Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiple Microsurgical Resections for Repeated Recurrence of Glioblastoma Multiforme

Objectives:There has been little evidence so far supporting further surgical intervention in case of repeated recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Thus, the efficacy and utility of repeated resection remains unclear but worthy of consideration. The aim of this study was to review the efficacy of multiple repeated resections in patients with recurrent GBM. Methods:Forty-two patients underwent repeated surgical resections for recurrent GBM. All patients who underwent >2 surgical interventions were clustered in group A. Group B were patients treated nonsurgically after resection of the first recurrence. Patients’ treatment history, including surgical interventions, radiotherapy, chemotherapy regimens, postoperative complications, Karnofsky Performance Score, and survival rate were reviewed. Results:Group A consisted of 10 patients (median age, 60.5 y) and group B of 32 patients (median age, 56.5 y). Histopathologic findings revealed typical GBM in 8 patients of group A and in 23 patients of group B. An oligodendroglial component was detected in 2 patients of group A and in 7 patients of group B. The median Karnofsky Performance Score after the first surgery for tumor recurrence was 80 in both groups (P=0.084). The median overall survival time was 26 months in patients of group A and 16 months in patients of group B (P=0.052). The 2-year survival rate of group A was 58.3% and significantly higher than in group B (29.0%; P=0.036). The 3-year survival rate of group A was 31.1% and 12.4% of group B (P=0.038). Conclusions:Microsurgical resection of repeatedly recurring GBM is likely to prolong survival. Repeated surgical resection may be considered as an effective treatment option in addition to radiochemotherapy in repeated GBM recurrence.
Sunshine as Disinfectant: The Effect of State Freedom of Information Act Laws on Public Corruption

We assess the effect of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws on public corruption in the United States. Specifically, we investigate the impact of switching from a weak to a strong state-level FOIA law on corruption convictions of state and local government officials. The evidence suggests that strengthening FOIA laws has two offsetting effects: reducing corruption and increasing the probability that corrupt acts are detected. The conflation of these two effects led prior work to find little impact of FOIA on corruption. We find that conviction rates approximately double after the switch, which suggests an increase in detection probabilities. However, conviction rates decline from this new elevated level as the time since the switch from weak to strong FOIA increases. This decline is consistent with officials reducing the rate at which they commit corrupt acts by about 20%. These changes are more pronounced in states with more intense media coverage, for those that had more substantial changes in their FOIA laws, for FOIA laws which include strong liabilities for officials who contravene them, for local officials, and for more serious crimes. Conviction rates of federal officials, who are not subject to the policy, show no concomitant change.
Characteristics of Gastroesophageal Reflux and Potential Risk of Gastric Content Aspiration in Children With Cystic Fibrosis

Objectives: Increased gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is common in children with cystic fibrosis (CF). We studied the occurrence of acid, weakly acidic (WA), and weakly alkaline (WALK) reflux in children with CF and evaluated a possible surrogate marker for risk of gastric content aspiration. Patients and Methods: Twenty-four children with CF underwent impedance-pH monitoring for detection of acid (pH < 4), WA (pH 4-7), and WALK-GER (pH ≥ 7). In 11 children, cough was objectively recorded with esophageal manometry and the symptom association probability was calculated to determine the reflux-cough relation. Presence of bile acids (BA) was measured in the saliva of 65 patients with CF and 23 healthy children, respectively. Results: Sixteen of the 24 children had increased GER (esophageal acid exposure). The majority of reflux events were acidic in nature. WA reflux was less common and WALK reflux was rare. The sequence reflux-cough was found in 8 of the 11 children and 1 of 11 children had a positive symptom association probability for reflux-cough. The sequence cough-reflux was found in only 3 of the 11 children. Only a small fraction of the total esophageal acid and volume exposure was secondary to cough. Twenty-three of the 65 children with CF had BA in saliva compared with none of the healthy controls. Conclusions: Although WA-GER is uncommon, acid GER is prevalent in children with CF. It is a primary phenomenon and is not secondary to cough. One third of the children with CF have BA in saliva, which may indicate an increased risk for aspiration. However, the impact of salivary BA and potential aspiration on CF pulmonary disease needs further investigation.
Identification and Characterization of Putative Virulence Genes and Gene Clusters in Aeromonas hydrophila PPD 134 / 91

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore; Department of Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-7650; Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 08071; and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada S7N 5E5
The morphogenesis of pigeonpox virus.

The morphogenesis of the vaccinia subgroup of poxviruses has been extensively examined using cell cultures and embryonated eggs (Joklik, 1966). However, Burnet (1955) pointed out that, at least for the formation of inclusion bodies, there is a marked difference between infected epithelial cells in vivo and cells infected in the laboratory. To clarify the structure and significance of poxvirus inclusions in vivo we have examined conventional and thin sections of pigeonpox lesions taken from a naturally infected bird. Sections of chorioallantoic membrane inoculated with the virus were examined for comparison. Examination of the lesions in the pigeon by conventional microscopy showed that the epidermis was markedly thickened due to proliferation of stratified squamous cells. Single eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Fig. 1) about the size of a cell nucleus or bigger were present in the majority of these cells. In contrast to the squamous cells, inoculated chorioallantoic membranes, although covered with pocks, had very few cells with recognizable inclusions; however, the few inclusions which were detected were similar to but much smaller than those seen in the original lesions.
Monitoring of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension in South Africa: challenges for the post-2015 global development agenda.

BACKGROUND Examining the non-communicable disease (NCD) profile for South Africa (SA) is crucial when developing health interventions that aim to reduce the burden of NCDs. OBJECTIVE To review NCD indicators in national data sources in order to describe the burden of NCDs in SA, using hypertension as an example. METHODS Age, gender, district of death and underlying cause of death data were obtained for 2008 and 2009 mortality unit records from Statistics SA and adjusted using STATA 11. Data for raised blood pressure were obtained from four national household surveys: the South African Demographic and Health Survey 1998, the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health 2007, and the National Income Dynamics Study 2008 and 2010. RESULTS The proportion of years of life lost due to NCDs was highest in the metros and least-deprived districts, with all metros (especially Mangaung) showing high age-standardised mortality rates for ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and hypertensive disease. The prevalence of hypertension has increased since 1998. National household surveys showed a measured hypertension prevalence of over 40% in adults aged ≥25 years in 2010. Treatment coverage was 35.7%. Only 36.4% of hypertensive cases (on treatment) were controlled. CONCLUSION Further work is needed if NCD monitoring is to be enhanced. Priority targets for NCDs must be integrated into national health planning processes. Surveillance requires integration into national health information systems. Within primary healthcare, a larger focus on integrated chronic care is essential.
Visual and Spoken Texts in MCALL Courseware: The Effects of Text Modalities on the Vocabulary Retention of EFL Learners.

The present study sought to explore the effects of Multimedia Computer-Assisted Language Learning (MCALL) programs drawing on two different text modalities on the vocabulary retention of Iranian EFL learners. The two groups under study received treatment on vocabulary items under two multimedia conditions: The first group received treatment on the vocabulary items using a multimedia environment comprising streaming video and visual texts, and the second group received treatment on the same items through a similar environment drawing on streaming video and spoken texts. After the experiment, the two groups took an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test. The study revealed that those students who received treatment on the items through visual texts and video outperformed the ones who received treatment on the same items through spoken texts and video. This appears not to corroborate the view that the modularity of the working memory always results in a more efficient learning.
ROBUST STATE-SPACE MODELING OF ANIMAL MOVEMENT DATA

Remotely sensed tracking data collected on animal movement is vastly un- derutilized due to a lack of statistical tools for appropriate analysis. Features of such data that make analysis particularly challenging include the presence of estimation errors that are non-Gaussian and vary in time, observations that occur irregularly in time, and com- plexity in the underlying behavioral processes. We develop a state-space framework that simultaneously deals with these features and demonstrate our method by analyzing three seal pathway data sets. We show how known information regarding error distributions can be used to improve inference of the underlying process(es) and demonstrate that our frame- work provides a powerful and flexible method for fitting different behavioral models to tracking data.
Combination of Dithiothreitol and Detergent Treatment of Spermatozoa Causes Paternal Chromosomal Damage1

Abstract Treatment of spermatozoa with either the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 (TX) or dithiothreitol (DTT) has been suggested to confer enhanced success on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in mice and humans. Here, we attempted to use both reagents together, to our knowledge for the first time, and found that this caused severe chromosomal breaks in paternal pronuclei. We documented this effect further by treating mouse spermatozoa with several combinations of DTT with and without detergent. Spermatozoa were treated with vigorous pipetting to induce membrane disruption or with TX or the ionic detergent mixed alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (ATAB). Swim-up spermatozoa were used as controls. In each treatment, two samples were tested, with or without the addition of DTT during the treatment procedure. In all samples with DTT, protamine reduction was confirmed by the decondensation assay. Sperm nuclei obtained after different treatments were injected into oocytes for cytogenetic analysis, and paternal and maternal chromosomes of the zygote were visualized and examined. We found that the numbers of normal paternal karyoplates resulting from ICSI with spermatozoa treated with either DTT (87%, 153/176), TX (79%, 112/142), or ATAB (85%, 99/116) alone were similar to swim-up controls (92%, 103/112). However, only 22% (23/103) and 40% (59/149) of examined metaphases were scored as normal in TX + DTT or ATAB + DTT treatments, respectively. Spermatozoa in which the membranes were disrupted by vigorous pipetting in the presence of DTT had a slightly reduced frequency of normal chromosomes (61%, 64/104), whereas those without DTT were normal (79%, 125/159). However, this difference was not statistically significant. When spermatozoa were treated with TX + DTT in the presence of EGTA or a mixture of EGTA and EDTA, the frequency of normal chromosomes was 39% (45/114) and 47% (38/81), respectively, suggesting that endogenous sperm nucleases may play a role in chromosomal damage. Our results indicate that simultaneous treatment of spermatozoa with detergent and DTT induces extensive chromosomal breakage and, therefore, should not be attempted in ICSI.
A nosocomial outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis infection due to the consumption of raw eggs.

THE number of reported infections due to Salmonella serotype enteritidis increased six-fold in the northeastern United States from 1976 to 1986.1 , 2 Of the reported outbreaks of food-borne salmonellosis, infections due to S. enteritidis were more likely than those due to other salmonella serotypes to be associated with the consumption of foods containing eggs.3 In 1987, the New York City Department of Health and the New York State Department of Health investigated the largest nosocomial outbreak of S. enteritidis to have occurred in the United States, in which 404 of the 965 patients (42 percent) at one hospital were affected, and .
Oral D-4F Causes Formation of Pre-βHigh-Density Lipoprotein and Improves High-Density Lipoprotein–Mediated Cholesterol Efflux and Reverse Cholesterol Transport From Macrophages in Apolipoprotein E–Null Mice

Background— These studies were designed to determine the mechanism of action of an oral apolipoprotein (apo) A-I mimetic peptide, D-4F, which previously was shown to dramatically reduce atherosclerosis in mice. Methods and Results— Twenty minutes after 500 μg of D-4F was given orally to apoE-null mice, small cholesterol-containing particles (CCPs) of 7 to 8 nm with pre-β mobility and enriched in apoA-I and paraoxonase activity were found in plasma. Before D-4F, both mature HDL and the fast protein liquid chromatography fractions containing the CCPs were proinflammatory. Twenty minutes after oral D-4F, HDL and CCPs became antiinflammatory, and there was an increase in HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux from macrophages in vitro. Oral D-4F also promoted reverse cholesterol transport from intraperitoneally injected cholesterol-loaded macrophages in vivo. In addition, oral D-4F significantly reduced lipoprotein lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH), except for pre-β HDL fractions, in which LOOH increased. Conclusions— The mechanism of action of oral D-4F in apoE-null mice involves rapid formation of CCPs, with pre-β mobility enriched in apoA-I and paraoxonase activity. As a result, lipoprotein LOOH are reduced, HDL becomes antiinflammatory, and HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux and reverse cholesterol transport from macrophages are stimulated.
What Do People Like to “Share” About Obesity? A Content Analysis of Frequent Retweets About Obesity on Twitter

Twitter has been recognized as a useful channel for the sharing and dissemination of health information, owing in part to its “retweet” function. This study reports findings from a content analysis of frequently retweeted obesity-related tweets to identify the prevalent beliefs and attitudes about obesity on Twitter, as well as key message features that prompt retweeting behavior conducive to maximizing the reach of health messages on Twitter. The findings show that tweets that are emotionally evocative, humorous, and concern individual-level causes for obesity were more frequently retweeted than their counterparts. Specifically, tweets that evoke amusement were retweeted most frequently, followed by tweets evoking contentment, surprise, and anger. In regard to humor, derogatory jokes were more frequently retweeted than nonderogatory ones, and in terms of specific types of humor, weight-related puns, repartee, and parody were shared frequently. Consistent with extant literature about obesity, the findings demonstrated the predominance of the individual-level (e.g., problematic diet, lack of exercise) over social-level causes for obesity (e.g., availability of cheap and unhealthy food). Implications for designing social-media-based health campaign messages are discussed.
Agreeing to disagree: Reconciling conflicting taxonomic views using a logic‐based approach

Taxonomy alignment is a way to integrate two or more taxonomies. Semantic interoperability among datasets, information systems and knowledge bases is facilitated by combining the different input taxonomies into merged taxonomies that reconcile apparent differences or conflicts. We show how alignment problems can be solved with a logic‐based region connection calculus (RCC‐5) approach, using five base relations to compare concepts: congruence, inclusion, inverse inclusion, overlap and disjointness. To illustrate this method, we use different geo‐taxonomies, which organize the United States into several, apparently conflicting, geospatial hierarchies. For example, we align TCEN, a taxonomy derived from the Census Bureau's regions map, with TNDC, from the National Diversity Council (NDC), and with TTZ, a taxonomy capturing the U.S. time zones. Using these case studies, we show how this logic‐based approach can reconcile conflicts between taxonomies. We have implemented these case studies with an open source tool called Euler/X which has been applied primarily for solving complex alignment problems in biological classification. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility and broad applicability of this approach to other domains and alignment problems in support of semantic interoperability.
Regulation of Neuronal Protein Trafficking and Translocation by SUMOylation

Post-translational modifications of proteins are essential for cell function. Covalent modification by SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) plays a role in multiple cell processes, including transcriptional regulation, DNA damage repair, protein localization and trafficking. Factors affecting protein localization and trafficking are particularly crucial in neurons because of their polarization, morphological complexity and functional specialization. SUMOylation has emerged as a major mediator of intranuclear and nucleo-cytoplasmic translocations of proteins involved in critical pathways such as circadian rhythm, apoptosis and protein degradation. In addition, SUMO-regulated re-localization of extranuclear proteins is required to sustain neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission. Thus, SUMOylation is a key arbiter of neuronal viability and function. Here, we provide an overview of recent advances in our understanding of regulation of neuronal protein localization and translocation by SUMO and highlight exciting areas of ongoing research.
Quality and Variability of Online Physical Therapy Protocols for Isolated Meniscal Repairs

Abstract The ideal meniscal repair postoperative rehabilitation protocol has yet to be determined. Further, patients are attempting to access health care content online at a precipitously increasing rate given the efficiency of modern search engines. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the quality and variability of meniscal repair rehabilitation protocols published online with the hypothesis that there would be a high degree of variability found across available protocols. To this end, Web-based meniscal repair physical therapy protocols from U.S. academic orthopaedic programs as well as the first 10 protocols identified by the Google search engine for the term “meniscal repair physical therapy protocol” were reviewed and assessed via a custom scoring rubric. Twenty protocols were identified from 155 U.S. academic orthopaedic programs for a total of 30 protocols. Twenty-six protocols (86.6%) recommended immediate postoperative bracing. Twelve (40.0%) protocols permitted immediate weight-bearing as tolerated (WBAT) postoperatively, while the remaining protocols permitted WBAT at an average of 4.0 (range, 1–7) weeks. There was considerable variation in range of motion (ROM) goals, with most protocols (73.3%) initiating immediate passive ROM to 90°. The types and timing of strength, proprioception, agility, and pivoting exercises advised were extremely diverse. Only five protocols (16.7%) employed functional testing as a marker for return to athletics. The results of this study indicate that only a minority of academic orthopaedic programs publish meniscal repair physical therapy protocols online and that within the most readily available online protocols there are significant disparities in regards to brace use, ROM, weight-bearing, and strengthening and proprioception exercises. These discrepancies reflect the fact that the best rehabilitation practices after a meniscal repair have yet to be elucidated. This represents a significant area for improved patient care through standardization.
Does the Service Argument Justify Resale Price Maintenance

Proponents of RPM argue that RPM helps to sustain a high level of service at the point of sale and that such a high level is efficient. This paper provides a simple model which leads to the following conclusions: 1) RPM may increase or decrease the level of service. 2) Whether the service level is more efficient under RPM does not depend on the fact that service increases due to RPM. It may be lower under RPM and more efficient. 3) Whether the service level is more efficient depends on the characteristics of the heterogeneous consumers. A feature of the model which deviates from those found in the literature is the introduction of a class of consumers who do not search but decide on a purchase spontaneously.
Measuring a Gerrymander

There is no such thing as a fair or non-partisan districting plan. Whether intentionally or blindly, such plans involve political choices and have critical effects on the political parties. The various "proposed public interest criteria for redistricting.are not neutral, they are not grounded in broader principles that command general assent, and in many cases they are incoherent and cannot be made to work. " Because reapportionment is inherently political, some way to identify or measure its political effects is needed in selecting a districting plan. Yet there are few concrete measures of what is often called a gerrymander, "electoral districts [which] result, or are thought to result, in partisan advantage. " The main difficulty in gauging a gerrymander is in finding a coherent basis of comparison; to evaluate a districting proposal's political effects, it is crucial to establish some sort of context in which to do so. One such context is to locate the natural limits, the upper and lower bounds, within which a gerrymander may take place. Since the gerrymanderer cannot change the way people vote or where they live, these demographic factors constrain his efforts by providing a fixed upper limit, a perfect gerrymander. A perfect gerrymander is defined as