Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of functional state between bilateral lung volume reduction surgery and pulmonary rehabilitation: a six-month followup study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE The effectiveness of bilateral lung volume reduction surgery (BLVRS) in the improvement of functional state in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been reported. This study examined the effects of BLVRS on subjective and objective measures of functional state (FS) and compared these effects with those gained from pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). METHODS Twenty-eight consecutive patients were studied. Of 13 BLVRS and 15 PR patients enrolled in the study, 12 and 13 patients, respectively, completed the 6-month protocol. Pulmonary function (FEV1, FVC, and FEF25-75) was measured by spirometry. Subjective FS was measured with the activity component of the Pulmonary Functional Status and Dyspnea Questionnaire (PFSDQ) and objective FS was determined as the 6-min walk distance (6mwD). Additionally, the maximal dyspnea intensity measured with the Borg scale during the 6-min test was recorded. All outcomes were recorded prior to, and six months following treatment. RESULTS In patients undergoing BLVRS, FEV1 and FVC increased (17.3% and 16.8%) while in those treated with PR alone, FEV1 and FVC decreased (7.6% and 16.1%,p < 0.05). The subjective functional state (PFSDQ) was also significantly different between BLVRS and PR alone (PFSDQ = -49.4% vs. +4.7%, p < 0.05). Although the absolute distance walked over 6 min did not reach statistical significance, the BLVRS group increased the distance by 20% while the PR alone group had a decrease (-28%). Both groups demonstrated a reduction in dyspnea with exercise but the volume reduction patients showed a significantly greater reduction (PR = -1.0; BLVRS = -2.6, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION BLVRS results in greater improvement in pulmonary function, dyspnea with exercise, and subjective FS when compared to PR 6 months after surgery.
Environmental Change and Settlement at Tel Lachish, Israel

Alluvial sequences in central Israel reveal a history of climatic and landscape changes from Chalcolithic through Byzantine times. These are closely related to social and historical events at Tel Lachish. The deposits indicate a moister climate during initial settlement in the Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze Age. Rapid floodplain buildup in MB I suggests an instability in the drainage system corresponding to widespread abandonment of Levantine cities, including Lachish. A dry period of wadi incision followed. This lasted until a phase of colluvial deposition in the Late Iron Age, which apparently resulted from neglected agricultural terraces after the Assyrian destruction of Israelite Lachish. A later fill accompanied Byzantine settlement and may be related to an amelioration in climate.
Creating a solid foundation for peace: Writing of the lost life in Michael Ondaatje’s Handwriting

While it invites deep and sustained attention, Michael Ondaatje’s Handwriting has seldom been studied, since its publication in 1998, for the author’s concern with peace, even though this collection of poems highlights peace and war. I will argue that in Handwriting, Ondaatje proposes ways to achieve internal and external peace that are not only relevant to the Sri Lankan civil war but also to the wider contemporary world. In Handwriting, Ondaatje presents a narrator who returns to Sri Lanka because of a sense of dislocation, and who writes to understand the cause of ethnic violence and reconstruct the Sri Lankan past that was lost during the civil war. In doing this, Ondaatje shows a possibility of peace for Sri Lanka and his readers. People in conflict can be united when they are less obsessed with their different identities, recognize their shared desire for peace, respect one another’s differences, and work together to create a shared memory that does not homogenize and is open to new elements from other cultures. As the narrator investigates this situation by writing creatively about Sri Lankan people, his example also demonstrates a way to achieve mutual understanding by artistically constructing a shared memory. Alain Badiou’s views about events constitute the major theoretical framework of the present study.
A Comparison Study of Partial Ossicular Reconstruction Prosthesis (PORP) Placement under the Malleus or Tympanic Membrane Graft in the Presence of the Malleus.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the hearing results of embedding the partial ossicular reconstruction prosthesis (PORP) underneath the malleus with the malleus relocation technique and tympanic membrane graft in the presence of the malleus. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective review of patient charts and audiometric results in a tertiary referral center was conducted. In total, 83 patients who underwent intact canal tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy between 2010 and 2015 were included and divided into two different groups: malleus assembly to the stapes head (MASH) and tympanic membrane assembly to the stapes head (TASH). Pre- and postoperative audiometric results were assessed. The air-bone gap (ABG) and hearing gains were evaluated according to the groups. RESULTS In MASH, 86.1% (n=31) of the patients were received successful surgery and the postoperative average ABG was 10.41 dB. In TASH, 82.9% (n=39) of the patients were considered successful and the postoperative ABG was 13.27 dB. According to the overall data, MASH was more statistically successful than TASH, and hearing gains at 500 Hz (p<0.036), 2000 Hz (p<0.031), and PTA (p<0.22) were statistically significant better in the MASH group. CONCLUSION Malleus relocation is a successful technique with the presence of the malleus and provides better hearing outcomes than direct placement under the tympanomeatal flap. Both malleus- and tympanomeatal flap-linked groups were successful, but the malleus-linked group showed better ABGs.
Renal endowment: developmental origins of adult disease.

The childhood shews the man / As morning shews the day,“ wrote John Milton in the 17th Century ([1][1]). At the end of the following century, Etienne Geoffroy St-Hilaire, using avian eggs, carried out a series of interesting experiments that suggested that alterations in the environment ( e.g. ,
Aerobic power as related to body growth and training in Japanese boys: a longitudinal study.

Maximal aerobic power was measured for 5-6 successive years in 50 Japanese schoolboys starting from the age of 9 or 13 yr. and for 2-3 yr in 6 superior junior runners from the age of 14 yr. A large increase in aerobic power was observed during the adolescent growth spurt for 7 schoolboys who trained between the ages of 9 and 14 yr. Aerobic power for 43 average schoolboys increased from 45.0 to 52.2 ml/kg.min between the ages of 13 and 17 yr. The aerobic power of 6 superior junior runners increased from 63.4 to 73.4 ml/kg.min between the ages of 14 and 17 yr. A remarkable increase in aerobic power was not observed in trained boys before the age of peak height growth velocity (PHV). Beginning approximately 1 yr prior to the age of PHV and thereafter, training effectively increased aerobic power above the normal increase attributable to age and growth. The highly developed aerobic power found in superior junior runners may have been derived from strenuous training and partially by genetically superior endowment.
The intensity, duration, and severity of low aragonite saturation state events on the California continental shelf

Ocean acidification will progress in an episodic manner, yet this has rarely been considered. Here, we investigate how the intensity, duration, and severity of episodic low aragonite saturation state events along the California continental shelf have changed since ~1750, and how they might change up to 2050 under the A2 scenario from the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Our model‐based results suggest that between 1750 and 2010, aragonite undersaturation events along the shelf have quadrupled in their number and lengthened in duration, but that even larger changes are bound to occur within the next 20 to 40 years. Undersaturation will become very likely the norm near the seafloor by 2030, and if atmospheric CO2 increases beyond ~500 ppm, this layer will become permanently undersaturated. Combined with a fourfold increase in intensity, the resulting increase in severity of low aragonite saturation state events will substantially affect the viability of calcifying organisms and will alter ecosystem structure.
NETWORK DATA AND MEASUREMENT

Data on social networks may be gathered for all ties linking elements of a closed population ("complete" network data) or for the sets of ties surrounding sampled individual units ("egocentric" network data). Network data have been obtained via surveys and questionnaires, archives, observation, diaries, electronic traces, and experiments. Most methodological research on data quality concerns surveys and questionnaires. The question of the accuracy with which informants can provide data on their network ties is nontrivial, but survey methods can make some claim to reliability. Unresolved issues include whether to measure perceived social ties or actual exchanges, how to treat temporal elements in the definition of relationships, and whether to seek accurate descriptions or reliable indicators. Continued research on data quality is needed; beyond improved samples and further investigation of the informant accuracy/reliability issue, this should cover common indices of network structure, address the consequences of sampling portions of a network, and examine the robustness of indicators of network structure and position to both random and nonrandom errors of measurement.
Thin-film strain gauge sensors for ion thrust measurement

In order to measure the thrust produced by a stationary plasma thruster, a measurement system has been developed using a thrust balance with thin-film strain gauge sensors. For this purpose, strain gauges were designed and deposited on the columns of the thrust balance fabricated and necessary signal conditioning circuits have been used. The performance of the system developed was studied, in a vacuum chamber under space simulated conditions, by activating the thruster. In situ calibration was done using Lami's principle. For discharge powers varying from 210-275 W, the measured values of thrust were found to be in the range of 11-16 mN with an accuracy of /spl plusmn/1 mN and resolution of 0.12 mN. Specific impulse and efficiency were also estimated.
Using Systems Practice to enable quality in design

A systems engineering research case study is presented of ongoing work that seeks to investigate and improve the use and embedding of Systems Practice among engineers while also improving understanding of Systems Practice and its methodologies. Following an action research spiral of plan, act, observe and reflect the engineers' way of working is being progressively investigated. The perceptions and use of Systems Practice were first assessed through interviews and surveys. These were analyzed, main issues identified and a grounded theory developed which was modeled using system dynamics. These models were then used among key groups of engineers with the goal of identifying measures to assess Systems Practice. The engineers work in a field where a product's lifecycle is normally measured in decades. The main challenge of the research so far has been to identify metrics which will assess the quality of the Systems Practice being used in the short, practical time-frames required for interventions to be made in projects at an early stage, forcing the metrics to be more qualitative, subjective and indirect. Perceptions of the quality of Systems Practice and completeness of problem understanding, and the speed at which problem understanding is gained, become key measures rather than the quality of the final solution.
The association of IL-6 and IL-6R gene polymorphisms with chronic periodontitis in a Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE The aim of our investigation is to reveal the association of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) gene polymorphisms with chronic periodontitis in Northwestern Chinese Han Population. MATERIAL AND METHODS A case-control study of 199 cases of chronic periodontitis patients and 216 healthy controls was performed. Genomic DNA was isolated from whole venous blood, and four single nucleotide polymorphisms (IL-6 -572 G/C and -1363 G/T, IL-6R -183 G/A and +48892 A/C) were analysed using polymerase chain reaction, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing methods. RESULTS Our SNP analyses showed that the distribution of the IL-6 -572 G/C and IL-6R -183 G/A polymorphisms did not differ between patients and controls. The frequency of the IL-6 -1363 G/T genotype GG was significantly increased chronic periodontitis cases (P = 0.023, odds ratio (OR) = 2.825 adjusted for gender and age. ) The IL-6R +48892 A/C polymorphisms genotype CC was found to be protective against chronic periodontitis (P = 0.004, OR = 0.318 adjusted for gender and age.). In addition, compared with the other haplotypes, haplotype A(+48892) A(-183) was significantly associated with chronic periodontitis, with an odds ratio of 0.720 (P = 0.0235). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that the IL-6 -1363 G/T and IL-6R +48892 A/C polymorphisms may contribute to genetic susceptibility to chronic periodontitis in Northwestern Chinese Han population.
Acoustic band gap filter designs as a potential future RF MEMS technology: An introduction to fractal silicon-based ABG filters

An introduction to acoustic band gap RF MEMS filters is given. These devices have the potential to enable integration of accurate fully solid state acoustic filtering that rival traditional surface acoustic wave filters, but which can be fully integrated into a silicon integrated circuit without requiring piezoelectric phenomenon. Newly developed two and three dimensional simulators are shown using full vector finite difference time domain method that can be used to explore and design the frequency responses of this new class of filter for potential silicon based applications. As an example, the impact of fractal inclusion geometries on filter frequency response using silicon compatible materials is explored.
Vaccination of Mice T Cells in the Liver after Poxvirus + CD 8 Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Producing Protein-Specific Gamma Interferon-and Circumsporozoite Plasmodium berghei 14 Chain NKT Cells Promote α Invariant V

10.1128/IAI.73. 2.849-858.2005. 2005, 73(2):849. DOI: Infect. Immun. Taniguchi and Adrian V. S. Hill Eric G. Sheu, Robert Sinden, Stephan Gadola, Masaru Simone Korten, Richard J. Anderson, Carolyn M. Hannan, Vaccination of Mice T Cells in the Liver after Poxvirus + CD8 Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha-Producing Protein-Specific Gamma Interferonand Circumsporozoite Plasmodium berghei 14 Chain NKT Cells Promote α Invariant V
Affective brain–computer music interfacing

Objective. We aim to develop and evaluate an affective brain–computer music interface (aBCMI) for modulating the affective states of its users. Approach. An aBCMI is constructed to detect a user's current affective state and attempt to modulate it in order to achieve specific objectives (for example, making the user calmer or happier) by playing music which is generated according to a specific affective target by an algorithmic music composition system and a case-based reasoning system. The system is trained and tested in a longitudinal study on a population of eight healthy participants, with each participant returning for multiple sessions. Main results. The final online aBCMI is able to detect its users current affective states with classification accuracies of up to 65% (3 class, p < 0.01 ) and modulate its user's affective states significantly above chance level ( p < 0.05 ) . Significance. Our system represents one of the first demonstrations of an online aBCMI that is able to accurately detect and respond to user's affective states. Possible applications include use in music therapy and entertainment.
Dopamine D2 receptors in striatal output neurons enable the psychomotor effects of cocaine

Significance Cocaine elicits a strong motor response when administered in rodents. These effects have been assigned to activation of D1 receptor-mediated signaling in striatal medium spiny neurons (dMSNs). However, we previously have shown that activation of motor activity and signaling in dMSNs was dampened in D2 receptor (D2R) knockout mice. Nevertheless, because of the wide distribution of D2Rs in different neuronal types, it was not possible to assess which D2R-expressing neurons allow cocaine-mediated effects. Using mice with neuron-specific deletion of D2R, we identify D2R+-MSNs (iMSNs) as those enabling the activation of dMSNs in response to cocaine. These studies identify the striatal iMSNs and D2R-mediated signaling as key regulators of intrastriatal functions required for the full expression of the motor and cellular activating effects of cocaine. The psychomotor effects of cocaine are mediated by dopamine (DA) through stimulation of striatal circuits. Gabaergic striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs) are the only output of this pivotal structure in the control of movements. The majority of MSNs express either the DA D1 or D2 receptors (D1R, D2R). Studies have shown that the motor effect of cocaine depends on the DA-mediated stimulation of D1R-expressing MSNs (dMSNs), which is mirrored at the cellular level by stimulation of signaling pathways leading to phosphorylation of ERKs and induction of c-fos. Nevertheless, activation of dMSNs by cocaine is necessary but not sufficient, and D2R signaling is required for the behavioral and cellular effects of cocaine. Indeed, cocaine motor effects and activation of signaling in dMSNs are blunted in mice with the constitutive knockout of D2R (D2RKO). Using mouse lines with a cell-specific knockout of D2R either in MSNs (MSN-D2RKO) or in dopaminergic neurons (DA-D2RKO), we show that D2R signaling in MSNs is required and permissive for the motor stimulant effects of cocaine and the activation of signaling in dMSNs. MSN-D2RKO mice show the same phenotype as constitutive D2RKO mice both at the behavioral and cellular levels. Importantly, activation of signaling in dMSNs by cocaine is rescued by intrastriatal injection of the GABA antagonist, bicuculline. These results are in support of intrastriatal connections of D2R+-MSNs (iMSNs) with dMSNs and indicate that D2R signaling in MSNs is critical for the function of intrastriatal circuits.
IgE‐mediated reactions to rifaximin and rifamycin SV and cross‐reactivity among rifamycins

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Pattern of childhood leukaemia in University College Hospital, Ibadan.

BACKGROUND Leukaemias are haematological malignancies characterized by unregulated clonal proliferation of haematopoietic cells. OBJECTIVE To determine the pattern of childhood leukaemia in Ibadan. METHODOLOGY This was a retrospective study of leukaemia cases diagnosed at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan between January 1991 and December 2010 in children less than 15 years of age. Data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. RESULTS There were 64 cases of childhood leukaemia, accounting for 10.2% of childhood cancers seen during this study period. The male to female ratio was 2:1 and modal age group was between 10 and 14 years. Thirty (46.9%) cases were acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), 22 (34.4%) were acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) and 12 (18.8%) were unspecified acute leukaemias. There was no case of chronic myeloid or lymphocytic leukaemia. CONCLUSION There has been a relative increase in the frequency of leukaemia cases at UCH, Ibadan, which may be largely explained by increased awareness and referrals. There is a need for further collaborative multicentre studies of childhood leukaemias in Nigeria and other developing countries and focused research on childhood leukaemias in order to unravel the aetiology.
Plasma oxalate concentration and oxalate distribution volume in patients with normal and decreased renal function

Abstract. In twenty‐one patients (sixteen male, five female) with various kidney diseases including primary hyperoxaluria type I (four patients), the plasma oxalate level was calculated from the isotopically determined oxalate clearance and the chemically determined urinary oxalate excretion. The apparent oxalate distribution volume was assessed as well.
Transmissibility and infection control implications of Burkholderia cepacia in cystic fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE To describe the microbiology and potential virulence factors of Burkholderia cepacia; to discuss the studies that have investigated its mode of transmission among cystic fibrosis patients; and to identify the major risk factors associated with acquisition of this pathogen inside and outside of the hospital environment. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE search of the literature published between 1986 and 1997 using the key words/subject words Pseudomonas cepacia, Burkholderia cepacia, cystic fibrosis, infection control and transmissibility, and the bibliography of selected papers. DATA EXTRACTION Selected studies examining epidemiology, microbiology, virulence factors and mode of transmission of B cepacia in cystic fibrosis. DATA SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS B cepacia is a multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacillus that has recently been recognized as a major respiratory pathogen in patients with cystic fibrosis. Colonization by this organism can lead to rapid pulmonary deterioration and premature death. Recent studies based on genomic subtyping techniques have suggested that it can be transmitted from person to person. Close social contact and hospitalization have been identified as risk factors for cross-infection. With the implementation of strict infection control policies such as segregation according to colonization status, the rate of new colonization has substantially decreased in most cystic fibrosis treatment centres.