Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of NASA light-emitting diode irradiation on wound healing.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and near-infrared light therapy on wound healing. BACKGROUND DATA Light-emitting diodes (LED), originally developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space show promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. In this paper, we review and present our new data of LED treatment on cells grown in culture, on ischemic and diabetic wounds in rat models, and on acute and chronic wounds in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS In vitro and in vivo (animal and human) studies utilized a variety of LED wavelength, power intensity, and energy density parameters to begin to identify conditions for each biological tissue that are optimal for biostimulation. RESULTS LED produced in vitro increases of cell growth of 140-200% in mouse-derived fibroblasts, rat-derived osteoblasts, and rat-derived skeletal muscle cells, and increases in growth of 155-171% of normal human epithelial cells. Wound size decreased up to 36% in conjunction with HBO in ischemic rat models. LED produced improvement of greater than 40% in musculoskeletal training injuries in Navy SEAL team members, and decreased wound healing time in crew members aboard a U.S. Naval submarine. LED produced a 47% reduction in pain of children suffering from oral mucositis. CONCLUSION We believe that the use of NASA LED for light therapy alone, and in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen, will greatly enhance the natural wound healing process, and more quickly return the patient to a preinjury/illness level of activity. This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center-SBIR Program.
The relative contributions of MNTB and LNTB neurons to inhibition in the medial superior olive assessed through single and paired recordings

The medial superior olive (MSO) senses microsecond differences in the coincidence of binaural signals, a critical cue for detecting sound location along the azimuth. An important component of this circuit is provided by inhibitory neurons of the medial and lateral nuclei of the trapezoid body (MNTB and LNTB, respectively). While MNTB neurons are fairly well described, little is known about the physiology of LNTB neurons. Using whole cell recordings from gerbil brainstem slices, we found that LNTB and MNTB neurons have similar membrane time constants and input resistances and fire brief action potentials, but only LNTB neurons fire repetitively in response to current steps. We observed that LNTB neurons receive graded excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs, with at least some of the latter arriving from other LNTB neurons. To address the relative timing of inhibition to the MSO from the LNTB versus the MNTB, we examined inhibitory responses to auditory nerve stimulation using a slice preparation that retains the circuitry from the auditory nerve to the MSO intact. Despite the longer physical path length of excitatory inputs driving contralateral inhibition, inhibition from both pathways arrived with similar latency and jitter. An analysis of paired whole cell recordings between MSO and MNTB neurons revealed a short and reliable delay between the action potential peak in MNTB neurons and the onset of the resulting IPSP (0.55 ± 0.01 ms, n = 4, mean ± SEM). Reconstructions of biocytin-labeled neurons showed that MNTB axons ranged from 580 to 858 μm in length (n = 4). We conclude that while both LNTB and MNTB neurons provide similarly timed inhibition to MSO neurons, the reliability of inhibition from the LNTB at higher frequencies is more constrained relative to that from the MNTB due to differences in intrinsic properties, the strength of excitatory inputs, and the presence of feedforward inhibition.
Diagnosis of vocal cord dysfunction in asthma with high resolution dynamic volume computerized tomography of the larynx

Background and objective: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) often masquerades as asthma and reports have suggested that up to 30% of patients with asthma may have coexistent VCD. Diagnosis of VCD is difficult, in part because it involves laryngoscopy which has practical constraints, and there is need for rapid non‐invasive diagnosis. High speed 320‐slice volume CT demonstrates laryngeal function during inspiration and expiration and may be useful in suspected VCD.
GABA Concentration Is Reduced in Visual Cortex in Schizophrenia and Correlates with Orientation-Specific Surround Suppression

The neural mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits in schizophrenia remain essentially unknown. The GABA hypothesis proposes that reduced neuronal GABA concentration and neurotransmission results in cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. However, few in vivo studies have directly examined this hypothesis. We used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at high field to measure visual cortical GABA levels in 13 subjects with schizophrenia and 13 demographically matched healthy control subjects. We found that the schizophrenia group had an ∼10% reduction in GABA concentration. We further tested the GABA hypothesis by examining the relationship between visual cortical GABA levels and orientation-specific surround suppression (OSSS), a behavioral measure of visual inhibition thought to be dependent on GABAergic synaptic transmission. Previous work has shown that subjects with schizophrenia exhibit reduced OSSS of contrast discrimination (Yoon et al., 2009). For subjects with both MRS and OSSS data (n = 16), we found a highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.76) between these variables. GABA concentration was not correlated with overall contrast discrimination performance for stimuli without a surround (r = −0.10). These results suggest that a neocortical GABA deficit in subjects with schizophrenia leads to impaired cortical inhibition and that GABAergic synaptic transmission in visual cortex plays a critical role in OSSS.
Sunnybrook facial grading system: Reliability and criteria for grading

In clinical research, which is distinctly quantitative and rigidly fixed to a written protocol, the need for precision is great, especially when multicenter trials are planned. The Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SB) is a well‐established tool for assessing facial movement outcomes; however, some ambiguities do arise. The purpose of this study was to construct specific grading criteria and to test the intra‐rater and inter‐rater reliability before and after the use of these criteria. The hypothesis was that even in naïve observers, specific criteria improve reliability.
The Estimation of the Health Production Function for Low-Income Working Men

Health is an important variable that determines an individual's economic as well as noneconomic well-being. A healthy individual will be more productive, will contribute more toward a nations's economy, and, keeping other things constant, will have a better life overall than a sick individual. But for a low-income individual, health could be even more crucial since it could be a major factor in perpetuating his poverty. If, as a part of our social policy, we would want to improve the economic well-being of poor people, their health in general would need attention. This paper studies the production of health and the demand for medical care of low-income working men. Low-income working men are “medically indigent” because they are not eligible for Medicaid and are not adequately covered by insurance. * This study provides insight into what role medical, preventive, and curative care—as well as other socioeconomic variables, such as income and education—plays in the production of the health of low-income men. It also shows the impact of price, income, and other control variables on the demand for medical care.
Epidemiology and Clinical Study of Pediatric Psoriasis on Black Skin in Dakar, Senegal

Introduction: In subsaharian African countries there are so few data concerning the psoriasis of the child. Our objective was to determine the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of the pediatric psoriasis in a dermatology unit, at Dakar in Senegal. Patients and methods: This was an 8 years (2004-2011) retrospective study conducted at the Dermatological clinic of HALD. All patients under 16 years old with psoriasis were included. Results: We report 40 cases of psoriasis of the child. The sex ratio was 1.05 and the average age of 6 years. The atopic status was found in 4 cases as follows: 3 cases of asthma and 1 case of atopic dermatitis. The average time of consultation was 5 months. The way the patients consulted was: 28 cases consulted a general practitioner, 6 cases seen by a paramedic and 5 patients consulted a traditional healer. The pruritus was present in 14 patients. The psoriasis vulgaris was the predominant form with 20 cases. The other forms were: 12 cases of guttate psoriasis, 6 cases of psoriasis universalis, 1 case in pustular and 1 case erythro-dermic. The topical glucocorticoids were prescribed in all the patients. The recurrence was found in 5 cases and 8 patients were lost of follow up. Conclusion: Psoriasis is a rare and benign condition in children with predominance of simple forms such as psoriasis vulgaris.
Counseling Practices to Ameliorate the Effects of Discrimination and Hate Events

A treatment model for the psychological sequelae of discrimination is illustrated via three treatment cases in which experiences of racism and gender, ethnic, or religious hostility were a primary focus of intervention. The client’s level of psychological functioning, acuity of hate victimization, and coping and identity re-formation strategies are addressed in this phase-oriented model of counseling. The five treatment phases are (1) event containment and safety, (2) assessment of client-event characteristics, (3) addressing diversity in the counseling alliance, (4) acute symptom reduction, and (5) identity recovery and re-formation. Counseling tasks with clients of hate victimization include the amelioration of acute postevent symptoms, reframing of aversive out-group attitudes, alleviating disturbance of in-group identity, and the eradication of avoidant intergroup behaviors. It is proposed that the effective treatment of victims of chronic harassment and acute hate incidents requires the integration of behavioral, cognitive, and multicultural counseling modalities.
Nucleus accumbens and food intake 1 CB 1 receptors modulate the intake of a sweetened fat diet in response to mu-opioid receptor stimulation of the nucleus accumbens

Previous research has demonstrated that concurrent systemic administration of CB1 cannabinoid and mu-opioid receptor agonists increases feeding in rats. However, the possible neural loci of this cooperative effect have yet to be identified. These studies tested whether the nucleus accumbens shell may be one site of the interactive effects of opioid and cannabinoid ligands on feeding. Injection of the mu-opioid agonist DAMGO (at 0, .025, .25, or 2.5 μg/0.5 μl/side) directly into the rat nucleus accumbens shell increased feeding on a sweetened fat diet, and this effect was blocked by pretreatment with either the mu-opioid antagonist naltrexone (20 μg/0.5 μl/side) or the CB1 antagonist SR141716 (0.5 μg/0.5 μl/side). Activation of nucleus accumbens shell CB1 receptors with WIN55212-2 alone (at .1 or .5 μg/0.5 μl/side) had no apparent effect on food intake. However, local injections of the low dose of DAMGO (.025 μg/0.5 μl/side) in this region along with WIN55212-2 (at .25 or .50 μg/0.5 μl/side) increased feeding above that induced by DAMGO alone. These data suggest an important modulatory role for cannabinoid receptors in the expression of feeding behaviors in response to mu-opioid receptor activation of the nucleus accumbens shell.
Evaluation of asthma severity: Relevance of total serum IgE, sputum and peripheral eosinophilia

© 2017 Indian Chest Society | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow insect bites, xenobiotics and to induce itching resulting in the expulsion of ectoparasites. In addition, exposure to environmental pollution along with smoking or passive smoking is associated with higher levels of total IgE. [6] Although studies have not found an association between total IgE levels and asthma, a large study (TENOR) found association between levels of total IgE and severity of asthma. [6]
Activation of vocal fold healing with topical vitamin A in rabbits

Conclusion. The results suggest that vitamin A can prevent scar formation in the vocal fold after surgery. Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of topically applied vitamin A on healing after vocal fold trauma. Materials and methods. Vocal folds of 20 adult rabbits were traumatized unilaterally. Ten of them were treated with topical application of vitamin A and the others served as controls. All animals were sacrificed after 10 days. Vocal folds were resected for analysis by light microscopy. Results. The untreated vocal folds showed extensive deposition of collagen and fibroblast on light microscopy and vocal folds treated with vitamin A showed less deposition. There was a significant difference between the two groups according to the percentage of collagen and fibroblasts in the lamina propria (p<0.01).
Contemporary appraisal of radical perineal prostatectomy.

PURPOSE In the age of minimally invasive surgery there has been renewed interest in the perineal approach for the surgical treatment of prostate cancer. We reviewed recent publications regarding radical perineal prostatectomy (RPP) in an effort to define its role in the current management of localized prostate malignancy. At the same time we reviewed the relevant perineal anatomy and surgical approach necessary to perform this operation. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a review of the literature with respect to RPP and included our own extensive experience with this operation, emphasizing patient selection, the current role of pelvic lymph node dissection, surgical anatomy, oncological outcomes and complications. RESULTS RPP is an effective treatment for localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate with oncological outcomes similar to those of the retropubic technique. In comparison to RRP, patients undergoing RPP have less postoperative discomfort, more rapid return of bowel function, more rapid return to work and a decreased transfusion rate. In addition, RRP is now often performed with cavernous nerve sparing. Prostate specific antigen screening has made the rate of lymph node metastasis low enough to omit lymphadenectomy in many cases. CONCLUSIONS There is still a role for RPP in the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Erectile dysfunction after nerve sparing and incontinence rates are similar to those of RRP. In addition, it is less morbid then RRP without being as technically challenging as laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.
Subsolid pulmonary nodules: imaging evaluation and strategic management

Purpose of review Given the higher rate of malignancy of subsolid pulmonary nodules and the considerably lower growth rate of ground-glass nodules (GGNs), dedicated standardized guidelines for management of these nodules have been proposed, including long-term low-dose computed tomography (CT) follow-up (≥3 years). Physicians must be familiar with the strategic management of subsolid pulmonary nodules, and should be able to identify imaging features that suggest invasive adenocarcinoma requiring a more aggressive management. Recent findings Low-dose CT screening studies for early detection of lung cancer have increased our knowledge of pulmonary nodules, and in particular our understanding of the strong although imperfect correlation of the subsolid pulmonary nodules, including pure GGNs and part-solid nodules, with the spectrum of preinvasive to invasive lung adenocarcinoma. Serial CT imaging has shown stepwise progression in a subset of these nodules, characterized by increase in size and density of pure GGNs and development of a solid component, the latter usually indicating invasive adenocarcinoma. Summary There is close correlation between the CT features of subsolid nodules (SSNs) and the spectrum of lung adenocarcinoma. Standardized guidelines are suggested for management of SSNs.
Postresuscitation debriefing in the pediatric emergency department: a national needs assessment.

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to assess current postresuscitation debriefing (PRD) practices in Canadian pediatric emergency departments (EDs) and identify areas for improvement. METHODS A national needs assessment survey was conducted to collect information on current PRD practices and perspectives on debriefing practice in pediatric EDs. A questionnaire was distributed to ED nurses, fellows, and attending physicians at 10 pediatric tertiary care hospitals across Canada. Summary statistics are reported. RESULTS Data were analyzed from 183 participants (48.7% response rate). Although 88.8% of the participants believed that debriefing is an important process, 52.5% indicated that debriefing after real resuscitations occurs less than 25% of the time and 68.3% indicated that no expectation exists for PRD at their institution. Although 83.7% of participants believed that facilitators should have a specific skill set developed through formal training sessions, 63.4% had no previous training in debriefing. Seventy-two percent felt that medical and crisis resource management issues are dealt with adequately when PRD occurs, and 90.4% indicated that ED workload and time shortages are major barriers to effective debriefing. Most responded that a debriefing tool to guide facilitators might aid in multiple skills, such as creating realistic debriefing objectives and providing feedback with good judgment. CONCLUSION PRD in Canadian pediatric EDs occurs infrequently, although most health care providers agreed on its importance and the need for skilled facilitators.
Fast sparse matrix multiplication

Let <i>A</i> and <i>B</i> two <i>n</i>×<i>n</i> matrices over a ring <i>R</i> (e.g., the reals or the integers) each containing at most <i>m</i> nonzero elements. We present a new algorithm that multiplies <i>A</i> and <i>B</i> using <i>O</i>(<i>m</i><sup>0.7</sup><i>n</i><sup>1.2</sup>+<i>n</i><sup>2+<i>o</i>(1)</sup>) algebraic operations (i.e., multiplications, additions and subtractions) over <i>R</i>. The naïve matrix multiplication algorithm, on the other hand, may need to perform Ω(<i>mn</i>) operations to accomplish the same task. For <i>m</i>≤<i>n</i><sup>1.14</sup>, the new algorithm performs an almost optimal number of only <i>n</i><sup>2+<i>o</i>(1)</sup> operations. For <i>m</i>≤<i>n</i><sup>1.68</sup>, the new algorithm is also faster than the best known matrix multiplication algorithm for dense matrices which uses <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>2.38</sup>) algebraic operations. The new algorithm is obtained using a surprisingly straightforward combination of a simple combinatorial idea and existing fast <i>rectangular</i> matrix multiplication algorithms. We also obtain improved algorithms for the multiplication of more than two sparse matrices. As the known fast rectangular matrix multiplication algorithms are far from being practical, our result, at least for now, is only of theoretical value.
Wilms tumor, AML and medulloblastoma in a child with cancer prone syndrome of total premature chromatid separation and Fanconi anemia

Wilms tumor (WT) is the most common primary renal tumor in childhood. The occurrence of WT in patients with growth retardation, mental retardation and central nervous system abnormalities in association with premature chromatid separation (PCS) and mosaic variegated aneuploidy has been previously described in only 10 patients. Here we report the very rare occurrence of WT with two other malignancies, acute myeloid leukemia and medulloblastoma in association with chromosomal instability. This is a novel presentation of Fanconi anemia with this cytogenetic abnormality. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:208–210. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
PAX-2 Expression in Non-neoplastic, Primary Neoplastic, and Metastatic Neoplastic Tissue: A Comprehensive Immunohistochemical Study

PAX-2 is a transcription factor that controls the development of the kidney, organs deriving from the mesonephric (Wolffian) duct, and those related to the Müllerian duct. Although PAX-2 is shown to be a sensitive marker for tumors derived from these organs, but whether it is specific, that is, whether other tumor types also express PAX-2, has not been systematically evaluated in either primary or metastatic tumors. Tissue sections from 937 normal or reactive tissue samples, 759 primary neoplasms, and 332 metastatic neoplasms were submitted to PAX-2 immunostain. Among the non-neoplastic tissue, PAX-2 was expressed in glomerular parietal epithelial cells, renal collecting duct cells, atrophic renal tubular cells, epithelial cells of ovarian surface, fallopian tube, endocervix, endometrium, seminal vesicle, and lymphocytes. Among the primary neoplasms, PAX-2 was noted in 104/122 (85%) of renal cell carcinoma, 31/95 carcinomas of Müllerian origin, 17/17 (100%) lymphomas, 4/4 (100%) nephrogenic adenomas, and 1/16 (6%) benign parathyroid tumors, but was negative in 477 other tumors. Among the metastatic tumors, PAX-2 was noted in 70/95 (74%) metastatic renal cell carcinomas, 14/20 (70%) metastatic tumors of Müllerian origin, 1/20 (5%) metastatic colon carcinoma of lymph nodes, 1/62 (2%) metastatic breast carcinoma of lymph nodes, but was not seen in the remaining 247 metastatic tumors. PAX-2 expression in non-neoplastic mature tissue is limited to the organs whose embryonic development depends on this transcription factor. PAX-2 is a sensitive and specific marker for tumors of renal or Müllerian origin in both primary and metastatic contexts.
Giraph Unchained: Barrierless Asynchronous Parallel Execution in Pregel-like Graph Processing Systems

The bulk synchronous parallel (BSP) model used by synchronous graph processing systems allows algorithms to be easily implemented and reasoned about. However, BSP can suffer from poor performance due to stale messages and frequent global synchronization barriers. Asynchronous computation models have been proposed to alleviate these overheads but existing asynchronous systems that implement such models have limited scalability or retain frequent global barriers, and do not always support graph mutations or algorithms with multiple computation phases. We propose barrierless asynchronous parallel (BAP), a new computation model that reduces both message staleness and global synchronization. This enables BAP to overcome the limitations of existing asynchronous models while retaining support for graph mutations and algorithms with multiple computation phases. We present GiraphUC, which implements our BAP model in the open source distributed graph processing system Giraph, and evaluate our system at scale with large real-world graphs on 64 EC2 machines. We show that GiraphUC provides across-the-board performance improvements of up to 5× faster over synchronous systems and up to an order of magnitude faster than asynchronous systems. Our results demonstrate that the BAP model provides efficient and transparent asynchronous execution of algorithms that are programmed synchronously.