Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Near-infrared spectroscopy in lower extremity trauma.

BACKGROUND Near-infrared spectroscopy measures the percentage of hemoglobin oxygen saturation in the microcirculation of tissue up to 3 cm below the skin. The purpose of this study was to describe the measurable response of normal tissue oxygenation in the leg after acute trauma with use of this technique. METHODS Twenty-six patients with acute unilateral tibial fractures and twenty-five uninjured volunteer control subjects were enrolled. Near-infrared spectroscopy measurements were obtained for both legs in all four compartments: anterior, lateral, deep posterior, and superficial posterior. The twenty-six injured legs were compared with twenty-five uninjured legs (randomly selected) of the volunteer control group, with the contralateral limb in each patient serving as an internal control. RESULTS The mean tissue oxygenation for each compartment in the injured legs was 69% (anterior), 70% (lateral), 74% (deep posterior), and 70% (superficial posterior). In the control (uninjured) legs, the average tissue oxygenation percentage in each compartment was 54%, 55%, 60%, and 57%, respectively. Repeated-measures analysis revealed that near-infrared spectroscopy values averaged 15.4 percentage points (95% confidence interval, 12.2 to 18.6 percentage points) higher for injured legs than for uninjured legs, controlling for the value of the contralateral limb (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Tibial fracture produces a predictable increase in tissue oxygenation as measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. The corresponding compartment of the contralateral leg can provide strong utility as an internal control value when evaluating the hyperemic response to injury.
Cloning and functional characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana d‐amino acid aminotransferase – d‐aspartate behavior during germination

The understanding of d‐amino acid metabolism in higher plants lags far behind that in mammals, for which the biological functions of these unique amino acids have already been elucidated. In this article, we report on the biochemical behavior of d‐amino acids (particularly d‐Asp) and relevant metabolic enzymes in Arabidopsis thaliana. During germination and growth of the plant, a transient increase in d‐Asp levels was observed, suggesting that d‐Asp is synthesized in the plant. Administration of d‐Asp suppressed growth, although the inhibitory mechanism responsible for this remains to be clarified. Exogenous d‐Asp was efficiently incorporated and metabolized, and was converted to other d‐amino acids (d‐Glu and d‐Ala). We then studied the related metabolic enzymes, and consequently cloned and characterized A. thalianad‐amino acid aminotransferase, which is presumably involved in the metabolism of d‐Asp in the plant by catalyzing transamination between d‐amino acids. This is the first report of cDNA cloning and functional characterization of a d‐amino acid aminotransferase in eukaryotes. The results presented here provide important information for understanding the significance of d‐amino acids in the metabolism of higher plants.
The Heterogeneous Effect of Oil Discoveries on Democracy

This paper evaluates the existence of a resource curse on political regimes using the Synthetic Control Method. Focusing on 12 countries, we compare their democracy level with the weighted democracy level of countries that have not experienced oil shocks and have similar pre‐event characteristics. We find that the exogenous variation in oil endowment does not have the same effect on all countries. In most cases, the event has a negative effect in the long run, but countries with a pre‐existing high level of democracy are not negatively affected.
Understanding Wood Bonds–Going Beyond What Meets the Eye: A Critical Review

Understanding why wood bonds fail is an excellent route toward understanding how to make them better. Certifying a bonded product usually requires achieving a specifc load, percent wood failure, and an ability to withstand some form of moisture exposure without excessive delamination. While these tests protect the public from catastrophic failures, they are not very helpful in understanding why bonds fail. Understanding failure often requires going beyond what meets the naked eye, conducting additional tests, probing the wood surface, the fracture surface, adhesive properties, and the interaction of wood and adhesive during bond formation and service. This review of wood bond analysis methods reviews fundamentals of wood bonding and highlights recent developments in the analyses and understanding of wood bonds. It concludes with a series of challenges facing the wood bonding community.
Maternal Thyroid Function at 11–13 Weeks of Gestation in Women with Hypothyroidism Treated by Thyroxine

Objective: The aim of this study in pregnant women with hypothyroidism treated by levothyroxine is to examine the interrelations between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4) and free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), and examine whether in such patients the treatment is adequate. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Maternal serum concentrations of FT3, FT4 and TSH were measured at 11–13 weeks in 164 singleton pregnancies from women with hypothyroidism before pregnancy receiving treatment with thyroxine. The values were compared to the results in 4,318 normal singleton pregnancies. Results: In the hypothyroid group, compared to the normal group, there was an increase in median TSH (1.990 vs. 1.007 MoM) and FT4 (1.052 vs. 0.992 MoM) and decrease in FT3 (0.901 vs. 0.991 MoM). Serum FT4 was at or above the 2.5th centile in 158 (96.3%) cases but TSH was above the 97.5th centile in 48 (29.3%) and FT3 was below the 2.5th centile in 49 (29.9%) cases. In both the hypothyroid and unaffected groups there were significant associations between TSH and FT4, TSH and FT3 and between FT3 and FT4. Conclusions: In a high proportion of pregnant women with hypothyroidism treated with levothyroxine there is evidence of persistent hypothyroidism because the treatment is inadequate in correcting the levels of FT3.
Plasma exchange does not improve survival in a canine model of human septic shock

Whether plasma exchange would improve survival in antibiotic‐treated canines with septic shock was investigated. Escherichia coli O86H8 (1.4 × 10(10)) was surgically implanted as an intraperitoneal clot in 18 two‐ year‐old (10–12 kg) purpose‐bred beagles. Beginning 4 hours after surgery, all animals received cefoxitin and gentamicin for 5 days. Three treatment groups were defined: 1) a no apheresis, or control group, (n = 6); 2) a sham apheresis group, whose whole blood plasma was removed, separated, and then transfused (n = 6); and 3) a plasma exchange group from whom blood and plasma were removed and separated, to whom the blood was returned, and in whom infected plasma was replaced with compatible fresh‐frozen canine plasma (n = 6). For the sham apheresis and plasma exchange groups, a commercial blood cell processor was used to separate 1.5 blood volumes of plasma at 5 and 24 hours after surgery. Serial radionuclide left ventricular ejection fractions and femoral and pulmonary arterial catheter hemodynamics were measured simultaneously in awake animals. All six animals in the plasma exchange group died. In both the sham and control groups, only one of six animals survived. Survival times were ordered (median in hours) (control [372 h] > sham apheresis [48 h] > plasma exchange [24 h] [p < 0.038]). Decreases in mean cardiac index and mean arterial pressure (from before apheresis to after) at 5 to 7 hours after surgery were ordered (plasma exchange > sham apheresis > control; p < 0.03). Thus, plasma exchange in this controlled trial of septic shock was associated with decreased survival and worsened hemodynamics. When extrapolated to humans, these results suggest that plasma exchange would be unlikely to provide therapeutic benefit and might produce harmful effects in patients with septic shock.
The relationship of salivary and cord blood cortisol inpreterm infants

Abstract Recent studies reveal that salivary cortisol measurements accurately reflect blood cortisol levels in older children and adults; yet, the relationship between the two values in premature infants has not been established. This study explores the use of salivary cortisol as an accurate measure of adrenal steroid concentrations in premature infants to provide a reliable and less invasive tool for investigating hormonal stress response. Premature infants (n=51) were recruited, with saliva and blood collected immediately after birth, and cortisol levels measured by radioimmunoassay. A linear relationship emerged between cord plasma and salivary cortisol values in the 102 paired samples [(salivary cortisol)=0.546+0.192×(plasma cortisol), r=0.481 and p=0.0003]. Findings demonstrated that salivary and plasma cortisol levels were correlated in premature infants. This information will be useful in future studies that assess use of salivary cortisol to evaluate neonatal stress axis function.
Effect of Temperature on the Performance of Proportional APD-Based Modules for Gamma Ray Detection in Positron Emission Tomography

MADPET-II is a small animal PET tomograph that features individual lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystal readout from avalanche photodiodes (APDs). The detector signals are preamplified by 16-channel fully integrated ASICs which are placed as close as possible to the detector in order to avoid attenuation of the signal or unwanted stray capacitance. However, the power consumption of the preamplifier (30 mW per channel) can cause heat transfer and, consequently, gain drift to temperature sensitive detectors. Temperature measurements on the front-end electronics of MADPET-II have shown a maximum increase of approximately 30 C in the area around the preamplifier and in the area around the APD-LSO detector with respect to room temperature. In the presence of this temperature gradient, energy spectra have been acquired from which a significant drift of the photopeak (3.4% per C) and a small increase of the mean energy resolution (3% over the whole temperature range studied) with increasing temperature has been observed. The effect of temperature on the time resolution is small in comparison to the effect of walk and jitter introduced by the analog processing electronics. The behavior of two 48 LSO-APD front-end detector arrays in coincidence at temperatures below ambient and at various values of the APD bias voltage in terms of energy and time resolution has also been studied. The total current drawn by the APDs (leakage current and photocurrent) has been monitored at various temperatures and APD bias and was modelled and fitted by a theoretical function demonstrating a and dependence. No significant improvement on time resolution with decreasing temperature has been observed. For temperature stabilization and monitoring, thermoelectric cooling is considered appropriate for mounting in the limited free space of a PET scanner, especially when this is inside an MR scanner for simultaneous PET/MR imaging.
Thalamic projections to the macaque caudal ventrolateral prefrontal areas 45A and 45B

We studied the sources of thalamic projections to the caudal ventrolateral prefrontal areas 45A and 45B, which display markedly distinct cortical connections [M. Gerbella et al. (2010) Cereb. Cortex, 20, 141–168], and compared them with those to area 8/FEF (frontal eye field). Both areas 45A and 45B were the targets of highly predominant projections from the mediodorsal nucleus (MD) and of additional projections, mostly from the magnocellular ventral anterior and the medial pulvinar nucleus. The projection profiles from different MD subdivisions clearly distinguished these two areas from one another and from area 8/FEF. Area 45A was the target of predominant projections from parvicellular MD and of minor, albeit robust, projections from magnocellular MD. The opposite was true for area 45B: magnocellular MD was the major source of projections and parvicellular MD contributed minor, albeit robust, projections. Furthermore, area 45B, but not area 45A, was targeted by robust projections from multiform MD, the principal thalamic nucleus for area 8/FEF. These results provide further evidence for the distinctiveness of areas 45A and 45B, and support the idea that area 45B is affiliated with the frontal oculomotor system, challenging the proposed homology of this area with part of the human language‐related area 45 (rostral part of Broca’s region). Furthermore, the present data provide evidence for potentially robust trans‐thalamic (via magnocellular MD) afferent, as well as direct and reciprocal, amygdaloid connections of areas 45A and 45B, suggesting the contribution of emotional information to the differential role of these two areas in non‐spatial information processing.
Predictors of pulmonary complications in blunt traumatic spinal cord injury.

OBJECT Pulmonary complications are the most common acute systemic adverse events following spinal cord injury (SCI), and contribute to morbidity, mortality, and increased length of hospital stay (LOS). Identification of factors associated with pulmonary complications would be of value in prevention and acute care management. Predictors of pulmonary complications after SCI and their effect on neurological recovery were prospectively studied between 2005 and 2009 at the 9 hospitals in the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN). METHODS The authors sought to address 2 specific aims: 1) define and analyze the predictors of moderate and severe pulmonary complications following SCI; and 2) investigate whether pulmonary complications negatively affected the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale conversion rate of patients with SCI. The NACTN registry of the demographic data, neurological findings, imaging studies, and acute hospitalization duration of patients with SCI was used to analyze the incidence and severity of pulmonary complications in 109 patients with early MR imaging and long-term follow-up (mean 9.5 months). Univariate and Bayesian logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the data. RESULTS In this study, 86 patients were male, and the mean age was 43 years. The causes of injury were motor vehicle accidents and falls in 80 patients. The SCI segmental level was in the cervical, thoracic, and conus medullaris regions in 87, 14, and 8 patients, respectively. Sixty-four patients were neurologically motor complete at the time of admission. The authors encountered 87 complications in 51 patients: ventilator-dependent respiratory failure (26); pneumonia (25); pleural effusion (17); acute lung injury (6); lobar collapse (4); pneumothorax (4); pulmonary embolism (2); hemothorax (2), and mucus plug (1). Univariate analysis indicated associations between pulmonary complications and younger age, sports injuries, ASIA Impairment Scale grade, ascending neurological level, and lesion length on the MRI studies at admission. Bayesian logistic regression indicated a significant relationship between pulmonary complications and ASIA Impairment Scale Grades A (p = 0.0002) and B (p = 0.04) at admission. Pulmonary complications did not affect long-term conversion of ASIA Impairment Scale grades. CONCLUSIONS The ASIA Impairment Scale grade was the fundamental clinical entity predicting pulmonary complications. Although pulmonary complications significantly increased LOS, they did not increase mortality rates and did not adversely affect the rate of conversion to a better ASIA Impairment Scale grade in patients with SCI. Maximum canal compromise, maximum spinal cord compression, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score had no relationship to pulmonary complications.
Role of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase Regulatory Isoforms in Development and Actin Rearrangement

ABSTRACT Class Ia phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are heterodimers of p110 catalytic and p85 regulatory subunits that mediate a variety of cellular responses to growth and differentiation factors. Although embryonic development is not impaired in mice lacking all isoforms of the p85α gene (p85α−/− p55α−/− p50α−/−) or in mice lacking the p85β gene (p85β−/−) (D. A. Fruman, F. Mauvais-Jarvis, D. A. Pollard, C. M. Yballe, D. Brazil, R. T. Bronson, C. R. Kahn, and L. C. Cantley, Nat Genet. 26:379-382, 2000; K. Ueki, C. M. Yballe, S. M. Brachmann, D. Vicent, J. M. Watt, C. R. Kahn, and L. C. Cantley, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:419-424, 2002), we show here that loss of both genes results in lethality at embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5). The phenotypes of these embryos, including subepidermal blebs flanking the neural tube at E8 and bleeding into the blebs during the turning process, are similar to defects observed in platelet-derived growth factor receptor α null (PDGFRα−/−) mice (P. Soriano, Development 124:2691-2700, 1997), suggesting that PI3K is an essential mediator of PDGFRα signaling at this developmental stage. p85α−/− p55α+/+ p50α+/+ p85β−/− mice had similar but less severe defects, indicating that p85α and p85β have a critical and redundant function in development. Mouse embryo fibroblasts deficient in all p85α and p85β gene products (p85α−/− p55α−/− p50α−/− p85β−/−) are defective in PDGF-induced membrane ruffling. Overexpression of the Rac-specific GDP-GTP exchange factor Vav2 or reintroduction of p85α or p85β rescues the membrane ruffling defect. Surprisingly, reintroduction of p50α also restored PDGF-dependent membrane ruffling. These results indicate that class Ia PI3K is critical for PDGF-dependent actin rearrangement but that the SH3 domain and the Rho/Rac/Cdc42-interacting domain of p85, which lacks p50α, are not required for this response.
POU5F1P1, a putative cancer susceptibility gene, is overexpressed in prostatic carcinoma

Association between genetic variants located on human chromosome 8q24.21 with an increased risk for prostatic carcinoma has been well established. POU5F1P1, a processed pseudogene homologous to the pluripotency factor OCT4, is the only sequence with coding capacity in this region. The objective of this study was to investigate the POU5F1P1 expression in prostatic carcinoma and carcinoma surrounding prostatic tissue.
The Physiological Effects of Short-term Smoking Cessation in Claudicants

Introduction: Smoking contributes to atherosclerosis and causes significant postoperative morbidity. New antismoking law forces short-term pre-operative abstinence. Demonstrable clinical benefit might motivate complete cessation. Our aim was to determine the effects of 24-hr smoking cessation on cardiorespiratory function and claudication distance. Methods: Smoking claudicants were randomized to 24hr smoking or abstinence. Following these separate periods, cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed. Pre- and post-exercise, serum lactate and ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) were measured. During exercise, cardiorespiratory function, initial and absolute claudication (IC,AC) distances and visual analogue scores (VAS) of pain were recorded. Results: 16 patients completed both tests. IC, AC and VAS were unchanged with abstinence (P = .43, .66, .96, .83). ABPI drop post-exercise was unchanged with abstinence (P = .08, .09). Cardiorespiratory function was not affected by smoking cessation. Conclusion: Cardiorespiratory function and claudication symptoms are unchanged following 24-hr smoking cessation. , No deterioration in respiratory function is important when considering anaesthetic administration. However, lack of symptomatic improvement may discourage patients from abstaining. Further investigation should determine correlation between short-term abstinence and postoperative morbidity.
Ocular pathology relevant to glaucoma in a Gja1(Jrt/+) mouse model of human oculodentodigital dysplasia.

PURPOSE Oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD) is a human disorder caused by mutations in the gap junction alpha 1 (GJA1) gene encoding the connexin43 (Cx43) gap junction protein. Causal links between GJA1 mutations and glaucoma are not understood. The purpose in this study was to examine the ocular phenotype for Gja1(Jrt/+) mice harboring a Cx43 G60S mutation. METHODS; In young Gja1(Jrt/+) mice, Cx43 abundance was assessed with a Western blot, and Cx43 localization was visualized using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured by rebound tonometry, and eye anatomy was imaged using ocular coherence tomography (OCT). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained eye sections were examined for ocular histopathology related to the development of glaucoma. RESULTS Decreased Cx43 protein levels were evident in whole eyes from Gja1(Jrt/+) mice compared with those of wild-type mice at postnatal day 1 (P = 0.005). Cx43 immunofluorescence in ciliary bodies of Gja1(Jrt/+) mice was diffuse and intracellular, unlike the gap junction plaques prevalent in wild-type mice. IOP in Gja1(Jrt/+) mice changed during postnatal development, with significantly lower IOP at 21 weeks of age in comparison to the IOP of wild-type eyes. Microphthalmia, enophthalmia, anterior angle closure, and reduced pupil diameter were observed in Gja1(Jrt/+) mice at all ages examined. Ocular histology showed prominent separations between the pigmented and nonpigmented ciliary epithelium of Gja1(Jrt/+) mice, split irides, and alterations in the number and distribution of nuclei in the retina. CONCLUSIONS Detailed phenotyping of Gja1(Jrt/+) eyes offers a framework for elucidating human ODDD ocular disease mechanisms and evaluating new treatments designed to protect ocular synaptic network integrity.
Apriori Rule--Based In-App Ad Selection Online Algorithm for Improving Supply-Side Platform Revenues

Today, smartphone-based in-app advertisement forms a substantial portion of the online advertising market. In-app publishers go through ad-space aggregators known as Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), who, in turn, act as intermediaries for ad-agency aggregators known as demand-side platforms. The SSPs face the twin issue of making ad placement decisions within an order of milliseconds, even though their revenue streams can be optimized only by a careful selection of ads that elicit appropriate user responses regarding impressions, clicks, and conversions. This article considers the SSP's perspective and presents an online algorithm that balances these two issues. Our experimental results indicate that the decision-making time generally ranges between 20 ms and 50 ms and accuracy from 1% to 10%. Further, we conduct statistical analysis comparing the theoretical complexity of the online algorithm with its empirical performance. Empirically, we observe that the time is directly proportional to the number of incoming ads and the number of online rules.