Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Reliability of Post-Tetanic Motor-Evoked Potential Monitoring During Spinal Surgery Under General Anesthesia

Study Design. A prospective research. Objective. Compare the reliability of post-tetanic motor-evoked potential (p-MEP) monitoring in the detection of motor injury during spinal surgery with that of conventional MEP (c-MEP). Summary of Background Data. Myogenic MEPs are sensitive to suppression by anesthetics and neuromuscular blockade. Recently, we reported a new technique for MEP recording, called “p-MEP” in which MEP amplitude can be enlarged by tetanic stimulation of peripheral nerve before transcranial stimulation in comparison with that of c-MEP. The purpose of this study is to compare the reliability of p-MEP monitoring in the detection of motor injury during spinal surgery with that of c-MEP. Methods. Eighty patients undergoing elective spinal surgery were enrolled in the study. Both c-MEP and p-MEP monitoring were performed throughout the operation in each patient. For recording c-MEPs, transcranial electrical train of five pulses stimulation with an interstimulus interval of 2 milliseconds was performed and compound muscle action potentials were bilaterally recorded from abductor pollicis brevis, abductor hallucis, tibialis anterior, and soleus muscles. For recording p-MEPs, tetanic stimulation (50 Hz, 50 mA, 5 sec) was applied to the left median nerve and bilateral tibial nerves 1 second before transcranial stimulation and compound muscle action potentials were recorded from the same muscles. The false positive, false negative, and accuracy of MEP monitoring in the detection of change in motor function were compared between p-MEP and c-MEP. Results. At the baseline, success rates of baseline c-MEP and p-MEP recording were 66.3% (53/80) and 92.5% (74/80), respectively. The false positive, false negative, and accuracy of p-MEP monitoring were 0%, 0%, and 100%, respectively, whereas c-MEP were 4%, 20%, and 95%, respectively. Conclusion. The results indicate that p-MEP is a more reliable method to detect changes in motor function during spinal surgery under general anesthesia in comparison with c-MEP.
Ongoing improvement in outcomes for patients diagnosed as having Non-Hodgkin lymphoma from the 1990s to the early 21st century.

BACKGROUND Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the most common hematologic malignant neoplasm in adults. We use the novel technique of period analysis to disclose the most recent trends in survival among adults diagnosed as having NHL on the population level with minimum delay. METHODS We estimated trends in 5- and 10-year relative survival in patients 15 years or older diagnosed as having NHL in the United States between 1990 and 2004 using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. We also estimated survival by age, location and histologic type of the tumor, sex, and race to further elucidate trends in survival in this disease. RESULTS Overall, 5-year relative survival increased from 50.4% to 66.8%, and 10-year relative survival increased from 39.4% to 56.3% between 1990-1992 and 2002-2004. Improvements were most pronounced in patients younger than 45 years (+26.8 and +27.1 percentage points for 5- and 10-year survival, respectively), but improvements were seen in all age groups, in both sexes, in both nodal and extranodal disease, and in both low-grade and high-grade disease. Improvements in prognosis were less in black patients than in white patients, especially in younger black patients. CONCLUSIONS Our period analysis discloses a strongly improved outlook for patients diagnosed as having NHL in recent years. Changes in treatment of the disease and a decrease in the number of human immunodeficiency virus-related NHL cases attributable to highly active antiretroviral therapy are probably primarily responsible for these improvements.
Sparse Empirical Bayes Analysis (SEBA)

We consider a joint processing of $n$ independent sparse regression problems. Each is based on a sample $(y_{i1},x_{i1}). ,(y_{im},x_{im})$ of $m$ \iid observations from $y_{i1}=x_{i1}\t\beta_i+\eps_{i1}$, $y_{i1}\in \R$, $x_{i 1}\in\R^p$, $i=1,. ,n$, and $\eps_{i1}\dist N(0,\sig^2)$, say. $p$ is large enough so that the empirical risk minimizer is not consistent. We consider three possible extensions of the lasso estimator to deal with this problem, the lassoes, the group lasso and the RING lasso, each utilizing a different assumption how these problems are related. For each estimator we give a Bayesian interpretation, and we present both persistency analysis and non-asymptotic error bounds based on restricted eigenvalue - type assumptions.
A randomized, phase II study of afatinib versus cetuximab in metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck†

Afatinib, an oral irreversible ErbB family blocker, showed comparable activity to cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in this phase II trial. Further, sequential EGFR/ErbB treatment provided sustained clinical benefit in some patients, suggesting a lack of cross-resistance.
Cork stoppers industry: defining appropriate mould colonization.

AIMS The main aims of this work were the study of cork slabs moulds colonization and the evaluation of the moulds diversity during cork processing steps, in different cork stoppers factories. Simultaneously, it was envisaged to perform an evaluation of the air quality. METHODS AND RESULTS Moulds were isolated and identified from cork slabs and cork samples in four cork stoppers factories. The identification was based on morphological characters and microscopic observation of the reproductive structures. Airborne spore dispersion was assessed using a two stage Andersen sampler. It was observed that Chrysonilia sitophila was always present on cork slabs during the maturing period, but mould diversity appeared to be associated to the different factory configurations and processing steps. CONCLUSIONS Spatial separation of the different steps of the process, including physical separation of the maturation step, is essential to guarantee high air quality and appropriate cork slabs colonization, i.e. C. sitophila dominance. The sorting and cutting of the edges of cork slabs after boiling and before the maturing step is also recommended. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY This study is very important for the cork stopper industry as it gives clear indications on how to keep high quality manufacturing standards and how to avoid occupational health problems.
A Field Study on University Enrolment: The Intentions of Prospective Students

We study the university choice of prospective students using a unique dataset enriched with “lab-in-the-field” experiments aimed at eliciting risk and time preferences of students. Controlling for assortative mating, we find that father's rather than mother's education is significantly associated with the likelihood of children's enrolment in university indicating that the intergenerational transmission of human capital is mainly channelled through the father's education. Family possessions, as measured by homeownership, are positively associated with the likelihood of children's enrolment, while parental income has a small impact on this choice. This result suggests that in our sample there is equal access to university irrespective of short-time family liquidity constraints. We also find that economic preference parameters, such as risk and time preferences, account for a small part of the prospect of enrolling in university, while subjective expectations, effort and school ability of children are strong predictors of future schooling investment. In addition, through a counterfactual analysis, sports activities among children appear to increase the university enrolment rate. Our findings provide helpful directions for decision-makers to attract talented students to tertiary education.
Phylogenetic Analysis of Conservation Priorities for Aquatic Mammals and Their Terrestrial Relatives, with a Comparison of Methods

Background Habitat loss and overexploitation are among the primary factors threatening populations of many mammal species. Recently, aquatic mammals have been highlighted as particularly vulnerable. Here we test (1) if aquatic mammals emerge as more phylogenetically urgent conservation priorities than their terrestrial relatives, and (2) if high priority species are receiving sufficient conservation effort. We also compare results among some phylogenetic conservation methods. Methodology/Principal Findings A phylogenetic analysis of conservation priorities for all 620 species of Cetartiodactyla and Carnivora, including most aquatic mammals. Conservation priority ranking of aquatic versus terrestrial species is approximately proportional to their diversity. However, nearly all obligated freshwater cetartiodactylans are among the top conservation priority species. Further, ∼74% and 40% of fully aquatic cetartiodactylans and carnivores, respectively, are either threatened or data deficient, more so than their terrestrial relatives. Strikingly, only 3% of all ‘high priority’ species are thought to be stable. An overwhelming 97% of these species thus either show decreasing population trends (87%) or are insufficiently known (10%). Furthermore, a disproportional number of highly evolutionarily distinct species are experiencing population decline, thus, such species should be closely monitored even if not currently threatened. Comparison among methods reveals that exact species ranking differs considerably among methods, nevertheless, most top priority species consistently rank high under any method. While we here favor one approach, we also suggest that a consensus approach may be useful when methods disagree. Conclusions/Significance These results reinforce prior findings, suggesting there is an urgent need to gather basic conservation data for aquatic mammals, and special conservation focus is needed on those confined to freshwater. That evolutionarily distinct—and thus ‘biodiverse’—species are faring relatively poorly is alarming and requires further study. Our results offer a detailed guide to phylogeny-based conservation prioritization for these two orders.
CHANGING SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY AT SAP AG

The ISO 9000 quality standards, the Capability Maturity Model, and several other guidelines give recommendations to conduct software process improvement. Software process improvement usually requires considerable changes of technological and managerial tasks in software development. However, the guidelines do not provide detailed prescriptions of how to accomplish the change process. Little is known about how efforts to change software development are actually conducted. This paper describes findings of a case study into efforts to change software development at SAP, a leading software company. The case study explores general characteristics of change projects at SAP. It also identifies seven factors that distinguish successful from less successful change efforts at SAP. We compare the findings of the case study with recommendations to accomplish the change process given in the ISO 9000 quality standards. The findings may be helpful for future research into changing software development. They may also provide interesting insights for other companies aiming at software process improvement.
The development of reasoning heuristics in autism and in typical development

Kinga Ella Morsanyi: The development of reasoning heuristics in autism and in typical development. Reasoning and judgment under uncertainty are often based on a limited number of simplifying heuristics rather than formal logic or rule-based argumentation. Heuristics are low-effort mental shortcuts, which save time and effort, and usually result in accurate judgment, but they can also lead to systematic errors and biases when applied inappropriately. In the past 40 years hundreds of papers have been published on the topic of heuristics and biases in judgment and decision making. However, we still know surprisingly little about the development and the cognitive underpinnings of heuristics and biases. The main aim of my thesis is to examine these questions. Another aim is to evaluate the applicability of dual-process theories of reasoning to the development of reasoning. Dual-process theories claim that there are two types of process underlying higher order reasoning: fast, automatic, and effortless (Type 1) processes (which are usually associated with the use of reasoning heuristics), and slow, conscious and effortful (Type 2) processes (which are usually associated with rule-based reasoning). This thesis presents eight experiments which investigated the development of reasoning heuristics in three different populations: typically developing children and adolescents between the age of 5 and 16, adolescents with autism, and university students. Although heuristic reasoning is supposed to be basic, simple, and effortless, we have found evidence that responses that are usually attributed to heuristic processes are positively correlated with cognitive capacity in the case of young children (even after controlling for the effects of age). Moreover, we have found that adolescents with autism are less susceptible to a number of reasoning heuristics than typically developing children. Finally, III our experiments with university students provided evidence that education in statistics increases the likelihood of the inappropriate use of a certain heuristic (the equiprobability bias). These results offer a novel insight into the development of reasoning heuristics. Additionally, they have interesting implications for dual-process theories of reasoning, and they can also inform the debates about the rationality of reasoning heuristics and biases.
HES6 drives a critical AR transcriptional programme to induce castration-resistant prostate cancer through activation of an E2F1-mediated cell cycle network

Castrate‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is poorly characterized and heterogeneous and while the androgen receptor (AR) is of singular importance, other factors such as c‐Myc and the E2F family also play a role in later stage disease. HES6 is a transcription co‐factor associated with stem cell characteristics in neural tissue. Here we show that HES6 is up‐regulated in aggressive human prostate cancer and drives castration‐resistant tumour growth in the absence of ligand binding by enhancing the transcriptional activity of the AR, which is preferentially directed to a regulatory network enriched for transcription factors such as E2F1. In the clinical setting, we have uncovered a HES6‐associated signature that predicts poor outcome in prostate cancer, which can be pharmacologically targeted by inhibition of PLK1 with restoration of sensitivity to castration. We have therefore shown for the first time the critical role of HES6 in the development of CRPC and identified its potential in patient‐specific therapeutic strategies.
Biomarkers of inflammation in HIV-infected Peruvian men and women before and during suppressive antiretroviral therapy

Objective:Inflammatory biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease are elevated in HIV-infected persons. These biomarkers improve with antiretroviral therapy (ART) but do not normalize to values observed in HIV-uninfected adults. Little is known regarding biomarkers of inflammation in HIV-infected Peruvians, in whom an increased burden of infectious diseases may exacerbate inflammation, and women, in whom sex difference may alter inflammation compared with men. Methods:Peruvians initiating first-line ART were enrolled in a prospective observational study. Individuals with suppression of HIV RNA plasma loads to less than 30 copies/ml when determined quarterly over 24 months of ART, had biomarkers of inflammation and cellular activation measured pre-ART and at 24-months of ART, and evaluated for associations with sex and clinical parameters. Results:Pre-ART high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) values of men were in the high-risk cardiovascular disease category (>3.0 mg/l) more frequently compared with women (P = 0.02); most women's values were in the low/average-risk categories. At 24 months of suppressive ART, hsCRP concentrations decreased in men (P = 0.03), but tended to increase in women, such that the proportion with high-risk hsCRP did not differ by sex. Pre-ART, soluble CD163 concentrations were higher in women compared with men (P = 0.02), and remained higher after 24 months of suppressive ART (P = 0.02). All other inflammatory biomarkers (P < 0.03) decreased across sexes. Biomarker concentrations were not associated with BMI or coinfections. Conclusion:Elevated inflammatory biomarkers persisted despite 24 months of suppressive ART in a subset of Peruvians, and to a greater extent in women compared with men. These findings suggest that lifestyle or pharmacologic interventions may be required to optimize the health of HIV-infected Peruvians, particularly women.
Exploring early attachments and maladaptive schemas injuvenile sexual offenders

Little research has been conducted when looking at the causes of juvenile sexual offending. This thesis attempted to highlight some of the gaps within the literature in this area by identifying whether developmental factors play an important role in juvenile sexual offending. This thesis includes a systematic review and review of a psychometric tool, in addition to both an individual case study and a research paper. The research compared two groups of juvenile sex offenders, those who offend against children and those who offend against adults/peers to identify differences on their maladaptive schemas and early attachment to parent and/or caregivers. Results indicated that all juvenile sexual abusers reported insecure attachment styles. Child abusers were mostly associated with a fearful attachment style whereas peer abusers were mostly associated with a dismissive attachment style. Those with a fearful attachment style reported significantly higher scores on the subjugation and self-sacrifice schemas. Furthermore, child abusers endorsed higher scores on the enmeshment, subjugation, insufficient self-control and self-sacrifice schemas. Further qualitative and quantitative research is recommended to develop these findings.
Automatic Classification of Musical Genres Using Inter-Genre Similarity

Musical genre classification is an essential tool for music information retrieval systems and it has potential to become a highly demanded application in various media platforms. Two important problems of the automatic musical genre classification are feature extraction and classifier design. In this letter, we propose two novel classifiers using inter-genre similarity (IGS) modeling and investigate the use of dynamic timbral texture features in order to improve automatic musical genre classification performance. Inter-genre similarity is modeled over hard-to-classify samples of the musical genre feature space. In the classification, samples within inter-genre similarity class are eliminated to reduce inter-genre confusion and to improve genre classification performance. Experimental results show that the proposed classifiers provide better classification rates than the existing methods.
A Case Study Investigating Teachers' Knowledge and Implementation of Response to Intervention

A Case Study Investigating Teachers’ Knowledge and Implementation of Response to Intervention by Regina Sims MA, Prairie View AM additionally they all conveyed that they needed more support from administrators, access to prescribed resources, and consistent guidelines in program implementation. A white paper was developed to inform the local district on RTI implementation challenges and provide recommendations for improvement. This study impacts social change by providing administrators and educators with information that could improve implementation practices and result in better understanding of RTI. A Case Study Investigating Teachers’ Knowledge and Implementation of Response to Intervention
Risk Factors Associated with Indeterminate Gamma Interferon Responses in the Assessment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in a High-Incidence Environment

ABSTRACT The performance of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRA) in the detection of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection is limited by the higher rates of indeterminate results in HIV-infected persons, who bear the brunt of TB disease in some high-burden settings. The objective of the study was to evaluate predictors of indeterminate IGRA results in the overall study population and in HIV-infected persons. The study setting is Khayelitsha, an informal township in the Western Cape of South Africa, with a high burden of TB and HIV infection. A total of 561 asymptomatic persons were recruited from the day hospital and youth centers. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic information, and blood tests, including CD4 counting and a 7-day in-house IGRA, were performed. The overall prevalence of indeterminate IGRA results was 8.6% (48/561), and this was higher in HIV-infected than in HIV-uninfected persons (11.5% [38/330] versus 4.3% [10/231], respectively; P = 0.003). In the overall study population, predictors of indeterminate IGRA results were the presence of HIV infection (odds ratio [OR], 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10 to 5.08) and the presence of a Mycobacterium bovis BCG scar (OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.23 to 5.01). Long-term township residents were significantly less likely to have indeterminate results than recent migrants (OR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.80). Among HIV-infected persons, participants with CD4 counts of >200 cells/mm3 and long-term residents were significantly less likely to have indeterminate IGRA results (OR of 0.21 with a 95% CI of 0.09 to 0.48 and OR of 0.22 with a 95% CI of 0.07 to 0.68, respectively). We evaluated risk factors for indeterminate IGRA results and report a higher rate of indeterminate results among HIV-infected persons, particularly those with lower CD4 counts. Of note, a recent move to the township was associated with a higher risk of indeterminate IGRA results.
Clinical studies with and pharmacokinetic considerations of sustained‐release levodopa

Although levodopa is the most effective antiparkinson agent yet available, strategies for improving the constancy of levodopa delivery to the brain are sometimes needed to optimize its actions. Its most common formulation is Sinemet, a combination of levodopa and carbidopa. Conventional Sinemet is absorbed and metabolized over 3 to 4 hours; however, Sinemet CR, a sustained-release preparation of 200 mg of levodopa and 50 mg of carbidopa, offers a duration of effect almost double that of Sinemet 25/100. In an 8-week trial with 25 parkinsonian patients, those treated with Sinemet CR required fewer daily doses than with the conventional Sinemet formulation and experienced improved “on” times (although improvements were not evident in all motor-fluctuation situations). The best therapeutic strategy may be a combination of the two Sinemet preparations, conventional Sinemet 25/100 as a booster dose and Sinemet CR for more sustained effect.
Myelopathy Due to Degenerative and Structural Spine Diseases

Purpose of Review:This article reviews the current evaluation and treatment of patients with myelopathy due to cervical spondylotic disease and other structural disorders of the spine. Recent Findings:In patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy, symptom duration, severity at baseline, and possibly age have been identified as key prognostic markers of clinical course and postsurgical outcome. Other potential markers include specific MRI and EMG findings. The diagnosis and monitoring of syringomyelia is enhanced by the addition of phase contrast MRI, which evaluates CSF flow dynamics. Flexion MRI is helpful in establishing the diagnosis of Hirayama disease, which is now attributed to a tightened dural sac that is displaced anteriorly on neck flexion, compressing the cord. Summary:Advances in neuroimaging along with new insights into the pathophysiology of structural spine diseases can help guide clinical decision making and optimize patient outcomes.