Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Various Interpositional Materials in the Prevention of Transphyseal Bone Bridge Formation

Various interpositional materials, except muscle, have been used to prevent transphyseal bone bridge formation after resection of the damaged physeal plate. In this animal model, muscle was used as an interpositional material, and its effectiveness was compared with that of 3 known materials (fat, physeal allograft, and iliac apophyseal autograft). Five experiments were done on the distal femoral physis of 40 skeletally immature 3-month-old New Zealand white rabbits. The rabbits were divided into 5 groups, each containing 8 rabbits. A standard defect was created in the lateral distal physis of the left femur in all the rabbits. In Group A, there was no interpositional material. Vastus lateralis muscle, groin fat, physeal allograft, and iliac apophyseal autograft were inserted into the femoral defect in Groups B, C, D, and E, respectively. The right femur served as a sham control for the animals. The animals were sacrificed at 12 weeks after surgery. The results of limb length discrepancy and angular deformity of the groups with interpositional material were compared with those of Group A (experimental control). Muscle, fat, and iliac apophyseal autografts had less severe limb length discrepancy and angular deformity. These differences were statistically significant, whereas the differences between allograft and experimental control were statistically insignificant.
Enteral vancomycin and probiotic use for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic-associated diarrhoea

A geriatric patient status post intraabdominal surgery presented with persistent diarrhoea and heavy intestinal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) growth after multiple courses of antibiotic therapy. Additionally, swab cultures of the anterior nares tested positive for MRSA. In order to impede infection and prevent future complications, the patient received a 10-day course of vancomycin oral solution 250 mg every 6 h, 15-day course of Saccharomyces boulardii 250 mg orally twice daily and a 5-day course of topical mupirocin 2% twice daily intranasally. Diarrhoea ceased during therapy and repeat cultures 11 days after initiating therapy demonstrated negative MRSA growth from the stool and nares. Further repeat cultures 5 months later revealed negative MRSA growth in the stools and minimal MRSA growth in the nares. Overall, enteral vancomycin and probiotics successfully eradicated MRSA infection without intestinal recurrence. Although the results were beneficial treating MRSA diarrhoea for our patient, these agents remain highly controversial.
Cultural management of microbial community structure to enhance growth of apple in replant soils.

ABSTRACT Apple replant disease typically is managed through pre-plant application of broad-spectrum soil fumigants including methyl bromide. The impending loss or restricted use of soil fumigants and the needs of an expanding organic tree fruit industry necessitate the development of alternative control measures. The microbial community resident in a wheat field soil was shown to suppress components of the microbial complex that incites apple replant disease. Pseudomonas putida was the primary fluorescent pseudomonad recovered from suppressive soil, whereas Pseudomonas fluorescens bv. III was dominant in a conducive soil; the latter developed within 3 years of orchard establishment at the same site. In greenhouse studies, cultivation of wheat in replant orchard soils prior to planting apple suppressed disease development. Disease suppression was induced in a wheat cultivar-specific manner. Wheat cultivars that enhanced apple seedling growth altered the dominant fluorescent pseudo-monad from Pseudomonas fluorescens bv. III to Pseudomonas putida. The microbial community resident in replant orchard soils after growing wheat also was suppressive to an introduced isolate of Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 5, which causes root rot of apple. Incorporation of high glucosinolate containing rapeseed ('Dwarf Essex') meal also enhanced growth of apple in replant soils through suppression of Rhizoc-tonia spp. , Cylindrocarpon spp. , and Pratylenchus penetrans. Integration of these methods will require knowledge of the impact of the biofumigant component on the wheat-induced disease-suppressive microbial community. Implementation of these control strategies for management of apple replant disease awaits confirmation from ongoing field validation trials.
Determinants of organizational performance: some implications for top executive leadership in Korean firms

ABSTRACT Leadership, although commonly assumed to be greatly significant, is not typically studied in terms of structural characteristics accounted for in organizational performance. The effect of top executive leadership is explored here as a key factor that reflects organizational characteristics by offering a new framework and presenting an empirical test of Korean business firms. This research can be possibly made by focusing on the size of the leadership which explicates the difference between structural, resource and contextual variables in organizations. The multivariate regression analysis shows that firm size, leadership, debt and export significantly affect organizational performance, as measured by net income. The mechanism of Korean business firms needs to readjust to the new environment for organizational performance.
Embracing Service-Learning Opportunities: Student Perceptions of Service-Learning as an Aid to Effectively Learn Course Material.

Educators are aware of the benefits of service-learning such as retention or application of course concepts. Students enrolled in courses with a service-learning assignment may not be aware of the benefits or may not view the assignment as beneficiary. This study examined student perceptions of service-learning to determine if students’ perceptions matched educator perceptions in the literature. Overall, students make the connection between the assignment and course material. Results and themes are discussed.
Globalistics and Globalization Studies

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. GLOBALISTICS AND GLOBALIZATION STUDIES ASPECTS & DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL VIEWS Leonid Grinin, Ilya Ilyin, Andrey Korotayev
A highly sensitive, fast, and economical technique for mutation analysis in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers

Mutation analysis of complex genes without hotspots for sequence variations, such as BRCA1, is time‐consuming and expensive. Of all currently available methods, direct sequencing has the highest sensitivity, but also the highest costs. Other techniques, such as SSCP, DGGE, and PTT, are more economical but, depending on the experience of the investigator, have at best a sensitivity of 90%. We investigated in a prospective study the feasibility and accuracy of the DHPLC technique. We present the application of the DHPLC protocol for BRCA1 mutation detection on a HPLC device from Bio‐Tek Kontron Instruments (Neufahrn, Germany). DNA from 46 women with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer undergoing genetic testing for BRCA1 mutations were tested. Of 1,518 amplicons analyzed by DHPLC, corresponding to 33 fragments spanning the entire BRCA1 gene, 626 were also directly sequenced. The comparison demonstrated that DHPLC detected all alterations found by direct sequencing. No false‐positive signals were seen in cases of homozygous sequences. Further, no false‐negative results were ever obtained in women with mutations or polymorphisms, or both. In cases of known genetic variations, the nature of the alterations could be predicted by DHPLC. We also compared different separation matrices. Up to about 500 injections, no significant differences in sensitivity could be observed between poly(styrene divinylbenzene) and end‐capped silica based columns. However, after more than 500 injections, the resolution of hetero‐ from homoduplex deteriorated rapidly on silica columns. Hum Mutat 14:333–339, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Association between SNP309 and del1518 Polymorphism in MDM2 Homologue and Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Risk in Chinese Population of Shandong Province.

BACKGROUND Murine double-minute 2 homologue (MDM2) is a key negative regulator of p53. Polymorphisms in the promoter region were shown to alter the gene activity and/or function, suggesting a possible role in carcinogenesis. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD The current study aims to investigate the association of SNP309 and del1518 polymorphisms as well as their haplotypes in MDM2 with the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the Chinese population. This study included 132 patients with ESCC and 132 age-matched healthy controls. Genotyping was performed by RFLP-PCR analysis. Genotypic and allelic frequencies were then evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. RESULTS The frequency of the GG genotype of SNP309 was 10.61% for controls and 18.94% for cases. A significant difference was detected between the two groups (odds ratio [OR] 2.27; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-4.97; p=0.04). The linkage disequilibrium (LD) existed between SNP309 and del 1518(D'=0.68) in MDM2. Compared with "T-" haplotype, the "G+" haplotype can significantly increase the risk of ESCC (OR=1.65; 95% CI:1.09-2.51; p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS MDM2 SNP309 polymorphisms and SNP309G-del1518+ haplotype may significantly contribute to genetic susceptibility to ESCC in the Chinese population.
Natural history of male psychological health, XIV: Relationship of mood disorder vulnerability to physical health.

OBJECTIVE A 55-year prospective study attempted to determine the antecedents and consequences of positive mental and physical health in adult men. A substudy was conducted to look at the late-life physical health of men selected to be as unlike men with major depressive disorder as possible. METHOD Of 237 men selected for health and followed since college, 64 undistressed men had never used mood-altering drugs or consulted a psychiatrist before the age of 50. The health at age 70 of these 64 men was compared with that of 20 men classified as depressed at age 70, 109 men classified as neither healthy nor depressed at age 70, and 44 men classified as having alcohol dependence or abuse at age 70. RESULTS At age 70, the 64 undistressed men enjoyed significantly better health than the 109 men in the intermediate group. Only three (5%) of the 64 undistressed men were dead or disabled by age 70, compared with 30 (28%) of the 109 men in the intermediate group and nine (45%) of the 20 depressed men. The mean age of the subjects' maternal grandfathers at death also significantly differentiated the three groups. The differences in longevity among the three groups could not be explained by personality disorder, by cigarette, dietary, or alcohol abuse, or by longevity of the subjects' other first-degree ancestors. CONCLUSIONS These findings lend support to the hypothesis that risk of affective disorder may lie along a continuum. At one extreme may be men with stable lifestyles, a lifelong resistance to mood disorder, and unusually good physical health in late life. At the other extreme of the continuum may be men with vulnerability to mood disorder and accelerated physical aging.
Indefinite Detention of Immigrant Information: Federal and State Overreaching in the Interpretation of 8 C.F.R. §236.6

Hiu Lui Ng was seventeen when he lawfully entered the United States with his parents and sister in 1992. ' He filed for asylum and then for adjustment of his status, but never received proper notice of various required court appearances. ' Consequently, immigration authorities arrested Mr. Ng in July 2007. ' In April 2008, he began "complaining of excruciating back pain" while in immigration detention. ' After his family and attorneys repeatedly requested emergency medical treatment, Mr. Ng was accused of faking his injuries and was given some Motrin and a cane.s Not until August 2008, after a federal judge ordered that Mr. Ng receive proper medical treatment, did doctors discover that he had terminal liver cancer (which had gone undiagnosed and untreated) as well as a fractured spine and severe bruises allegedly caused by guards' abuse.6 Mr. Ng died five days later.7 He had committed no crime, but was treated worse than most criminals.
Mig‐14 is an inner membrane‐associated protein that promotes Salmonella typhimurium resistance to CRAMP, survival within activated macrophages and persistent infection

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) infects a wide variety of mammalian hosts and in rodents causes a typhoid‐like systemic disease involving replication of bacteria inside macrophages within reticuloendothelial tissues. Previous studies demonstrated that the mig‐14 and virK genes of Salmonella enterica are important in bacterial resistance to anti‐microbial peptides and are necessary for continued replication of S. typhimurium in the liver and spleen of susceptible mice after orogastric inoculation. In this work we report that inflammatory signalling via interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) is crucial to controlling replication of mig‐14 mutant bacteria within the liver and spleen of mice after oral infection. Using a Salmonella persistence model recently developed in our laboratory, we further demonstrate that mig‐14 contributes to long‐term persistence of Salmonella in the spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes of chronically infected mice. Both mig‐14 and virK contribute to the survival of Salmonella in macrophages treated with IFN‐γ and are necessary for resistance to cathelin‐related anti‐microbial peptide (CRAMP), an anti‐microbial peptide expressed at high levels in activated mouse macrophages. We also show that both Mig‐14 and VirK inhibit the binding of CRAMP to Salmonella, and demonstrate that Mig‐14 is an inner membrane‐associated protein. We further demonstrate by transmission electron microscopy that the primary locus of CRAMP activity appears to be intracytoplasmic, rather than at the outer membrane, suggesting that Mig‐14 may prevent the penetration of the inner membrane by CRAMP. Together, these data indicate an important role for mig‐14 in anti‐microbial peptide resistance in vivo, and show that this resistance is important to the survival of Salmonella in systemic sites during both acute and persistent infection.
Viral News on Social Media

Viral news is defined as networked news stories that spread online mostly through social media in a much faster and wider manner than other news stories, and this study investigates the elements that make news viral on two social media platforms. The goal is to fill a gap in the literature on viral news especially on social media news as previous communication studies mostly focused on news sharing habits on the news organizations’ websites as well as editors’ news selection criteria. The top 50 news stories are selected for this study by examining the most viewed videos on the Guardian, the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal’s YouTube channels as well as their most retweeted news stories. The study introduces a mixed model to examine viral news, borrowing from previous studies on emotions and others that focused on news worthiness. The results indicate that social media news readers prefer to read and share overwhelmingly positive news, while social significance and unexpectedness in news stories are the most appealing viral news elements.
Rapid postglacial diversification and long‐term stasis within the songbird genus Junco: phylogeographic and phylogenomic evidence

Natural systems composed of closely related taxa that vary in the degree of phenotypic divergence and geographic isolation provide an opportunity to investigate the rate of phenotypic diversification and the relative roles of selection and drift in driving lineage formation. The genus Junco (Aves: Emberizidae) of North America includes parapatric northern forms that are markedly divergent in plumage pattern and colour, in contrast to geographically isolated southern populations in remote areas that show moderate phenotypic divergence. Here, we quantify patterns of phenotypic divergence in morphology and plumage colour and use mitochondrial DNA genes, a nuclear intron, and genomewide SNPs to reconstruct the demographic and evolutionary history of the genus to infer relative rates of evolutionary divergence among lineages. We found that geographically isolated populations have evolved independently for hundreds of thousands of years despite little differentiation in phenotype, in sharp contrast to phenotypically diverse northern forms, which have diversified within the last few thousand years as a result of the rapid postglacial recolonization of North America. SNP data resolved young northern lineages into reciprocally monophyletic lineages, indicating low rates of gene flow even among closely related parapatric forms, and suggesting a role for strong genetic drift or multifarious selection acting on multiple loci in driving lineage divergence. Juncos represent a compelling example of speciation in action, where the combined effects of historical and selective factors have produced one of the fastest cases of speciation known in vertebrates.
The Government Spending Multiplier at the Zero Lower Bound: Evidence from the Euro Area

We use an Interacted Panel Vector Autoregressive (IPVAR) model, to investigate the effects of a government spending shock when the interest rate is at zero lower bound (ZLB). We also compare the responses of variables of interest at the ZLB with what we get when a government spending shock occurs in normal times (i.e. when the interest rate is larger than 0.25). We identify the government spending shock by sign restrictions and use the European Commission forecasts of government expenditure to account for fiscal foresight. For the baseline specification we find lower multipliers in times in which the ZLB is binding. However, fiscal foresight is not the only problem in fiscal VARs related to limited information problems. Usually, VAR models can only consider a limited number of variables due to degree of freedom problems. Several authors have shown (see Stock and Watson(2005) for a survey) how principal components extracted from a larger number of variables, can approximate unobserved factors driving most (if not all) of the macroeconomic variables. Therefore, we develop a Factor-Augmented IPVAR model (FAIPVAR) and find that the multipliers are very similar among states, ranging between 1.08 and 1.41 at the ZLB and between 1.26 and 1.39 away from it. We also divide our sample, considering two groups of countries in terms of high and low debt-to-GDP ratios. We find that countries with high levels of debt-to-GDP ratio show relatively lower multipliers. Considering the FAIPVAR model, the government spending multiplier ranges between 2.69 and 3.54 for core countries and between 0.82 and 1.37 for peripheral countries. Therefore, our findings support some recent studies, which suggest that the government spending multiplier is even larger if the debt-to-GDP ratio is low.
Alterations in calretinin immunostaining in the ferret superior olivary complex after cochlear ablation

In this study, we used image analysis to assess changes in calretinin immunoreactivity in the lateral (LSO) and medial (MSO) superior olivary nuclei in ferrets 2 months after unilateral cochlear ablations at 30–40 days of age, soon after hearing onset. These two nuclei are the first significant sites of binaural convergence in the ascending auditory system, and both receive direct projections from the deafferented cochlear nucleus. Cochlear ablation results in a decrease in the overall level of calretinin immunostaining within the LSO ipsilaterally compared with the contralateral side and with control animals and within the MSO bilaterally compared with control ferrets. In addition, the level of calretinin immunostaining ipsilaterally within neurons in the LSO was significantly less in cochlear ablated than control animals. In contrast, there was no effect of cochlear ablation on the level of calretinin immunostaining within neurons either in the contralateral LSO or in the MSO. These results are consistent with a downregulation in calretinin within the neuropil of MSO bilaterally and LSO ipsilaterally, as well as a downregulation in calretinin within somata in the ipsilateral LSO as a result of unilateral cochlear ablation soon after hearing onset. Thus, cochlear‐driven activity appears to affect calcium binding protein levels in both neuropil and neurons within the superior olivary complex. J. Comp. Neurol. 470:63–79, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Health literacy: Why it matters to South Asian men with diabetes

This study aims to explore the health literacy needs of South Asian men with diabetes to generate scoping data to inform culturally appropriate interventions with this group. Health literacy levels were measured using the TOFHLA-UK (n=45) and supplemented by semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers (n=12). Data suggest that the majority of participants from this cohort tend to have marginal to inadequate health literacy levels. A generational gap was also found. Although language is a common barrier, low literacy confounds this issue since some patients are unable to read even in their own language. Thus health communication and care plans need to be simplified to match current health literacy levels of South Asian men with diabetes. Interventions need to work around cultural norms and collaborate with community members. Research and interventions that consider the needs of older generations of South Asian people with diabetes are also needed.
Myelodysplastic syndromes with nephrotic syndrome

It is sometimes reported that the immunological abnormalities in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) induce autoimmune disease (i.e., acute systemic vasculitic syndrome, chronic cutaneous vasculitis, polyneuropathy, relapsing polychondritis, and steroid‐responsive pulmonary disorders). We investigated the clinical features of patients with MDS accompanied by nephrotic syndrome. We enrolled 125 patients with MDS who were admitted between January 1979 and May 1996 in this study. The renal function was assessed based on the laboratory data and the findings at the physical examination. The diagnoses of nephrotic syndrome and glomerular disease were established when 24‐hr urinary excretion was more than 3.5 g and serum total protein was less than 6.0 g/dl, and when the 24‐hr protein excretion was more than 1.5 g. Five patients (4%) had glomerular disease, and three (2.4%) had nephrotic syndrome. Of the five patients with glomerular disease, two had refractory anemia (RA), and three had chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMMOL). Three of the total 11 patients with CMMOL were diagnosed as having nephrotic syndrome. Among the CMMOL patients, those with nephrotic syndrome showed higher absolute monocyte numbers than did those without nephrotic syndrome (8830 ± 4677/μl vs. 3061 ± 2887/μl, P = 0.03). One CMMOL patient was treated with VP‐16 and hydroxyurea. As the white blood cell count in this patient decreased, the 24‐hr urine protein excretion and the serum tumor necrosis factor alpha level decreased. The relationship between nephrotic syndrome and CMMOL was not clear. High monocyte count and the serum cytokines in MDS patients may play a partial role in the evolution of glomerulonephritis, and CMMOL may be closely related to nephrotic syndrome. Am. J. Hematol. 60:200–204, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.