Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of auditory training on adult cochlear implant patients: a preliminary report

Abstract The process of learning new electrically stimulated speech patterns can be difficult for many cochlear implant users, especially congenitally deafened patients. Some implant users receive little benefit from the device, even after long-term experience. While many factors may influence individual patient outcomes, the paucity of auditory rehabilitation resources, especially for adult users, may contribute to some implant patients' poorer performance. The present study examined whether moderate auditory training, using speech stimuli, can improve the speech-recognition performance of adult cochlear implant patients. Ten cochlear implant patients with limited speech-recognition capabilities used a recently developed computerbased auditory rehabilitation tool to train at home for a period of one month or longer. Before training began, baseline speech-recognition performance was measured for each patient; baseline performance was measured for at least two weeks, until performance asymptoted. After baseline measures were complete, subjects were instructed to train themselves at home using novel monosyllable words one hour per day, five days per week. Subjects then returned to the lab every two weeks for retesting with the baseline speech materials. Preliminary results showed that there was significant improvement in all patients' speech perception performance after moderate training. While most patients did improve, the amount and time course of improvement was highly variable. Moderate training using a computer-based auditory rehabilitation tool can be an effective approach to improve cochlear implant patients' speech recognition, especially for poorer-performing implant users.
Correlation of cross-axis eye movements and motoneuron activity in non-human primates with "A" pattern strabismus.

PURPOSE The authors showed earlier that animals reared with certain types of visual sensory deprivation during their first few months of life develop large horizontal strabismus, A/V patterns, and dissociated vertical deviation (DVD). Cross-axis eye movements were observed in the nonfixating eye that reflected pattern strabismus and DVD. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether neuronal activity within the oculomotor nucleus could be driving the abnormal cross-axis eye movements observed in the nonfixating eye. METHODS Burst-tonic activity was recorded from oculomotor nucleus neurons in three animals with A-pattern exotropia as they performed horizontal or vertical smooth pursuit during monocular viewing. Two animals were reared by alternate monocular occlusion for 4 months, and one animal was reared by binocular deprivation for 3 weeks. RESULTS In this study, efforts were focused on neurons modulated for vertical eye movements. Vertical burst-tonic motoneurons were strongly correlated with vertical eye movements regardless of whether the movement was purposeful, as in vertical smooth pursuit, or whether it was inappropriate, as in a vertical component observed in the nonfixating eye during horizontal smooth pursuit. Quantitative analysis of position and velocity sensitivities of the cells measured during the different tracking conditions suggested that motoneuron activity was sufficient to account for most of the inappropriate vertical cross-axis component. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that, in animals with sensory-induced strabismus, innervation to extraocular muscles from motor nuclei produce the inappropriate cross-axis eye movements, resulting in change in ocular misalignment with gaze position associated with pattern strabismus and DVD.
Development of a Bacillus subtilis-Based Rotavirus Vaccine

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis vaccine strains engineered to express either group A bovine or murine rotavirus VP6 were tested in adult mice for their ability to induce immune responses and provide protection against rotavirus challenge. Mice were inoculated intranasally with spores or vegetative cells of the recombinant strains of B. subtilis. To enhance mucosal immunity, whole cholera toxin (CT) or a mutant form (R192G) of Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin (mLT) were included as adjuvants. To evaluate vaccine efficacy, the immunized mice were challenged orally with EDIM EW murine rotavirus and monitored daily for 7 days for virus shedding in feces. Mice immunized with either VP6 spore or VP6 vegetative cell vaccines raised serum anti-VP6 IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) titers, whereas only the VP6 spore vaccines generated fecal anti-VP6 IgA ELISA titers. Mice in groups that were immunized with VP6 spore vaccines plus CT or mLT showed significant reductions in virus shedding, whereas the groups of mice immunized with VP6 vegetative cell vaccines showed no difference in virus shedding compared with mice immunized with control spores or cells. These results demonstrate that intranasal inoculation with B. subtilis spore-based rotavirus vaccines is effective in generating protective immunity against rotavirus challenge in mice.
Gaucher disease: recommendations on diagnosis, evaluation, and monitoring.

BACKGROUND Timely diagnosis and continued monitoring of patients with type I Gaucher disease is critical because skeletal involvement can permanently disable patients and visceral organ involvement can lead to abdominal pain and secondary hematologic and biochemical complications. OBJECTIVE To seek clinical consensus for minimum recommendations for effective diagnosis and monitoring of patients with type I Gaucher disease. PARTICIPANTS, EVIDENCE, AND CONSENSUS PROCESS: Contributing authors collaborated in quarterly meetings over a 2-year period to synthesize recommendations from peer-reviewed publications and their own medical experiences. These physicians care for most patients with Gaucher disease in the United States and serve as the US Regional Coordinators for the International Collaborative Gaucher Group Registry, the world's largest database for this disorder. CONCLUSIONS The definitive method of diagnosis is enzyme assay of beta-glucocerebrosidase activity. Schedules differ for monitoring complications of type I Gaucher disease, depending on symptoms and whether enzyme replacement therapy is used. Hematologic and biochemical involvement should be assessed by complete blood cell count, including platelets, acid phosphatase, and liver enzymes, at baseline and every 12 months in untreated patients and every 3 months and at enzyme replacement therapy changes in treated patients. Visceral involvement should be assessed at diagnosis using magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomographic scans. Skeletal involvement should be assessed at diagnosis using T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the entire femora and plain radiography of the femora, spine, and symptomatic sites. Follow-up skeletal and visceral assessments are recommended every 12 to 24 months in untreated patients, and every 12 months and at enzyme replacement therapy changes in treated patients.
Monetary Policy, Business Cycles and the Behavior of Small Manufacturing Firms

We present evidence on the cyclical behavior of small versus large manufacturing firms, and on the response of the two classes of firms to monetary policy. Our goal is to take a step toward quantifying the role of credit market imperfections in the business cycle and in the monetary transmission mechanism. We find that, following tight money, small firms sales decline at a faster pace than large firm sales for a period of more than two years. Further, bank lending to small firms contracts, while it actually rises for large firms. Monetary policy indicators tied to the performance of banking, such as M2, have relatively greater predictive power for small firms than for large. Finally, small firms are more sensitive than are large to lagged movements in GNP. Considering that small firms overall are a non-trivial component of the economy, we interpret these results as suggestive of the macroeconomic relevance of credit market imperfections. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.) (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Transition waves for Fisher-KPP equations with general time-heterogeneous and space-periodic coefficients

This paper is devoted to existence and non-existence results for generalized transition waves solutions of space-time heterogeneous Fisher-KPP equations. When the coecients of the equation are periodic in space but otherwise depend in a fairly general fashion on time, we prove that such waves exist as soon as their speed is suciently large in a sense. When this speed is too small, transition waves do not exist anymore, this result holds without assuming periodicity in space. These necessary and sucient conditions are proved to be optimal when the coecients are periodic both in space and time. Our method is quite robust and extends to general non-periodic space-time heterogeneous coecients, showing that transition waves solutions of the nonlinear equation exist as soon as one can construct appropriate solutions of a given linearized equation.
Assessment of immunization compliance among children in the Department of Defense health care system.

OBJECTIVE To describe immunization rates among children enrolled in the Department of Defense health care system and to determine risk factors for delay. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey of immunization records and demographic characteristics among parents of children presenting for acute care at seven pediatric clinics operated by the Department of Defense. PARTICIPANTS Subjects were 1977 children aged 2 months to 18 years. OUTCOME MEASURES Immunizaion rates were measured for various age strata from infancy to adolescence. RESULTS The overall immunization rates was 84% By age 2 years, 86% of patients had received four diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, three oral polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines. At school entry, 87% of children were fully immunized for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and MMF. However, only 50% of adolescents were up-to-date, primarily because of failure to receive booster doses of MMR. Seventy-nine percent of parents whose children were delayed thought that they were up-to-date. Factors associated with immunization delay included incorrect parental perception of immunization status, failure to keep routine health maintenance visits, and non-white race. Socioeconomic status, parental education level, access to care, and family mobility had no effect on immunization status. CONCLUSIONS Although immunization rates for preschoolers approached national goals, accessibility to care and free vaccines did not guarantee immunization compliance, especially among adolescents. Most patients with delayed vaccinations were older children and adolescents whose school and parental reports of immunization status were invorrect. Immunization delay in our study was primarily the result of a failure to track patients and notify parents when immunizations were due.
Non-fatal occupational injuries in British agriculture

Objectives: To investigate the incidence, nature and determinants of non-fatal occupational injuries in British agriculture. Methods: As part of a postal survey, data on lifetime histories of work in agriculture and occupational accidents were obtained from men born between 1933 and 1977 and residing in three rural areas of England and Wales. Incidence rates for different categories of accident were compared with those derived from statutory reporting. Associations with risk factors were explored by Poisson regression, and summarised by incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Results: Of the 10 765 responders (response rate = 31%), 3238 (30%) reported at least one occupational accident at the ages of 14–64 years, leading to absence from work for ⩾3 days, including 1492 accidents that could be linked to a specific job listed in the history of agricultural work. The reported incidence of injuries in agriculture was markedly higher than that derived from statutory reporting, particularly for self-employed farmers. During 1996–2003, the highest rates of agricultural accidents were from handling, lifting or carrying (4.9/1000 person-years), falls from a height (4.6/1000 person-years) and injury by animals (3.4/1000 person-years). After adjustment for calendar period and age, the risk of accidents was elevated in men who had only recently entered agricultural work (IRR 3.7, 95% CI 2.7 to 5.1 for men who had worked in agriculture for up to 1 year relative to those who had entered the industry >25 years earlier), and in those who carried out forestry (IRR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5 to 1.9). Conclusion: Our findings confirm the substantial underascertainment of serious accidental injuries in agriculture through statutory reporting, particularly for the self-employed. The risk of accidents is highest in new recruits to the industry and in those undertaking forestry, and these groups should be a target for further preventive action.
Long-term endometrial and breast safety of a specific, standardized soy extract

Objective To assess the effects of an oral soy isoflavone extract (Phytosoya®) on endometrium and breast in postmenopausal women treated for 3 years. Methods A total of 395 postmenopausal women were included in this international prospective, open-label study. The number of patients who completed the 3-year study was 197. The women were treated for 3 years with a specific, standardized soy isoflavone extract (total 70 mg/day). Endometrial biopsy, transvaginal ultrasonography and mammography were performed before and after 3 years of treatment. Results No case of hyperplasia/cancer was diagnosed among the 192 interpretable biopsies at 3 years. Only one case of simple hyperplasia was diagnosed among 197 post-baseline interpretable biopsies. The endometrial safety of this extract has been demonstrated (point estimate 0.5%). There was no statistically significant change in endometrial thickness after 3 years (98.4% inactive or atrophic and 0.3% proliferative endometrium at 1 year). Mammography results showed no notable change from baseline. No patient in any set developed an ACR classification of 4 or 5 after 3 years of treatment. The global safety was rated as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ by 99.1% of investigators and 99.0% of patients after 3 years of treatment. The adverse events were as follows: eight patients had metrorrhagia and seven patients had at least one breast adverse event: three patients had ‘breast pain’, two patients reported ‘breast tenderness’ and two patients had ‘hypertrophic breast’ (most of them were possibly treatment-related). Conclusions As no case of hyperplasia was diagnosed among the 301 interpretable biopsies at 1 year and there was only one case of simple hyperplasia in the 197 post-baseline biopsies at 3 years, the endometrial safety of this extract has been demonstrated. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the lack of change in endometrial thickness associated with the histologic results, we suggest that this extract does not exert a mitogenic effect on the endometrium. These results suggest that daily administration of 70 mg of a specific, standardized isoflavone extract for 3 years could be a safe treatment for both endometrium and breast.
Climbing fibre induced depression of both mossy fibre responsiveness and glutamate sensitivity of cerebellar Purkinje cells

1. In high decerebrate rabbits, cells were sampled extracellularly from the rostral flocculus. Purkinje cells were identified by their characteristic responses to stimulation of the contralateral inferior olive. Identification of basket cells was based on the absence of olivary responses and also on their location in the molecular layer adjacent to identified Purkinje cells. Mass field potentials in the flocculus were also studied.
An investigation into the relationship between persistent pain, psychological distress and emotional connectedness

Previous research into the social consequences of persistent pain has shown that relationship difficulties and marital distress are major factors that contribute to negative outcomes for sufferers. Furthermore, psychological distress is often co-morbid with persistent pain. This study explored the relationship between persistent pain, psychological distress and emotional connectedness. It involved a cross-sectional design utilising an online survey of 388 Australian women with persistent pain. Self-report measures of pain severity, psychological distress and emotional connectedness were administered. Results confirmed that many women in persistent pain experience relationship and emotional connectedness difficulties which they attribute to the experience of persistent pain. Additionally, psychological distress significantly mediated the relationship between pain severity and emotional connectedness. It was concluded that, in this sample of persistent pain sufferers, pain severity and psychological distress had significant impact on a women’s ability to connect emotionally to those closest to them. The implications of these findings for intervening with women who suffer with persistent pain are discussed.
Changes in Caries Risk in a Practice-Based Randomized Controlled Trial

To demonstrate that Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) can be successfully implemented in dental practice, 30 dentists were recruited to perform a 2-y CAMBRA trial. Twenty-one dentists (18 private practices, 3 community clinics) participated in a randomized, controlled, parallel-arm, double-blind clinical trial with individual-level assignment of 460 participants to standard of care (control) versus active CAMBRA treatment (intervention). Control or active antimicrobial and remineralizing agents were dispensed at baseline and 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-mo recall visits according to risk level and assigned treatment arm. Primary outcome measure was dentist-determined caries risk level at recall. Among initially high-risk participants, secondary outcomes were recorded disease indicators. Generalized estimating equations were used to fit log-linear models for each outcome while accounting for repeated measurements. At 24 mo, follow-up rates were 34.3% for high-risk participants (32.1% intervention, 37.1% control) and 44.2% for low-risk participants (38.7% intervention, 49.5% control). Among 242 participants classified as high caries risk at baseline (137 intervention, 105 control), a lower percentage of participants remained at high risk in the intervention group (statistically significant at all time points). At 24 mo, 25% in the intervention group and 54% in the control group remained at high risk (P = 0.003). Among 192 participants initially classified as low risk (93 intervention, 99 control), most participants remained at low risk. At 24 mo, 89% in the intervention group and 71% in the control group were low caries risk (P = 0.18). The percentage of initially high-risk participants with recorded disease indicators decreased over time in both intervention and control groups, being always lower for the intervention group (statistically significant at the 12- and 18-mo time point). In this practice-based clinical trial, a significantly greater percentage of high-caries-risk participants were classified at a lower risk level after CAMBRA preventive therapies were provided. Most participants initially assessed at low caries risk stayed at low risk (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01176396).
Detection of Salmonella enterica Isolates Producing CTX-M Cephalosporinase in U.S. Livestock Populations

ABSTRACT We report the detection of Salmonella carrying bla CTX-M in U.S. livestock populations. We identified 12 of 2,034 (0.6%) Salmonella isolates originating from turkeys, horses, and pigs from at least 6 U.S. states, all carrying bla CTX-M-1, many on a pandemic sequence type 1 IncN plasmid.
Functional Analysis of the Trypanosomal AAA ProteinTbVCP with trans-Dominant ATP Hydrolysis Mutants*

TbVCP is a member of the AAA (ATPases Associated with a variety of cellularActivities) family of proteins containing two ATPase domains. Southern analysis indicates TbVCP to have a single-locus, two-copy, genomic organization. One copy, but not both, can be disrupted by targeted gene replacement, suggesting thatTbVCP is essential for trypanosome viability. Site-directed mutagenesis of the ATP hydrolysis motifs indicates that the second conserved ATPase domain is essential for TbVCP activity. Constitutive overexpression of TbVCP with a single mutation in the second hydrolysis motif or with mutations in both hydrolysis motifs was not possible. Regulated overexpression of these mutants resulted in cell death as a dominant negative phenotype. In each case cell growth arrested at 24-h post-induction and at all stages of the cell cycle as judged by replication of nuclear and kinetoplast genomes. Onset of growth arrest coincided with the development of severe and characteristic morphological alterations for each mutant. Neither constitutive nor regulated overexpression of wild typeTbVCP or the single first hydrolysis domain mutant had any overt effect on cell viability or morphology. However, the distinct phenotype of the double mutant indicates that the first hydrolysis domain, although not essential, does modulate overall TbVCP function. Finally, yeast complementation studies demonstrated thatTbVCP can functionally replace the yeast homologue Cdc48p, indicating that protein·protein interactions essential to function have been maintained over great phylogenetic distances.
Developmental Exposure to Noninherited Maternal Antigens Induces CD4+ T Regulatory Cells: Relevance to Mechanism of Heart Allograft Tolerance1

We hypothesize that developmental exposure to noninherited maternal Ags (NIMA) results in alloantigen-specific natural and adaptive T regulatory (TR) cells. We compared offspring exposed to maternal H-2d (NIMAd) with nonexposed controls. In vitro assays did not reveal any differences in T cell responses pretransplant. Adoptive transfer assays revealed lower lymphoproliferation and greater cell surface TGF-β expression on CD4+ T cells of NIMAd-exposed vs control splenocytes. NIMAd-exposed splenocytes exhibited bystander suppression of tetanus-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity responses, which was reversed with Abs to TGF-β and IL-10. Allospecific T effector cells were induced in all mice upon i.v. challenge with B6D2F1 splenocytes or a DBA/2 heart transplant, but were controlled in NIMAd-exposed mice by TR cells to varying degrees. Some (40%) NIMAd-exposed mice accepted a DBA/2 allograft while others (60%) rejected in delayed fashion. Rejector and acceptor NIMAd-exposed mice had reduced T effector responses and increased Foxp3+ TR cells (CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ TR) in spleen and lymph nodes compared with controls. The key features distinguishing NIMAd-exposed acceptors from all other mice were: 1) higher frequency of IL-10- and TGF-β-producing cells primarily in the CD4+CD25+ T cell subset within lymph nodes and allografts, 2) a suppressed delayed-type hypersensitivity response to B6D2F1 Ags, and 3) allografts enriched in LAP+, Foxp3+, and CD4+ T cells, with few CD8+ T cells. We conclude that the beneficial NIMA effect is due to induction of NIMA-specific TR cells during ontogeny. Their persistence in the adult, and the ability of the host to mobilize them to the graft, may determine whether NIMA-specific tolerance is achieved.