Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromagnetic-guided neuroendoscopy in the pediatric population.

OBJECT Image-guided neuroendoscopy is being increasingly used in an attempt to reduce the morbidity associated with surgery and to make navigation easier. It has a particularly useful application in the pediatric population for the treatment of conditions such as complex hydrocephalus and arachnoid cysts. However, its use has been limited by the requirement for rigid head fixation, which may be difficult in infants because of the immaturity of the skull. In addition there can be line-of-sight issues, which can be a problem with optical-based systems. Electromagnetic navigation has eliminated the requirement for head immobilization, and its successful use in the infant population has been reported. The authors present their series to date, define its role, and discuss its advantages over other forms of image-guided navigation. METHODS The authors used the electromagnetic StealthStation and software (Medtronic) for neuronavigation. A dynamic reference frame was attached to the head using an adhesive dressing. The patient was positioned without rigid fixation and was registered using a specially designed stylet. Navigation was through a stylet, which could be placed within the endoscope. Direct advantages were no rigid head fixation, the ability to maneuver the endoscope without the requirement for a bulky optical attachment, and no loss of navigation caused by user obstruction of reflective fiducial markers. The authors performed a total of 28 procedures in 23 patients. There were 9 arachnoid cyst marsupializations, 4 multiple fenestrations for multiloculated hydrocephalus, 4 aqueductal stenting procedures for encysted fourth ventricles, 5 endoscopic third ventriculostomies, 3 septum pellucidotomies, 2 tumor biopsies, and 1 tumor cyst decompression. RESULTS Electromagnetic navigation was successful in all cases. Two complications were reported: a subdural collection, requiring bur hole drainage after a successful fenestration of the arachnoid cyst and failed treatment of complex hydrocephalus requiring subsequent placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. CONCLUSIONS The electromagnetic technology provides reliable image-guided endoscopy. It has several advantages over alternative forms of stereotaxy, and the ability to use it without the need for rigid head fixation makes it eminently suitable for the pediatric population. Its use and application in the treatment of a variety of different conditions has been demonstrated successfully.
Association of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders With Diagnosed Versus Undiagnosed Diabetes: An Epidemiological Study of 90,686 Participants

Objective To compare the odds of depressive and anxiety disorders for participants with diagnosed diabetes, participants with diabetes but unaware of this, and participants without diabetes. Such knowledge might improve etiological insight into psychopathology in diabetes. Methods Data of 90,686 participants (mean age = 45 years; 59% female) from the LifeLines cohort was used. Depressive and anxiety disorders were assessed by the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. The odds of depression and anxiety were assessed for three groups: a) diagnosed diabetes, diabetes medication use and/or self-reported “diabetes”; b) undiagnosed diabetes, fasting blood glucose ≥7.0 mmol/l, but no diabetes medication use and self-reported “no diabetes”; and c) no diabetes, fasting blood glucose <7.0 mmol/l and self-reported “no diabetes. ” Logistic regression was performed to compare the odds of depression and anxiety in these groups, adjusting for age, sex, diabetes-related diseases, comorbid depressive or anxiety disorders, and glycosylated hemoglobin. Results A total of 3002 (3.3%) participants were diagnosed as having depression and 9018 (9.9%) as having anxiety; 1781 (2.0%) had diagnosed and 786 (0.9%) had undiagnosed diabetes. Both diagnosed (odds ratio [OR] = 1.4:1.1–1.8, p = .006) and undiagnosed (OR = 1.8:1.3–2.6, p = .001) diabetes were independently associated with depression. The odds of depression did not differ between diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes (OR = 0.7, p = .17). Diagnosed diabetes was independently associated with anxiety (OR = 1.4:1.2–1.7, p < .001), but undiagnosed diabetes was not (OR = 0.8:0.6–1.1, p = .20). The odds of anxiety were significantly higher in diagnosed compared with undiagnosed diabetes (1.68:1.23–2.31, p = .001). Conclusions Depression was more prevalent in participants with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, whereas anxiety was more prevalent only in participants who were aware of their diabetes. Longitudinal research is needed to assess the causal pathways of these associations.
Prevention of pneumococcal bacteremia by immunization with type 6 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine in splenectomized rats.

Postsplenectomy sepsis is well recognized and prophylactic vaccination with pneumococcal polysaccharide is recommended. However, the efficacy of vaccination with the polysaccharide in splenectomized individuals is not clear. The effect of type 6 pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine on the clearance of pneumococci from the bloodstream and lung was studied in splenectomized rats as was survival after intravenous challenge with Streptococcus pneumoniae, serum opsonic activity, and specific antibody titer by ELISA. Rats immunized with type 6 pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine had significantly increased survival (P less than .05) and clearance of pneumococci from the bloodstream and lung (P less than .05) after intravenous challenge with S. pneumoniae, significantly higher serum opsonic activity (P less than .02), and increased specific IgG and IgM antibody titer to the type 6 polysaccharide compared with controls treated with saline. There was close correlation between IgG antibody titer to type 6 polysaccharide and opsonic activity (r = .95). These results suggest that pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is effective for preventing pneumococcal bacteremia in splenectomized hosts.
Prevalence and reporting of occupational illness by company size: population trends and regulatory implications.

BACKGROUND Reports of occupational disease using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)/OSHA survey have shown increasing rates with larger establishment size. The literature is divided on whether this pattern is an artifact of under-reporting in smaller businesses or is the result of differences in underlying risk factors. METHODS A population-based survey [the Connecticut Upper-Extremity Surveillance Project (CUSP)] assessing prevalence of likely work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in CT, coded by establishment size, is compared to CT MSD incidence rates based on the BLS/OSHA survey. RESULTS When analyses were controlled for age, gender, physical risks, and occupation, there was a marginally significant association between business size and the rate of MSD [odds ratio (OR) = 0.91, CI 0.82-1.01], but in the opposite direction of the BLS/OSHA rates, with larger businesses having somewhat lower rates of MSD. Reported risk factors varied in a similar direction, though with mid-sized companies having the highest physical risks. CONCLUSIONS The increased rates of occupational illness in larger businesses reported in the BLS/OSHA survey does not appear to be due to actual incidence or distribution of risk factors, but appears more likely to be due to under-reporting in smaller businesses. Estimates based on the assumption that the ORs based on size are actually similar to the CUSP population survey results suggest that MSD incidence is approximately 3.6-times the reported rates.
Impact of Complete Versus Incomplete Circumferential Lines Around the Pulmonary Veins During Catheter Ablation of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Results From the Gap-Atrial Fibrillation–German Atrial Fibrillation Competence Network 1 Trial

Background—Ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is an established treatment option for symptomatic patients. It is not known whether complete pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is superior to incomplete PVI with regard to the patients’ clinical outcome. Methods and Results—Patients with drug-refractory, symptomatic paroxysmal AF were randomly assigned to either incomplete (group A) or complete PVI (group B). In group A, a persistent gap was intentionally left within the circumferential ablation line, whereas in group B, complete PVI without any gaps was intended. At 3 months, all patients underwent invasive reevaluation to assess the rate of persistent PVI. Clinical follow-up was based on daily 30-s transtelephonic ECG transmissions. Primary study end point was the time to first recurrence of (symptomatic or asymptomatic) AF. A total of 233 patients were enrolled (116 in group A and 117 in group B). AF recurrence within 3 months was observed in a total of 161 patients (136 [84.5%] with symptomatic and 25 [15.5%] with asymptomatic AF); AF recurred in 62.2% of group B patients and 79.2% of group A patients (P<0.001), for a difference in favor of complete PVI of 17.1% (95% confidence interval, 5.3%–28.9%). Invasive restudy in 103 group A patients and 93 group B patients revealed conduction gaps in 92 (89.3%) and 65 (69.9%) patients, respectively. Conclusions—This study proves the superiority of complete PVI over incomplete PVI with respect to AF recurrence within 3 months. However, the rate of electric reconduction 3 months after PVI is high in patients with initially isolated PVs. Clinical Trial Registration—URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT00293943.
Me or information technology? Adoption of artificial intelligence in the delegation of personal strategic decisions

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we do business. Whereas both the adoption of technological innovations and strategic decision making have been subject to prior research, this experimental study is first to combine both. To understand the impact of choice complexity and cognitive perceptions on the willingness to delegate a strategic decision to an algorithm, we conducted an experiment with 310 participants. We find that although choice complexity has no effect, participants with low levels of situational awareness are more likely to delegate. The findings augment research on choice complexity in decision making by emphasizing the relevance of cognitive perceptions.
THE COST OF FORWARD CONTRACTING IN THE CIF NOLA EXPORT BID MARKET

Abstract The CIF NOLA “river market” represents an important but opaque forward market that serves Gulf exporters and elevators. CIF NOLA bids function similarly to traditional forward contracts; however, like a futures market, firms can offset their forward contractual obligations by offsetting positions in a liquid off-exchange paper market. Analysis shows grain sellers pay a risk premium for fall harvest delivery contracts. However, outside of fall harvest, contract liquidity, coupled with a good institutional balance of long and short market participants, mostly removes the pricing bias commonly found in farmer forward contracting in corn and soybeans.
HLA‐DP genes polymorphisms associate with hepatitis B surface antigen kinetics and seroclearance during nucleot(s)ide analogue therapy

Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) recently indicated that polymorphisms in the human leucocyte antigen (HLA)‐DP genes were associated with risk of persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and clearance of HBV, but the effect of HLA‐DP gene polymorphisms on the effect of antiviral therapy was unknown. We here investigated whether such polymorphisms were associated with decreases in HBsAg levels and seroclearance in patients who received long‐term lamivudine (LAM) treatment.
Immunohistochemical study of androgen receptors in metastatic prostate cancer. Comparison of receptor content and response to hormonal therapy

A longstanding goal has been to determine whether androgen receptor (AR) levels could be used to predict the clinical response of metastatic prostate cancer to androgen withdrawal therapy. A major limitation of previous studies was the use of homogenized tissue, which yields an average AR content for all cells. By AR immunohistochemical study using an antibody specific for AR the authors assessed nuclear AR content specifically in the malignant epithelial cells of prostate needle biopsy specimens of 17 patients with Stage D prostate cancer. The authors found that prostate cancer contains AR‐positive and AR‐negative malignant cells before androgen withdrawal therapy, but the percentage of AR‐positive cells did not predict the time to tumor progression after therapy. There was no significant correlation between the percentage of AR‐positive malignant cells and the time to tumor progression. When patients were divided into two groups based on the median time to progression, the percentage of AR‐positive nuclei was not significantly different in poor responders versus good responders. When patients were divided into two groups based on the median percentage of receptor‐positive nuclei, Kaplan‐Meier estimates of the progression‐free interval revealed no significant difference between the group of patients with AR‐poor tumors and patients with AR‐rich tumors. Potential explanations for these results are discussed. The authors conclude that the percentage of AR‐positive nuclei is not a sufficient criterion to predict tumor behavior.
Role of a Gαi2 protein splice variant in the formation of an intracellular dopamine D2 receptor pool

Treatment of D2-receptor-expressing cells with specific drugs upregulates the receptor number at the cell surface independently of protein synthesis, leading to the concept of an intracellular receptor pool. However, how this pool is operating is still an enigma. Here, we report that a splice variant of the Gαi2 protein, protein sGαi2, plays a crucial role in the maintenance of this D2-receptor pool. Co-expression of sGi2 with D2 receptor reduced receptor localization to cell surface by one-third. This effect is associated with specific intracellular protein-protein interaction and the formation of a sGi2–D2-receptor complex. It has been suggested that the formation of this complex serves to prevent D2 receptors from reaching the cell membrane. Treatment of D2-receptor-expressing cells with agonists increased the number of cell surface D2 receptors and coincided with a reduction in these receptors from intracellular complexes, suggesting that agonist treatment released D2 receptors from the complex allowing them to localize to the cell membrane. Thus, in addition to elucidating how the intracellular pool of D2 receptor functions, our findings uncover a novel mechanism regulating the density of cell surface D2 receptors.
The 2015 NIST Language Recognition Evaluation: The Shared View of I2R, Fantastic4 and SingaMS

The series of language recognition evaluations (LRE's) conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have been one of the driving forces in advancing spoken language recognition technology. This paper presents a shared view of five institutions resulting from our collaboration toward LRE 2015 submissions under the names of I2R, Fan-tastic4, and SingaMS. Among others, LRE'15 emphasizes on language detection in the context of closely related languages, which is different from previous LRE's. From the perspective of language recognition system design, we have witnessed a major paradigm shift in adopting deep neural network (DNN) for both feature extraction and classifier. In particular, deep bottleneck features (DBF) have a significant advantage in replacing the shifted-delta-cepstral (SDC) which has been the only option in the past. We foresee deep learning is going to serve as a major driving force in advancing spoken language recognition system in the coming years.
Evidence of Avian Leukosis Virus Subgroup E and Endogenous Avian Virus in Measles and Mumps Vaccines Derived from Chicken Cells: Investigation of Transmission to Vaccine Recipients

ABSTRACT Reverse transcriptase (RT) activity has been detected recently in all chicken cell-derived measles and mumps vaccines. A study of a vaccine manufactured in Europe indicated that the RT is associated with particles containing endogenous avian retrovirus (EAV-0) RNA and originates from the chicken embryonic fibroblasts (CEF) used as a substrate for propagation of the vaccine. We investigated the origin of RT in measles and mumps vaccines from a U.S. manufacturer and confirm the presence of RT and EAV RNA. Additionally, we provide new evidence for the presence of avian leukosis virus (ALV) in both CEF supernatants and vaccines. ALV pol sequences were first identified in particle-associated RNA by amplification with degenerate retroviralpol primers. ALV RNA sequences from both thegag and env regions were also detected. Analysis of hypervariable region 2 of env revealed a subgroup E sequence, an endogenous-type ALV. Both CEF- and vaccine-derived RT activity could be blocked by antibodies to ALV RT. Release of ALV-like virus particles from uninoculated CEF was also documented by electron microscopy. Nonetheless, infectivity studies on susceptible 15B1 chicken cells gave no evidence of infectious ALV, which is consistent with the phenotypes of theev loci identified in the CEF. PCR analysis of ALV and EAV proviral sequences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 33 children after measles and mumps vaccination yielded negative results. Our data indicate that the sources of RT activity in all RT-positive measles and mumps vaccines may not be similar and depend on the particular endogenous retroviral loci present in the chicken cell substrate used. The present data do not support transmission of either ALV or EAV to recipients of the U.S.-made vaccine and provide reassurance for current immunization policies.
Sodium/sodium exchange in the smooth muscle of the guinea‐pig taenia coli.

External Na has been shown to initiate a loss of 24 Na from high‐Na smooth muscle of the guinea‐pig taenia coli. This is an ouabain‐insensitive effect, and there appears to be a 1:1 exchange of Na ions, suggesting a classical Na/Na exchange mechanism. 2. The Na/Na exchange has many properties in common with a similar exchange studied in high‐Na beef erythrocytes by Motais (1973), and Motais & Sola (1973). It is very temperature‐sensitive, it is partially inhibited by the sulphydryl reagents studied and it has a fairly low external affinity for Na. 3. The affinity of the external site for alkali metal cations is Na greater than Li greater than K greater than Rb greater than Cs. 4. It has proved impossible to estimate the affinity of the intracellular sites for Na. The curve relating intracellular Na content with the stimulated efflux reaches a maximum and then declines slightly. 5. Another unexpected finding was that after the rate of loss of Na has been reduced in a Na‐free medium, reintroducing Na causes an overshoot in the rate, it increases to a value beyond the original one, and then slowly declines to it. 6. Unlike the classical Na/Na mechanism, the process is reduced, but not abolished by metabolic inhibition that depletes the tissue of ATP. 7. The results are interpreted to suggest that the Na/Na exchange is occurring from a cellular compartment of limited volume, which is itself exchanging with the main cell compartment. It is suggested that this small compartment is the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and the effect of metabolic inhibition is to interfere in some way with the relationship between this compartment and the cell membrane.
Expression of human minor histocompatibility antigen on cultured kidney cells

Incompatibility of human minor histocompatibility (hmH) antigens can induce rejection of grafts in organ transplantation and graft‐versus‐host reactions in bone marrow transplantation. In spite of their importance in clinical transplantation, hmH antigens are not well studied. Previous studies have demonstrated the expression of hmH antigens on Tand B cells, hematopoietic progenitor cells and keratinocytes. We have for the first time demonstrated the expression of hmH antigens on cultured kidney cells using HLA‐B35‐restricted, hmH antigen‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) clones, which were previously established from a patient who rejected two kidneys from HLA‐identical sisters. The CTL clones could not kill cultured kidney cells. Since cultured kidney cells expressed very low levels of HLA class I antigens it was thought that their failure to be killed by the CTL clones was due to lack of expression of HLA‐B35 antigens. After induction of class I antigens on cultured kidney cells by interferon‐y (IFN‐γ), the IFN‐γ‐treated cultured kidney cells were killed by the CTL clones. Furthermore, we isolated hmH antigens as peptides from cultured kidney cells after treatment with IFN‐γ. These results indicate that cultured kidney cells express hmH antigens when HLA class I antigen is induced by IFN‐γ and hmH antigens on cultured kidney cells are recognized by T cells as peptides presented by HLA‐B35 molecules.
The prevalence and distribution of sheep scab in Wales: a farmer questionnaire survey

Outbreaks of ovine psoroptic mange in the U.K. have increased 100‐fold since its deregulation in 1992, with the highest prevalence in Wales, a region of high sheep density. A cross‐sectional, retrospective, questionnaire‐based survey of 7500 members of the association of Welsh lamb and beef farmers [Welsh Lamb and Beef Producers Ltd (WLBP)] was used to investigate the prevalence and distribution of sheep scab in this region in 2015. The survey was completed by 14.0% (n = 972) of potential respondents. Scab outbreaks were reported on 15.8% (n = 154) of farms in 2015. However, 29.0% (n = 282) of farms reported at least one scab outbreak and 2.4% (n = 23) of farms had experienced between six and 10 outbreaks in the previous 10 years. Most outbreaks occurred during September–January (83.0%, n = 150), and were clustered around Brecon (mid‐Wales) and Bangor (North Wales). Farmers who used common grazing were significantly more likely to report scab outbreaks in the previous 10 years than farmers who did not. No quarantine procedures for sheep bought in were used by 29.0% (n = 262) of farmers. Future research should be directed towards the development of localized management programmes, with a particular focus on areas of common grazing.
Endosalpingiosis in peritoneal washings in women with benign gynecologic conditions

To better define the cytomorphologic spectrum of endosalpingiosis in peritoneal washings (PWs) and thereby facilitate their distinction from well differentiated serous carcinoma, the authors examined PWs from women who underwent surgery and pathologic staging of lesions other than Mullerian malignancies and correlated the findings with surgical specimens.