Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Postoperative Infection Following Nasal Septoplasty

This retrospective study evaluates the incidence and spectrum of infectious complications in 100 consecutive adult nasal septoplasty patients. A total of 12 patients (mean age 40 years; age range 24-55 years) suffered from postoperative infection, and 3/12 had received prophylactic antibiotics. Patients presented with abscess formation ( n =7), submucosal swelling and flush ( n =4) and haematoma and high fever ( n =1). None of the patients had life-threatening complications, such as meningitis, endocarditis or septic/toxic shock. After surgical drainage, antibiotic treatment was given orally or intravenously. The mean hospitalization time was 3.6 days. To assess the clinical outcome, 8/12 patients were re-examined about 1.8 years after the operation. They all had an improved rhinological status. Septoplasty had been successful in relieving nasal obstruction in seven (88%) patients. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the nasal mucosa in three (38%) patients, which is in line with previous findings in healthy nasal septoplasty patients. The use of antimicrobial prophylaxis in septal surgery will be discussed.
The Impact of Different Directed Forgetting Instructions on Implicit and Explicit Memory: New Evidence from a Modified process Dissociation Procedure

In contrast to previous research on directed forgetting, the present studies adopted a recent modification of the process dissociation procedure (Jacoby, 1991; Richardson-Klavehn & Gardiner, 1995) to accommodate the cross-contamination of memory test performance by implicit and explicit memorial factors. In Experiment 1, 120 subjects were compared in global directed forgetting, item-by-item directed forgetting, and control conditions on estimates of voluntary conscious memory, involuntary conscious memory, and involuntary unconscious memory performance. In Experiment 2, 80 subjects were compared in specific directed forgetting and control conditions on estimates of voluntary conscious memory, involuntary conscious memory, and involuntary unconscious memory performance. Subjects showed significant decrements in voluntary and involuntary conscious memory performance following instructions for directed forgetting in all conditions. None of the directed forgetting conditions showed a decrement in involuntary unconscious memory performance. Results suggest that, regardless of instruction type, directed forgetting prevents the conscious expression of memorial information (both voluntary and involuntary) while leaving unconscious memory intact.
Effects of a two-week physiological dehydroepiandrosterone substitution on cognitive performance and well-being in healthy elderly women and men.

The levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester DHEAS decrease with age after a peak around 25 yr. Animal studies as well as the first studies in humans have generated the idea that DHEA replacement in elderly subjects may have beneficial effects on well-being and cognitive functions. In the present experiment 40 healthy elderly men and women (mean age, 69 yr) participated in a double blind, placebo-controlled DHEA substitution study. For 2 weeks subjects took 50 mg DHEA daily, followed by a 2-week wash-out period and a 2-week placebo period. The treatment sequence was randomized in a cross-over design. After 2 weeks of DHEA or placebo, psychological and physical well-being as well as cognitive performance were assessed using several questionnaires and neuropsychological tests. All subjects had low DHEAS baseline levels. DHEA substitution lead to a 5-fold increase in DHEAS levels in women (from 0.67 +/- 0.1 to 4.1 +/- 0.4 micrograms/mL; P < 0.001) and men (from 0.85 +/- 0.1 to 4.5 +/- 0.4 micrograms/mL; P < 0.001). DHEA, androstenedione, and testosterone levels also increased significantly in both sexes (all P < 0.001). No significant changes were observed in insulin-like growth factor I or insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 levels. DHEA replacement had no strong beneficial effect on any of the measured psychological or cognitive parameters. Only women tended to report an increase in well-being (P = 0.11) and mood (P = 0.10), as assessed with questionnaires. They also showed better performance in one of six cognitive tests (picture memory) after DHEA. However, after Bonferroni alpha adjustment, this difference was no longer significant. No such trend was observed in men (P > 0.20). Likewise, no beneficial effects of DHEA substitution could be observed in any of the other tests of the neuropsychological test battery in either sex (all P > 0.20). In conclusion, the present data do not support the idea of strong beneficial effects of a physiological DHEA substitution on well-being or cognitive performance in healthy elderly individuals.
Fast and slow skeletal troponin I in serum from patients with various skeletal muscle disorders: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND Detection of skeletal muscle injury is hampered by a lack of commercially available assays for serum markers specific for skeletal muscle; serum concentrations of skeletal troponin I (sTnI) could meet this need. Moreover, because sTnI exists in 2 isoforms, slow (ssTnI) and fast (fsTnI), corresponding to slow- and fast-twitch muscles, respectively, it could provide insight into differential injury/recovery of specific fiber types. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the 2 isoforms of sTnI and their modified forms are present in the blood of patients with various skeletal muscle disorders. METHODS Serial serum samples were obtained from 25 patients with various skeletal muscle injuries. Serum proteins were separated by a modified sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protocol followed by Western blotting for sTnI with monoclonal antibodies specific to ssTnI and fsTnI. RESULTS We observed (a) intact and, in some cases, degraded sTnI products; (b) evidence of posttranslational modifications in addition to proteolysis; and (c) differential detectability of both skeletal isoforms in the same patient. CONCLUSIONS It is possible to monitor both sTnI isoforms; this could lead to the development of new diagnostic assays for skeletal muscle damage.
Fetal hemoglobin and alpha thalassemia modulate the phenotypic expression of HbSD‐Punjab

HbSD‐Punjab (HbSD) is a less common form of sickle cell disease (SCD) and discrimination between HbSD and HbSS is not possible on alkaline electrophoresis because the two variants overlap in the compound heterozygous state. There are only a few publications consisting mostly of case reports. Thus, the phenotypic expression of HbSD and its modifiers has not been studied.
Potential Repair of Escherichia coli DNA following Exposure to UV Radiation from Both Medium- and Low-Pressure UV Sources Used in Drinking Water Treatment

ABSTRACT The increased use of UV radiation as a drinking water treatment technology has instigated studies of the repair potential of microorganisms following treatment. This study challenged the repair potential of an optimally grown nonpathogenic laboratory strain of Escherichia coli after UV radiation from low- and medium-pressure lamps. Samples were irradiated with doses of 5, 8, and 10 mJ/cm2 from a low-pressure lamp and 3, 5, 8, and 10 mJ/cm2 from a medium-pressure UV lamp housed in a bench-scale collimated beam apparatus. Following irradiation, samples were incubated at 37°C under photoreactivating light or in the dark. Sample aliquots were analyzed for up to 4 h following incubation using a standard plate count. Results of this study showed that E. coli underwent photorepair following exposure to the low-pressure UV source, but no repair was detectable following exposure to the medium-pressure UV source at the initial doses examined. Minimal repair was eventually observed upon medium-pressure UV lamp exposure when doses were lowered to 3 mJ/cm2. This study clearly indicates differences in repair potential under laboratory conditions between irradiation from low-pressure and medium-pressure UV sources of the type used in water treatment.
Ellipsoidal rounding for nonnegative matrix factorization under noisy separability

We present a numerical algorithm for nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) problems under noisy separability. An NMF problem under separability can be stated as one of finding all vertices of the convex hull of data points. The research interest of this paper is to find the vectors as close to the vertices as possible in a situation in which noise is added to the data points. Our algorithm is designed to capture the shape of the convex hull of data points by using its enclosing ellipsoid. We show that the algorithm has correctness and robustness properties from theoretical and practical perspectives; correctness here means that if the data points do not contain any noise, the algorithm can find the vertices of their convex hull; robustness means that if the data points contain noise, the algorithm can find the near-vertices. Finally, we apply the algorithm to document clustering, and report the experimental results.
Can observers link dream content to behaviours in rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder? A cross‐sectional experimental pilot study

Motor activity in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) has been linked to dream content. Systematic and controlled sleep laboratory studies directly assessing the relation between RBD behaviours and experienced dream content are, however, largely lacking. We aimed to investigate whether a link can be established between RBD behaviours and dream content when both are systematically sampled in a controlled setting. We investigated six patients with Parkinson syndrome and RBD who underwent 2–3 nights of video–polysomnographic recording during which they were awakened from REM sleep (10 min after the onset of the second and successive REM periods). Spontaneous free‐worded dream reports and a structured dream questionnaire were obtained. Video recordings of motor manifestations were each combined with four dream reports, and seven judges had to match the video clip with the correctly reported dream content from a choice of four possibilities. Of the 35 REM sleep awakenings performed, a total of 17 (48.6%) motor‐behavioural episodes with recalled dream content were obtained. The mean of correctly identified video‐dream pairs was 39.5% (range 0–100%). Our data showed that reported dream content can be linked to motor behaviours above chance level. Matching accuracy was affected mainly by the clarity of dream reports and the specific nature of movements manifest in video recordings.
Relative frequency of Haemophilus influenzae type b pneumonia in Chinese children as evidenced by serology

Objectives. It is commonly held that Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia among children in Asia is mostly caused by serotypes other than b (Hib). If so, Hib conjugate vaccines would play little role in the prevention of pneumonia. In two prospective series of children hospitalized for pneumonia in China, the causative agents were searched for with a wide panel of microbiologic assays. Methods. In the university hospitals of Beijing and Hefei, 156 consecutive children 3 months of age and older with symptoms and signs of pneumonia were studied. Blood culture, chest radiograph, nasopharyngeal aspirate for viral antigen detection and paired sera for 20 microbiologic assays were taken. Severity was graded, and the course of illness was monitored uniformly. Results. In Beijing only likely contaminants grew from blood cultures, and in Hefei pathogens were identified in two cases. In combined series evidence for bacterial, mixed and viral etiology was obtained in 30, 7 and 21% of cases, respectively. The dominant bacteria were pneumococcus, Hib, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae, responsible for 13, 10, 8 and 8% of cases, respectively. Most patients were treated with extended spectrum antimicrobials such as piperacillin, cefotaxime or ceftriaxone, alone or in combination. One child died. Conclusions. As in most other series from other countries, the leading agent causing childhood pneumonia was pneumococcus but, in line with our previous experience from Beijing, the second most common agent detected was Hib. This observation suggests great potential for pneumococcal and Hib vaccinations in China. Because no evidence supported the need for routine use of extended spectrum antimicrobials, narrower spectrum agents would be safer for patients, would be cheaper for the community and would offer a way to address increasing resistance problems.
Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health

who told me that “black hair is so” flexible— you can do anything with it. ” Nonetheless, Wingfield has made a significant contribution to the scholarship on black women’s beauty industry. She has produced a wellorganized, readable, informative and insightful book. It should be read by scholars and general readers interested in gender, race, and class issues, and specifically ethnic enclaves studies.
Recombinator Networks: Learning Coarse-to-Fine Feature Aggregation

Deep neural networks with alternating convolutional, max-pooling and decimation layers are widely used in state of the art architectures for computer vision. Max-pooling purposefully discards precise spatial information in order to create features that are more robust, and typically organized as lower resolution spatial feature maps. On some tasks, such as whole-image classification, max-pooling derived features are well suited, however, for tasks requiring precise localization, such as pixel level prediction and segmentation, max-pooling destroys exactly the information required to perform well. Precise localization may be preserved by shallow convnets without pooling but at the expense of robustness. Can we have our max-pooled multilayered cake and eat it too? Several papers have proposed summation and concatenation based methods for combining upsampled coarse, abstract features with finer features to produce robust pixel level predictions. Here we introduce another model - dubbed Recombinator Networks - where coarse features inform finer features early in their formation such that finer features can make use of several layers of computation in deciding how to use coarse features. The model is trained once, end-to-end and performs better than summation-based architectures, reducing the error from the previous state of the art on two facial keypoint datasets, AFW and AFLW, by 30% and beating the current state-of-the-art on 300W without using extra data. We improve performance even further by adding a denoising prediction model based on a novel convnet formulation.
Collisional Cascades in Planetesimal Disks. I. Stellar Flybys

We use a new multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the evolution of a planetesimal disk following a moderately close encounter with a passing star. The calculations include fragmentation, gas and Poynting-Robertson drag, and velocity evolution from dynamical friction and viscous stirring. We assume that the stellar encounter increases planetesimal velocities to the shattering velocity, initiating a collisional cascade in the disk. During the early stages of our calculations, erosive collisions damp particle velocities and produce substantial amounts of dust. For a wide range of initial conditions and input parameters, the time evolution of the dust luminosity follows a simple relation, Ld/L* = L0/[α + (t/td)β]. The maximum dust luminosity L0 and the damping time td depend on the disk mass, with L0 ∝ Md and td ∝ M. For disks with dust masses of 1%–100% of the "minimum-mass solar nebula" (1–100 M⊕ at 30–150 AU), our calculations yield td ∼ 1–10 Myr, α ≈ 1–2, β = 1, and dust luminosities similar to the range observed in known "debris disk" systems, L0 ∼ 10-3 to 10-5. Less massive disks produce smaller dust luminosities and damp on longer timescales. Because encounters with field stars are rare, these results imply that moderately close stellar flybys cannot explain collisional cascades in debris disk systems with stellar ages of ∼100 Myr or longer.
Lithium and Valproate Decrease Inositol Mass and Increase Expression of the Yeast INO1 and INO2Genes for Inositol Biosynthesis*

Bipolar affective disorder (manic-depressive illness) is a chronic, severe, debilitating illness affecting 1–2% of the population. The Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs lithium and valproate are not completely effective in the treatment of this disorder, and the mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects have not been established. We are employing genetic and molecular approaches to identify common targets of lithium and valproate in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that both drugs affect molecular targets in the inositol metabolic pathway. Lithium and valproate cause a decrease in intracellular myo-inositol mass and an increase in expression of both a structural (INO1) and a regulatory (INO2) gene required for inositol biosynthesis. Theopi1 mutant, which exhibits constitutive expression ofINO1, is more resistant to inhibition of growth by lithium but not by valproate, suggesting that valproate may inhibit the Ino1p-catalyzed synthesis of inositol 1-phosphate. Consistent with this possibility, growth in valproate leads to decreased synthesis of inositol monophosphate. Thus, both lithium and valproate perturb regulation of the inositol biosynthetic pathway, albeit via different mechanisms. This is the first demonstration of increased expression of genes in the inositol biosynthetic pathway by both lithium and valproate. Because inositol is a key regulator of many cellular processes, the effects of lithium and valproate on inositol synthesis have far-reaching implications for predicting genetic determinants of responsiveness and resistance to these agents.
Staphylococcus aureus fibronectin-binding protein (FnBP)-mediated adherence to platelets, and aggregation of platelets induced by FnBPA but not by FnBPB.

BACKGROUND The ability of Staphylococcus aureus to adhere to platelets and to induce aggregation of platelets is considered to be a critical factor in S. aureus-associated infective endocarditis. METHODS To identify and characterize further bacterial factors involved in the S. aureus-platelet interaction, we generated a phage-display library of S. aureus genomic DNA by use of the improved phagemid vector pG8SAET. The library was affinity-panned against gel-filtered, immobilized platelets. RESULTS Repeatedly isolated clones contained overlapping DNA fragments encoding a portion of the S. aureus fibronectin (Fn)-binding proteins (FnBPs). In a flow cytometric adherence assay, Staphylococcus carnosus that heterologously expressed either fnbA or fnbB, which encode FnBPA and FnBPB, respectively, showed increased adherence to activated, gel-filtered platelets. Adherence was promoted by the addition of Fn or fibrinogen (Fg), which most likely act as bridging molecules. Interestingly, promotion of adherence mediated by Fn was in the same range with S. carnosus producing either FnBPA or FnBPB, whereas promotion of adherence mediated by Fg was significantly more pronounced with S. carnosus that produce FnBPA than with S. carnosus that produce FnBPB. Furthermore, FnBPA, but not FnBPB, mediated aggregation of platelets when present on S. carnosus cells. CONCLUSION Our results indicate a substantial functional difference between FnBPA and FnBPB in the S. aureus-platelet interaction.
Gauss and the history of the fast Fourier transform

THE fast Fourier transform (Fm has become well known . as a very efficient algorithm for calculating the discrete Fourier Transform (Om of a sequence of N numbers. The OFT is used in many disciplines to obtain the spectrum or . frequency content of a Signal, and to facilitate the computation of discrete convolution and correlation. Indeed, published work on the FFT algorithm as a means of calculating the OFT, by J. W. Cooley and J. W. Tukey in 1965 [1], was a turning point in digital signal processing and in certain areas of numerical analysis. They showed that the OFT, which was previously thought to require N 2 arithmetic operations, could be calculated by the new FFT algorithm using only N log Noperations. This algorithm had a revolutionary effect on many digital processing methods, and remains the most Widely used method of computing Fourier transforms [2]. In their original paper, Cooley and Tukey referred only to I. J. Good's work published in 1958 [3] as having influenced their development. However, It was soon discovered there are major differences between the Cooley-Tukey FFT and the algorithm described by Good, which is now commonly referred to as the prime factor algorithm (PFA). Soon after the appearance of the CooleyTukey paper, Rudnick [4] demonstrated a similar algorithm, based on the work of Danielson and Lanczos [5] which had appeared in 1942. This discovery prompted an investigation into the history of the FFT algorithm by Cooley, Lewis, and Welch [6]. They discovered that the Oanielson-Lanczos paper referred to work by Runge published at the tu rn of the centu ry [7, 8]. The algorithm developed by Cooley and Tukey clearly had its roots in, though perhaps not a direct influence from, the early twentieth century. In a recently published history of numerical analysis [9], H. H. Goldstine attributes to Carl Friedrich Gauss, the eminent German mathematician, an algorithm similar to the FFT for the computation of the coefficients of a finite Fourier series. Gauss' treatise describing the algorithm was not published in his lifetime; it appeared only in his collected works [10] as an unpublished manuscript. The presumed year of the composition of this treatise is 1805, thereby suggesting that efficient algorithms for evaluating
The 2004 Olympic Games: physiotherapy services in the Olympic Village polyclinic

Objective: First, to document the injuries sustained during the 2004 Olympic Games in a sample of patients visiting the physiotherapy department of the Olympic Village polyclinic. Second, to provide information and data about the physiotherapy services for planning future Olympics and other mass gatherings. Design: Observational study. Setting: Olympic Village polyclinic. Participants: 457 patients aged 15–72 years visited the physiotherapy department from 30 July through 30 August. Results: The department’s workload was at a peak during the last 15 days of the Olympic Games (periods B and C). The most common injuries were overuse injuries (47.3%). The most common pathology for physiotherapy attendance was myofascial pain/muscle spasm (32.5%), followed by tendinopathy (19.2%) and ligament sprain (18.7%). The most prevalent site of injury was the thigh (21%), followed by the knee (14.1%) and the lumbar spine (13.5%). Most injuries had symptoms of <7 days’ duration. The geographical region with the greatest demand for physiotherapy services was Africa (40.6%). Most patients were athletes (74.8%), although team officials accounted for a considerable number (14%). Conclusions: The smallest national teams—especially those from developing countries—were more likely to take advantage of services, probably because the larger teams had their own medical and physiotherapy staff. The characteristics of patients, their sustained injuries and the subsequent treatment varied by the accreditation status of the patients. The physiotherapy department’s workload was dependent on the Olympic Games schedule.