Novi steroidni derivati sintetizirani iz 3betha-hidroksiandrosten-17-ona

In this study, we synthesized some new substituted steroidal derivatives using 3betha-hydroxyandrosten-17-one (dehydroepiandrosterone) as starting material. The synthesized steroidal derivatives 1-11 were evaluated for their androgenic-anabolic activities compared to testosterone as positive control. Details of the synthesis, spectroscopic data and toxicity (LD50) of synthesized compounds are reported.U radu je opisana sinteza novih steroidnih derivata 1-11 koristeći 3betha-hidroksiandrosten-17-on (dehidroepiandrosteron) kao početnu supstanciju. Androgeno-anaboličko djelovanje tih spojeva uspoređivano je s djelovanjem testosterona kao pozitivnom kontrolom. Navode se detaljni sintetski postupci, spektroskopska karakterizacija i podaci o toksičnosti (LD50)

Study on Business Value of Building Information Modelling - Applied in Developing Countries

This research investigates the business value of implementing building information modelling (BIM) in developing countries. The study of BIM in this research is conducted with a focus on its return on investment (ROI) in the construction sector. There is an imperative need for such new systematic studies to contribute to the growing knowledge of the practicing communities. After studying the extensive body of literature, it was determined that there were numerous surveys and/or workshops that addressed the same topic from various angles. This led to the research methodology used in the current paper. Such existing research analysed respondents' responses to arrive at some conclusions. Based on this, the author chose to analyse these prior studies and not necessarily create an independent questionnaire that would ultimately add more questions than it would solve. The study's key conclusion is that no quantitative formula for ROI can be used, and the only option to address this issue is to rely on qualitative research that claim adopting BIM has a high potential to provide both direct and indirect income. Due to disputed underlying assumptions, every attempt to estimate the ROI of BIM discovered in the literature cannot be generalised

Affectiva-MIT Facial Expression Dataset (AM-FED): Naturalistic and Spontaneous Facial Expressions Collected In-the-Wild

Computer classification of facial expressions requires large amounts of data and this data needs to reflect the diversity of conditions seen in real applications. Public datasets help accelerate the progress of research by providing researchers with a benchmark resource. We present a comprehensively labeled dataset of ecologically valid spontaneous facial responses recorded in natural settings over the Internet. To collect the data, online viewers watched one of three intentionally amusing Super Bowl commercials and were simultaneously filmed using their webcam. They answered three self-report questions about their experience. A subset of viewers additionally gave consent for their data to be shared publicly with other researchers. This subset consists of 242 facial videos (168,359 frames) recorded in real world conditions. The dataset is comprehensively labeled for the following: 1) frame-by-frame labels for the presence of 10 symmetrical FACS action units, 4 asymmetric (unilateral) FACS action units, 2 head movements, smile, general expressiveness, feature tracker fails and gender; 2) the location of 22 automatically detected landmark points; 3) self-report responses of familiarity with, liking of, and desire to watch again for the stimuli videos and 4) baseline performance of detection algorithms on this dataset. This data is available for distribution to researchers online, the EULA can be found at: http://www.affectiva.com/facial-expression-dataset-am-fed/

Cylindroma of the breast: a case report and review of the literature

Cylindroma of the breast is a very rare lesion which is morphological and immunophenotypically identical to benign dermal cylindroma. We report a breast cylindroma in a previously healthy 62 year old female detected through a national breast screening program. The patient had no significant family or past medical history, and specifically no history of breast or skin diseases. The tumor consisted of well circumscribed islands of epithelial cells surrounded by a dense membrane material, and focally containing hyaline globules. At low power the islands of tumour cells formed a "jig-saw" pattern, which is typical of cylindroma, but was present within normal breast parenchyma and no had direct connection with the overlying skin. Two distinct cell populations, smaller peripheral basaloid cells and larger central cells with vesicular chromatin, were highlighted by immunohistochemistry for p63 and cytokeratin-7 respectively. Immunohistochemistry for ER, PR, and Her2/neu was negative in tumour cells. We discuss the nine previously reported cases and the distinction of breast cylindroma from adenoid cystic carcinoma, the main differential diagnosis

Krüppel-like factor 5 is a crucial mediator of intestinal tumorigenesis in mice harboring combined ApcMin and KRASV12 mutations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both mutational inactivation of the adenomatous polyposis coli (<it>APC</it>) tumor suppressor gene and activation of the <it>KRAS </it>oncogene are implicated in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Mice harboring a germline <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}mutation or intestine-specific expression of the <it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12gene have been developed. Both mouse strains develop spontaneous intestinal tumors, including adenoma and carcinoma, though at a different age. The zinc finger transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5) has previously been shown to promote proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells and modulate intestinal tumorigenesis. Here we investigated the <it>in vivo </it>effect of <it>Klf5 </it>heterozygosity on the propensity of <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12double transgenic mice to develop intestinal tumors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At 12 weeks of age, <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12mice had three times as many intestinal tumors as <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}mice. This increase in tumor number was reduced by 92% in triple transgenic <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice. The reduction in tumor number in <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice was also statistically significant compared to <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}mice alone, with a 75% decrease. Compared with <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12, tumors from both <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-and <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}mice were smaller. In addition, tumors from <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}mice were more distally distributed in the intestine as contrasted by the more proximal distribution in <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12and <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice. Klf5 levels in the normal-appearing intestinal mucosa were higher in both <it>Apc</it>^{<it>Min </it>}and <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12mice but were attenuated in <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice. The levels of β-catenin, cyclin D1 and Ki-67 were also reduced in the normal-appearing intestinal mucosa of <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice when compared to <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12mice. Levels of pMek and pErk1/2 were elevated in the normal-appearing mucosa of <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12mice and modestly reduced in Apc^Min/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12/<it>Klf5</it>^+/-mice. Tumor tissues displayed higher levels of both Klf5 and β-catenin, irrespective of the mouse genotype from which tumors were derived.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Results of the current study confirm the cumulative effect of <it>Apc </it>loss and oncogenic <it>KRAS </it>activation on intestinal tumorigenesis. The drastic reduction in tumor number and size due to <it>Klf5 </it>heterozygosity in <it>Apc</it>^<it>Min</it>/<it>KRAS</it>^<it>V</it>12mice indicate a critical function of KLF5 in modulating intestinal tumor initiation and progression.</p

INDIVIDUAL TREE SEGMENTATION FROM BLS DATA BASED ON GRAPH AUTOENCODER

In the last two decades, Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has been widely employed in forestry applications. Individual tree segmentation is essential to forest management because it is a prerequisite to tree reconstruction and biomass estimation. This paper introduces a general framework to extract individual trees from the LiDAR point cloud based on a graph link prediction problem. First, an undirected graph is generated from the point cloud based on K-nearest neighbors (KNN). Then, this graph is used to train a convolutional autoencoder that extracts the node embeddings to reconstruct the graph. Finally, the individual trees are defined by the separate sets of connected nodes of the reconstructed graph. A key advantage of the proposed method is that no further knowledge about tree or forest structure is required. Seven sample plots from a plantation forest with poplar and dawn redwood species have been employed in the experiments. Though the precision of the experimental results is up to 95 % for poplar species and 92 % for dawn redwood trees, the method still requires more investigations on natural forest types with mixed tree species

Acquired factor VIII inhibitor associated with chronic untreated hepatitis C

Acquired inhibitors of coagulation are antibodies that either inhibit the activity or increase the clearance of a clotting factor. A hemorrhagic diathesis is a common clinical manifestation in affected patients. Acquired factor VIII inhibitor – or acquired hemophilia A – is a rare disorder and presents similarly to hemophilia A, though patients are less likely to develop hemarthroses. This inhibition is most commonly due to autoantibodies against coagulation factor VIII. These autoantibodies often occur in pregnancy, autoimmune disorders, solid tumors, and lymphoproliferative syndromes. Several drugs, including penicillins, phenytoin, and sulfa drugs, have also been associated with antibodies to factor VIII. Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), in addition to various degrees of liver inflammation and fibrosis, can have extrahepatic manifestations, especially autoimmune disorders. The most common hematological complications of HCV infection are thrombocytopenia, cryoglobulinemia, and anti-cardiolipin antibodies. A few cases of factor VIII inhibitors occurring in HCV patients have been reported, with a higher incidence after prolonged treatment with interferon-α. Here, we present a case of a patient with chronic untreated HCV infection developing acquired factor VIII deficiency