Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid System Application for Unilateral Congenital Conductive Hearing Impairment: Audiometric Results

Objective: To study the audiologic outcome of bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) application in patients with congenital unilateral conductive hearing impairment. Study Design: Prospective audiometric evaluation on 20 patients. Setting: Tertiary referral center. Patients: The experimental group comprised 20 consecutive patients with congenital unilateral conductive hearing impairment, with a mean air-bone gap of 50 dB. Methods: Aided and unaided hearing was assessed using sound localization and speech recognition-in-noise tests. Results: Aided hearing thresholds and aided speech perception thresholds were measured to verify the effect of the BAHA system on the hearing acuity. All patients fulfilled the criteria that the aided speech reception thresholds or the mean aided sound field thresholds were 25 dB or better in the aided situation. Most patients were still using the BAHA almost every day. Sound localization scores varied widely in the unaided and aided situations. Many patients showed unexpectedly good unaided performance. However, nonsignificant improvements of 3.0 (500 Hz) and 6.9 degrees (3,000 Hz) were observed in favor of the BAHA. Speech recognition in noise with spatially separated speech and noise sources also improved after BAHA implantation, but not significantly. Conclusion: Some patients with congenital unilateral conductive hearing impairment had such good directional hearing and speech-in-noise scores in the unaided situation that no overall significant improvement occurred after BAHA fitting in our setup. Of the 18 patients with a complete data set, 6 did not show any significant improvement at all. However, compliance with BAHA use in this patient group was remarkably high. Observations of consistent use of the device are highly suggestive of patient benefit. Further research is recommended to get more insight into these findings.
Negative emotions can attenuate the influence of beliefs on logical reasoning

Although the influence of beliefs on logical reasoning is well documented, how emotions modulate the effect of beliefs during reasoning remains unexamined. We instructed participants to reason about syllogisms involving neutral or emotionally charged content. We also manipulated the consistency of beliefs with logical validity. When content was neutral, participants exhibited the belief-bias effect observed in previous studies of reasoning. In contrast, when confronted with emotionally charged content participants were less likely to be influenced by their beliefs. Our results suggest that under certain conditions negative emotions can attenuate the influence of beliefs during logical reasoning. Drawing on the affect infusion model, we attribute this effect to a more vigilant, systematic scrutiny of beliefs in the presence of negative emotions.
Migration, occupation and education: Evidence from Ghana

We investigate whether the occupational productivity and employment status of individuals living in a household with migrants differ from those living in non-migrant households using the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) and the Africa Sector Database (ASD). We find that rural households and households with a head in more productive occupations are more likely to have migrant members, and that rural households and households with a head who are waged-employed are more likely to have a migrant than households with members who are self-employed. While these findings are not suprising, we find some more unexpected results. For instance, migrants do not always migrate to more productive occupations; migration can result in downward occupational mobility. Migrants in our sample do not send back much remittances. Migrant-sending households in Ghana are in fact more likely to send remittances to their relatives currently away, than to receive remittances. In an attempt to explain these somewhat puzzling findings, we argue that a motivation for rural households or households with a head in a more productive occupation to send out relatives is to support younger household members to pursue their education elsewhere. Migration is therefore a long(er)-run income-and-occupational diversification strategy of the more productively employed rural households in Ghana.
Lysyl Hydroxylase 3 Is a Multifunctional Protein Possessing Collagen Glucosyltransferase Activity*

Lysyl hydroxylase (EC 1.14.11.4) and glucosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.66) are enzymes involved in post-translational modifications during collagen biosynthesis. We reveal in this paper that the protein produced by the cDNA for human lysyl hydroxylase isoform 3 (LH3) has both lysyl hydroxylase and glucosyltransferase (GGT) activities. The other known lysyl hydroxylase isoforms, LH1, LH2a, and LH2b, have no GGT activity. Furthermore, antibodies recognizing the amino acid sequence of human LH3 and those against a highly purified chicken GGT partially inhibited the GGT activity. Similarly, a partial inhibition was observed when these antibodies were tested against GGT extracted from human skin fibroblasts. In vitro mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that the amino acids involved in the GGT active site differ from those required for LH3 activity.
Dynamic Test Selection Using Source Code Changes

Here we describe an approach for the dynamic selection of test cases in continuous integration test environments. By correlating historical test case results with product source code changes, we are able to construct a simple model that enables us to dynamically and automatically create test suites that are customized for each individual product software delivery. Using this technique, we are able to increase by a factor of 5 the rate of failed tests in subsystem test environments.
A real-time Twitter sentiment analysis using an unsupervised method

With the evolution of Social Networks (SNs) such as Twitter, millions of users can interacting, sharing interests, activities, contents or exchanging experiences and opinions. Sharing opinions is an active research topic in the framework of sentiment analysis and opinion mining. In this paper, we present a real-time implementation of a system that can discover and track opinions on Twitter using Apache Storm tool. Our system provides multiple opinions' representations through dynamic graphic visualizations. We use an unsupervised machine learning technique, to analyze opinions and detect tweets polarity. By doing so, we can recommend relevant keywords regarding the main topic of interest. Results using SemEval Datasets, show that our solution outperforms the existing ones, by recording better scores.
A new approach to the design of multiple inverter systems using evolutionary optimization

The use of distributed generators (DGs), especially renewables like wind and solar photovoltaics, depends upon inverter technology to provide compatibility between multiple DGs on a local bus. It is becoming more common to group dissimilar DGs together to form microgrids, and desirable to allow DGs to be connected or disconnected without detrimental effects upon the stability of the microgrid. This has implications for the design of suitable control systems for operating inverters in a heterogeneous microgrid. Evolutionary computing provides a powerful optimization tool that has the potential to assist in the design of control systems for microgrids. As a first step, we introduce a feasibility study, where evolutionary design is used to optimize control parameters for an islanded microgrid with a large number of inverters. We show that the evolutionary optimization provides improved transient response when compared to a manual design, and propose that this approach is worthy of further investigation.
Neuropsychological Features of Microbleeds and Cortical Microinfarct Detected by High Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

BACKGROUND Lobar microbleeds (MBs) and cortical microinfarct (CMI) are caused by cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the elderly and increase in number in Alzheimer's disease. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to elucidate the effects of lobar MBs and CMIs on cognitive function. METHODS The subjects were outpatients who visited the memory clinic of Mie University Hospital. Among 120 subjects, 109 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. We quantitatively estimated MBs and CMIs using double inversion recovery and 3D FLAIR images of 3T MRI. Neuropsychological assessments included intellectual, memory, constructional, and frontal lobe function. RESULTS Of the 109 patients, MBs and CMIs were observed in 68 (62%) and 17 (16%) subjects, respectively. Of the 68 patients with MBs, lobar MBs were found in 28, deep MBs in 8 and mixed MBs in 31. In each age group, the number of MBs increased in patients with CMI (CMI+ group) than those without CMI (CMI- group), and MBs and CMIs additively decreased MMSE scores. In psychological screens, the MBs+ group with more than 10 MBs showed significantly lower scores of category- and letter-WF than MB- group. The CMI+ group showed significantly worse scores than CMI- group in Japanese Raven's coloured progressive matrices, Trail Making Test-A, category- and letter-word fluency and copy and drawing of figures. CONCLUSION Lobar MBs and CMIs in the elderly frequently coexisted with each other and additively contributed to cognitive impairment, which is mainly predisposed to frontal lobe function.
Rapid Detection and Species Identification of Mycobacteria in Paraffin‐Embedded Tissues by Polymerase Chain Reaction

The sensitivity and specificity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the detection of mycobacteria in paraffin-embedded tissues and in crude lysates of mycobacterial cultures were assessed. Sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues were deparaffinized and then subjected to a simple proteinase K and boiling lysis procedure. These preparations were used directly for PCR amplification of the 383 bp segment of the gene encoding the 65 kDa mycobacterial surface antigen. Crude lysates of mycobacteria were used as positive controls. The specificity of the PCR products was confirmed by Southern blot using a region-specific digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probe and chemiluminescent detection. The 383 bp diagnostic fragment was visualized in 11 of 12 acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain/culture-proven-positive blocks. Crude lysates of mycobacteria were detected to a sensitivity of approximately 80 organisms. Amplified fragments from paraffin-embedded tissues and mycobacterial cultures of M. tuberculosis, M. avium-intracellulare, and saprophytic mycobacteria were distinguished by digestion with Nar 1 restriction endonuclease. These results suggest that PCR amplification followed by restriction enzyme digestion of the PCR product is a rapid, specific, and highly sensitive technique for the detection and speciation of mycobacteria in paraffin-embedded tissues.
Influence of hydrophobic mismatch on the catalytic activity of Escherichia coli GlpG rhomboid protease

Rhomboids comprise a broad family of intramembrane serine proteases that are found in a wide range of organisms and participate in a diverse array of biological processes. High‐resolution structures of the catalytic transmembrane domain of the Escherichia coli GlpG rhomboid have provided numerous insights that help explain how hydrolytic cleavage can be achieved below the membrane surface. Key to this are observations that GlpG hydrophobic domain dimensions may not be sufficient to completely span the native lipid bilayer. This formed the basis for a model where hydrophobic mismatch Induces thinning of the local membrane environment to promote access to transmembrane substrates. However, hydrophobic mismatch also has the potential to alter the functional properties of the rhomboid, a possibility we explore in the current work. For this purpose, we purified the catalytic transmembrane domain of GlpG into phosphocholine or maltoside detergent micelles of varying alkyl chain lengths, and assessed proteolytic function with a model water‐soluble substrate. Catalytic turnover numbers were found to depend on detergent alkyl chain length, with saturated chains containing 10–12 carbon atoms supporting maximal activity. Similar results were obtained in phospholipid bicelles, with no proteolytic activity being detected in longer‐chain lipids. Although differences in thermal stability and GlpG oligomerization could not explain these activity differences, circular dichroism spectra suggest that mismatch gives rise to a small change in structure. Overall, these results demonstrate that hydrophobic mismatch can exert an inhibitory effect on rhomboid activity, with the potential for changes in local membrane environment to regulate activity in vivo.
Rejection of the Component Tissues of Limb Allografts in Rats Immunosuppressed with FK‐506 and Cyclosporine

&NA; One‐hundred and fourteen limb transplantations have been performed across a major histoincompatibility barrier between donor ACI (RT1a) and recipient Lewis (RT11) rats immunosuppressed with various dosages of FK‐506 and cyclosporine. Three‐hundred and thirty biopsy specimens from 64 animals have been evaluated histologically for signs of rejection. A new histologic grading system is introduced to classify the process of rejection in the component tissues (skin, muscle, bone, and articular cartilage) of a limb allograft. The results indicate that FK‐506 is a more potent immunosuppressive agent than cyclosporine in preventing the rejection of the skin component of a limb transplant. With twice‐weekly intermittent immunosuppression with FK‐506. the rejection of muscle, bone, and cartilage can be prevented for an indefinite time, although all longterm surviving animals died at around 300 days, probably of graft‐versus‐host disease. Based on the histologic stages of rejection in the different tissues at the same point in time, it is evident that each component tissue of a limb transplant rejects over a different time period. This probably reflects a hierarchy of antigenicity, with skin being most antigenic, muscle being intermediate in antigenicity, and bone and cartilage being least antigenic. Although this grading system is not the ultimate solution, it may allow a more objective comparison of experimental limb transplantation in the future. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 97: 139, 1996.)
[Variations in intraperitoneal temperature during laparoscopic cholecystectomy].

STUDY AIM The aim of this study was to measure thermal variation during laparoscopy in the vicinity of heat sources such as monopolar (MC), bipolar (BC) and ultrasound coagulation (USC) and to evaluate their possible negative consequences for the patient. METHODS This study included 67 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The temperature measurements were taken with a sterile thermal probe introduced through a 5 mm trocar, coupled with a recording monitor reading variations between 20 degrees and 80 degrees C. The variation in temperature was measured as a function of the power applied to the electrodes (20 or 30 W) and in relation to the distance (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cm) from the electrodes. RESULTS The temperature varied by 3 degrees for BC, 29 degrees for MC and only 0.2 degree for USC when the distance increased for 1 to 5 cm. Depending on the power delivered, (20 or 30 W or 1 to 5 for USC), the variations were 1 degree for BC, 17 degrees for MC and there was still no variation for USC. CONCLUSION The use of bipolar coagulation and ultrasonic coagulation associated with minimal temperature variations is the option of choice for operating near structures such as the common bile duct or the gastrointestinal tract.
Chemokine modulation of matrix metalloproteinase and TIMP production in adult rat brain microglia and a human microglial cell line in vitro

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc‐dependent enzymes, capable of degrading proteins found in the extracellular matrix. MMPs 2 and 9 are known to be produced by microglia, the resident macrophages of the central nervous system. The control of the secretion of these proteases and the activation of proenzymes by other proteases such as plasmin, as well as the balance between MMP secretion and the secretion of their natural inhibitors (TIMPs), have an important relevance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). The in vitro control of MMPs 2 and 9, TIMPs 1 and 2, and urokinase‐type plasminogen activator by microglia was examined in response to a panel of chemokines (chemotactic cytokines), using ELISA and zymography techniques. The chemokines MCP1, MIP1β, RANTES, IL‐8, and Fractalkine were all found significantly to increase the secretion of MMPs and TIMPs by a human foetal microglial cell line, CHME3, after 24 h stimulation. The chemokines tested, MCP1, MIP1β, and Fractalkine, were also shown to increase MMP9 secretion by primary isolated rat brain microglia in vitro. MCP1, MIP1α/β, and RANTES significantly decreased the secretion of uPA into culture supernatants in ELISA experiments. These findings suggest an important potential role for the involvement of chemokines in the breakdown of the blood–brain barrier and also the destruction of myelin basic protein in MS. GLIA 28:183–189, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Dissociative Subtype of PTSD : Rationale , Evidence , and Future Directions

The diagnosis of PTSD has undergone numerous changes in the recently released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5; APA, 2013). One is the addition of the dissociative subtype (see Friedman, Resick, Bryant, and Brewin, 2011). This subtype applies to individuals who meet full criteria for PTSD and also exhibit marked symptoms of derealization (i.e., perceiving one’s world or environment as not real) and/or depersonalization (i.e., perceiving one’s self as not whole, connected, or real). This review examines the evidence for the dissociative subtype of PTSD, discusses issues related to its operational definition and assessment, and considers its broader relevance for clinical and research applications.
Clinical Efficacy of Polymyxin Monotherapy versus Nonvalidated Polymyxin Combination Therapy versus Validated Polymyxin Combination Therapy in Extensively Drug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacillus Infections

ABSTRACT Polymyxins have emerged as a last-resort treatment of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative Bacillus (GNB) infections, which present a growing threat. Individualized polymyxin-based antibiotic combinations selected on the basis of the results of in vitro combination testing may be required to optimize therapy. A retrospective cohort study of hospitalized patients receiving polymyxins for XDR GNB infections from 2009 to 2014 was conducted to compare the treatment outcomes between patients receiving polymyxin monotherapy (MT), nonvalidated polymyxin combination therapy (NVCT), and in vitro combination testing-validated polymyxin combination therapy (VCT). The primary and secondary outcomes were infection-related mortality and microbiological eradication, respectively. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) between treatment groups were assessed. A total of 291 patients (patients receiving MT, n = 58; patients receiving NVCT, n = 203; patients receiving VCT, n = 30) were included. The overall infection-related mortality rate was 23.0% (67 patients). In the multivariable analysis, treatment of XDR GNB infections with MT (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 8.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.56 to 46.05) and NVCT (aOR, 5.75; 95% CI, 1.25 to 25.73) was associated with an increased risk of infection-related mortality compared to that with treatment with VCT. A higher Acute Physiological and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score (aOR, 1.14; 95% CI 1.07 to 1.21) and a higher Charlson comorbidity index (aOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.47) were also independently associated with an increased risk of infection-related mortality. No increase in the incidence of ADRs was observed in the VCT group. The use of an individualized antibiotic combination which was selected on the basis of the results of in vitro combination testing was associated with significantly lower rates of infection-related mortality in patients with XDR GNB infections. Future prospective randomized studies will be required to validate these findings.
Streaming Binary Sketching Based on Subspace Tracking and Diagonal Uniformization

In this paper, we address the problem of learning compact similarity-preserving embeddings for massive high-dimensional streams of data in order to perform efficient similarity search. We present a new online method for computing binary compressed representations -sketches- of high-dimensional real feature vectors. Given an expected code length $c$ and high-dimensional input data points, our algorithm provides a c-bits binary code for preserving the distance between the points from the original high-dimensional space. Our algorithm does not require neither the storage of the whole dataset nor a chunk, thus it is fully adaptable to the streaming setting. It also provides low time complexity and convergence guarantees. We demonstrate the quality of our binary sketches through experiments on real data for the nearest neighbors search task in the online setting.
Phacoemulsificatıon in eyes wıth cataract and high myopia.

PURPOSE To evaluate the outcomes and complications following phacoemulsification surgery in eyes with cataract and high myopia. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the data of 43 eyes of 28 consecutive patients (12 males, 16 females) with cataract and high myopia who had undergone phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. The mean [± standard deviation (range)] age of the patients was 59.20 ± 11.08 (39-77) years. RESULTS The frequency of nuclear cataract was significantly higher than that of other cataract types (P=0.003). The mean axial length was 28.97 ± 1.99 (26-33) mm and the mean IOL power was 5.09 ± 4.78 (-3.0 to +14.0) diopters (D). The mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) was -16.48 ± 5.23 (-8.00 to -25.00) D and the mean postoperative SE was -1.46 ± 0.93 (0.00 to -3.00) D (P=0.00). The mean preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.91 ± 0.37 (0.30 to -1.50) logMAR and the mean postoperative BCVA was 0.29 ± 0.25 (0.00-1.00) logMAR (P=0.00). Twenty-two eyes (51.2%) achieved the target postoperative refraction (±1.0 D). The eyes were divided into 3 groups according to the axial length. The mean biometric error was significantly higher in the group with the greatest axial length than in the other groups (P=0.007). Preoperative argon laser photocoagulation was performed in 7 eyes (16%) on account of retinal tears, retinal holes, or lattice degeneration. Postoperatively, retinal tears developed in 2 eyes (4%) and were treated with photocoagulation. One eye (2%) developed retinal detachment postoperatively, with the patient consequently referred for retinal surgery. Postoperatively, posterior capsule opacities developed in 11 eyes (25%), with all cases treated by laser capsulotomy. CONCLUSIONS Good postoperative outcomes following phacoemulsification surgery were observed in patients with cataract and high myopia. However, clinicians should be aware of the risk of postoperative retinal tears and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Preoperative prophylactic argon laser photocoagulation treatment should be considered where necessary.