Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prostatic Monocyte Chemotactic Protein-1 (MCP-1): A Novel Potential Biomarker for Symptomatic Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) is differentially expressed in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and is a potential clinical biomarker for BPH. We collected urine post-digital rectal examination (DRE) from 48 men who did not have a diagnosis of prostate cancer. We measured MCP-1 levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and compared them with prostate weight and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as measured by the International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS) utilizing correlation and regression analyses. In post-DRE urine, higher MCP-1 levels were associated with increased I-PSS but not with prostate volume. MCP-1 levels in men with prostate enlargement were significantly higher than those in men without enlargement. In multivariable regression adjusting for age, prostate volume, and PSA,higher urinary MCP-1 was associated with significantly higher I-PSS. Since MCP-1 is preferentially expressed in BPH tissue, these data suggest that MCP-1 may be a novel biomarker for clinically significant BPH.
In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry of versican, aggrecan and link protein, and histochemistry of hyaluronan in the developing mouse limb bud cartilage

We investigated the expression pattern of versican, aggrecan, link protein and hyaluronan in the developing limb bud cartilage of the fetal mouse using in situ hybridization and/or immunohistochemistry. Versican mRNA and immunostaining were detected in the mesenchymal cell condensation of the future digital bone at E13. Versican mRNA expression rapidly disappeared from the tibial cartilage, as cartilage formation progressed during E13–15, but the immunostaining was gradually replaced by aggrecan immunostaining from the diaphysis. Immunostaining for both molecules thus had a ‘nega‐posi’ pattern and consequently versican immunostaining was still detected at the epiphyseal end at E15. This result indicated that versican functions as a temporary framework in newly formed cartilage matrix. An aggrecan‐positive region within the cartilage invariably had intense hyaluronan staining, whereas a versican‐positive region also had affinity for hyaluronan within the cartilage, but not in the mesenchymal cell condensation. Therefore, the presence of versican aggregates was not confirmed in the developing limb bud cartilage. Furthermore, although link protein was more closely related with aggrecan than versican during limb bud cartilage formation, there was a discrepancy between the expression of aggrecan and link protein in tibial cartilage at E15. In particular, only a link protein‐positive region was present in the marginal area of the metaphysis and the epiphysis at this stage. This finding may indicate a novel role for link protein.
Vergleich verschiedener Komorbiditäts-Scores in Routinedaten der stationären Versorgung

Der zuverlassigen Quantifizierung von Komorbiditat kommt eine hohe Bedeutung zu. In dieser Arbeit werden verschiedene Komorbiditats-Scores verglichen. Neben den international gebrauchlichen Verfahren Charlson Index, Elixhauser Comorbidity Score, Updated Charlson Index und Combined Comorbidity Score werden zwei zuletzt neu entwickelte Ansatze gepruft. Diese als Strukturmodelle der ICD-Systematik bezeichneten Instrumente basieren auf den Gliederungsebenen der ICD-10 mit Kapiteln und Gruppen. Zusatzlich werden hier von ihnen ausgehend ganzzahlige Scores entwickelt und evaluiert. Betrachtet werden auch der patientenbezogene Gesamtschweregrad PCCL des deutschen DRG-Systems und als einfachstes Verfahren die reine Zahlung der Nebendiagnosen. Die Arbeit bestatigt im grosen Datenbestand von 36 Krankenhausern aus 2010 mit 435.076 Behandlungsfallen und 2.439. 010 Diagnosen die Anwendbarkeit der international etablierten Scores in deutschen Routinedaten. Fur die zuletzt entwickelten Strukturmodelle der ICD-10-Systematik und die daraus abgeleiteten Scores kann Uberlegenheit gegenuber allen anderen Verfahren gezeigt werden. Sie dominieren in allen Bereichen: in der Breite der bewerteten Diagnosen, in der Anzahl der berechneten Werte ungleich Null und in der Vorhersagekraft ausgedruckt durch die AUC der ROC-Kurve. Die Berechnung mit Berucksichtigung der Hauptdiagnose, was eine Bewertung der Gesamt-Morbiditat bedeutet, verbessert die Ergebnisse stets. Bei den Strukturmodellen der ICD-10-Systematik werden ohne den Einschluss weiterer Ko-Variablen wie beispielsweise Geschlecht oder Alter exzellente Ergebnisse erreicht. Zukunftige Verbesserungen sind durch Kombination verschiedener Verfahren und auch durch feingliedrigere Datenauswertung in der ICD vorstellbar. Besonders geeignet wird der Zusammenschluss von Methoden eingeschatzt, die geringe Korrelationen aufweisen. Weitere Forschungen hierzu und zu den neuen Strukturmodellen der ICD-Systematik sind wunschenswert.
Improved marked point process priors for single neurite tracing

Recent advances in neuroimaging has produced a spurt for automatic neuronal reconstruction algorithms for large scale data. A stochastic marked point process framework for unsupervised, automatic reconstruction of single neurons has been proposed. In this paper, we introduce improved priors modeling arborization patterns encountered in neurons for efficient detection of bifurcation junctions, terminal nodes, and intermediate points on neurite branches. These priors also enforce constraints for preserving the connectedness of the neuronal tree components in spite of imperfect labeling causing intensity inhomogeneity and discontinuities in branches. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed priors, we performed neurite tracing on 3D light microscopy images of Olfactory Projection Fibre axons from the DIADEM data set and obtained good scores. We also analyzed the errors and their sources in the neurite tracing pipeline, in the hope of better integration of neuroimaging and automated tracing.
Assessing Impulsivity Changes in Alzheimer Disease

Impulsive behaviors are common in brain-damaged patients including those with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease (AD). The objective of this study was to develop and validate a short version of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale assessing changes on 4 different dimensions of impulsivity, namely urgency, (lack of) premeditation, (lack of) perseverance, and sensation seeking, arising in the course of a neurodegenerative disease. To this end, caregivers of 83 probable AD patients completed a short questionnaire adapted from the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the data were performed and revealed that a model with 4 distinct but related latent variables corresponding to 4 different dimensions of impulsivity fit the data best. Furthermore, the results showed that lack of perseverance, followed by lack of premeditation and urgency, increased after the onset of the disease, whereas sensation seeking decreased. Overall, the multifaceted nature of impulsivity was confirmed in a sample of AD patients, whose caregivers reported significant changes regarding each facet of impulsivity. Consequently, the short version of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale opens up interesting prospects for a better comprehension of behavioral symptoms of dementia.
Leakage Flux Control of Mismatched IPT Systems

Inductive power transfer (IPT) is becoming increasingly popular in stationary and taxi rank electric vehicle (EV) charging with many pad topologies available. Multicoil topologies, such as a bipolar pad (BPP) or double d quadrature pad, are particularly suited as the primary pad due to the pads’ interoperability characteristics and ability to couple power with wider tolerances. Appropriately designed IPT systems that can transfer power with good efficiency within leakage flux limits are a particular concern to manufacturers as standards restrict the field levels which users are allowed to be exposed to and EV manufacturers prefer smaller secondary pads. BPPs have been shown to be interoperable with both polarized and nonpolarized secondary pads and this paper focuses on such a primary coupling to double D pad secondaries in locations requiring much wider tolerances than fixed parking lots. This paper shows that leakage flux is heavily influenced by the proximity of the energized coils in the primary and that leakage reductions of up to 50% are possible if a BPP is used and coils are appropriately energized when delivering 3.3 kW in misaligned conditions. It also shows that a secondary regulator is needed to improve both the efficiency and the leakage flux.
Botulinum toxin A in the therapy of mimic facial lines

In aesthetic medicine, many different methods of skin rejuvenation are available. At the end of the 1980s, the neurotoxin Botulinum toxin A (BT‐A) led to a revolution in aesthetic‐corrective dermatology for the treatment of mimic facial wrinkles. The toxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum and causes a reversible, selective muscle relaxation that leads to a temporary flattening of the mechanical part of wrinkling without the stigmata of invasive surgery. After two decades of experience in different medical disciplines, there has been remarkable clinical development and progress in research, the identification of new botulinum toxin serotypes, and also innovation in indications and combined modalities. These lead to new and interesting questions. BT‐A offers the experienced, critical dermatologist a time‐saving, effective, cosmetically satisfactory, non‐invasive treatment for mimic facial wrinkles and neck and decollete lines, with only minor side effects. Dermatologists should have a profound anatomical knowledge and should be able to perform all injection techniques to meet the needs of ever more demanding patients and to ensure optimization of patient satisfaction. The following review summarizes the historical development and the mechanism of action of both frequently and rarely used injection techniques with BT‐A for the treatment of wrinkles and lines of the upper face, neck and décolleté, and gives an update of different experiences encountered.
SENSITIVITY IN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE AUTORADIOGRAPHY I. THE EFFECT OF RADIATION DOSE

Sensitivity in electron microscope autoradiography using Ilford L4 emulsion was shown to be affected by radiation dose (i.e., number of decays in test specimen per unit surface area). The sensitivity tended to be higher with lower doses. This dose dependence was most marked with Microdol X and least with gold latensification-Elon ascorbic acid development. Possible consequences for quantitation in electron microscope autoradiography are discussed.
FML-based type-2 fuzzy ontology for computer go knowledge representation

In this paper, an Fuzzy Markup Language (FML)-based type-2 fuzzy ontology is proposed to represent the computer Go knowledge, including an FML transformation mechanism, a type-2 fuzzy set construction, and a type-2 fuzzy set inference mechanism. The FML transformation mechanism transforms the generated smart game format (SGF) files into an FML-based document to describe the computer Go ontology. The type-2 set construction is responsible for building the type-2 fuzzy sets. Based on the built FML-based document and type-2 fuzzy sets, the type-2 fuzzy set inference mechanism infers the possibility of the game's winning rate. It is hoped that the proposed idea are feasible for inferring the winning rate of the games in the future.
Silicon nutrition and sugarcane production: A review 1

Abstract Silicon (Si) is one of the most abundant elements found in the earth's crust, but is mostly inert and only slightly soluble. Agriculture activity tends to remove large quantities of Si from soil. Sugarcane is known to absorb more Si than any other mineral nutrient, accumulating approximately 380 kg ha−1 of Si, in a 12‐month‐old crop. Sugarcane (plant growth and development) responses to silicon fertilization have been documented in some areas of the world, and applications on commercial fields are routine in certain areas. The reason for this plant response or yield increase is not fully understood, but several mechanisms have been proposed. Some studies indicate that sugarcane yield responses to silicon may be associated with induced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, such as disease and pest resistance, Al, Mn, and Fe toxicity alleviation, increased P availability, reduced lodging, improved leaf and stalk erectness, freeze resistance, and improvement in plant water economy. This review .
Orthogonal Neighborhood Preserving Projection using L1-norm Minimization

Subspace analysis or dimensionality reduction techniques are becoming very popular for many computer vision tasks including face recognition or in general image recognition. Most of such techniques deal with optimizing a cost function using L2-norm. However, recently, due to capability of handling outliers, optimizing such cost function using L1-norm is drawing the attention of researchers. Present work is the first attempt towards the same goal where Orthogonal Neighbourhood Preserving Projection (ONPP) technique is optimized using L1-norm. In particular the relation of ONPP and PCA is established in the light of L2-norm and then ONPP is optimized using an already proposed mechanism of L1-PCA. Extensive experiments are performed on synthetic as well as real data. It has been observed that L1-ONPP outperforms its counterpart
A High-Linearity Wideband Common-Gate LNA With a Differential Active Inductor

A capacitor cross-coupled (CCC) wideband common-gate low-noise amplifier (CGLNA) with improved linearity and frequency response is presented. A novel differential active inductor (AI) is designed to improve the in-band gain flatness and high-frequency gain using the gate-inductive gain-peaking technique. The AI prevents the small-signal current flowing to the ground through the gate–drain capacitors. The CCC technique improves noise performance and saves power. However, it will also increase nonlinear distortions due to the boosted signal amplitude. To overcome the CCC-induced linearity deterioration, the derivative superposition technique is employed by using two parallel input transistors biased at different regions. The measurement results of the fabricated prototype in a 0.18- <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu\text{m}$</tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process show that the voltage gain, the minimum noise figure, and the third-order intercept point are 16.9 dB, 2.5 dB, and 5.5 dBm, respectively, within the 3-dB bandwidth from 100 MHz to 1.45 GHz. The CGLNA consumes 9.3 mW from a 1.8-V supply and the active area is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.29\times 0.26\ \text{mm}^{2}$</tex-math></inline-formula>.
Health-related quality of life, rehabilitation and mortality in a nursing home population.

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in nursing home residents is generally low. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between HRQOL and two clinically relevant outcome measures, all-cause mortality and successful rehabilitation, in a nursing home population. METHODS In an observational prospective cohort study in a nursing home population, HRQOL was assessed with the RAND-36. A total of 184 patients were included, 159 (86%) completed the RAND-36 and were included in the study. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to investigate the independent association between HRQOL, rehabilitation and mortality with adjustment for confounders. Risk prediction capabilities were assessed with Harrell's C statistics and the proportion of explained variance (R2). RESULTS The median age (interquartile range) was 79 (75-85) years. The health dimensions vitality (HR 0.88 (95% CI 0.77-0.99)) and mental health (HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.75-0.98)) were inversely associated and role functioningphysical (HR 1.08 (95%CI 1.02-1.15)) was positively associated with mortality. The Harrell's C value and the R2 were ≤ 0.02 and ≤ 0.03 higher in the adjusted models with the dimensions role functioning- physical, mental health or vitality compared with the models without these dimensions. None of the health dimensions or summary scales were related to successful rehabilitation. CONCLUSION HRQOL was significantly associated with mortality for three dimensions, but partly in opposite directions. Additional value of HRQOL in mortality prediction is very limited. There were no independent associations between HRQOL and successful rehabilitation. Although HRQOL is an important outcome, this study did not provide evidence for an association between HRQOL and successful rehabilitation.
Adrenal gland volume in major depression. Increase during the depressive episode and decrease with successful treatment.

BACKGROUND Hyperactivity of the pituitary-adrenocortical axis is the most prominent neuroendocrine abnormality in major depression. It is state-related, returning to normal with resolution of the depressive episode. Adrenal gland enlargement also has been reported in patients with major depression and has been hypothesized as an index of cumulative lifetime depression. However, whether or not adrenal enlargement decreases with successful treatment of depression has not yet been studied, to our knowledge. We, therefore, determined adrenal gland volume in patients with major depression before and after treatment and in matched normal controls, and compared adrenal size with functional indexes of pituitary-adrenocortical activity. METHODS Adrenal volumes were measured by magnetic resonance imaging in nine adult and two adolescent patients with major depression during their illness and during full remission when medication had been stopped for at least 1 month, and in nine adult and two adolescent normal control subjects individually matched to the patients. Basal, 4 to 7 PM plasma corticotropin 1-39 and cortisol levels, and corticotropin 1-39 and cortisol responses to administration of ovine corticorelin and lowdose cosyntropin also were measured. RESULTS Mean adrenal gland volume was significantly larger, by about 70% in the patients while depressed than after successful treatment, and it also was significantly larger, again by about 70%, than the mean adrenal gland volume of their matched controls. After treatment, the mean adrenal volume of the patients decreased and was no longer significantly different from that of their controls at baseline. The magnitude of the decrease was significantly positively correlated with the duration of the depressive episode. Basal, late-afternoon plasma corticotropin 1-39 levels were significantly lower in the patients while depressed than in their matched controls, but basal plasma cortisol levels did not differ significantly among the three groups, nor did the corticotropin 1-39 and cortisol responses to corticorelin or the cortisol response to cosyntropin. Correlations between adrenal gland volume and basal corticotropin and cortisol levels, and the corticotropin and cortisol responses to hormone challenge, were not consistently in the expected direction in any of the three groups of subjects. CONCLUSIONS Adrenal gland enlargement occurring during an episode of major depression appears to be state-dependent, in that it reverts to the normal size range during remission after treatment. It thus does not appear to be an index of cumulative lifetime depression. The lack of a discernible relationship between adrenal volume and pituitary-adrenocortical activity remains to be explained and might be related to noncorticotropin influences on the adrenal gland, including other tropic hormones and/or neural mechanisms.
Capacidade preditiva do método de Kanitz aplicado à pequenas e médias empresas

Este trabalho analisou a capacidade de previsao de falencia do metodo de Kanitz (1978) tendo como objeto de estudo pequenas e medias empresas do ramo de confeccoes do municipio de Formiga, MG. A escolha do setor de confeccoes deu-se pela importância economica que esta atividade apresenta para o municipio de Formiga. Os dados secundarios foram coletados atraves dos Demonstrativos Contabeis e os dados primarios foram coletados diretamente nas empresas selecionadas. O periodo de analise foi de 2007 a 2011. Os resultados demonstraram que o metodo de previsao de insolvencia de Kanitz e eficiente para a previsao da tendencia de solvencia ou insolvencia de pequenas e medias empresas do setor analisado neste estudo de caso.
Music Perception of hearing-Impaired Persons with Focus on One Test Subject

We previously investigated how hearing-impaired people perceive music in several types of musical experiments. By following-up on the results of some of these experiments with a single test subject Sd, we found that the ability of the subject to perceive music was high and that she appreciated music in a way that was different from that of hearing people. In this paper, we describe three musical experiments with hearing-impaired subjects, their results, and Sd's music perception through the experiments. The three experiments involved the Music Puzzle game, the appreciation of harmony, and tempo perception. Music Puzzle is a music game we made that is played on a tablet and is intended to be used by hearing-impaired persons as a serious game with which they can improve their hearing ability by continuously playing it. The experiment on appreciation of harmony was conducted with three subject groups, and the result showed that experience with music affected the appreciation of music accompanied with the tonal code. Tempo perception was investigated with a simple game in which the subjects tapped along with the tempo of the music. By examining the subjects' hearing acuity in standard medical hearing tests and crossing over the results of these musical experiments, we observed that hearing acuity is not necessarily related to the perception and understanding of music.