Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open reduction and augmentation of internal fixation with an injectable skeletal cement for the treatment of complex calcaneal fractures.

OBJECTIVES To describe the surgical handling, potential complications, and remodeling of an injectable, osteoconductive calcium phosphate cement (Norian SRS) for joint depression-type calcaneal fractures in humans, and to illustrate the clinical efficacy of this cement with special reference to early postoperative full weight bearing. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Level I trauma centers in Bochum and Leipzig, Germany. INTERVENTION Thirty-six joint depression type calcaneal fractures in thirty-two patients were augmented with the calcium phosphate cement after standard open reduction with internal fixation. Postoperative full weight bearing was allowed progressively earlier, and as the study progressed, the last patients were bearing full weight as early as three weeks postoperatively. Biopsies for histologic analysis were performed at time of hardware removal after one year (seven biopsies) or in case of infection at time of debridement (five biopsies). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Clinical outcome was evaluated according to a calcaneal scoring system. Data were compared and statistically analyzed between patients with postoperative full weight bearing after eight to twelve weeks and three to six weeks, respectively. Histologic findings are described. RESULTS Cement injection averaged ten cubic centimeters and could easily be performed under fluoroscopic control. Progressively earlier full weight-bearing was achieved without loss of reduction. There was no statistical difference in clinical outcome scores in patients with full weight bearing before or after six weeks postoperatively. The infection rate was 11 percent, possibly related to the skin incisions. The biopsies from clinically satisfactory cases showed nearly complete bone apposition, areas of vascular penetration, and reversal lines illustrating progressive cycles of resorption and new bone formation. Biopsy specimens from infected cases showed bone and cement surrounded by either fibrous tissue or acute inflammation without extensive bone apposition. CONCLUSIONS Calcium phosphate cement augmentation of standard open reduction with internal fixation in joint-depression type calcaneal fractures allows postoperative full weight bearing as early as three weeks postoperatively. The injectable bone cement can easily be handled surgically under fluoroscopic control and has proved to be remodelable.
Impact of peak/mid luteal estradiol on pregnancy outcome after intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

OBJECTIVE To compare peak to mid estradiol ratio with the probability of successful conception after intracytoplasmic sperm injection. METHOD The quasi-experimental study was conducted in an infertility clinic at Islamabad from June 2010 till August 2011, and comprised couples subjected to intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection. Down-regulation of ovaries was followed by calculated stimulation, ovulation induction, oocytes retrieval, intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, in vitro maturation of embryos and finally blastocysts transfer. Serum estradiol was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on ovulation induction day and the day of embryo transfer. Failure of procedure was detected by beta human chorionic gonadotropin 5-25 mlU/ml (Group I; non-pregnant). Females with beta human chorionic gonadotropin > 25 mIU/ml and no cardiac activity after 4 weeks of transfer were placed in Group II (pre-clinical abortion), and confirmation of foetal heart in the latter comprised Group III (clinical pregnancy). Data was analysed using SPSS 15. RESULTS Of the 323 couples initially enrolled, embryo transfer was carried out in 282 (87.3%) females. Clinical pregnancy was achieved in 101 (36%) of the cases, while 61 (21.63%) had pre-clinical abortion, and 120 (42%) remained non-pregnant. The peak/mid-luteal estradiolratio was low (2.3) in patients who had high oocyte maturity (p = 0.001) and fertilisation rate (p = 0.003) compared to non-pregnant patients with high peak/mid-luteal estradiolratio (2.56). CONCLUSION High peak estradiol with maintenance of optimal levels in mid-luteal phase is required for implantation of fertilised ovum and accomplishment of clinical pregnancy.
Legionella pneumophila CsrA is a pivotal repressor of transmission traits and activator of replication

Legionella pneumophila can replicate inside amoebae and also alveolar macrophages to cause Legionnaires’ Disease in susceptible hosts. When nutrients become limiting, a stringent‐like response coordinates the differentiation of L. pneumophila to a transmissive form, a process mediated by the two‐component system LetA/S and the sigma factors RpoS and FliA. Here we demonstrate that the broadly conserved RNA binding protein CsrA is a global repressor of L. pneumophila transmission phenotypes and an essential activator of intracellular replication. By analysing csrA expression and the phenotypes of csrA single and double mutants and a strain that expresses csrA constitutively, we demonstrate that, during replication in broth, CsrA represses every post‐exponential phase phenotype examined, including cell shape shortening, motility, pigmentation, stress resistance, sodium sensitivity, cytotoxicity and efficient macrophage infection. At the transition to the post‐exponential phase, LetA/S relieves CsrA repression to induce transmission phenotypes by both FliA‐dependent and ‐independent pathways. For L. pneumophila to avoid lysosomal degradation in macrophages, CsrA repression must be relieved by LetA/S before phagocytosis; conversely, before intracellular bacteria can replicate, CsrA repression must be restored. The reciprocal regulation of replication and transmission exemplified by CsrA likely enhances the fitness of microbes faced with fluctuating environments.
Western blotting analysis for malignant lymphoma and stomach cancer antigens from carcinogen‐transformed bloom syndrome cells

Membrane antigen (glyco‐) proteins associated with malignant lymphoma (ML) and stomach (ST) cancer were collected from a carcinogen‐transformed Bloom syndrome (BS) B‐lymphoblastoid cell line by means of the panning protocol, in which antigen cell clones which specifically react with antibodies in ML and ST cancer sera were separated on polystyrene dishes coated with IgG. Gel electrophoresis and Western blotting (WB) analyses demonstrated that antigens which characterize ML and ST cancer gave a single band (ML, 97 kDa; ST, 118 kDa) and did not cross‐react with sera of other cancer patients or with normal sera. The present WB procdure may be useful for diagnostic purposes. The amino acid sequence of the ML antigen band (97 kDa) had 76.9% (in 13 sequences) homology to that of the variable region of the immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain (IgVH) at the N‐terminal end, while the sequence of the ST (118 kDa) cancer antigen had little homology to IgVH.
Cooperative Activation of TLR2 and Bradykinin B2 Receptor Is Required for Induction of Type 1 Immunity in a Mouse Model of Subcutaneous Infection by Trypanosoma cruzi1

We have previously reported that exogenous bradykinin activates immature dendritic cells (DCs) via the bradykinin B2 receptor (B2R), thereby stimulating adaptive immunity. In this study, we show that these premises are met in a model of s.c. infection by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan that liberates kinins from kininogens through its major protease, cruzipain. Intensity of B2R-dependent paw edema evoked by trypomastigotes correlated with levels of IL-12 produced by CD11c+ dendritic cells isolated from draining lymph nodes. The IL-12 response induced by endogenously released kinins was vigorously increased in infected mice pretreated with inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), a kinin-degrading metallopeptidase. Furthermore, these innate stimulatory effects were linked to B2R-dependent up-regulation of IFN-γ production by Ag-specific T cells. Strikingly, the trypomastigotes failed to up-regulate type 1 immunity in TLR2−/− mice, irrespective of ACE inhibitor treatment. Analysis of the dynamics of inflammation revealed that TLR2 triggering by glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mucins induces plasma extravasation, thereby favoring peripheral accumulation of kininogens in sites of infection. Further downstream, the parasites generate high levels of innate kinin signals in peripheral tissues through the activity of cruzipain. The demonstration that the deficient type 1 immune responses of TLR2−/− mice are rescued upon s.c. injection of exogenous kininogens, along with trypomastigotes, supports the notion that generation of kinin “danger” signals is intensified through cooperative activation of TLR2 and B2R. In summary, we have described a s.c. infection model where type 1 immunity is vigorously up-regulated by bradykinin, an innate signal whose levels in peripheral tissues are controlled by an intricate interplay of TLR2, B2R, and ACE.
Aggression and violence against primary care physicians—a nationwide questionnaire survey.

BACKGROUND International studies show that aggressive behavior against primary care physicians is not an uncommon occurrence. There has been no systematic study to date of the nature and frequency of such occurrences in Germany. METHODS A four-page questionnaire was sent to a nationwide random sample of 1500 primary care physicians. It contained questions about the type, frequency, severity, and site of aggressive behavior against the physician. RESULTS 831 (59%) of 1408 correctly delivered questionnaires could be included in the analysis. 91% of the respondents (95% confidence interval [CI], 89%-93%) said they had been the object of aggressive behavior at some time in their career as a primary care physician, 73% (95% CI, 70%-76%) in the previous 12 months. Severe aggression or violence had been experienced by 23% (95% CI, 20%-25%) in their entire career and 11% (95% CI, 8%-13%) in the previous year. The vast majority of respondents said they felt safe in their offices. 66% of female and 34% of male respondents said they did not feel safe making house visits while on on-call duty. CONCLUSION The frequency and extent of aggression and violence against primary care physicians in Germany is comparable to those reported by international studies. Strategies for dealing with this problem should be developed. In particular, the issue of safety on emergency call needs to be addressed.
An ischemic stroke model of nonhuman primates for remote lesion studies: a behavioral and neuroimaging investigation.

PURPOSE We aimed to develop a nonhuman primate (NHP) stroke model for studies of secondary lesions in remote areas and to characterize its behavioral and neuroimaging features. METHODS Monkeys were either subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) distal to the M1 branch (n = 17) or sham operation (n = 7). Neurological assessment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed before and 1 week after operation. RESULTS After MCAO, six monkeys showed occlusion of the distal M1 segment and infarcts predominantly in the cortical and subcortical regions, without hippocampal and thalamic involvement. They had obvious neurological deficits. The other 11 monkeys showed blockage of the main trunk of the MCA, with infarcts extending into the hippocampus and thalamus, but no substantia nigra involvement. Their infarct volume were larger and neurological deficits were more severe than those after distal M1 occlusion. All sham-operated monkeys displayed normal behavior; however, MRI revealed small infarcts in three animals. CONCLUSIONS MCAO or even sham operations might cause cerebral infarction in NHPs. Therefore, neurological assessment should be combined with MRI for screening candidate stroke models. Our model is suitable for studying secondary damage in remote regions, including the thalamus, hippocampus, and substantia nigra, after stroke.
A 28nm HKMG super low power embedded NVM technology based on ferroelectric FETs

We successfully implemented a one-transistor (1T) ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) eNVM into a 28nm gate-first super low power (28SLP) CMOS technology platform using two additional structural masks. The electrical baseline properties remain the same for the FeFET integration and the JTAG-controlled 64 kbit memory shows clearly separated states. High temperature retention up to 250 °C is demonstrated and endurance up to 105 cycles was achieved. The FeFET unique properties make it the best candidate for eNVM solutions in sub-2x technologies for low-cost IoT applications.
Lower body site-specific sarcopenia and accelerometer-determined moderate and vigorous physical activity: the HIREGASAKI study

Background and aims: It is unknown if the site-specific muscle loss of ageing muscle is associated with accelerometer-determined daily step count and/or intensity of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between accelerometer- determined physical activity and lower body muscle size in women. Methods: Forty-eight women aged 52 to 76 years had their muscle thickness (MTH) measured by B-mode ultrasound at seven sites on the anterior and posterior aspects of their upper- and lower-leg. Daytime physical activity was measured using an accelerometer on 30 consecutive days and the total duration of each level of exercise intensity (light-PA, moderate-PA and vigorous-PA), average step count, and physical activity-related energy expenditure were calculated. Results: Age was inversely correlated with anterior 30% upper-leg MTH (r=−0.296, p<0.05), but not with other measured MTH sites. Light-PA was not significantly (p>0.05) correlated with measured lower body MTH. However, moderate-PA was correlated (p<0.05) with lower-leg MTH, while vigorous-PA was correlated (p<0.05) with lower-leg and anterior 30% upper- leg MTH. Following adjustment for confounding factors, the anterior and posterior lower-leg MTH was positively correlated (p<0.05) with duration of moderate- PA and vigorous-PA, as well as average step count. Conclusions: Thus daily moderate and vigorous physical activity was associated with higher muscle mass in the lower leg, but not in the upper-leg muscle, suggesting that the site-specific upper-leg muscle loss may not be prevented or attenuated by daily physical activity.
Viral replication is required for induction of ocular immunopathology by herpes simplex virus

Corneal infection of BALB/c mice with herpes simplex virus type 1 results in a chronic inflammatory response in the stroma termed herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK). This disease is considered to be immunopathological and mediated primarily by CD4+ T cells of the type 1 cytokine profile. However, the nature of the antigens, virus or host derived, which drive the inflammatory response remains in doubt. In this study, the relevance of infection with replicating virus for the subsequent development of HSK was evaluated with immunocompetent mice as well as with SCID mice reconstituted with herpes simplex virus-immune CD4+ T cells. In the corneas of immunocompetent mice, infectious virus, viral antigen, and mRNA expression were detectable for only a brief period of time (< or = 7 days postinfection), and all were undetectable by the time clinical lesions were evident (10 to 15 days). Viral replication, however, was necessary for the development of HSK in both models, since infection with UV-inactivated virus or with mutant viruses which were incapable of multiple rounds of replication in vivo failed to induce HSK. The inactivated and mutant viral preparations did, however, stimulate T-cell immune responses in immunocompetent mice. The results are discussed in terms of possible involvement of host antigens exposed in response to transient progeny virion replication in the immune-privileged cornea.
Crystal Delay and Time Walk Correction Methods for Coincidence Resolving Time Improvements of a Digital-Silicon-Photomultiplier-Based PET/MRI Insert

Our group has built the MRI compatible PET insert Hyperion IID, which is based on digital silicon photomultipliers [digital photon counters (DPCs)]. We characterized its performance for two different scintillator configurations already in previous publications. For this paper, we reused the raw detector data that were used in previous publications and stored for offline analysis. We reprocessed these data in order to improve the timing performance of the PET scanner. Different crystal delay and time walk calibration and correction methods are evaluated with respect to the coincidence resolving time (CRT) of the scanner. For all applied correction methods, we report CRTs both for a preclinical and a clinical scintillator configuration for all DPC trigger schemes and several energy windows. The newly obtained results were compared with the previously published values, and the additional benefit of using a time walk correction was evaluated. Previously published CRTs could be improved using a refined version of the original crystal delay calibration method without applying a walk correction by 6.3%–10.9% for a wide energy window ranging from 250–625 keV, and we could show an additional improvement of up to 2.6% by adding a walk correction. Using trigger scheme 1 and a very narrow energy window around the photopeak (500–520 keV), we could reach CRT values on system level of 208/240 ps for the clinical/preclinical scintillator configuration.
ANALYSIS OF HEMOLYMPH OXYGEN LEVELS AND ACID-BASE STATUS DURING EMERSION 'IN SITU' IN THE RED ROCK CRAB, CANCER PRODUCTUS.

Hemolymph samples were taken from small (< 100 g) individuals of Cancer productus following ca. 3 h air exposure (emersion) on the beach, `in situ', at Friday Harbor, Washington. Compared with crabs of similar size in sea water in the laboratory, these crabs emersed `in situ' had lower Pao2, and Pvo2, but no significant change in pH and a small, not significant, internal hypercapnia. Total CO2 (Cco2) content of the hemolymph was elevated by 70% (15.2 versus 9.0 mM), possibly as compensation for input of acid into the hemolymph. These responses are qualitatively similar to those resulting from similar treatment in the laboratory, but differ in the reduced magnitude of the internal hypercapnia and acidosis of the hemolymph. It is suggested that the particular conditions of emersion `in situ' permit some gas exchange with interstitial sea water. Interstitial sea water was found to be hypoxic (Po2 = 20-40 torr), which would limit oxygen supply yet permit CO2 excretion to continue, in agreement with the data.
Disrupted Co-activation of Interneurons and Hippocampal Network after Focal Kainate Lesion

GABAergic interneurons are known to control activity balance in physiological conditions and to coordinate hippocampal networks during cognitive tasks. In temporal lobe epilepsy interneuron loss and consecutive network imbalance could favor pathological hypersynchronous epileptic discharges. We tested this hypothesis in mice by in vivo unilateral epileptogenic hippocampal kainate lesion followed by in vitro recording of extracellular potentials and patch-clamp from GFP-expressing interneurons in CA3, in an optimized recording chamber. Slices from lesioned mice displayed, in addition to control synchronous events, larger epileptiform discharges. Despite some ipsi/contralateral and layer variation, interneuron density tended to decrease, average soma size to increase. Their membrane resistance decreased, capacitance increased and contralateral interneuron required higher current intensity to fire action potentials. Examination of synchronous discharges of control and larger amplitudes, revealed that interneurons were biased to fire predominantly with the largest population discharges. Altogether, these observations suggest that the overall effect of reactive cell loss, hypertrophy and reduced contralateral excitability corresponds to interneuron activity tuning to fire with larger population discharges. Such cellular and network mechanisms may contribute to a runaway path toward epilepsy.
Learning Tree-based Deep Model for Recommender Systems

Model-based methods for recommender systems have been studied extensively in recent years. In systems with large corpus, however, the calculation cost for the learnt model to predict all user-item preferences is tremendous, which makes full corpus retrieval extremely difficult. To overcome the calculation barriers, models such as matrix factorization resort to inner product form (i.e., model user-item preference as the inner product of user, item latent factors) and indexes to facilitate efficient approximate k-nearest neighbor searches. However, it still remains challenging to incorporate more expressive interaction forms between user and item features, e.g., interactions through deep neural networks, because of the calculation cost. In this paper, we focus on the problem of introducing arbitrary advanced models to recommender systems with large corpus. We propose a novel tree-based method which can provide logarithmic complexity w.r. t. corpus size even with more expressive models such as deep neural networks. Our main idea is to predict user interests from coarse to fine by traversing tree nodes in a top-down fashion and making decisions for each user-node pair. We also show that the tree structure can be jointly learnt towards better compatibility with users' interest distribution and hence facilitate both training and prediction. Experimental evaluations with two large-scale real-world datasets show that the proposed method significantly outperforms traditional methods. Online A/B test results in Taobao display advertising platform also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in production environments.
Effects of oregano essential oil with or without feed enzymes on growth performance, digestive enzyme, nutrient digestibility, lipid metabolism and immune response of broilers fed on wheat–soybean meal diets

1. The study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of enzyme and oregano essential oil at two levels, alone or together, on performance, digestive enzyme, nutrient digestibility, lipid metabolism and immune response of broilers fed on wheat–soybean meal based diets. 2. The following dietary treatments were used from d 0 to 21. Diet 1 (control, CONT): a commercial diet containing no enzyme or oregano essential oil, diet 2 (ENZY): supplemented with enzyme, diet 3 (EO250): supplemented with essential oil at 250 mg/kg feed, diet 4 (EO500): supplemented with essential oil at 500 mg/kg feed, diet 5 (ENZY + EO250): supplemented with enzyme and essential oil at 250 mg/kg, and diet 6 (ENZY + EO500): supplemented with enzyme and essential oil at 500 mg/kg. 3. Birds fed on diets containing ENZY, EO250 and ENZY + EO250 had significantly higher weight gain than those given CONT diet from d 0 to 7. No significant effects on feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality, organ weights except for jejunum weight and intestinal lengths was found with either enzyme or essential oil, alone or in combination, over the 21-d growth period. The supplementation of essential oil together with enzyme decreased jejunum weight compared with essential oil alone. 4. Supplementation with enzyme significantly decreased viscosity and increased dry matter of digesta, but did not alter pH of digesta. There was no effect of essential oil alone at either concentration on viscosity, dry matter or pH of digesta. A significant decrease in viscosity of digesta appeared when essential oil was used with together enzyme. 5. The supplementation of essential oil at both levels with or without enzyme significantly increased chymotrypsin activity in the digestive system, and improved crude protein digestibility. 6. The higher concentration of essential oil with and without enzyme significantly increased serum total cholesterol concentrations. No significant effect on immune response was found with either enzyme or essential oil, alone or together. 7. Enzymes and essential oil had different modes of actions. The supplementation of enzyme with essential oil in diets is likely more effective in view of performance, nutrient digestibility, enzyme activities and immune system.