Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Morphology of Superficial Cells in Irradiated Oral Mucosa: An Experimental Study in Beagle Dog

Abstract Objectives: The aim of the present study is to investigate if radiation induces changes in the superficial cells of the oral mucosa and secondly to describe morphological characteristics of the cell surface structure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Materials and methods: Ten beagle dogs aged 1–2 years were used in this study. One side of each mandible was irradiated in two sessions, each lasting 1 week. The total dosage was 40 Gy (Group A; 5 dogs) and 50 Gy (Group B; 5 dogs), in five fractions of 4 Gy. The other side of mandible (non-irradiated) served as a control. The specimen was harvested with a scalpel from the alveolar mucosa of the irradiated area 1 year after irradiation and studied with SEM. Results: In the control side, the surface structure of the cell contains straight parallel or branched microplicae (MPL), which were equally spaced over the cell surfaces. Discontinuous and short MPL were typical cell structure of irradiated mucosa. In 50 Gy group, the surface structure of epithelial cell was pitted and the cell boundaries were thick. Conclusions: The novelty of the present study is that radiation disrupts superficial cells of the oral mucosa. The role of the MPL structure of the superficial cells in mucositis development is discussed.
Forecasting the effect of COVID-19 on the S&P500

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented disruptions to financial and economic markets around the globe, leading to one of the fastest U.S. stock market declines in history. However, in the past we have seen the market recover and we can expect the market to recover again, and on this basis we assume the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P500) index will reach a minimum before rising again in the not-too-distant future. Here we present four forecast models of the S&P500 based on COVID-19 projections of deaths released on 02/04/2020 by the University of Washington and the 2-months consideration since the first confirmed case occured in USA. The decline and recovery in the index is estimated for the following three months. The forecast is a projection of a prediction with fluctuations described by $q$-gaussian distributions. Our forecast was made on the premise that: (a) The prediction is based on a deterministic trend that follows the data available since the initial outbreak of COVID-19, and (b) fluctuations derived from the S&P500 over the last 24 years.
Increasing weight-bearing physical activity and calcium intake for bone mass growth in children and adolescents: a review of intervention trials.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this review is to evaluate the current state-of-the-science for interventions to increase bone mass gains in children and adolescents using weight-bearing physical activity or calcium supplementation. METHODS Studies were located using computerized and manual searches of the empirical literature. Inclusion criteria were: (a) intervention study targeting weight-bearing physical activity or calcium intake; (b) inclusion of a control group; (c) subject age range under 18 years; and (d) outcome measured bone mineral density or bone mineral content. RESULTS Weight-bearing physical activity and calcium supplement intervention studies both consistently show positive effects on bone mass gains in children and adolescents. The most consistent findings for both weight-bearing physical activity and calcium were for lumbar spine and total body bone sites. Only weight-bearing physical activity interventions had significant effects on the femoral neck sites. Low power may have contributed to the lack of statistically significant findings in several studies and also prevented proper evaluation of potential interactions between pubertal status and interventions on bone mass gains. CONCLUSIONS Increases in weight-bearing physical activity or calcium intake have positive effects on bone mass gains in children and adolescents. Further research is needed to evaluate: (a) the long-term durability of these effects; (b) specific dose-response associations; (c) interactions between weight-bearing physical activity and calcium intake; and (d) interactions between pubertal development and weight-bearing physical activity or calcium intake on bone mass outcomes.
OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC REFLECTIVITY OF CYSTOID SPACES IS RELATED TO RECURRENT DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA AFTER TRIAMCINOLONE

Purpose: To determine the association between reflectivity levels in foveal cystoid spaces on optical coherence tomography images and the course of the logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) after triamcinolone acetonide treatment for diabetic macular edema. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 58 consecutive eyes treated with an intravitreal or sub-Tenon's injection of triamcinolone acetonide for diabetic macular edema. The foveal cystoid spaces within central 1 mm were circumscribed, followed by measurement of optical coherence tomography reflectivity. The correlation between the reflectivity and visual outcome was investigated. Results: The optical coherence tomography reflectivity levels in foveal cystoid spaces increased at 1 month after treatment, but not at 3 months or 6 months. The preoperative reflectivity levels were correlated negatively with logMAR changes from 1 month to 6 months and from 3 months to 6 months but not with logMAR at individual time points compared with the preoperative logMAR. The changes in foveal thickness from 1 month to 6 months were correlated negatively with the baseline reflectivity and positively with logMAR changes from 1 month to 6 months and from 3 months to 6 months. Conclusion: Lower optical coherence tomography reflectivity in foveal cystoid spaces was associated with the rebound in macular thickening and visual deterioration after triamcinolone acetonide treatment for diabetic macular edema.
Statins inhibit toll-like receptor 4-mediated lipopolysaccharide signaling and cytokine expression

Objective Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is the main receptor for Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Two relatively common variants of the TLR4 gene are present, resulting in changes from aspartic acid (D) to glycine (G) at residue 299 and from threonine (T) to isoleucine (I) at residue 399, respectively. It has been shown that statins have a greater effect on lowering risk of cardiovascular events in individuals carrying the 299G allele than in those not carrying this allele. We investigated possible mechanisms underlying this synergy of statin treatment and TLR4 genotype. Methods and Results In cells expressing the 299D-399T TLR4, LPS activated the transcription factor NFκB and increased the expression of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-&agr;, and these effects were reduced by pretreatment of the cells with pravastatin or simvastatin. LPS-induced NFκB activation and interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-&agr; expression were substantially reduced in cell expressing the 299G-399T or 299D-399I variant, and undetectable in cells expressing the 299G-399I TLR4. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A pathway inhibitors, Y27632 and GGTI-286, exhibited a similar effect to statins, suggesting that the inhibitory effect of statins was mediated by the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A pathway. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that the TLR4 variations and statins have an additive inhibitory effect on TLR4-mediated inflammatory response, providing a potential explanation for the finding that the beneficial effect of statins on cardiovascular risk is dependent on TLR4 genotype.
Acid Ceramidase Overexpression Prevents the Inhibitory Effects of Saturated Fatty Acids on Insulin Signaling*

Recent studies indicate that insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes result from the accumulation of lipids in tissues not suited for fat storage, such as skeletal muscle and the liver. To elucidate the mechanisms linking exogenous fats to the inhibition of insulin action, we evaluated the effects of free fatty acids (FFAs) on insulin signal transduction in cultured C2C12 myotubes. As we described previously (Chavez, J. A., and Summers, S. A. (2003) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 419, 101–109), long-chain saturated FFAs inhibited insulin stimulation of Akt/protein kinase B, a central regulator of glucose uptake and anabolic metabolism. Moreover, these FFAs stimulated the de novo synthesis of ceramide and sphingosine, two sphingolipids shown previously to inhibit insulin action. To determine the contribution of either sphingolipid in FFA-dependent inhibition of insulin action, we generated C2C12 myotubes that constitutively overexpress acid ceramidase (AC), an enzyme that catalyzes the lysosomal conversion of ceramide to sphingosine. AC overexpression negated the inhibitory effects of saturated FFAs on insulin signaling while blocking their stimulation of ceramide accumulation. By contrast, AC overexpression stimulated the accrual of sphingosine. These results support a role for aberrant accumulation of ceramide, but not sphingosine, in the inhibition of muscle insulin sensitivity by exogenous FFAs.
Obesity and Preeclampsia: The Potential Role of Inflammation

OBJECTIVE Systemic inflammation might contribute to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. In addition, the association between obesity and inflammation in preeclampsia has not been examined in detail. We determined whether first‐trimester elevation of serum C‐reactive protein, an index of systemic inflammation, was associated with preeclampsia. METHODS We conducted a prospective, nested case‐control study among women enrolled in the Massachusetts General Hospital Obstetrical Maternal Study cohort. High‐resolution C‐reactive protein assays were performed on first‐trimester (11 ± 2 weeks' gestation) serum samples in 40 women in whom preeclampsia developed (blood pressure [BP] greater than 140/90 mmHg, and proteinuria, either 2+ or more by dipstick or greater than 300 mg per 24 hours), and in 80 matched controls. This sample size had greater than 80% power to detect a difference in C‐reactive protein levels between cases and controls. We used non‐parametric tests to compare C‐reactive protein levels and conditional logistic regression to control for confounding variables. RESULTS First‐trimester C‐reactive protein levels were significantly higher among women in whom preeclampsia subsequently developed compared with controls (4.6 compared with 2.3 mg/L, P = .04). When women were subdivided into C‐reactive protein quartiles, the odds ratio (OR) of being in the highest quartile of C‐reactive protein was 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1, 9.3, P = .02) among cases of preeclampsia compared with controls. When body mass index (BMI) was added to the multivariable model, the highest quartile of C‐reactive protein was no longer associated with increased risk of preeclampsia (OR 1.1, 95% CI .3, 4.3, P = .94). In the same model without BMI, the highest quartile of C‐reactive protein was associated with increased risk of preeclampsia (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.3, 9.5, P = .01). CONCLUSION In women with preeclampsia, there was evidence of increased systemic inflammation in the first trimester. Inflammation might be part of a causal pathway through which obesity predisposes to preeclampsia.
Enhanced intermediate packet delivery in delay tolerant networks

Recently, rateless codes have been employed in packet forwarding protocols of delay tolerant networks (DTNs) to improve the network reliability and to cope with packet loss. However, in intermediate range, where the number of received coded packets is less than the number of source packets, rateless decoder cannot recover any source packets. However, in some applications such as multimedia content delivery partial recovery of source packets from the incomplete received encoded packets is still desired. In this paper, we propose to deliver rateless coded symbols in a certain order to improve the intermediate packet recovery rate. We propose sorted packet forwarding (SPF) and improved SPF (ISPF) that aim to sort coded symbols at source and destination, respectively. Next, we propose modified SPF (MSPF) and modified ISPF (MISPF), which employ a new class of rateless codes to achieve even higher recovery rates compared to SPF and ISPF. Finally, we evaluate the proposed algorithms' performance using numerical simulations, and discuss the pros and cons of each algorithm.
Changed energy state and increased mitochondrial beta-oxidation rate in liver of rats associated with lowered proton electrochemical potential and stimulated uncoupling protein 2 (UCP-2) expression: evidence for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha independent induction of UCP-2 expressi

Lowering of plasma triglyceride levels by hypolipidemic agents is caused by a shift in the liver cellular metabolism, which become poised toward peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha-regulated fatty acid catabolism in mitochondria. After dietary treatment of rats with the hypolipidemic, modified fatty acid, tetradecylthioacetic acid (TTA), the energy state parameters of the liver were altered at the tissue, cell, and mitochondrial levels. Thus, the hepatic phosphate potential, energy charge, and respiratory control coefficients were lowered, whereas rates of oxygen uptake, oxidation of pyridine nucleotide redox pairs, beta-oxidation, and ketogenesis were elevated. Moderate uncoupling of mitochondria from TTA-treated rats was confirmed, as the proton electrochemical potential (Delta(p)) was 15% lower than controls. The change affected the Delta(Psi) component only, leaving the (Delta)pH component unaltered, suggesting that TTA causes induction of electrogenic ion transport rather than electrophoretic fatty acid activity. TTA treatment induced expression of hepatic uncoupling protein 2 (UCP-2) in rats as well as in wild type and PPARalpha-deficient mice, accompanied by a decreased double bond index of the mitochondrial membrane lipids. However, changes of mitochondrial fatty acid composition did not seem to be related to the effects on mitochondrial energy conductance. As TTA activates PPARdelta, we discuss how this subtype might compensate for deficiency of PPARalpha. The overall changes recorded were moderate, making it likely that liver metabolism can maintain its function within the confines of its physiological regulatory framework where challenged by a hypolipemic agent such as TTA, as well as others.
Throughput and Cost-Effectiveness of Vehicular Mesh Networks for Internet Access

Vehicular mesh networks can be used to carry Internet data traffic for mobile users. We use data from a real vehicular network that is operating in Portugal to estimate the relationship between network throughput and offered load of Internet traffic, quantity of vehicles, quantity of infrastructure and the use of Request-to-Send/Clear-to- Send (RTS/CTS) handshaking. We show that achievable throughput remains close to its maximum even for high levels of offered load per vehicle or high density of vehicles, so congestion control mechanisms in mesh networks can effectively prevent throughput from collapsing as these factors increase over time. This achievable throughput can be increased with the deployment of additional roadside infrastructure that serves as a gateway to the Internet, although the throughput gain per gateway decreases as more are added. Deploying these gateways is cost-effective, i.e. economic benefits of the resulting throughput exceed costs of infrastructure, when vehicle density is sufficiently high. We also find that use of RTS/CTS decreases achievable throughput in this scenario.
Influenza vaccine for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

BACKGROUND Influenza vaccinations are currently recommended in the care of people with COPD, but these recommendations are based largely on evidence from observational studies with very few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) reported. Influenza infection causes excess morbidity and mortality in COPD patients but there is also the potential for influenza vaccination to cause adverse effects or not to be cost effective. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the evidence from RCTs for a treatment effect of influenza vaccination in COPD subjects. Outcomes of interest were exacerbation rates, hospitalisations, mortality, lung function and adverse effects. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Airways Group trials register and reference lists of articles. References were also provided by a number of drug companies we contacted. SELECTION CRITERIA RCTs that compared live or inactivated virus vaccines with placebo, either alone or with another vaccine in persons with COPD. Studies of people with asthma were excluded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers extracted data. All entries were double checked. Study authors and drug companies were contacted for missing information. MAIN RESULTS Nine trials were included but only four of these were specifically performed in COPD patients. The others were conducted on elderly and high-risk individuals, some of whom had chronic lung disease. In one study of inactivated vaccine in COPD patients there was a significant reduction in the total number of exacerbations per vaccinated subject compared with those who received placebo (weighted mean difference (WMD) -0.45, 95% confidence interval -0.75 to -0.15, p = 0.004). This difference was mainly due to the reduction in exacerbations occurring after 3 weeks (WMD -0.44, (95% CI -0.68 to -0.20, p<0.001). The number of patients experiencing late exacerbations was also significantly less (OR= 0.13, 95%CI 0.04 to 0.45, p=0.002). There was no evidence of an effect of intranasal live attenuated virus when this was added to inactivated intramuscular vaccination. In studies in elderly patients (only a minority of whom had COPD), there was a significant increase in the occurrence of local adverse reactions in vaccinees, but the effects were generally mild and transient. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS It appears, from the limited number of studies performed, that inactivated vaccine may reduce exacerbations in COPD patients. The size of effect was similar to that seen in large observational studies, and was due to a reduction in exacerbations occurring three or more weeks after vaccination. In elderly, high risk patients there was an increase in adverse effects with vaccination, but these are seen early and are usually mild and transient.
Short stature associated with a novel heterozygous mutation in the insulin-like growth factor 1 gene.

CONTEXT Homozygous IGF1 deletions or mutations lead to severe short stature, deafness, microcephaly, and mental retardation. Heterozygosity for an IGF-I defect may modestly decrease height and head circumference. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to investigate the clinical features of heterozygous carriers of a novel mutation in the IGF1 gene in comparison with noncarriers in a short family and to establish the effect of human GH treatment. SUBJECTS Two children, their mother, and their maternal grandfather carried the mutation and were compared with two relatives who were noncarriers. RESULTS The two index cases had severe short stature (height sd score -4.1 and -4.6), microcephaly, and low IGF-I levels. Sequencing of IGF1 revealed a heterozygous duplication of four nucleotides, resulting in a frame shift and a premature termination codon. The mother and maternal grandfather had the same IGF1 mutation. Adult height (corrected for shrinking and secular trend) and head circumference sd score of carriers of the paternally transmitted mutation was -2.5 and -1.8, in comparison with -1.6 and 0.3 in noncarriers, respectively. After 2 yr of GH treatment, both index cases exhibited increased growth. CONCLUSIONS Heterozygosity for this novel IGF1 mutation in children born from a mother with the same mutation, presumably in combination with other genetic factors for short stature, leads to severe short stature, which can be successfully treated with GH.
Shortest path queries in mobile broadcast environments

Emerging technologies on Global Positioning Systems (GPS), wireless communications, networking, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) makes it possible for people to access information related to their locations ubiquitously. In such wireless mobile environments, data-broadcasting can disseminate information to a large group of mobile clients effectively. Using data-broadcasting to provide different types of services, including range query, point query, and nearest neighbor search, has been extensively studied in recent years. Two measurements are usually considered when applying data-broadcasting to provide services, latency and tuning time. The latency is the time between the issuing and completion of a query and stands for the quality of service. The tuning time measures the actual time when a client listens to the broadcast and presents the power consumption. In this paper, we consider how to provide the shortest path service using data-broadcasting and use the idea of hierarchical graphs to propose the protocol. In our solution, the mobile client does not need to store the entire road network and can derive the shortest path by selectively tuning into the broadcast. On the server side, we focus on how to organize the broadcast. In the broadcast, we add a little additional information to reduce the tuning time; thus saving the energy. On the client side, we provide a process to compute the shortest path by listening to the corresponding broadcast. Last, we present and discuss our findings through extensive experiments. Our experimental results show that our approach performs well in terms of the latency and tuning time.
Comparison between deferoxamine and deferiprone (L1) in iron‐loaded thalassemia patients

Abstract: Introduction: Iron‐chelating therapy with deferoxamine in patients with thalassemia major has dramatically improved the prognosis of this disease. However, the limitations of this treatment have stimulated the design of alternative orally active iron chelators. Objective: To compare the effectiveness and safety of, and compliance with, oral deferiprone (L1), and deferoxamine, in thalassemia major patients. Methods: All patients were followed up in one center in Lebanon. Sixteen patients were on L1 (75 mg/kg/d), and 40 patients on subcutaneous deferoxamine (20–50 mg/kg/d). Serum ferritin level, urinary iron excretion (UIE) and side effects were monitored over a two year period. Results: Patients on L1 had an initial serum ferritin concentration of 3663±566 µg/l (mean±SEM), that dropped to 2599±314 at 6 months (p<0.02; paired t‐test), and stabilised at that level over the 24 months follow up. Patients on deferoxamine had an initial mean serum ferritin concentration of 3480±417 (NS compared to the L1 group), which dropped gradually to 3143±417 (p<0.05) and 2819±292 (p<0.02) at 6 and 24 months, respectively. The most common adverse reactions associated with L1 were arthralgia and nausea, but they did not necessitate stopping the drug. Conclusion: L1 had comparable efficacy as deferoxamine with minimal side effects and better compliance. Provided long term side effects are not encountered, L1 seems to be a valuable alternative iron chelator for patients unable or unwilling to use deferoxamine effectively.