Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Le Fort I osteotomy and skull base tumors: a pediatric experience.

BACKGROUND The Le Fort I maxillary osteotomy approach for skull base tumor removal in the pediatric age group has not been widely discussed in the literature except for sporadic case reports and limited case series. OBJECTIVES To review our experience with the Le Fort I osteotomy and to propose that it be used as an alternative approach because of its many advantages for the removal of tumors of the central skull base and paranasal sinuses. DESIGN Case series. SETTING Tertiary academic center. PATIENTS AND METHODS A 5-year retrospective chart review of cases involving children who had undergone skull base tumor resection via the Le Fort I osteotomy approach. INTERVENTIONS Skull base tumor removal via the Le Fort I osteotomy approach. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Tumor type, location, and size; intraoperative and postoperative complications; and residual tumor and/or tumor recurrence associated with the surgical approach. RESULTS Eleven patients (9 boys and 2 girls; mean age, 14.3 years) were identified through the chart review. The tumor types included 8 angiofibromas, 1 malignant fibrous histiocytoma, 1 giant cell tumor, and 1 cavernous hemangioma. All these lesions had extensive tumor growth into at least 1 of the following sites: pterygomaxillary space, sphenoidal sinus, and areas adjacent to the optic nerve, cavernous sinus, clivus, and anterior cranial fossa. The mean follow-up for this cohort was 12.8 months. No intraoperative complications were noted. Postoperative complications were reviewed with respect to the approach. To date, there have been no cases of residual tumor or tumor recurrence that can be attributed to the procedure. CONCLUSIONS Our experience suggests that the Le Fort I osteotomy approach is a useful technique for the removal of extensive central skull base tumors and paranasal sinuses in the pediatric age group. It has distinct advantages over traditional anterior or lateral approaches, including a more direct line of vision and improved exposure and cosmesis.
Kernel Implicit Variational Inference

Recent progress in variational inference has paid much attention to the flexibility of variational posteriors. One promising direction is to use implicit distributions, i.e., distributions without tractable densities as the variational posterior. However, existing methods on implicit posteriors still face challenges of noisy estimation and computational infeasibility when applied to models with high-dimensional latent variables. In this paper, we present a new approach named Kernel Implicit Variational Inference that addresses these challenges. As far as we know, for the first time implicit variational inference is successfully applied to Bayesian neural networks, which shows promising results on both regression and classification tasks.
Output convergence analysis for a class of delayed recurrent neural networks with time-varying inputs

This paper studies the output convergence of a class of recurrent neural networks with time-varying inputs. The model of the studied neural networks has different dynamic structure from that in the well known Hopfield model, it does not contain linear terms. Since different structures of differential equations usually result in quite different dynamic behaviors, the convergence of this model is quite different from that of Hopfield model. This class of neural networks has been found many successful applications in solving some optimization problems. Some sufficient conditions to guarantee output convergence of the networks are derived.
Quasi-static and cyclic compressive loading studies of the intervertebral disc with combined flexion and torsion

Bovine caudal motion segments were used to investigate the loss of load-bearing ability of the intervertebral disc (IVD) under both quasi-static and cyclic compressive loading combined with torsion and flexion. While the response of the disc to both compressive hyper-flexion and hyper-torsion has been previously investigated much less is known about their individual and combined influence on compressive failure. Eighty motion segments dissected from 41 bovine tails were subjected to quasi-static and cyclic compression with added components of flexion and torsion. The four different combinations of flexion and torsion were 0o torsion/0o flexion, 10o torsion/15o flexion, 10o torsion/0o flexion and 0o torsion/15o flexion. Quasi-static compression failed to show any significant difference among the different combinations of torsion and flexion for failure stress, failure strain and compressive tangent modulus. Cyclic compression indicated a significant influence of torsion in reducing the disc's load-bearing ability. Cyclic loading provides a more sensitive tool for the assessment of potentially damaging mechanical parameters for the IVD.
New Thermal Barrier Coatings Based on Pyrochlore/YSZ Double Layer Systems

Pyrochlore materials La2Zr2O7 and Gd2Zr2O7 have been used to produce thermal barrier coating systems by atmospheric plasma spraying. The materials have been applied as single-layer coatings with only a topcoat made of pyrochlore material. In addition, double-layer systems with a first layer of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a top layer made of pyrochlore material were produced. These systems have been tested in thermal cycling test rigs at surface temperatures between 1200-1450°C and the results were compared to the behavior of YSZ coatings. Single-layer coatings had a rather poor thermal cycling performance. On the other hand, double-layer systems showed similar results to YSZ coatings at temperatures below about 1300°C. At higher temperatures the double-layer coatings produced from our own powders revealed excellent thermal cycling behavior. At the highest test conditions, lifetime was thereby orders of magnitude better than that of YSZ coatings. Results indicate that an increase of the maximum surface temperature in gas turbines by at least 100 K becomes possible with the new coatings. Coatings produced from commercial powders showed a somewhat reduced performance.
Changing the learning environment to promote deep learning approaches in first-year accounting students

Developing deep approaches to learning is claimed to enhance students' engagement with their subject material and result in improved analytical and conceptual thinking skills. Numerous calls have been made for accounting educators to adopt strategies that produce such results. This paper reports on changes to the learning environment centring on the introduction of group learning activities that were designed to improve the quality of students' learning outcomes. The impact of changes in the learning environment on students' approaches to learning, as measured by the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) (Biggs, 1987b), was then assessed. Results indicate that, across the semester, accounting students exhibited a small but statistically significant increase in their deep learning approach, and a small but statistically significant reduction in their surface learning approach. The results suggest that accounting educators, through changes in the learning environment, may be able to influence the learning approaches adopted by accounting students.
Some arguments against some prevalent ideas on specificational sentences

Copular sentences where the copula is flanked by two DPs fall into two types: predicational or ascriptive (John is the physician) and specificational (The physician is John), to use the most widely accepted terms. However, according to the dominant view in the generative transformational framework, this divide, to some extent, is spurious since underlyingly specificational sentences would be predicational. Contrary to this position, I argue that the partition is real, irreducible, and syntactically-based. With this goal in mind, I discuss and reinterpret some well known data and present some new ones.
A Blue-shifted Light-driven Proton Pump for Neural Silencing*

Background: Light-driven proton pumps are utilized to control the neural activity. Results: We have succeeded to produce a blue-shifted proton pump. The rotation of the β-ionone ring contributes to the spectral shift. Conclusion: The designed color variant provides a tool that allows the control of neural activity by blue light. Significance: The knowledge will help to understand the color-tuning mechanism and can be utilized for optogenetics. Ion-transporting rhodopsins are widely utilized as optogenetic tools both for light-induced neural activation and silencing. The most studied representative is Bacteriorhodopsin (BR), which absorbs green/red light (∼570 nm) and functions as a proton pump. Upon photoexcitation, BR induces a hyperpolarization across the membrane, which, if incorporated into a nerve cell, results in its neural silencing. In this study, we show that several residues around the retinal chromophore, which are completely conserved among BR homologs from the archaea, are involved in the spectral tuning in a BR homolog (HwBR) and that the combination mutation causes a large spectral blue shift (λmax = 498 nm) while preserving the robust pumping activity. Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations revealed that, compared with the wild type, the β-ionone ring of the chromophore in the mutant is rotated ∼130° because of the lack of steric hindrance between the methyl groups of the retinal and the mutated residues, resulting in the breakage of the π conjugation system on the polyene chain of the retinal. By the same mutations, similar spectral blue shifts are also observed in another BR homolog, archearhodopsin-3 (also called Arch). The color variant of archearhodopsin-3 could be successfully expressed in the neural cells of Caenorhabditis elegans, and illumination with blue light (500 nm) led to the effective locomotory paralysis of the worms. Thus, we successfully produced a blue-shifted proton pump for neural silencing.
Electrocradiographic Qrs Axis, Q Wave and T-wave Changes in 2nd and 3rd Trimester of Normal Pregnancy.

BACKGROUND Pregnancy although a physiological phenomena affects all the functions of the maternal body and brings about remarkable changes in the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular changes and many of the physiological adaptations of normal pregnancy alter the physical findings thus, sometimes misleading the diagnosis of heart disease. Pregnancy also brings about various changes in the electrocardiogram, further confusing with that of heart disease. This study is undertaken to highlight the effect of normal pregnancy on the QRS axis, Q wave and T-wave of the Electrocardiogram and thereby helps us to distinguish it from that of pathological changes. OBJECTIVES To study the effect of normal pregnancy on the QRS axis, Q wave and T-wave in the electrocardiogram and to compare with that of normal non pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty normal pregnant women in 2nd and 3rd trimester each between 20- 35 y of age and 50 normal non pregnant women of the same age group were selected for the study. A 12 lead ECG was recorded by using ECG machine with special emphasis on QRS axis, Q wave and T-wave changes and all the parameters were analysed. RESULTS The ECG changes observed in our study include, deviation of QRS axis towards left as pregnancy advanced, significant increased incidence of occurrence of prominent Q waves in lead II, III and avF in pregnant group (p < 0.05 ) and, T-wave abnormalities like flat and inverted T-waves in lead III, V1 - V3 were more frequent in pregnant group ( p<0.05 ) than in non pregnant group. CONCLUSION Normal pregnancy brings about various changes in ECG. These changes during pregnancy should be interpretated with caution by the physicians. It is necessary to understand the normal physiological changes which in turn help us in better management of those with cardiac disease.
10.16-Peta-B/s Dense SDM/WDM Transmission Over 6-Mode 19-Core Fiber Across the C+L Band

Space-division multiplexing (SDM) is an attractive technique for dramatically enhancing the transmission capacity in a single optical fiber. Recently, ultradense SDM transmission experiments with a spatial multiplicity of over 100 have been reported by using few mode multicore fibers (FM-MCFs). Considering the maximum capacity of around 100 Tb/s reported in single-mode single-core fiber transmission experiments, the capacity in FM-MCF transmission with more than 100 spatial channels is expected to reach 10 peta-b/s; however, the maximum capacity has been limited to 2 peta-b/s. In this paper, we demonstrate ultradense SDM transmission of 739 WDM 12-Gbd dual polarization—64-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)/16-QAM signals over 11.3-km 6-mode 19-core fiber using the C+L band, achieving a record fiber capacity of 10.16 peta-b/s with an aggregate spectral efficiency of 1099.9 b/s/Hz.
American Journal of Epidemiology Original Contribution Serum Phospholipid Fatty Acids and Prostate Cancer Risk: Results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial

Inflammation may be involved in prostate cancer development and progression. This study examined the associations between inflammation-related phospholipid fatty acids and the 7-year-period prevalence of prostate cancer in a nested case-control analysis of participants, aged 55–84 years, in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial during 1994–2003. Cases (n ¼ 1,658) were frequency matched to controls (n ¼ 1,803) on age, treatment, and prostate cancer family history. Phospholipid fatty acids were extracted from serum, and concentrations of x-3, x-6, and trans-fatty acids (TFAs) were expressed as proportions of the total. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of associations of fatty acids with prostate cancer by grade. No fatty acids were associated with low-grade prostate cancer risk. Docosahexaenoic acid was positively associated with high-grade disease (quartile 4 vs. 1: odds ratio (OR) ¼ 2.50, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34, 4.65); TFA 18:1 and TFA 18:2 were linearly and inversely associated with risk of high-grade prostate cancer (quartile 4 vs. The study findings are contrary to those expected from the pro-and antiinflammatory effects of these fatty acids and suggest a greater complexity of effects of these nutrients with regard to prostate cancer risk. Many lines of evidence support an important role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer (1, 2). Proliferative inflammatory atrophy of the prostate may be the precursor lesion for prostate cancer (1, 3), and both epidemiologic and animal experimental models report inverse associations between nonsteroidal antiinflamma-tory drugs and prostate cancer (4–7). Dietary compounds can also influence inflammation. Both in vitro and human studies have found x-6 and trans-fatty acids (TFAs) to be proinflammatory and long-chain x-3 fatty acids to be antiinflammatory (8, 9). However, results from the few studies that have examined associations of these fatty acids in blood with prostate cancer risk have been inconsistent (10–18). Here, we examine the associations of inflammation-related serum phospholipid fatty acids with prostate cancer risk in a case-control study nested within the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. We hypothesized that x-6 and TFAs would be positively and x-3 fatty acids inversely associated with risk. Several aspects of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial are unique: The presence or absence of prostate cancer was determined by biopsy, and cancer grade was determined by centralized, uniform pathology. Thus, although almost all prostate cancer cases were diagnosed as local stage, detection bias was minimized, and pathologic grading of cases was rigorous. Results from this …
Phase II Study of Bortezomib in Combination with Cyclophosphamide and Rituximab for Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma.

BACKGROUND Relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) has a poor prognosis. The best outcome is achieved in patients who have a partial or complete response to salvage treatment and proceed to allogeneic stem cell transplant. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-one patients were given a combination regimen of bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab at MD Anderson Cancer Center as part of a single-arm, prospective, open-label phase II clinical trial. The median age was 66 years, with a median number of prior treatments of three. Sixty-seven percent had failed intensive chemoimmunotherapy and 43% were intermediate/high risk according to the MCL international prognostic index score, with a median Ki-67 proliferation index of 45% in those who were tested. RESULTS The rates of overall and complete response achieved were 74% and 42%, respectively, with median progression-free and overall survivals of 9 months and 36.4 months, respectively. The regimen's toxicity profile was acceptable; only 25% of the cycles resulted in grade 3 or 4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia, and only 3% of cycles produced grade 3-4 fatigue. There were no episodes of grade 3-4 neuropathy. CONCLUSION The combination of bortezomib with cyclophosphamide and rituximab is an effective and well-tolerated regimen in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL. Because of its low toxicity, future combinations of this regimen with other promising drugs that have different mechanisms of action offer a realistic possibility that may improve outcomes for patients who have MCL. The Oncologist 2017;22:549-553 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The combination of bortezomib with cyclophosphamide and rituximab represents an additional effective novel salvage regimen for mantle cell lymphoma. This combination adds to the growing list of treatment options available for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
Inequality and Volatility Moderation in Russia: Evidence from Micro-Level Panel Data on Consumption and Income

We construct key household and individual economic variables using a panel micro data set from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) for 1994-2005. We analyze cross-sectional income and consumption inequality and find that inequality decreased during the 2000-2005 economic recovery. The decrease appears to be driven by falling volatility of transitory income shocks. The response of consumption to permanent and transitory income shocks becomes weaker later in the sample, consistent with greater self-insurance against permanent shocks and greater smoothing of transitory shocks. Comparisons of RLMS data with official macroeconomic statistics reveal that national accounts may underestimate the extent of unofficial economic activity, and that the official consumer price index may overstate inflation and be prone to quality bias.
The kindness of strangers: on the usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice

People use weak ties---relationships with acquaintances or strangers---to seek help unavailable from friends or colleagues. Yet in the absence of personal relationships or the expectation of direct reciprocity, help from weak ties might not be forthcoming or could be of low quality. We examined the practice of distant employees (strangers) exchanging technical advice through a large organizational computer network. A survey of advice seekers and those who replied was conducted to test hypotheses about the viability and usefulness of such electronic weak tie exchanges.Theories of organizational motivation suggest that positive regard for the larger organization can substitute for direct incentives or personal relationships in motivating people to help others. Theories of weak ties suggest that the usefulness of this help may depend on the number of ties, the diversity of ties, or the resources of help providers. We hypothesized that, in an organizational context, the firm-specific resources and organizational motivation of people who provide advice will predict the usefulness of advice.We investigated these theories in a study of employees of a global computer manufacturer. We collected survey and observational data on the relationships between information seekers and information providers; the number, diversity, resources, and motivations of information providers, and subjective ratings of the usefulness of the advice (from both parties in the exchange) and whether or not the advice solved information seekers' problems.We found that information providers gave useful advice and solved the problems of information seekers, despite their lack of a personal connection with the seekers. The data support the main hypotheses and provide some support for resource and diversity explanations of weak tie influence. We discuss how this organization's culture sustained useful intormation exchange through weak ties.
Targeting posttranslational modifications of RIOK1 inhibits the progression of colorectal and gastric cancers

RioK1 has recently been shown to play important roles in cancers, but its posttranslational regulation is largely unknown. Here we report that RioK1 is methylated at K411 by SETD7 methyltransferase, and that lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) reverses its methylation. The mutated RioK1 (K411R) that cannot be methylated exhibits a longer half-life than does the methylated RioK1. FBXO6 specifically interacts with K411-methylated RioK1 through its FBA domain to induce RioK1 ubiquitination. Casein kinase 2 (CK2) phosphorylates RioK1 at T410, which stabilizes RioK1 by antagonizing K411 methylation and impeding the recruitment of FBXO6 to RioK1. Functional experiments demonstrate the RioK1 methylation reduces the tumor growth and metastasis in CRC and GC. Importantly, the protein levels of CK2 and LSD1 show an inverse correlation with FBXO6 and SETD7 expression in human CRC tissues. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of a RioK1 methylation-phosphorylation switch in determining CRC and GC development.
Detecting the direction of motion in a binary sensor network

We examine the problem of detecting the direction of motion in a binary sensor network; in such a network each sensor's value is supplied reliably in a single bit of information: whether the moving object is approaching towards or moving away from the sensor. We demonstrate that the geometric properties of the network itself can be exploited for the detection of movement direction, from a single instance of sensor reading only. Moreover the estimation is performed in a distributed processing fashion, with only a minimal data collection at situation-dependent leading sensors and features a low computational burden on each sensor. In addition, different detection instances drain the resources of different groups of sensors, of a small size compared to the size of the whole network. Our experiments demonstrate high accuracy that increases with sensor density and/or sensing range, while the responsiveness of the detection model is practically instantaneous
Exaggerated Blood Pressure Response to Exercise – A New Portent of Masked Hypertension

Masked hypertension (MHT) is a popular entity with increased risk of developing sustained hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and death. Subjects have normal blood pressure (BP) at office but elevated values at night so it is difficult to diagnose. Exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise (EBPR) is also a predictor of future hypertension. To investigate the relationship between these two entities, we evaluated 61 normotensive subjects with EBPR. The subjects underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). The prevalence of masked hypertension among subjects with EBPR was 41%%. Body mass index (BMI), non-high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at peak exercise and recovery, nondipping DBP pattern, and elevated early morning average BPs were associated with masked hypertension. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the DBP measured at peak exercise was detected as an independent predictor of MHT in subjects with EBPR. Subjects with abnormally elevated BP during exercise are prone to MHT, necessitate medical assessment and close follow-up for hypertension.