Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Childhood cancers in Chennai, India, 1990–2001: Incidence and survival

Childhood cancers (age at diagnosis: 0–14 years) comprise a variety of malignancies, with incidence varying worldwide by age, sex, ethnicity and geography, that provide insights into cancer etiology. A total of 1,334 childhood cancers registered in population‐based cancer registry, Chennai, India, during 1990–2001 and categorized by International Classification of Childhood Cancer norms formed the study material. Cases included for survival analysis were 1,274 (95.5%). Absolute survival was calculated by actuarial method. Cox proportional hazard model was used to elicit the prognostic factors for survival. The age‐standardized rates for all childhood cancers together were 127 per million boys and 88 per million girls. A decreasing trend in incidence rates with increasing 5‐year age groups was observed in both sexes. The top 5 childhood cancers were the same among boys and girls: leukemias, lymphomas, central nervous system neoplasms, retinoblastomas and renal tumors. The highest 5‐year absolute survival was observed in Hodgkin's disease (65%) followed by Wilm's tumor (64%), retinoblastomas (48%), non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas (47%), osteosarcomas (44%), acute lymphoid leukemia and astrocytoma (39%). Multifactorial analysis of age at diagnosis and sex showed no differences in the risk of dying for all childhood cancers. Completeness of treatment and type of hospital combination emerged as a prognostic factor for survival for all childhood cancers together (p < 0.001), acute lymphoid leukemia (p < 0.001) and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (p = 0.04). A Childhood Cancer Registry with high‐resolution data collection is advocated for in‐depth analysis of variation in incidence and survival. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Early-goal-directed therapy and protocolised treatment in septic shock

Three-part clinical question: Patients: Patients with a diagnosis of septic shock refractory to initial fluid resuscitation of 1000ml. Intervention: Patients were randomised to one of three groups: (a) Protocol-based early-goal-directed therapy (EGDT) (b) Standard protocol therapy (c) Usual care as directed by bedside physician. Outcomes: Primary outcome was 60 days inhospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality at 90 days and 1 year, a requirement for organ support, length of stay in intensive care and hospital, discharge disposition and any serious adverse events.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy for Lifelong Vaginismus: A Retrospective Chart Review and Interview Study

Pelvic floor physical therapy is used in the treatment of sexual pain disorders; however, women with lifelong vaginismus have not yet been included in treatment studies or have not been differentiated from women with acquired vaginismus and/or dyspareunia. This retrospective chart review and interview study was intended to obtain initial information on physical therapy interventions, course, and outcome in women who have never been able to experience vaginal intercourse. The files of 53 women, consecutively treated at one physical therapy clinic, were included in the chart review; 13 of these women volunteered to be interviewed. The chart review revealed significant pelvic floor pathology and an average treatment course of 29 sessions. Internal manual techniques were found to be most effective, followed by patient education, dilatation exercises, and home exercises. Although participants were very satisfied with the physical therapy, some symptoms, such as pain, anxiety/fear, and pelvic floor tension remained and scores on the Female Sexual Distress Scale and Female Sexual Function Index indicated clinical levels of sexual distress and impaired sexual function after treatment. Although there appears to be no linear relation between symptom reduction and healthy sexual function, this initial information suggests that physical therapy may be a promising treatment option for some women with lifelong vaginismus and merits further evaluation.
Glucose response of near-infrared alginate-based microsphere sensors under dynamic reversible conditions.

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive optical glucose biosensors with increased functional longevity form one of the most promising techniques for continuous glucose monitoring, because of their long-term stability, reversibility, repeatability, specificity, and high sensitivity. They are based on the principle of competitive binding and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Moving to the near-infrared region of the spectrum has the potential to improve signal throughput for implanted sensors, but requires a change in dye chemistry that could alter response sensitivity, range, and toxicity profiles. METHODS The near-infrared dissolved-core alginate microsphere sensors were fabricated by emulsion followed by surface coating by layer-by-layer self-assembly. The particles were characterized for sensor stability, sensor response, and reversibility in deionized water and simulated interstitial fluid. The sensor response to step changes in bulk glucose concentrations was also evaluated under dynamic conditions using a microflow cell unit. Finally, in vitro cytotoxicity assays were performed with L929 mouse fibroblast cell lines to demonstrate preliminary biocompatibility of the sensors. RESULTS The glucose sensitivity under controlled and dynamic conditions was observed to be 0.86%/mM glucose with an analytical response range of 0-30 mM glucose, covering both the physiological and pathophysiological range. The sensor demonstrated a repeatable, reversible, and reproducible response, with a maximum response time of 120 s. In vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed nearly 95% viability of cells, thereby suggesting that the alginate microsphere sensor system does not exhibit cytotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS The incorporation of near-infrared dyes shows promise in improving sensor response because of their high sensitivity and improved tissue penetration of infrared light. The sensitivity for the sensors was approximately 1.5 times greater than that observed for visible dye sensors, and the new dye chemistry did not significantly alter the biocompatibility of the materials. These findings provide additional support for the potential application of alginate microspheres and similar systems such as "smart-tattoo" glucose sensors.
The Role of International Technology Spillovers in the Economic Growth of the OECD Countries

This paper explores the role of imports as a mechanism of transmission of international technology spillovers and its significance for the growth of the OECD countries. For this purpose we estimate a version of the growth model proposed by Benhabib and Spiegel (1994), which includes two main modifications in order to better specify the nature of international knowledge diffusion. The first is the inclusion of the R&D capital stock into this framework. The second consist of using a direct measurement of international technology spillovers instead of using per capita GDP gap in respect to the leader country as approach to it. Our results reveal that international technology spillovers transmitted through imports have had a favourable influence on the economic growth of the OECD countries. However, they show the predominant role of the domestic human and R&D capital endowments in economic growth.
Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogels: The Key Role of Water in Affecting Mechanical Properties

Different hydrogels were prepared starting from natural or semi-synthetic polysaccharides (carboxymethylcellulose, hyaluronic acid and chitosan) which were cross-linked by the addition of a cross-linking agent chosen according to the chemical groups present along the polymer chains. The cross-linking reaction allows for the formation of a three-dimensional network made of covalent bonds between the polymer chains, which is stable under physiological conditions. The presence of a substantial amount of water within the polysaccharide matrices makes such systems unique among hydrophilic gels. Water itself is responsible for some of their peculiar characteristics, one of which is their injectability which makes these hydrogels suitable for using as matrices for mini-invasive surgery and localized therapy.
Automatic Detection of Poor Speech Recognition at the Dialogue Level

The dialogue strategies used by a spoken dialogue system strongly influence performance and user satisfaction. An ideal system would not use a single fixed strategy, but would adapt to the circumstances at hand. To do so, a system must be able to identify dialogue properties that suggest adaptation. This paper focuses on identifying situations where the speech recognizer is performing poorly. We adopt a machine learning approach to learn rules from a dialogue corpus for identifying these situations. Our results show a significant improvement over the baseline and illustrate that both lower-level acoustic features and higher-level dialogue features can affect the performance of the learning algorithm.
TOTALLY LAPAROSCOPIC LIVER RESECTION: NEW BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE

Background Despite the increasing number of laparoscopic hepatectomy, there is little published experience. Aim To evaluate the results of a series of hepatectomy completely done with laparoscopic approach. Methods This is a retrospective study of 61 laparoscopic liver resections. Were studied conversion to open technique; mean age; gender, mortality; complications; type of hepatectomy; surgical techniques applied; and simultaneous operations. Results The conversion to open technique was necessary in one case (1.6%). The mean age was 54.7 years (17-84), 34 were men. Three patients (4.9%) had complications. One died postoperatively (mortality 1.6%) and no deaths occurred intraoperatively. The most frequent type was right hepatectomy (37.7%), followed by bisegmentectomy (segments II-III and VI-VII). Were not used hemi-Pringle maneuvers or assisted technic. Six patients (8.1%) underwent simultaneous procedures (hepatectomy and colectomy). Conclusion Laparoscopic hepatectomy is feasible procedure and can be considered the gold standard for various conditions requiring liver resections for both benign to malignant diseases.
Laser ablation of modern human cementum: the examination of trace element profiles

This study used LA-ICP-MS on a documented sample of modern teeth to sample from a continuous line across the cementum increments thus creating a temporal line graph of the elemental composition against distance. The knowledge of cementum was extended through (1) a more complete elemental composition analysis and (2) the relation of element distribution to the ultrastructure structure throughout the life of a tooth. This study was exploratory and demonstrated that lead, zinc, mercury, and barium follow the same general line of changes, and most likely represent changes in health and exposure to these metals in the general environment. Copper, manganese and vanadium varied very little. Technological limitations prevented the examination of element levels in any one annulation.
Muscle-derived cell injection to treat anal incontinence due to obstetric trauma: pilot study with 1 year follow-up

Objective: To treat anal incontinence due to obstetric external anal sphincter disruption via injection of autologous myoblast cells. Design: Observational pilot study. Setting: University hospital and district hospital Patients: 10 women suffering from anal incontinence due to obstetric anal sphincter injury, refractory to conventional non-surgical therapy. Interventions: Autologous myoblasts were cultured from a pectoralis muscle biopsy, harvested, and injected into the external anal sphincter defect using direct ultrasound guidance. Main outcome measures: Wexner incontinence score, anal squeeze pressures, and quality of life 12 months after injection. Safety and technical feasibility. Results: The procedure was well tolerated and no adverse events were observed. At 12 months the Wexner incontince score had decreased by a mean of 13.7 units (95% CI, −16.3 to −11.2), anal squeeze pressures were unchanged, and overall quality of life scores improved by a median of 30 points (95% CI, 25 to 42). Anal squeeze pressures did rise significantly at 1 month and 6 months post-injection (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Injection of autologous myoblasts is safe, well tolerated, and significantly improves symptoms of anal incontinence due to obstetric anal sphincter trauma.
Immune response to a Trichinella spiralis infection in house mice from lines selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running

SUMMARY Four lines of mice bred for high voluntary wheel running (HR lines) have high baseline circulating corticosterone levels and increased daily energy expenditure as compared with four non-selected control (C) lines. High corticosterone may suppress immune function and competing energy demands may limit ability to mount an immune response. We hypothesized that HR mice have a reduced immune response and therefore a decreased ability to fight an infection by Trichinella spiralis, an ecologically relevant nematode common in mammals. Infections have an acute, intestinal phase while the nematode is migrating, reproducing and traveling throughout the bloodstream, followed by a chronic phase with larvae encysted in muscles. Adult males (generation 55 of the selection experiment) were sham-infected or infected by oral gavage with ~300 J1 T. spiralis larvae. During the chronic phase of infection, mice were given wheel access for 6 days, followed by 2 days of maximum aerobic performance trials. Two weeks post-infection, infected HR had significantly lower circulating immunoglobulin E levels compared with infected C mice. However, we found no statistical difference between infected HR and C mice in numbers of encysted larvae within the diaphragm. As expected, both voluntary running and maximum aerobic performance were significantly higher in HR mice and lower in infected mice, with no line type-by-infection interactions. Results complement those of previous studies suggesting decreased locomotor abilities during the chronic phase of T. spiralis infection. However, despite reduced antibody production, breeding for high voluntary wheel exercise does not appear to have a substantial negative impact on general humoral function.
Segmentation through Variable-Order Surface Fitting

The solution of the segmentation problem requires a mechanism for partitioning the image array into low-level entities based on a model of the underlying image structure. A piecewise-smooth surface model for image data that possesses surface coherence properties is used to develop an algorithm that simultaneously segments a large class of images into regions of arbitrary shape and approximates image data with bivariate functions so that it is possible to compute a complete, noiseless image reconstruction based on the extracted functions and regions. Surface curvature sign labeling provides an initial coarse image segmentation, which is refined by an iterative region-growing method based on variable-order surface fitting. Experimental results show the algorithm's performance on six range images and three intensity images. >
Periodontopathogen and Epstein-Barr virus-associated periapical periodontitis may be the source of retrograde infectious peri-implantitis.

BACKGROUND Herpesviral-bacterial synergism may play a role in periodontitis and peri-implantitis etiopathogenesis. Periapical periodontitis (PP) lesions can predict future apical peri-implantitis complications. PURPOSE This pilot study aimed to substantiate herpesviral-bacterial coinfection in symptomatic (SP) and asymptomatic (AP) PP and assess associations with periodontopathogen salivary contamination in patients receiving implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based identification was performed on PP granulation tissue (GT) from 33 SP and AP patients and compared with unstimulated whole saliva. Quantitative PCR evaluated Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus copy counts. RESULTS SP GT had higher proportions of periodontopathogens. Symptomatic patients were 3.7 times more likely to be infected with EBV than AP (p = .07; 95% CI: 0.8-16.2). SP were 2.9, 2.1, 3.6, and 1.6 times more likely to be infected with Treponema denticola, Prevotella intermedia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, and Porphyromonas gingivalis, respectively. The odds ratio of EBV infecting PP lesions was two times higher in those positive for the virus in saliva. Saliva Tannerella forsythia-positive patients were 15 times more likely to present this pathogen in PP lesions (p = .038). Saliva EBV-positive individuals were 7 and 3.5 times more likely to yield GT contamination with T. forsythia and T. denticola, respectively. EBV copy counts were significantly higher in SP (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS A causal association between EBV, specific bacterial anaerobic infection, and symptomatic PP is likely. EBV high prevalence underscores the viral etiological importance. Salivary EBV contamination is likely to be associated with viral and bacterial GT infection. Saliva PCR analysis can be a good predictor of GT specific infection and help establish antimicrobial therapy. If confirmed by prospective longitudinal clinical trials, antiviral therapy could possibly benefit SP and nonresponsive to treatment individuals and help prevent potential peri-implant infectious complications.
A SPITZER VIEW OF THE YOUNG OPEN CLUSTER NGC 2264

We have performed mid-IR photometry of the young open cluster NGC 2264 using the images obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Array Camera and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer instruments and presented a normalized classification scheme of young stellar objects in various color–color diagrams to make full use of the information from multicolor photometry. These results are compared with the classification scheme based on the slope of the spectral energy distribution (SED). From the spatial distributions of Class I and II stars, we have identified two subclusterings of Class I objects in the CONE region of Sung et al. The disked stars in the other star-forming region S Mon are mostly Class II objects. These three regions show a distinct difference in the fractional distribution of SED slopes as well as the mean value of SED slopes. The fraction of stars with primordial disks is nearly flat between log m = 0.2 and −0.5 and that of transition disks is very high for solar mass stars. In addition, we have derived a somewhat higher value of the primordial disk fraction for NGC 2264 members located below the main pre-main-sequence locus (so-called BMS stars). This result supports the idea that BMS stars are young stars with nearly edge-on disks. We have also found that the fraction of primordial disks is very low near the most massive star S Mon and increases with distance from S Mon.
Fragmentation study of major spirosolane-type glycoalkaloids by collision-induced dissociation linear ion trap and infrared multiphoton dissociation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE Glycoalkaloids play a key role in the plant protection system against phytopathogens including fungi, viruses, bacteria, insects and worms. They can be toxic to humans if consumed in high concentrations causing gastrointestinal disturbances. METHODS The structural characterization of the major spirosolane glycoalkaloids, solasonine, solamargine, α-tomatine and dehydrotomatine, were investigated by positive electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled with a hybrid linear ion trap (LIT) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass spectrometer. Tandem mass spectrometric analysis of spirosolane glycoalkaloids was performed by both collision-induced dissociation (CID) within the LIT and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) in conjunction with the FTICR cell. RESULTS Several common product ions were observed, generated by losses of the sugar moiety or aglycone fragmentation in the B- or E-ring, that can provide information on the accurate mass of aglycone and the primary sequence and branching of the oligosaccharide chains. Thanks to the multistage CID it was possible to understand the fragmentation pathways and thanks to the high resolution of IRMPD-FTICR the elemental compositions of product ions were obtained. CONCLUSIONS Because the investigated tandem mass spectra data were acquired with high mass accuracy, unambiguous interpretation and determination of the chemical compositions for the majority of detected fragment ions were feasible. From these data, generalized fragmentation pathways were proposed, providing guidance for the characterization of unknown glycoalkaloids in plants. Copyright © John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Attitude and awareness of dental students and interns toward infection control measures in prosthodontic clinics

Aims: To evaluate the attitude and awareness of the dental students and interns toward infection control measures in prosthodontic clinic and to assess their satisfaction toward applying these measures during prosthodontic treatment. Methods: A questionnaire study was conducted among 360 fourth and fifth dental students and interns (238 males and 122 females) in November 2014 in College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It consisted of 30 close-ended questions related to vaccination status and previous sharp injuries, attitude and awareness towards infection control in prosthodontic clinic, previous education about infection control, and subjects’ satisfaction about their knowledge and attitude. The questionnaire was sent to all students and interns by email to be filled electronically, and informed consent was obtained before commencing the questionnaire. Results: Total of 258 (71.66%) study subjects responded to the questionnaire. Their attitude and awareness toward infection control in prosthodontic clinic was varied between 100% wereregularly using gloves with patient to 17.8% were regularly disinfect dental cast before sending it to dental laboratory. Most of the subjects responded “good” or “fair” to the two questions related to the evaluation of their knowledge and policy implementation of infection control in prosthodontic clinic (P<0.0001). Around 43% were almost satisfied and 36% were fairly satisfied with their knowledge and performance. Conclusions: Findings indicate insufficient attitude and awareness of subjects toward infection control in prosthodontic practice. Their self-assessment and satisfaction reflect their performance toward infection control policy.
Robustness and Invariance of Connectivity Maintenance Control for Multiagent Systems

This paper is focused on a cooperative control design which guarantees robust connectivity and invariance of a multiagent network inside a bounded domain, under the presence of additional bounded input terms in each agent's dynamics. In particular, under the assumptions that the domain is convex and has a smooth boundary, we can design a repulsion vector field near its boundary, which ensures invariance of the agents' trajectories and does not affect the robustness properties of the control part that is exploited for connectivity maintenance.