Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconstruction of the pediatric maxilla and mandible.

BACKGROUND The creation of osseous defects in the upper and lower jaws in children is an uncommon occurrence. It is therefore likely that a head and neck reconstructive surgeon will accumulate only limited experience in restoring such defects. We have reviewed 7 pediatric bone-containing microvascular free flap reconstructions in 6 patients for reconstruction of the upper or lower jaws. Three patients were available for long-term follow-up to evaluate the effect of osseous free flap reconstruction on function and growth and development of the donor site. DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING Academic tertiary referral center for otolaryngology. PATIENTS AND METHODS Six pediatric patients ranging in age from 8 to 16 years underwent 2 fibular, 4 scapular, and 1 iliac free flap procedure for restoration of 2 maxillary and 5 mandibular defects from 1992 to 1997. Three of the 6 patients were available for long-term follow-up to assess the postoperative donor site function in an effort to determine the effect of this surgery on long-term donor site morbidity and development. RESULTS Two patients were lost to follow-up, and 1 died secondary to complications related to distant metastatic disease. Three of 6 patients were observed for 2 years 6 months, 4 years, and 4 years 2 months, respectively. Two of the 3 patients who were observed long term have undergone full dental rehabilitation and currently maintain a regular diet and deny pain with mastication or deglutition. One patient did not require dental rehabilitation. All 3 patients demonstrate gross facial symmetry and normal dental occlusion. Assessment of the fibular donor site demonstrated normal limb length and circumference. The patients denied pain or restriction to recreational activity. Scapular donor sites demonstrated normal range of motion, strength, and shoulder stability. CONCLUSIONS Free flap reconstruction of the pediatric maxilla and mandible requires harvesting bone from actively growing donor sites. We have found no evidence of functional deficit after bone harvest from the fibular or scapular donor sites. Patients demonstrate normal growth at the donor sites, and symmetry of the mandible and maxilla is preserved.
Renal vascular disease in neurofibromatosis type 2: association or coincidence?

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) remains a challenging diagnosis in childhood where there may be no neurological involvement. A 12‐month‐old male in whom NF2 was suspected because of characteristic ophthalmological and cutaneous lesions is reported. Cranial MRI showed no tumours. A pathogenic mutation was identified on NF2 gene analysis. The child developed hypertension due to renal vascular disease. Although renal vascular disease is a recognized complication of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), it has not been reported in NF2.
Adult Sibling Bereavement

Adult sibling loss is a slowly growing area of bereavement research interest. The importance of the adult sibling bond is becoming more widely recognized and the consequences of this type of loss are slowly coming to light. The purpose of this article is to present a review of current literature related to adult sibling loss and then to explicate the factors that influence reactions to sibling loss and the consequences, both psychological and somatic, that befall surviving siblings. Support recommendations and avenues for future research will also be addressed.
Delay Analysis of Distributed Reservation Protocol with UWB Shadowing Channel for WPAN

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is expected to provide high data rate services for future wireless personal area networks (WPANs). The WiMedia Alliance recently has launched its standard for UWB-based WPANs, where the distributed reservation protocol (DRP) is specified to allow the channel time being reserved in a distributed manner. In view of the urgent need of using DRP to support high data rate multimedia applications, we investigate the delay performance of DRP in this paper. Since the negotiation of channel time is fully distributed without centralized coordination, the reserved channel time may be non-evenly spaced. In addition, the channel dynamics due to shadowing that is notable in indoor environments can greatly affect the protocol performance. In this paper, we study the delay performance of DRP under different reservation patterns and take into account the dynamics of UWB shadowing channel. The system is modeled as a discrete-time single server queue with vacation, which can be represented by the quasi-birth and death (QBD) process and solved by the well-established matrix-geometric approach. We use numerical results to validate the accuracy of the mathematical modeling. The proposed analytical model can be useful to understand the actual performance of DRP, thereby further performance improvement can be guided.
The Mexicans in the News: Representation of Mexican Immigrants in the Internet News Media

Using critical discourse analysis, this study examined news media's representation of Mexican immigrants. Sixty articles were analyzed from the Internet sites of ABC, CBS, and NBC news to uncover the ways in which Mexican immigrants and their stories are represented in the news articles and the kinds of discursive strategies used to create the articulations. The analysis of the articles focused on a variety of discursive strategies such as topicalization, omission, register, connotation, individuation versus collectivization in verbal and visual components of the articles. The analysis led to the emergence of 5 tones by which the online network news portray Mexican immigrants – empathetic, sympathetic, informative, impersonal, and opposing. The article discusses these tones in detail and in comparison to previous studies of news media representation of immigrants. It concludes with implications of problematic representations that were recurrent in the news articles.
Clarifying the Developmental Perspective in Response to Carta, Schwartz, Atwater, and McConnell

A reaction to Carta, Schwartz, Atwater, and McConnell (1991) is given to shed light on the meaning of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) for early childhood education (ECE) and for early childhood special education (ECSE). Evidence is offered that nondirective instructional models are indeed beneficial in early childhood and that, moreover, they are effective and workable with special needs children. DAP is viewed as a working hypothesis and as a continuous variable, not as a dichotomous variable. Areas of needed work are suggested to further identify and articulate the relationships between the two sister disciplines of ECE and ECSE.
What Works in School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs for Positive Youth Development

Two challenges for researchers of school-based action are to identify effective approaches to prevent problem behaviors and promote positive youth development and to support the widespread implementation and sustainability of evidence-based preschool through high school practice. In this article, the authors describe integrated social, emotional, and academic education as a useful framework for conceptualizing school-based positive youth development programming. We then review findings from selected exemplary studies and research syntheses to support this perspective. We conclude with guidelines for implementing integrated social, emotional, and academic learning programs.
Bioaccessibility and Cellular Uptake of β-Carotene Encapsulated in Model O/W Emulsions: Influence of Initial Droplet Size and Emulsifiers

The effects of the initial emulsion structure (droplet size and emulsifier) on the properties of β-carotene-loaded emulsions and the bioavailability of β-carotene after passing through simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) digestion were investigated. Exposure to GIT significantly changed the droplet size, surface charge and composition of all emulsions, and these changes were dependent on their initial droplet size and the emulsifiers used. Whey protein isolate (WPI)-stabilized emulsion showed the highest β-carotene bioaccessibility, while sodium caseinate (SCN)-stabilized emulsion showed the highest cellular uptake of β-carotene. The bioavailability of emulsion-encapsulated β-carotene based on the results of bioaccessibility and cellular uptake showed the same order with the results of cellular uptake being SCN > TW80 > WPI. An inconsistency between the results of bioaccessibility and bioavailability was observed, indicating that the cellular uptake assay is necessary for a reliable evaluation of the bioavailability of emulsion-encapsulated compounds. The findings in this study contribute to a better understanding of the correlation between emulsion structure and the digestive fate of emulsion-encapsulated nutrients, which make it possible to achieve controlled or potential targeted delivery of nutrients by designing the structure of emulsion-based carriers.
Inheritance of progeny sex ratio in Urtica dioica

Seed samples collected from female Urtica dioica plants in the field showed considerable inter‐family variation in the sex ratio (faction of males). To investigate the inheritance pattern of the sex ratio trait, crosses were performed between individual male and female plants from different sex ratio families. Our results suggest, at least for the families studied here, that maternal parents strongly contribute to the variation in the primary sex ratio. Furthermore, progeny sex ratios from reciprocal crosses were significantly different and resembled the sex ratios produced by their maternal parents. We discuss the possible mechanisms underlying maternal control.
Phonological Mediation and Semantic and Orthographic Factors in Silent Reading in French

The objectives of this series of 3 studies were (a) to evaluate whether French-speaking children mainly use phonological mediation in the first stage of reading acquisition in a silent-reading task and (b) to examine the role of phonological processing in the construction of the orthographic lexicon. Forty-eight French children were followed from kindergarten to the end of Grade 2. Their phonological skills were assessed using a semantic categorization task with homophone and visual foils (Study 1); their orthographic skills were assessed using a choice task involving a correct exemplar, a homophone, and a visual foil (Study 2). In the semantic categorization task, the differences between the visual and homophone foils increased with time, as the homophone foils were more and more likely to be chosen. In the orthographic choice task, performance improved with time, but errors were more likely to involve homophone foils. The results obtained by two subgroups of children who differed in their level of ortho.
Glutamatergic Innervation of the Heart Initiates Retrograde Contractions in Adult Drosophila melanogaster

The adult abdominal heart of Drosophila melanogaster receives extensive innervation from glutamatergic neurons at specific cardiac regions during metamorphosis. Here, we show that the neurons form presynaptic specializations, as indicated by the localization of synaptotagmin and active zone markers, adjacent to postsynaptic sites that have aggregates of glutamate IIA receptors. To determine the role of this innervation in cardiac function, we developed an optical technique, based on the movement of green fluorescent protein-labeled nerve terminals, to monitor heart beat in intact and semi-intact preparations. Simultaneous monitoring of adjacent cardiac chambers revealed the direction of contractions and allowed correlation with volume changes. The cardiac cycle is composed of an anterograde beat in alternation with a retrograde beat, which correlate respectively with systole and diastole of this multichambered heart. The periodic change in hemolymph direction is referred to as cardiac reversal. Intracellular recordings from muscles of the first abdominal cardiac chamber, the conical chamber, revealed pacemaker action potentials and the excitatory effect of local glutamate application, which initiated retrograde contractions in semi-intact preparations. Unilateral electrical stimulation of the transverse nerve containing the glutamatergic neuron that serves the conical chamber caused a chronotropic effect and initiation of retrograde contractions. This effect is distinct from that of peripheral crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) neurons, which potentiate the anterograde beat. Cardiac reversal was evoked pharmacologically by sequentially applying CCAP and glutamate to the heart.
Relationship of household food insecurity to anaemia in children aged 6–59 months among families in rural Indonesia

Abstract Background: Anaemia is a significant global public health problem in developing countries with adverse health effects on young children. Household food insecurity, which reflects a household’s access, availability and utilisation of food, has not been well characterised in relation to anaemia in children. Objective: To examine the relationship of household food insecurity with anaemia (Hb <11 g/dl) in children. Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 4940 rural households participating in the Indonesian Nutrition Surveillance System, household food insecurity was measured using a modified 9-item food security questionnaire and related to anaemia in children aged 6–59 months. Results: The proportion of households with an anaemic child was 56·6%. In households with and without anaemic children, the mean (SD) food insecurity score was 1·82 (1·72) vs 1·55 (1·54) (p<0·0001), respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression model, food insecurity score was related to anaemia in children (odds ratio 0·77, 95% confidence interval 0·63–0·95, p = 0·01) when the highest quintile of food insecurity score was compared with the lowest quintile, adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusion: A higher household food insecurity score is associated with greater prevalence of anaemia in children in rural families in Indonesia.
Quantification of glomerular number and size distribution in normal rat kidneys using magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND Glomerular number and size are important risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease and have traditionally been estimated using invasive techniques. Here, we report a novel technique to count and size every glomerulus in the rat kidney using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS The ferromagnetic nature of cationized ferritin allowed visualization of single glomeruli in high-resolution susceptibility-weighted MRI. A segmentation algorithm was used to identify and count all glomeruli within the whole kidney. To prove our concept, we estimated total glomerular number and mean glomerular volume of each kidney using design-based stereology. RESULTS The glomerular counts obtained with MRI agreed well with estimates obtained using traditional methods [MRI, 32 785 (3117); stereology, 35 132 (3123)]. For the first time, the glomerular volume distribution for the entire kidney is shown. Additionally, the method is substantially faster than the current methods. CONCLUSIONS MRI provides a new method for measuring these important microanatomical markers of disease risk and leads the way to in vivo analysis of these parameters, including longitudinal studies of animal models of CKD.
Cyclical and causal patterns of inflation and GDP growth

Empirical foundations for the view that high inflation impairs GDP growth are examined using annual data for 115 countries over the period 1960–1995. Taking into account country heterogeneity and time-specific symmetric shocks, as well as endogeneity of inflation and dynamics of GDP growth, dynamic panel-data models of the effects of inflation on growth are estimated. No evidence is found supporting the view that inflation is in general harmful to GDP growth. On the other hand, there is a negative correlation between contemporaneous intra-country inflation and growth for periods characterized by positive oil-price shocks.
TITLE : FoxP 3 Functions as a Novel Breast Cancer Suppressor Gene Through Cooperation with NFAT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR :

FOXP3 is inactivated in breast cancer cells by a number of mechanisms, including somatic mutations, deletion, and epigenetic silencing. Because the mutation and deletion are usually heterozygous in the cancer samples, it is of interest to determine whether the gene can be induced for the purpose of cancer therapy. Here, we report that anisomycin, a potent activator of activating transcription factor (ATF) 2, and c-Jun-NH2-kinase, induces expression of FoxP3 in both normal and malignant mammary epithelial cells. The induction is mediated by ATF2 and c-Jun. Targeted mutation of ATF2 abrogates both constitutive and inducible expression of FoxP3 in normal epithelial cells. Both ATF2 and c-Jun interact with a novel enhancer in the intron 1 of the FoxP3 locus. Moreover, shRNA silencing of ATF2 and FoxP3 reveals an important role of ATF2-FoxP3 pathway in the anisomycininduced apoptosis of breast cancer cells. A low dose of anisomycin was also remarkably effective in treating established mammary tumor in the mice. Our data showed that FoxP3 can be reactivated for cancer therapy. [Cancer Res 2009;69(14):5954–60]
Can heart rate variability biofeedback mitigate the negative consequences of a social comparison challenge

The present study sought to explore the ability of a single session of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV BF) to mitigate the negative responses to a social comparison challenge. One hundred and fourteen undergraduate females were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: high-HRV BF, low-HRV BF, and no-BF. Following a single 15-min BF session, whereby they followed their assigned instructional set, participants viewed fashion magazine images while instructed to compare themselves to the models based on appearance characteristics. Consistent with previous findings, the social comparison challenge increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction across the sample as a whole. The effect of the social comparison challenge on negative mood was moderated by dispositional body concerns, with those higher on this dimension experiencing greater negative mood after viewing the images. In addition, time spent engaged in social comparison processing was related to more negative responses. The main finding indicated that HRV BF was not effective in reducing negative reactions for the average participant; however, resting HRV moderated the effectiveness of the intervention. Specifically, those with low intrinsic HRV benefitted the most from the HRV BF and experienced the least negative mood reactivity in response to the images. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to the social comparison literature as well as to the future implementation and application of HRV BF.
Impact of Gender Stereotype on Secondary School Students’ Self-Concept and Academic Achievement

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of gender stereotype as a predictor of secondary school students’ self-concept and academic achievement. The study was guided by four purposes, four research questions, and four hypotheses. The study adopted ex post facto design. The research sample was drawn from eight government/public senior secondary schools in Udi education zone. Nine schools were randomly selected from the 227 schools. A total of 342 senior secondary II school (SSII) students made up the sample of the study. A 20-item students’ stereotype self-concept questionnaire (SSSCQ) was adapted from Marsh’s Self Descriptive Questionnaire II (SDQII), and a 10-item students’ mathematics achievement test (SMAT) was developed by the researchers after reviewing related literature. This was done with the help of experts in the areas. The instruments were face and content validated and used for the collection of data. In analyzing the data, mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while a t test was used in testing the four hypotheses. The findings of the study indicate that gender stereotype has significant influence on students’ self-concept and academic achievement in favor of the male students. On the other hand, school location has significant influence on academic achievement of students but has no significant influence on students’ self-concept.
TEMPORAL VARIATION AT THE MHC CLASS IIB IN WILD POPULATIONS OF THE GUPPY (POECILIA RETICULATA)

Understanding genetic diversity in natural populations is a fundamental objective of evolutionary biology. The immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are excellent candidates to study such diversity because they are highly polymorphic in populations. Although balancing selection may be responsible for maintaining diversity at these functionally important loci, temporal variation in selection pressure has rarely been examined. We examine temporal variation in MHC class IIB diversity in nine guppy (Poecilia reticulata) populations over two years. We found that five of the populations changed significantly more at the MHC than at neutral (microsatellite) loci as measured by FST, which suggests that the change at the MHC was due to selection and not neutral processes. Additionally, pairwise population differentiation measures at the MHC were higher in 2007 than in 2006, with the signature of selection changing from homogenizing to diversifying selection or neutral evolution. Interestingly, within the populations the magnitude of the change at the MHC between years was related to the change in the proportion of individuals infected by a common parasite, indicating a link between genetic structure and the parasite. Our data thereby implicate temporal variation in selective pressure as an important mechanism maintaining diversity at the MHC in wild populations.
Adolescent Alcohol and Marijuana Consumption: Is There Really a Gateway Effect?

This research analyzes the contemporaneous and intertemporal relationship between the demands for alcohol and marijuana by youths and young adults. A general theory of multi-commodity habit formation is developed and tested using data from the 1983-1984 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. An Adjusted Tobit specification is employed for estimating the empirical model. Habit persistence is distinguished from unobserved heterogeneity through a reduced form instrumental variable technique. The results show that higher beer prices significantly reduce the demand for both alcohol and marijuana, indicating a contemporaneous complementarity between these two substances even after controlling for commodity-specific habit formation. Further, prior use of alcohol and cigarettes significantly increases the likelihood of currently using marijuana, providing evidence in support of the gateway hypothesis.