Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of two types of proximal femoral hails in the treatment of intertrochanteric femur fractures.

BACKGROUND Hip nailing is frequently used to treat unstable intertrochanteric femoral fractures (ITF) in elderly patients. In this retrospective study, we compared the functional and radiological results, and the complications, of patients treated using proximal femoral nails (PFN) with an integrated, interlocking, compression lag screw, or two separate lag screws, which allow linear compression at the fracture site. METHODS A total of one hundred and eighteen patients were operated on for AO/OTA 31-A2 ITF between May 2010 and April 2012, and eighty-two of these patients, for whom sufficient follow-up data and documentation were available, were included into the study. PFNs with interlocking, integrated lag screws (Group I) were used in forty-four patients, and PFNs with two separate lag screws (Group II) in thirty-eight. Outcome parameters were the extent of varus collapse and leg length discrepancy on radiographs, and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) and Harris hip scores (HHS) as functional results. RESULTS Mean follow-up duration was 20 months (range, 12-36 months); fractures healed in all patients. Mean varus collapse values were 2.03±5.68° and 5.21±5.27° (p=0.01), Harris hip scores 73.2±11.65 and 74.72±11.15 (p=0.54), and WOMAC scores 70.78±11.41 and 71.78±11.19 (p=0.69) in Groups I and II, respectively. No difference was detected between the groups in terms of outcome parameters or complication rate. CONCLUSION In the treatment of ITF, PFNs with an integrated, interlocking, compression lag screw, or two separate lag screws did not differ in terms of functional and radiological results or complication rate.
Erythropoietic protoporphyria

Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) is a form of porphyria caused by an inherited partial deficiency of the last enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of haem, ferrochelatase. The deficiency of this enzyme results from mutations in the ferrochelatase gene causing accumulation of protoporphyrin (PP) IX in the erythropoietic system. This type of porphyria was first described in 1953 by Kosenow and Treibs (1) and this description was completed in 1961 by Magnus et al. (2). EPP is basically characterized by a peculiar cutaneous acute photosensitivity. In the classification of porphyrias, it belongs to the erythropoietic forms together with congenital erythropoietic porphyria, and is clinically manifested by skin symptoms as a cutaneous porphyria. The prevalence of EPP is not precisely established (3) and appears in all races and in both sexes with a slight controversial predominance in males (4, 5).
Desmoteplase in acute massive pulmonary thromboembolism

Summary Alteplase is standard therapy for patients with acute, massive pulmonary embolism. The novel plasminogen activator desmoteplase displays high fibrin specificity and selectivity for fibrin-bound plasminogen. In a preclinical model desmoteplase was twice as potent with a shorter lysis time and lower reocclusion rate. We conducted a phase II study comparing 125, 180, and 250 μg/kg bodyweight desmoteplase with 100 mg alteplase. Efficacy criteria were total pulmonary resistance (TPR), mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), and Miller Index. Intention to treat analysis of 34 patients. The reduction of TPR after 24 hours was comparable between desmoteplase 180 μg/kg and alteplase (-48.0 ± 22.4 vs. –50.4 ± 16.3%; p = n.s. vs. alteplase; p = 0.0002 and p<0.0001 vs. baseline). The greatest effect was achieved with desmoteplase 250 μg/kg (-56.0 ± 29.4%; p = n.s. vs. alteplase, p = 0.0055 vs. baseline). Two hours after treatment PAP was reduced by 27.9 (p = 0.0004 vs. baseline) and 30.4% (p = 0.015 vs. baseline) with the higher doses of desmoteplase and 29.6% with alteplase (p = 0.0006 vs. baseline). Further PAP reduction after 6 hours was most pronounced in the desmoteplase 250 μg/kg group (-40.1 ± 18.0%; p = 0.0028 vs. baseline). The reduction of the Miller Index was greatest using desmoteplase 250 μg/kg (-35.0 ± 21.7%; p = 0.011 vs. baseline), and alteplase (-41.6 ± 27.2%; p = 0.0003 vs. baseline). Safety did not differ among the 4 groups. The study results suggest that desmoteplase at doses of 180 and 250 μg/kg had similar or greater efficacy compared to alteplase 100 mg. Onset of action was faster, safety was comparable.
Climate Variability in Regions of Amphibian Declines

Abstract: We explored the relationship between amphibian declines and climate variations in Colorado (U.S.A.), Puerto Rico, Costa Rica–Panama, and Queensland (Australia) through two sources of data: output from the National Center for Environmental Prediction “reanalysis system” and area‐averaged station data. The reanalysis system merges observations from airplanes, land stations, satellites, ships, and weather balloons with output from a weather‐forecast model to create global fields of atmospheric variables. Station data consisted of temperature and precipitation measured with thermometers and rain gauges at fixed locations. Temperatures were near normal in Colorado when the amphibian declines occurred in the 1970s, whereas in Central America temperatures were warmer than normal, especially during the dry season. The station data from Puerto Rico and Australia indicated that temperatures were above normal during the period of amphibian declines, but reanalysis did not show such a clear temperature signal. Although declines occurred while the temperature and precipitation anomalies in some of the regions were large and of extended duration, the anomalies were not beyond the range of normal variability. Thus, unusual climate, as measured by regional estimates of temperature and precipitation, is unlikely to be the direct cause of amphibian declines, but it may have indirectly contributed to them. Previous researchers have noted that the declines appear to have propagated from northwest to southeast from Costa Rica to Panama and from southeast to northwest in Queensland, Australia. Wind has the potential to transport pathogens that cause amphibian mortality. The mean direction of the near‐surface winds tended to parallel the path of amphibian declines from July–October in Central America and from May–July in Australia. The wind direction was highly variable, however, and the propagation rate of amphibian declines was much slower than the mean wind speed. In addition, the most likely pathogen is a chytrid fungus that does not produce desiccation‐resistant spores. Thus, if wind is involved in the propagation of amphibian declines, it is through a complex set of processes.
Double-Bubble Technique in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty for Vitrectomized Eyes: A Case Series

Purpose: To describe a modified technique for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) in vitrectomized eyes that had undergone transscleral-sutured intraocular lens (IOL) implantation (IOL-suture) and pars plana vitrectomy. Methods: This was a prospective interventional case series. Patients exhibiting endothelial dysfunction with aphakia, or dislocated IOLs, who underwent IOL-suture and pars plana vitrectomy, were enrolled. Patients underwent DMEK using the “double-bubble technique,” which is characterized by the placement of 2 bubbles, 1 above and 1 beneath the graft. One small air bubble is placed over the graft for the purpose of unfolding the graft; the other large bubble is injected under the graft to enable fixation of the graft. Best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, central corneal thickness, endothelial cell density, the time of graft unfolding (using a surgical video), and the incidence of intraoperative/postoperative complications were analyzed. Results: This study included 6 eyes of 6 patients (3 men and 3 women; mean age 78.0 ± 2.5 years). Although the unfolding time was relatively long (10.1 ± 4.5 minutes), all surgeries were uneventful. Rebubbling was required in 1 eye (16.6%). Best spectacle-corrected visual acuity improved significantly in all eyes. There was no primary graft failure. Conclusions: This technique (double bubble technique) enables safe and easy DMEK surgery, even in eyes that have been previously vitrectomized and IOL-sutured. Further clinical studies with a large number of patients exhibiting complex eyes are required to definitively establish the clinical value of this technique.
CERES: Distantly Supervised Relation Extraction from the Semi-Structured Web

The web contains countless semi-structured websites, which can be a rich source of information for populating knowledge bases. Existing methods for extracting relations from the DOM trees of semi-structured webpages can achieve high precision and recall only when manual annotations for each website are available. Although there have been efforts to learn extractors from automatically generated labels, these methods are not sufficiently robust to succeed in settings with complex schemas and information-rich websites. In this paper we present a new method for automatic extraction from semi-structured websites based on distant supervision. We automatically generate training labels by aligning an existing knowledge base with a website and leveraging the unique structural characteristics of semi-structured websites. We then train a classifier based on the potentially noisy and incomplete labels to predict new relation instances. Our method can compete with annotation-based techniques in the literature in terms of extraction quality. A large-scale experiment on over 400,000 pages from dozens of multi-lingual long-tail websites harvested 1.25 million facts at a precision of 90%.
Acoustic envelope detector for crispness assessment of biscuits

The crispness of food materials based on the force/displacement behavior and their acoustic nature was assessed using an Acoustic Envelope Detector (AED) attached to the Texture Analyzer, wherein six kinds of biscuits were used: Carr’s Table Water, Crackerbread, Digestive, Dutch Crispbakes, Rich Tea fingers and Shortbread. The force/displacement and acoustic signals were simultaneously recorded during the breakup of biscuits. For each detected acoustic signal, there was a sudden drop in the compression force. The analysis of the force/displacement curve demonstrated the links between the second derivative of force curve and the acoustic event, indicating the energy released through the air of these crack events. The acoustic behavior of the biscuits was assessed in terms of maximum sound pressure level and the number of acoustic events, which were further interpreted as the acoustic events per unit area of newly created surface area and the acoustic event per unit time. The acoustic ranking of biscuits from instrumental assessment was in very good agreement with that from sensory panel tests. The normal integration time (1.25 ms) for the AED was generally effective in detecting acoustic signals for crisp biscuits, but a shorter integration time (0.25 ms) was found advantageous in detecting acoustic signals that occur within a very short time period and gave better differentiation of crisp biscuits.
Occurrence of the milliped Sinocallipus simplipodicus Zhang, 1993 in Laos, with reviews of the Southeast Asian and global callipodidan faunas, and remarks on the phylogenetic position of the order (Callipodida: Sinocallipodidea: Sinocallipodidae)

The callipodidan milliped, Sinocallipus simplipodicus Zhang, 1993, previously known only from a cave in Yunnan Province, China, is redescribed based on specimens from an epigean habitat in southern Laos, some 600 mi (960 km) south of the type locality. SEM photos of the gonopods, ovipositor, gnathochilarium, midbody exoskeleton, an ozopore, and legs are presented to supplement previously published line drawings; the cannula may be the “functional” element of the gonopod that inseminates females in this species. The Callipodida occupy nine disjunct areas globally, all exclusively in the Northern Hemisphere and most in the North Temperate Zone; there are three regions each in North America, Europe (including coastal regions along the southern Black and eastern Mediterranean seas that are technically part of Asia), and Asia proper. The southeast Asian fauna comprises three families -Sinocallipodidae, one genus and species (suborder Sinocallipodidea), and Schizopetalidae, one genus and species, and Paracortinidae, one genus, three subgenera, and seven species (both suborder Schizopetalidea). An unnamed clade may exist in the Diplopoda in which the gonopods arise solely from the 8th legs (an “8th gonopod clade”); it comprises seven orders: Callipodida, Polydesmida, Chordeumatida, Stemmiulida, Siphoniulida, Spirostreptida, and Epinannolenida. Two newly recognized characters that hold phylogenetic significance are (1) development of the gonopod from the 8th coxa alone (Chordeumatida) or from the coxa plus some telopodal articles (the other six orders), and (2) the presence (Callipodida, Polydesmida, and Stemmiulida) or absence (Chordeumatida, Spirostreptida, and Epinannolenida) of a cannula. These considerations lead to the hypothesis (Chordeumatida + (Callipodida + (Polydesmida + Stemmiulida))).
Investigating the Impact of Reemerging Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies on the Winter Atmospheric Circulation over the North Atlantic

Abstract Extratropical SSTs can be influenced by the “reemergence mechanism,” whereby thermal anomalies in the deep winter mixed layer persist at depth through summer and are then reentrained into the mixed layer in the following winter. The impact of reemergence in the North Atlantic Ocean (NAO) upon the climate system is investigated using an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a mixed layer ocean/thermodynamic sea ice model. The dominant pattern of thermal anomalies below the mixed layer in summer in a 150-yr control integration is associated with the North Atlantic SST tripole forced by the NAO in the previous winter as indicated by singular value decomposition (SVD). To isolate the reemerging signal, two additional 60-member ensemble experiments were conducted in which temperature anomalies below 40 m obtained from the SVD analysis are added to or subtracted from the control integration. The reemerging signal, given by the mean difference between the two 60-member ensembles, causes the S.
COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Recently, it became clear that there is a set of neural circuits that underlie cognitive impairments, making them brain-relevant phenomena which have an affect on functional status. In fact, some large studies indicate that cognitive impairment is the best predictor of deficits in adaptive life skills, such as occupational functioning, educational attainment, social skills, and the ability to live independently. Although there has been some argument about the relative specificity of these relationships, it has been shown that cognitive impairment is generally associated with functional impairment. The concern surrounding functional impairment is legitimate considering the severity of this type of impairment among patients with schizophrenia (Slide 16). Approximately 10% of patients work full time and only one third work part time. In addition, <10% of male patients with schizophrenia have a child, and self-care deficit is reflected in high rates of medical comorbidity.
Continuous bed motion Vs. step-and-shoot acquisition on clinical whole-body dynamic and parametric PET imaging

Continuous bed motion (CBM) has been recently introduced in the clinic as an alternative PET acquisition mode with respect to the traditional time-discretized step-and-shoot (SS) multi-bed acquisitions. In CBM mode, each slice can be considered as a different bed, since it is scanned over a different acquisition window. By reducing scan time discretization from a whole bed down to a single slice, the CBM acquisition offers additional degrees of freedom when designing acquisition protocols and thus larger margins for their optimization. Therefore, CBM mode could be particularly important for protocols of higher complexity, such as whole-body (WB) dynamic PET acquisitions. However, only a few studies have quantitatively validated the 2 modes on clinical data. In this work, we evaluate CBM vs. SS quantitative performance on a set of clinical data acquired over a 0-60min period using a WB dynamic PET acquisition protocol with a Biograph mCT TOF scanner. The TOF resolution (580ps) of the scanner allowed selecting faster CBM speeds (4.2mm/sec) and equivalent SS frames (30sec/bed), eventually permitting acquisition of 12 WB total passes of which half were performed in CBM mode and half in SS mode. The two modes were alternated between successive passes to allow a balanced interleaving of post-injection time between them to ensure an objective comparison. The evaluation of the 2 modes in terms of target-to-background (TBR) contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) has been conducted for various noise levels by gradually adding all respective passes from each mode as well as in the parametric images after applying post-reconstruction WB Patlak analysis. Our results indicate a bias of ~10% between the 2 modes for the low count frames, reducing to <;3% as we gradually add all respective frames. In addition, a small bias of <;10% was observed in Patlak images at overlapped slices between beds, which is attributed to the non-uniformity of the axial sensitivity profile of SS mode.
Memory Transformation and Systems Consolidation

Abstract With time and experience, memories undergo a process of reorganization that involves different neuronal networks, known as systems consolidation. The traditional view, as articulated in standard consolidation theory (SCT), is that (episodic and semantic) memories initially depend on the hippocampus, but eventually become consolidated in their original forms in other brain regions. In this study, we review the main principles of SCT and report evidence from the neuropsychological literature that would not be predicted by this theory. By comparison, the evidence supports an alternative account, the transformation hypothesis, whose central premise is that changes in neural representation in systems consolidation are accompanied by corresponding changes in the nature of the memory. According to this view, hippocampally dependent, episodic, or context-specific memories transform into semantic or gist-like versions that are represented in extra-hippocampal structures. To the extent that episodic memories are retained, they will continue to require the hippocampus, but the hippocampus is not needed for the retrieval of semantic memories. The transformation hypothesis emphasizes the dynamic nature of memory, as well as the underlying functional and neural interactions that must be taken into account in a comprehensive theory of memory. (JINS, 2011, 17, 766–780)
Quasi-periodic state and transition to turbulence in a rotating Couette system

An experimental study of flow transition in a rotating Taylor–Couette system was made by investigating the spatio–temporal velocity field (axial velocity component) by the ultrasonic Doppler method. The flow fields for the range of Reynolds numbers 9<R*<40 (where R*=R/Rc; Rc is the critical Reynolds number for Taylor vortex flow) were decomposed by two-dimensional Fourier transform and the orthogonal decomposition technique, and intensities of coherent structural modes were quantitatively obtained. The variation of the intensities of various modes with respect to Reynolds number clearly shows a transition behaviour of the quasi-periodic state resulting from the wavy vortex mode and the modulating waves, which is found to disappear suddenly at about R*=21. A new mode was found after the disappearance of the quasi-periodic state, which in turn disappears at R*=36. Beyond this regime, there was no coherent structure found except for the stationary Taylor vortices and so-called broad-band component, which is attributed to chaos. The total energy occupation (the number of modes which occupy 90% of the total energy) and the global entropy support such transition behaviour quantitatively. After the disappearance of the newly found mode, the number of modes needed to compose the velocity field is still finite and small – about 40–50. We call this flow state ‘soft turbulence’.
Validation of the Zebrafish Pentylenetetrazol Seizure Model: Locomotor versus Electrographic Responses to Antiepileptic Drugs

Zebrafish have recently emerged as an attractive in vivo model for epilepsy. Seven-day-old zebrafish larvae exposed to the GABAA antagonist pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) exhibit increased locomotor activity, seizure-like behavior, and epileptiform electrographic activity. A previous study showed that 12 out of 13 antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) suppressed PTZ-mediated increases in larval movement, indicating the potential utility of zebrafish as a high-throughput in vivo model for AED discovery. However, a question remained as to whether an AED-induced decrease in locomotion is truly indicative of anticonvulsant activity, as some drugs may impair larval movement through other mechanisms such as general toxicity or sedation. We therefore carried out a study in PTZ-treated zebrafish larvae, to directly compare the ability of AEDs to inhibit seizure-like behavioral manifestations with their capacity to suppress epileptiform electrographic activity. We re-tested the 13 AEDs of which 12 were previously reported to inhibit convulsions in the larval movement tracking assay, administering concentrations that did not, on their own, impair locomotion. In parallel, we carried out open-field recordings on larval brains after treatment with each AED. For the majority of AEDs we obtained the same response in both the behavioral and electrographic assays. Overall our data correlate well with those reported in the literature for acute rodent PTZ tests, indicating that the larval zebrafish brain is more discriminatory than previously thought in its response to AEDs with different modes of action. Our results underscore the validity of using the zebrafish larval locomotor assay as a rapid first-pass screening tool in assessing the anticonvulsant and/or proconvulsant activity of compounds, but also highlight the importance of performing adequate validation when using in vivo models.
Vertical Ozone Gradients above Forests. Comparison of Different Calculation Options with Direct Ozone Measurements above a Mature Forest and Consequences for Ozone Risk Assessment

The estimation of the ozone (O3) stomatal dose absorbed by a forest is a crucial step for O3 risk assessment. For this purpose, data on O3 concentrations at the forest top-canopy are needed. However, O3 is barely measured at that height, while more often it is measured at a lower height above a different surface, typically a grassland near to the forest edge. The DO3SE model for O3 stomatal flux calculation estimates the top-canopy O3 concentration in near neutral stability conditions. However, near-neutrality is quite rare in the field, particularly in southern Europe. In this work, we present a modification of the DO3SE gradient calculation scheme to include the atmospheric stability. The performance of the new calculation scheme was tested against the direct measurements above a mature forest. Different gradient estimation options were also tested and evaluated. These options include simplified gradient calculation schemes and the techniques of the tabulated gradients described in the UN/ECE Mapping Manual for O3 risk assessment. The results highlight that the inclusion of the atmospheric stability in the DO3SE model greatly improves the accuracy of the stomatal dose estimation. However, the simpler technique of the tabulated gradients had the best performance on a whole-season time frame.