Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endocrinology Metabolism International Journal of Anthropometry and Menarcheal Status of Adolescent Nigerian Urban Sen- Ior Secondary School Girls

Background: Age at menarche is a significant indicator of growth and sexual maturation in girls. During adolescence, anthropometry provides a tool for monitoring and evaluating the hormone-mediated changes in growth and reproductive maturation. Objectives: We aimed to examine the anthropometric status of pre-and post-menarcheal Nigerian adolescent girls attending senior secondary schools. Materials and Methods: In this school-based cross-sectional survey, a pre-tested structured self-administered questionnaire was set for obtaining the socio-demographic data (age at menarche, number of siblings, occupation and educational attainment of their parents, etc.), while the anthropometric status data was obtained by direct measurement of weight and height. The body mass index (BMI) and the ponderal index (PI) of each participant were computed from their respective weight and height values. The study was designed to include all the students in the two schools that were randomly selected. The anthropometric indices of pre-and post-menarcheal girls were compared. Results: Out of a total population of 2,166 students, 2,159 (99.7%) participated but 9 questionnaires were incompletely filled and were rejected, leaving 2,150 (510 were pre-menarcheal and 1,640 were post-menarcheal) for further analysis. The mean menarcheal age was 13.44 ± 1.32 years (95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 13.38-13.5). Girls from families with high socioeconomic status (SES) attained menarche 8.0 and 9.0 months earlier than their counterparts from families with middle and low SES respectively. Girls from small-size families had a significantly lower menarcheal age than their counterparts from large-size families. A comparison of the anthropometric indices of pre-and post-menarcheal girls showed: weight, 41. Conclusions: Post-menarcheal girls were significantly taller and heavier with a higher BMI than their pre-menarcheal counterparts, but the pre-menarcheal girls possessed a better linear body as reflected by the PI.
Correlation between Ultrasonography Findings and Electrodiagnostic Severity in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: 3D Ultrasonography

Background and Purpose To determine the correlation between the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve measured at the wrist using three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography (US) and the electrophysiological severity of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods We prospectively examined 102 wrists of 51 patients with clinical CTS, which were classified into 3 groups according to the electrodiagnostic (EDX) findings. Median nerve CSAs were measured using 3D US at the carpal tunnel inlet and at the level of maximal swelling. Results Ten wrists were negative for CTS. Of the 92 CTS-positive wrists, 23, 30, and 39 were classified as having mild, moderate, and severe CTS, respectively. The median nerve CSA differed significantly between the severe- and moderate-CTS groups (p=0.0007 at the carpal tunnel inlet and p<0.0001 at the maximal swelling site). There was a correlation between median nerve CSA and EDX parameters among those wrists with severe and mild CTS (p<0.0001 at both sites). Conclusions The median nerve CSA as measured by 3D US could provide additional information about the severity of CTS, as indicated by the strong correlation with standard EDX findings.
Hemodilution as a Result of Estrogen Therapy. Estrogenic Effects in the Human Female

Summary (1) In all 16 patients in this study there was a lowering of the erythrocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit during the 4 to 10 days that estrogen was administered. On cessation of estrogen therapy there was a subsequent return to the initial blood constituent levels within a period of 5 to 8 days. (2) Evans Blue dye studies made in 3 of the 16 women demonstrated that the blood volume increased sufficiently to account for the lowering of the red cell count, hemoglobin and hematocrit. (3) During short periods of estrogen therapy there may be a significant hemodilution. Further studies are necessary to determine whether this effect is transitory or whether it may be maintained indefinitely.
Double encephalitis with herpes simplex virus type II and cytomegalovirus in an elder Chinese: a case report

Herpes simplex encephalitis is a rare disease. In adults, most of the reported cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are seen in immunocompromised patients. We present a case of 67-year-old Chinese male with the coinfection of CMV and herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-II). He had no history of being treated with immunosuppressants, showed symptoms of psychosis and was scored 109 on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. This patient presented with a rare case of coinfection of CMV and herpes simplex virus type II with psychotic symptoms.
Interaction between Periostin and BMP-1 Promotes Proteolytic Activation of Lysyl Oxidase*

Intra- and intermolecular covalent cross-linking between collagen fibrils, catalyzed by lysyl oxidase (LOX), determines the mechanical properties of connective tissues; however, mechanisms that regulate the collagen cross-linking according to tissue specificity are not well understood. Here we show that periostin, a secretory protein in the dense connective tissues, promotes the activation of LOX. Previous studies showed that periostin null mice exhibit reduced collagen cross-linking in their femurs, periosteum, infarcted myocardium, and tendons. Presently, we showed that active LOX protein, formed by cleavage of its propeptide by bone morphogenetic protein-1 (BMP-1), was decreased in calvarial osteoblast cells derived from periostin null mice. Overexpression of periostin promoted the proteolytic cleavage of the propeptide, which increased the amount of active LOX protein. The results of co-immunoprecipitation and solid phase binding assays revealed that periostin interacted with BMP-1. Furthermore, this interaction probably resulted in enhanced deposition of BMP-1 on the extracellular matrix, suggesting that this enhanced deposition would lead to cleavage of the propeptide of LOX. Thus, we demonstrated that periostin supported BMP-1-mediated proteolytic activation of LOX on the extracellular matrix, which promoted collagen cross-linking.
Database-Assisted Distributed Spectrum Sharing

According to FCC's ruling for white-space spectrum access, white-space devices are required to query a database to determine the spectrum availability. In this paper, we study the database-assisted distributed white-space access point (AP) network design. We first model the cooperative and non-cooperative channel selection problems among the APs as the system-wide throughput optimization and non-cooperative AP channel selection games, respectively, and design distributed AP channel selection algorithms that achieve system optimal point and Nash equilibrium, respectively. We then propose a state-based game formulation for the distributed AP association problem of the secondary users by taking the cost of mobility into account. We show that the state-based distributed AP association game has the finite improvement property, and design a distributed AP association algorithm that can converge to a state-based Nash equilibrium. Numerical results show that the algorithm is robust to the perturbation by secondary users' dynamical leaving and entering the system.
Comparative Effect of Divided Doses of Adult Solid and Liquid Oral Formulations of Antiepileptic Drugs in the Management of Pediatric Epilepsy

Objective: To compare the differences in the efficacy and safety of the commonly prescribed AEDs in the management of epilepsy in children when using divided doses of adult solid oral formulations (DDSF) with the liquid oral formulations (LFs). Materials and Methods: Patients who had one or more seizures per month and prescribed with DDSF were recruited. Initially the patients were continued on DDSF for 4 months following which they were switched over to LF for the subsequent 4 months. Seizure frequencies and adverse drug effects (ADRs) were recorded every month for 8 months and plasma AED levels were estimated at the end of 4th and 8th months. Results: A total of 200 patients completed the study protocol. The median seizure frequencies per month with DDSF and LF were: partial seizures (20.5, 9.0; P< 0.001), generalized tonic-clonic seizures (6.5, 2.0; P< 0.001), myoclonic seizures (58.5, 29.0; P< 0.001). Mean plasma drug levels ± SD (μg/ml) with DDSF and LF were: sodium valproate (48.2 ± 13.7, 69.1 ± 16.3; P < 0.001), phenytoin sodium (5.0 ± 2.4, 12.8 ± 3.8; P < 0.001), carbamazepine (4.5 ± 2.0, 11.5 ± 4.8; P < 0.001) and phenobarbitone (14.1 ± 5.2, 25.4 ± 12.3, P < 0.001). The incidence of treatment emergent ADRs was poor scholastic performance (25.5%), behavioral problems and dizziness/sedation (21.0%), somnolence/sleep disorders (19.5%). Conclusion: Patients treated with LF had better seizure control and optimal therapeutic drug levels and less adverse effects when compared to DDSF.
Age-related Changes in Lateral Entorhinal and CA3 Neuron Allocation Predict Poor Performance on Object Discrimination

Age-related memory deficits correlate with dysfunction in the CA3 subregion of the hippocampus, which includes both hyperactivity and overly rigid activity patterns. While changes in intrinsic membrane currents and interneuron alterations are involved in this process, it is not known whether alterations in afferent input to CA3 also contribute. Neurons in layer II of the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) project directly to CA3 through the perforant path, but no data are available regarding the effects of advanced age on LEC activity and whether these activity patterns update in response to environmental change. Furthermore, it is not known the extent to which age-related deficits in sensory discrimination relate to the inability of aged CA3 neurons to update in response to new environments. Young and aged rats were pre-characterized on a LEGO© object discrimination task, comparable to behavioral tests in humans in which CA3 hyperactivity has been linked to impairments. The cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity with fluorescence in situ hybridization for the immediate-early gene Arc was then used to identify the principal cell populations that were active during two distinct epochs of random foraging in different environments. This approach enabled the extent to which rats could discriminate two similar objects to be related to the ability of CA3 neurons to update across different environments. In both young and aged rats, there were animals that performed poorly on the LEGO object discrimination task. In the aged rats only, however, the poor performers had a higher percent of CA3 neurons that were active during random foraging in a novel environment, but this is not related to the ability of CA3 neurons to remap when the environment changed. Afferent neurons to CA3 in LEC, as identified with the retrograde tracer choleratoxin B (CTB), also showed a higher percentage of cells that were positive for Arc mRNA in aged poor performing rats. This suggests that LEC contributes to the hyperactivity seen in CA3 of aged animals with object discrimination deficits and age-related cognitive decline may be the consequence of dysfunction endemic to the larger network.
Long Term Follow up and Patient Satisfaction after Reduction Mammoplasty: Superomedial versus Inferior Pedicle

BACKGROUND Surgery for hypertrophied breast represents a challenge for plastic surgeons. The search for a good cosmetic breast has led to the development of many techniques. Objectives for reduction mammoplasty are to achieve elevated, symmetrical breasts, with round shape, good projection, small cicatrices that are not very perceptible, and a lasting result. METHODS This study was carried out on 60 cases who had done reduction mammoplasty from January 2009 to December 2014. All patients were examined and asked for late post-operative results and overall patients’ satisfaction. RESULTS Long term projection and contour of the breast were more satisfactory among patients who had superomedial pedicle with a statistical significant difference. No statistical significant difference was observed between patients undergone either types of operations concerning breast symmetry, nipple symmetry and sensation. The mean score of satisfaction was higher among patients undergone superomedial pedicle than inferior pedicle. CONCLUSION The superomedial pedicle shows better long term cosmetic result in reduction mammoplasty.
Differential Roles for Parietal and Occipital Cortices in Visual Working Memory

Visual working memory (VWM) is known as a highly capacity-limited cognitive system that can hold 3–4 items. Recent studies have demonstrated that activity in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and occipital cortices correlates with the number of representations held in VWM. However, differences among those regions are poorly understood, particularly when task-irrelevant items are to be ignored. The present fMRI-based study investigated whether memory load-sensitive regions such as the IPS and occipital cortices respond differently to task-relevant information. Using a change detection task in which participants are required to remember pre-specified targets, here we show that while the IPS exhibited comparable responses to both targets and distractors, the dorsal occipital cortex manifested significantly weaker responses to an array containing distractors than to an array containing only targets, despite that the number of objects presented was the same for the two arrays. These results suggest that parietal and occipital cortices engage differently in distractor processing and that the dorsal occipital, rather than parietal, activity appears to reflect output of stimulus filtering and selection based on behavioral relevance.
An Optimization Approach for Matching Textual Domain Models with Existing Code

We address the task of mapping a given textual domain model with the source code of an application which is in the same domain but was developed independently of the domain model. The key novelty of our approach is to use mathematical optimization to find a mapping between the elements in the two sides that maximizes the instances of clusters of related elements on each side being mapped to clusters of similarly related elements on the other side. We describe experiments wherein we apply our approach to the task of matching two real, open-source applications to corresponding industry-standard domain models. In comparison with previous approaches that leverage relationships, but are formulated as heuristics rather than as a principled optimization problem, our approach gives up to 40% higher precision given a desired level of recall.
Association between systemic corticosteroids and outcomes of intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia*

Objective:The use of corticosteroids is frequent in critically-ill patients. However, little information is available on their effects in patients with intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia. We assessed patients’ characteristics, microbial etiology, inflammatory response, and outcomes of previous corticosteroid use in patients with intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia. Design:Prospective observational study. Setting:Intensive care units of a university teaching hospital. Patients:Three hundred sixteen patients with intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia. Patients were divided according to previous systemic steroid use at onset of pneumonia. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Survival at 28 days was analyzed using Cox regression, with adjustment for the propensity for receiving steroid therapy. One hundred twenty-five (40%) patients were receiving steroids at onset of pneumonia. Despite similar baseline clinical severity, steroid treatment was associated with decreased 28-day survival (adjusted hazard ratio for propensity score and mortality predictors 2.503; 95% confidence interval 1.176–5.330; p = .017) and decreased systemic inflammatory response. In post hoc analyses, steroid treatment had an impact on survival in patients with nonventilator intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia, those with lower baseline severity and organ dysfunction, and those without etiologic diagnosis or bacteremia. The cumulative dosage of corticosteroids had no significant effect on the risk of death, but bacterial burden upon diagnosis was higher in patients receiving steroid therapy. Conclusions:In critically-ill patients, systemic corticosteroids should be used very cautiously because this treatment is strongly associated with increased risk of death in patients with intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia, particularly in the absence of established indications and in patients with lower baseline severity. Decreased inflammatory response may result in delayed clinical suspicion of intensive care unit–acquired pneumonia and higher bacterial count.
Exposure assessment for a field investigation of the acute respiratory effects of metalworking fluids. I. Summary of findings.

The exposure assessment summarized here is part of an epidemiologic study of the acute respiratory health effects of metalworking fluid (MF) exposures. Exposures were measured as the inhalable concentrations of the MF aerosol, a variety of metals and elements, and endotoxin as well as the level of culturable bacteria in the aerosol size fraction less than 8 microns. Bulk samples of soluble MFs were tested for pH, mineral and tramp oil fraction, endotoxin, culturable bacteria, and lipopolysaccharide levels. The MF exposed workers had higher geometric mean inhalable aerosol exposures (0.181 mg/m3) than the MF unexposed workers (0.046 mg/m3). The MF exposed workers had higher geometric mean (GM) airborne culturable microbial counts (102 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3 for bacteria < 8 microns) than the unexposed workers (GM = 14 CFU/m3). Among the unexposed, Bacillus was the predominant airborne species, while among the exposed workers, Pseudomonas predominated. Exposed workers also had higher geometric mean airborne endotoxin levels (GM = 7.1 endotoxin units (EU)/m3) than the unexposed workers (GM = 1.9 EU/m3). Elemental concentrations of iron, chlorine, and sulfur were substantially higher among the exposed workers compared to the unexposed workers. For soluble metalworking fluids, the levels of bulk constituents were examined by three categories of time since the machine sump was refilled with fresh MF (< 4 days, 4-21 days, > 21 days). Univariate analyses of percent oil, pH, culturable bacteria, tramp oil percent, endotoxin, or fatty acid levels all showed no statistically significant changes in level over time.
Antigenic Structure of Treponema pallidum, Nichols Strain II. Extraction of a Polysaccharide Antigen with “Strain-specific” Serological Activity

An ultracentrifugally homogeneous heat-stable polysaccharide preparation free from serologically reactive rabbit testicular tissue antigen, including cardiolipin, was extracted from the Nichols strain of Treponema pallidum, and found to react by complement-fixation with homologous rabbit sera but not with human syphilitic sera. In addition, the reactive “strain-specific” component was found to be distinct from a second reactive component within the preparation related to an antigen of T. reiteri.
The Finnish Family Competence Study: knowledge of childbirth of nulliparous women seen at maternity health care clinics.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth in nulliparous pregnant women. DESIGN: Survey using stratified randomised cluster sampling and confidential questionnaire analysis. SETTING: Maternity health care clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Of a total eligible population of 1713 nulliparous pregnant women from a Finnish province, 1443 took part. Of the remainder, 131 were not informed of the study and 139 (8.8%) refused to participate. The distribution of occupation of the refusers was similar to the participants. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Participants were questioned about their sociodemographic characteristics and about their knowledge of pregnancy and childbirth and psychomotor development in the infant, using 28 question sets (118 items). Results showed that, although social differences in the Finnish population are relatively small, there were still distinct differences in knowledge about childbearing in the different strata. The largest knowledge gaps were about health behaviour, particularly about alcohol intake and nutritional aspects of pregnancy and lactation, while knowledge of normal and abnormal delivery was relatively complete. When responses were divided into two groups with the median correct response rate as the cut off point, those with scores at or below the median were significantly more likely to have had modest education, to work in lower level employment, or to be very young or unemployed. CONCLUSIONS: Differences still occur in knowledge levels among nulliparous pregnant women and particular guidance and care is needed for less advantaged mothers to ensure that they deliver healthy full term babies.
DEHP Impairs Zebrafish Reproduction by Affecting Critical Factors in Oogenesis

Public concerns on phthalates distributions in the environment have been increasing since they can cause liver cancer, structural abnormalities and reduce sperm counts in male reproductive system. However, few data are actually available on the effects of Di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) in female reproductive system. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of DEHP on zebrafish oogenesis and embryo production. Female Danio rerio were exposed to environmentally relevant doses of DEHP and a significant decrease in ovulation and embryo production was observed. The effects of DEHP on several key regulators of oocyte maturation and ovulation including bone morphogenetic protein-15 (BMP15), luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR), membrane progesterone receptors (mPRs) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 (ptgs2) were determined by real time PCR. The expressions of BMP15 and mPR proteins were further determined by Western analyses to strengthen molecular findings. Moreover, plasma vitellogenin (vtg) titers were assayed by an ELISA procedure to determine the estrogenic effects of DEHP and its effects on oocyte growth. A significant reduction of fecundity in fish exposed to DEHP was observed. The reduced reproductive capacity was associated with an increase in ovarian BMP15 levels. This rise, in turn, was concomitant with a significant reduction in LHR and mPRβ levels. Finally, ptgs2 expression, the final trigger of ovulation, was also decreased by DEHP. By an in vitro maturation assay, the inhibitory effect of DEHP on germinal vesicle breakdown was further confirmed. In conclusion, DEHP affecting signals involved in oocyte growth (vtg), maturation (BMP15, LHR, mPRs,) and ovulation (ptgs2), deeply impairs ovarian functions with serious consequences on embryo production. Since there is a significant genetic similarity between D.rerio and humans, the harmful effects observed at oocyte level may be relevant for further molecular studies on humans.