Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ten-year experience of chordal replacement with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene in mitral valve repair.

BACKGROUND Mitral valve repair is the procedure of choice to correct mitral regurgitation (MR). Although chordal replacement with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) has been widely accepted to repair anterior mitral prolapse and other difficult situations, the long-term results of the repair and the fate of ePTFE have not been delineated. METHODS AND RESULTS From July 1988 to April 1999, 74 patients (49 males, 25 females) aged 17 to 77 years (mean age 55. 3+/-14.8 years) underwent mitral valve repair with chordal replacement with ePTFE. The follow-up period was from 6 months to 11. 3 years (mean 4.6+/-3.2 years). The causes of MR were degenerative in 65 patients (88%) and infective in 9 (12%). Three patients had active infective endocarditis. Valve lesions were anterior in 35 patients, posterior in 10, and both anterior and posterior in 29. Various procedures for plasty of leaflets were necessary in 37 patients (50%). Atrial fibrillation was associated in 38 patients (51%), and the maze procedure has been performed in a selected group of 30 patients (41%) since July 1992. There was 1 in-hospital death (1.4%) and 3 late cardiac deaths (4.1%). More than moderate MR developed in 12 patients (17%) during the follow-up period. Three of these patients required early reoperation within 1 year due to hemolysis. Two patients underwent mitral valve replacement at 6 and 8 years after repair, respectively. The actuarial reoperation-free rates at 5 and 10 years were 94.3+/-2.8% and 81.7+/-9.1%, respectively. Sinus rhythm was restored in 21 patients (70%) with the maze procedure. There was only 1 thromboembolic episode (0. 3%/patient-y) in a patient with atrial fibrillation who did not undergo the maze procedure. Event-free survival rates as assessed by the freedom from cardiac death, thromboembolism, reoperation, and anticoagulation-related hemorrhage at 5 and 10 years were 91.3+/-3. 4% and 71.6+/-9.7%, respectively. There was no relationship between recurrent MR and the change of ePTFE. Structural analysis of the ePTFE resected during reoperation revealed no calcification and showed remaining flexibility and pliability. Protein infiltration was observed in the ePTFE, and collagenous proliferation was recognized at the site of fixation to the valve leaflet and the papillary muscle. The surface of the ePTFE was completely endothelialized, which may induce antithrombogenicity. CONCLUSIONS The long-term durability and biological adaptation of ePTFE as artificial chordae for mitral valve repair of MR were proved for >10 years.
Correlation of Disc Damage Likelihood Scale, Visual Field, and Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II in Patients with Glaucoma

Purpose To correlate the analysis of the optic nerve head (ONH) obtained with Disc Damage Likelihood Scale (DDLS), Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II (HRT II), and visual field (VF) parameters (Aulhorn scale, mean deviation [MD], and pattern standard deviation [PSD]) in patients with glaucoma. Methods Sixty-five eyes were evaluated using the DDLS classification. Fifty-seven eyes had stable primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and eight eyes were normal (control group). Classification of the ONH was performed using the HRT II, with Moorfields Regression Analysis (MRA) and Cup Shape Measure (CSM) indexes. The VF was examined by Full Threshold test (30–2) using the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA) perimeter and evaluated by three methods: Aulhorn's scale of 0 to 6, and two global indices, MD and PSD. Results The amount of ONH damage as estimated by the DDLS correlated well with topographic damage determined by HRT II (r=0.923 with MRA and r=0.807 with CSM) and with visual field loss as measured by the MD (r=-0.792) and PSD (r=0.718) of the HFA and Aulhorn field staging system (r=0.849). Conclusions This study shows that evaluation of the ONH using the DDLS provides information that correlates well with VF and with data obtained from HRT II.
Absorption, transportation and digestion of egg white in quail embryos

The present study was done to reveal how egg white is taken up by embryonic tissues, the pathway through which egg white is transported, and the location where it is digested during the development of the quail Coturnix japonica. Antiserum against quail ovalbumin was raised in rabbit and used as a probe. By immunoelectron microscopy, the uptake of ovalbumin on a small scale by receptor‐mediated endocytosis was observed in the ectodermal cells of the yolk sac on days four to seven of incubation. The uptake of egg white on a large scale by fluid‐phase endocytosis took place in the cells generally referred to collectively as the ‘albumen sac’. The ovalbumin was transported through the albumen sac into the extraembryonic cavity during days eight to 10, and then into the amniotic cavity through the amnion approximately on day 10. Ovalbumin was present in the intestinal lumen on days 11 and 14, but it was not digested in the intestinal epithelial cells. The ovalbumin was detected in the yolk of embryos after day 10. Immunoblot testing, as well as a fluoroimmunoassay, revealed that the location where the amount of ovalbumin was highest changed chronologically from the extraembryonic cavity on day 10 to the amniotic cavity on day 11, the intestinal lumen on day 12 and then to the yolk on day 13. Several low molecular proteins which cross‐reacted with the antiserum were observed in the extracts of the yolk. The reaction producing these proteins depended on low pH (approximately 3.0) and was inhibited by pepstatin A. The ovotransferrin was similarly digested. These results indicate that egg white is, for the most part, transported through the albumen sac to the yolk via the extraembryonic cavity, the amniotic cavity, and the intestinal lumen, and is digested in the yolk by aspartic proteinases.
The Effect of Hospital Volume on Mortality in Patients Admitted with Severe Sepsis

Importance The association between hospital volume and inpatient mortality for severe sepsis is unclear. Objective To assess the effect of severe sepsis case volume and inpatient mortality. Design Setting and Participants Retrospective cohort study from 646,988 patient discharges with severe sepsis from 3,487 hospitals in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2002 to 2011. Exposures The exposure of interest was the mean yearly sepsis case volume per hospital divided into tertiles. Main Outcomes and Measures Inpatient mortality. Results Compared with the highest tertile of severe sepsis volume (>60 cases per year), the odds ratio for inpatient mortality among persons admitted to hospitals in the lowest tertile (≤10 severe sepsis cases per year) was 1.188 (95% CI: 1.074–1.315), while the odds ratio was 1.090 (95% CI: 1.031–1.152) for patients admitted to hospitals in the middle tertile. Similarly, improved survival was seen across the tertiles with an adjusted inpatient mortality incidence of 35.81 (95% CI: 33.64–38.03) for hospitals with the lowest volume of severe sepsis cases and a drop to 32.07 (95% CI: 31.51–32.64) for hospitals with the highest volume. Conclusions and Relevance We demonstrate an association between a higher severe sepsis case volume and decreased mortality. The need for a systems-based approach for improved outcomes may require a high volume of severely septic patients.
Voxel-wise meta-analysis of grey matter changes in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND Specific cortico-striato-thalamic circuits are hypothesised to mediate the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but structural neuroimaging studies have been inconsistent. AIMS To conduct a meta-analysis of published and unpublished voxel-based morphometry studies in OCD. METHOD Twelve data-sets comprising 401 people with OCD and 376 healthy controls met inclusion criteria. A new improved voxel-based meta-analytic method, signed differential mapping (SDM), was developed to examine regions of increased and decreased grey matter volume in the OCD group v. control group. Results No between-group differences were found in global grey matter volumes. People with OCD had increased regional grey matter volumes in bilateral lenticular nuclei, extending to the caudate nuclei, as well as decreased volumes in bilateral dorsal medial frontal/anterior cingulate gyri. A descriptive analysis of quartiles, a sensitivity analysis as well as analyses of subgroups further confirmed these findings. Meta-regression analyses showed that studies that included individuals with more severe OCD were significantly more likely to report increased grey matter volumes in the basal ganglia. No effect of current antidepressant treatment was observed. Conclusions The results support a dorsal prefrontal-striatal model of the disorder and raise the question of whether functional alterations in other brain regions commonly associated with OCD, such as the orbitofrontal cortex, may reflect secondary compensatory strategies. Whether the reported differences between participants with OCD and controls precede the onset of the symptoms and whether they are specific to OCD remains to be established.
Miniature IPSCs in Hippocampal Granule Cells Are Triggered by Voltage-Gated Ca2+ Channels via Microdomain Coupling

The coupling between presynaptic Ca2+ channels and Ca2+ sensors of exocytosis is a key determinant of synaptic transmission. Evoked release from parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons is triggered by nanodomain coupling of P/Q-type Ca2+ channels, whereas release from cholecystokinin (CCK)-containing interneurons is generated by microdomain coupling of N-type channels. Nanodomain coupling has several functional advantages, including speed and efficacy of transmission. One potential disadvantage is that stochastic opening of presynaptic Ca2+ channels may trigger spontaneous transmitter release. We addressed this possibility in rat hippocampal granule cells, which receive converging inputs from different inhibitory sources. Both reduction of extracellular Ca2+ concentration and the unselective Ca2+ channel blocker Cd2+ reduced the frequency of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs) in granule cells by ∼50%, suggesting that the opening of presynaptic Ca2+ channels contributes to spontaneous release. Application of the selective P/Q-type Ca2+ channel blocker ω-agatoxin IVa had no detectable effects, whereas both the N-type blocker ω-conotoxin GVIa and the L-type blocker nimodipine reduced mIPSC frequency. Furthermore, both the fast Ca2+ chelator BAPTA-AM and the slow chelator EGTA-AM reduced the mIPSC frequency, suggesting that Ca2+-dependent spontaneous release is triggered by microdomain rather than nanodomain coupling. The CB1 receptor agonist WIN 55212-2 also decreased spontaneous release; this effect was occluded by prior application of ω-conotoxin GVIa, suggesting that a major fraction of Ca2+-dependent spontaneous release was generated at the terminals of CCK-expressing interneurons. Tonic inhibition generated by spontaneous opening of presynaptic N- and L-type Ca2+ channels may be important for hippocampal information processing.
Analyzing Student Action Sequences and Affect While Playing Physics Playground

Physics Playground is an educational game that supports physics learning. It accepts multiple solutions to most problems and does not impose a stepwise progression through the content. Assessing student performance in an open-ended environment such as this is therefore challenging. This study investigates the relationships between student action sequences and affect among students using Physics Playground. The study identified most frequently traversed student action sequences and investigated whether these sequences were indicative of either boredom or confusion. The study found that boredom relates to poor performance outcomes, and confusion relates to sub-optimal performance, as evidenced by the significant correlations between the respective affective states, and the student action sequences.
Integrating and mining the chromatin landscape of cell-type specificity using self-organizing maps

We tested whether self-organizing maps (SOMs) could be used to effectively integrate, visualize, and mine diverse genomics data types, including complex chromatin signatures. A fine-grained SOM was trained on 72 ChIP-seq histone modifications and DNase-seq data sets from six biologically diverse cell lines studied by The ENCODE Project Consortium. We mined the resulting SOM to identify chromatin signatures related to sequence-specific transcription factor occupancy, sequence motif enrichment, and biological functions. To highlight clusters enriched for specific functions such as transcriptional promoters or enhancers, we overlaid onto the map additional data sets not used during training, such as ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, CAGE, and information on cis-acting regulatory modules from the literature. We used the SOM to parse known transcriptional enhancers according to the cell-type-specific chromatin signature, and we further corroborated this pattern on the map by EP300 (also known as p300) occupancy. New candidate cell-type-specific enhancers were identified for multiple ENCODE cell types in this way, along with new candidates for ubiquitous enhancer activity. An interactive web interface was developed to allow users to visualize and custom-mine the ENCODE SOM. We conclude that large SOMs trained on chromatin data from multiple cell types provide a powerful way to identify complex relationships in genomic data at user-selected levels of granularity.
Oral microbiota and cancer

Abstract Inflammation caused by infections may be the most important preventable cause of cancer in general. However, in the oral cavity the role of microbiota in carcinogenesis is not known. Microbial populations on mouth mucosa differ between healthy and malignant sites and certain oral bacterial species have been linked with malignancies but the evidence is still weak in this respect. Nevertheless, oral microorganisms inevitably up-regulate cytokines and other inflammatory mediators that affect the complex metabolic pathways and may thus be involved in carcinogenesis. Poor oral health associates statistically with prevalence of many types of cancer, such as pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancer. Furthermore, several oral micro-organisms are capable of converting alcohol to carcinogenic acetaldehyde which also may partly explain the known association between heavy drinking, smoking, poor oral health and the prevalence of oral and upper gastrointestinal cancer. A different problem is the cancer treatment-caused alterations in oral microbiota which may lead to the emergence of potential pathogens and subsequent other systemic health problems to the patients. Hence clinical guidelines and recommendations have been presented to control oral microbiota in patients with malignant disease, but also in this area the scientific evidence is weak. More controlled studies are needed for further conclusion.
Nurse-Based Models for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: From Research to Clinical Practice

The worldwide personal and societal costs related to diseases of the vascular system are enormous. International research efforts have focused on discovering ways to implement prevention strategies shown to be both effective and cost-efficient. Teams comprising health care professionals with expertise in nursing, dietetics, physical activity, and behavioral skills have shown high levels of success in preventive efforts, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable populations. Used appropriately, team-based, nurse-directed case management has the potential to effect positive change in both primary and secondary prevention of cardiac and other vascular diseases.
Loneliness and depression among rural empty-nest elderly adults in Liuyang, China: a cross-sectional study

Objective To compare loneliness, depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes between empty-nest and not-empty-nest older adults in rural areas of Liuyang city, Hunan, China. Methods A cross-sectional multi-stage random cluster survey was conducted from November 2011 to April 2012 in Liuyang, China. A total of 839 rural older residents aged 60 or above completed the survey (response rate 97.6%). In line with the definition of empty nest, 25 participants who had no children were excluded from the study, while the remaining 814 elderly adults with at least one child were included for analysis. Loneliness and depressive symptoms in rural elderly parents were assessed using the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Major depressive episodes were diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Results Significant differences were found between empty-nest and not-empty-nest older adults regarding loneliness (16.19±3.90 vs. 12.87±3.02, Cohen’s d=0.97), depressive symptoms (8.50±6.26 vs. 6.92±5.19, Cohen’s d=0.28) and the prevalence of major depressive episodes (10.1% vs. 4.6%) (all p<0.05). After controlling for demographic characteristics and physical disease, the differences in loneliness, depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes remained significant. Path analysis showed that loneliness mediated the relationship between empty-nest syndrome and depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes. Conclusion Loneliness and depression are more severe among empty-nest than not-empty-nest rural elderly adults. Loneliness was a mediating variable between empty-nest syndrome and depression.
Examining the External Training Load of an English Premier League Football Team With Special Reference to Acceleration

Abstract Akenhead, R, Harley, J, and Tweddle, S. Examining the external training load of an English Premier League football team with special reference to acceleration. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2424–2432, 2016—Practitioners and coaches often use external training load variables such as distance run and the number of high-speed running (HSR) activities to quantify football training. However, an important component of the external load may be overlooked when acceleration activities are not considered. The aim of this study was to describe the within-microcycle distribution of external load, including acceleration, during in-season 1-game weeks in an elite football team. Global Positioning System technology was used to collect time-motion data from 12 representative 7-day microcycles across a competitive season (48 training days, 295 data sets). Training time, total distance (TD), high-speed running (HSR) distance (>5.8 m·s−1), sprint running distance (>6.7 m·s−1) and acceleration variables were recorded during each training session. Data were analysed for interday and interposition differences using mixed linear modeling. The distribution of external load was characterized by the second training day of the microcycle (5 days prematch) exhibiting the highest values for all variables of training load, with the fourth day (1 day prematch) exhibiting the lowest values. Central midfield players covered ∼8–16% greater TD than other positions excluding wide midfielders (p ⩽ 0.03, d = 0.2–0.4) and covered ∼17% greater distance accelerating 1–2 m·s−2 than central defenders (p = 0.03, d = 0.7). When expressed relative to training duration and TD, the magnitude of interday and interposition differences were markedly reduced (p = 0.03, d = 0.2–0.3). When managing the distribution of training load, practitioners should be aware of the intensity of training sessions and consider the density of external load within sessions.
Detection of attenuated wavy fibers in the myocardium of Newfoundlands without clinical or echocardiographic evidence of heart disease.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether attenuated wavy fibers may be found in the myocardium of Newfoundlands without clinical or echocardiographic evidence of heart disease. ANIMALS 15 Newfoundlands from a kennel with a known predisposition to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 32 dogs of other breeds that died suddenly or were euthanatized for reasons unrelated to heart disease and did not have gross postmortem evidence of heart disease. PROCEDURE Echocardiography was performed on all Newfoundlands on a yearly basis. Necropsy specimens from all dogs were evaluated for attenuated wavy fibers (i.e., myocardial cells <6 microm in diameter with a wavy appearance). RESULTS None of the Newfoundlands had clinical signs of heart disease, and results of echocardiographic examinations were within reference ranges. Seven Newfoundlands had histologic evidence of attenuated wavy fibers, whereas attenuated wavy fibers were not found in the remaining 8 Newfoundlands or in any of the 32 dogs of other breeds. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Findings suggest that attenuated wavy fibers in dogs with a known predisposition for DCM may indicate an early stage of the disease. However, further studies on a larger number of dogs are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
Behavioral Correlates of Primates Conservation Status: Intrinsic Vulnerability to Anthropogenic Threats

Behavioral traits are likely to influence species vulnerability to anthropogenic threats and in consequence, their risk of extinction. Several studies have addressed this question and have highlighted a correlation between reproductive strategies and different viability proxies, such as introduction success and local extinction risk. Yet, very few studies have investigated the effective impact of social behaviour, and evidence regarding global extinction risk remains scant. Here we examined the effects of three main behavioral factors: the group size, the social and reproductive system, and the strength of sexual selection on global extinction risk. Using Primates as biological model, we performed comparative analysis on 93 species. The conservation status as described by the IUCN Red List was considered as a proxy for extinction risk. In addition, we added previously identified intrinsic factors of vulnerability to extinction, and a measure of the strength of the human impact for each species, described by the human footprint. Our analysis highlighted a significant effect of two of the three studied behavioral traits, group size and social and reproductive system. Extinction risk is negatively correlated with mean group size, which may be due to an Allee effect resulting from the difficulties for solitary and monogamous species to find a partner at low densities. Our results also indicate that species with a flexible mating system are less vulnerable. Taking into account these behavioral variables is thus of high importance when establishing conservation plans, particularly when assessing species relative vulnerability.
Tobacco smoking-associated genome-wide DNA methylation changes in the EPIC study.

AIM Epigenetic changes may occur in response to environmental stressors, and an altered epigenome pattern may represent a stable signature of environmental exposure. MATERIALS & METHODS Here, we examined the potential of DNA methylation changes in 910 prediagnostic peripheral blood samples as a marker of exposure to tobacco smoke in a large multinational cohort. RESULTS We identified 748 CpG sites that were differentially methylated between smokers and nonsmokers, among which we identified novel regionally clustered CpGs associated with active smoking. Importantly, we found a marked reversibility of methylation changes after smoking cessation, although specific genes remained differentially methylated up to 22 years after cessation. CONCLUSION Our study has comprehensively cataloged the smoking-associated DNA methylation alterations and showed that these alterations are reversible after smoking cessation.
Interactive overlays of journals and the measurement of interdisciplinarity on the basis of aggregated journal-journal citations

This is the accepted version of the following article: Leydesdorff, L. , Rafols, I. and Chen, C. (2013), Interactive overlays of journals and the measurement of interdisciplinarity on the basis of aggregated journal–journal citations. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 64: 2573–2586. doi: 10.1002/asi.22946