Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of the ulnar nerve after percutaneous pinning of supracondylar humeral fractures in children

This prospective study was performed to evaluate and compare the morphological changes and dynamics of the ulnar nerve after percutaneous cross-pinning with Kirshner wire (group 1; 13, mean age 8.3 years, 10 male and three female children) and only lateral pinning (group 2; eight, mean age 7.6 years, six male and two female children) of displaced unilateral supracondylar fractures in children's elbows using ultrasonography in comparison with the contralateral healthy elbows. Postoperative evaluation revealed that ulnar nerve movement was reduced and the major axis diameter of elbow flexion and ulnar nerve was larger (P<0.05) than the major axis diameter in the elbow extension in group 1 than group 2. We think that the treatment of the displaced supracondylar fracture of the humerus in children with only a lateral Kirshner wire would be safer and more convenient.
Employee voice and engagement: connections and consequences

This paper considers the relationship between employee voice and employee engagement. Employee perceptions of voice behaviour aimed at improving the functioning of the work group are found to have both a direct impact and an indirect impact on levels of employee engagement. Analysis of data from two organisations confirms that the direct connection between perceptions of voice behaviour and engagement is mediated by both employee trust in senior management and the employee–line manager relationship. Key concepts are outlined, and the implications of the findings for future research and for the management of engagement are discussed.
Long‐term follow‐up of children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy I: functional aspects

The aims of this study were to describe the development of sequelae in obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) and to identify possible differences in functional outcome from 5 years of age to follow‐up, 2 to 15 years later. A cohort of 70 participants (35 males, 35 females; age range 7‐20y, mean 13y 6mo [SD 4y 3mo], median 13y) with OBPP of varying degrees of severity were monitored. Differences in status between 5 years of age and follow‐up were studied. Active joint motion in the shoulder and hand function, especially grip strength, generally remained unchanged or improved, whereas a slight but significant deterioration occurred in elbow function. Shoulder surgery resulted in considerable improvement of shoulder function. Participants with nerve reconstruction had a similar profile of change as the non‐operated group. It was concluded that ongoing follow‐up of children with OBPP, beyond the preschool years, is required due to decreases in elbow function, a commonly occurring restriction in external rotation of the shoulder, together with individual variations in long‐term outcomes. In a related article (part II: neurophysiological aspects) long‐term neurophysiological and sensory aspects of OBPP are reported.
Effect of T‐helper cytokine environment on specificity of T‐cell responses to mycobacterial 65 000 MW heat‐shock protein

The purpose of this work was to determine if the fine specificity of T cells differed between mice immunized with an antigen in a T helper 1 (Th1) cytokine‐dominated environment as compared with a T helper 2 (Th2) cytokine‐dominated environment. It was found that splenic T cells from mice immunized with mycobacterial heat‐shock protein (hsp 65) and interleukin‐12 (IL‐12) produced less interleukin‐4 (IL‐4) and more interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) in response to stimulation with hsp 65 in vitro than did T cells from mice immunized with hsp 65 alone. The T‐cell proliferative response to hsp 65 did not differ between the two groups of mice, although the responses were higher than those of T cells from non‐immunized mice. Strikingly, T cells from mice given hsp 65 and IL‐12 gave significantly higher responses to six peptides (corresponding to the sequence of hsp 65) to which T cells from mice immunized with hsp 65 alone did not respond. It is considered that different epitopes are presented to T cells (possibly owing to changes in antigen processing) if the environment is shifted, by IL‐12, from Th2 towards Th1 cytokines.
Can Socially Responsible Firms Survive Competition

Fifty-five percent of S&P 500 firms have employee matching grant schemes. Matching grants act as a coordination mechanism which reduces free-riding by socially conscious employee-donors who value a public good but prefer someone else to pay for it. The popularity of matching schemes demonstrates that socially responsible firms can survive market competition. Our model shows that such schemes can enhance the welfare of socially conscious employees and raise more for charities without reducing profits for investors in firms operating in competitive labor and capital markets. This will be so provided socially conscious employees are either more productive or value working together. We document that labor productivity is higher at firms with matching schemes and that these firms are also more likely to be ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for. ”
The Role of Growth Hormone in Adaptation to Massive Small Intestinal Resection in Rats

The residual small bowel undergoes profound adaptive alterations after surgical resection. GH is considered to have a role in regulation of these adaptive changes, but its precise role is unknown. We investigated the role of GH by studying the response to intestinal resection in rats with isolated GH deficiency. Spontaneous dwarf rats, a strain of rats with congenital isolated GH deficiency, underwent 60% resection of the small intestine and parameters of the response of the intestinal remnant were compared with age-matched GH-deficient rats undergoing transection, GH-normal rats undergoing 60% resection, and nonmanipulated GH-normal rats. Deficiency of GH did not inhibit hyperplasia of the mucosal mass of the intestinal remnant, indicating that GH is not required for regulation of this aspect of the adaptive response. However, GH deficiency resulted in lack of accumulation of mucosal protein, including lack of accumulation of digestive hydrolases. In addition, GH deficiency resulted in alterations in processing of digestive hydrolases of the distal intestine, indicating that GH may have region-specific effects on small intestinal function. We conclude that GH is required for the normal expression of specific components of the adaptive response to massive small intestinal resection, but not for all aspects. The aspects that require GH appear to involve protein synthesis and processing.
Excess recurrent cardiac events in rheumatoid arthritis patients with acute coronary syndrome

Background: Cardiovascular mortality is increased in rheumatoid arthritis. Possible reasons include an increased incidence of ischaemic heart disease or worse outcome after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Objectives: To assess the outcome of ACS in rheumatoid arthritis compared with case matched controls in the context of underlying cardiac risk factors, clinical presentation, and subsequent management. Methods: 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ACS identified from coronary care admission registers between 1990 and 2000 were case matched as closely as possible for age, sex, classical cardiovascular risk factors, type and severity of ACS, and admission date (±3 months) with 40 controls. A standardised proforma was used for detailed case note review. Results: Age, sex, other cardiovascular risk factors, and type and severity of presenting ACS were not significantly different between cases and controls. Recurrent cardiac events were commoner in rheumatoid arthritis (23/40, 57.5%) than controls (12/40, 30%) (p = 0.013); there were 16/40 deaths in rheumatoid arthritis (40%) v 6/40 (15%) in controls (p = 0.012). Recurrent events occurred earlier in rheumatoid arthritis (log rank survival, p = 0.05). Presentation with chest pain occurred in all controls compared with 33/40 rheumatoid patients (82%) (p = 0.006); collapse occurred in one control (2.5%) v 7/40 rheumatoid patients (17.5%) (p = 0.025). Treatment during the ACS was not significantly different in the two groups. Conclusions: Recurrent ischaemic events and death occur more often after ACS in rheumatoid arthritis. Atypical presentation is commoner in rheumatoid arthritis. There is an urgent need to develop identification and intervention strategies for ACS specific to this high risk group.
Fracture resistance of Class II glass-ionomer cement restorations.

PURPOSE To investigate in vitro the effect of retentive grooves, GIC type and insertion method on the fracture resistance of Class II glass-ionomer cement (GIC) restorations. METHODS Premolars were divided into 12 groups (n = 10) according to three variables: retentive grooves [presence (PR) or absence AR)], GICs type [Ketac-Molar (KM), Fuji VIII (F8) and RelyX Luting (RX)], and insertion method [syringe injector (SI) or spoon excavator (SE)]. The specimens were subjected to fracture resistance test. Data were submitted to three-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons were performed using a Tukey test (P < 0.05). RESULTS Mean fracture resistance values (Kgf) +/- standard deviations (SD) were: KM (PR+SI) = 65.66 +/- 2.5; KM (PR+SE) = 62.58 +/- 2.1; KM (AR+SI) = 57.11 +/- 1.9; KM (AR+SE) = 51.94 +/- 2.3; F8 (PR+SI) = 63.05 +/- 2.1; F8 (PR+SE) = 60.12 +/- 2.3; F8 (AR+SI) = 55.11 +/- 1.9; F8(AR+SE) = 49.20 +/- 1.6; RX (PR+SI) = 50.99 +/- 2.4; RX (PR+SE) = 48.81 +/- 2.5; RX (AR+SI) = 45.53 +/- 2.6; RX (AR+SE) = 41.88 +/- 3.0. Statistically significant differences were observed among all the groups tested (P = 0.001). There was significant difference when pooled means for GIC type were compared with retentive grooves (P = 0.01) and when pooled means for retentive grooves were compared with insertion method (P = 0.01).
Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Colonization in Patients with Cirrhosis: Prospective Assessment of Association with Infection

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To determine if Staphylococcus aureus colonization of the anterior nares was a risk factor for S aureus infection in patients with cirrhosis and to determine the predictors of S aureus infection in colonized patients. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. PATIENTS: 84 consecutive patients with cirrhosis admitted to the liver transplant unit of a university-affiliated Veterans' Affairs Medical Center. RESULTS: Overall, 39 (46%) of the 84 patients were nasal carriers of S aureus, of which 24 (29%) were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 15 (18%) were methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA). Only MRSA, but never MSSA, carriage was acquired in the hospital; all 15 of the MSSA versus 14 (58%) of the 24 MRSA carriers were nasal carriers on first (admission) culture (P=.001). Of the 10 (42%) of 24 MRSA carriers who were not colonized on admission, 3 became MRSA carriers within 1 month, and 7 acquired MRSA carriage more than a month later. Higher Child-Pugh score was independently associated with MRSA carriage (odds ratio [OR], 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 1.1-2.3). S aureus nasal carriers (9 [23%] of 39) were significantly more likely to develop S aureus infections than noncarriers (2 [4%] of 45; P=.02). Central venous catheter use was associated independently with S aureus infections in the carriers (OR, 4.1; CI95, 2.8-6.1). Mortality was significantly higher in carriers who developed S aureus infections as compared to those who did not (57% vs 13%; P=.022); S aureus infection was an independent predictor of mortality in the carriers (OR, 8.7; CI95, 1.2-63.8). CONCLUSIONS: Colonization of the anterior nares was a significant predictor of S aureus infection in patients with cirrhosis
Isolation of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii Genotype II from a Boy with Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma and a Dog with Hemangiopericytoma

ABSTRACT In this report, we describe isolation of Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii genotype II from a boy with epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and a dog with hemangiopericytoma. These results suggest that B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii may cause vasoproliferative lesions in both humans and dogs.
Bayesian Sensor Fusion Methods for Dynamic Object Tracking—A Comparative Study

In this paper we study the problem of Bayesian sensor fusion for dynamic object tracking. The prospects of utilizing measurements from several sensors to infer about a system state are manyfold and they range from increased estimate accuracy to more reliable and robust estimates. Sensor measurements may be combined, or fused, at a variety of levels; from the raw data level to a state vector level, or at the decision level. In this paper we mainly focus on the Bayesian fusion at the likelihood and state vector level. We analyze two groups of data fusion methods: centralized independent likelihood fusion, where the sensors report only its measurement to the fusion center, and hierarchical fusion, where each sensor runs its own local estimate which is then communicated to the fusion center along with the corresponding uncertainty. We compare the prospects of utilizing both approaches, and present explicit solutions in the forms of extended information filter, unscented information filter, and particle filter. Furthermore, we also propose a solution for fusion of arbitrary filters and test it on a hierarchical fusion example of two of the aforementioned filters. Hence, the main contributions of this paper are systematic comparative study of Bayesian fusion methods, and a method for hierarchical fusion of arbitrary filters. The fusion methods are tested on a synthetic data generated by multiple Monte Carlo runs for tracking of a dynamic object with several sensors of different accuracies by analyzing the quadratic Rényi entropy and root-mean-square error.
Donation After Cardiac Death: Ethical Dilemmas and Implications for Advanced Practice Nurses

Donation after cardiac death has always presented ethical concerns among health care providers. As advanced practice nurses and critical care nurses, it is our responsibility to ensure that health care providers and families are educated about the process and that we remain advocates for the potential donors. This article reviews the donation after cardiac death process, provides a donation after cardiac death hypothetical case report and its outcome, and addresses the ethical concerns associated with donation after cardiac death from both opponents’ and proponents’ points of view. It will also discuss the benefits of obtaining a palliative care consult and the roles of the advanced practice nurse in the care of the potential donor.
Portability of Process-Aware and Service-Oriented Software: Evidence and Metrics

Modern software systems are becoming increasingly integrated and are required to operate over organizational boundaries through networks. The development of such distributed software systems has been shaped by the orthogonal trends of service-orientation and process-awareness. These trends put an emphasis on technological neutrality, loose coupling, independence from the execution platform, and location transparency. Execution platforms supporting these trends provide context and cross-cutting functionality to applications and are referred to as engines. Applications and engines interface via language standards. The engine implements a standard. If an application is implemented in conformance to this standard, it can be executed on the engine. A primary motivation for the usage of standards is the portability of applications. Portability, the ability to move software among different execution platforms without the necessity for full or partial reengineering, protects from vendor lock-in and enables application migration to newer engines. The arrival of cloud computing has made it easy to provision new and scalable execution platforms. To enable easy platform changes, existing international standards for implementing service-oriented and process-aware software name the portability of standardized artifacts as an important goal. Moreover, they provide platform-independent serialization formats that enable the portable implementation of applications. Nevertheless, practice shows that service-oriented and process-aware applications today are limited with respect to their portability. The reason for this is that engines rarely implement a complete standard, but leave out parts or differ in the interpretation of the standard. As a consequence, even applications that claim to be portable by conforming to a standard might not be so. This thesis contributes to the development of portable service-oriented and process-aware software in two ways: Firstly, it provides evidence for the existence of portability issues and the insufficiency of standards for guaranteeing software portability. Secondly, it derives and validates a novel measurement framework for quantifying portability. We present a methodology for benchmarking the conformance of engines to a language standard and implement it in a fully automated benchmarking tool. Several test suites of conformance tests for two different languages, the Web Services Business Process Execution Language 2.0 and the Business Process Model and Notation 2.0, allow to uncover a variety of standard conformance issues in existing engines. This provides evidence that the standard-based portability of applications is a real issue. Based on these results, this thesis derives a measurement framework for portability. The framework
An Examination of Characteristics of Lung and Colon Cancer Patients Participating in a Web-Based Decision Support Program

Objectives: Little is known about the characteristics of cancer patients who employ the Internet as a technique to gather information to assist them in their management. Methods: To address this issue, aggregate data from individuals with colon (n = 7,543), non-small cell lung (n = 24,778) and small cell lung (n = 13,817) cancers who provided personal clinical information through participation in a proprietary Web-based decision support program (NexProfilerTM Treatment Option Tools for Cancer; NexCura®, Inc., Seattle, Wash., USA) were evaluated for potential differences between specific patient subgroups. Results: Examination of a number of objective (e.g., prior therapy) and subjective (e.g., overall health, activity level) parameters failed to reveal any major differences based on sex, geographical location (US vs. non-US) or newly diagnosed versus recurrent disease (non-small cell lung cancer patients). Several notable findings included: (1) overall >65% of colon cancer patients and >70% of lung cancer patients stated that they ‘were interested in learning about clinical trials’; (2) 65–70% of patients with recurrent non-small cell lung cancer stated that their ‘general health was good’, while >60% noted they had symptoms and >50% declared their activity level to be essentially ‘normal’; (3) while almost 80% of small cell lung cancer patients noted symptoms, >60% stated their activity level was ‘normal’. Conclusion: These data suggest that the population of patients who seek information from Web-based decision support programs share a number of relevant clinical features, yet they appear to represent a unique subset among all individuals with malignant disease. It will be important for oncologists to more fully understand the objectives of this population in order to assist such patients (and their families) in their use of this remarkably powerful, but essentially unregulated, technology.
Distributive justice and the durability of peace agreements

Abstract This study explores the relationship between principles of distributive justice (DJ) and the durability of negotiated agreements. Sixteen peace agreements negotiated during the early 1990s were coded for the centrality of each of four principles of DJ – equality, proportionality, compensation, and need – to the core terms of the agreement. The agreements were also assessed on scales of implementation and durability over a five-year period. Another variable included in the analysis was the difficulty of the conflict environment. These data were used to evaluate three sets of hypotheses: the relationship between DJ and durability, the role of the conflict environment, and types of DJ principles. The results obtained from both statistical and focused-comparison analyses indicate that DJ moderates the relationship between conflict environments and outcomes: when principles of justice are central to an agreement, the negative effects of difficult conflict environments are reduced; when principles are not central, the negative effects of difficulty are heightened. These relationships are accounted for primarily by one of the four DJ principles – equality. Implications of these findings are discussed along with a number of ideas for further research.
Comment on "Genetic Structure of Human Populations"

Rosenberg et al . ( [1][1] ) described the genetic structure of 52 human populations from five continents studied at 377 short tandem repeat (STR) loci. This high-resolution study demonstrated that, using multilocus information only, the individuals of these populations could be subdivided into five
Tolerance Induced by Apoptotic Antigen-Coupled Leukocytes Is Induced by PD-L1+ and IL-10–Producing Splenic Macrophages and Maintained by T Regulatory Cells

Ag-specific tolerance is a highly desired therapy for immune-mediated diseases. Intravenous infusion of protein/peptide Ags linked to syngeneic splenic leukocytes with ethylene carbodiimide (Ag-coupled splenocytes [Ag-SP]) has been demonstrated to be a highly efficient method for inducing peripheral, Ag-specific T cell tolerance for treatment of autoimmune disease. However, little is understood about the mechanisms underlying this therapy. In this study, we show that apoptotic Ag-SP accumulate in the splenic marginal zone, where their uptake by F4/80+ macrophages induces production of IL-10, which upregulates the expression of the immunomodulatory costimulatory molecule PD-L1 that is essential for Ag-SP tolerance induction. Ag-SP infusion also induces T regulatory cells that are dispensable for tolerance induction but required for long-term tolerance maintenance. Collectively, these results indicate that Ag-SP tolerance recapitulates how tolerance is normally maintained in the hematopoietic compartment and highlight the interplay between the innate and adaptive immune systems in the induction of Ag-SP tolerance. To our knowledge, we show for the first time that tolerance results from the synergistic effects of two distinct mechanisms, PD-L1–dependent T cell-intrinsic unresponsiveness and the activation of T regulatory cells. These findings are particularly relevant as this tolerance protocol is currently being tested in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial in new-onset relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
How Asian Teachers Polish Each Lesson to Perfection.

James Stigler is associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. He was awarded the Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in the area of culture and mathematics learning. Harold W. Stevenson is professor of psychology and director of the University of Michigan Program in Child Development and Social Policy. He is currently president of the international Society for the Study of Behavioral Development and has spent the past two decades engaged in cross-cultural research.