Articles Related to SOF

Superficial CD34-positive fibroblastic tumor is an infrequent soft-tissue tumor characterized by a lesion located in the subcutaneous fascia without affecting the soft or deep muscle planes. Its incidence is unknown; therefore, it represents a diagnostic challenge for both the surgical oncologist and pathologist. Given its high risk of local recurrence, extensive surgical resection is the recommended treatment modality. This is the first report of this rare entity in Latin-America.

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Traditionally, a typical phase II trial has been conducted using a single-arm design recruiting patients only to the experimental therapy to be compared with a historical control. Due to a small sample size and heterogeneity of patient population, the patient characteristics of the patients in a new phase II trial is often different from that of the selected historical control, so that the single-arm phase II trial may lead to biased conclusions. A randomized phase II trial can resolve such problems by randomizing patients between an experimental arm and a control arm. We propose a software package for designing and analyzing randomized phase II trials. We develop a user-friendly Java software that will help us find optimal two-stage phase II trial designs. Although the programs accommodate trial designs based on various statistical methods and different types of early stopping rules, the main part of our paper is focused on randomized phase II trials based on Fisher’s exact test with futility and superiority early stopping values. If users enter input parameter values, the software generates a graphical output displaying all efficient two-stage designs. Minimax, optimal, and admissible designs are highlighted as good designs, but users can select any of the displayed designs. When the circle representing a design is clicked, all the specifics of the selected design are displayed. Fisher’s test is an exact method whose critical values depend on the total number of responders from two arms. So, the computations required to search for optimal randomized multi-stage phase II trial designs based on Fisher’s exact test is very heavy. By using efficient algorithms, our software provides output at almost real time speed

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Calf morbidity and mortality are important causes of economic losses on dairy farms worldwide. A cross-sectional study and clinical observation was conducted from November 2016 to April 2017 with the objective of determining calf morbidity and mortality and to investigate the potential risk factors for mortality and morbidity in Sululta and its environs. A total of 312 respondents engaged in market oriented small holder dairying were interviewed using a structured questionnaire survey about their farm and calf management practices and major calf health problems encountered and diseases that causes mortality. The overall magnitude of morbidity and mortality of calves were 31.0% and 58.37%, respectively. The major calf diseases found were diarrhea (69.34%), pneumonia (16.54%), liver fluke (2.4%), bloat (2.0%), joint ill (2.4%) and other cases (8.04%). Risk factors such as weaning age, breed and awareness of colostrums, feeding of calf and overall farm management were included. In this study 80.3% of calf mortality occurs under age 3 month and 19.42% is above 3 month. Based on laboratory examination, Salmonella and E.coli were detected from diarrheic calves. Salmonella found at rate of 2/29 (3.6%) and E.coli found at only genus level. In conclusion, the magnitude of calf morbidity and mortality found in this study were much higher than economically tolerable level and could greatly affect the productivity of the dairy farms through mainly decreasing the availability of replacement stock and production of milk. It is therefore, suggested that implementation of improved calf and farm management practices and proper environmental protection in the study areas would significantly reduce calf mortality and morbidity.

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Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by an extreme sensitivity to UV rays from sunlight, a high incidence of skin cancer and occasional neurological symptoms. XP, primarily defined as a DNA repair syndrome, has been found associated with defects in the Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway, and more recently by transcriptional deregulation. XP results from mutations in eight genes (XPA to XPG and XPV) coding for proteins involved in NER.

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A 39-years-old Caucasian man presented with the complaint of gingiva bleeding during tooth brushing. Additionally, generalised intrinsic blue-brown discoloration or hyperpigmentation of the gingiva was noticed. Upon request to report each alteration of life style and food and drink consumption during the last months, the patient reported weekly subcutaneous self-injections with Melanotan® during the last six months in order to realize a cosmetically attractive brown skin color. Melanotan I®, with the generic name afamelanotide, is thought to mimic the effects of endogenous α-melanocyte stimulating hormone, leading to increased cutaneous pigmentation. It was suspected that this drug also has the adverse effect of up-regulation of brown-black eumelanin synthesis in the oral soft tissues. Several cutaneous adverse effects of afamelanotide have been reported in the scientific literature, but no previous reports could be found on discoloration of the oral soft tissues.

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An 11-year-old spayed female dog was presented for a large mass on the left proximal pelvic limb. The mass appeared three months prior to presentation in the location of a previous corticosteroid injection, Kenalog (0.05 mg/kg triamcinolone, CAS# 76-25-5). No vaccinations or injections had been previously given in this area. The mass spanned from the left stifle to the coxofemoral joint and was firm, circular, non-moveable, and diffusely mixed within the musculature of the thigh. A left external complete hemipelvectomy was performed. Histopathology was consistent with a Grade III fibromyxosarcoma. The dog died naturally at home five months after surgery. This is the first account of association of a corticosteroid injection with formation of a fibromyxosarcoma in a dog.

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France, Greece, Italy, and Spain the major sheep and goat milk producers in Europe, got the initiative through an interim of 30 years (1985 – 2015), to organize - through IDF - 7 symposiums aiming at the upgrade of the Dairy Sector. One major interest was the milk quality. Stepwise, the efforts followed cow milk structural development in organizing the testing laboratory, the definition of quality in composition (fat, protein, lactose, total solids), in Hygienic (Total Bacteria Count, Somatic Cell Count, antibiotics residues and Aflatoxin M1 contamination), adulteration with water and detection of milk species. EU, by Decision 2002/657/EC, defined the rules for the Directive 96/23/EC, enumerated the testing methods, the demands in sampling procedures, the minimum limits of performance, the quality control (ISO 17025) and the interpretation of results. The equivalency of results from different laboratories, through ISO 17025, demanded the application of ISO analytical standards.

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Haemoglobinopathies are inherited disorders of haemoglobin synthesis that are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality all over the world.

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In assisted reproduction of cattle the design and preparation of in vitro culture media has been instrumental in supporting the development of bovine oocytes and embryos. In vitro production (IVP) involves three main sequential steps: oocyte aspiration and in vitro maturation (IVM); in vitro fertilization (IVF); and in vitro culture (IVC) of early pre-implantation embryos.

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Sudden death has varied causes, and autopsy is usually required to determine cause of death. Sarcoma involvement is very infrequent, and detailed pathological evaluation is needed for correct diagnosis.

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Human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), a 37 residue peptide hormone is an ingenious factor in pancreatic amyloid deposits found in cases with type-2 diabetes. Its aggregation into small toxic oligomeric species is presumed to be the reason for cells debilitation and demise in case of diabetic patients.

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Document examination has been around for more than a century. The field of Document examination has become more diverse and requires authenticity or validation in many areas of examination which involves determination of authorship, fraud detection and personal identification.

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Jugular foramen schwannomas arising from cranial nerves IX, X, and XI are uncommon pathological conditions, slowly growing benign tumors that constitute approximately 2.9 to 4% of all intracranial schwannomas. Jugular foramen schwannomas represent 10-30% of all tumors observed around the jugular foramen.

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The successful introduction and spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) into the global human population may have first emerged among humans in the early part of the 20th century (most likely contracted from infected primates).

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