Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of the Actions Taken by Adults Who Failed a Telephone-Based Hearing Screen

Objectives: Hearing impairment constitutes a highly prevalent chronic health condition among older adults worldwide which negatively impacts on communication and health-related quality of life. Irrespective of this, the majority of older adults do not seek professional help for hearing impairment and/or do not obtain hearing aids. Therefore, a new approach for detecting and promoting help-seeking for hearing impairment is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the actions taken by those who failed Telscreen, a telephone-based screening tool for hearing loss, and to increase our understanding of factors that influence taking action. Design: A cohort of 193 participants (112 females, 81 males; age range 24–93 yr) who had failed Telscreen participated in a follow-up telephone interview 4 to 5 mo later. Participants were asked why they called Telscreen, about their hearing ability, their Telscreen result, and what action they had taken toward hearing rehabilitation. One outcome measure was identified: decision to seek professional help for hearing impairment (yes/no). Given that the outcome measure was dichotomized, a logistic regression model for binary outcomes was fitted to the data. Results: Of the 193 participants who failed Telscreen, only 36% sought help from a range of sources (e.g., audiologist, hearing service or hearing aid provider, and family doctor). Results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that individuals who had considered hearing aids before calling Telscreen and/or who recalled their Telscreen result were significantly more likely to seek professional help for their hearing impairment. Nineteen participants who sought help for their hearing impairment had hearing aid fitting recommended to them. Eight participants had aid/s fitted, and of these, six reported a successful outcome. Conclusions: For every 100 individuals who fail a hearing screening, only 36 seek help. Of these 36 individuals who take some action, 13 are recommended hearing aids, approximately half of whom follow this advice and obtain hearing aids. Approximately three-quarters of these individuals use and value their hearing aids. Provided that the screening is automated and low cost, hearing screening via telephone has proven to change the lives of 5% of individuals who decided to seek professional help for hearing impairment at little cost to the other 95% of individuals. Suggestions for future research based on the present research findings are discussed.
Involvement of p72syk kinase, p53/561yn kinase and phosphatidyl inositol‐3 kinase in signal transduction via the human B lymphocyte antigen CD22

CD22 is a B lymphocyte‐specific membrane protein that functions as an adhesion molecule via its interactions with a subset of α2‐6‐linked sialic acid‐containing glycoproteins. Engagement of CD22 with a monoclonal antibody (HB22.23) that blocks the binding of CD22 to its ligands results in rapid CD22 tyrosine phosphorylation and in increased association of CD22 with p53/561yn kinase, p85 phosphatidyl inositol‐3 kinase, and p72syk kinase. Synthetic peptides that span various regions of the intracellular portion of CD22 were used to map potential kinase binding sites. All three kinases associated with a tyrosine‐phosphorylated peptide that spans tyrosine amino acid residues 822 and 842, implicating this as an important region in mediating CD22 signal transduction. In addition, purified p56lyn directly bound to the same peptide. Engagement of CD22 with HB22.23 was sufficient to stimulate normal B cell proliferation. This study further substantiates the importance of CD22 as a B lymphocyte signaling molecule and begins to unravel the mechanisms by which CD22 cross‐linking can alter B cell function.
Semen Culture in Patients with Chronic Prostatitis Syndrome: A Valuable Diagnostic Tool

Chronic Prostatitis Syndrome (CPS) is a common nonetheless neglected clinical entity. Definitive uropathogenic organisms cannot be cultured in many cases. Semen culture is an under-utilized investigation in the management of CPS. This cross-sectional study aims to describe the clinical and bacteriological profile of semen culture of patients with CPS presenting to JNMC Aligarh. We studied 214 patients of CPS from June 2013 to July 2014. The predominant symptoms were pain in pelvic region (58%), increased frequency of micturition (52%), perineal discomfort (32%), painful ejaculation (18%) and erectile dysfunction (15%). Semen cultures were performed in all patients. Of 214 patients examined, 64 had positive semen culture. The most common pathogens were Escherichia coli (51.56%), Enterococcus faecalis (21.87%), Staph. aureus (10.93%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.68%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (4.68%), Proteus mirabilis (3.12%), Citrobacter koseri (1.56%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (1.56%). E. coli, which was the most frequent isolate, was found to be most susceptible to meropenem (90.9%), amikacin (84.84%), nitrofurantoin (81.81%), levofloxacin (78.78%), cefoperazone-sulbactam (75.75%), cefoperazone (72.7%) and ceftriaxone (69.69%). Enterococcus faecalis, which was the most commonly isolated Gram positive organism, was found to be susceptible to vancomycin (92.8%), amikacin (71.4%), high content streptomycin (71.4%), amoxicillin (71.4%), levofloxacin (64.2%) and gentamicin (64.2%). Semen culture is an important tool in diagnosis and management of CPS. Proper antibiotic treatment based on it can result in improved quality of life of such patients, decreased burden on health-care sector and decreased chances of antibiotic resistance. K e y w o r d s Semen Culture, Chronic Prostatitis Syndrome, uropathogenic organisms
Lateral Septoaponeurotic Artery: Source of Bleeding in Blepharoplasty Performed in Asians

In standard blepharoplasty, the orbital septum is opened commonly to enter the preaponeurotic space. This is to anchor the leading edge of the levator palpebral fascia to the skin of a proposed supratarsal fold and to remove supraorbital fat. Incision of the orbital septum is involved occasionally with accidental injury to an inconstant arterial branch at its lateral side, which causes severe bleeding. Anatomic knowledge of the vessel on the orbital septum is conducive to preventing accidental arterial injury. The authors encountered a relatively large artery running vertically at the lateral side of the orbital septum in 50 eyelids of 230 blepharoplasty patients (460 eyelids). They investigated the branch by injecting red latex into the ophthalmic arteries in 20 hemidissected faces of fresh cadavers. At the lateral aspect of the orbital septum, a branch of the superior lateral palpebral artery, which we named the lateral septoaponeurotic artery (LASA), was confirmed in five of 13 specimens. The LASA originates from the superior lateral palpebral artery just after it divides into peripheral and marginal arcades. The LASA pierces the levator aponeurosis and orbital septum at the upper level of the tarsal plate. It anastomoses with a branch of the supraorbital artery at the superior aspect of the orbit. The authors think severe bleeding occurs when the LASA is injured during blepharoplasties. Cautious treatment of the lateral septoaponeurotic vessel minimizes undesirable complications.
Systematic implementation of an advance directive program in nursing homes: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Although advance directives are commonly used in the community, little is known about the effects of their systematic implementation. OBJECTIVES To examine the effect of systematically implementing an advance directive in nursing homes on patient and family satisfaction with involvement in decision making and on health care costs. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial conducted June 1, 1994, to August 31, 1998. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 1292 residents in 6 Ontario nursing homes with more than 100 residents each. INTERVENTION The Let Me Decide advance directive program included educating staff in local hospitals and nursing homes, residents, and families about advance directives and offering competent residents or next-of-kin of mentally incompetent residents an advance directive that provided a range of health care choices for life-threatening illness, cardiac arrest, and nutrition. The 6 nursing homes were pair-matched on key characteristics, and 1 home per pair was randomized to take part in the program. Control nursing homes continued with prior policies concerning advance directives. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Residents' and families' satisfaction with health care and health care services utilization over 18 months, compared between intervention and control nursing homes. RESULTS Of 527 participating residents in intervention nursing homes, 49% of competent residents and 78% of families of incompetent residents completed advance directives. Satisfaction was not significantly different in intervention and control nursing homes. The mean difference (scale, 1-7) between intervention and control homes was -0.16 (95 % confidence interval [CI], -0.41 to 0.10) for competent residents and 0.07 (95% CI, -0.08 to 0.23) for families of incompetent residents. Intervention nursing homes reported fewer hospitalizations per resident (mean, 0.27 vs 0.48; P = .001) and less resource use (average total cost per patient, Can $3490 vs Can $5239; P = .01) than control nursing homes. Proportion of deaths in intervention (24%) and control (28%) nursing homes were similar (P = .20). CONCLUSION Our data suggest that systematic implementation of a program to increase use of advance directives reduces health care services utilization without affecting satisfaction or mortality.
The impact of mobility on the performance of V2X communication

The performance evaluation of the Vehicle to Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure V2X communication system is an important step before its integration into vehicles and its probable real deployment. In this paper, the physical layer PHY of the upcoming vehicular communication standard IEEE 802.11p is an issue of our study. A near realistic IEEE.802.11p PHY model, with all the associated phenomena, is implemented in V2X situation through different scenarios. The series of simulation results carried out perform data exchange between high-speed vehicles as well as the vehicles and the roadside infrastructure over Rician channel model. We underlined several and important propagation channel parameters which affect both the physical layer network performance and the quality of transmission. The Bit Error Rate BER versus Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of all coding rates is used to evaluate the performance of the communication systems.
Incidental durotomy after spinal surgery: a prospective study in an academic institution.

OBJECT Incidental durotomies (IDs) are an unfortunate but anticipated potential complication of spinal surgery. The authors surveyed the frequency of IDs for a single spine surgeon and analyzed the major risk factors as well as the impact on long-term patient outcomes. METHODS The authors conducted a prospective review of elective spinal surgeries performed over a 15-year period. Any surgery involving peripheral nerve only, intradural procedures, or dural tears due to trauma were excluded from analysis. The incidence of ID was categorized by surgery type including primary surgery, revision surgery, and so forth. Incidence of ID was also examined in the context of years of physician experience and training. Furthermore, the incidence and types of sequelae were examined in patients with an ID. RESULTS Among 3000 elective spinal surgery cases, 3.5% (104) had an ID. The incidence of ID during minimally invasive procedures (3.3%) was similar, but no patients experienced long-term sequelae. The incidence of ID during revision surgery (6.5%) was higher. There was a marked difference in incidence between cervical (1.3%) and thoracolumbar (5.1%) cases. The incidence was lower for cases involving instrumentation (2.4%). When physician training was examined, residents were responsible for 49% of all IDs, whereas fellows were responsible for 26% and the attending for 25%. Among all of the cases that involved an ID, 7.7% of patients went on to experience a neurological deficit as compared with 1.5% of those without an ID. The overall failure rate of dural repair was 6.9%, and failure was almost 3 times higher (13%) in revision surgery as compared with a primary procedure (5%). CONCLUSIONS The authors established a reliable baseline incidence for durotomy after spine surgery: 3.5%. They also identified risk factors that can increase the likelihood of a durotomy, including location of the spinal procedure, type of procedure performed, and the implementation of a new procedure. The years of physician training or resident experience did not appear to be a major risk for ID.
[Errors in autopsy in Germany. Results of a multicenter study (II)].

In the result of a workshop held in Münster on 1st May 1993, 23 institutes of legal medicine in Germany reported death cases where the primary supposition was natural death or a death without legal relevance, but where the autopsies by chance revealed an unnatural death or a death with legal relevance. In the institutes participating in the study 13,000 autopsies were performed during the period of the reports, i.e. 75% of all legal autopsies performed in one year in Germany. A total of 92 "discoveries by chance" were reported where a natural death was given on the death certificate after the external examination of the corpse among them 49 accidents, 10 homicides, and 19 deaths by medical implications. In 717 deaths the manner of death was certified as "unclear" on the death certificate, but the autopsy revealed an unnatural manner of death. Some of these cases are also "discoveries by chance" after serious medical errors during the examination of corpses. Among these 717 cases were 35 homicides. It seems remarkable, that the prosecutors did not order a toxicological examination in several cases of fatal intoxications. Furthermore the results show that doctors often overlooked signs of carbon monoxide poisoning during the external examination of corpses. From errors made during the external examination another group of cases resulted which were initial classified as unnatural death without legal relevance, but the autopsy surprisingly revealed relevant facts. Finally in 29 autopsies carried out after exhumation evidence of homicide was found in 3 cases. On the basis of this multicentre study it can be estimated that there are at least 1200 homicide cases or 11,000 cases of unnatural death per year which do not appear in the official statistics and have been classified as natural death. The considerable grey area of fatal cases in connection with medical intervention resulting from the study (n > 2000) is also alarming. In addition at least 100 undiscovered homicides are certainly included in the group of death cases certified as unclear during the external examination and where no autopsy was performed. Sources of the grey area are essentially errors made during the external examination of corpses and to a lesser degree incorrect decisions to release the corpse, mistakes were seldom made also by doctors performing the autopsy. The study shows a considerable grey area of unnatural death cases, which exists within the modern society of Germany. In face of this emphasis must placed on the historical demands of criminologists and forensic pathologists: reinforced education and further education of medical students and doctors in the field of the external examination of corpses. Introduction of a specialized medical external examination of corpses Adherence to the 3 classical classifications of the manner of death: natural, unnatural and unclear on the death certificate. Increased number of autopsies.
Nitric oxide regulation of calcitonin gene‐related peptide gene expression in rat trigeminal ganglia neurons

Calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP) and nitric oxide are involved in the underlying pathophysiology of migraine and other diseases involving neurogenic inflammation. We have tested the hypothesis that nitric oxide might trigger signaling mechanisms within the trigeminal ganglia neurons that would coordinately stimulate CGRP synthesis and release. Treatment of primary trigeminal ganglia cultures with nitric oxide donors caused a greater than four‐fold increase in CGRP release compared with unstimulated cultures. Similarly, CGRP promoter activity was also stimulated by nitric oxide donors and overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Cotreatment with the antimigraine drug sumatriptan greatly repressed nitric oxide stimulation of CGRP promoter activity and secretion. Somewhat surprisingly, the mechanisms of nitric oxide stimulation of CGRP secretion did not require cGMP or PI3‐kinase signaling pathways, but rather, nitric oxide action required extracellular calcium and likely involves T‐type calcium channels. Furthermore, nitric oxide was shown to increase expression of the active forms of the mitogen‐activated protein kinases Jun amino‐terminal kinase and p38 but not extracellular signal‐related kinase in trigeminal neurons. In summary, our results provide new insight into the cellular mechanisms by which nitric oxide induces CGRP synthesis and secretion from trigeminal neurons.
Increased natriuretic peptide receptor A and C gene expression in rats with pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy.

Both atrial (ANP) and brain (BNP) natriuretic peptide affect development of cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis via binding to natriuretic peptide receptor (NPR)-A in the heart. A putative clearance receptor, NPR-C, is believed to regulate cardiac levels of ANP and BNP. The renin-angiotensin system also affects cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. In this study we examined the expression of genes for the NPRs in rats with pressure-overload cardiac hypertrophy. The ANG II type 1 receptor was blocked with losartan (10 mg.kg(-1). day(-1)) to investigate a possible role of the renin-angiotensin system in regulation of natriuretic peptide and NPR gene expression. The ascending aorta was banded in 84 rats during Hypnorm/Dormicum-isoflurane anesthesia; after 4 wk the rats were randomized to treatment with losartan or placebo. The left ventricle of the heart was removed 1, 2, or 4 wk later. Aortic banding increased left ventricular expression of NPR-A and NPR-C mRNA by 110% (P < 0.001) and 520% (P < 0.01), respectively, after 8 wk; as expected, it also increased the expression of ANP and BNP mRNAs. Losartan induced a slight reduction of left ventricular weight but did not affect the expression of mRNAs for the natriuretic peptides or their receptors. Although increased gene expression does not necessarily convey a higher concentration of the protein, the data suggest that pressure overload is accompanied by upregulation of not only ANP and BNP but also their receptors NPR-A and NPR-C in the left ventricle.
Variations in number and morphology of permanent teeth in 7-year-old Swedish children.

OBJECTIVES To establish the prevalence of numerical and morphological variations of permanent teeth in Swedish 7-year-olds and to accept or reject the hypothesis of a higher prevalence for these conditions in northern Sweden compared to other areas. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING Department of Odontology/Pedodontics, Umeå University, Sweden. SAMPLE AND METHODS A total of 739 healthy Caucasian 7-year-olds residing in the city of Umeå, northern Sweden in 1976. The children were examined clinically and radiographically. RESULTS The prevalence of hypodontia (excluding third molars) in girls was 8.4%, in boys 6.5%, and in both sexes combined 7.4%. Of the children with hypodontia, the majority (90.9%) lacked one or two teeth. Lower second premolars were the teeth most frequently missing. The prevalence of hyperdontia was 1.9%; 11 girls and three boys were affected; 78% of the supernumerary teeth were mesiodenses. Of the morphological variations, peg-shaped upper lateral incisors were found in 0.8% of the children, double-formation (gemination) in 0.3%, taurodontism in 0.3% and dens invaginatus in 6.8%. One diagnosis was found in 18% of the children, and in almost 8% of them more than one diagnosis was found. CONCLUSIONS The results agree with those obtained in similar populations and are considered representative of this ethnic group. The hypothesis of a genetically determined higher prevalence of numerical and morphological variations in the study population was not verified.
Radio monitoring of the hard state jets in the 2011 outburst of MAXI J1836 194

MAXI J1836-194 is a Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary that was discovered in 2011 when it went into outburst. In this paper, we present the full radio monitoring of this system during its 'failed' outburst, in which the source did not complete a full set of state changes, only transitioning as far as the hard intermediate state. Observations with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) show that the jet properties changed significantly during the outburst. The VLA observations detected linearly polarized emission at a level of similar to 1 per cent early in the outburst, increasing to similar to 3 per cent as the outburst peaked. High-resolution images with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) show an similar to 15 mas jet along the position angle -21 +/- 2 degrees, in agreement with the electric vector position angle found from our polarization results (-21 +/- 4 degrees), implying that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the jet. Astrometric observations suggest that the system required an asymmetric natal kick to explain its observed space velocity. Comparing quasisimultaneous X-ray monitoring with the 5 GHz VLA observations from the 2011 outburst shows an unusually steep hard-state radio/X-ray correlation of L-R alpha L-X(1.8 +/- 0.2), where L-R and LX denote the radio and X-ray luminosities, respectively. With ATCA and Swift monitoring of the source during a period of re-brightening in 2012, we show that the system lay on the same steep correlation. Due to the low inclination of this system, we then investigate the possibility that the observed correlation may have been steepened by variable Doppler boosting.
Interaction Between Photodynamic Therapy and BCG Immunotherapy Responsible for the Reduced Recurrence of Treated Mouse Tumors ¶

Subcutaneous mouse EMT6 tumors were treated by individual or combined regimens of a single Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine administration and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Six clinically relevant photosensitizers characterized by different action mechanisms were used: Photofrin, benzoporphyrin derivative, tetra(m‐hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (foscan), mono‐l‐aspartyl‐chlorin e6, lutetium texaphyrin or zinc phthalocyanine. Irrespective of the type of photosensitizer used, the optimized BCG protocols improved the cure rate of PDT‐treated tumors. This indicates that the interaction does not take place during the early phase of tumor ablation but at later events involved in preventing tumor recurrence. Beneficial effects on tumor cure were observed even when the BCG injection was delayed to 7 days after PDT. The accumulation of activated myeloid cells that markedly increases in tumors treated by Photofrin‐based PDT was not additionally affected by BCG treatment. However, the incidence of immune memory T cells in tumor‐draining lymph nodes that almost doubled at 6 days after Photofrin‐PDT further increased close to three‐fold with adjuvant BCG. This suggests that BCG immunotherapy amplifies the T‐lymphocyte–mediated immune response against PDT‐treated tumors. Since both these modalities are established for the treatment of superficial bladder carcinomas, use of their combination for this condition should be clinically tested.