Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic and Clinical Markers of Prognosis in the Era of CT Imaging in Children with Acute Epidural Hematomas

Acute epidural hematoma (AEH), a relatively common complication of head injury in children, persists in bearing high morbidity and mortality. Early establishment of prognosis could guide optimal patient allocation, and early identification of predictive signs could assist in choosing appropriate therapeutic interventions. This study aimed to delineate expeditiously obtainable prognostic markers for determining outcome in a subset of children with AEH. We reviewed our 11-year experience with 61 consecutive children <16 years old with head trauma and isolated AEH. Treatment followed a standard advanced trauma life support protocol. A medical history was obtained, and all patients underwent neurosurgical and physical evaluations. CT scans were performed, as were laboratory tests which included arterial blood gases, glucose, electrolytes (K+, Na+), hemoglobin and coagulation studies. Evaluation of the data collected on cause of injury, interval between trauma occurrence and presentation, clinical symptoms, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, vital signs, laboratory test results, physical findings and surgical versus conservative management revealed that the best single predictors of outcome following AEH were the GCS and focal neurological deficits. Of all laboratory data obtained on admission, the blood potassium, pH and glucose test results correlated significantly with prognosis. Prognosis can be adequately and expeditiously estimated by selected markers within a comprehensive evaluation of children with AEH.
The incidence of multifocal cerebral gliomas. A histologic study of large hemisphere sections

A series of 241 gliomas (astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, glioblastomas, and subependymal giant‐cell astrocytomas) was studied. This represents all the gliomas examined post mortem over 25 years at one hospital. Two hundred and one cases (85%) were apparently solitary tumors; of the 40 cases with multiple tumor foci, 23 (9.5%) were true multicentric gliomas. After excluding cases in which there was concomitant disease (neurofibromatosis, tuberose sclerosis, or multiple sclerosis), 18 cases of multicentric tumor (7.5%) remained. Multicentric tumors with different histologic appearances accounted for 2.9% of the series. Celloidin‐embedded whole brain sections proved invaluable for the detection of microscopic neoplastic foci and unsuspected diffuse spread. The estimated incidence of multiplicity in gliomas is higher than in most series, but the findings suggest that detection of multifocal neoplastic change in these tumors is directly related to the extent to which the brain is sampled, and that figures obtained in this study may well underestimate the true incidence.
Clinical review: Klinefelter syndrome--a clinical update.

CONTEXT Recently, new clinically important information regarding Klinefelter syndrome (KS) has been published. We review aspects of epidemiology, endocrinology, metabolism, body composition, and neuropsychology with reference to recent genetic discoveries. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION PubMed was searched for "Klinefelter," "Klinefelter's," and "XXY" in titles and abstracts. Relevant papers were obtained and reviewed, as well as other articles selected by the authors. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS KS is the most common sex chromosome disorder in males, affecting one in 660 men. The genetic background is the extra X-chromosome, which may be inherited from either parent. Most genes from the extra X undergo inactivation, but some escape and serve as the putative genetic cause of the syndrome. KS is severely underdiagnosed or is diagnosed late in life, roughly 25% are diagnosed, and the mean age of diagnosis is in the mid-30s. KS is associated with an increased morbidity resulting in loss of approximately 2 yr in life span with an increased mortality from many different diseases. The key findings in KS are small testes, hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, and cognitive impairment. The hypogonadism may lead to changes in body composition and a risk of developing metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. The cognitive impairment is mainly in the area of language processing. Boys with KS are often in need of speech therapy, and many suffer from learning disability and may benefit from special education. Medical treatment is mainly testosterone replacement therapy to alleviate acute and long-term consequences of hypogonadism as well as treating or preventing the frequent comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS More emphasis should be placed on increasing the rate of diagnosis and generating evidence for timing and dose of testosterone replacement. Treatment of KS should be a multidisciplinary task including pediatricians, speech therapists, general practitioners, psychologists, infertility specialists, urologists, and endocrinologists.
Long‐term efficacy and safety of zoledronic acid in the treatment of skeletal metastases in patients with nonsmall cell lung carcinoma and other solid tumors

The authors previously reported the efficacy of a dose of 4 mg of zoledronic acid in reducing skeletal complications in patients with bone metastases secondary to lung carcinoma and other solid tumors (except carcinomas of the breast and prostate). In the current study, they update these results and report the long‐term efficacy and safety of 21 months of treatment with zoledronic acid in a randomized, placebo‐controlled trial.
Sexual function and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea: a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effects of oral-appliance and continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

INTRODUCTION The obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is associated with sexual dysfunction. Although successful treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been demonstrated to improve sexual function, the effects of oral-appliance therapy are unknown. AIM The aims of this study were to determine to what extent untreated male OSAHS patients experience sexual dysfunctions compared with control subjects, and second, to evaluate the effects of oral-appliance and CPAP therapy on sexual functioning. METHODS Sexual functioning was determined in 48 OSAHS patients with the Golombok Rust inventory of sexual satisfaction (GRISS) and a testosterone measurement. GRISS outcomes were compared with 48 age-matched male controls without any sexual problems. Patients were randomized for either oral-appliance or CPAP therapy. After 2-3 months of treatment, the GRISS and testosterone measurements were repeated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The outcomes on the GRISS were used as the main outcome measure. RESULTS Compared with controls, OSAHS patients had significantly more erectile dysfunction (mean +/- standard deviation; OSAHS 8.7 +/- 3.8 vs. controls 6.8 +/- 2.6) and sexual dissatisfaction (mean +/- standard deviation; OSAHS 9.7 +/- 4.2 vs. controls 8.1 +/- 2.6) as indicated by the GRISS. No significant changes in the GRISS or testosterone levels were observed in the 20 and 27 patients completing the follow-up review for oral-appliance and CPAP therapy. A correlation was demonstrated between the extent of erectile dysfunction at baseline and improvements in erectile function following treatment (r = -0.547, P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that male OSAHS patients show more sexual dysfunctions compared with age-matched control subjects. Although significant improvements in sexual functioning in neither the oral-appliance nor CPAP-treated group could be established, our findings suggest that untreated OSAHS patients with pronounced erectile dysfunction experience some improvement following treatment.
Involvement of Intracellular Signaling in the IL‐1β Inhibitory Effect on Fructose Intestinal Absorption

A variety of bacteria and their excreted/secreted products having direct effects on epithelial ion transport and permeability and the release of cytokines during bacterial infection may impact directly on epithelial function. Interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) is a pleiotropic cytokine that affects the intestinal absorption of nutrients. The aim of this work was to study the intracellular signaling pathways involved in the inhibitory effect of IL‐1β on D‐fructose intestinal transport in rabbit jejunum and Caco‐2 cells. The results show that the cytokine inhibitory effect was completely reversed in presence of proteasome or PKC selective inhibitors in IL‐1β treated rabbits. In addition, the activation of PI3K abolished the IL‐1β effect. Likewise, these results were confirmed in Caco‐2 cells. In addition, p‐PI3K expression was increased by IL‐1β‐treatment whereas the expression of p‐PKCα was not significantly affected. In summary, the results suggest that IL‐1β could regulate the activation of pPKCα 73, pPI3K 55, and NF‐kB proteins. These events could exert an inhibitory effect on fructose intestinal absorption by a modification of GLUT5 insertion to brush‐border membrane and/or the functional transporter activity. This effect is independent of hormonal milieu and nervous stimuli. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 896–902, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A central demyelinating disease with atypical features

There are clinical, laboratory and imaging criteria to distinguish multiple sclerosis (MS) from neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and acute disseminated encephalo myelitis (ADEM). While MS has unknown aetiology, NMO is commonly associated with vasculitis and A DEM is supposed to be parainfectious in origin. In the present study, six patients are described from a group of 67 with a central demyelinating disorder, whose clinical presentation did not conform to existing diagnostic criteria for A DEM, NMO or MS. Their clinical, laboratory and imaging character istics were studied and analysed. Some features suggested a particular diagnosis but some other features favoured another diagnosis. The features included spinal cord involvement in a large vertical segment with cord swelling, optic neuritis, no lesions in the cerebral cortex, paraplegia with urinary retentio n during the acute phase, no oligoclonal band in cerebrospinal fluid, absence of any evidence of vasculitis, wide time-gap between spinal cord and optic nerve involvement, good recovery from acute phase of disease and a relatively benign course. We conclude that there exists a subpopulation of patients with central demyelinating disease in this region with mixed clinical features. O verall features suggested either a widened clinical spectrum of MS, NMO or A DEM or a possible overlap between them.
Qual a fiabilidade do alfa de Cronbach? Questões antigas e soluções modernas?

A analise da consistencia interna de uma medida psicologica e uma necessidade aceite na comunidade cientifica. Entre os diferentes metodos que nos fornecem estimativas do grau de consistencia de uma medida salienta-se o indice de Cronbach sobre o qual acenta a confianca da maioria dos investigadores. Os utilizadores deste metodo tem-no sugerido como conservador especialmente para os casos em que os itens da escala sao heterogeneos, sao dicotomicos ou definem estruturas multi-factoriais: o alfa de Cronbach fornece uma sub-estimativa da verdadeira fiabilidade da medida. Neste artigo apresentamos e discutimos o metodo de Cronbach, com enfase na inferencia sobre este indice e nas propostas alternativas a este metodo de estudo da consistencia interna. Por ultimo faremos uma breve referencia a discussao que emerge no campo no que concerne a interpretacao deste indice feita pelas perspectivas psicometrica vs. datametrica.
Analyse d'un systeme d'imagerie 3d par reconstruction a partir de radiographies x en geometrie conique

Description d'un cadre theorique original fonde sur la transformation de radon. Dans ce nouvel espace de representation il devient possible, par une operation de rearrangement, de redistribuer les valeurs integrales associees aux plans, du systeme de coordonnees lie aux positions de source sur le systeme de coordonnees spheriques du domaine. Pour assurer ce changement d'espace deux formules sont proposees. Il est ensuite analyse l'influence d'un bruit blanc sur les mesures. Il est recherche en particulier a partir de quel niveau une difference sur une valeur reconstruie sera significative et a partir de quelle taille un objet comme sera detecte. Grace a ce modele statistique, il est possible d'evaluer les limites physiques introduites par le bruit photoniquue. Les traitements numeriques permettant de realiser sur calculateur les schemas d'inversion sont decrits
Nitric oxide synthesis contributes to IL-2-induced antitumor responses against intraperitoneal Meth A tumor.

IL-2 therapy is a potent inductive stimulus for nitric oxide (NO.) synthesis in mice and humans. It is not yet clear whether NO. can contribute to IL-2-induced therapeutic responses. The murine skin cancer Meth A is relatively resistant to lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell killing, allowing evaluation of the role of IL-2-induced NO. synthesis in vivo, without contribution by LAK cells. Subcutaneous IL-2 treatment of mice bearing i.p. Meth A tumor increased nitrite production by cells derived from ascites (63 +/- 14 microM vs 3.2 +/- 1.5 microM in untreated controls). N omega-monomethyl-L-arginine (MLA), NO. synthase inhibitor, prevented this increase. NO. production correlated in an inverse fashion with tumor cell proliferation in vitro. Evidence for IL-2-induced heme nitrosylation was demonstrated in tumor cells by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. By immunomagnetic depletion experiments, macrophages were implicated as a major source of NO. synthesis. Cytologic and flow-cytometric evaluation revealed that IL-2 treatment resulted in enhanced lymphocyte and macrophage recruitment into malignant ascites, and decreases in tumor cell recovery. MLA administration further increased host cell recovery. Subcutaneous IL-2 therapy increased urinary nitrate excretion up to eightfold in mice, and appeared to produce a significant survival advantage that was prevented by MLA administration.
Reconfigurable multilevel phase holograms for optical switches

A way of dynamically encoding polarization-insensitive multilevel phase holograms using nematic liquid crystals is presented. The method, using a quarter wave plate and a mirror, allows the optical efficiency of a free space single-mode fiber-to-fiber switch to be greatly enhanced. The validity of the approach has been verified experimentally by observing the power diffracted in the /spl plusmn/1 orders of a nematic liquid crystal grating as a function of input polarization and applied voltage.
3-D computation of transformers overheating under nonlinear loads

This paper deals with a mixed analytical and numerical method to study the electromagnetic and thermal behavior of a dry type transformer under nonlinear loads. First a three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) using a magnetic scalar potential formulation is applied to compute the magnetic field in the free and iron spaces. This nonlinear FEM calculation is then combined with a mixed analytical and numerical form of the electrical circuit equation to take into account the skin and proximity effects in the rectangular windings. Then a steady state thermal FEM using the previous resultant current densities allows to characterize the temperature distribution of the transformer with nonsinusoidal currents. Finally this coupling model is applied to a 10-kVA distribution transformer to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Device and technology evolution for Si-based RF integrated circuits

The relationships between device feature size and device performance figures of merit (FoMs) are more complex for radio frequency (RF) applications than for digital applications. Using the devices in the key circuit blocks for typical RF transceivers, we review and give trends for the FoMs that characterize active and passive RF devices. These FoMs include transit frequency at unity current gain f/sub T/, maximum frequency of oscillation f/sub MAX/ at unit power gain, noise, breakdown voltage, capacitor density, varactor and inductor quality, and the like. We use the specifications for wireless communications systems to show how different Si-based devices may achieve acceptable FoMs. We focus on Si complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), Si Bipolar CMOS, and Si bipolar devices, including SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, RF devices, and integrated circuits (ICs). We analyze trends in the FoMs for Si-based RF devices and ICs and show how these trends relate to the technology nodes of the 2003 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. We also compare FoMs for the best reported performance of research devices and for the performance of devices manufactured in high volumes, typically more than 10 000 devices. Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this article to specify adequately the experimental or theoretical procedures. Such identification does not imply recommendation by any of the host institutions of the authors, nor does it imply that the equipment or materials are necessarily the best available for the intended purpose.
Caries experience and its association with weight status among 8-year-old children in Qingdao, China

Objectives: Childhood obesity/underweight status and caries are both important public health problems. This study aims to investigate the caries status and its association with body weight in 8-year-old children in Qingdao, China. Materials and Methods: We initiated a cross-sectional investigation on 744 children aged 8 years during the Oral Health Survey in 2012. Dental caries assessments were carried out and weight status was recorded accordingly. The resulting caries status including caries prevalence, dmft (deciduous dentition), and (dmft + DMFT) (mixed dentition), as well as BMI indices were analyzed for comparison and correlation. Results: The prevalence of dental caries among the 744 children aged 8 years participating in this survey was 86.3%. The caries status represented by dmft (deciduous dentition) and (dmft + DMFT) (mixed dentition) values was 4.31 and 4.85, respectively, and the restoration rate was extremely low, which was no more than 3.0%. Significant difference was found in dmft/(dmft + DMFT) values between different BMI groups, and underweight individuals were found to have the highest dmft/(dmft + DMFT) value. An inverse relationship between body BMI and dmft/(dmft + DMFT) index was identified based on Pearson′s correlation. Conclusions: A severe state of caries disease was revealed in 8-year-old children in the Chinese city of Qingdao, for whom urgent dental intervention and treatment were needed. Furthermore, underweight individuals were found with the most severe caries experience, indicating caries may affect the development and growth of the afflicted children. Thus, more emphasis should be placed on improving their dental health, with caries prevention being given the priority.
Strategies for Enhancing Monoclonal Antibody Accumulation in Plant Cell and Organ Cultures

Various strategies aimed at improving IgG1 antibody accumulation in transgenic tobacco cell and organ cultures were tested. The form of tissue had a significant effect on antibody levels; shooty teratomas were less productive than hairy roots or suspended cells. Although there were several disadvantages associated with hairy roots compared with suspensions, such as slower growth, slower antibody production, and formation of a greater number of antibody fragments, the roots exhibited superior long‐term culture stability. Antibody accumulation in hairy root cultures was improved by increasing the dissolved oxygen tension to 150% air saturation, indicating the need for effective oxygen transfer in root reactors used for antibody production. Preventing N‐linked glycosylation using tunicamycin or inhibition of subsequent glycan processing by castanospermine reduced antibody accumulation in the biomass and/or medium in cell suspensions. Loss of antibody from the cultures after its secretion and release into the medium was identified as a major problem. This effect was minimized by inhibiting protein transport in the secretory pathway using Brefeldin A, resulting in antibody accumulation levels up to 2.7 times those in untreated cells. Strategies for protecting secreted antibody, such as addition of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and periodic harvesting from the medium using hydroxyapatite resin, also increased antibody titers. The mechanisms responsible for the disappearance of antibody from plant culture media were not clearly identified; degradation by proteases and conformational modification of the antibody, such as formation of aggregates, provided an explanation for some but not all the phenomena observed. This work demonstrates that the manipulation and control of culture conditions and metabolic processes in plant tissue cultures can be used to improve the production of foreign proteins. However, loss of secreted antibody from plant culture medium is a significant problem that may limit the feasibility of using product recovery from the medium to reduce downstream processing costs relative to agricultural systems.
On the Accessibility of Distributed Parameter Systems

This contribution is devoted to the accessibility analysis of distributed parameter systems. A formal system theoretical approach is proposed by means of differential geometry, which allows an intrinsic representation for the class of infinite dimensional systems. Beginning with the introduction of a convenient representation form, in particular, the accessibility along a trajectory is discussed generally. In addition, the derivation of (local) (non-)accessibility criteria via utilizing transformation groups is shown. In order to illustrate the developed theory the proposed method is applied to an example.
Age-dependent Decline in Beta Cell Proliferation Restricts the Capacity of Beta Cell Regeneration in Mice

This is an uncopyedited electronic version of an article accepted for publication in Diabetes. The American Diabetes Association, publisher of Diabetes, is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it by third parties. The definitive publisher-authenticated version will be available in a future issue of Diabetes in print and online at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals. org. Diabetes Publish Ahead of Print, published online February 19, 2009
A New Look at Ghost Normalization

Batch normalization (BatchNorm) is an effective yet poorly understood technique for neural network optimization. It is often assumed that the degradation in BatchNorm performance to smaller batch sizes stems from it having to estimate layer statistics using smaller sample sizes. However, recently, Ghost normalization (GhostNorm), a variant of BatchNorm that explicitly uses smaller sample sizes for normalization, has been shown to improve upon BatchNorm in some datasets. Our contributions are: (i) we uncover a source of regularization that is unique to GhostNorm, and not simply an extension from BatchNorm, (ii) three types of GhostNorm implementations are described, two of which employ BatchNorm as the underlying normalization technique, (iii) by visualising the loss landscape of GhostNorm, we observe that GhostNorm consistently decreases the smoothness when compared to BatchNorm, (iv) we introduce Sequential Normalization (SeqNorm), and report superior performance over state-of-the-art methodologies on both CIFAR--10 and CIFAR--100 datasets.