Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The operative learning curve for vestibular schwannoma excision via the retrosigmoid approach

The results of 127 operations for vestibular schwannomata via the retrosigmoid approach performed by a single surgeon over a 24-year period are examined. Facial nerve preservation and function, morbidity and mortality were recorded prospectively for three consecutive 8-year periods to assess the effect of increasing surgical experience on outcome. Rates of facial nerve preservation and good function (House grade I & II) improved over the study period. This reached statistical significance for medium-sized tumours, indicating that the effect was independent of tumour size, whose distribution varied through the series. Improvements occurred independently in the ability to preserve the nerve and its function. Analysis of the percentage of good facial nerve outcomes achieved over time indicated that the improvements occurred mainly between the 40th and 100th cases. Overall mortality was 3% and there were no deaths in the final time period. The implications of these findings for patient care and surgical training are discussed.
Ultrasonic Birefringence Measurements of Elastic Anisotropy in Fatigue Damaged Brass, Copper and Aluminum Alloys

Texture produced by sheet rolling operations results in elastic anisotropy that can be measured using ultrasonic, shear wave birefringence measurements. Preferred grain orientation produces elastic modulus variations that affect ultrasonic modes propagating in various directions relative to the rolling direction. Variations in ultrasonic wave polarization relative to the rolling direction can also affect wavespeed. By fixing the propagation direction and altering wave polarization, birefringence measurements can be made. Aligned microcracking is also known to produce elastic anisotropy in materials. If these types of fields are produced during controlled fatigue loading, then shear wave birefringence techniques might be used to assess fatigue damage. Texture models indicate that shear modulus will change as a function of angle relative to the rolling direction and can be directly converted to wavespeed, such that in brass we expect a greater than 4% change in shear wavespeed as a function of polarization angle. In this work, we present shear wave birefringence measurement results on unfatigued and fatigue damaged materials assessing modulus and anisotropy variations. For these measurements, a laser line source has been used to generate longitudinal and shear waves that are detected in the through-thickness direction of rolled plate material using a Michelson-type path-stabilized interferometer allowing for high-fidelity recording of ultrasonic arrivals. The line source controls generation of particular shear polarization states in the ultrasonic pulse. We will present results for as-received and fatigued rolled sheets of brass, copper, and an aluminum alloy (2024-T351).
Tibial eminentia avulsion fracture in children - a systematic review of the current literature.

INTRODUCTION Tibial eminentia avulsion fracture is the paediatric equivalent to a midsubstance anterior cruciate ligament injury. It is most common between the ages of 8 and 19 years of age. The incidence is three per 100,000 per year. We explored the clinical evaluation and classification of the fracture, indications for and methods of surgery and the possible sequelae. METHODS We performed a systematic search in the PubMed database and retrieved 127 articles. A total of 16 articles met the defined inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Only studies on adolescents were included. RESULTS No prospective studies were found. The Meyers & McKeever and Zaricznyj classifications were commonly used, also when evaluating fractures for surgery. X-ray in three views is often sufficient to establish a diagnosis, but computed topographies can be necessary to further evaluate the type of fracture. There is disagreement as to whether a type II-fracture needs surgery. The method of fixation varies greatly between different kinds of suture techniques and screw fixations, but arthroscopic surgery is preferred in the most recent literature. Whether to cross the physis when fixating the fracture is also a matter of dis-agreement, but there is a lack of literature on the subject. All authors describe low rates of subjective sequelae. CONCLUSION Arthroscopic surgery is less invasive and allows for earlier mobilisation than other techniques. Pull-out suture seems to be a recommendable technique. There is a lack of literature on transphyseal fixation and a need for prospective studies evaluating the many different surgical techniques described and the indications for surgery.
Serum IgG from Catabolism Marrow-Derived Cells Functions to Protect Neonatal FcR Expression in Bone

The neonatal FcR (FcRn) is a receptor that protects IgG from catabolism and is important in maintaining high serum Ab levels. A major site of expression of FcRn is vascular endothelial cells where FcRn functions to extend the serum persistence of IgG by recycling internalized IgG back to the surface. Because FcRn is expressed in other tissues, it is unclear whether endothelial cells are the only site of IgG protection. In this study, we used FcRn-deﬁcient mice and speciﬁc antiserum to determine the tissue distribution of FcRn in the adult mouse. In addition to its expression in the vascular endothelium of several organs, we found FcRn to be highly expressed in bone marrow-derived cells and professional APCs in different tissues. Experiments using bone marrow chimeras showed that FcRn expression in these cells acted to signiﬁcantly extend the half-life of serum IgG indicating that in addition to the vascular endothelium, bone marrow-derived phagocytic cells are a major site of IgG homeostasis. The Journal of Immunology, 2007, 179: 4580–4588. ef-ﬁcacy.
The Clinical Efficacy of Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma Combined with Ultra-Pulsed Fractional CO2 Laser Therapy for Facial Rejuvenation

Abstract Ultra-pulsed fractional CO2 laser is an efficient, precise, and safe therapeutic intervention for skin refreshing, although accompanied with prolonged edema and erythema. In recent years, autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been proven to promote wound and soft tissue healing and collagen regeneration. To investigate whether the combination of PRP and ultra-pulsed fractional CO2 laser had a synergistic effect on therapy for facial rejuvenation. Totally, 13 facial aging females were treated with ultra-pulsed fractional CO2 laser. One side of the face was randomly selected as experimental group and injected with PRP, the other side acted as the control group and was injected with physiological saline at the same dose. Comprehensive assessment of clinical efficacy was performed by satisfaction scores, dermatologists' double-blind evaluation and the VISIA skin analysis system. After treatment for 3 months, subjective scores of facial wrinkles, skin texture, and skin elasticity were higher than that in the control group. Similarly, improvement of skin wrinkles, texture, and tightness in the experimental group was better compared with the control group. Additionally, the total duration of erythema, edema, and crusting was decreased, in the experimental group compared with the control group. PRP combined with ultra-pulsed fractional CO2 laser had a synergistic effect on facial rejuvenation, shortening duration of side effects, and promoting better therapeutic effect.
The Exocyst at a Glance

ABSTRACT The exocyst is an octameric protein complex that is implicated in the tethering of secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane prior to SNARE-mediated fusion. Spatial and temporal control of exocytosis through the exocyst has a crucial role in a number of physiological processes, such as morphogenesis, cell cycle progression, primary ciliogenesis, cell migration and tumor invasion. In this Cell Science at a Glance poster article, we summarize recent works on the molecular organization, function and regulation of the exocyst complex, as they provide rationales to the involvement of this complex in such a diverse array of cellular processes. Summary: The octameric exocyst complex is implicated in vesicle tethering during exocytosis. Recent works from different fields have revealed its role beyond membrane trafficking.
Treatment of Peripapillary Choroidal Neovascularization with Intravitreal Bevacizumab

Purpose Peripapillary choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is an uncommon condition and often shows a growth tendency towards the fovea during spontaneous progression that threatens visual acuity. Treatment of peripapillary CNV is difficult. The authors report results of intravitreal bevacizumab therapy for peripapillary CNV. Methods Four patients with CNV located in the temporal or superior peripapillary area received intravitreal bevacizumab injections. Ophthalmologic examinations including OCT were performed at baseline and at 6-week intervals. Fluorescein angiography was performed at baseline and depending on clinical and OCT findings. The mean follow-up was 34±20 (22–69) weeks. Results The patients received an average of 3.5±3.1 (1–8) injections. In all patients fluorescein angiography showed inactivation of peripapillary CNV. No further increase in size was observed in any of the patients. The OCT showed a decrease of intraretinal and subretinal fluid. No intraocular or systemic side effects were observed. Conclusions In this series of patients, intravitreal bevacizumab appears to be efficacious. A progression of peripapillary CNV could be prevented in all patients and the lesion was successfully inactivated. Anti-VEGF treatment with bevacizumab represents a promising therapy option for peripapillary CNV.
Qualitative research, psychology and mental health: analysing subjectivity

This paper explores the role of qualitative research (1) in psychology for informing the practice and research of mental health professionals. It is argued that mental health practice benefits from small-scale in-depth studies as an integral component of practitioners' broader repertoires of research-based knowledge. The strengths of a qualitative psychological approach for analysing human subjectivity are emphasised as pivotal to mental health (i.e. individuals' sense of self, experience and the meaning of their worlds). The key position of such data for explaining mental health issues is demonstrated using both reference to research and theory and examples from original qualitative data.
Track-Following Control Design and Implementation for Hard Disk Drives with Missing Samples

Abstract Missing position-error-signal sampling data in hard disk drives (HDDs) results in their servo systems having irregular sampling rates. Due to the natural periodicity of HDDs, which is related to the disk rotation, HDD servo systems with missing samples can be modeled as linear periodically time-varying (LPTV) systems. Based on previous H ∞ control synthesis results for general LPTV systems developed by some of the authors, an optimal H ∞ track-following control algorithm for HDD servo systems with missing samples is proposed. A simulation and implementation study, which has been carried out on a set of hard disk drives, demonstrates that the proposed control synthesis algorithm is able to handle missing samples and can be used to achieve the robust performance of a desired error rejection function for disturbance attenuation. Implementation results on multiple real hard disk drives validate the predicted robust performance.
Urban conservation in China: Historical development, current practice and morphological approach

Relatively little has been written about urban conservation in China, despite the fact that it is facing great challenges in both research and practice. It developed from a focus on individual sites and structures in the early 1920s to a concern with entire historic cities and sizeable historical areas within cities by the end of the twentieth century. A major defect, however, is that morphogenetic and analytical approaches are largely lacking. Conservation of individual buildings is poorly connected to appreciation of the wider historico-geographical environments in which those buildings are located. A morphological approach of a type developed by M. R. G. Conzen, hitherto largely limited in its application to Europe, provides a means of rectifying this defect. This approach is illustrated by an examination of a historical area in Beijing. It demonstrates the way in which an understanding of urban areas as historico-geographical entities can strengthen the theoretical basis of conservation.
Computational Modeling and Numerical Methods for Spatiotemporal Calcium Cycling in Ventricular Myocytes

Intracellular calcium (Ca) cycling dynamics in cardiac myocytes is regulated by a complex network of spatially distributed organelles, such as sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), mitochondria, and myofibrils. In this study, we present a mathematical model of intracellular Ca cycling and numerical and computational methods for computer simulations. The model consists of a coupled Ca release unit (CRU) network, which includes a SR domain and a myoplasm domain. Each CRU contains 10 L-type Ca channels and 100 ryanodine receptor channels, with individual channels simulated stochastically using a variant of Gillespie’s method, modified here to handle time-dependent transition rates. Both the SR domain and the myoplasm domain in each CRU are modeled by 5 × 5 × 5 voxels to maintain proper Ca diffusion. Advanced numerical algorithms implemented on graphical processing units were used for fast computational simulations. For a myocyte containing 100 × 20 × 10 CRUs, a 1-s heart time simulation takes about 10 min of machine time on a single NVIDIA Tesla C2050. Examples of simulated Ca cycling dynamics, such as Ca sparks, Ca waves, and Ca alternans, are shown.
Provable data plane connectivity with local fast failover: introducing openflow graph algorithms

Modern software-defined networks support the implementation of in-network failover mechanisms: mechanisms to quickly re-establish connectivity in the data plane without the interaction of the software controller. Interestingly, however, not much is known today about how to make use of these mechanisms. This paper shows a very strong result: there exist failover implementations for OpenFlow that achieve a maximal robustness, in the sense that connectivity is always ensured as long as the underlying physical network is connected. In particular, we show that the problem of computing failover tables is related to graph search, and present three different algorithms achieving different tradeoffs, in terms of the number of required failover rules, the number of tags, as well as the resulting path lengths. Our work can also be seen as a first attempt to implement classic graph algorithms in OpenFlow.
A multigrid solver for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on a Beowulf-class system

This paper presents an efficient parallel multigrid solver for speeding up the computation of a 3-D model that treats the flow of a viscous fluid over a solid obstacle. From a numerical point of view, the main interest of this simulation lies in exhibiting some basic difficulties that prevent optimal multigrid efficiencies from being achieved. As the computing platform we have used Coral, a Beowulf-class system based on a high performance GigaNet cLAN interconnect and Dual Pentium III nodes. The solver which has been devised taking both algorithmic and architectural issues into account, not only attains good convergence rates, but also achieves satisfactory efficiencies on the target cluster.
The Long-Term Effects of Small Classes: A Five-Year Follow-Up of the Tennessee Class Size Experiment

Reduction of class size to increase academic achievement is a policy option that is currently of great interest. Although the results of small-scale randomized experiments and some interpretations of large-scale econometric studies point to positive effects of small classes, the evidence has been seen by some scholars as ambiguous. Project STAR in Tennessee, a 4-year, large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size, provided persuasive evidence that small classes had immediate effects on academic achievement. However, it was not clear whether these effects would persist over time as the children returned to classes of regular size or would fade, as have the effects of most other early education interventions. This article reports analyses of a 5-year follow-up of the students in that experiment. The analyses described here suggest that class size effects persist for at least 5 years and remain large enough to be important for educational policy. Thus, small classes in early grades appear to have lasting benefits.
Emotion in Children's Play and Creative Problem Solving

Theoretically, pretend play facilitates cognitive and affective processes important in creativity. Expression of affect states and affect-laden fantasy are affective processes common to both play and creativity. This study investigated the effect of instructing children to engage in happy or angry play on affect in play and on divergent thinking. Eighty 1st- and 2nd-grade children were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups. It was hypothesized that children in the happy and angry puppet play groups would have more affect in their play and that their mood would be congruent with the play instruction. It was also hypothesized that children in the happy and angry groups would have higher divergent thinking scores than children in the free-play and puzzle conditions. One major finding was that children in the angry play group had more expression of negative affect in their play and more self-reported negative mood than children in the other groups. There were no differences among the experimental groups in divergent thinking. However, self-reported mood during the play and puzzle tasks was significantly associated with originality of the divergent thinking responses. Children who experienced more affect as opposed to feeling neutral gave more original responses. The major conclusion of the study is that the play paradigm can be used to study affective processes in children.
The Theoretical Research Article as a Reflection of Disciplinary Practices: The Case of Pure Mathematics.

Recent years have seen an interest in the generic structure of empirical research articles across a variety of disciplines. However, significantly less attention has been given to theoretical articles. This study aims to begin to address this imbalance by presenting the results of an investigation into the organizational and rhetorical structure of theoretical pure mathematics research articles. The data set combines a close analysis of 22 peer-reviewed articles and semi-structured interviews with their authors. While there is considerable variation in terms of the major section headings and content, the results reveal an overall structure that differs from a typical empirical research article. We argue that this alternative structure is produced by the dual argumentation—mathematical and meta-mathematical—which runs throughout the text. Moreover, triangulation with the interview data indicates that the structural patterns of the theoretical pure mathematics research article can be viewed as a reflection of the research practices and epistemology of the discipline.
CROSS-CORRELATION WEAK LENSING OF SDSS GALAXY CLUSTERS. III. MASS-TO-LIGHT RATIOS

We present measurements of the excess mass-to-light ratio (M/L) measured around MaxBCG galaxy clusters observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This red-sequence cluster sample includes objects from small groups with M200 ∼ 5 × 1012 h−1 M☉ to clusters with M200 ∼ 1015 h−1 M☉. Using cross-correlation weak lensing, we measure the excess mass density profile above the universal mean for clusters in bins of richness and optical luminosity. We also measure the excess luminosity density measured in the z = 0.25 i band. For both mass and light, we de-project the profiles to produce three-dimensional mass and light profiles over scales from 25 h−1 kpc to 22 h−1 Mpc. From these profiles we calculate the cumulative excess mass ΔM(r) and excess light ΔL(r) as a function of separation from the BCG. On small scales, where , the integrated mass-to-light profile (ΔM/ΔL)(r) may be interpreted as the cluster M/L. We find the (ΔM/ΔL)200, the M/L within r200, scales with cluster mass as a power law with index 0.33 ± 0.02. On large scales, where , the ΔM/ΔL approaches an asymptotic value independent of cluster richness. For small groups, the mean (ΔM/ΔL)200 is much smaller than the asymptotic value, while for large clusters (ΔM/ΔL)200 is consistent with the asymptotic value. This asymptotic value should be proportional to the mean M/L of the universe 〈M/L〉. We find 〈M/L〉b−2M/L = 362 ± 54h (statistical). There is additional uncertainty in the overall calibration at the ∼10% level. The parameter b2M/L is primarily a function of the bias of the L ≲ L* galaxies used as light tracers, and should be of order unity. Multiplying by the luminosity density in the same bandpass we find Ωmb−2M/L = 0.20 ± 0.03, independent of the Hubble parameter.
Precipitating factors in pituitary apoplexy

Pituitary apoplexy is a rare but life threatening condition caused by sudden haemorrhage or infarction of the pituitary gland. Potential precipitating factors in the occurrence of acute pituitary apoplexy in 30 consecutive patients were identified and compared with the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with and without associated factors. Six patients had a previously known pituitary adenoma. All patients complained of severe headaches, associated with neuro-ophthalmological symptoms and signs in 83% and altered mental status in 30%. Potential risk factors were identified in nine patients (30%). When there was an associated factor, the clinical presentation was no different than in patients without such factors although altered mental status may be more frequent in patients with associated diseases. In these patients, the visual prognosis was worse and the diagnosis was more difficult to establish. Acute pituitary apoplexy is unpredictable and should be considered in any patient with abrupt neuro-ophthalmological deterioration associated with headache. Patients with pituitary apoplexy often have an associated disease that confounds recognition and treatment despite a typical presentation.
Evidence for the Involvement of VAR2CSA in Pregnancy-associated Malaria

In Plasmodium falciparum–endemic areas, pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is an important health problem. The condition is precipitated by accumulation of parasite-infected erythrocytes (IEs) in the placenta, and this process is mediated by parasite-encoded variant surface antigens (VSA) binding to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA). Parasites causing PAM express unique VSA types, VSAPAM, which can be serologically classified as sex specific and parity dependent. It is sex specific because men from malaria-endemic areas do not develop VSAPAM antibodies; it is parity dependent because women acquire anti-VSAPAM immunoglobulin (Ig) G as a function of parity. Previously, it was shown that transcription of var2csa is up-regulated in placental parasites and parasites selected for CSA binding. Here, we show the following: (a) that VAR2CSA is expressed on the surface of CSA-selected IEs; (b) that VAR2CSA is recognized by endemic plasma in a sex-specific and parity-dependent manner; (c) that high anti-VAR2CSA IgG levels can be found in pregnant women from both West and East Africa; and (d) that women with high plasma levels of anti-VAR2CSA IgG give birth to markedly heavier babies and have a much lower risk of delivering low birth weight children than women with low levels.