Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Submesoscale oceanic eddy detection in SAR images using context and edge association network

Oceanic eddies have a non-negligible impact on ocean energy transfer, nutrient distribution, and biological migration in global oceans. The fine detection of oceanic eddies is significant for the development of marine science. Remarkable achievements of eddy recognition were achieved by mining the satellite altimeter data and its derived data. However, due to the limited spatial resolution of the altimeters, it is difficult to detect the submesoscale oceanic eddies with radial dimensions less than 10 km. Different from the previous works, the context and edge association network (CEA-Net) is proposed to identify submesoscale oceanic eddies with high spatial resolution Sentinel-1 data. The edge information fusion module (EIFM) is designed to associate the context and edge feature more accurately and efficiently. Furthermore, a multi-scale eddy detection strategy is proposed and applied to Sentinel-1 interferometric wide swath data to solve the scale problem of oceanic eddy detection. Specifically, a manually interpreted dataset, SAR-Eddy 2019, was constructed to address the dilemma of insufficient datasets for submesoscale oceanic eddy detection. The experimental results demonstrate that CEA-Net can outperform other mainstream models with the highest mAP reaching 85.47% with SAR-Eddy 2019 dataset. The CEA-Net proposed in this research provides important significance for the study of submesoscale oceanic eddies.
Disaccharidase deficiency in pediatric patients with celiac disease and intact villi

Abstract Background and aims. The “gold standard” for the diagnosis of celiac disease (CD) is the small intestinal biopsy. A significant number of biopsies are inadequate for interpretation. Furthermore, the labeling of a biopsy as a Marsh I or II is somewhat subjective and may vary with the experience of the pathologist. Our hypothesis is that patients with intact villi undergoing biopsies frequently have associated disaccharidase deficiencies (DSD). Methods. We reviewed 220 charts of pediatric patients with CD and selected those with a duodenal biopsy Marsh score of I/II. The disaccharidase (DS) levels of these patients were compared with a randomly selected, age-matched control group. DSD is defined as levels below the lower limits of normal. Results. Lactase (mean lactase = 18.8 in the control group vs. 4.2 in the diseased group, p = 0.004); sucrase (mean sucrase = 46.4 in the control group vs. 21.4 in the diseased group, p = 0.001); maltase (mean maltase = 138 in the control group vs. 52.5 in the diseased group, p = 0.001); palatinase (mean palatinase = 9.6 in the control group vs. 3.3 in the diseased group, p < 0.001). Conclusion. There is a profound deficiency of DS levels in pediatric patients with CD who have intact villi.
Small intestinal malabsorption in chronic alcoholism: a retrospective study of alcoholic patients by the 14C-d-xylose breath test

Abstract Objective. The 14C-d-xylose breath test was used at Ullevål University Hospital in the period from 1986 TO 1995 for malabsorption testing. The objective of this retrospective study was to reveal whether patients with chronic alcoholism may have intestinal malabsorption. Materials and methods. The consecutive 14C-d-xylose breath test database was reviewed and patients with the diagnosis of chronic alcoholism were identified. 14C-d-xylose breath test results of the alcoholic patients were compared with the results of untreated celiac patients and patient and healthy controls. In the 14C-d-xylose breath test, 14C-d-xylose was dissolved in water and given orally after overnight fast. Breath samples were taken at 30-min intervals for 210 min, and 14CO2 : 12CO2 ratios were calculated for each time point, presenting a time curve for 14C-d-xylose absorption. Urine was collected after 210 min and the fraction of the total d-xylose passed was calculated (U%). 14CO2 in breath and 14C-d-xylose in urine were analyzed using liquid scintillation. Results. Both breath and urine analysis revealed a pattern of malabsorption in alcoholics comparable with untreated celiac patients, with significantly reduced absorption of d-xylose compared with patient and healthy controls. Conclusion. Alcoholic patients have a significantly reduced 14C-d-xylose absorption, comparable with untreated celiac patients. This indicates a reduced intestinal function in chronic alcoholism.
OCCULT HEPATITIS B INFECTION IN CHRONIC HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS: CURRENT CONCEPTS AND STRATEGY

1 Department of Medicine, Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Eugene B. Casey Hepatitis Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA 2 Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, I.R. Iran 3 Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences & Tehran Hepatitis Center, Tehran, I.R. Iran
Lubiprostone: chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation

Lubiprostone is a bicyclic fatty acid metabolite analogue of prostaglandin E1. The FDA has approved lubiprostone for the treatment of chronic constipation in men and women and the treatment of women with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). Lubiprostone specifically activates type-2-chloride channels on the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Lubiprostone acts locally within the intestinal tract, is rapidly metabolized and has very low systemic bioavailability. Animal studies have demonstrated that lubiprostone increases gastrointestinal fluid secretion in a dose-dependent manner. Clinical studies performed in men and women with chronic constipation using 24 μg of lubiprostone twice-daily demonstrated objective improvement in stool frequency and consistency, as well as symptoms of straining and incomplete evacuation. A multi-center study of patients with IBS-C found that 8 μg of lubiprostone twice-daily improved both global and individual symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Lubiprostone is generally well tolerated and serious adverse events are rare. The most common reported side effects are nausea, headache and diarrhea. This monograph provides a brief overview on chloride channel function in the gastrointestinal tract, describes the structure, function, and pharmacokinetics of lubiprostone, and discusses the safety and efficacy of this new medication for the treatment of chronic constipation and IBS-C.
Early Muscular Fitness Adaptations in Children in Response to Two Different Resistance Training Regimens

The purpose of this study was to compare early muscular fitness adaptations in children in response to low repetition maximum (LRM) and high repetition maximum (HRM) resistance training. Twenty-three girls and 20 boys between the ages of 8.0 and 12.3 years (mean age 10.6 ± 1.3 years) volunteered to participate in this study. Children performed one set of 6 to 10 RM (n = 12) or one set of 15 to 20 RM (n = 19) on child-size exercise machines twice weekly over 8 weeks. Children in the control group (n = 12) did not resistance train. Maximum strength (1 RM) on the chest press, local muscular endurance (15 RM) on the leg press, long jump, vertical jump, and v-sit flexibility were assessed at baseline and posttraining. The LRM and HRM groups made significantly greater gains in 1-RM strength (21% and 23%, respectively) as compared with the control group (1%). Only the HRM group made significantly greater gains in 15-RM local muscular endurance (42%) and flexibility (15%) than that recorded in the control group (.
Identification of Noncytotoxic and IL-10–Producing CD8+AT2R+ T Cell Population in Response to Ischemic Heart Injury

Emerging evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of the angiotensin AT2R, albeit the underlying cellular mechanisms are not well understood. We aimed in this article to elucidate a potential role of cardiac angiotensin AT2R in regulating cellular immune response to ischemic heart injury. Seven days after myocardial infarction in rats, double-immunofluorescence staining showed that AT2R was detected in a fraction of CD8+ T cells infiltrating in the peri-infarct myocardium. We developed a method that allowed the isolation of myocardial infiltrating CD8+AT2R+ T cells using modified MACS, and further characterization and purification with flow cytometry. Although the CD8+AT2R− T cells exhibited potent cytotoxicity to both adult and fetal cardiomyocytes (CMs), the CD8+AT2R+ T cells were noncytotoxic to these CMs. The CD8+AT2R+ T cells were characterized by upregulated IL-10 and downregulated IL-2 and INF-γ expression when compared with CD8+AT2R− T cells. We further showed that IL-10 gene expression was enhanced in CD8+ T cells on in vitro AT2R stimulation. Importantly, in vivo AT2R activation engendered an increment of CD8+AT2R+ T cells and IL-10 production in the ischemic myocardium. In addition, intramyocardial transplantation of CD8+AT2R+ T cells (versus CD8+AT2R−) led to reduced ischemic heart injury. Moreover, the CD8+AT2R+ T cell population was also demonstrated in human peripheral blood. Thus, we have defined the cardioprotective CD8+AT2R+ T cell population, which increases during ischemic heart injury and contributes to maintaining CM viability and providing IL-10, hence revealing an AT2R-mediated cellular mechanism in modulating adaptive immune response in the heart.
Optimisation of motion cueing position based on adaptive chaos PSO algorithm

In most simulators, such as flight simulator, to keep the trainers in a high level sensation fidelity, the best motion cueing position needs to be solved firstly. We make analyses to the problem and proposed a model for the problem. Then we figure out the principle and target of the choosing of optimal motion cueing position. Considering the analyses above, we propose an improved adaptive chaos particle swarm optimisation (ACPSO) algorithm. By making the inertial factor adjust adaptively and combining the chaos algorithm with PSO algorithm, the searching range is more flexible and the particles' movement more simultaneous. The changes above realise the simultaneous progressing of global searching and local searching of solutions. Furthermore, local optimal is avoided by this means and the constraint information of the problem is utilised to improve the optimisation effect. Experiment results show that the ACPSO algorithm improves the overall optimisation effect of the optimal position problem, and the optimal motion cueing position make the simulator trainer have a more realistic sensation and maintain the safety of the platform.
Regulatory T Cells Inhibit T Cell Proliferation and Decrease Demyelination in Mice Chronically Infected with a Coronavirus

Mice infected with the neurotropic JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV) develop acute and chronic demyelinating diseases with histopathological similarities to multiple sclerosis. The process of demyelination is largely immune-mediated, as immunodeficient mice (RAG1−/− mice) do not develop demyelination upon infection; however, demyelination develops if these mice are reconstituted with either JHMV-immune CD4 or CD8 T cells. Because myelin destruction is a consequence of the inflammatory response associated with virus clearance, we reasoned that decreasing the amount of inflammation would diminish clinical disease and demyelination. Given that regulatory T cells (Tregs) have potent anti-inflammatory effects, we adoptively transferred Tregs into infected C57BL/6 and RAG1−/− mice. In both instances, transfer of Tregs decreased weight loss, clinical scores, and demyelination. Transferred Tregs were not detected in the CNS of infected RAG1−/− mice, but rather appeared to mediate their effects in the draining cervical lymph nodes. We show that Tregs dampen the inflammatory response mediated by transferred JHMV-immune splenocytes in infected RAG1−/− mice by decreasing T cell proliferation, dendritic cell activation, and proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine production, without inducing apoptosis. By extension, decreasing inflammation, whether by Treg transfer or by otherwise enhancing the anti-inflammatory milieu, could contribute to improved clinical outcomes in patients with virus-induced demyelination.
Comparative Study of Prognostic Value for Coronary Disease Risk Between the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study and Framingham Models

According to epidemiological and angiographic studies (1,2), diabetic patients present a two to four times greater risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) than nondiabetic individuals. The Framingham model (3) estimates 10-year CAD risk based on the traditional risk factors, including age, sex, HDL and LDL cholesterol, hypertension, and smoking. In addition to these risk factors, the U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) model, designed for people with type 2 diabetes (4), incorporates more specific variables, such as HbA1c, age at diabetes diagnosis, and diabetes duration. The aim of this analysis was to compare the accuracy of these models in the prediction of 10-year risk for CAD in diabetic patients. Clinical information related to the above factors was retrieved …
Depression in Elderly Diabetes Patients

The prevalence of diabetes is growing significantly. Based on projected population growth, increases in diabetes incidence, and decreases in relative risk of death for individuals who have diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conservatively estimates that 12% of Americans will have diabetes by 2050.1 This figure represents > 48 million people. The elderly are at highest risk. In the group aged 65–74 years, it is projected that the number with diabetes will triple. In the group aged >_ 75 years, the number of diabetes patients will increase to five times its present level. Elderly diabetes patients often have multiple medical problems (e.g., physical disabilities and mental and emotional problems) that complicate the illness. Furthermore, increased life expectancy means that more of the elderly will suffer impaired quality of life (e.g., pain and depression) because of diabetes-related complications. There has been a growing call to understand the medical and psychosocial challenges that elderly diabetes patients confront. The 2003 publication “Guidelines for Improving the Care of the Older Person with Diabetes Mellitus”2 highlighted the importance of individualizing the medical management of older diabetes patients and avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, the guidelines recommend targeting cardiovascular risks rather than aggressively treating hyperglycemia for many elderly patients. The statistics concerning mental health of the elderly are also alarming. Approximately 20% of the elderly experience diagnosable mental disorders (i.e., anxiety, severe cognitive impairment, and depression) that cannot be attributed to normal aging.3 Depression is a major concern. Estimates suggest that 8–20% of community-dwelling elderly people can be diagnosed with major depression, with an aging-associated increase in depressive symptoms. Older adults have the highest rate of suicide of any age-group, and individuals > 85 years of age are most likely to commit suicide (twice the national rate). 3 Depression is …
Una revisión del queratocono

El queratocono se incluye entre las alteraciones corneales degenerativas en las que se produce deformacion y adelgazamiento progresivos. Se conoce desde hace tiempo, pero durante los ultimos anos se han propuesto novedosas tecnicas diagnosticas y tratamientos corneales que han llevado a que esta patologia sea mas estudiada. Del queratocono sabemos en que consiste la alteracion y cual es su linea evolutiva y algunos tratamientos. Sin embargo, desconocemos la causa, los mecanismos exactos de la enfermedad, como prevenirla y como curarla; por tanto, debemos seguir investigando para mejorar la calidad de vida y abrir esperanzas a los que padecen esta dolencia.
Basic fibroblast growth factor: a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of acute neurodegenerative disorders and vascular insufficiency

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a polypeptide widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral tissues. It has potent trophic effects on cellular proliferation, differentiation, embryogenesis and extracellular matrix formation and these effects are mediated by complex signal transduction cascades that vary by cell type. The intracellular and extracellular release and expression of bFGF increases in response to ischaemia and CNS injury and bFGF demonstrates potent neuroprotective activity in a wide variety of in vitro models of cell death. bFGF has also been found to provide significant neuroprotective efficacy in both focal and global ischaemia models in a number of species as well as in rat models of brain and spinal trauma. There is emerging evidence that bFGF enhances functional recovery in both ischaemia and brain trauma models following delayed administration. bFGF also increases blood flow in experimental models of vascular insufficiency which relate to peripher.
Are microbial symptoms self-inflicted ? : The consequences of immunopathology

Microbial infection creates a battlefield within the host between the microbe and innate and immune host defenses. The consequences of these defenses are often the signs and symptoms, sometimes life-threatening, which arecharacteristic of the microbial disease. This review discusses the mechanisms and examples of pathology induced by innate and immune host defenses to microbial infection.
Intraveinous paracetamol: a review of efficacy and safety in therapeutic use

Paracetamol is well established as a leading nonprescription antipyretic analgesic drug and is available in oral, rectal or intravenous forms. However, except for oral paracetamol, there is a marked discrepancy between the extent to which paracetamol is used and the available evidence for an analgesic effect in postoperative pain. This review mainly focuses on intravenous paracetamol. Its efficacy and safety are analyzed, as well as its use in therapeutics, alone or in combination. The morphine-sparing, additive and antihyperalgesia effects of intravenous paracetamol are also reviewed. The analyses are divided into several sections, comparing the efficacy of intravenous paracetamol with placebo, other forms of paracetamol or analgesic agents and analyzing its efficacy in multimodal therapy combined with NSAIDs or a morphinic agent.
Sybil attack detection in VANET using neighbouring vehicles

In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), vehicles are enabled to exchange information to detect and mitigate critical situations. VANETs are vulnerable to many security threats. One severe attack is Sybil attack, in which a malicious node forges large number of fake identities in order to disrupt the proper functioning of VANET applications. Fake information reported by a single malicious vehicle may not be highly convincing because most of the VANET applications require several vehicles to reinforce a particular information before accepting as a truth. A Sybil attacker pretends multiple vehicles in order to reinforce false messages. Proposed methodology exploits the characteristics of Sybil nodes as the neighbours of fake identities (originated from a malicious node) share significant common neighbouring nodes. Motivation behind the design of proposed approach is to locate Sybil nodes quickly without using secret information exchange and special hardware support. We evaluate our proposed approach on the realistic traffic scenario.
A Novel Mechanism of Rapid Nuclear Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation in Response to Staphylococcus aureus

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are webs of DNA covered with antimicrobial molecules that constitute a newly described killing mechanism in innate immune defense. Previous publications reported that NETs take up to 3–4 h to form via an oxidant-dependent event that requires lytic death of neutrophils. In this study, we describe neutrophils responding uniquely to Staphylococcus aureus via a novel process of NET formation that did not require neutrophil lysis or even breach of the plasma membrane. The multilobular nucleus rapidly became rounded and condensed. During this process, we observed the separation of the inner and outer nuclear membranes and budding of vesicles, and the separated membranes and vesicles were filled with nuclear DNA. The vesicles were extruded intact into the extracellular space where they ruptured, and the chromatin was released. This entire process occurred via a unique, very rapid (5–60 min), oxidant-independent mechanism. Mitochondrial DNA constituted very little if any of these NETs. They did have a limited amount of proteolytic activity and were able to kill S. aureus. With time, the nuclear envelope ruptured, and DNA filled the cytoplasm presumably for later lytic NET production, but this was distinct from the vesicular release mechanism. Panton–Valentine leukocidin, autolysin, and a lipase were identified in supernatants with NET-inducing activity, but Panton–Valentine leukocidin was the dominant NET inducer. We describe a new mechanism of NET release that is very rapid and contributes to trapping and killing of S. aureus.
A service differentiation and traffic engineering scheme for mobile ad hoc networks

Actually with the increasing popularity of wireless networks, which indicate that there will be a demand for communicating devices providing high capacity communication with Quality of Service (QoS), QoS becomes an important factor in wireless networks, because it offers to the network the ability to provide services to applications with some important requirements. In this paper, we describe a new approach for traffic engineering for QoS support in the wireless IEEE 802.11b. This new scheme is based on a multiple queuing system to provide service differentiation for user's flows. We investigate and analyse the performance of this approach through a set of simulations and compare its performance with the original IEEE 802.11b protocol. Using simulation results, we show the effectiveness of the proposed approach and the outperformance of the IEEE 802.11b in terms of throughput and packet loss rate.
Essential Role of Endogenous Heat Shock Protein 90 of Dendritic Cells in Antigen Cross-Presentation

Extracellular HSP90 associated with Ag peptides have been demonstrated to efficiently cross-prime T cells, following internalization by dendritic cells (DCs). In addition, the nature of cell-associated Ags required for cross-priming is implicated as peptides and proteins chaperoned by heat shock protein (HSP). However, the role of endogenous HSP in DCs during cross-presentation remains elusive. In this paper, we show that endogenous HSP90 is essential for cross-presentation of both soluble and cell-associated Ags in DCs. Cross-presentation of soluble OVA and OVA-loaded transporter associated with Ag processing-1–deficient cells by bone marrow-derived DCs and DC-like cell line DC2.4 was profoundly blocked by HSP90 inhibitors, whereas presentation of endogenously expressed OVA was only partially suppressed. Assays using small interfering RNA and heat shock factor-1–deficient DCs (with defective expression of HSP90α) revealed the pivotal role of HSP90α in cross-presentation. The results suggest that in addition to HSP90 in Ag donor cells, endogenous HSP90 in DCs plays an essential role during Ag cross-presentation and, moreover, points to a link between heat shock factor-1–dependent induction of HSP90α within DC and cytotoxic T cell immunity.