Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of methylprednisolone treatment on fibrinolysis, thecoagulation system, and blood loss in cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND/AIM The purpose of this study was to examine steroid pretreatment in order to decrease postoperative coagulopathy disorders and bleeding. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this randomized double-blinded study, the efficacy of low versus high doses of methylprednisolone on the coagulation system and postoperative bleeding was compared in patients who were undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The platelet response to agonists, D-dimer concentration, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) antigens, and platelet receptors CD42b, CD62P, and CD41a were evaluated. RESULTS The platelet response to agonists was reduced. The mean concentrations of D-dimer and tPA antigen increased although PAI-1 concentration did not show any significant changes following heparin neutralization. Postoperative expression of CD42b showed no changes in comparison with preoperation values in both groups. There was a significant increase in the expression of CD62P with a methylprednisolone dose of 15 mg/kg, while there was just a slight increase with a dose of 5 mg/kg. CD41a, as a fibrinogen receptor, was increased significantly after CPB in both groups. Significant data were shown in decreasing blood loss with a high dose of methylprednisolone. CONCLUSION Methylprednisolone at a dose of 15 mg/kg reduced bleeding, probably by increasing CD62P after heparin neutralization, which can activate platelet activation in favor of better hemostasis.
Dynamic Channel Modeling and OFDM System Analysis for Capacitive Coupling Body Channel Communication

Body channel communication (BCC) has the potential to achieve better energy efficiency over other conventional wireless communication schemes, thus becomes a promising solution for the wireless body area network. To deal with the fading and dynamic variation challenges of BCC, the technique of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising candidate. However, some basic issues in OFDM including the pilot design and the modulating methods have not been analyzed for BCC. The contribution of this paper includes proposing a dynamic channel model of BCC for system level designing, analyzing the pilot design method, and proposing an adaptive modulating algorithm for BCC. Practical communication experiments based on software define radio are also implemented to validate the the effectiveness of the pilot design method and the modulating algorithm.
The changing face of low-risk prostate cancer: trends in clinical presentation and primary management.

PURPOSE Early intervention for prostate cancer is associated with excellent long-term survival, but many affected men, especially those with low-risk disease characteristics, might not experience adverse impact to survival or quality of life were treatment deferred. We sought to characterize temporal trends in clinical presentation and primary disease management among patients with low-risk prostate cancer. METHODS Data were abstracted from the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor (CaPSURE), a disease registry of 8,685 men with various stages of prostate cancer. Included were 2,078 men who were diagnosed between 1989 and 2001 and had a serum prostate specific antigen </= 10 ng/mL, Gleason sum </= 6, and clinical T stage </= 2a. Trends in risk distribution, tumor characteristics, and primary treatment were evaluated. RESULTS The proportion of patients with low-risk tumor characteristics rose from 29.8% in 1989 to 1992, to 45.3% in 1999 to 2001 (P <.0001). There have been sharp increases in the use of brachytherapy and androgen deprivation monotherapy, from 3.1% and 3.1%, to 12.0% and 21.7%, respectively. Utilization rates for prostatectomy, external-beam radiotherapy, and observation have fallen accordingly, from 63.8%, 16.1%, and 13.8%, to 51.6%, 6.8%, and 7.9% (P <.0001 for all except prostatectomy [P =.0019]). Age and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with treatment selection, but overall, the treatment trends were echoed on subgroup analysis of patients 75 years or older. CONCLUSION Low-risk features characterize a growing proportion of prostate cancer patients, and there have been significant shifts in the management of low-risk disease. Overtreatment may be a growing problem, especially among older patients.
Gastritis in urease-immunized mice after Helicobacter felis challenge may be due to residual bacteria.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Oral immunization with recombinant Helicobacter pylori urease (rUre) coadministered with a mucosal adjuvant protects mice against challenge with Helicobacter felis. In this study, the duration of protection and gastritis after challenge were characterized at sequential time intervals up to 1 year. METHODS Outbred Swiss-Webster mice were orally immunized with rUre plus adjuvant and examined for the presence of H. felis infection and leukocyte infiltration into the gastric mucosa. RESULTS When defined by gastric urease activity, 70%-95% of rUre-immunized mice were protected for between 2 and 57 weeks. Challenge with H. felis increased the inflammatory response in the gastric mucosa of rUre-immunized mice, which also had elevated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The CD8+ cells represented a population of gastric intraepithelial cells, which expressed the mucosal alpha E-integrin. Epithelial changes consisting of parietal cell loss and hyperplasia of the epithelium occurred in approximately 20% of the mice. Antimicrobial triple therapy significantly decreased the degree of gastritis and epithelial alteration in the stomach. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that oral immunization of mice with rUre produces a long-lasting inhibition of H. felis infection but that residual bacteria may produce a persistent lymphocytic infiltration under these experimental conditions.
Expression of immunoreactivity of nuclear findings by p53 and cyclin a in endometrial cytology: Comparison with endometrial glandular and stromal breakdown and endometrioid adenocarcinoma grade 1

It is well known that “condensed cluster of stromal cells (CCSC)” and “metaplastic clumps with irregular protrusion (MCIP)” in endometrial glandular and stromal breakdown (EGBD) cases may simulate “clumps of cancer cells (CCC)” in endometrioid adenocarcinoma grade 1 (G1), leading to difficulty in cytological interpretation. The aim of this study was undertaken to clarify the cytological immunoreactivity of nuclear findings about CCSC and MCIP which may be recognized in EGBD cases by using p53 protein and cyclin A in liquid‐based cytologic (LBC) preparations. The material consists of cytologic smears of 20 cases of EGBD and 20 cases of G1 for which histopathological diagnosis was obtained by endometrial curettage at the JA Suzuka General Hospital. The evaluation of immunoreactivity was performed by using the intensity of nuclear staining and the nuclear labeling index (N‐LI). The intensity of nuclear staining was scored as negative (0), weak (1), moderate (2), or strong (3). The N‐LI was scored as less than 10% (0), from 10 to 25% (1), from 26 to 50% (2), or greater than 50% (3). The final score was calculated of the addition of both partial scores.
Molecular neuro-oncology and the development of targeted therapeutic strategies for brain tumors. Part 3: brain tumor invasiveness

Brain tumors are a diverse group of malignancies that remain refractory to conventional treatment approaches. Molecular neuro-oncology has now begun to clarify the transformed phenotype of brain tumors and identify oncogenic pathways that might be amenable to targeted therapy. Cellular invasion of surrounding brain is one of the key features of brain tumor behavior and is currently under evaluation for potential therapeutic targets. Tumor invasion occurs in the context of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the brain and involves the interaction between cell-surface adhesion molecules, such as integrins and proteins embedded within the ECM. The overexpression of integrins is often associated with invasive behavior and can be inhibited by targeted approaches such as antibodies, antisense constructs and cyclic peptides. Tumor cell-secreted matrix metalloproteinases and serine proteinases degrade ECM proteins and provide space for movement and infiltration. The expression of proteinases positively correlates with tumor grade and infiltrative capacity. Proteinase activity can be reduced by several methods, including antibodies and small-molecule inhibitors such as marimastat. Early clinical trials suggest that marimastat may have activity in combination with traditional chemotherapy regimens. Further development of targeted therapies designed to inhibit tumor infiltration, and evaluation of these new agents in clinical trials, will be needed to improve survival and quality of life for patients with brain tumors.
Joint Estimation of Bulk Flow Velocity and Angle Using a Lateral Line Probe

Measurement of complex natural flows, especially those occurring in rivers due to man-made structures, is often hampered by the limitations of existing flow measurement methods. Furthermore, there is a growing need for new measurement devices that are capable of measuring the hydrodynamic characteristics of complex natural flows required in environmental studies that often use fish as an indicator of ecological health. In this paper, we take the first step toward in situ natural flow measurements with a new biologically inspired probe design in conjunction with signal processing methods. The device presented in this paper is a dedicated hydrodynamically sensitive sensor array following the fish lateral line sensor modality. Low-level multidimensional sensor signals are transformed to the two key hydrodynamic primitives, bulk flow velocity and bulk flow angle. We show that this can be achieved via canonical signal transformation and kernel ridge regression, allowing velocity estimates with a less than 10 cm/s error. The approach provides robust velocity estimates not only when the sensor is ideally oriented parallel to the bulk flow, but also across the full range of angular deviations up to a completely orthogonal orientation by correcting the pressure field asymmetry for large angular deviations. Furthermore, we show that their joint estimation becomes feasible above a threshold current velocity of 0.45 m/s. The method demonstrated an error of 14 cm/s in velocity estimation in a river environment after training in laboratory conditions.
Two Healthy Diets Modulate Gut Microbial Community Improving Insulin Sensitivity in a Human Obese Population.

CONTEXT Gut microbiota, which acts collectively as a fully integrated organ in the host metabolism, can be shaped by long-term dietary interventions after a specific diet. OBJECTIVE The aim was to study the changes in microbiota after 1 year's consumption of a Mediterranean diet (Med diet) or a low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet (LFHCC diet) in an obese population. DESIGN Participants were randomized to receive the Med diet (35% fat, 22% monounsaturated) and the LFHCC diet (28% fat, 12% monounsaturated). SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The study was conducted in 20 obese patients (men) within the Coronary Diet Intervention With Olive Oil and Cardiovascular Prevention (CORDIOPREV) study, an ongoing prospective, randomized, opened, controlled trial in patients with coronary heart disease. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE We evaluated the bacterial composition and its relationship with the whole fecal and plasma metabolome. RESULTS The LFHCC diet increased the Prevotella and decreased the Roseburia genera, whereas the Med diet decreased the Prevotella and increased the Roseburia and Oscillospira genera (P = .028, .002, and .016, respectively). The abundance of Parabacteroides distasonis (P = .025) and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (P = .020) increased after long-term consumption of the Med diet and the LFHCC diet, respectively. The changes in the abundance of 7 of 572 metabolites found in feces, including mainly amino acid, peptide, and sphingolipid metabolism, could be linked to the changes in the gut microbiota. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that long-term consumption of the Med and LFHCC diets exerts a protective effect on the development of type 2 diabetes by different specific changes in the gut microbiota, increasing the abundance of the Roseburia genus and F. prausnitzii, respectively.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Facial attractiveness as a function of athletic prowess Bagozzi

We investigate the relationship between facial attractiveness and athletic prowess. We study the connection between subjective facial attractiveness (measured on a 5-point scale of judged facial attractiveness) and athletes by gender and age of respondents. Five age classes were investigated in Studies 1–5: preadolescents (average age: 8.85 years: n 1⁄4 92), adolescents (average age: 15.8 years; n 1⁄4 82), young adults (average age: 21.6 years; n 1⁄4 181), middle-aged adults (average age: 47.5 years; n 1⁄4 189), and older adults (65 years old; n 1⁄4 183). The findings show that world-class athletes are perceived as more facially attractive than amateur athletes, with women athletes perceived as more facially attractive than men, and these findings generally occur to a greater extent for female than male respondents. These findings hold for preadolescents, adolescents, young adults, and older adults. However, results were mixed for middle-aged adults where generally amateur athletes were evaluated more attractive than world-class and men athletes more attractive than women.
Stratospheric Polar Vortex Variability in the Northern Hemisphere: The Effects of Climate Change on Polar Vortex Trends and Future Projections

i Acknowledgements . ii List of Tables . v List of Figures . vi Chapter 1: Introduction and Review of Relevant Literature . 1 1.1: Importance, Overview and Research Objectives . 1 1.1. 2: Observational Studies on Polar Vortex Trends. 3 1.1. 3: SPV Anomalies and Resulting Surface Expressions . 4 1.1. 4: CMIP5 Model Configuration and Simulating the SPV . 6 Chapter 2: Data . 9 2.1: NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis . 9 2.2: The CMIP5 Global Climate Model Suite . 9 Chapter 3: Methodology. 12 3.1: Dataset Intercomparison NCEP/NCAR and the CMIP5 Model Suite . 12 3.2: Polar Vortex Identification Methods . 13 3.3: CMIP5 Multimodel Projections . 15 Chapter 4: Results. 17 4.1: Polar Vortex Changes in the Observational Period . 17
Comparative toxicity and proliferation testing of aflibercept, bevacizumab and ranibizumab on different ocular cells

Background/aims Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key factor in the pathogenesis of neovascular retinal diseases including age-related macular degeneration. VEGF inhibitors including ranibizumab, pegaptanib or bevacizumab improve retinal morphology and vision in many patients. The recently approved drug aflibercept (VEGF Trap-Eye/Eyelea, Regeneron, Tarrytown, New York, USA) offers a new therapy modality. We therefore tested for toxic and anti-proliferating effects of aflibercept. Methods The effects of aflibercept (0.125, 0.5, 2 mg), ranibizumab (0.125 mg) and bevacizumab (0.3125 mg) after 1, 24, 48 and 72 h on cell morphology via phase contrast pictures, cell viability via MTS assay, total cell amount via crystal violet staining, apoptosis induction via caspase 3/7 assay and proliferation via BrdU assay were investigated. Three ocular cell lines were chosen for toxicology testing: ARPE19 cells, RGC-5 cells and 661W cells. Results Aflibercept did not cause changes in cell morphology, induce apoptosis or cause permanent decrease in cell viability, cell density or proliferation in any cell line or concentration investigated. In general, aflibercept had fewer effects (upregulation or downregulation) compared with controls than bevacizumab or ranibizumab. Conclusions In our experiments, aflibercept did not lead to any negative effects on retinal cell lines and might therefore be used safely in clinical applications.
Co-channel interference measurement method for mobile communication

A new method of measuring co-channel interference for mobile communication systems is proposed. In this method, the carrier envelope is sampled, and signal-carrier-to-interference-carrier ratio (CIR) is calculated by signal processing. The circuits for measurement are composed of an envelope detector, an analog-to-digital converter, and a microcomputer. Theoretical and experimental evaluations of measurement errors are examined, and the method is proved to be promising. Using this method, the signal-to-interference ratio of up to 20 dB is measured, within 2 dB error for fading frequency of less than 80 Hz.
Natural Language-Based Machine Learning Models for Information Extraction from Radiology Reports - Survey

: In the current digital world, most of the patients records are stored in the form of electronic health record, where vast amount of digital contents are reported based on the radiological information. The radiological reports are very important source about the patient and helps to researchers to improve the health care departments. The radiological reports are collected and saved for documentation and communication of image diagnosing. Since the radiological information are stored in a free text format, hence it requires appropriate automated information extraction to retrieve the structured data which helps the physician for decision making. Natural language processing (NLP) is the important technique that helps to attain the structured representation of radiological reports. The structured data further processed by the machine learning (ML) algorithm for classification purpose which helps the physician for better the decision making. In this review, the NLP and ML techniques are considered for handling the radiological reports. In this review, the list of approaches for the automatic classification of radiological reports are identified and gathered into four major ways which are rules based approach, machine learning based approach, and hybrid approach. Moreover, the drawbacks and the upcoming challenges, future scopes for enhancing the NLP functionality in radiology is described.
Balance Impairment After Acoustic Neuroma Surgery

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of balance problems after acoustic neuroma surgery, evaluating whether disequilibrium is disabling. Study Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting: Rehabilitation center. Patients: A group of 386 patients who underwent acoustic neuroma surgery. Interventions: Patients were selected from a population of 459 subjects who had undergone surgery for acoustic neuroma. Mean Outcome Measures: The Dizziness Handicap Inventory, The Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), and a specific questionnaire on oscillopsia. Results: The specific questionnaire emphasized that 39 patients (10.10%) perceived disequilibrium as disabling, and the oscillopsia handicap score result was moderate in 73.32% of the sample, mild in 21.50%, and severe in 5.18% of patients. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory and ABC scales revealed the presence of handicap and disability due to disequilibrium and the influence of some variables such as sex and a higher oscillopsia handicap score. Dizziness Handicap Inventory and ABC scores were higher in symptomatic patients. Conclusion: Disequilibrium influences handicap and disability after acoustic neuroma surgery. This symptom is also present after several years since surgery, and some patients perceived disequilibrium as disabling.
Physiological Events in Clostridium acetobutylicum during the Shift from Acidogenesis to Solventogenesis in Continuous Culture and Presentation of a Model for Shift Induction

The pH of continuous cultures of Clostridium acetobutylicum growing at pH 5.6 was allowed to decrease to 4.3 after acid production and thereby to shift the cultures from acetate and butyrate to acetone and butanol formation. Several parameters were determined during the shift. An increase in the intracellular acid concentration to 440 mM was recorded. An excess of undissociated butyric acid but not of acetic acid just before the shift to solventogenesis was followed by a decline in acid production and subsequently by the uptake of acids. The intracellular ATP concentration reached a minimum before the onset of solventogenesis; this presumably reflects the ATP-consuming proton extrusion connected with the increase in the ΔpH from 0.7 to 1.4 units. The pool of NADH plus NADPH exhibited a drastic increase until solventogenesis was induced. The changes in the ATP and ADP and NADH plus NADPH pools during these pH shift experiments were the beginning of a stable metabolic oscillation which could also be recorded as an oscillation of the culture redox potential under steady-state solventogenic conditions. Similar changes were observed when the shift was induced by the addition of butyrate and acetate (50 mM each) to the continuous culture. However, when methyl viologen was added, important differences were found: ATP levels did not reach a minimum, acetoacetate decarboxylase activity could not be measured, and butanol but not acetone was produced. A model for the shift is proposed; it assumes the generation of two signals, one by the changed ATP and ADP levels and the other by the increased NAD(P)H level.
Training a UAV with A 3 C for Object Avoidance in a Photo and Physics Realistic Simulator CSSE 1806

Unmanned aerial vehicle control for object avoidance is no easy task. This paper uses the recent popularity and effectiveness of end-to-end deep reinforcement learning to train an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle to navigate static objects in a simulated environment. Specifically, Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic, a state-of-the-art deep reinforcement learning algorithm, is used to train the agent. Monocular RGB images are used as input to indirectly facilitate the closing of the ‘reality gap’, which is the problem of transferring a policy learned in simulation to reality, as it can be expensive or difficult to add extra cameras to real unmanned aerial vehicles. Unreal Engine and AirSim are used to create the photorealistic and physics-realistic training environments.
CXCR3 Expression on CD34+ Hemopoietic Progenitors Induced by Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor: II. Signaling Pathways Involved1

CXCR3, known to have four ligands (IFN-γ inducible protein 10 (γ IP-10), monokine induced by IFN-γ (Mig), I-TAC, and 6Ckine), is predominately expressed on memory/activated T lymphocytes. We recently reported that GM-CSF induces CXCR3 expression on CD34+ hemopoietic progenitors, in which γ IP-10 and Mig induce chemotaxis and adhesion. Here we further report that stimulation with GM-CSF causes phosphorylation of Syk protein kinase, but neither Casitas B-lineage lymphoma (Cbl) nor Cbl-b in CD34+ hemopoietic progenitors can be blocked by anti-CD116 mAb. Specific Syk blocking generated by PNA antisense completely inhibits GM-CSF-induced CXCR3 expression in CD34+ progenitors at both mRNA and protein as well as at functional levels (chemotaxis and adhesion). Cbl and Cbl-b blocking have no such effects. Thus, GM-CSF binds to its receptor CD116, and consequently activates Syk phosphorylation, which leads to induce CXCR3 expression. γ IP-10 and Mig can induce Syk, Cbl, and Cbl-b phosphorylation in CD34+ progenitors by means of CXCR3. γ IP-10 or Mig has induced neither chemotaxis nor adhesion in GM-CSF-stimulated Cbl-b-blocked CD34+ hemopoietic progenitors, whereas SDF-1α induces both chemotaxis and adhesion in these cells. Interestingly, γ IP-10 and Mig can induce chemotaxis and adhesion in GM-CSF-stimulated Syk- or Cbl-blocked CD34+ hemopoietic progenitors. Thus, Cbl-b, but not Syk and Cbl phosphorylation, is essential for γ IP-10- and Mig-induced chemotaxis and adhesion in CD34+ hemopoietic progenitors. This study provides a useful insight into novel signaling transduction pathways of the functions of CXCR3/γ IP-10 and Mig, which may be especially important in the cytokine/chemokine environment for mobilization, homing, and recruitment during proliferation, differentiation, and maturation of hemopoietic progenitor cells.