Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement of the patellar tendon-tibial plateau angle and tuberosity advancement in dogs with cranial cruciate ligament rupture

Summary Objectives: To (i) compare agreement of the common tangent (CT) and tibial plateau angle (TP) methods in terms of measuring the patellar tendon angle (PTA) and required advancement and (ii) determine the intraand inter-observer reliability of observers who measured PTA and the advancement. Methods: Six observers were divided into three groups based on their level of experience. They measured the PTA and the required advancement on 43 radiographic images of the tibiae of dogs affected by cranial cruciate ligament rupture. Each observer repeated the measurements three times with each method. The inter-technique (interT), intra-observer (intraO), and interobserver (interO) reliabilities were evaluated, assessed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and represented by Jones plots. Results: The agreement between PTA-CT and PTA-TP was low (the ICC interT values ranged from 0.11 to 0.4). The PTA-CT was associated with moderate intra-observer reliability (ICC intraO, CT = 0.61) and poor interobserver reliability (ICC interO, CT = 0.33). The PTA-TP was associated with good intra-observer reliability (ICC intraO, TP = 0.75) and moderate interobserver reliability (ICC interO, TP = 0.59). Interobserver reliability did not depend on the level of experience. The advancement measurements were associated with reliability results similar to those obtained for PTA. Jones’ plots showed that the CT method consistently yielded lower PTA and advancement values than the TP method. Conclusion: Given its poor reliability, the CT method is not recommended.
Catching ” Social Bias : Exposure to Biased Nonverbal Signals Creates Social Biases in Preschool Children

Identifying the origins of social bias is critical to devising strategies to overcome prejudice. In two experiments, we tested the hypothesis that young children can catch novel social biases from brief exposure to biased nonverbal signals demonstrated by adults. Our results are consistent with this hypothesis. In Experiment 1, we found that children who were exposed to a brief video depicting nonverbal bias in favor of one individual over another subsequently explicitly preferred, and were more prone to behave prosocially toward, the target of positive nonverbal signals. Moreover, in Experiment 2, preschoolers generalized such bias to other individuals. The spread of bias observed in these experiments lays a critical foundation for understanding the way that social biases may develop and spread early in childhood.
Paying for Health Insurance: The Tradeoff between Competition and Adverse Selection

This paper uses data on health insurance choices by employees of Harvard University to examine the effect of alternative pricing rules on market equilibrium. In the mid-1990s, Harvard moved from a system of subsidizing more expensive insurance to a system of contributing an equal amount to each plan. We estimate a substantial demand response to the policy change, with a short-run elasticity of about -2. The reform also induced substantial" adverse selection. Because of this selection, the long-run demand response is three times the short-run response. Price variation induced by adverse selection is inefficient; we estimate the magnitude of the welfare loss from adverse selection at 2 percent of baseline health spending. Finally, as insurance choice was made more competitive, premiums to Harvard fell relative to premiums in the Boston area by nearly 10 percent. This savings was large enough to compensate for the inefficiency induced by adverse selection, so that reform overall was welfare enhancing.
Corporate Governance , Bank Mergers and Executive Compensation December 2014

Using a sample of US bank mergers from 1995 to 2012, we observe that the pre-post merger changes in CEO bonus are significantly negatively related to the strength of corporate governance within the bidding bank. This suggests that bonus compensation is not consistent with the “optimal contracting hypothesis”. Salary changes, on the other hand, are not affected by corporate governance but are positively correlated with pre-post merger changes in the M/B ratio of the bidding banks, in line with “optimal contracting”. We also find that good governance is associated with more accretive deals for the bidder. Overall, our results are consistent with the notion that, unlike salary and long-term compensation, bonus compensation is not aligned with value creation and is more vulnerable to CEO manipulation in banks with poor corporate governance.
The co‐evolution of phytoplankton and trace element cycles in the oceans

The composition of the oceans and of its biota have influenced each other through Earth's history. Of all the biologically essential elements, nitrogen is the only one whose seawater concentration is clearly controlled biologically; this is presumably the main reason why the stoichiometry of nitrogen (defined as its mol ratio to phosphorus), but not that of the trace nutrients manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and cadmium, is the same in seawater and in the plankton. Like the major nutrients, the trace nutrients are depleted in surface seawater as a result of quasi‐complete utilization by the biota. This is made possible in part by the ability of marine phytoplankton to replace one trace metal by another in various biochemical functions. This replacement also results in an equalization of the availability of most essential trace metals in surface seawater. The difference in the stoichiometric composition of the plankton and of deep seawater, which is the dominant source of new nutrients to the surface, indicates that some nutrients are likely recycled with different efficiencies in the photic zone. The difference in the composition of the ocean and its biota provides insight into the coupling of biochemistry and biogeochemistry in seawater.
IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF ENDOTHELIAL ISOFORM (eNOS) IN HUMAN CEREBRAL ARTERIES AND THE AORTA

The common carotid, vertebral, posterior cerebral arteries, and the aorta were studied in the human in terms of its eNOS expression. In around 10 weeks of gestation, the developing intima began to express notable eNOS. In the adult, the positive eNOS sites were in the endothelial cells and the tunica media where the smooth muscles were. In the vessels with athrosclerotic changes, eNOS was down regulated in the endothelial layer and most of the tunica media but was significantly upregulated in the tunica media around the lesion. The protein changes are related to the onset of the athrosclerotic diseases.
Alzheimer-Related τ-Pathology in the Perforant Path Target Zone and in the Hippocampal Stratum Oriens and Radiatum Correlates with Onset and Degree of Dementia

Abnormal phosphorylation of the tau-protein is regarded as a crucial step in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in the neuronal cell body and neuropil threads in dendrites. We studied the effects of tau-pathology on the clinical expression of dementia in 106 autopsy cases in the entorhinal region, the hippocampal stratum oriens, the stratum radiatum, and the perforant path target zone. The first cytoskeletal lesions were located in the perikarya and dendrites of the pre-alpha cells of the transentorhinal and entorhinal region. Next, abnormally phosphorylated tau-protein (PHF-tau) was found in the neuropil of the CA1-subiculum region. Thereafter, the stratum radiatum and stratum oriens began to be involved in PHF-tau pathology in Braak stage II. In the Braak stages IV and V, the stratum radiatum was completely involved, the stratum oriens increasingly so. Beginning in Braak stage III, we noted cases having PHF-tau pathology in the perforant path target zone of the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. The increase of this pathology with ever greater involvement on the part of the entorhinohippocampal circuit correlated significantly not only with the Braak stages and with the neurochemically determined hippocampal content of PHF-tau but also with the degree of dementia as defined by the clinical dementia rating (CDR) scale. The affection of the stratum oriens in combination with PHF-tau pathology in the stratum radiatum and in the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus was encountered almost exclusively in demented individuals (CDR 1-3). These results indicate that axonal PHF-tau pathology in hippocampal pathways presumably is critical for the clinical expression of dementia and may constitute an anatomical substrate of clinically verifiable memory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease.
Compensating Wage Differentials and Voluntary Job Changes: Evidence from West Germany

Does the labor market place wage premia on jobs that involve physical strain, job insecurity or bad regulation of hours? This paper derives bounds on the monetary returns to these job disamenities in the West German labor market. We show that in a market with dispersion in both job characteristics and wages, the average wage change of workers who switch jobs voluntarily and opt for consuming more (less) disamenities, provides an upper (lower) bound on the market return to the disamenity. Using longitudinal information from workers in the German Socio Economic Panel, we estimate an upper bound of 5% and a lower bound of 3.5% for the market return to work strain in a job.
Role of CT and PET Imaging in Predicting Tumor Recurrence and Survival in Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Comparison with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Classification of Lung Adenocarcinoma

Introduction: Recently, a new lung adenocarcinoma classification scheme was published. The prognostic value of this new classification has not been elaborated together with the value of imaging biomarkers including computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET). Methods: We reviewed pathologic specimens and imaging characteristics of primary tumors from 723 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for lung adenocarcinoma. On pathology, the predominant histologic subtype and pattern group were quantified. Tumor-shadow disappearance ratio (TDR) on CT and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on PET were assessed. The relationships between those variables and survival (overall survival [OS] and disease-free survival) were analyzed by using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox regression analyses. Results: The median follow-up period was 3.8 years. There were 137 patients (19%) with recurrence and 167 patients (23%) with metastasis after surgical resection. Among 723 patients, 35 patients (4.8%) had adenocarcinoma in situ, 34 patients (4.7%) had minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, 125 patients (17.3%) had lepidic predominant, 314 patients (43.4%) had acinar predominant, 65 patients (9.0%) had papillary predominant, 23 patients (3.2%) had micropapillary predominant, 113 patients (15.6%) had solid predominant, and 14 patients (1.9%) had variant adenocarcinomas. OS and disease-free survival rates were significantly different according to TDR on CT and SUVmax on PET, predominant subtypes, and pattern groups. On multivariate analysis, the SUVmax (p < 0.001), TDR (p = 0.038), and pattern group (p = 0.015) were independent predictors of OS. Conclusions: TDR on CT, SUVmax on PET, and the new histologic classification schemes appear to be promising parameters for the prognostic stratification of patients with lung adenocarcinomas, allowing for the triage of patients who necessitate further staging workup and adjuvant therapy.
Orographic effects on precipitating clouds

Precipitation over and near mountains is not caused by topography but, rather, occurs when storms of a type that can occur anywhere (deep convection, fronts, tropical cyclones) form near or move over complex terrain. Deep convective systems occurring near mountains are affected by channeling of airflow near mountains, capping of moist boundary layers by flow subsiding from higher terrain, and triggering to break the cap when low‐level flow encounters hills near the bases of major mountain ranges. Mesoscale convective systems are triggered by nocturnal downslope flows and by diurnally triggered disturbances propagating away from mountain ranges. The stratiform regions of mesoscale convective systems are enhanced by upslope flow when they move over mountains. In frontal cloud systems, the poleward flow of warm‐sector air ahead of the system may rise easily over terrain, and a maximum of precipitating cloud occurs over the first rise of terrain, and rainfall is maximum on ridges and minimum in valleys. If the low‐level air ahead of the system is stable, blocking or damming occurs. Shear between a blocked layer and unblocked moist air above favors turbulent overturning, which can accelerate precipitation fallout. In tropical cyclones, the tangential winds encountering a mountain range produce a gravity wave response and greatly enhanced upslope flow. Depending on the height of the mountain, the maximum rain may occur on either the windward or leeward side. When the capped boundary layer of the eye of a tropical cyclone passes over a mountain, the cap may be broken with intense convection resulting.
Childhood cancer: a 4-year prospective study of the psychological adjustment of children and parents.

PURPOSE The objective of this 4-year prospective study was to assess the psychological adjustment of children treated for cancer and their parents. PATIENTS AND METHODS Children aged 2 to 12 years with cancer diagnosed and their parents and families (n = 39) were assessed immediately after their diagnosis and then annually for the next 4 years. At each assessment, the psychological adjustment of the children and their families was compared with the adjustment of a cohort of children and families in the general community (n = 49). RESULTS Immediately after the diagnosis of cancer in the children, the children and their parents had significantly more psychological problems than children and parents in the community. However, at subsequent assessments, there was no difference in the number of psychological problems experienced by children and parents in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS In the longer term, the prevalence of psychological problems experienced by children treated for cancer and their parents does not differ from that found in children and parents in the general community. Future research should give greater attention to other aspects of the lives of children treated for cancer and their parents, including their broader health-related quality of life.
Does Informal Care from Adult Children Reduce Nursing Home Admissions for the Elderly?

Despite the policy importance, particularly as society ages, little is known about the impact of informal care on nursing home admissions. This paper jointly models the receipt of regular help from adult children and subsequent nursing home care, using data from the Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD). Results indicate that frequent help from children with basic personal care reduces the likelihood of nursing home use over a subsequent two-year period by about 60% for disabled Americans age 70 and older. However, we found no significant reduction in nursing home admissions when help was measured more broadly to include assistance with chores and errands.
Vascular function in bicuspid aortic valve disease

The aortic valve normally consists of three cusps (tricuspid aortic valve, TAV), but in 0.5-2% of the population it consists of only two cusps (bicuspid aortic valve, BAV), which is the most common congenital cardiac malformation. BAV is prone to aortic stenosis (AS) and regurgitation (AR), and >25% of BAV patients will require surgery of the aortic valve and/or aorta within 20 years of diagnosis. BAV is associated with impaired function, dilation and dissection of the ascending aorta, while little is known about the abnormalities of the descending aorta in BAV. The aims of this thesis were to investigate morphological and functional alterations in the aorta of BAV and TAV patients, with a focus on the descending aorta, and to assess the feasibility of a new ultrasound-based method for studies of the elastic properties of the aorta. This was performed using transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in consecutive patients without significant coronary artery disease having aortic valve disease and/or ascending aortic aneurysms requiring surgery (>50 % with BAV). In Study I (n = 300), we examined if different phenotypes of BAV (according to surgical inspection) were associated with different types of ascending aortic dilation. We did not find any such association. Ascending aortic dilation was common in patients with AS and BAV but not with TAV. In Study II (n = 85), a new modality, Velocity Vector Imaging (VVI), which is based on speckle tracking, was evaluated for automated deformation analysis of the descending aorta using TEE images. The method was found to be feasible for aortic studies. We could compute elasticity indices of the aorta with low variability and a strong correlation to indices calculated with a standard method (M-mode). In Study III (n = 192), we used VVI to compare aortic elasticity between BAV and TAV patients. After correction for age, dimension of the ascending aorta, cholesterol, and stroke volume in a multivariable regression model, BAV was associated with lower strain and distensibility of the descending aorta in the AR group, and higher distensibility in the AS group. In Study IV (n = 369), we examined the intima-media thickness (IMT) in the descending aorta and found no difference between BAV and TAV. Thus, the functional alterations of the aorta found in Study III seem not to depend on structural wall changes. Furthermore, we could show that genetic markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs), which influence IMT in the carotid artery seem to correlate to IMT in the descending aorta in patients with TAV. In conclusion, we found no association between dilation of the ascending aorta and a specific BAV phenotype. We demonstrated that VVI technique is feasible for analysis of elastic properties of the aorta. In patients with AR, BAV was associated with lower strain and distensibility than TAV, suggesting impairment of the elastic aortic properties in the descending aorta. IMT was not influenced by presence of BAV. ISBN 978-91-7549-668
What makes a maker: the motivation for the maker movement in ICT

ABSTRACT The maker movement is a cultural trend that focuses on an individual’s ability to be a creator of things using technology. This study provides an exploratory analysis of the motivations of making and community participation in the maker movement. This study conducted a field study based on motivation theory using a survey methodology that involved 93 individual makers from seven online maker communities. The analysis results show that different motives have a positive effect on makers in different ways: extrinsic, status opportunity motivation affects making itself while use-value motivation affects community participation. Intrinsic motivation does not have a significant relationship with either participation or making. Furthermore, community participation is an important factor in making as it influences both learning and performance, while making only influences performance. These results can help to enlarge the understanding of makers and contribute to the growth of the maker movement.
Gay men's perceptions of sexually transmissible infections and their experiences of diagnosis: 'part of the way of life' to feeling 'dirty and ashamed'.

BACKGROUND Gay men are considerably more likely than their heterosexual peers to be diagnosed with a sexually transmissible infection (STI), yet relatively little has been published on gay men's perceptions of STIs other than HIV. METHODS Drawing on interviews conducted with Sydney gay men, we analysed perceptions of STIs, and men's experiences of testing and diagnosis. RESULTS Over half the men in the study had ever been diagnosed with an STI. STIs were generally regarded as inconvenient consequences of sexual activity. Viral, recurring STIs were viewed as being more serious than curable, bacterial STIs. However, all STIs were considered as considerably less important than HIV. Condom use and regular STI testing were the most commonly used strategies to manage the risk of STIs. Despite the relative lack of concern attributed to STIs, being diagnosed with an STI could generate feelings of shame, embarrassment and annoyance. For some men, education campaigns appeared to have helped destigmatise STIs and encourage regular testing. CONCLUSIONS We believe that to maintain high rates of STI testing among gay men, community education efforts should continue to reduce the stigma associated with STIs and greater support should be offered to gay men when they receive an STI diagnosis.
Review: Testosterone Therapy: Treatment of Metabolic Disturbances in Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) is a complex progressive multisystem disease state with significant morbidity and mortality, which is not solely defined by pathology of the cardiovascular system but also is influenced by neurohormonal regulatory adjustments, peripheral cytokines, as well as hormonal and musculoskeletal dysfunction. Recent attention to the catabolic state found in patients with chronic heart failure has sparked interest in new potential targets for medical therapy. In particular, as many as 26% to 37% of men affected with HF have been found to be testosterone deficient. The severity of androgen deficiency has been shown to correlate with symptoms, functional class, and prognosis in patients with heart failure. Testosterone supplementation has been an accepted therapy in hypogonadal men with fatigue, muscle wasting, and sexual dysfunction for some time. Patients with severe HF show a similar constellation of symptoms and hypothetically would benefit from androgen replacement. Recent clinical studies have confirmed that functional, biochemical, and cardiopulmonary status in patients with HF have significant improvements when treated with testosterone supplementation. Symptomatic improvements may be obtainable in hypogonadal patients with HF who receive supplemental testosterone. This review seeks to outline the cardiovascular and peripheral effects of testosterone supplementation in patients with chronic HF.
A Probiotic Lactobacillus Strain Can Acquire Vancomycin Resistance during Digestive Transit in Mice

The present study demonstrates for the first time the transfer of vancomycin resistance (vanA cluster) from enterococci to a Lactobacillusacidophilus commercial strain. Transfers were observed in vitro, but also in vivo in the gut of mice (in the absence of antibiotic pressure) where transconjugants arose at relatively high frequencies and could persist in the digestive environment. Since transfer of vancomycin resistance genes might also take place in the human digestive tract, lactobacilli probiotics should be carefully considered especially in either immunocompromised patients or during antibiotherapy. Acquisition and retransfer of resistance genes should be addressed in the safety evaluation of probiotics.