Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Twelve-Year Experience of Lester Jones Tubes—Results and Comparison of 3 Different Tube Types

Purpose: Conjunctivodacryorhinostomy with insertion of a bypass Lester Jones tube is effective in treating epiphora due to canalicular failure. There is little information in the literature that directly compares different types of tubes. We report our results of Jones tube placements over a 12-year period with comparison of 3 tube types: plain, frosted, and a new tube with an additional flexible internal silicone flange (StopLoss Jones tube). Methods: Case notes review of a single surgeon consecutive series of patients having Jones tube placement. Results: One hundred twenty-seven tubes were inserted in 81 eyes of 65 patients. Information on 121 tubes was available for comparison (67 plain, 25 frosted, 29 StopLoos Jones Tube [SLJT]), with flange sizes 3.5 and 4.0 mm. There were 31 males, 34 females, mean age 59 years. After mean follow up of 20 months (range 0.5–108), there were no complications in 50% of tube insertions. Forty-three percentage of tubes needed replacing. The overall rate of complications was higher with a 3.5-mm flange tube than with a 4.0-mm flange (67% vs. 43%). There were no cases of extrusion in the SLJT group after follow up to a maximum of 25 months. The risk of extrusion for both frosted and plain tubes was significantly higher than for SLJT (p = 0.0040). There was no significant difference in the risk of extrusion between frosted and plain tubes. Overall, the risk of complications requiring tube replacement was not significantly different between frosted and plain tubes; however, the risk was significantly higher with both frosted and plain tubes compared with the SLJT (p = 0.036 and p = 0.042, respectively). Patient satisfaction was full in 86% and moderate in a further 5% of patients. Conclusions: Although patient satisfaction with LJT surgery is high, complications occur frequently, although seem to be less common with the larger 4.0 mm flange. Frosted tubes do not protect against tube displacement. The addition of the internal silicone flange on the SLJT seems to prevent the previously common problem of extrusion.
Hidden challenges: Sex offenders legislated into homelessness

Summary Zoning laws that prevent sex offenders from living within close proximity to schools and other places where children congregate have proliferated over the past 10 years. In many communities, few dwellings are compliant with these laws, causing sex offenders to become homeless. First, a brief history of residence restriction laws will be provided and then the research around their impact and effectiveness will be summarized, followed by empirically supported recommendations for reform. Findings Legislating individuals into homelessness is not sound social policy, nor is it humane. These laws do not conform to what is known about patterns of sexual perpetration and victimization, and thus do little to prevent recidivistic sexual violence. In fact, these policies may undermine the very factors shown by research to be associated with positive reentry and reduced recidivism. Applications The grand challenge of social justice requires social workers to advocate on behalf of those who are marginalized in our communities including criminal offenders. Research-based policy reform can result in improved public safety outcomes and social justice in our communities.
Who Is the Person in Need? Combining Message Framing and Social Distance to Promote Pro-Social Health Behaviors

This research examines the interplay between message framing (gains vs. losses) and social distance (proximal vs. distal) on intention to adopt two pro-social health behaviors. Experiment 1 revealed that a gain-framed message (benefits of blood donation), associated with the testimonial of a distal person (someone older than the respondent), and loss-framed message (lack of benefits from not giving blood), associated with the testimonial of a proximal person (someone of similar age as the respondent), are the most effective combinations for promoting blood donation. Experiment 2 replicated these results with organ donation and indicated that consumers’ comparative optimism moderates these effects.
Virtual Carrier-Assisted Direct-Detection MB-OFDM Next-Generation Ultra-Dense Metro Networks Limited by Laser Phase Noise

The impact of the phase-to-intensity conversion of the laser phase noise due to the optical band selector (BS) used for band extraction on the performance of direct-detection (DD) optical multiband orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) networks employing single-sideband (SSB) modulation is assessed. Compared to conventional double-sideband DD systems, in which the amplitude shape of the optical filter is quasi-symmetric relative to the centre of the signal spectrum, ultra-dense optical SSB-MB-OFDM networks employing virtual carrier-assisted DD are differently affected by the phase-to-intensity conversion. This is due to the detuned BS required by these networks, which modify the converted phase noise (CPN) features. A reduction of the power spectral density of the CPN achieving 30 dB can occur along the frequency range in which the BS bandwidth and detuning lead to a filtering attenuation that is similar in both sides of the virtual carrier. For single band, when the ratio between the BS detuning and bandwidth increases from 0% to 28%, an error vector magnitude improvement of 7 dB due to the CPN reduction is observed. The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalty due to the laser phase noise in 112-Gb/s SSB-MB-OFDM networks comprising 12 OFDM bands and employing an ultra-dense band spacing of 3.125 GHz is lower than 1 dB for external cavity lasers and is 1.6 dB for distributed feedback lasers. These OSNR penalties are obtained for an optimized ratio between the BS detuning and bandwidth of 14%.
Cues to kinship and close relatedness during infancy in Cebus capucinus

The ability to recognize kin has important impacts on fitness because it can allow for kinbiased affiliative behaviors and for avoidance of mating with close kin. While the presence and effects of kin biases have been widely studied, less is known about the process by which animals recognize close kin. Here we investigate potential cues that white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) may use to detect half-siblings and closer kin. We focus on the first year of life in a sample of 130 infant (n=65 infant females) wild capuchins from the Lomas Barbudal population in Costa Rica. We show that (1) infant relatedness to juvenile and adult males at the level of half-sibling and higher can be predicted by male alpha status, spatial proximity, and age proximity, and that (2) infant relatedness to juvenile and adult females at the level of half-sibling or higher can be predicted by spatial proximity (but not age proximity). Furthermore, (1) the identities of infants’ fathers can also be predicted by male alpha status and the spatial proximity between infants and adult males, and (2) age proximity (but not spatial proximity) is predictive of paternal sibship. These results suggest that infant capuchins have access to multiple cues to close relatedness and paternal kinship, though whether infants use these cues later in life remains to be explored
HIV-positive youth who are perinatally infected have impaired endothelial function

Objective: Evaluating cardiovascular disease risk in children and youth 13 to 24 years old who are facing a life time exposure to both HIV and antiretroviral therapy is a research priority. This study compares endothelial function measured by peripheral arterial tonometry in HIV-positive youth infected perinatally and behaviorally as well as HIV-negative controls. Methods: Three groups of participants aged 8–30 year were enrolled; HIV-positive perinatally infected, HIV-positive behaviorally infected on antiretroviral therapy with HIV-1 RNA less than 1000 copies/ml, and HIV-negative controls. We measured the reactive hyperemic index, a measure of endothelial function, using endoPAT (Caesarea, Israel). Markers of systemic inflammation, monocyte activation, and gut integrity were also assessed. Spearman correlations and regression analyses were used to explore relationships between endothelial function measures and other measured variables. Results: Overall, 119 participants were enrolled: 53 HIV-positive behaviorally infected, 18 HIV-positive perinatally infected, and 48 controls. Overall, 71% were men; 77% African Americans and median age was 22 years old. Median (interquartile range) reactive hyperemic index was lower in the HIV-positive perinatally infected group [1.34 (1.20, 1.42)], compared with the behaviorally infected group [1.52 (1.34, 1.75)] and the control group [1.52 (1.27, 1.80; P < 0.01)]. Soluble CD14, a marker of monocyte activation, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, a marker of gut integrity and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule, a marker of vascular dysfunction, were different among the three groups (P ⩽ 0.01). Conclusion: HIV-positive youth infected perinatally appear to have higher levels of endothelial dysfunction and immune activation when compared with behaviorally infected youth. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether perinatally infected youth have higher risks of cardiovascular disease.
Gene Expression in Parp1 Deficient Mice Exposed to a Median Lethal Dose of Gamma Rays

There is a current interest in the development of biodosimetric methods for rapidly assessing radiation exposure in the wake of a large-scale radiological event. This work was initially focused on determining the exposure dose to an individual using biological indicators. Gene expression signatures show promise for biodosimetric application, but little is known about how these signatures might translate for the assessment of radiological injury in radiosensitive individuals, who comprise a significant proportion of the general population, and who would likely require treatment after exposure to lower doses. Using Parp1–/– mice as a model radiation-sensitive genotype, we have investigated the effect of this DNA repair deficiency on the gene expression response to radiation. Although Parp1 is known to play general roles in regulating transcription, the pattern of gene expression changes observed in Parp1–/– mice 24 h postirradiation to a LD50/30 was remarkably similar to that in wild-type mice after exposure to LD50/30. Similar levels of activation of both the p53 and NFκB radiation response pathways were indicated in both strains. In contrast, exposure of wild-type mice to a sublethal dose that was equal to the Parp1–/– LD50/30 resulted in a lower magnitude gene expression response. Thus, Parp1–/– mice displayed a heightened gene expression response to radiation, which was more similar to the wild-type response to an equitoxic dose than to an equal absorbed dose. Gene expression classifiers trained on the wild-type data correctly identified all wild-type samples as unexposed, exposed to a sublethal dose or exposed to an LD50/30. All unexposed samples from Parp1–/– mice were also correctly classified with the same gene set, and 80% of irradiated Parp1–/– samples were identified as exposed to an LD50/30. The results of this study suggest that, at least for some pathways that may influence radiosensitivity in humans, specific gene expression signatures have the potential to accurately detect the extent of radiological injury, rather than serving only as a surrogate of physical radiation dose.
Sensorimotor Reorganizations of Arm Kinematics and Postural Strategy for Functional Whole-Body Reaching Movements in Microgravity

Understanding the impact of weightlessness on human behavior during the forthcoming long-term space missions is of critical importance, especially when considering the efficiency of goal-directed movements in these unusual environments. Several studies provided a large set of evidence that gravity is taken into account during the planning stage of arm reaching movements to optimally anticipate its consequence upon the moving limbs. However, less is known about sensorimotor changes required to face weightless environments when individuals have to perform fast and accurate goal-directed actions with whole-body displacement. We thus aimed at characterizing kinematic features of whole-body reaching movements in microgravity, involving high spatiotemporal constraints of execution, to question whether and how humans are able to maintain the performance of a functional behavior in the standards of normogravity execution. Seven participants were asked to reach as fast and as accurately as possible visual targets while standing during microgravity episodes in parabolic flight. Small and large targets were presented either close or far from the participants (requiring, in the latter case, additional whole-body displacement). Results reported that participants successfully performed the reaching task with general temporal features of movement (e.g., movement speed) close to land observations. However, our analyses also demonstrated substantial kinematic changes related to the temporal structure of focal movement and the postural strategy to successfully perform -constrained- whole-body reaching movements in microgravity. These immediate reorganizations are likely achieved by rapidly taking into account the absence of gravity in motor preparation and execution (presumably from cues about body limbs unweighting). Specifically, when compared to normogravity, the arm deceleration phase substantially increased. Furthermore, greater whole-body forward displacements due to smaller trunk flexions occurred when reaching far targets in microgravity. Remarkably, these changes of focal kinematics and postural strategy appear close to those previously reported when participants performed the same task underwater with neutral buoyancy applied to body limbs. Overall, these novel findings reveal that humans are able to maintain the performance of functional goal-directed whole-body actions in weightlessness by successfully managing spatiotemporal constraints of execution in this unusual environment.
Enteral nutritional support in non-ICU hospitalized patients: current practice in Mexico.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients receiving >=80% of their energy requirements by enteral nutrition (EN) have better clinical outcomes; unfortunately, there are discrepancies between the amount prescribed and amount received. The aim of this study was to explore the nutritional clinical practice, determine the adequacy and identify reasons for underfeeding. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN A retrospective study was conducted in hospitalized, non-intensive care unit, adult patients receiving EN for >=72 h. The following data were recorded: the prescribed target of energy and protein per day, daily energy intake, and the percentage of adequacy of the energy and protein requirement up to hospital day seven. Complications during administration or reasons for interruption and the proportion of patients who received >=80% of the energy goals on days four and seven were also recorded. RESULTS In total, 52 patients were included (61.5% women), with a median age of 57.5 years; 20.4% and 6.1% of the patients received >=80% of their energy and protein goals, respectively, on day four, which improved to 28% (p<0.005) and 19% (p<0.001), respectively, on day seven. During the first seven days, a statistically significant (p<0.001) difference was observed between the amount of prescribed and administered energy over 24 h. The patients who received <80% of their total energy requirement remained hospitalized for 29 days (IQR 16.5-45.5), while those who received >=80% were hospitalized for 18 days (IQR 13.3-28.8) (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Significant energy and protein deficits were documented. Furthermore, it is necessary to use strategies such as the implementation of an algorithm to optimize EN.
Linking intra-tree-ring wood density variations and tracheid anatomical characteristics in Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco)

In this study, a geometric approach was used in order to model the relationships between intra-tree-ring wood density variations and tracheid anatomical characteristics. One Douglas fir was studied in detail. Anatomical slides of 256 tree-rings were compared with the corresponding density profiles. Radial and tangential tracheid diameters decline from earlywood to latewood by 50% and 15%, respectively. At the same time, radial and tangential cell-wall thicknesses increase by 110% and 132%, respectively. Wood density exhibits an S-shape profile with a slight decrease of 10% at the beginning of a ring and an increase of 212% thereafter. Model simulations showed that wood density increase is mainly due to cell-wall thickening in tangential and radial directions as well as cell size reduction in radial direction. Simulations also showed that the knowledge of tracheid anatomical characteristics is not sufficient to fully explain wood density decrease at the beginning of earlywood. wood density / wood anatomy / wood quality / image analysis / Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco)
MEHP-induced rat testicular inflammation does not exacerbate germ cell apoptosis.

The testis is an organ that maintains an immune suppressive environment. We previously revealed that exposure of pre-pubertal rats to an acute dose of a well-described Sertoli cell toxicant, mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), leads to an accumulation of CD11b+ immune cells in the testicular interstitial space that closely correlates with a robust incidence of germ cell (GC) apoptosis. Here, we test the hypothesis that the infiltrating immune cells contribute to GC apoptosis. Postnatal day 28 Fischer rats that received an oral dose of 700 mg/kg MEHP showed a significant infiltration of both CD11bc+/CD68+/CD163- macrophages and neutrophils. The infiltration peaked at 12 h, but had reduced by 48 h. Testicular macrophages from MEHP-treated rats showed significantly upregulated expression of Tnfa and Il6, and the Arg1/Nos2 ratio was reduced compared to controls. However, small increases in anti-inflammatory genes Il10 and Tgfb1 were also observed. Depletion of circulating monocytes with clodronate liposomes prior to MEHP treatment reduced the macrophage influx into the testis, but did not lower GC apoptosis. Additionally, depletion of neutrophils using an anti-polymorphonuclear cell antibody prevented both macrophage and neutrophil infiltration into the testis, and also did not affect GC apoptosis. Together, these results show that exposure to MEHP leads to a rapid and temporary influx of pro-inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils in the interstitium of the testis. However, with this acute dosing paradigm, these infiltrating leukocytes do not appear to contribute to MEHP-induced testicular GC apoptosis leaving the functional significance of these infiltrating cells in the pathogenesis of MEHP-induced testicular injury unresolved.
Integrated magnetic resonance imaging and [11C]‐PBR28 positron emission tomographic imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

To characterize [11C]‐PBR28 brain uptake using positron emission tomography (PET) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS). We have previously shown increased [11C]‐PBR28 uptake in the precentral gyrus in a small group of ALS patients. Herein, we confirm our initial finding, study the longitudinal changes, and characterize the gray versus white matter distribution of [11C]‐PBR28 uptake in a larger cohort of patients with ALS and PLS.
Drug-eluting stent implantation for chronic total occlusions: comparison between the Sirolimus- and Paclitaxel-eluting stent.

AIMS Long-term results following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare metal stents in the treatment of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) is hindered by a significant rate of restenosis and re-occlusion. Drug-eluting stents have shown dramatically reduced restenosis rates for the treatment of relatively simple non-occlusive lesions, though there is only limited data as to the efficacy in CTO's. We evaluated the long-term results of the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) for the treatment of CTOs. METHODS AND RESULTS From April 2002, all patients at our institution were treated with SES as the device of choice during PCI. During the first quarter of 2003 the default strategy changed to the use of PES. Drug-eluting stent implantation was carried out in CTOs (defined as >3 months' duration) in 9% of de novo PCI procedures. A total of 76 consecutive patients were treated with SES implantation, followed by a consecutive series of 57 patients treated with PES implantation. These patients were compared with a similar group of patients (n=26) treated with BMS in the 6-month period preceding April 2002. At 400 days, the cumulative survival-free of target vessel revascularization was 80.8% in the BMS group versus 97.4% and 96.4% in the SES and PES groups respectively (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS The use of both the SES and PES in the treatment of chronic total coronary occlusions reduces the need for target vessel revascularization compared to bare metal stents.
Incidence and Risk Factors for Sigmoid Venous Thrombosis Following CPA Tumor Resection.

OBJECTIVE Our primary aim was to determine the incidence of sigmoid venous thrombosis (SVT) and determine risks factors and sequelae of SVT following cerebellopontine angle tumor resection. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Academic tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS Patients over 18 years of age who underwent resection of cerebellopontine angle meningioma or vestibular schwannoma from January 2005 to April 2016 who had postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. INTERVENTION(S) Diagnostic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Incidence of postoperative sigmoid venous thrombosis (SVT) from official radiology reports was compared with retrospective imaging review by our institutional neuroradiologists. Data collected included age, length of stay, body mass index, surgical approach, and postoperative complications. RESULTS A total of 127 patients were identified. Official radiology reads significantly underreported the incidence of postoperative SVT compared with retrospective review by our institutional neuroradiologist for patients who underwent routine postoperative imaging (n = 4 [3.1%] versus n = 22 [17.3%]; p < 0.001). There was a statistical trend toward increased risk for thrombosis in patients undergoing translabyrinthine and staged resection that did not reach significance (p = 0.068). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak incidence in patients with thrombosis was significantly increased (n = 9 [37.5%] versus n = 13 [12.6%]; p = 0.007). When controlling for approach, the presence of thrombus was associated with a more then three-fold increase in odds of CSF leak (OR = 3.28, 95% CI: 1.12-9.48, p = 0.030). There was no correlation between SVT and age (p = 0.788), body mass index (p = 0.686), length of stay (p = 0.733), preoperative tumor size (p = 0.555), or increased postoperative ICP (p = 0.645). Only one patient was symptomatic from sigmoid thrombosis compared with 21 who were not. CONCLUSION Incidence of SVT is significantly underreported and may predispose patients to increase risk for CSF leak. Staged and translabyrinthine approaches demonstrate an increased trend toward thrombosis risk. Our findings suggest it may not be necessary to treat asymptomatic SVT.