Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radiologic and Clinical Courses of Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis (10°–25°) after a Short-Segment Fusion

Study Design Retrospective study. Purpose We report the surgical outcomes of small degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) patients treated by a short-segment fusion and followed for a minimum of 5 years. Overview of Literature Several surgical options are available for the treatment of DLS, such as decompression only, decompression plus a short-segment fusion, or decompression with a long segment fusion. Few studies have evaluated the results of a short-segment fusion in patients with DLS over time. Methods Seventy small DLS patients (Cobb's angle, 10°–25°) with a minimum follow-up of 5 years were treated with a short-segment fusion between March 2004 and February 2010. The mean patient age was 71 (male:female=16:54), with a follow-up of 6.5 years (range, 5.0–11.6). The Cobb's angle, 1 and 2 segment coronal upper intervertebral angle, 1 and 2 segment sagittal upper intervertebral angle, the lumbar lordosis angle, and the C7 plumb lines (coronal and sagittal) were evaluated using simple radiographs, and visual analog scale (VAS), back pain was assessed preoperatively, immediately after surgery, and at 3, 6, and 12 months and 3 and 5 years after surgery. To identify factors influencing the radiologic progression, age, number of fusion segments, vertebral levels of fusion, body mass index, lowest instrumented vertebra (L5 or S1), bone mineral density (>–2.5, ≤–2.5), and the presence of an interbody fusion were analyzed. Results The Cobb's angle and 1 segment coronal upper intervertebral angle showed more progression during follow up, particularly at 6 and 12 months after surgery. Clinical outcomes and radiological results were found to be significantly associated (p=0.041). No statistically significant association was found between other factors affecting radiologic progression from postoperative 6 months to 1 year. Conclusions Radiologic variables (the Cobb's angle and coronal upper intervertebral angle–1) should be carefully considered and clinical caution exercised from 6 to 12 months after short-segment fusion in small DLS (10°–25°).
Interaction before Agriculture: Exchanging Material and Sharing Knowledge in the Final Pleistocene Levant

This article discusses social interaction in the Epipalaeolithic of southwest Asia. Discussions of contact, social relationships and social organization have primarily focused on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and are often considered to represent typical hallmarks of emergent farming societies. The hunter-gatherers of the final Pleistocene, in particular those of the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic, have more rarely been the focus of such discussions. In this article we consider evidence for interaction from the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan, to question the uniqueness of the Neolithic evidence for interaction. We argue that interaction between differently-constituted groups can be traced within the Early Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant, suggesting that it is of far greater antiquity than previously considered.
The Transition Zone Above a Lumbosacral Fusion

Study Design. The clinical and radiographic effect of a lumbar or lumbosacral fusion was studied in 42 patients who had undergone a posterolateral fusion with an average follow‐up of 22.6 years. Objective. To examine the long‐term effects of posterolateral lumbar or lumbosacral fusion on the cephalad two motion segments (transition zone). Summary of Background Data. It is commonly held that accelerated degeneration occurs in the motion segments adjacent to a fusion. Most studies are of shortterm, anecdotal, uncontrolled reports that pay particular attention only to the first motion segment immediately cephalad to the fusion. Methods. Forty‐two patients who had previously undergone a posterolateral lumbar or lumbosacral fusion underwent radiographic and clinical evaluation. Rate of fusion, range of motion, osteophytes, degenerative spondylolisthesis, retrolisthesis, facet arthrosis, disc ossification, dynamic instability, and disc space height were all studied and statistically compared with an age‐ and gender‐matched control group. The patient's selfreported clinical outcome was also recorded. Results. Degenerative changes occurred at the second level above the fused levels with a frequency equal to those occurring in the first level. There was no statistical difference between the study group and the cohort group in the presence of radiographic changes within the transition zone. In those patients undergoing fusion for degenerative processes, 75% reported a good to excellent outcome, whereas 84% of those undergoing fusion for spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis reported a good to excellent outcome. Conclusion. Radiographic changes occur within the transition zone cephalad to a lumbar or lumbosacral fusion. However, these changes are also seen in control subjects who have had no surgery.
Muscle Channelopathies: the Nondystrophic Myotonias and Periodic Paralyses

Purpose of ReviewThe muscle channelopathies are a group of rare inherited diseases caused by mutations in muscle ion channels. Mutations cause an increase or decrease in muscle membrane excitability, leading to a spectrum of related clinical disorders: the nondystrophic myotonias are characterized by delayed relaxation after muscle contraction, causing muscle stiffness and pain; the periodic paralyses are characterized by episodes of flaccid muscle paralysis. This review describes the clinical characteristics, molecular pathogenesis, and treatments of the nondystrophic myotonias and periodic paralyses. Recent FindingsAdvances have been made in both the treatment and our understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of muscle channelopathies: (1) a recent controlled trial showed that mexiletine was effective for reducing symptoms and signs of myotonia in nondystrophic myotonia; (2) the mechanisms by which hypokalemic periodic paralysis leads to a depolarized but unexcitable sarcolemma membrane have been traced to a novel gating pore current; and (3) an association was demonstrated between mutations in a potassium inward rectifier and patients with thyrotoxic periodic paralysis. SummaryThe muscle channelopathies are an expanding group of muscle diseases caused by mutations in sodium, chloride, potassium, and calcium ion channels that result in increased or decreased muscle membrane excitability. Recognizing patients with channelopathies and confirming the diagnosis is important, as treatment and management strategies differ based on mutation and clinical phenotype.
RENDERED PRODUCTS IN RUMINANT NUTRITION

The recycling of rendered animal products back into the feed of ruminant livestock species has had a positive impact both on the efficiency of livestock production and the availability of meat and milk for consumers at an affordable price. Rendered animal products are distinguished by a high protein content containing amino acids that resist microbial degradation in the rumen, and for extracted animal fats that supply high energy for meat and milk production. Historically, the primary rendered animal products used as protein supplements include meat and bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, and feather meal. Regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in response to concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) will dictate the continued use of some rendered animal products as feed ingredients for ruminant diets. Current restrictions prohibit feeding meat and bone meal from rendered ruminant species back to cattle and sheep, but no restrictions have yet been placed on blood meal or feather meal. Concerns about cattle-based protein supplements have elevated interest in rendered poultry meals, including feather meal and poultry meat by-products for cattle rations. Rendered animal products with high fat content include tallow and greases. With the majority of lipid material in rendered fats consisting of triglycerides containing 90 percent fatty acid content or higher, energy densities of rendered fats equals or exceeds the energy content of most fat supplements used routinely in cattle rations. The high energy density combined with reasonable pricing makes rendered fats competitive with most other feed fats on a cost per unit of energy basis. The major limitations of fats extracted from animal products include their need for specialized transport and mixing equipment, and their potential to disrupt microbial fermentation in the rumen possibly leading to reduced feed digestibility.
Characterization of In-Body Radio Channels for Wireless Implants

Body-centric wireless communication, which is accepted as an important part of the fourth generation mobile communications systems, provides a prospective communication solution for implantable devices in personal health care. In this paper, an inhomogeneous human body model was proposed to study the in-body radio channels for wireless implants, and numerical simulations were carried out with the finite-difference time-domain method. Specifically, parameters, such as channel gain and group delay, were studied for different links according to implant locations, namely, from intra-brain to the surface of chest, abdomen, upper arm, and thigh, respectively, over different frequencies (from 5 to 100 MHz). The influences of electrode size and type were also studied at 45 MHz. The results showed that all channels had the maximum gain of more than −12 dB at 5 MHz. Group delay was almost independent of channels. The model was verified by experimental measurements. The results showed that the simulations were in good agreement with the measurements.
Varicocele and the Outcomes of Microdissection Testicular Sperm Extraction in Non-Obstructive Azoospermia: A Case-Control Study

Despite the advances in the management options [1-3], no adequate sperm retrieval can be achieved in a considerable proportion of non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients [4]. Besides the technical improvements, optimization of the patient’s clinical status is one possible means by which the outcomes of sperm retrieval procedures could be improved. For example, lifestyle changes and habitual modifications (e.g. smoking cessation) may enhance spermatogenesis prior to extraction [5]. Hormonal optimization has also been attempted, although with varying success rates [6,7]. One possible optimization intervention is varicocele repair [8]. Varicocele is a relatively common pathology [9], found in around 5%-10% of azoospermia cases [10]. Its negative effects on fertility has been recognized [11]; a study of over 9000 men presenting to infertility clinics indicated a significant association between varicoceles and abnormal semen findings, testicular-volume parameters, as well as other parameters of testicular function [12]. Others have suggested varicocele to be age-related with a progressively detrimental effect on fertility [13]. Correcting varicocele may result in improved fertility [14,15]. In 1952, Tulloch reported the first post-varicocele-repair spontaneous pregnancy, suggesting its potential positive effect on infertility outcomes [16]. A prospective randomized clinical trial of infertile men with palpable varicocele showed higher likelihood of semen-characteristics improvement and spontaneous pregnancy in repaired vs. conservatively-treated varicoceles [17].
The Contribution of the Amygdala to Conditioned Thalamic Arousal

Previous research has demonstrated that thalamocortical neurons within the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) are affected by an acoustic, fear-arousing, conditioned stimulus (Cain et al., 2000). This effect is reflected in an increase in activity and a tonic firing pattern, a pattern that assures the most accurate relay of information from the retina to the visual neocortex. Such an effect is considered to be indicative of a heightened state of arousal. The present research was designed to determine the extent to which the central nucleus of the amygdala (ACe) contributes to this effect. To this end, in experiment 1 extracellular recordings were made from single dLGN neurons in the awake rabbit during electrical stimulation of the ACe. Increased neuronal activity was observed in response to stimulation in the majority of neurons. Neurons that were in a burst firing pattern immediately before stimulation assumed a tonic firing pattern in response to stimulation. Experiment 2 was designed to determine whether inactivation of the ACe with muscimol would attenuate the response of dLGN neurons in the awake rabbit to the presentation of acoustic, fear-arousing, conditioned stimuli. Compared with vehicle injections, infusions of muscimol attenuated both the spontaneous activity and the response of dLGN neurons to the presentations of these stimuli. The results provide support for the hypothesis that the amygdala, and in particular the ACe, contributes to a heightened state of arousal during conditioned fear.
Intracerebroventricular administration of ghrelin rapidly suppresses pulsatile luteinizing hormone secretion in ovariectomized rats.

Ghrelin, an endogenous growth hormone (GH) secretagogue, is shown to increase food intake, which action is similar to that of orexin, also a hypothalamic peptide. Since orexin suppresses pulsatile LH secretion in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, the present study was undertaken to investigate whether ghrelin also suppresses LH secretion. Effects of intracerebroventricularly injected ghrelin (0.1 nmol/0.3 microl) were examined in OVX rats treated with a small dose of 17beta-estradiol (E(2)). After ghrelin injection, pulsatile LH secretions which were ongoing in these E(2)-treated OVX rats were significantly suppressed for about 1 h, whereas GH secretion increased, peaking at 30 min. The main parameter suppressed by ghrelin was the pulse frequency, not the pulse amplitude, suggesting the hypothalamus as the site of ghrelin action. This study provides evidence that ghrelin acts not only in the control of food intake but also in the control of LH secretion.
PAT-tree-based adaptive keyphrase extraction for intelligent Chinese information retrieval

Considering the urgent need for keyphrase extraction techniques in intelligent information retrieval, in this paper we present a PAT-tree-based adaptive approach, which is critical and fundamental for Chinese and other oriental languages. Compared with conventional dictionary-based approaches, the proposed approach can reduce the reliance on rigid lexicon and sophisticated word segmentation, and compared with conventional statistics-based approaches, it can handle phrases composed of high-frequency words regardless of phrase length. Furthermore, the approach has been designed carefully with Internet utilization in mind. For instance, it can be easily integrated into text retrieval systems to provide automatic term suggestion and is adaptable to changes of the database content. The proposed approach has been successfully used in several information retrieval applications, such as automatic term suggestion, domain-specific lexicon construction, book indexing and document classification. Many Chinese and oriental language processing applications are, therefore, able to move ahead from the character level to the word or phrase level.
Autism spectrum disorder: An omics perspective

Current directions in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research may require moving beyond genetic analysis alone, based on the complexity of the disorder, heterogeneity and convergence of genetic alterations at the cellular/functional level. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been increasingly used to study CNS disorders, including ASDs. Proteomic research using MS is directed at understanding endogenous protein changes that occur in ASD. This review focuses on how MS has been used to study ASDs, with particular focus on proteomic analysis. Other neurodevelopmental disorders have been investigated using MS, including fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Smith‐Lemli‐Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), genetic syndromes highly associated with ASD comorbidity.
Is It All about the Higher Dose? Why Psychoanalytic Therapy Is an Effective Treatment for Major Depression.

UNLABELLED Empirical evidence for the effectiveness of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) in patients with mood disorders is growing. However, it is unclear whether the effectiveness of LTPP is due to distinctive features of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic techniques or to a higher number of sessions. We tested these rival hypotheses in a quasi-experimental study comparing psychoanalytic therapy (i.e., high-dose LTPP) with psychodynamic therapy (i.e., low-dose LTPP) and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression. Analyses were based on a subsample of 77 subjects, with 27 receiving psychoanalytic therapy, 26 receiving psychodynamic therapy and 24 receiving CBT. Depressive symptoms, interpersonal problems and introject affiliation were assessed prior to treatment, after treatment and at the 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-ups. Psychoanalytic techniques were assessed from three audiotaped middle sessions per treatment using the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set. Subjects receiving psychoanalytic therapy reported having fewer interpersonal problems, treated themselves in a more affiliative way directly after treatment and tended to improve in depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems during follow-up as compared with patients receiving psychodynamic therapy and/or CBT. Multilevel mediation analyses suggested that post-treatment differences in interpersonal problems and introject affiliation were mediated by the higher number of sessions, and follow-up differences in depressive symptoms were mediated by the more pronounced application of psychoanalytic techniques. We also found some evidence for indirect treatment effects via psychoanalytic techniques on changes in introject affiliation during follow-up. These results provide support for the prediction that both a high dose and the application of psychoanalytic techniques facilitate therapeutic change in patients with major depression. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE Psychoanalytic therapy is an effective treatment for major depression, especially in the long run. The differential effectiveness of psychoanalytic therapy cannot be fully explained by its higher dose. Distinctive features of psychoanalytic technique (e.g., focusing on patients' dreams, fantasies, sexual experiences or childhood memories) may play an important role in establishing sustained therapeutic change.
Identification of Differential Item Functioning in Multiple-Group Settings: A Multivariate Outlier Detection Approach

We focus on the identification of differential item functioning (DIF) when more than two groups of examinees are considered. We propose to consider items as elements of a multivariate space, where DIF items are outlying elements. Following this approach, the situation of multiple groups is a quite natural case. A robust statistics technique is proposed to identify DIF items as outliers in the multivariate space. For low dimensionalities, up to 2–3 groups, a simple graphical tool is derived. We illustrate our approach with a reanalysis of data from Kim, Cohen, and Park (1995) on using calculators for a mathematics test.
Hydrogen Incorporation in Undoped ZnO Nanoparticles

Zinc Oxide nanoparticles in the size range of ~18 - 23 nm are prepared using wet chemical method. Hydrogen concentration in the samples was obtained by drying the precipitate at various temperatures. XRD pattern showed a single phase wurzite structure for ZnO nanoparticles. Average crystallite sizes and lattice parameters determined from XRD pattern showed a gradual increase with increasing dry temperature, while the lattice strain showed the opposite direction. Optical studies revealed the optical gap ranging from 3.05 - 3.24 eV. Hydrogen incorporation in the specimen was studied using infrared absorption measurement. Infrared absorption measurements revealed six hydrogen-related local vibrational modes in the wave number range from 2800 to 3600 cm–1. To remove hydrogen, some samples were annealed up to 800°C. Infrared absorption measurements showed that the local vibational modes disappeared. This shows that the observed local vibrational modes are due to the presence of hydrogen. The results of XRD and optical studies will be correlated with the results obtained from infrared absorption measurements.
Catalytic supercritical water oxidation: phenol conversion and product selectivity.

Catalytic supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) has been demonstrated as an effective method of destroying organic compounds contained within an aqueous waste stream. Whereas SCWO is effective in the destruction of the original organic compound, incomplete conversion to low molecular weight partial oxidation products may be achieved. In all cases, enhanced phenol conversion and CO 2 yield were obtained relative to the homogeneous case. Under selected operating conditions (temperature 450 °C, 500% excess oxygen), the addition of MnO 2 /CeO or V 2 O 5 catalysts can enhance the conversion to CO 2 such that essentially quantitative conversion is obtained. The MnO 2 /CeO catalyst is stable in the harsh reaction environment, at least to the limits of detection of the analytical instruments. A simple kinetic model, based on parallel reaction pathways, was used to evaluate the experimental data. Rate constants were obtained that adequately modeled the experimental results. The values of the rate constants were higher in the catalytic experiments compared with the homogeneous runs, further indicating that the addition of the heterogeneous catalyst promoted the oxidation pathways at the expense of the oligimerization pathway.
LOS PROGRAMAS ESCOLARES Y LA TRANSMISIÓN DE ROLES EN EL FRANQUISMO: LA EDUCACIÓN PARA LA MATERNIDAD

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el modelo educativo que impuso a las mujeres el regimen franquista en Espana. Este regimen marco los destinos de hombres y mujeres segregando roles y asignando comportamientos estereotipados a uno y otro sexo. La Iglesia y la Falange crearon un modelo de mujer que se perpetuo a lo largo de la dictadura. Ambas instituciones retomaron los valores tradicionales de la sociedad espanola y proyectaron los postulados del nacionalcatolicismo a la educacion, retornaron asi al viejo ideal de feminidad limitando a las mujeres a la esfera domestica, fortaleciendo su papel de esposa y madre. Este ideario se propago a todos los centros educativos a traves de asignaturas especificas. Desde ninas las mujeres eran educadas para el hogar, el matrimonio y la maternidad, la trilogia domestica que las confinaba a la exclusividad en la vida privada. Porque la maternidad y la perpetuacion de la especie representaban la «suprema mision» de las mujeres, su unico destino y medio de autorrealizacion reconocido en las pautas culturales.
Trust-Aware Data Uploading Based on Device-to-Device Communications

This paper investigates data uploading in cellular networks with the consideration of social trust relationship. A trust-aware data uploading scheme is proposed for a real network scenario by leveraging device-to-device (D2D) communications to minimize the total data uploading time. In this scheme, mobile devices cooperate with the trustworthy devices in the neighborhood to form the multi-hop D2D chains for uploading data, where the devices with the poor uplink channel quality are first considered to join D2D cooperation and the bottom to top mode is adopted to construct the D2D chains. To model the D2D chain formation, a coalition game is first developed, and then we devise a coalition formation algorithm to implement the formulated coalitional game. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme can effectively reduce the total data uploading time compared with the state-of-the-art scheme under the real network scenario.