Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of hindlimb proximal suspensory desmopathy by neurectomy of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve and plantar fasciotomy: 155 horses (2003-2008).

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY Neurectomy of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve and plantar fasciotomy have become accepted as methods of treatment of proximal suspensory desmopathy (PSD), but there are limited long-term studies documenting the outcome. OBJECTIVES To describe long-term follow-up in horses with PSD alone or with other injuries contributing to lameness and poor performance, including complications, following neurectomy and fasciotomy. METHODS Follow-up information was acquired for 155 horses that had undergone neurectomy and fasciotomy for treatment of PSD between 2003 and 2008. Success was classified as a horse having been in full work for >1 year post operatively. Horses were divided into 3 groups on the basis of the results of clinical assessment and diagnostic analgesia. Horses in Group 1 had primary PSD and no other musculoskeletal problem. Horses in Group 2 had primary PSD in association with straight hock conformation and/or hyperextension of the metatarsophalangeal joint. Horses in Group 3 had PSD and other problems contributing to lameness or poor performance. RESULTS In Group 1, 70 of 90 horses (77.8%) had a successful outcome, whereas in Group 3, 23 of 52 horses (44.2%) returned to full function for >1 year. Complications included iatrogenic damage to the plantar aspect of the suspensory ligament, seroma formation, residual curb-like swellings and the development of white hairs. All horses in Group 2 remained lame. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE There is a role for neurectomy of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve and plantar fasciotomy for long-term management of hindlimb PSD, but a prerequisite for successful management requires recognition of risk factors for poor outcome including conformation features of straight hock or fetlock hyperextension.
Treponema denticola in Disseminating Endodontic Infections

Treponema denticola is a consensus periodontal pathogen that has recently been associated with endodontic pathology. In this study, the effect of mono-infection of the dental pulp with T. denticola and with polymicrobial "red-complex" organisms (RC) (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and T. denticola) in inducing disseminating infections in wild-type (WT) and severe-combined-immunodeficiency (SCID) mice was analyzed. After 21 days, a high incidence (5/10) of orofacial abscesses was observed in SCID mice mono-infected with T. denticola, whereas abscesses were rare in SCID mice infected with the red-complex organisms or in wild-type mice. Splenomegaly was present in all groups, but only mono-infected SCID mice had weight loss. T. denticola DNA was detected in the spleen, heart, and brain of mono-infected SCID mice and in the spleen from mono-infected wild-type mice, which also had more periapical bone resorption. The results indicate that T. denticola has high pathogenicity, including dissemination to distant organs, further substantiating its potential importance in oral and linked systemic conditions.
Single umbilical artery. A statistical analysis of 237 autopsy cases and review of the literature.

Two hundred thirty-seven autopsy cases of SUA and 1,242 unselected perinatal autopsies from military hospitals were reviewed and statistically analyzed. Results were correlated with those found in a comprehensive literature review. Incidence: The incidence of SUA in prospective deliveries is about 1%. Incidence is related to the portion of the umbilical cord examined, the method of cord examination (gross or microscopic), and to the race of the population base. The incidence of SUA in autopsy series is about twice the incidence in prospective series. SUA has a much higher incidence amont malformed, stillborn, or spontaneous abortuses than among apparently normal, liveborn, or induced abortuses. The incidence of SUA is less among very early embryos than among newborns because of the likelihood that SUA results from secondary atrophy of a preexisting normally formed second artery. As gestation proceeds, more cases will have become manifest to increase the incidence of SUA. There is no evidence of a familial tendency for SUA. SUA occurs slightly more frequently in females than in males, although there is a greater tendency for males with SUA to be malformed. The prognosis for SUA males is worse than for SUA females but no worse than that for male infants, in general. There is no relationship between the incidence of SUA and the month of the mother's last menstrual period. SUA and multiple births: The incidence of twins among SUA infants is at least three times greater than the overall incidence of twins. SUA occurs three to four times more frequently among twins than among Singletons. Although twin infants are subject to twice the expected incidence of malformations, twin SUA infants have no greater incidence of associated malformations than SUA singletons. Most SUA twins are discordant for the anomaly with SUA occurring in the smaller twin. The increased incidence of SUA among twin infants is not due to a greater incidence among monozygotic twins, since there is little difference from the usual proportion of monozygotic and dizygotic twins among twins with SUA. Mortality: In prospective series the mean perinatal mortality is about 20.0%. Approximately two-thirds of the perinatal deaths are stillborn and one-third are liveborn; and of the stillborn SUA infants, approximately three-quarters die antepartum and one-quarter die intrapartum. Mortality of SUA infants is related to associated fetal and placental malformations, prematurity and low birth weight, and intrauterine growth retardation. Although associated malformations are the primary cause of the high perinatal mortality, even nonmalformed SUA infants have an increased mortality rate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Auditor industry specialization and stock price crash risk: individual-level evidence

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of individual auditor industry specialization on stock price crash risk. Although research on individual auditors has been growing, we are not aware of any prior studies that investigate industry specialization at the individual auditor-level and crash risk. Using a large sample of Chinese stocks spanning the period 2003–2015, we find a statistically significant and negative association between individual auditor industry specialization and stock price crash risk after controlling the firm-level effect. Our mediation tests suggest that individual auditor industry specialization decreases the risk of price crash by mitigating earnings manipulation. We further document that the negative association is more pronounced for firms that switch from non-specialist to specialist auditors. We also find some evidence that an auditor’s personal characteristics moderate the association between auditor industry specialization and crash risk. Our results remain robust to alternative measures of individual auditor industry specialization and sensitivity checks.
[Patient' s perspective of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Yanqing county of Beijing].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the patients' comprehension, recognition and burden of COPD in the rural area of Beijing. METHODS Of the 1624 people aged more than 40 in 5 villages in Yanqing county of Beijing, 148 were diagnosed to have COPD. Patients' comprehension of the disease and COPD control, the medication use, the impact of quality of life, and the experience of exacerbations of COPD were evaluated. RESULTS According to the GOLD standards the disease classification was 23.6% (35/148), 49.3% (73/148), 23.0% (34/148) and 4.1% (6/148) respectively in stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV COPD. None of the 148 COPD patients had ever heard the term COPD, and none of them had been diagnosed COPD. Lung function tests and health education had never been performed for these patients. Only 4.1% (6/148) of the patients in stable stage took theophylline irregularly. None of the stable COPD patients took inhalers regularly or temporally. No oxygen therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation were done in those patients. During acute exacerbation, only 6.8% (10/148) took theophylline and 6.8% (10/148) had antibiotics. Only 3.4% (5/148) of the patients had been admitted to hospital during the past year. For the general health status, 4.1% (6/148) was excellent, 20.9% (31/148) very good, 26.4% (39/148) good, 27.7% (41/148) ordinary, 20.9% (31/148) poor. 47.3% (70/148) of the patients had limitation of activity. 25.0% (37/148) had feelings of depression sometimes and 25.7% (38/148) had some impacts no their social activity. CONCLUSION Patients have a poor understanding of COPD in the rural area in Beijing. The management of both stable and exacerbation of COPD was inadequate. COPD appears to have a significant impact on patient activities of daily living and mood. Health education should play an important role in the management of COPD.
Nutritional status, psychosocial development and the home environment of Indian rural children.

OBJECTIVE To assess the psychosocial development of well nourished and malnourished children aged 0-6 years and to identify the microenvironmental factors influencing their growth and development. DESIGN Multicentric cross-sectional. SETTING Rural Communities. SUBJECTS Total of 3668 children of whom 2212 were well nourished and 1456 were malnourished. METHODS Weight for age index to assess nutritional status. Cut-off < 75% NCHS standards used based on Gomez grades II and III being malnourished and Normal and grade I being well nourished. ICMR Developmental Screening Test to assess psychosocial development and modified WHO parental interview schedule to assess family and micro-environmental factors. RESULTS Malnourished children attained developmental milestones at a later age. Developmental delay among the malnourished was especially observed in areas like vision and fine motor, language and comprehension and personal social. The delay was to the extent of 7-11 months in these areas in different age groups. Paternal involvement with child care especially, father spending time, telling stories and taking child for outing was found to be important for positive psychosocial development. Other significant factors included parents teaching child, small family size and paternal occupation. Child's appetite, absence of health problems, parental age and family having own house and electricity were the factors significantly related to better nutritional status of children. CONCLUSION Factors identified in the study are important for the development of relevant intervention at the home level. Appropriate multifaceted community based programmes such as the ICDS are also required for stimulating growth and development of backward rural children.
Research productivity of the medical faculty at the American University of Beirut

Objective: To analyse the quality and quantity of scientific publications of the medical faculty at the American University of Beirut (AUB) during a six year period (1996–2001) Methods: The study included all faculty members in the medical school of AUB in the year 2001. A Medline search inclusive of the years 1996–2001 was done for each faculty member and a total number of 881 publications was obtained. Results: The faculty consisted of 203 members. Their average productivity rate (mean (SD)) was 1.24 (1.38) publications/faculty member/year (PFY), with a mean impact factor of 2.69 (4.63). Eighteen per cent of the faculty did not have any publication in the six year study period, and only 20% had two or more publications per year. There was a significantly higher publication rate among newly recruited faculty members (0.93 (1.40) PFY for those appointed before 1990, 1.45 (1.24) PFY for those appointed during 1990–1995, and 1.67 (1.43) for those appointed after 1995, p = 0.007), and among those who are younger in age (p<0.01). Collaboration with international investigators resulted in more original publications than work done only at AUB (65% v 35%, p<0.001), and a higher journal impact factor for the publications (3.20 (3.85) v 1.71 (2.36), p<0.05). Conclusions: This is one of the first studies that analyse the research productivity of the medical faculty in a university setting in a developing country. It shows a wide variation in the research productivity of the faculty members that seems to be related to individual as well as institutional characteristics. Further analysis is needed to define and characterise these factors.
A robust voice activity detection based on wavelet transform

Voice activity detection is an important step in some speech processing systems, such as speech recognition, speech enhancement, noise estimation, speech compression . etc. In this paper a new voice activity detection algorithm based on wavelet transform is proposed. In this algorithm we use the energy in each sub band, and by two methods we extract feature vector from these values. Experimental results demonstrate advantage over different VAD methods.
The Effect of Time-of-Day and Ramadan Fasting on Anaerobic Performances

Abstract This study was designed to assess the effects of Ramadan-intermittent-fasting (RIF) and time-of-day on muscle power and fatigue during the Wingate test. In a randomized design, 10 football players completed a Wingate test at 07:00 and 17:00 h on 3 different occasions: one week before Ramadan (BR), the second week of Ramadan (SWR) and the fourth week of Ramadan (ER). There was an interval of 36-h between any 2 successive tests. During the Wingate test, peak power (PP), mean power (MP) and the fatigue index (FI) were recorded. While PP, MP and FI were greater in the evening than in the morning during BR (p<0.001), these diurnal variations in muscle power disappeared during the month of Ramadan (i. e., SWR and ER) due to a significant decrease in PP and MP in the evening (p<0.001). However, the diurnal variation in FI when measured at 17:00 h increased during this month (p<0.001). In addition, ratings of perceived exertion and fatigue were higher in the evening during Ramadan in comparison with BR. These results suggest that Ramadan might modify the circadian rhythm of muscle power and fatigue during the Wingate test by decreasing power output and increasing muscle fatigue at the time of the acrophase.
Liquid flow in heterogeneous biofilms

Liquid flow was studied in aerobic biofilms, consisting of microbial cell clusters (discrete aggregates of densely packed cells) and interstitial voids. Fluorescein microinjection was used as a qualitative technique to determine the presence of flow in cell clusters and voids. Flow velocity profiles were determined by tracking fluorescent latex spheres using confocal microscopy. Liquid was flowing through the voids and was stagnant in the cell clusters. Consequently, in voids both diffusion and convection may contribute to mass transfer, whereas in cell clusters diffusion is the dominant factor. The flow velocity in the biofilm depended on the average flow velocity of the bulk liquid. The velocity profiles in biofilms were linear and the velocity was zero at the substratum surface. The velocity gradients within biofilms were 50% of that near walls without biofilm coverage. The influence of the biofilm roughness on the flow velocity profiles was similar to that caused by rigid roughness elements. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Resilience, religiosity and treatment adherence in hemodialysis patients: a prospective study

Abstract Resilience and religiosity have received attention as an important process in the experience and management of chronic comorbidities; however, there is no study evaluating resilience in hemodialysis patients and its association with other psychological dimensions or with treatment adherence. This observational prospective study assessed resilience (25 item Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale), religiosity under three dimensions (organizational, non-organizational and intrinsic) using DUREL scale, depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and health-related quality of life (Short Form-36 questionnaire). The main outcomes were medication adherence using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAR-8) and the missing/shortened dialysis sessions in the following six months. Of 208 patients approached, 202 (97.1%) agreed to participate. One hundred twenty-three patients (60.9%) were males and mean age was 52.8 ± 14.8 years-old. The median time on hemodialysis was 36 months (IQR, 12, 84). 82 (40.6%) patients obtained a MMAS-8 score <6 and were considered as having ‘poor adherence’. Overall, the mean score of medication adherence was low (5.7 ± 2.1). About adherence to hemodialysis sessions, patients missed a total of 234 (1.6%) hemodialysis sessions. Forty-eight patients (23.7%) missed an average of at least three sessions in six months. Regarding adherence to medication, there was no association in the uni- or multivariate analysis between religiosity dimensions and MMAS-8 score. After adjustment, resilience was positively associated with MMAS-8 score (standardized β coefficient .239, p = .016). Organized and intrinsic religiosity were associated with adherence to dialysis sessions (standardized β coefficient .258, p = .004 and .231, p = .026, respectively). Interestingly, opposite to medication adherence, more resilient patients were associated with less adherence to hemodialysis sessions (standardized β coefficient −.296, p = .001). Religiosity was associated with dialysis adherence but not with medication adherence. Resilience was associated with higher medication adherence but lower adherence to dialysis sessions.
Examining the link between flexible working arrangement bundles and employee work effort

Empirical evidence regarding the link between flexible working arrangements (FWAs) and work effort is mixed, with the literature showing that some practices are linked to more while others to less work effort. In this study, we argue that this discrepancy may be due to the existence of different types of FWA bundles with potentially distinct effects on work effort. Using Understanding Society, a British national survey, and building on theories related to social exchange, the study examines the link between employee‐centered and employer‐centered FWA bundles, and work effort. This study further tests whether these relationships differ depending on employees' family responsibilities. Based on a sample of 13,834 employees, results show that both employee‐centered and employer‐centered FWA bundles are negatively associated with work effort, and findings for the latter bundle are more pronounced. These negative associations are somewhat stronger for employees with fewer family responsibilities. We infer that employees appear to use employee‐centered FWAs for their intended purpose, that is, to balance life and job demands, while they might perceive employer‐centered FWAs as unfair, resulting in less work effort in an attempt to restore fairness.
Epidemiology of Youth Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse Injuries in the 2015 to 2016 Seasons

Purpose Examinations of injury among younger populations of lacrosse players that are beginning their development is limited. This study describes the epidemiology of youth boys’ and girls’ lacrosse injuries during the 2015 to 2016 seasons. Methods Surveillance data originated from a convenience sample of 10 leagues in five states with 1090 boy lacrosse players and 408 girl lacrosse players from the U9-U15 divisions. Athletic trainers reported injury and exposure data at games and practices. Time loss (TL) injuries were defined as resulting in ≥24 h of participation restriction time. Injury counts and rates per 1000 athlete games/practices were calculated. Injury rate ratios (IRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) compared rates by sex and age division. Results Overall, 241 and 59 injuries were reported in boys’ and girls’ youth lacrosse, respectively, of which 17.0% and 18.6% were TL. Compared with girls, boys had a higher overall injury rate (12.7 vs 8.7/1000 athlete games/practices; IRR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1–1.9). U13/U15 boys had a higher TL injury rate than U9/U11 boys (2.6 vs 1.0/1000 athlete game/practices; IRR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.1–6.1). Most injuries were diagnosed as contusions (boys, 53.7%; girls, 47.2%) and resulted from stick contact (boys, 34.1%; girls, 30.6%) and ball contact (boys, 17.1%; girls, 25.0%). Among girls, ball contact contributed to 75.0% (n = 9) of all head/face injuries. Among the 14 concussions reported in boys, player contact was the most common injury mechanism (50.0%, n = 7), followed by stick contact (35.7%, n = 5). Conclusions Boys’ lacrosse has a higher injury incidence than girls’ lacrosse, reflecting the contact nature of the boys’ game. The high incidence of stick- and ball-related injuries suggests the need for youth-specific rules to better protect youth players.
Adipokines, endothelial dysfunction and nutritional status in peritoneal dialysis patients

Abstract Objective. Adipokines such as leptin and adiponectin are adipocyte-specific secretory proteins that play important roles in the metabolic regulation of body weight, insulin resistance and cardiovascular complications. The relationship between the malnutrition–inflammation complex syndrome and high levels of some adipokines in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is still unclear. An association between high body mass index (BMI) and improved survival in PD patients has also been proposed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of plasma adipokines and inflammation and oxidative stress markers in overweight and normal weight PD patients. Material and methods. Thirty PD patients (12 M, 18 F; mean age 57.3 ± 16.6 years) were examined and 23 healthy volunteers were included as a control group. The levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, leptin, the leptin receptor, adiponectin, malondialdehyde/4-hydroxynonenal, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, carbonyl groups and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) were measured in both groups. The nutritional status of each patient was determined by albumin levels, BMI, percentage of body fat (%F), lean body mass (LBM) and the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) score. The adequacy of dialysis was estimated by weekly Kt/V measurements. Results. According to the seven-point SGA scores and the albumin levels, the nutrition status of 15 patients was good (6–7 points), while 15 patients were mildly malnourished (3–5 points). The concentrations of hsCRP, leptin and adiponectin were statistically higher in the PD group than in the control group (p < 0.05). Markers of oxidative stress and inflammation were also higher in the PD group. The adiponectin level was inversely correlated with %F and BMI (Spearman's R = –0.3, p ≤ 0.05) and positively correlated with hsCRP level (R = –0.4). The level of leptin was positively correlated with %F, BMI and LBM (R = 0.4, p ≤ 0.05). Patients with normal BMI values had lower leptin concentrations (50.2 vs 242.8 μg/l) and higher adiponectin levels (30.0 vs 20.3 μg/ml) than overweight patients. The statistical analysis indicated that there were no differences in oxidative stress, inflammation and ADMA concentration between the lean and overweight PD patients. Conclusion. The nutritional status of lean and overweight patients was comparable. Signs of malnutrition were detected in both groups. The severity of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress were not related to BMI in PD patients.