Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Don’t get misdirected! Differences in overt and covert attentional inhibition between children and adults

Previous research has revealed marked improvements in cognitive control between the age of 10 years and adulthood. The aim of the current study was to explore differences in attentional control between adults and children within a natural context, namely whilst they were watching a magic trick. We measured participants’ eye movements whilst they watched a misdirection trick in which attentional misdirection was used to prevent observers from noticing a salient visual event. Half of our participants failed to detect this event even though it took place in full view. Children below the age of 10 were significantly less likely to notice the event than the adults and were also more reliably overtly misdirected (i.e., where they looked). Our results illustrate that within a more naturalistic context children are significantly more distracted than adults, and this distraction can have major implications on their visual awareness.
The hypospadias classification affected the surgical outcomes of staged oral mucosa graft urethroplasty in hypospadias reoperation

Abstract The staged graft urethroplasty is a recommended technique for repairing complex hypospadias. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the outcomes of this technique in hypospadias patients undergoing reoperation and to analyze the underlying contributing factors including age, meatus location, and graft and suture type. We retrospectively analyzed 40 hypospadias patients undergoing reoperation who received a staged oral graft urethroplasty, including 15 buccal mucosal grafts and 25 lingual mucosal grafts. Median age at presentation was 18.5 years, and median follow-up was 17.5 months (range 8–30 months). The patients were classified according to their original meatus location. Twenty-five complications developed in 12 of 40 (30%) cases, including 6 fistulas (15%), 7 infections (17.5%), 9 cases of glans dehiscence (22.5%), and 3 cases of stenosis (7.5%). There was no significant difference in the overall complication rates between prepuberty and postpuberty groups. In addition, no significant difference in complications was found between the 2 graft techniques. The complications were significantly higher in the original perineal type compared with the original penoscrotal type (7/10 vs 5/30, P = .0031). Seven patients who originally had perineal hypospadias developed multiple complications. Based on this study, the staged graft urethroplasty is an effective technique in reoperative hypospadias repairs with reasonable complication risk. The hypospadias classification affects the surgical outcomes.
Annual Research Review: An expanded account of information‐processing mechanisms in risk for child and adolescent anxiety and depression

BACKGROUND Anxiety and depression occurring during childhood and adolescence are common and costly. While early-emerging anxiety and depression can arise through a complex interplay of 'distal' factors such as genetic and environmental influences, temperamental characteristics and brain circuitry, the more proximal mechanisms that transfer risks on symptoms are poorly delineated. Information-processing biases, which differentiate youth with and without anxiety and/or depression, could act as proximal mechanisms that mediate more distal risks on symptoms. This article reviews the literature on information-processing biases, their associations with anxiety and depression symptoms in youth and with other distal risk factors, to provide direction for further research. METHODS Based on strategic searches of the literature, we consider how youth with and without anxiety and/or depression vary in how they deploy attention to social-affective stimuli, discriminate between threat and safety cues, retain memories of negative events and appraise ambiguous information. We discuss how these information-processing biases are similarly or differentially expressed on anxiety and depression and whether these biases are linked to genetic and environmental factors, temperamental characteristics and patterns of brain circuitry functioning implicated in anxiety and depression. FINDINGS Biases in attention and appraisal characterise both youth anxiety and depression but with some differences in how these are expressed for each symptom type. Difficulties in threat-safety cue discrimination characterise anxiety and are understudied in depression, while biases in the retrieval of negative and overgeneral memories have been observed in depression but are understudied in anxiety. Information-processing biases have been studied in relation to some distal factors but not systematically, so relationships remain inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS Biases in attention, threat-safety cue discrimination, memory and appraisal may characterise anxiety and/or depression risk. We discuss future research directions that can more systematically test whether these biases act as proximal mechanisms that mediate other distal risk factors.
HIV diagnosis in older adults

It is recognised that those diagnosed with HIV infection over the age of 50 have higher rates of morbidity and mortality. Little is known about how clinical presentation at diagnosis of HIV varies within this group. We sought to compare clinical presentation and markers of outcome among those diagnosed with HIV aged 60 and over vs. those diagnosed aged 50–59, over a ten-year period. The results showed that 84/111 were diagnosed with HIV aged 50–59 and 27/111 aged ≥60. Ethnicity and HIV risk factors were similar between groups, and most infections were sexually acquired with 7.4% of those aged ≥60 suspected to have a recent infection. Median CD4 cell count at presentation was significantly lower in the ≥60 age group (111 vs. 249; p < 0.001), and the proportion with a CD4 cell count <50 was also significantly lower in this population (33% vs. 15%; p = 0.04). In keeping with this, the frequency of AIDS-defining illness at diagnosis was higher in the ≥60 group (38% vs. 4%; p < 0.001). Co-morbidities were found in both groups, and 38% of those aged ≥60 at diagnosis were known to have since died compared to 4% of those aged 50–59 at diagnosis (p ≤ 0.01). Those aged ≥60 had lower CD4 cell counts at diagnosis and more AIDS-defining illnesses, highlighting the increased risk of poor outcomes in this group. The majority of infections were sexually acquired. More work is needed to understand survival in adults diagnosed with HIV at an older age and to consider those over 60 as a specific population worthy of further research.
Hummingbird flight stability and control in freestream turbulent winds

ABSTRACT Airflow conditions close to the Earth's surface are often complex, posing challenges to flight stability and control for volant taxa. Relatively little is known about how well flying animals can contend with complex, adverse air flows, or about the flight control mechanisms used by animals to mitigate wind disturbances. Several recent studies have examined flight in the unsteady von Kármán vortex streets that form behind cylinders, generating flow disturbances that are predictable in space and time; these structures are relatively rare in nature, because they occur only the immediate, downstream vicinity of an object. In contrast, freestream turbulence is characterized by rapid, unpredictable flow disturbances across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, and is nearly ubiquitous in natural habitats. Hummingbirds are ideal organisms for studying the influence of freestream turbulence on flight, as they forage in a variety of aerial conditions and are powerful flyers. We filmed ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) maintaining position at a feeder in laminar and strongly turbulent (intensity ∼15%) airflow environments within a wind tunnel and compared their mean kinematics of the head, body, tail and wing, as well as variability in these parameters. Hummingbirds exhibited remarkably stable head position and orientation in both smooth and turbulent flow while maintaining position at the feeder. However, the hummingbird's body was less stable in turbulent flow and appeared to be most sensitive to disturbances along the mediolateral axis, displaying large lateral accelerations, translations and rolling motions during flight. The hummingbirds mitigated these disturbances by increasing mean wing stroke amplitude and stroke plane angle, and by varying these parameters asymmetrically between the wings and from one stroke to the next. They also actively varied the orientation and fan angle of the tail, maintaining a larger mean fan angle when flying in turbulent flow; this may improve their passive stability, but probably incurs an energetic cost as a result of increased drag. Overall, we observed many of the same kinematic changes noted previously for hummingbirds flying in a von Kármán vortex street, but we also observed kinematic changes associated with high force production, similar to those seen during load-lifting or high-speed flight. These findings suggest that flight may be particularly costly in fully mixed, freestream turbulence, which is the flow condition that hummingbirds are likely to encounter most frequently in natural habitats. Summary: Hummingbirds are exceptional flyers that employ a combination of mean and transient flight control mechanisms to enable them to maintain flight in highly turbulent wind environments.
Explanations based on the Missing: Towards Contrastive Explanations with Pertinent Negatives

In this paper we propose a novel method that provides contrastive explanations justifying the classification of an input by a black box classifier such as a deep neural network. Given an input we find what should be %necessarily and minimally and sufficiently present (viz. important object pixels in an image) to justify its classification and analogously what should be minimally and necessarily \emph{absent} (viz. certain background pixels). We argue that such explanations are natural for humans and are used commonly in domains such as health care and criminology. What is minimally but critically \emph{absent} is an important part of an explanation, which to the best of our knowledge, has not been explicitly identified by current explanation methods that explain predictions of neural networks. We validate our approach on three real datasets obtained from diverse domains; namely, a handwritten digits dataset MNIST, a large procurement fraud dataset and a brain activity strength dataset. In all three cases, we witness the power of our approach in generating precise explanations that are also easy for human experts to understand and evaluate.
Activation of proliferation and differentiation of dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs) by heat stress

Adult stem cells (ASCs) remain in a slowly cycling/quiescent state under normal physiological conditions, but they can be awakened from this by certain factors, such as injury signals. Previously, our group has shown that dental follicle stem cells (DFSCs) appear to proliferate more rapidly than their non‐stem cell counterparts at elevated temperatures. The study described here has aimed to (i) elucidate optimal temperature in which to culture DFSCs, (ii) determine whether elevated temperatures could enhance differentiation capability of DFSCs and (iii) characterize stem cell and osteogenic marker expression of DFSCs at elevated temperatures.
Radiofrequency heating of nanomaterials for cancer treatment: Progress, controversies, and future development

In recent years, the application of nanomaterials to biological and biomedicine areas has attracted intensive interest. One of the hot topics is the nanomaterial mediated radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia or ablation, i.e., using RF fields/waves to heat tumor tissues treated with nanomaterials to destroy cancerous cells while minimizing the side-heating effect. However, there are currently many contradictive results reported concerning the heating effect of nanomaterials under a RF field. This paper provided a comprehensive review to nanomaterial mediated RF ablation from both experimental and theoretical aspects. Three heating mechanisms were discussed, i.e., laser heating, magnetic field heating, and electric field heating in RF spectrum, with the focus on the last one. The results showed that while diluted pure metallic nanoparticles could be heated significantly by a laser through the surface plasmon resonance, they cannot be easily heated by a RF electric field. Further studies are proposed focusing on nanoparticle structure and morphology, electromagnetic frequency and localized heating effect to pave the way for future development.
Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines Is Upregulated in the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus of Dahl Salt-Sensitive Hypertensive Rats

Accumulating evidence indicates that inflammation is implicated in hypertension. However, the role of brain proinflammatory cytokines (PICs) in salt sensitive hypertension remains to be determined. Thus, the objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that high salt (HS) diet increases PICs expression in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and leads to PVN neuronal activation. Eight-week-old male Dahl salt sensitive (Dahl S) rats, and age and sex matched normal Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were divided into two groups and fed with either a HS (4% NaCl) or normal salt (NS, 0.4% NaCl) diet for 5 consecutive weeks. HS diet induced hypertension and significantly increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sodium concentration ([Na+]) in Dahl S rats, but not in normal SD rats. In addition, HS diet intake triggered increases in mRNA levels and immunoreactivities of PVN PICs including TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, as well as Fra1, a chronic marker of neuronal activation, in Dahl S rats, but not in SD rats. Next, we investigated whether this increase in the expression of PVN PICs and Fra1 was induced by increased CSF [Na+]. Adult male SD rats were intracerebroventricular (ICV) infused with 8 μl of either hypertonic salt (4 μmol NaCl), mannitol (8 μmol, as osmolarity control), or isotonic salt (0.9% NaCl as vehicle control). Three hours following the ICV infusion, rats were euthanized and their PVN PICs expression was measured. The results showed that central administration of hypertonic saline in SD rats significantly increased the expression of PICs including TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, as well as neuronal activation marker Fra1, compared to isotonic NaCl controls and osmolarity controls. Finally, we tested whether the increase in PICs expression occurred in neurons. Incubation of hypothalamic neurons with 10 mM NaCl in a culture medium for 6 h elicited significant increases in TNF-α, IL-6, and Fra1 mRNA levels. These observations, coupled with the important role of PICs in modulating neuronal activity and stimulating vasopressin release, suggest that HS intake induces an inflammatory state in the PVN, which, may in turn, augments sympathetic nerve activity and vasopressin secretion, contributing to the development of salt sensitive hypertension.
Genetic shifts in methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus epidemic clones and toxin gene profiles in Japan: comparative analysis among pre‐epidemic, epidemic and post‐epidemic phases

Purpose. The decline in methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolation rates has become a general observation worldwide, including Japan. We hypothesized that some genetic shift in MRSA might cause this phenomenon, and therefore we investigated the genetic profiles among MRSA clinical isolates obtained from three different epidemic phases in Japan. Methodology. A total of 353 MRSA isolates were selected from 202 medical facilities in 1990 (pre‐epidemic phase), 2004 (epidemic phase) and 2016 (post‐epidemic phase). Molecular typing was performed by PCR detection of 22 genes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based ORF typing (POT) system, including an additional eight genes including small genomic islets and seven toxin genes. Results. Isolates with a POT1 of score 93, identified as presumed clonal complex (pCC)5‐staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type II including ST5‐SCCmec type II New York/Japan clone, represented the major epidemic MRSA lineage in 1990 and 2004. In 2016, however, a marked decrease in isolates with a POT1 score of 93, along with changes in the epidemiology of toxin genes carried, was noted, where the carriers of tst genes including the tst‐sec combination were markedly reduced, and those possessing the seb gene alone were markedly increased. Rather, isolates with a POT1 score of 106, including pCC1 or pCC8 among the isolates with SCCmec type IV, which often links to community‐associated MRSA, were predominant. Interestingly, the pCC1 and pCC8 lineages were related to sea and tst‐sec carriage, respectively. Conclusions. Over time, a transition in MRSA genetic profiles from a POT1 score of 93 in 1990 and 2004 to 106 in 2014 was found in Japan.
Effect of feed supplementation with Satureja khuzistanica essential oil on performance and physiological parameters of broilers fed on wheat- or maize-based diets

ABSTRACT 1. The aim of this study was to evaluate various levels of Satureja khuzistanica essential oil (SKEO) on performance and physiological parameters of broilers fed on wheat- or maize-based diets. 2. Treatments consisted of two cereals (maize- or wheat-based diets) and three levels of SKEO)0, 250 and 500 mg/kg). 3. Feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG) decreased in broilers fed on the wheat-based diets compared to the control diet. Dietary supplementation of 500 mg/kg SKEO increased FI and BWG. Dietary SKEO supplementation was effective in improving FI and BWG only in wheat-based diets and was effective in improving feed conversion ratio (FCR) in both diets. 4. Dietary supplementation of 500 mg/kg SKEO caused a significant decrease in plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. Also, plasma low-density lipoprotein concentration was decreased in broilers fed on 250 and 500 mg/kg of SKEO. Plasma cholesterol levels in birds fed on the wheat-based diets were lower than in those fed on maize-based diets. 5. Dietary supplementation of 500 mg/kg SKEO increased caecal population of Lactobacillus and reduced total bacterial and Escherichia coli count. Caecal population of Lactobacillus decreased in broilers fed on the wheat-based diets. 6. Digesta viscosity was increased in broilers fed on the wheat-based diets and decreased in broilers fed on 500 mg/kg SKEO compared to the control diet. Dietary SKEO supplementation was effective in reducing digesta viscosity values only in wheat-based diets. 7. Villus height of the duodenum and jejunum decreased in broilers fed on the wheat-based diets. Dietary supplementation of 500 mg/kg SKEO increased villus height and villus height-to-crypt depth ratios and decreased crypt depth of the duodenum compared to the control diet. 8. It can be concluded that dietary SKEO supplementation was effective in improving FI, BWG and FCR values in wheat-based diets.
Polyphenol rich olive oils improve lipoprotein particle atherogenic ratios and subclasses profile: A randomized, crossover, controlled trial.

SCOPE Lipoprotein particle measures performed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and associated ratios, may be better markers for atherosclerosis risk than conventional lipid measures. The effect of two functional olive oils, one enriched with its polyphenols (FVOO, 500 ppm), and the other (FVOOT) with them (250 ppm) and those of thyme (250 ppm), versus a standard virgin olive oil (VOO), on lipoprotein particle atherogenic ratios and subclasses profiles was assessed. METHODS AND RESULTS In a randomized, double-blind, crossover, controlled trial, 33 hypercholesterolemic individuals received 25 mL/day of VOO, FVOO, and FVOOT. Intervention periods were of 3 weeks separated by 2-week washout periods. Lipoprotein particle counts and subclasses were measured by NMR. Polyphenols from olive oil and thyme modified the lipoprotein subclasses profile and decreased the total LDL particle/total HDL particle (HDL-P), small HDL/large HDL, and HDL-cholesterol/HDL-P ratios, and decreased the lipoprotein insulin resistance index (LP-IR) (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Olive oil polyphenols, and those from thyme provided benefits on lipoprotein particle atherogenic ratios and subclasses profile distribution. Polyphenol-enriched olive oil is a way of increasing the olive oil healthy properties while consuming the same amount of fat, as well as a useful and complementary tool for the management of cardiovascular risk individuals.
Deep neuromuscular block improves surgical conditions during laparoscopic hysterectomy: A randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND The benefit of inducing deep neuromuscular block to improve laparoscopic surgical conditions is controversial. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to determine the depth of neuromuscular block needed to guarantee excellent operating conditions during laparoscopic hysterectomy. DESIGN A randomised controlled trial. SETTING A single-centre study performed between February 2011 and May 2012. PATIENTS One hundred and two women of ASA physical status 1 or 2 gave consent to participate and were allocated randomly to one of two groups. INTERVENTION Under desflurane general anaesthesia, patients in Group S (shallow block), neuromuscular blockade was induced by administration of rocuronium 0.45 mg kg−1 followed by spontaneous recovery or a rescue bolus dose of 5 mg if surgical conditions were unacceptable. In Group D (deep block), neuromuscular block was induced by administration of rocuronium 0.6 mg kg−1 and maintained by bolus doses of 5 mg if the train-of-four count exceeded two, using adductor pollicis electromyography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES With a stable pneumoperitoneum (13 mmHg), the surgeon scored the quality of the surgical field every 10 min as excellent (1), good but not optimal (2), poor but acceptable (3) or unacceptable (4). The groups were compared using the Cochran–Armitage trend test. The level of neuromuscular blockade was recorded each time the surgical field score exceeded 1. RESULTS For groups S and D, respectively, the maximum surgical field scores were 1 in 21 and 34 patients, 2 in 11 and 11 patients, 3 in 4 and 5 patients and 4 in 14 and 0 patients. A trend towards higher scores was demonstrated in group S (P < 0.001). Surgical field scores of 2, 3 and 4 occurred only when the train-of-four count was at least 1, 2 and 3, respectively. CONCLUSION Inducing deep neuromuscular block (train-of-four count <1) significantly improved surgical field scores and made it possible to completely prevent unacceptable surgical conditions.
Which is the Best Minimal Invasive Approach for the Treatment of Spontaneous Pneumothorax? Uniport, Two, or Three Ports: A Prospective Randomized Trail

Abstract Objective Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has become the standard treatment method for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Concerns about lesser pain and better cosmesis led to the evolution of uniportal access. This study prospectively compared the results of the uniportal, two-port, and three-port thoracoscopic surgery. Material and Methods One hundred and thirty-five patients were randomized into three groups according to the port numbers. The groups were compared regarding the operation time, hospital stay, amount of drainage, area of pleurectomy, complications, recurrences, and pain scores. Results Except for the amount of drainage (p = 0.03), no factors were found to be statistically significant. The overall recurrence rate was 5%. Although the first and second week pain scores were not statistically significant, the single-incision group patients had significantly less pain at 4, 24, and 72 hours (p < 0.05). Conclusion The study indicated that uniportal VATS approach is less painful and has better cosmetic results, besides it is as efficient as two- or three-port VATS approach.