Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pluripotent plasticity of stem cells and liver repopulation

Different types of stem cells have a role in liver regeneration or fibrous repair during and after several liver diseases. Otherwise, the origin of hepatic and/or extra‐hepatic stem cells in reactive liver repopulation is under controversy. The ability of the human body to self‐repair and replace the cells and tissues of some organs is often evident. It has been estimated that complete renewal of liver tissue takes place in about a year. Replacement of lost liver tissues is accomplished by proliferation of mature hepatocytes, hepatic oval stem cells differentiation, and sinusoidal cells as support. Hepatic oval cells display a distinct phenotype and have been shown to be a bipotential progenitor of two types of epithelial cells found in the liver, hepatocytes, and bile ductular cells. In gastroenterology and hepatology, the first attempts to translate stem cell basic research into novel therapeutic strategies have been made for the treatment of several disorders, such as inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes mellitus, celiachy, and acute or chronic hepatopaties. In the future, pluripotent plasticity of stem cells will open a variety of clinical application strategies for the treatment of tissue injuries, degenerated organs. The promise of liver stem cells lie in their potential to provide a continuous and readily available source of liver cells that can be used for gene therapy, cell transplant, bio‐artificial liver‐assisted devices, drug toxicology testing, and use as an in vitro model to understand the developmental biology of the liver. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clinical experience with infants with Robin sequence: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE To study the clinical course of patients with Robin sequence (RS) during the first 6 months of life. DESIGN A longitudinal prospective study of children with RS. SETTING Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais, Universidade de São Paulo, Bauru-SP, Brazil, 1997 and 1998. PATIENTS Sixty-two children were studied from hospital admission to 6 months of age. Thirty-three (53.2%) presented with probable isolated RS (PIRS), 25 (40.3%) presented with syndromes or other malformations associated with RS, and 4 (6.5%) presented with RS with neurological involvement. INTERVENTIONS The type of respiratory tract obstruction was defined by nasopharyngoscopy. The patients with type 1 and type 2 obstruction underwent nasopharyngeal intubation (NPI), and glossopexy was indicated in patients with type 1 obstruction who did not show clinical improvement with this procedure. Tracheostomy was indicated in patients with type 2 obstruction who did not show a good course after NPI, in patients with type 1 obstruction who did not show good course after glossopexy, and in patients with type 3 and type 4 obstruction. RESULTS Prone position treatment (PPT) or NPI was the definitive treatment in 25 cases (75.8%) of PIRS and in 13 cases (52%) of syndromes or other malformations. Among the children with type 1 obstruction, 24 (51.1%) were submitted exclusively to PPT and 12 (25.5%) to NPI. With the type 2 groups, only one (12.5%) received PPT, and three (37.5%) were treated exclusively with NPI. All 15 infants treated exclusively with NPI (24.4%) presented with good weight, length, and neuromotor development. CONCLUSIONS Most patients with PIRS and type 1 obstruction improved without surgical intervention. NPI should be the initial treatment in all patients with RS with type 1 and type 2 obstruction who present with important respiratory and feeding difficulties.
Fabrication of Electrospun Polylactic Acid/Cinnamaldehyde/β-Cyclodextrin Fibers as an Antimicrobial Wound Dressing

Cinnamaldehyde (CA) was successfully encapsulated in β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), and polylactic acid (PLA)-based composite fibers were prepared by incorporating CA/β-CD via electrospinning. Morphological, structural, spectral, and antibacterial properties of different weight ratios of PLA:β-CD/CA (88:12, 94:6, 97:3, and 98.5:1.5) and PLA/CA/β-CD fibers were investigated. PLA and CA/β-CD were incorporated by mixing of CA/β-CD inclusions to enhance the viscosity of the mixed solution. The mechanical properties and hydrophilicity of nanofibers were improved following the addition of CA/β-CD. Moreover, CA/β-CD improved the antibacterial activities of the mixture against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. PLA/CA/β-CD-3 exhibited excellent antibacterial effects and low cytotoxicity. Thus, our study showed that PLA/CA/β-CD fibers may have applications as wound dressing materials and for use in other biomedical applications.
Utilizing a noisy-channel approach for Korean LVCSR

Korean is an agglutinative and highly inflective language with a severe phonological phenomenon and coarticulation effects, making the development of a large-vocabulary continuous speech recognition system (LVCSR) difficult. Choosing a Korean orthographic word-phrase (eojeol) as a basic recognition unit leads to high out-of-vocabulary (OOV) rates, whereas choosing an orthographic syllable (eumjeol) unit results in high acoustic confusability. To overcome these difficulties, we propose to construct the speech recognition task as a serial architecture composed of two independent parts. The first part is to perform a standard hidden Markov model (HMM)-based recognition of phonemic syllable units of the actual pronunciation (surface forms). In this way, one phonemic syllable corresponds to one possible pronunciation only. Thus, the lexicon dictionary and OOV rates can be kept small, while avoiding high acoustic confusability. Here, the Korean orthography of written transcription are not yet considered. In the second part, the system then transforms the phonemic syllable surface forms into the desirable orthography of a recognition unit, e.g., eumjeol or eojeol. To solve this task, a noisy-channel model is utilized, wherein the sequence of phonemic syllables is considered as “noisy” string, and the goal is to recover the “clean” string of Korean orthography. The entire process requires no linguistic knowledge, only annotated texts. The experiments were conducted on a Korean dictation database, where the best system could achieve 91.21% eumjeol accuracy and 71.30% eojeol accuracy.
Postoperative pain relief with high‐dose epidural buprenorphine: a double‐blind study

Forty‐five patients scheduled for major abdominal or intrathoracic surgery were assigned at random to two different groups. One group received 0.3 mg and the other 0.9 mg of buprenorphine epidurally to abolish postoperative pain. The first dose was given immediately upon arrival in the ICU, irrespective of pain. Subsequent medication was given on demand. The duration of action and side‐effects were recorded. Both doses produced excellent and long‐lasting pain relief, but no statistically significant difference was found between the groups, with regard to either the duration of action or the occurrence of side‐effects.
The Impact of Institutional Quality and Efficient Cohesion Investments on Economic Growth Evidence from Italian Regions

Literature stresses that efficient institutions are necessary to achieve the highest returns from public policies. It has been recognized by the European Union (EU) that regional institutions have a fundamental role in obtaining the highest results from Cohesion and Structural investments, which represent the main fiscal and anticyclical instruments available for the regions. The paper aims at analyzing the impact of the quality of regional governments, and their management of EU cohesion funds on the economic growth of Italian regions. In order to measure the quality of institutions, we have combined the Institutional Quality Index (IQI) with a set of efficiency indexes, calculated in order to evaluate the ability of regional policymakers to manage European Funds. We conduct a two-way fixed effect panel regression model during the period between 2007 and 2015. The results underline that, in general, Cohesion investments and IQI are positively related to the regional growth; instead, efficiency indexes are important key factors mainly in the Southern area, characterized by structural weaknesses.
The Ultrastructure and the Functions of the Saccus Endolymphaticus and its Decompression in Méniére's Disease

THE saccus endolymphaticus has for many years been a structure of great interest and much has been written about its possible functions and significance. The reintroduction by House in 1962 of the operation of subarachnoid shunt for Meniere's disease, first described by Portmann in 1927, has reawakened this interest and has stimulated this present study of the ultrastructure of the saccus. Various methods have been employed to investigate the possible functions of the saccus and they include:
Thyroid autoimmunity and ophthalmopathy related to melanoma biological therapy.

OBJECTIVE Ipilimumab is a fully human MAB against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4). CTLA4 negatively regulates immune cell activation. In patients with metastatic melanoma, ipilimumab increases survival time and induces complete remission in some patients. However, immune-related adverse events including endocrinopathies have been reported. Bevacizumab, an angiogenesis inhibitor, has been used in combination with ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this study, we report three patients who received ipilimumab alone or combined with bevacizumab therapy and developed thyroiditis, and the first report of euthyroid Graves' ophthalmopathy. RESULTS Case 1 is a 51-year-old female who presented with severe eye pain, proptosis, and periorbital edema. Laboratory results revealed normal TSH, elevated thyroid antibodies but low titer of anti-TSH receptor antibody. Imaging was consistent with Graves' ophthalmopathy. Cases 2 and 3 were referred for hyperthyroidism, and workup revealed thyroiditis. These three cases suggest that patients with advanced melanoma treated with ipilimumab +/- bevacizumab may be susceptible to a variety of thyroid disorders. CONCLUSIONS Anti-CTLA4 therapy has shown promising results in treating advanced malignancy such as melanoma and renal carcinoma. A number of endocrinopathies, including thyroid disorders, may develop during ipilimumab therapy. The association of bevacizumab with endocrinopathies is not clear, although a few reports suggest a link to hypothyroidism. All patients on ipilimumab and/or bevacizumab therapy should be monitored for signs or symptoms of thyroiditis.
EFICIÊNCIA DO FÓSFORO REVESTIDO COM POLÍMEROS NA CULTURA DA SOJA

O presente estudo objetivou avaliar a eficiencia agronomica do MAP revestido com polimeros na cultura de soja, no sistema plantio direto. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, constituido por duas fontes de fosforo (MAP e MAP revestido com polimeros) em quatro doses (0, 40, 80 e 120 kg ha -1 de P 2 O 5 ) perfazendo um esquema fatorial 2x4, com quatro repeticoes. A adubacao potassica foi feita de maneira uniforme em todos os tratamentos, na dose de 90 kg ha -1 de K 2 O. Foi realizada a determinacao da massa de materia seca de raizes e da parte aerea no florescimento pleno, aos 40 dias apos a emergencia, produtividade e massa de 100 graos no momento da colheita. O experimento foi realizado em duas safras agricolas 2009/2010 e 2010/2011, sendo os dados comparados sobre a media de ambos os anos. Os dados foram submetidos a analise de variância e as variaveis quantitativas foram comparadas por meio de analise de regressao. Os resultados de massa de materia seca de raizes e da parte aerea da soja mostraram resposta a utilizacao da adubacao fosfatada. Todos os parâmetros avaliados foram influenciados pelos tratamentos aplicados, entretanto, ocorrendo semelhanca estatistica entre MAP e MAP revestido com polimeros nas diferentes doses de fosforo. Analisando o comportamento das fontes de fosforo, observa-se uma superioridade do MAP revestido com polimeros na produtividade de graos de soja.
Urinalysis and Clinical Correlations in Patients with P. vivax or P. falciparum Malaria from Colombia

Background Urinalysis is a poorly reviewed diagnostic tool in malaria patients; its application can show the presence of severe malaria. Methods Urinalysis was performed in a total of 620 patients diagnosed with malaria by thick blood smear; complications were classified according to WHO major criteria for severity and minor criteria according to the Colombian malaria guideline. Results Severe or moderate clinical complications were diagnosed in 31.1% of patients, hepatic dysfunctions were diagnosed in 25.8%, anemia was diagnosed in 9.8%, thrombocytopenia was diagnosed in 7.7%, renal dysfunction was diagnosed in 4.8%, neurological and pulmonary complications were diagnosed in 2.1% and 2.4%, hypoglycemia was diagnosed in 1.1% of patients with blood glucose analysis, and acidosis was diagnosed in 10 of 25. Bilirubinuria was found in 24.3%, associated with urobilinuria, proteinuria, and increased specific gravity; urobilinuria was found in 30.6% associated with elevated serum bilirubin and alanine aminotransferase; 39.2% had proteinuria, associated with higher blood urea nitrogen, serum bilirubin, aspartate, alanine-transaminase, hematuria, and increased specific gravity. Severe or moderate liver and renal complications were associated with proteinuria and bilirubinuria. Urobilinuria was associated with thrombocytopenia and neurological and hepatic dysfunction. Ketonuria was associated with neurological dysfunctions. Conclusions The most frequent alterations in the urinalysis were bilirubinuria, proteinuria, urobilinuria, and increased specific gravity, related to thrombocytopenia and liver, kidney, and neurological alterations.
Effect of Eurycoma longifolia Jack on Libido in Middle Aged Male Rats

The effect of increasing doses of various fractions of Eurycoma longifolia Jack extracts on libido was examined in middle-aged male rats. The results showed that a high dose (800 mg/kg) of all E. longifolia Jack extracts significantly increased mount frequency (MF) (P < 0.05) over that of untreated controls, but had no effect on the frequency of intromission or ejaculation. Methanol, chloroform, water, and butanol fractions exhibited MF of 2.5 +/- 0.1, 2.6 +/- 0.3, 2.5 +/- 0.1 and 2.6 +/- 0.2, respectively, in adult, middle-aged male rats, and retired breeders versus 2.3 +/- 0.1 in untreated controls. This translated to a minor increase in MF of 8.7%, 13.0%, 8.7%, and 13.0% for these fractions, respectively, during the 20-minute observation period. The results of this study show that E. longifolia Jack extracts can increase libido in middle-aged male rats.
Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Nasal Colonization in HIV-Infected Ambulatory Patients

Background:Estimates of the prevalence of colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) vary in HIV-infected patients. Methods:HIV clinic patients were prospectively cultured. Bilateral nasal and axillary swabs were plated on BBL CHROMagar MRSA media. Molecular typing was done by pulse-field gel electrophoresis, and staphylococcal cassette chromosomemec typing was determined. A patient questionnaire was conducted to ascertain potential MRSA risk factors; medical records were reviewed. Results:Fifteen of 146 (10.3%) patients had MRSA nasal colonization; 1 also had axillary colonization. Twelve of 15 isolates were staphylococcal cassette chromosomemec type IV, and 8 of 14 were USA300 or USA400 genotype. MRSA colonization was associated with lower CD4 cell count, not receiving current or recent antibiotics, history of prior MRSA or methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infection (P < 0.05 for all), and a trend toward history of hospitalization or emergency department visit in the past year (P = 0.064). Current use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was protective for colonization: 0 of 29 trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole recipients were colonized versus 15 of 117 nonrecipients, P = 0.04. In a multivariate logistic regression model, prior infection with either methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (odds ratio = 32.4, 95% confidence interval 3.04 to 345.42) or MRSA (odds ratio = 9.71, 95% confidence interval 2.20 to 43.01), not receiving current or recent antibiotics (odds ratio = 0.026, 95% confidence interval 0.002 to 0.412), and lower CD4 count (odds ratio 0.996, 95% confidence interval 0.992 to 0.999) were associated with MRSA colonization. Discussion:The prevalence of MRSA nasal colonization was relatively high compared with prior studies; axillary colonization was rare. Prior staphylococcal infection (methicillin-susceptible S. aureus or MRSA), not receiving antibiotics, and lower CD4 count were associated with MRSA nasal colonization. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole seemed to be protective of MRSA colonization.
Loving Confession in the Confessio Amantis

Abstract:Gower's approach to the sin of forgetfulness as a form of Sloth in Book IV of the Confessio Amantis uses memory and desire to reveal a chiastic structure between the poem's discourses of love and confession. The subject in confession creates narratives that revise memories in order to enter into a confessional history that stretches from the past to the future; the subject in love creates exemplary narratives that remain in the present. For both, the problem of remembrance and representation becomes one of narrative agency—the ability to use one's will as a mechanism for subject-formation. As such, the narrative structures of both discourses echo one another, but they do not map onto a teleological or dialectical relationship (as much as we might like them to do so). In this, our desire as critics to reach a resolution between love and confession reflects Amans's own desire for success in love through confessional practice. The poem and the poet resist this desire and instead find in the crossing of the two discourses a source of narrative production and pleasure.
A comparison of two questionnaires measuring oral health-related quality of life before and after dental hygiene treatment in patients with periodontal disease.

AIM The aim of this study was to compare the usefulness of two different questionnaires assessing oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) at the basic examination and after initial dental hygiene treatment (DHtx). METHODS A total of 42 patients referred for periodontal treatment completed the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) at the basic periodontal examination. They underwent DHtx and completed the questionnaires once again after the treatment. RESULTS No statistically significant differences could be found between the two assessments, neither for the total scores nor for any of the separate items of the OHIP-14 or the GOHAI. However, the GOHAI questionnaire seems to result in a greater variety in the responses indicating that the floor effect is not as pronounced as for the OHIP-14. Those who had rated their oral health as good reported significantly better OHRQoL on both questionnaires. The same pattern was found for patients who reported that they were satisfied with their teeth. After DHtx and necessary extractions, there was a statistically significant correlation between the number of teeth and the total scores on both questionnaires. No other statistically significant correlations with periodontal variables could be found. CONCLUSION No statistically significant difference could be found after DHtx compared to before in regard to OHRQoL assessed with OHIP-14 and GOHAI. However, there was a greater variety in the responses with the GOHAI questionnaire; it may hereby be more useful for patients with periodontal disease.
Effortful control as a moderator of the relation between contextual risk factors and growth in adjustment problems

Abstract Effortful control was examined as a moderator of the relations of three domains of contextual risk factors to growth in internalizing and externalizing problems in a community sample (N = 189) of children (8–12 years at Time 1). Socioeconomic, maternal, and environmental risk factors were examined as predictors of initial levels and growth in children's adjustment problems across 3 years. The effects of the risk factors depended on children's level of effortful control. For children lower in effortful control, socioeconomic risk was related to significantly higher initial levels of internalizing and externalizing problems and decreases over time. However, children lower in effortful control had higher levels of problems at all three time points than children higher in effortful control. Maternal risk was associated with increases in internalizing for children lower in effortful control, and environmental risk was related to increases in internalizing and externalizing problems for children lower in effortful control, but not those higher in effortful control. Children who were lower in effortful control appeared to experience more adverse effects of contextual risk than those higher in effortful control, suggesting that interventions aimed at improving children's effortful control might serve to protect children from increased risk of adjustment problems associated with contextual risk factors.
Origin and outcome of pregnancies affected by androgenetic/biparental chimerism.

BACKGROUND Androgenetic diploid cells confined to the placenta have recently been reported in several cases of normally developed fetuses in association with placental mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD). METHODS AND RESULTS We investigated two singleton, mildly growth-restricted, female pregnancies ascertained on the basis of PMD. One case had liver hemangiomas and both infants had multiple skin hemangiomas. Post-natal development was normal. Molecular marker analysis confirmed the diagnosis of androgenetic and normal mixed cell populations in the placenta. Both cases derived from a single maternal genome (M1) and two distinct paternal genomes (P1 and P2). In one case, the androgenetic cell population contained both paternal genomes (P1P2), with one shared in common with the biparental (M1P1) population. In the second case, the androgenetic lineage showed complete homozygosity (P2P2) for a paternal genome not common to the biparental cell population. CONCLUSION These new PMD cases help to define the range of possible clinical presentations of androgenetic/biparental mosaicism or chimerism. Placentas with androgenetic/biparental chimeric cell populations may derive from a single tri-pronuclear (3PN) zygote in which one or more parental genomes are not equally apportioned to the daughter cells in the first cell division.
EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces: A Thorough Literature Survey

Brain–computer interface (BCI) technology has been studied with the fundamental goal of helping disabled people communicate with the outside world using brain signals. In particular, a large body of research has been reported in the electroencephalography (EEG)-based BCI research field during recent years. To provide a thorough summary of recent research trends in EEG-based BCIs, the present study reviewed BCI research articles published from 2007 to 2011 and investigated (a) the number of published BCI articles, (b) BCI paradigms, (c) aims of the articles, (d) target applications, (e) feature types, (f) classification algorithms, (g) BCI system types, and (h) nationalities of the author. The detailed survey results are presented and discussed one by one. [Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction to view the free supplemental file: Supplementary Tables.pdf. ]