Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periurethral autologous fat injection as treatment for female stress urinary incontinence: a randomized double-blind controlled trial.

PURPOSE We evaluated the effectiveness of periurethral autologous fat injection as treatment for female stress urinary incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODS Women with stress incontinence were randomized in a double-blind fashion to receive periurethral injections of autologous fat (treatment group) or saline (placebo group). After injection patients were evaluated monthly for 3 months by a validated standardized incontinence questionnaire, 1-hour pad test and cough test. Patients who remained incontinent were offered repeat injection using the same initial agent to a maximum of 3 injections. Every 3 months after injection patients were assessed by a standardized questionnaire, pad test, cough test and urodynamics. Those who did not qualify for repeat injection at 3 months were then followed 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months or until failure. RESULTS Of the 68 women enrolled 35 received fat and 33 received saline injections. The groups were comparable in terms of baseline parameters. A total of 56 patients completed the study, including 27 in the fat and 29 in the placebo group, for a total of 189 injections (91 fat and 98 saline). At 3 months 6 of 27 (22.2%) and 6 of 29 (20.7%) women were cured or improved in the fat and saline groups, respectively. Complications included cystitis in 9 of 189 injections, urinary retention in 6 in the fat injection group, urge incontinence in 9 of 68 patients and pulmonary fat embolism resulting in death in 1 of 189 procedures. CONCLUSIONS In this study periurethral fat injection did not appear to be more efficacious than placebo for treating stress incontinence.
Optimal lot size determination of multistage production system

This paper deals with the optimization of total setup plus inventory cost of a certain class of the multistage inventory-production systems with the series arranged production stages having generally different production rates, separated by stores from each other. The optimization is made by the choice of lot sizes across an infinite time horizon. The exact cost-optimization algorithm based on the Bellman optimality principle is derived and applied for deriving two lower bounds of the optimal cost of the above class of systems. These lowe bounds improve that derived by Crowston, Wagner and Williams. Two numerical examples are given.
A gap-junction-mediated signal, rather than an external paracrine factor, predominates during meiotic induction in isolated mouse oocytes

This study was carried out to compare the possible role of a secreted paracrine factor versus that of a gap-junction-transmitted signal in mediating meiotic induction in isolated mouse oocytes from PMSG-primed, immature mice. In the first set of experiments, oocyte-cumulus cell complexes (OCC) were pretreated for 3 h with 2 mM dbcAMP or FSH, washed, and the oocytes then cultured for 17-18 h in 40 μl drops containing either 300 μM dbcAMP or 4 mM hypoxanthine (HX). Each set of pretreated oocytes was cultured under three different conditions: (1) intact cumulus-cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO); (2) denuded oocytes (DO), cultured alone after removal of cumulus cells; and (3) co-cultured cumulus cells and oocytes (CC/DO), where the cumulus cells were removed in the same drop with a mouth-operated pipette and cultured alongside the oocytes. When pretreated with high dbcAMP or FSH, maturation was stimulated in CEO when cultured in either inhibitor (by 41.4-53.7%). Pretreatment failed to affect the maturation rate in DO. DO maturation was not altered appreciably by co-cultured cumulus cells when arrest was maintained with dbcAMP. However, an increase in maturation of 21-23% was observed in CC/DO in the HX-containing cultures that was not dependent on prior treatment with a meiosis-inducing stimulus. When DO were co-cultured with intact, FSH-treated OCC, there was no evidence of a positive factor secreted by the stimulated complexes, despite the fact that oocytes within the OCC were induced to resume maturation. In a second series of experiments the gap junction inhibitor, 18α-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), was utilised. An initial experiment determined that GA dose-dependently blocked OCC metabolic coupling (0.2% coupling at 10 μM compared with 13.6% in controls). When HX-arrested CEO and DO were cultured for 17-18 h in medium containing increasing concentrations of GA, meiotic maturation was induced in CEO but not DO, suggesting that the cumulus cells provided a positive stimulus in the absence of functional gap junctional communication. No effect of GA was seen in dbcAMP-arrested oocytes. A kinetics experiment showed that when CEO were cultured in dbcAMP±FSH, meiotic induction was initiated after 3 h and germinal vesicle breakdown reached 60% by 6 h. When GA was added to the cultures at different times after the initiation of culture (0, 2, 3, 4 and 5 h), meiotic induction was immediately blocked. In addition, measurement of OCC coupling revealed that no reduction in coupling occurred during this induction period in the absence of GA. It is concluded that cumulus cells can secrete a positive factor, but that this is normally overridden by inhibitory influences transmitted through the gap junction pathway in intact complexes. Furthermore, upon exposure of complexes to a meiosis-inducing stimulus, a positive gap-junction-mediated signal now predominates to trigger germinal vesicle breakdown, and this signal is utilised throughout the induction period.
Serum glial fibrillary acidic protein is a highly specific biomarker for traumatic brain injury in humans compared with S-100B and neuron-specific enolase.

BACKGROUND Serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is a specific predictor of brain damage and neurologic outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this study, serum GFAP, S-100B, and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were compared in the same samples from severe trauma patients to assess their ability to predict abnormalities detectable on head computed tomography (CT). METHODS This study was a retrospective analysis at a single university emergency center. Thirty-four trauma patients were included. Serum samples were collected from the patients for 3 days. Serum GFAP, S-100B, and NSE concentrations were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and compared in patients with and without TBI, as evaluated by head CT. RESULTS Serum GFAP, S-100B, and NSE were significantly higher in the TBI patients than in the non-TBI patients (p < 0.05 for each protein). The receiver operating characteristic curves for TBI were compared for the three biomarkers for 3 days. Serum GFAP on day 1 had the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.983), with 88.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity. CONCLUSIONS Serum GFAP has remarkable diagnostic value for TBI, defined by abnormal head CT findings, in prehospital-triaged patients with severe trauma.
Systemic treatment with the sphingosine‐1‐phosphate analog FTY720 does not improve fracture healing in mice

Sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P) has recently been recognized as a crucial coupling molecule of osteoclast and osteoblast activity provoking osteoanabolic effects. Targeting S1P receptors could, therefore, be a potential strategy to support bone formation in osteopenic diseases or in fracture repair. Here we investigated whether systemic treatment with the S1P analog FTY720 (Fingolimod) could improve fracture healing. Twelve‐week‐old, female C57BL/6 mice received an osteotomy of the femur, which was stabilized using an external fixator. The mice received a daily subcutaneous injection of either FTY720 (6 mg/kg) or vehicle from the third postoperative day. Fracture healing was evaluated after 10 and 21 days using biomechanical testing, µ‐computed tomography, and histomorphometry. Because FTY720 is supposed to influence osteoclast recruitment, osteoclasts were identified in the fracture callus by staining for tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP). There were no significant differences in callus mechanical properties, tissue composition and osteoclast number between the groups, suggesting that systemically applied FTY720 did not influence bone regeneration in this model of regular fracture healing. Even if further studies should test the potency of FTY720 under unfavorable healing conditions, we conclude that the effect of systemically applied FTY720 on fracture healing might be inferior compared to other anabolic treatments. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1845–1850, 2013
Midline cerebral dysgenesis, dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and fetal alcohol effects.

OBJECTIVE Neuropathologic evaluation was performed on an infant with fetal alcohol effects. DESIGN Coronal brain sections and representative tissue blocks stained with hematoxylin-eosin, silver stain, and immunocytochemical stains for hypothalamic and pituitary hormones were evaluated for neuropathologic abnormalities. PATIENT A 2.5-month-old American Indian girl who had been exposed to first-trimester maternal binge alcohol abuse died after persistent problems of growth failure, sodium imbalance, aberrant temperature regulation, respiratory distress, and seizures. RESULTS Autopsy revealed severe microcephaly, hypertelorism, midfacial hypoplasia, a high-arched palate, shortened palpebral fissures, and a small brain. The frontal lobes were fused anteriorly; olfactory bulbs and tracts were absent; and optic nerves were hypoplastic. An enlarged and bulbous hypothalamus obscured the pituitary gland. The thalamus and caudate nuclei were fused across the midline. Posteriorly, the single ventricle split to form rudimentary lateral horns. The anterior corpus callosum, septum pellucidum, fimbria, and fornices could not be identified. The anterior commissure and supraoptic nuclei were microscopically present. Many Purkinje cells were horizontally positioned, with abnormal dendritic structure. The posterior pituitary lobe was absent, and the infundibulum was flanked by a hypoplastic adenohypophysis and a large subarachnoid heterotopia. Immunocytochemical studies identified only vasopressin and neurophysin in the hypothalamus and only growth hormone and prolactin in the pituitary gland. CONCLUSION To our knowledge, an association between fetal alcohol effects and a complex cerebral anomaly with features of incomplete holoprosencephaly and septo-optic dysplasia has not previously been reported and suggests a possible common pathogenesis needing further study.
Radiographic Variables That May Predict Clinical Outcomes in Cervical Disk Replacement Surgery

Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Objective: To determine which, if any, radiographic parameters are predictive of clinical outcome after cervical disk replacement (CDR) surgery. Summary of Background Data: It is unclear whether radiographic parameters are predictive of outcome after CDR. Methods: An analysis of the radiographic parameters and clinical outcomes of the CDR cohort of the Discover artificial cervical disk IDE trial was performed. Clinical outcome measures included Neck Disability Index (NDI), visual analog pain scale (neck, arm, and shoulder), and SF-36 physical component summary score scores, collected preoperatively and at regularly scheduled postoperative time periods. Patients with at least 1-year follow-up were included. The change in outcomes from baseline was determined at each follow-up interval. The following minimal clinically important difference (MCID) thresholds were applied: −7.5 for NDI, −25 for visual analog pain scale, and +4.1 for physical component summary score. Fifty-six radiographic variables were analyzed to identify factors that may be associated with a poor clinical outcome, defined as failure to achieve the MCID in NDI. Results: A total of 243 patients underwent CDR at 304 levels (182 one level, 61 two level). One hundred seventy-one patients (89 female, 82 male; mean age, 44.2 y; range, 28–67 y) had at least 1-year follow-up. A preoperative disk height of <3.5 mm was associated with a 3.4 times greater risk of not achieving a MCID in NDI (P=0.018). Increasing the functional spinal unit angle by >3 degrees was associated with a 3.5 times greater risk of not achieving a MCID in NDI (P=0.016). There were 21/171 patients (25 levels) who did not achieve the NDI MCID threshold. All of these patients had at least1, and 16/21 of these patients had more than 1 abnormal radiographic finding. Seventy percent of treatment levels had severe or bridging heterotopic ossification at 3-years follow-up, the incidence of which increased linearly with time. Conclusions: Several radiographic variables are predictive of clinical outcomes, including decreased preoperative disk space height and excessive postoperative segmental lordosis.
Effect of Exercise Performed during Hemodialysis: Strength versus Aerobic

Rational: Patients under regular dialysis can also present alterations in the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and metabolic systems. Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the effects of strength and aerobic exercises performed during hemodialysis (HD) in individuals with chronic renal disease. Materials and Methods: Randomized clinical trial. It was developed as a program of exercises three times a week, in the first 2 h of HD for 8 weeks. The patients were divided into three groups: control (Group 1, n: 11), strength (Group 2, n: 11), and aerobic (Group 3, n: 10). G1 has not developed any type of physical training; G2 utilized a training load of 40% of one repetition maximum (1RM) with anklets, and developed three series of 15 repetitions. G3 pedaled seated in the dialysis seat, during 20 min, in an ergometric bicycle, with intensity regulated by the perceived effort scale. Before and after 8 weeks, the following variables were evaluated: respiratory muscular strength, pulmonary function, functional capacity, blood biochemistry, and quality of life. Main Findings: In the pre- and post-training comparison, there was statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05) in the maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP), number of steps achieved (NSA), and quality of life (QoL) in the trained groups, as compared to the non-exercised group (G1). Conclusions: The strength and aerobic exercises developed during HD can improve the respiratory muscular strength, functional performance, and quality of life, when compared to individuals presenting the disease who have not developed any type of physical training.
Can we explain natural language inference decisions taken with neural networks? Inference rules in distributed representations

Natural Language Inference (NLI) is a key, complex task where machine learning (ML) is playing an important role. However, ML has progressively obfuscated the role of linguistically-motivated inference rules, which should be the core of NLI systems. In this paper, we introduce distributed inference rules as a novel way to encode linguistically-motivated inference rules in learning interpretable NLI classifiers. We propose two encoders: the Distributed Partial Tree Encoder and the Distributed Smoothed Partial Tree Encoder. These encoders allow modeling syntactic and syntactic-semantic inference rules as distributed representations ready to be used in ML models over large datasets. Although far from the state-of-the-art of end-to-end deep learning systems on large datasets, our shallow networks positively exploit inference rules for NLI, improving over baseline systems. This is a first positive step towards interpretable and explainable end-to-end deep learning systems.
Treatment of gingival recession with titanium reinforced barrier membranes versus connective tissue grafts.

It was the aim of this study to compare barrier membrane therapy with connective tissue grafts in the treatment of recession defects. Fifteen patients with 2 paired vestibular recession defects participated in the study. After thorough scaling and root surface conditioning with tetracycline-HCl, defects were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment modalities. In one of the defects, a trapezoidal mucoperiosteal flap was prepared, and a titanium reinforced expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane was adapted to the defect and secured by a sling suture. The membrane was subsequently covered by a coronally positioned flap secured with crown attached sutures. The other defect was treated with a connective tissue graft employing the "envelope technique. " Twelve months after therapy, both treatment modalities showed significant root coverage and probing attachment gain. Gingival recession decreased from 3.6+/-0.7 mm to 0.5+/-0.5 mm for membrane treated defects and from 3.6+/-1.0 mm to 0.5+/-0.5 mm following use of grafts, corresponding to mean root coverages of 87.1% and 86.9%, respectively. Mean gains of keratinized tissue of 1.5 mm (membrane) and 2.5 mm (graft) could be observed. Thus, the results of this study demonstrate that both titanium reinforced barrier membranes and connective tissue grafts can be successfully used to treat periodontal recession defects.
Unemployment rate sensitivity to GDP fluctuations across Polish voivodeships

This article takes up the issue of sensitivity of unemployment with respect to changes in the aggregate production in Poland, in the years 1995-2011. It continues a long tradition of empirical literature on Okun’s Law. The issue of consequences of economic growth changes for the labour market gained importance recently, especially with the recent economic crisis and significant slowdown in economic growth in Poland. In the study we used data on unemployment rates and economic growth for sixteen Polish voivodeships to estimate the parameters of the Okun equation in two versions (in the „difference” version and „gap” version). We used econometric methods suitable for panel data. The estimated Okun’s parameter, amounting to an average of about 0.4, places Poland in the middle of the ranking of the OECD countries in terms of sensitivity of changes in unemployment relative to GDP. The hypothesis of a significantly stronger response of unemployment to changes in GDP in the period after 2008 (crisis in the global economy) was tested as well. The paper presents the Okun’s parameter estimates for each voivodeship in Poland and formulates hypothesis regarding the causes of their variability being related to economic structures and labour supply features of Polish voivodeships.
Walking the Black Dog

Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at the United Nations about AIDS in the world community, and the enormity of the statistics, especially the number of cases in Africa. He put a voice and a face on the suffering of people so they are recognized as human beings, and not as statistics. Recognizing that the price of treatment is too high for developing nations, Tutu urged other nations to direct some of their defense funds toward saving lives. He advocated for safer sex and the need to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. His underlying message was to understand the impact that individuals can make to help each other.
Low-Profile, Electrically Small, Huygens Source Antenna With Pattern-Reconfigurability That Covers the Entire Azimuthal Plane

A pattern-reconfigurable, low-profile, efficient, electrically small, near-field resonant parasitic (NFRP), Huygens source antenna is presented. The design incorporates both electric and magnetic NFRP elements. The electric ones are made reconfigurable by the inclusion of a set of p-i-n diodes. By arranging these electric and magnetic NFRP elements properly, a set of three Huygens sources are attained, each covering a 120° sector. Pattern reconfigurability is obtained by switching the diodes on or off; it encompasses the entire 360° azimuth range. A prototype was fabricated and tested. The numerical and experimental studies are in good agreement. The experimental results indicate that in each of its instantaneous states at <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{0} = 1.564$ </tex-math></inline-formula> GHz, the antenna provides uniform peak realized gains, front-to-back ratios, and radiation efficiencies, respectively, as high as 3.55 dBi, 17.5 dB, and 84.9%, even though it is electrically small: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$ka = 0.92$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and low profile: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.05~\lambda _{{\mathbf {0}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
Medication Acquisition and Self-Reported Adherence in Veterans With Hypertension

Objectives:To examine factors associated with oversupply and undersupply of antihypertensive medication, and examine evidence for medication acquisition as distinct from self-reported adherence. Research Design:Analysis of pharmacy refill records, medical charts, and in-person interviews. Subjects:Five hundred sixty-two male veterans with hypertension enrolled in a randomized controlled trial to improve BP control. Measures:Patients were classified as having undersupply (<0.80), appropriate supply (≥0.80 and ≤1.20), or oversupply (>1.20) of antihypertensive medication in the 90 days before trial enrollment based on the ReComp algorithm. Determination of BP control was based on clinic measurements at enrollment. Demographic, clinical, psychosocial, and behavioral factors relevant to medication-taking behavior and BP were assessed at enrollment. Results:Twenty-three percent of the patients had undersupply, 47% had appropriate supply, and 30% had oversupply of antihypertensive medication. Multinomial logistic regression revealed that using fewer classes of antihypertensive medications and greater perceived adherence barriers were independently associated with greater likelihood of undersupply. Current employment was associated with decreased likelihood of oversupply, and greater comorbidity and being married were associated with increased likelihood of oversupply. Agreement between ReComp and self-reported adherence was poor (&kgr; = 0.19, P < 0.001). Undersupply, oversupply, and self-reported nonadherence were all independently associated with decreased likelihood of BP control after adjusting for each other and patient factors. Conclusions:Antihypertensive oversupply was common and may arise from different circumstances than undersupply. Measures of medication acquisition and self-reported adherence appear to provide distinct, complementary information about patients' medication-taking behavior.
Between a rock-a-bye and a hard place: mood disorders during the peripartum period

Mood disorders including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder are common during and after pregnancy. Timely identification and appropriate management of mood episodes is essential to maximize maternal well-being and minimize adverse outcomes. Failure to do so results in maternal suffering and impaired child bonding, and has the potential for devastating outcomes including suicide and infanticide. Women are routinely screened for unipolar depression during or after pregnancy but not for bipolar disorder, in spite of the fact that childbirth is associated with a major risk for onset or exacerbation of bipolar disorder. Delays in detection as well as misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder as major depressive disorder may put women at risk of many adverse consequences, including symptom exacerbation, psychiatric hospitalization, and suicide. A thorough psychiatric assessment is necessary to establish diagnosis, to address safety issues, and to formulate a treatment plan. Treatment of mood disorders during pregnancy is complicated by the potential risks of fetal exposure to psychotropic medications, and the use of these medications during the postpartum period may result in infant medication exposure through breastmilk. These risks of psychotropic medication exposure must be weighed against the risk of untreated mood disorders. This review will discuss the pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of mood disorders during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Screening tools that can be used in the primary care and obstetrics settings to assist in identifying women with peripartum mood disorders will also be discussed.