Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Otitis Media in Early Childhood in Relation to Preschool Language and School Readiness Skills Among Black Children

Objective. To examine whether otitis media with effusion (OME) and associated hearing loss (HL) during the first 5 years of life were related to children's language skills during the preschool years and to school readiness skills at entry to kindergarten. Methods. In a prospective study, the ears of 85 black children primarily from low-income families and recruited from community-based childcare programs were repeatedly examined from 6 months to 5 years of age for the presence of OME and from 6 months to 4 years of age for HL when well and ill with OME. Assessments were made annually of the children's child-rearing environments at home and in childcare, and children's language skills between 3 and 5 years of age and readiness skills in literacy and math were evaluated at entry into kindergarten. Results. Children had either bilateral or unilateral OME ∼30.4% and HL 19.6% of the observation time. OME and associated HL were significantly positively correlated with some measures of expressive language at 3 and 4 years of age; however, these direct relationships were no longer significant when the child's gender, socioeconomic status, maternal educational level, and the responsiveness and support of the home and childcare environments were also considered. Further, both OME and HL were moderately correlated with school readiness skills at entry to school, with children having more OME scoring lower in verbal math problems and with children with more HL scoring lower in math and recognizing incomplete words. These associations continued to remain significant even after partialing out the child and family background factors. Conclusions. There was not a significant relationship between children's early OME history or HL and language skills during the preschool years. However, children with more frequent OME had lower scores on school readiness measures. These associations were moderate in degree, however, and the home environment was more strongly related to academic outcomes than was OME or HL. These results should be interpreted cautiously when generalizing to other populations.
Voxel-based correlation between coregistered single-photon emission computed tomography and dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging in subjects with suspected alzheimer disease

Background: Current diagnosis of Alzheimer disease is made by clinical, neuropsychologic, and neuroimaging assessments. Neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) could be valuable in the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, as well as in assessing prognosis. Purpose: To compare SPECT and MRI in a cohort of patients examined for suspected dementia, including patients with no objective cognitive impairment (control group), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer disease (AD). Material and Methods: 24 patients, eight with AD, 10 with MCI, and six controls, were investigated with SPECT using 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO, Ceretec; GE Healthcare Ltd., Little Chalsont UK) and dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) with a contrast-enhancing gadobutrol formula (Gadovist; Bayer Schering Pharma, Berlin, Germany). Voxel-based correlation between coregistered SPECT and DSC-MR images was calculated. Region-of-interest (ROI) analyses were then performed in 24 different brain areas using brain registration and analysis of SPECT studies (BRASS; Nuclear Diagnostics AB, Stockholm, Sweden) on both SPECT and DSC-MRI. Results: Voxel-based correlation between coregistered SPECT and DSC-MR showed a high correlation, with a mean correlation coefficient of 0.94. ROI analyses of 24 regions showed significant differences between the control group and AD patients in 10 regions using SPECT and five regions in DSC-MR. Conclusion: SPECT remains superior to DSC-MRI in differentiating normal from pathological perfusion, and DSC-MRI could not replace SPECT in the diagnosis of patients with Alzheimer disease.
Dopants, Defects, Clusters: A Process Modelling Taxonomy

Predicting the junction depth and activation levels of advanced, scaled source and drains is a complicated process. Today, implantation is used to introduce dopants and then these layers are annealed at high temperature. Implantation creates damage, and this damage anneals in complicated ways. The interaction between damage, diffusion, and activation makes this a very complex modelling challenge. In order to model these behaviours effectively, we have to understand how point defects produced from implantation cluster with one another
Comparative Analysis of Perioperative Differences Between Hybrid Versus Pedicle Screw Instrumentation in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Study Design: Retrospective review of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Objective: The objective of the study was to compare perioperative parameters and outcomes between pedicle screw and hybrid instrumentation for the treatment of AIS. Summary of Background Data: Pedicle screws have been shown to allow for better correction and fewer revisions than hybrid systems. However, no study has compared perioperative parameters and their effects on patient morbidity between these 2 types of instrumentation. Methods: Fifty-six pediatric patients with AIS were included in the study. Twenty-seven patients were treated with hybrid instrumentation and 29 patients were treated with all pedicle screw (APS) instrumentation. Intraoperative and perioperative measures were compared. Results: The mean preoperative major Cobb angle was 58.7 degrees in the hybrid group and 54.5 degrees in the APS group (P=0.222). Patients in the hybrid group required more time in the intensive care unit (2.0 vs. 1.1 d, P=0.041), more time to initial mobilization (5.1 vs. 2.1 d, P<0.001), and more days using patient-controlled analgesia (5.7 vs. 4.4 d, P=0.020). The hybrid group averaged less estimated blood loss than the APS group (619.6 vs. 947.4 mL, P=0.011). There was no difference in surgical time (P=0.183) or length of stay (P=0.072) between the groups. Thoracolumbosacral orthoses were used in 81.5% of patients in the hybrid group, but in no patients in the APS group (P<0.001). Postoperative complications occurred in 37.0% of patients in the hybrid group and 17.2% of patients in the APS group (P=0.095). Conclusions: This study demonstrates several advantages of pedicle screw constructs over hybrid constructs in the surgical treatment of AIS. The benefits of pedicle screw systems extend directly to the patient and can lower the overall cost of treatment.
Numerical Taxonomy and DNA Relatedness of Tropical Rhizobia Isolated from Hainan Province, China

A total of 63 strains of rhizobia isolated from Hainan Province, a tropical region of the People's Republic of China, and 27 representative strains belonging to the genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, and Agrobacterium were compared by performing numerical taxonomy, DNA hybridization, and DNA base composition analysis to determine the relationships among these rhizobia. The results indicated that the strains isolated from Hainan Province fell into two distinct phena, the slowly growing rhizobia and the fast-growing rhizobia. The slowly growing rhizobia, which formed three subphena that seemed to be three subspecies, are Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains. The fast-growing strains belong to the genus Rhizobium and might be further divided into three specific groups. Sometimes both slowly growing rhizobia and fast-growing rhizobia were isolated from host plants belonging to the same genus or species or even from the same nodule. There was no correlation between hosts and the distribution of rhizobia in the subphena. Isolates obtained from members of the same host genus or species fell into different groups or subgroups.
Primary care physician job satisfaction and turnover.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship of personal characteristics, organizational characteristics, and overall job satisfaction to primary care physician (PCP) turnover. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A cohort of 507 postresident, nonfederally employed PCPs younger than 45 years of age, who completed their medical training between 1982 and 1985, participated in national surveys in 1987 and 1991. Psychological, economic, and sociological theories and constructs provided a conceptual framework. Primary care physician personal, organizational, and overall job satisfaction variables from 1987 were considered independent variables. Turnover-related responses from 1991 were dependent variables. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS More than half (55%) of all PCPs in the cohort left at least 1 practice between 1987 and 1991. Twenty percent of the cohort left 2 employers. PCPs dissatisfied in 1987 were 2.38 times more likely to leave (P < .001). Primary care physicians who believed that third-party payer influence would decrease in 5 years were 1.29 times more likely to leave (P < .03). Non-board certified PCPs were 1.3 times more likely to leave (P < .003). Primary care physicians who believed that standardized protocols were overused were 1.18 times more likely to leave (P < .05). Specialty, gender, age, race, and practice setting were not associated with PCP turnover. CONCLUSIONS Turnover was an important phenomenon among PCPs in this cohort. The results of this study could enable policy makers, managed care organizations, researchers, and others to better understand the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover.
Word count : 7 , 457 Measuring the impact of real-time life cycle performance feedback on conceptual building design

Decisions made in the early design stages critically determine a building’s life cycle environmental impact and cost. These decisions are characterized by uncertainty, resulting from downstream decisions that have not yet been made. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of three visualization methods in helping professionals make sustainable building design decisions under uncertainty. A charrette involving 63 architects, engineers, and real estate developers was conducted to measure the effect of a scatterplot, histogram, and tornado diagram on design efficiency and solution quality. Participants were tasked with minimizing life cycle environmental impact and life cycle cost of a commercial office building. Each intervention achieved higher-performing designs than when no feedback was provided, and feedback presented in the form of a scatterplot achieved the best results. The research demonstrates the importance of providing designers with quantitative performance feedback to support sustainable building design decision-making and that the quantity and representation of the data should be carefully considered.
Filler injections with the blunt-tip microcannula.

BACKGROUND Microcannulas with blunt tips for filler injections have recently been developed for use with dermal fillers. Their utility, ease of use, cosmetic outcomes, perceived pain, and satisfaction ratings amongst patients in terms of comfort and aesthetic outcomes when compared to sharp hypodermic needles has not previously been investigated. OBJECTIVE To compare injections of filler with microcannulas versus hypodermic needles in terms of ease of use, amount of filler required to achieve desired aesthetic outcome, perceived pain by patient, adverse events such as bleeding and bruising and to demonstrate the advantages of single-port injection technique with the blunt-tip microcannula. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-five patients aged 30 to 76 years with a desire to augment facial, décolleté, and hand features were enrolled in the study. Subjects were recruited in a consecutive manner from patients interested in receiving dermal filler augmentation. Each site was cleaned with alcohol before injection. Anesthesia was obtained with a topical anesthesia peel off mask of lidocaine/tetracaine. Cross-linked hyaluronic acid (20 mg to 28 mg per mL) was injected into the mid-dermis. The microcannula or a hypodermic needle was inserted the entire length of the fold, depression or lip and the filler was injected in a linear retrograde fashion. The volume injected was variable, depending on the depth and the extent of the defect. The injecting physician assessed the ease of injection. Subjects used the Visual Analog Scale (0-10) for pain assessment. Clinical efficacy was assessed by the patients and the investigators immediately after injection, and at one and six months after injection using the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) and digital photography. RESULTS Overall, the Global Aesthetic Improvements Scale (GAIS) results were excellent (55%), moderate (35%), and somewhat improved (10%) one month after the procedure, decreasing to 23%, 44%, and 33%, respectively, at the six month evaluation. There was no significant differences in the GAIS score between the microcannula and the hypodermic needle. However, the Visual Analog Scale for pain assessment during the injections was quite different. The pain was described as 3 (mild) for injections with the microcannula, increasing to 6 (moderate) for injections with the hypodermic needle. Bruising and ecchymosis was more marked following use of the hypodermic needle. CONCLUSION Using the blunt-tip microcannula as an alternative to the hypodermic needles has simplified filler injections and produced less bruising, echymosis, and pain with faster recovery.
Diet, subsistence and health: A bioarchaeological analysis of Chongos, Peru

It is possible to assess important archaeological questions about prehistoric individuals and groups, learning a great deal about their lives through bioarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains. This dissertation analyzes a skeletal collection from a major archaeological site in south-central coastal Perú, Chongos, to investigate the health and diet of the people buried there. The population was hypothesized to have engaged in intensive agriculture. Health data, such as skeletal and dental pathology, trauma, and degenerative joint disease were analyzed. Dental calculus and hair samples were examined for phytolith, trace element and isotope analyses to reconstruct diet. These data permitted evaluation of the predicted health impacts of intensive agriculture. Results of the study demonstrated that the people buried at Chongos had poor community health that reflected a population newly reliant on agriculture, a pattern seen in Perú and around the world with the origins of intensive agriculture. Some individuals, nonetheless, had a diet similar to that of marine foragers. Thus, an unexpected finding was that the cemetery, like others at the time period, likely contained the remains of two ethnic groups, possibly farmers and fishers whose economy was a dual one based on exchange.
Preoperative ultrasonography findings predict the need for repeated surgery in papillary thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE To determine the impact of neck ultrasonography in predicting papillary thyroid cancer persistence or recurrence. METHODS Between March 2005 and March 2009, we identified patients with a preoperative diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer. Exclusion criteria included no documented preoperative ultrasonography and initial surgery at an outside institution. Patients with positive preoperative ultrasonography were compared with patients who had negative preoperative ultrasonography by assessing rates of neck dissection, complications, disease persistence or recurrence, and the need for repeated surgery. RESULTS Of 127 patients initially identified, 16 did not have preoperative ultrasonography and 4 did not have their initial surgery at our institution, leaving 107 patients in our cohort. Twenty-two patients had positive preoperative ultrasonography and 85 patients had negative preoperative ultrasonography. Patients with positive preoperative ultrasonography had a higher rate of repeated surgery than those with negative preoperative ultrasonography (27% vs 4.7%, P = .003). There was no difference in postoperative complication rates. No patients with negative preoperative ultrasonography and an ultrasound report stating specifically "no suspicious lymph nodes" required repeated surgery. CONCLUSIONS Negative preoperative ultrasonography with specific lymph node evaluation predicts a low risk of needing early reoperation. Positive preoperative ultrasonography may be a marker for more aggressive disease and the best predictor of the need for additional surgery in the future.
Higher Specificity of Nucleic Acid Sequence-Based Amplification Isothermal Technology than of Real-Time PCR for Quantification of HIV-1 RNA on Dried Blood Spots

ABSTRACT Dried blood spots (DBS) are widely proposed as a plasma surrogate for monitoring antiretroviral treatment efficacy based on the HIV-1 RNA level (viral load [VL]) in resource-limited settings. Interfering coamplification of cell-associated HIV-1 DNA during reverse transcription (RT)-PCR can be avoided by using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) technology, which is based on an RNA template and isothermic conditions. We analyzed VL values obtained with DBS and plasma samples by comparing isothermic NASBA (NucliSENS EasyQ HIV-1 V2.0; bioMérieux) with real-time RT-PCR (Cobas TaqMan HIV-1 V2.0; Roche). Samples from 197 HIV-1-infected patients were tested (non-B subtypes in 51% of the cases). Nucleic acid extractions were performed by use of NucliSENS EasyMAG (bioMérieux) and Cobas AmpliPrep (Roche) before the NASBA and RT-PCR quantifications, respectively. Both quantification assays have lower limits of detection of 20 (1.3) and 800 (2.9) log10 copies/ml (log) in plasma and DBS, respectively. The mean (DBS minus plasma) differences were −0.39 and −0.46 log, respectively, for RT-PCR and NASBA. RT-PCR on DBS identified virological failure in 122 of 126 patients (sensitivity, 97%) and viral suppression in 58 of 70 patients (specificity, 83%), yielding 12 false-positive results (median, 3.2 log). NASBA on DBS identified virological failure in 85 of 96 patients (sensitivity, 89%) and viral suppression in 95 of 97 patients (specificity, 98%) and yielded 2 false-positive results (3.0 log for both). Both technologies detected HIV-1 RNA in DBS at a threshold of 800 copies/ml. This higher specificity of NASBA technology could avoid overestimation of poor compliance or the emergence of resistance when monitoring antiretroviral efficacy with the DBS method.
Selenium Speciation in the Fountain Creek Watershed (Colorado, USA) Correlates with Water Hardness, Ca and Mg Levels

The environmental levels of selenium (Se) are regulated and strictly enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because of the toxicity that Se can exert at high levels. However, speciation plays an important role in the overall toxicity of Se, and only when speciation analysis has been conducted will a detailed understanding of the system be possible. In the following, we carried out the speciation analysis of the creek waters in three of the main tributaries—Upper Fountain Creek, Monument Creek and Lower Fountain Creek—located in the Fountain Creek Watershed (Colorado, USA). There are statistically significant differences between the Se, Ca and Mg, levels in each of the tributaries and seasonal swings in Se, Ca and Mg levels have been observed. There are also statistically significant differences between the Se levels when grouped by Pierre Shale type. These factors are considered when determining the forms of Se present and analyzing their chemistry using the reported thermodynamic relationships considering Ca2+, Mg2+, SeO42−, SeO32− and carbonates. This analysis demonstrated that the correlation between Se and water hardness can be explained in terms of formation of soluble CaSeO4. The speciation analysis demonstrated that for the Fountain Creek waters, the Ca2+ ion may be mainly responsible for the observed correlation with the Se level. Considering that the Mg2+ level is also correlating linearly with the Se levels it is important to recognize that without Mg2+ the Ca2+ would be significantly reduced. The major role of Mg2+ is thus to raise the Ca2+ levels despite the equilibria with carbonate and other anions that would otherwise decrease Ca2+ levels.
Prolonged ethanol treatment enhances lipopolysaccharide/phorbol myristate acetate-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha production in human monocytic cells.

BACKGROUND Ethanol (EtOH) is known to alter host immune responses and cytokine production. Acute EtOH exposure can suppress tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production, which attenuates pulmonary defense against infection. Previous studies in our laboratory show that acute EtOH inhibited TNF-alpha production by a posttranscriptional process, namely suppression of TNF-alpha-converting, enzyme-mediated, ectodomain shedding. However, chronic EtOH has been shown to augment TNF-alpha production, and this has been associated with EtOH-induced liver injury. To further characterize this paradoxical effect of EtOH on TNF-alpha production, we developed an in vitro model by using Mono Mac 6 cells, a human monocytic cell line. METHODS Mono Mac 6 cells were treated with EtOH (0-75 mM) for 1 to 7 days. TNF-alpha production was induced by lipopolysaccharide and phorbol myristate acetate and quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed by using a specific fluorogenic reagent. RESULTS Acute EtOH initially inhibited lipopolysaccharide/phorbol myristate acetate-induced TNF-alpha production in Mono Mac 6 cells. However, during chronic EtOH exposure, this inhibition was reversed gradually over time. By day 6 after EtOH treatment, Mono Mac 6 cells demonstrated significant up-regulation of TNF-alpha production. Moreover, chronic EtOH induced the generation of ROS in these Mono Mac 6 cells. Scavenging ROS by Mn(III)tetrakis(1-methyl-4pyridyl)porphyrin pentachloride and N-acetyl-L-cysteine attenuated chronic EtOH-enhanced TNF-alpha production. CONCLUSION These results suggest that ROS induction is involved in EtOH-enhanced TNF-alpha production by monocytes. This study also provides insight into the mechanisms of alteration of TNF-alpha production in different EtOH exposure settings.