un gaz reticulaire a l'aide d'une equation de Boltzman. Cette approche elimine entierement le bruit statistique qui encombre les simulations de gaz sur reseaux usuelles ce qui permet des simulations par ordinateur plus rapides. On estime que ceci est plus efficace que les automates de gaz sur reseaux pour des nombres de Reynolds intermediaires faibles (R≤100)
CMOS temperature sensors - concepts, state-of-the-art and prospects

The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in IC temperature sensors. It starts by revisiting the semiconductor theory of thermodiodes and thermotransistors, continues with the introduction of IC temperature sensors, the concepts of VPTAT - voltage proportional to absolute temperature and IPTAT (current proportional to absolute temperature) and discusses the possibility of use of parasitic bipolar transistors as temperature sensors in pure CMOS technology. The next section demonstrates the very high operating temperature of a dasiaspecialpsila thermodiode, well beyond the typical IC silicon junction temperature. This is achieved with a diode embedded in an SOI CMOS micro-hotplate. A discussion on the temperature limits of integrated temperature sensors is also given. The final section outlines the prospects of IC temperature sensors.
Neurite outgrowth in dorsal root ganglia induced by islet neogenesis-associated protein peptide involves protein kinase A activation

Islet neogenesis-associated protein (INGAP) peptide is a candidate therapeutic for diabetes and corrects sensory dysfunction in experimental diabetes in mice. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of action by which INGAP peptide promotes neurite outgrowth in sensory neurons of the dorsal root ganglia. Treatment of dorsal root ganglia primary dispersed cultures with INGAP peptide led to the displacement of fluorescently labeled forskolin from adenylate cyclase, the cyclic AMP-generating enzyme that has been implicated in neuritogenesis. The addition of forskolin or dibutyryl cyclic AMP enhanced the effects of INGAP peptide on neurite outgrowth in dorsal root ganglia explant cultures. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of adenylate cyclase with SQ22,536 or of protein kinase A with H89 or KT5720 significantly reduced the neurite-promoting effects of INGAP peptide. These results suggest that INGAP peptide-induced neurite outgrowth in the dorsal root ganglia partially involves cyclic AMP-dependent activation of protein kinase A.
Short Rotations in Forest Plantations Accelerate Virulence Evolution in Root-Rot Pathogenic Fungi

As disease outbreaks in forest plantations are causing concern worldwide, a clear understanding of the influence of silvicultural practices on the development of epidemics is still lacking. Importantly, silvicultural practices are likely to simultaneously affect epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of pathogen populations. We propose a genetically explicit and individual-based model of virulence evolution in a root-rot pathogenic fungus spreading across forest landscapes, taking the Armillaria ostoyae–Pinus pinaster pathosystem as reference. We used the model to study the effects of rotation length on the evolution of virulence and the propagation of the fungus within a forest landscape composed of even-aged stands regularly altered by clear-cutting and thinning operations. The life cycle of the fungus modeled combines asexual and sexual reproduction modes, and also includes parasitic and saprotrophic phases. Moreover, the tree susceptibility to the pathogen is primarily determined by the age of the stand. Our simulations indicated that the shortest rotation length accelerated both the evolution of virulence and the development of the epidemics, whatever the genetic variability in the initial fungal population and the asexuality rate of the fungal species
The Problem of Character Theory

I ‘ . the processes of the formation of character are more obscure and less accessible to analysis than neurotic ones” (Freud, 1913, p. 323). Sixty years ago, the theory of symptom formation reached a stage of elegance and inclusiveness which has so far been surpassed by no other clinical theory in our field. In an eight-page paper with the deceptive title, “Hysterical Phantasies and Their Relation to Bisexuality” (1908a), Freud summarized what he had discovered up to that point, and managed to anticipate most of what was to be written of symptom formation during the succeeding sixty years. His introduction to the section which embodies his ideas is worth quoting:
Mathematica 5.2

对于个人用户而言，知道Mathematica 的人可能不太多，但在科学计算领域它们是声名显赫，Mathematica系统是目前世界上应用最广泛的符号计算系统，它是由美国科学家Stephen Wolfram领导的Wolfram公司开发研制的一个用途广泛的科学计算软件，
Highly active antiretroviral therapy significantly improves the prognosis of patients with HIV‐associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

Objective:To evaluate the impact of different antiretroviral therapies on the prognosis of AIDS patients affected by progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Methods:A retrospective analysis of all HIV-infected patients admitted to hospital between 1988 and 1996 found 29 patients (25 men) with histologically or PCR- confirmed PML. Their mean age was 39.3 years. The median CD4 cell count was 40 × 106/l (mean, 106 × 106/l). Six patients had CD4 cell counts > 200 × 106/l. Fourteen patients never received or stopped antiretroviral therapy following diagnosis (group A), 10 patients were treated with nucleoside analogues alone (group B), and five patients started highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) including protease inhibitors (group C). Results:The median survival following the onset of symptoms was 131 days, but differed significantly between the three groups: group A, 127 days; group B, 123 days; group C, > 500 days (P < 0.0002 for the difference between group C versus group A and B, stratified log-rank test). As of July 1997, four out of five patients on HAART were still alive 391, 500, 543, and 589 days after diagnosis of PML and have either experienced a resolution of the symptoms (three patients) or had progressed very slowly (one patient). A multivariate analysis using Cox regression found younger age at diagnosis to be the only other variable associated with improved survival (P < 0.02). CD4 cell count, gender, prior AIDS diagnosis, mode of HIV transmission, and therapy with foscarnet, cytarabine, or interferon-α did not affect survival in this cohort (P > 0.1). Conclusion:This study of a large cohort of patients with confirmed PML indicates that AIDS patients with PML may benefit significantly from HAART. All patients with PML should be offered optimal antiretroviral combination therapy.
The effect of alliance block membership on innovative performance

The present invention concerns modifications intended to improve the sound quality of stringed musical-instruments through modification of stiffness/flexibility, vibration/resonance-transmitting properties and weight-reduction of the fingerboard, neck, tailpiece, the upper- and lower block, sound post or sound pegs, bass bar or sound bars, and the upper and lower saddle rod using combined lightweight materials and specific construction principles.
Recursive inverse basis function (RIBF) algorithm for identification of periodically varying systems

This paper presents a new algorithm for the identification (tracking) of periodically varying systems. When the system coefficients vary rapidly, conventional adaptive estimators such as the least mean squares (LMS) and the weighted least squares (WLS) algorithms become inefficient. Basis function (BF) algorithms have shown superiority over the conventional ones in tracking the parameters of periodically varying systems. Unfortunately, BF estimators are computationally very demanding. A new recursive inverse basis function estimator (RIBF) and its frequency-adaptive version are proposed which provides a significant reduction in the computational complexity and the mean square parameter estimation error without the need for any error correction code.
Ryanodine‐sensitive calcium stores involved in neurotransmitter release from sympathetic nerve terminals of the guinea‐pig.

1. Intracellular and focal extracellular recording techniques were used to study neurotransmitter release mechanisms in postganglionic sympathetic nerve terminals in the guinea‐pig isolated vas deferens. 2. High concentrations of the selective N‐type calcium channel blocker omega‐conotoxin GVIA abolished the release of the neurotransmitter ATP evoked by trains of low‐frequency stimuli. However, in the presence of high concentrations of the blocker, a ‘residual release’ persisted at higher frequencies. 3. Residual release was dependent on calcium entry through a pharmacologically distinct voltage‐dependent calcium channel. 4. Residual release was inhibited by ryanodine in a use‐ and time‐dependent manner and this inhibitory effect was potentiated by caffeine. The inhibitory effect of ryanodine on residual release was reversed by 4‐aminopyridine. 5. These findings indicate that calcium‐induced calcium released from intraneuronal stores plays an important role in action potential‐evoked neurotransmitter release mechanisms in postganglionic sympathetic nerve terminals.
Incidence of pancreatitis in HIV-infected patients receiving nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor drugs

BackgroundPancreatitis is a known adverse effect of the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, particularly didanosine. Hydroxyurea has been used to potentiate the antiviral efficacy of didanosine, but recently there has been concern that severe and even fatal pancreatitis may be more likely to occur when hydroxyurea is used in combination with didanosine. We investigated the incidence of pancreatitis in patients using nucleoside analogues with or without hydroxyurea. MethodsData were obtained from patients followed longitudinally on the Johns Hopkins HIV Clinic. Incidence rates of pancreatitis were calculated for each antiretroviral regimen that included zidovudine, stavudine, didanosine (+ hydroxyurea), and didanosine + stavudine (+ hydroxyurea). Poisson regression was used to compare the relative rate of pancreatitis for each regimen adjusting for other covariates. ResultsA total of 2613 patients received at least one of the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-containing regimens. There were 33 cases of pancreatitis. The crude incidence rate of pancreatitis ranged from 0.18 cases per 100 person–years on therapy for zidovudine to 6.25 cases per 100 person–years for didanosine + hydroxyurea. Compared to didanosine alone, and adjusting for CD4 cell count and other variables, the relative risk (RR) of pancreatitis was 8.56 [95% confidence interval) CI, 1.85–35.59] for didanosine + hydroxyurea, and 2.35 (95% CI, 0.46–11.89) for didanosine + stavudine + hydroxyurea. For any use of hydroxyurea, the RR = 4.01 (95% CI, 1.02–15.89). Other risk factors for pancreatitis included a CD4 cell count < 200 × 106 cells/l, female sex, and a history of pancreatitis. ConclusionsOur data show that the risk of pancreatitis is four-fold higher when hydroxyurea is used. The use of hydroxyurea with didanosine should probably be discouraged if other treatment options are available.