Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Systematic Review Comparing Furlow Double-Opposing Z-Plasty and Straight-Line Intravelar Veloplasty Methods of Cleft Palate Repair

Background: A systematic review was conducted to compare the speech outcomes and fistula rates following repair of the cleft palate with Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty and straight-line intravelar veloplasty techniques. Methods: A systematic search of the English literature published in the MEDLINE, Ovid, and Embase electronic databases was performed using the following keywords: “cleft palate,” “intravelar veloplasty,” “velopharyngeal insufficiency,” and “speech outcome. ” The exclusion criteria were as follows: syndromic patients, no description or poor description of the technique used, data not stratified by cleft palate type, two-stage cleft palate repair, average age at repair younger than 9 months or older than 18 months, and age at the last follow-up younger than 4 years. Statistical analysis was used to compare the rate of secondary operations and the incidence of velopharyngeal insufficiency. Results: Twelve studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. In the isolated cleft palate group, the mean failure rates were 9.7 and 16.5 percent for Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty and straight-line intravelar veloplasty closure, respectively. In the unilateral cleft lip–cleft palate group, the mean failure rates were 11.1 and 17.1 percent for Furlow and straight-line intravelar veloplasty closure, respectively. The difference in the odds of requiring secondary surgery in the straight-line intravelar veloplasty repair group versus the Furlow group was statistically significant (p = 0.03) in unilateral cleft lip–cleft palate. Conclusion: This systematic review indicated an increased incidence of velopharyngeal insufficiency as revealed by higher odds of secondary operations in the straight-line intravelar veloplasty repair of unilateral cleft lip–cleft palate when compared with Furlow Z-plasty.
Value of Thrombus CT Characteristics in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Thrombus CT characteristics might be useful for patient selection for intra-arterial treatment. Our objective was to study the association of thrombus CT characteristics with outcome and treatment effect in patients with acute ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included 199 patients for whom thin-section NCCT and CTA within 30 minutes from each other were available in the Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute ischemic stroke in the Netherlands (MR CLEAN) study. We assessed the following thrombus characteristics: location, distance from ICA terminus to thrombus, length, volume, absolute and relative density on NCCT, and perviousness. Associations of thrombus characteristics with outcome were estimated with univariable and multivariable ordinal logistic regression as an OR for a shift toward better outcome on the mRS. Interaction terms were used to investigate treatment-effect modification by thrombus characteristics. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, only the distance from the ICA terminus to the thrombus, length of >8 mm, and perviousness were associated with functional outcome. Relative thrombus density on CTA was independently associated with functional outcome with an adjusted common OR of 1.21 per 10% (95% CI, 1.02–1.43; P = .029). There was no treatment-effect modification by any of the thrombus CT characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: In our study on patients with large-vessel occlusion of the anterior circulation, CT thrombus characteristics appear useful for predicting functional outcome. However, in our study cohort, the effect of intra-arterial treatment was independent of the thrombus CT characteristics. Therefore, no arguments were provided to select patients for intra-arterial treatment using thrombus CT characteristics.
Expression of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α in primary ovarian mucinous tumors

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily and is expressed in several endodermal tissues. The aim of the present study was to examine the expression of HNF4α on ovarian epithelial tumors with immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry using mAbs recognizing P1 and P2 promoter‐driven HNF4α. Ovarian mucinous adenoma, mucinous tumors of borderline malignancy, and mucinous adenocarcinoma had positive nuclear staining for HNF4α (41/45, 91%). One‐third (34%) of mucinous tumors had P1‐positive staining and most had P1/P2‐positive staining (93%). MUC2‐ and MUC5AC‐positive staining was observed in 34% and 95% of mucinous tumors, respectively. The histological subtype of these mucinous tumors was not correlated with HNF4α expression. On cytology it was found that cancer cells in the ascites from ovarian mucinous adenocarcinomas were HNF4α positive, but tumor cells in ascites from other types of ovarian carcinomas were negative for HNF4α. Thus, HNF4α is demonstrated to be a useful marker for histological and cytological diagnosis of ovarian mucinous tumors.
Endovascular coiling of small intracranial aneurysms using a very soft bare platinum coil: A comparison of the packing performance of new and old HyperSoft® helical coils

Aims Soft and small coils are known to be appropriate for the treatment of small aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the new HyperSoft® helical coil, which is softer and smaller than its predecessors, has any effect on the packing performance in a matched-pair study with an old HyperSoft® helical coil. Materials and methods Thirty-six consecutive patients harboring 43 cerebral aneurysms treated with new HyperSofts were included in this study. Forty-one aneurysms treated with old HyperSofts were identified from our database as matched controls based on similar volumes and locations. Packing attenuation, adverse events during the procedures, and angiographic occlusions were observed and compared between the two groups. Results The mean packing density was significantly higher in the new HyperSoft® group compared to the control group (35.5% vs. 26.9%), and a larger proportion of the aneurysms embolized with the 1.5 mm size coil, which has higher packing density. There was no difference in immediate and midterm angiographic outcomes. There was no difference in the rate of intraprocedural perforation, but there was no intraprocedural rupture related to the 1.5 mm coil. Conclusions The use of new HyperSoft® helical coils allows higher packing density comparable with the old technology. New HyperSoft® coils, especially those with 1.5 mm loop diameter, can be expected to fill smaller residual spaces in small aneurysms and may be helpful in preventing recanalization.
Managing solitary pulmonary nodules. The choice of strategy is a "close call".

The best approach to the initial management of solitary pulmonary nodules is controversial. Using decision analysis, we compared the average life expectancy produced by alternative strategies for managing the patient with a solitary pulmonary nodule: thoracotomy for diagnosis and potential resection (IMMEDIATE SURGERY); needle aspiration biopsy or bronchoscopy (BIOPSY) followed by either thoracotomy or extended observation, depending on the results of the biopsy; and serial chest films with thoracotomy if the nodule grows at a potentially malignant rate (OBSERVATION). IMMEDIATE SURGERY produced a slightly longer average life expectancy when the probability of cancer was very high; BIOPSY had a narrow advantage when the probability of cancer was intermediate; and OBSERVATION produced slightly longer average life-expectancy when the probability of malignancy was very low. But the differences between strategies were so small that, in most circumstances, the decision was a "close call. " Therefore, when choosing between these management strategies, physicians should give greater weight to considerations besides life expectancy, and should encourage patients to actively participate in the decisions about how to manage their solitary pulmonary nodules.
Biology of Echinococcus granulosus as it occurs in South India.

A high incidence of human hydatid disease was found in Kurnool, a city in the Deccan Plateau of South India. Reddy et al. (1968) conducted an epidemiological survey of the hydatid disease in Kurnool and found that (1) 33VS% of the street dogs had the adult worm; (2) 16.96% of goats, 21.75% of sheep, 60.94% of cattle, 7.7'', of pigs slaughtered in the local abbattoir had hydatid cysts; (3) the cysts of the sheep were the most fertile; (4) in a nearby village a hydatid survey by Casoni test showed that 20-25% of the population in the various age groups gave a positive test. The above high incidence of the disease both in man and apimals prompted us to investigate the type of the organism which is present locally. There was one other study from India of the biology and morphology of the Echinococcus granulosus of buffalo-dog origin from Lucknow, a city in Northern India (Gill & Rao. 1967).
Arsenic in leukemia

It has been known for many years that arsenic trioxide (As2O3; ATO) is an effective therapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia but has little activity against other forms of the disease. ATO has diverse modes of action, but is well known to generate high levels of reactive oxygen species in cells which are believed to be causal in many of its biologic actions.1 ROS can both activate and suppress signaling through multiple intracellular pathways based on the amount and duration of ROS production.2 As the basal activity of the MEK1/2-ERK1/2 pathway is often high in acute myeloid leukemias, and that ATO is known to stimulate MEK1/2-ERK1/2 signaling in leukemia, the authors investigated whether knock down of the downstream effector of ERK1/2, RSK1, could enhance the anti-leukemic activity of ATO.3,4
Differences in fibrin fiber diameters in healthy individuals and thromboembolic ischemic stroke patients

Cerebrovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death and the cause of long-term adult disability. An important characteristic of thromboembolic ischemic stroke is a prothrombotic or hypercoagulable state and altered fibrin clot structure, whereas a resistance to fibrinolysis is also present. An expansive fibrin network is created when adding thrombin, and in stroke, the network appears thickened, netted and matted, compared with that of healthy individuals. Although this is clearly visible in micrographs of patients, there is a need to quantify the changes. The current study, therefore, investigates fibrin fiber diameters in stroke patients and compares it to healthy individuals. The fiber diameters were measured in nanometres, with University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Image Tool. A total of 100 measurements were done for each of the 12 patients in the healthy control group, and the same number of measurements was done for 12 stroke patients. These measurements were statistically analysed with NCSS 2007, using a significance level of 0.05. Normality was assessed with the Shapiro–Wilk W test and the thickest and thinnest fiber of each individual in the two groups was quantified and differences between groups were assessed with the Student's t-test. Results showed that there is a statistical difference in fibrin fiber thickness during thromboembolic ischemic stroke. We conclude that the changed coagulation and hemostasis, typically associated with stroke, causes a statistically relevant change in fibrin thickness, and that this netted and matted network is more resistant to lyses.
Learning Foreign Vowels

Two hypotheses have recently been put forward to account for listeners' ability to distinguish and learn contrasts between speech sounds in foreign languages. First, Best's Perceptual Assimilation Model and Flege's Speech Learning Model both predict that the ease with which a listener can tell onenon-native phoneme from an other varies directly with the extent to which these sounds assimilate to different native phonemes (Best, 1994; also Best, McRoberts, & Goodell, 2001; Flege, 1991). Second, Logan, Lively, & Pisoni (1991)have argued that training listeners to identify nonnative phonemes teaches them sets of exemplars rather than more abstract distinctive feature values. Ireport here the results of three sets of experiments designed to test these hypotheses, in which American English listeners were trained to categorize German nonlow vowels. The first set of experiments show that some instances of the same contrast between German vowels are more easily discriminated than others, a result incompatible with the predictions of either Best's or Flege's models, but compatible with the alternative category recognition interpretation. Thesecond set of experiments reveals effects of contextual and speaker variation on listeners' ability to learn [tense] but not [high] contrasts between foreign vowels, and are thus at least partly compatible with an exemplar model of foreign category learning (Pisoni, Lively, & Logan, 1994; also Nosofsky, 1986). The third set of ex periments compares the predictions of Nosofsky's (1986) selective attention exemplar
Generation of femtosecond soliton pulses by passive mode locking of an ytterbium-erbium figure-of-eight fiber laser.

250-fs pulses have been generated directly from a passively mode-locked ytterbium–erbium figure-of-eight laser. In addition to the usual characteristic of one pulse per round trip, the laser could be made to produce regular pulse bursts at the round-trip frequency, with repetition rates in excess of 300 GHz.
Effect of E. coli antigens, tuberculin, and phytohaemagglutinin upon ulcerative colitis lymphocytes.

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes respond in vitro to a wide range of agents by undergoing blastoid transformation and mitosis (Pearmain, Lycette, and Fitzgerald, 1963; Elves, Roath, and Israels, 1963). It is believed that specific antigenantibody reactions within the growing cells are responsible for these changes (Hashem, 1965). As a result of these observations, Hirschhorn, Back, Kolodny, Firschein, and Hashem (1963), among others, have stated that the human peripheral lymphocyte provides a readily available system representative in vitro of the donor's immune status. It has been suggested that the destruction of colonic mucosa in ulcerative colitis is the result of an immunological reaction in which E. coli may play a role (Perlmann, Hammarstrom, Lagercrantz, and Gustafsson, 1965). It was, therefore, decided to study in vitro the morphological reaction of blood lymphocytes obtained from patients with ulcerative colitis and from normal donors to extracts of a pathogenic strain of E. coli (0 119: B 14) as well as to old tuberculin and phytohaemagglutinin.
Planning smooth paths for mobile robots

The authors consider the problem of planning paths for a robot which has a minimum turning radius. This is a first step towards accurately modeling a robot with the kinematics of a car. The technique used is to define a set of canonical trajectories which satisfy the nonholonomic constraints imposed. A configuration space can be constructed for these trajectories in which there is a simple characterization of the boundaries of the obstacles generated by the workspace obstacles. The authors describe a graph search algorithm which divides the configuration space into sample trajectories. The characterization of the boundaries makes it possible to calculate an approximate path in time O(n/sup 3// delta log n+Alog (n/ delta )), where n is the number of obstacle vertices in the environment, A is the number of free trajectories, and delta describes the robustness of the generated path and the closeness of the approximation. The authors also describe a plane sweep for computing the configuration space obstacle for a trajectory segment. They use this to generate robust paths using a quadtree based algorithm in time O(n/sup 4/log n+(n/ delta /sup 2/)). <<ETX>>
ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND THE INTERNALIZING DIMENSION IN MALES, AGES 9-0 THROUGH 11-11

This study assessed the presence of internalizing psychological problems in 9- to 11-year-old males diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The participants' raw scores on the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) Parent Scale, Teacher Rating Scale, and Self-Report of Personality (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992) along with the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1985) were compared to the normative sample for each respective measure. The results found that ADHD children presented with significantly (p <. 05) higher levels of both anxiety and depression on the BASC and anxiety on the RCMAS when ratings were completed by parents, teachers, and self-report. The results were discussed in terms of the comorbidity of internalizing disorders with ADHD children and need to consider differential behavioral and medical intervention.
Prospective study to evaluate the influence of FAST on trauma patient management.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have concentrated on the accuracy of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST), but evaluation of whether FAST changes subsequent management has not been fully assessed. METHODS This prospective study compared 419 trauma admissions in two groups, FAST and no-FAST, for demographics, time of resuscitation, and action after resuscitation. The 194 patients undergoing FAST had their management plan specified before, and confirmed after, FAST was performed to assess for change in management. To ensure scan consistency and to minimize bias, criteria were established to define an adequate FAST. RESULTS FAST was performed in 194 patients (46%), assessing for free fluid. Management was changed in 59 cases (32.8%) after FAST. Laparotomy was prevented in 1 patient, computed tomography was prevented in 23 patients, and diagnostic peritoneal lavage was prevented in 15 patients. Computed tomography rates were reduced from 47% to 34% and diagnostic peritoneal lavage rates were reduced from 9% to 1%. CONCLUSIONS FAST plays a key role in trauma, changing subsequent management in an appreciable number of patients.
Delivery of a Cyclic Adenosine 3',5'-Monophosphate Response Element-Binding Protein (CREB) Mutant to Seminiferous Tubules Results in Impaired Spermatogenesis* *This work was supported by NIH Grants R29-HD-34913 (to W.H.W.), RO1-HD-16842 (to A.J.Z.), and HD-08610. Preliminary results of this study we

FSH binding to Sertoli cells is required for optimal production of sperm in mammals. The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is a major mediator of FSH-induced changes in gene expression. To determine whether CREB is required for spermatogenesis, an adenovirus encoding a phosphorylation-defective CREB mutant (AdCREBm1) was used to inhibit CREB activity in Sertoli cells. Addition of AdCREBm1 to primary rat Sertoli cell cultures completely abolished induction of the CREB-regulated c-fos gene. Injection of an adenovirus encoding ss-galactosidase into the rat testis seminiferous tubules in vivo demonstrated that predominately Sertoli cells were infected by adenovirus. AdCREBm1-directed expression of CREBm1 in seminiferous tubules did not affect Sertoli cell viability, but resulted in the apoptosis of meiotic spermatocyte germ cells within 4 days of adenovirus injection into seminiferous tubules. Disrupted spermatogenesis, defined by at least a 75% reduction of round spermatids, was observed in 42 +/- 5.8% of seminiferous tubules 14 days after AdCREBm1 infection, whereas using this criteria, testes injected with a control adenovirus did not display disrupted spermatogenesis. These data demonstrate that AdCREBm1 causes apoptosis and elimination of germ cells and suggest that CREB is required to produce a Sertoli cell-derived factor that is critical for germ cell survival.
The prognostic value of the electroencephalogram in antiepileptic drug withdrawal in partial epilepsies

We evaluated the prognostic value of the EEG in 120 seizure-free epileptic patients (49 with complex partial seizures with or without episodic secondarily generalization [CPS], 20 with simple partial seizures with or without episodic secondarily generalization [SPS], 51 with only secondarily generalized seizures [PSG]) during and after antiepileptic drug withdrawal. All patients had EEG examination before; during; and 3, 12, 24, and 36 months after drug withdrawal. Relapse rates were 45% in CPS, 100% in SPS, and 65% in PSG. Before reduction, 36 patients had epileptiform EEG and 69% relapsed; in the group with normal EEG, 60% relapsed. EEG worsened in 36 patients, 83% relapsed, whereas only 54% of patients with unchanged EEG relapsed. EEG during but not at the start of drug withdrawal has a prognostic value in partial epilepsy. NEUROLOGY 1996;47: 76-78
Financial Development and Economic Growth: The Role of Foreign-Owned Banks in CESEE Countries

This study focuses on the role of financial development in the economic growth of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European (CESEE) countries in the post-communist era (1995–2014), which coincides with the opening up of financial markets to foreign investors and the global financial crisis. We investigate whether economic growth in CESEE countries has benefited from the presence of foreign-owned banks. To this end, we introduce some refined measures of financial development and control for banks’ financial strength. Our results challenge the idea that bank credit fosters economic growth and that foreign-owned banks are indisputably a positive addition to local markets able to foster economic growth.
Autoreactive human peripheral blood CD8+ T cells with a regulatory phenotype and function

Despite substantial advances in our understanding of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, a possible equivalent regulatory subset within the CD8+ T cell population has received less attention. We now describe novel human CD8+/TCRαβ+ T cells that have a regulatory phenotype and function. We expanded and cloned these cells using autologous LPS‐activated dendritic cells. The clones were not cytolytic, but responded in an autoreactive HLA class I‐restricted fashion, by proliferation and production of IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐13 and TGFβ1, but not IFN‐γ. They constitutively expressed CD69 and CD25 as well as molecules associated with CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, including cytotoxic T lymphocyte‐associated antigen‐4 (CTLA‐4) and Foxp3. They suppressed IFN‐γ production and proliferation by CD4+ T cells in vitro in a cell contact‐dependent manner, which could be blocked using a CTLA‐4‐specific mAb. They were more readily isolated from patients with ankylosing spondylitis and may therefore be up‐regulated in response to inflammation. We suggest that they are the CD8+ counterparts of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. They resemble recently described CD8+ regulatory cells in the rat that were able to abrogate graft‐versus‐host disease. Likewise, human HLA‐restricted CD8+ regulatory T cells that can be cloned and expanded in vitro may have therapeutic applications.