Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Osteoarthritis of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and Medial Tibial Plateau: A Cadaveric Study

The objective of this study was to analyze morphometric anatomy and damages with aging in cadaveric knee specimens specific to the cruciate ligaments, the articular cartilage of the tibial plateau, and the menisci. Morphometric analyses to cadaveric anatomy of the knee were performed using Image-Pro® software on 3 age populations: <70 years old, 70 to 79 years old, and ≥80 years old. An average thickness of the cruciate ligaments was assessed with 5 circumferential measurements per specimen using nylon thread. Percent degeneration of the tibial plateau’s articular cartilage and coverage by menisci was assessed with surface area measurements. The articular cartilage of the medial tibial plateau in ≥80 years old specimens showed a 1.7-fold increase in surface area degeneration (mm2) compared to 70 to 79 years old specimens (P < 0.05). The medial meniscus also experienced degenerative changes with aging, which were expressed as decreases in tibial plateau coverage. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) experienced substantial degenerative thinning with aging. The 70 to 79 years old specimens had a 1.2-fold (10.5%) decrease in average ACL circumference (mm) compared to the <70 years old specimens (P < 0.001). The ≥80 years old specimens had a 1.24-fold (19%) decrease in ACL circumference compared to the <70 years old specimens (P < 0.001). ACL thinning during aging may be leading to substantial articular cartilage and menisci degeneration given the cruciate ligaments are a primary restraint that combats shearing forces at the knee joint.
Optical flow based odometry for mobile robots supported by multiple sensors and sensor fusion

This paper introduces an optical flow based odometry solution for indoor mobile robots. The indoor localization of mobile robots is an important issue according to the increasing mobile robot market and the needs of the industrial, service and consumer electronics sectors. The robot odometry calculated from the robot kinematics accumulates the position error caused by the wheel slip but an optical flow based measurement is independent from wheel slipping so both methods have different credibility which was considered during the sensor fusion and the development. The focus of the research was to design an embedded system with high accuracy on the possibly lowest price to serve the needs of the consumer electronics sector without the need of expensive camera and real-time embedded computer based high level robot localization solutions. The paper proposes the theoretical background, the implementation and the experimental results as well. The universal optical flow module can be implemented in any kind of indoor mobile robot to measure the position and the orientation of the robot during the motion, even in the case of a 3 DoF holonomic drive like kiwi drive. The application of omnidirectional wheels in mobile robotics requires high accurate position and orientation feedback methods contrary to differential drives.
Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy: A review of current trends

Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in the formation of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and gastric cancer. Eradication of H. Pylori has been recommended as treatment and prevention for these complications. This review is based on a search of Medline, the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, and citation lists of relevant publications. Subject heading and key words used include H. Pylori, current treatment and emerging therapy. Only articles in English were included. There has been a substantial decline in the H. pylori eradication rates over the years, despite the use of proton pump inhibitor and bismuth salts for triple and quadruple therapies respectively. The reasons for eradication failure are diverse, among them, antibiotic resistance is an important factor in the treatment failure. Primary resistance to clarithromycin or metronidazole significantly affects the efficacy of eradication therapy. This has led to the introduction of second line, third line “rescue,” and sequential therapies for resistant cases. Subsequently, new antibiotic combinations with proton-pump inhibitors and bismuth salts are being studied in the last decade, to find out the antibiotics that are capable of increasing the eradication rates. Some of these antibiotics include Levofloxacin, Doxycycline, Rifaximin, Rifampicin, Furazolidone based therapies. Studies are ongoing to determine the efficacy of Lactoferrin based therapy.
Routing through a dense channel with minimum total wire length

Abstract We present a new efficient channel routing algorithm in the knock-knee mode. Most investigations in the past were concerned only with the solution of the layout problem but especially if no or only few boundary points are free, the resulting layout contains a lot of wires making unnecessarily long detours. Our algorithm (I) routes every solvable channel routing problem; (2) uses minimum area; (3) runs in time linear in the size of the routing area; and (4) produces a layout with minimum total wire length if the channel is dense, i.e., all upper and lower boundary points are occupied by starting or ending wires. We also modify our algorithm in order to guarantee that every single wire has at most twice its minimum length.
Effects of body mass index and tilt angle on output of two wearable activity monitors.

UNLABELLED Accelerometer-based activity monitors have been used to provide objective measures of physical activity and energy expenditure (EE) in free-living individuals. However, output from these devices has not been compared among normal, overweight, and obese individuals. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of body mass index (BMI) and device tilt angle on activity counts recorded by wearable monitors in a controlled laboratory setting. A secondary aim was to examine the effects of these variables on estimated EE. METHODS Seventy-one healthy adults wore an Actical and an ActiGraph GT1M on the right and left hip, respectively, while walking at 40, 67, and 94 m·min. EE was measured by indirect calorimetry and compared with estimated values using published equations. Three-way repeated-measures ANOVA were used to examine differences in outcome variables (activity counts and EE) between speeds, BMI, and tilt angle for each device. RESULTS No significant differences in activity counts were observed among BMI categories for either the Actical or ActiGraph (P>0.05). For the Actical, however, among those with an absolute tilt angle <10°, the obese group recorded higher activity counts than the normal weight group (P=0.01). Using the Heil two-regression model, the Actical overestimated EE by up to 35% at the intermediate speed and up to 12% at the fastest speed (P<0.001). The Freedson METs regression equation yielded closer estimates of EE than the Freedson kilocalorie regression equation. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that the Actical has limitations when comparing individuals with varying BMI and tilt angles in a controlled laboratory environment. The ActiGraph seems to be a more suitable device for making these comparisons.
The Relationship Between OREF Grants and Future NIH Funding Success

Background: The Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) is the leading specialty-specific nongovernmental organization providing orthopaedic funding in the United States. As extramural research funding has become increasingly difficult to acquire, one mission of the OREF is to support investigators to generate data needed to secure larger extramural funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The objectives of this study were to evaluate the rate of translating OREF faculty-level grants into subsequent NIH funding and to determine if there are identifiable factors that increase the rate of converting an OREF grant into NIH funding. Methods: This is a retrospective review of OREF grants awarded to full-time faculty orthopaedic surgeons between 1994 and 2014. Grants were analyzed on the basis of award type and were categorized as basic science, clinical, or epidemiological. Sex, individual scholarly productivity, and publication experience were evaluated. All awardees were assessed for subsequent NIH funding using the NIH RePORTER web site. Results: One hundred and twenty-six faculty-level OREF grants were awarded to 121 individuals. Twenty-seven OREF grant awardees (22%) received NIH funding at a mean of 6.3 years after OREF funding. Nineteen (46%) of 41 Career Development Grant winners later received NIH funding compared with 10 (12%) of 85 other award winners. OREF grants for basic science projects were awarded more often (58%) and were more than 4 times as likely to result in NIH funding than non-basic science projects (odds ratio, 4.70 [95% confidence interval, 1.66 to 13.33]; p = 0.0036). Faculty who later received NIH funding had higher scholarly productivity and publication experience (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The OREF grant awardee conversion rate of 22% and, particularly, the 46% for Career Development Grant winners compares favorably with the overall NIH funding success rate (18% in 2014). Faculty-level OREF grants appear to achieve their purpose of identifying and supporting researchers who aim to secure subsequent federal funding. Clinical Relevance: The goal of this study is to examine how successful faculty who have obtained OREF grants have been in securing NIH funding later in their careers. Although subsequent accrual of NIH funding is not the only goal of OREF funding, it can be used as an important benchmark to assess the development of orthopaedic clinician-scientists.
Monoallelic ABCC8 mutations are a common cause of diazoxide‐unresponsive diffuse form of congenital hyperinsulinism

ABCC8 encodes a subunit of the β‐cell potassium channel (KATP) whose loss of function is responsible for congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). Patients with two recessive mutations of ABCC8 typically have severe diffuse forms of CHI unresponsive to diazoxide. Some dominant ABCC8 mutations are responsible for a subset of diffuse diazoxide‐unresponsive forms of CHI. We report the analysis of 21 different ABCC8 mutations identified in 25 probands with diazoxide‐unresponsive diffuse CHI and carrying a single mutation in ABCC8. Nine missense ABCC8 mutations were subjected to in vitro expression studies testing traffic efficiency and responses of mutant channels to activation by MgADP and diazoxide. Eight of the 9 missense mutations exhibited normal trafficking. Seven of the 8 mutants reaching the plasma membrane had dramatically reduced response to MgADP or to diazoxide (<10% of wild‐type response). In our cohort, dominant KATP mutations account for 22% of the children with diffuse unresponsive‐diazoxide CHI. Their clinical phenotype being indistinguishable from that of children with focal CHI and diffuse CHI forms due to two recessive KATP mutations, we show that functional testing is essential to make the most reliable diagnosis and offer appropriate genetic counseling.
Positive versus negative effects of VEGF165 on Ca2+ signaling and NO production in human endothelial cells.

The role increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays in vascular function during normal vs. preeclamptic pregnancy has been a source of some controversy of late. In this study, we seek to understand how VEGF165 influences vasodilator production via Ca2+ signaling mechanisms in human endothelial cells. We utilize human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) as well as intact ex vivo human umbilical vein (HUV Endo) to address direct stimulation of Ca2+ and NO by VEGF165 alone, as well as the effect of VEGF165 on subsequent ATP-stimulated Ca2+ signaling and NO production. We show that VEGF165 stimulates Ca2+ responses in both HUVEC and HUV Endo, which results in a corresponding increase in NO production in HUV Endo. Longer-term VEGF165 pretreatment then inhibits sustained Ca2+ burst responses to ATP in HUVEC and HUV Endo. This is paralleled by a corresponding drop in ATP-stimulated NO production in HUV Endo, likely through inhibition of Cx43 gap-junction function. Thus, although VEGF165 makes a small initial positive impact on vasodilator production via direct stimulation of Ca2+ responses, this is outweighed by the greater subsequent negative impact on Ca2+ bursts and vasodilator production promoted by more potent agonists such as ATP. Overall, elevated levels of VEGF165 associated with preeclampsia could contribute to the endothelial dysfunction by preventing Ca2+ bursts to other agonists including but not limited to ATP. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this manuscript, we show that VEGF levels associated with preeclampsia are a net negative contributor to potential vasodilator production in both a human ex vivo and in vitro endothelial cell model. Therefore, pharmacological targeting of VEGF-stimulated signaling pathways could be a novel treatment modality for preeclampsia-related hypertension.
Designing eco-feedback systems for everyday life

Eco-feedback systems currently frame householders as micro-resource managers, who weigh up the costs and benefits of their consumption, and make autonomous, rational and efficient decisions. Reporting on findings from a qualitative study of three Australian energy and water eco-feedback programs utilising an in-home display (IHD) system, this paper challenges this view. The research finds that householders consume energy and water to carry out everyday practices, such as showering, laundering and cooling, which are mediated by social, cultural, technical and institutional dynamics. The paper proposes an alternative design paradigm for eco-feedback systems premised on the realities of everyday life and identifies several design directions that emerge from this new starting point.
Investigating unfairness scenarios in MANET using 802.11b

An experimental study of MANET using 802.11b has shown that there exist several configurations where this standard does not guarantee fairness for the channel access. In this paper, we investigate the performance of the WiFi protocol in such configurations using the analytical modelling technique PEPA. The proposed model appears to be generic as it can be used to model any mobile node implementing this protocol. To provide a better understanding of such a problem we analyse the protocol behaviour and evaluate its cost in terms of medium utilisation and throughput for the communicating pairs. The results obtained are compared to simulation results.
Childhood socioeconomic factors and perinatal characteristics influence development of rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES), but the reasons for this are not known. Objectives To examine childhood SES measures, SES trajectory and other perinatal factors in relation to RA. Methods The sample included 50 884 women, aged 35–74 (84% non-Hispanic white) enrolled 2004–9 in a US national cohort study. In baseline questionnaires, cases (N=424, 0.8%) reported RA diagnosis after age 16, ever use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or steroids for RA and ≥6 weeks bilateral joint swelling. Childhood SES measures are presented as OR and 95% CI adjusted for age and race/ethnicity. Analyses of perinatal factors also adjusted for childhood SES, and joint effects of childhood and adult SES and smoking exposures were evaluated. Results Patients with RA reported lower childhood household education (<12 years vs college degree; OR=1.7; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.5), food insecurity (OR=1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.0) and young maternal age (<20 vs 20–34 years; OR=1.7, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.5), with a trend (p<0.0001) for increasing number of adverse factors (OR=3.0; 95% CI 1.3 to 7.0; 4 vs 0 factors) compared with non-cases. Low birth weight (<2500 g) and preconception paternal smoking were independently associated with RA. Together, lower childhood SES and adult education (<college degree) were associated with RA (interaction p=0.03), with a joint effect magnitude similar to a history of paternal and adult smoking. Conclusions RA was associated with low childhood SES sustained into adulthood, with cumulative effects across multiple measures, suggesting the importance of other unmeasured factors linking SES and RA.
Acute transverse myelitis and antiphospholipid antibodies in lupus. No evidence for anticoagulation

Current views suggest that prothrombotic properties of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) have a role in the development of acute transverse myelitis (ATM) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Consequently, empiric anticoagulation may be included in these patients’ treatment. We performed a systemic review of the literature to explore the clinical value of the presence of aPL in patients with lupus myelitis and the possible effectiveness of anticoagulation. We analyzed clinical and laboratory data extracted from published cases of SLE‐associated ATM, fulfilling the Transverse Myelitis Consortium Working Group diagnostic criteria, that provided information on aPL. We report on a total of 70 patients. aPL, detected upon ATM onset in 54% of patients, neither predicted the involvement of the thoracic part of the spine, which has been postulated to reflect a predominantly thrombosis‐induced injury, nor correlated with relapsing ATM, additional lupus CNS manifestations, or worse clinical outcome. An unfavorable outcome could be predicted by paralysis (P = 0.02) and abnormal CSF findings at presentation (P = 0.02). Whilst all patients received major immunosuppressive regimens, severe neurologic impairment (estimated Expanded Disability Status Scale score>7) was found primarily in aPL‐negative patients (P = 0.03). Anticoagulation was more frequently applied in aPL‐positive patients (P = 0.04), but any additional therapeutic effect was not evident. Detection of circulating aPL at ATM onset appears unreliable to suggest a thrombotic cause and perhaps not enough to dictate therapeutic anticoagulation. Registry creation of ATM in patients with SLE is needed to obtain more definite answers on the role of aPL in this condition.
Characterization of the Blue–Light‐Activated Adenylyl Cyclase mPAC by Flash Photolysis and FTIR Spectroscopy

The recently discovered photo‐activated adenylyl cyclase (mPAC from Microcoleus chthonoplastes) is the first PAC that owes a light‐, oxygen‐ and voltage‐sensitive (LOV) domain for blue‐light sensing. The photoreaction of the mPAC receptor was studied by time‐resolved UV/vis and light‐induced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) absorption difference spectroscopy. The photocycle comprises of the typical triplet state LOV715 and the thio‐adduct state LOV390. While the adduct state decays with a time constant of 8 s, the lifetime of the triplet state is with 656 ns significantly shorter than in all other reported LOV domains. The light‐induced FTIR difference spectrum shows the typical bands of the LOV390 and LOV450 intermediates. The negative S‐H stretching vibration at 2573 cm−1 is asymmetric suggesting two rotamer configurations of the protonated side chain of C194. A positive band at 3632 cm−1 is observed, which is assigned to an internal water molecule. In contrast to other LOV domains, mPAC exhibits a second positive feature at 3674 cm−1 which is due to the O‐H stretch of a second intrinsic water molecule and the side chain of Y476. We conclude that the latter might be involved in the dimerization of the cyclase domain which is crucial for ATP binding.
Production of sinus arrest by lignocaine.

In recent years lignocaine has become increasingly important as an antiarrhythmic drug, both in arrhythmias occurring after acute myocardial infarction and in those related to cardiac surgery. Its greatest effect is seen on ventricular extrasystoles and in ventricular tachycardia (Hitchcock and Keown, 1959; Frieden, 1965). Not much has been said about the effect on the sinus node, but its frequency of discharge is reported to be little reduced with ordinary dosages (1-4 mg/kg) (Harrison et al., 1963; Hayes et al., 1967; Killip, 1968). In animal experiments it is difficult to produce sinoatrial block with lignocaine (Hitchcock and Keown, 1959). The effect of lignocaine in the "sick sinus syndrome" has not been reported previously. This condition is described by Lown (1967) as a defect in elaboration or conduction of sinus impulses characterized by chaotic atrial activity, changing P-wave contour, and bradycardia, interspersed with multiple and recurrent ectopic beats, with runs of atrial and nodal tachycardia. Accordingly, the clinical symptoms are often multiple and changing, and result from hypoperfusion of vital organs (Ferrer, 1968). The sick sinus syndrome can be produced by a variety of pathological lesions and functional disturbances which lead to sinus node dysfunction (Marton and Lippestad, 1969). Theoretically it is possible that lignocaine has the same effect as many other drugs-that is, of aggravating an injury on the sinus node or, alternatively, revealing a latent injury (James, 1961). The following report illustrates this point.
Molecular epidemiology of HBV infection in chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients in northeast India

The present study aimed to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of HBV in chronic HBV infected cases from northeast India (NEI), since scanty data are available from the region which has a predominant ethnically distinct tribal population. A total of 523 clinically diagnosed index chronic HBV infected cases and 172 asymptomatic patients (based on family screening) were enrolled with informed consent. Patients were stratified based on serology, imaging, pathology, and clinical data and grouped as chronic HBV and cirrhotic cohorts. Analysis for serum HBV DNA levels and HBV genotyping was performed, and was statistically co‐related with disease severity. Males were more prone to chronic HBV infection. Majority of the patients who had Chronic HBV infection based on family screening were females (59.88%), majorly wives of index patients. Mean viral load in Chronic HBV patients was almost 4.5‐folds higher than cirrhosis patients, and was significantly associated with e‐antigen positive status(P < 0.001) in both groups. HBV genotype D was the most prevalent genotype (62.30%) in NEI. Mixed genotype infection of A + D was found from Assam, along with C + D cases (1.29%) cumulatively. There is a high prevalence of HBV genotype C (13.96%) in our studied cohort which was found to be associated with higher viral load(P = 0.018), e‐antigen positivity(P = 0.043), and increased cirrhosis risk compared to Chronic HBV cases [OR = 1.670]. Family contacts in NEI are prone to infection with HBV and development of Chronic HBV. Higher presence of e‐positive cases and genotype C along with the mixed genotypes in NEI is unique and of significance with reference to predisposition to disease severity and even response to antiviral therapy. J. Med. Virol. 87:1539–1548, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.