Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Outcomes After Chronic Distal Biceps Reconstruction With Allografts

Background: Chronic ruptures of the distal biceps are often complicated by tendon retraction and fibrosis, precluding primary repair. Reconstruction with allograft augmentation has been proposed as an alternative for cases not amenable to primary repair. Purpose: To investigate the clinical outcomes of late distal biceps reconstruction using allograft tissue. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A total of 20 patients who underwent distal biceps reconstruction with allograft tissue between May 2007 and May 2012 were identified. Charts were retrospectively reviewed for postoperative complications, gross flexion and supination strength, and range of motion. Subjective functional outcomes were assessed prospectively with the Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS) and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Results: Eighteen patients with adequate follow-up were included in the study. All had undergone late distal biceps reconstruction with allografts (Achilles [n = 15], semitendinosus [n = 1], gracilis [n = 1], or anterior tibialis [n = 1]) for symptomatic chronic ruptures of the distal biceps. At a mean office follow-up of 9.3 months (range, 4-14 months), all patients had full range of motion and mean gross strength of 4.7 of 5 (range, 4-5) in flexion and supination. After a mean out-of-office follow-up at 21 months (range, 7-68.8 months), the mean DASH score was 7.5 ± 17.9, and the mean MEPS increased from 43.1 preoperatively to 94.2 postoperatively (P < .001). The only complication observed was transient posterior interosseous nerve palsy in 2 patients. Additionally, all but 1 patient reported a cosmetic deformity. However, all patients found it acceptable. Conclusion: Late reconstruction for chronic ruptures of the distal biceps using allograft tissue is a safe and effective solution for symptomatic patients with functional demands in forearm supination and elbow flexion. While there are several graft options, the literature supports good results with Achilles tendon allografts. Further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical outcomes of other allograft options.
Colin Bouwer: Professor of Psychiatry and murderer

I first heard of Colin Bouwer on 4 March 2001 when I received an email from Detective Sergeant Brett Roberts of Dunedin, New Zealand. The story he told was a fascinating one. Nine months earlier he had arrested Colin Bouwer, who was Head of the Department of Psychiatry in Otago Medical School in Dunedin, on a charge of murdering his wife. During the three months preceding his wife's death Colin had written false prescriptions for a long list of drugs, including insulin, which would not ordinarily be prescribed by a psychiatrist except possibly for his own use. The police obtained a search warrant and found on Colin's computer a number of emails that suggested he had injected his wife with insulin some 7–12 hours before her death. He had also emailed a number of international hypoglycaemia experts claiming to be a forensic psychiatrist dealing with a 47-year-old woman who had died in her sleep. The questions he posed related to the injection of insulin or the ingestion of sulphonylurea drugs (medicines used to treat diabetes) and the likely problems of establishing them as a cause of hypoglycaemia. I was not on Colin Bouwer's email list, nor did I know anyone who was. The police had, however, come across my name as the author of a paper entitled ‘Murder by insulin’ that I had recently published in the Medico-Legal Journal.1 They wondered whether Colin had phoned or written to me. Just in case I might dismiss his email as a hoax, Sergeant Roberts gave me his telephone number, although his email address – @police.govt. nz – was a bit of a giveaway. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, I did phone him as well as replying to his email to say that I had never heard of Dr. Bouwer and that he had never been in touch. I thought that was the end of it until I received a telephone call from Anne Stevens, a barrister, on 1 May 2001. She and leading counsel David More were defending Colin Bouwer on a charge of killing his wife by injecting her with insulin after weeks of trying to do so with sulphonylureas. They wanted me to review the evidence and express an opinion. I agreed to do so and promptly received a mass of clinical notes relating to Annette Bouwer's last illness during November and December 1999 and her death on 5 January 2000. Anne Stevens also sent me witness statements by a number of local experts who had been consulted by the police. By the end of May I had received a letter from David More telling me that the current defence position was that Annette had suffered from hypoglycaemia due to an insulinoma (an insulin-secreting tumour) and that it had been missed both at operation and at postmortem. An alternative explanation was that she had committed suicide with drugs her husband had stockpiled for his own suicide when it became evident to her that her doctors could do no more than they already had done to alleviate her ongoing suffering.
Subjective visual vertical perception in patients with vestibular neuritis and sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE To determine the subjective visual vertical (SVV) perception in patients with vestibular neuritis (VN) and sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL) using the SVV test and other neuro-otological examinations, namely, the vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) and caloric tests, and to clarify which vestibular nerve function is associated with an SVV shift. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed the SVV test in 36 VN patients and 80 SSHL patients. Thereafter, we investigated directional changes in the SVV in the VN and SSHL patients, and compared the results of the SVV test with those of the VEMP and caloric tests. RESULTS Abnormal SVV (> 2° was found at a rate of 69.4% in the VN patients and 26.3% in the SSHL patients. In all except 1 VN patient, the SVV tilted to the lesion side. The rate of abnormal SVV was significantly higher in patients with complete canal paresis (CP) than in patients with partial CP. There was no significant relationship between the rates of abnormal SVV and VEMP. In the SSHL patients, neither the SVV nor the VEMP affected the hearing outcome and patients with abnormal VEMP tended to show abnormal SVV. CONCLUSION VN patients showed a higher rate of abnormal SVV than SSHL patients. From the results, it is speculated that the superior vestibular nerve function mainly affects the SVV tilt, although the inferior vestibular nerve function may also have an effect.
Reversible Angiotensin II-Mediated Albuminuria in Rat Kidneys Is Dynamically Associated with Cytoskeletal Organization

Angiotensin II (ANG II) is intimately involved in normal renal function, and is estimated to exist at a normal physiological range of 6–10 nM within the renal tubules. The potential role that intrarenal ANG II may play in renal disease was assessed by perfusing isolated rat kidneys with or without excess intratubular levels of ANG II, which may mimic changes in the intrarenal RAS under pathological conditions. The effects of increased systemic ANG II were also determined by infusing rats with ANG II by osmotic pump. In isolated perfused kidneys, ANG II significantly and specifically increased the fractional clearance of albumin to clinical levels, as determined by using radiolabelled albumin. This effect was reversible, as removing ANG II from the perfusate caused the albumin fractional clearance to decrease to pre-ANG II exposure levels. The increase in fractional clearance of albumin was not correlated with renal hemodynamic changes, nor glomerular permeability alterations as measured by the fractional clearance of 36 Å Ficoll and immunoglobulin G. Immunochemical analysis using anti-α-tubulin antibody of perfused kidney sections revealed that ANG II caused a marked disruption of tubular epithelial cytoskeletal components, through disassembly and reorganization of α-tubulin. This disruption was reversible. In vivo, osmotic pump delivery of ANG II at less potent dosage caused a proteinuria (Biuret) and an albuminuria (radioimmunoassay) in rats, from as early as 2 days after pump implantation. These results demonstrate that ANG II may reversibly induce clinical levels of albuminuria. These data point to an important role for renal tubules and the intratubular lumen concentrations of ANG II in the renal processing of albumin.
Effects of Misleading Questions and Hypnotic Memory Suggestion on Memory Reports: A Signal-Detection Analysis

Abstract In 2002, the first author and collegues reported data indicating that both hypnosis and misleading questions decreased the accuracy of memory reports and decreased “don’t know” response rates, that the effects of misleading questions were significantly greater than those of hypnosis, and that the two effects were additive. Using a sample of 194 undergraduate students, the present study replicated the findings that misleading questions reduce accuracy and “don’t know” responding but failed to replicate the negative effect of hypnosis on memory reports. Signal detection analysis indicated that misleading questioning produced decreased sensitivity accompanied by higher response bias, though affecting sensitivity more than producing a criterion shift. 3The authors would like to thank Sabrena Davis, Jarita Dunbar, Aliya Gravesade, and Jen Pastiglione for their assistance in data collection and analysis. We thank Dr. Len Katz for his advice on statistical analyses.
Neurobiology of Disease Apoptosis-Inducing Factor Substitutes for Caspase Executioners in NMDA-Triggered Excitotoxic Neuronal

Hongmin Wang,1,2* Seong-Woon Yu,1,2* David W. Koh,1,2 Jasmine Lew,1,2 Carmen Coombs,1,2 William Bowers,5 Howard J. Federoff,5 Guy G. Poirier,6 Ted M. Dawson,1,2,3 and Valina L. Dawson1,2,3,4 1Institute for Cell Engineering and Departments of 2Neurology, 3Neuroscience, and 4Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, 5Department of Neurology, Center for Aging and Developmental Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14642, and 6Health and Environment Unit, Laval University Medical Research Center, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Ste-Foy, Quebec G1V 4G2, Canada
On the Optimal Cyclic Delay Value in Cyclic Delay Diversity

In this paper, we propose a method to determine the optimal cyclic delay value of cyclic delay diversity (CDD) in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. As the cyclic delay value increases, we can get signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) gain by the diversity effect, while SINR loss increases because of channel estimation errors. If the optimal cyclic delay value obtained by the proposed method is applied to a CDD scheme, we can minimize the required SINR for a given frame error rate (FER) under the above-mentioned trade-off.
The Asian upper eyelid: an anatomical study with comparison to the Caucasian eyelid.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the differences between Asian and Caucasian upper eyelid anatomy through cadaver dissection, histopathological study, and magnetic resonance imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS Upper eyelids of 9 Korean and 5 Caucasian cadavers were dissected, and then were studied microscopically with hematoxylin-eosin, Masson trichrome, and elastin stains. Four healthy young Korean men were studied by dynamic high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging with regard to demonstration of upper eyelid structure. RESULTS More subcutaneous and suborbicularis fat, with a pretarsal fat component, is present in Asian eyelids. The Asian double eyelids showed an amount of fat intermediate between Asian single eyelids and Caucasian eyelids. Asian single eyelids showed fusion of the orbital septum to the levator aponeurosis below the superior tarsal border, while fusion is above the superior tarsal border in Caucasians. The preaponeurotic fat pad descends anteriorly to the tarsal plate in the Asian single eyelid, but not in the Caucasian eyelid. A pretarsal fat pad is identified in the Asian single eyelids. CONCLUSIONS The causes of absent or lower crease in the Asian upper eyelid are as follows: (1) the orbital septum fuses to the levator aponeurosis at variable distances below the superior tarsal border; (2) preaponeurotic fat pad protrusion and a thick subcutaneous fat layer prevent levator fibers from extending toward the skin near the superior tarsal border; and (3) the primary insertion of the levator aponeurosis into the orbicularis muscle and into the upper eyelid skin occurs closer to the eyelid margin in Asians. Structural differences relating to increased fat in the Asian upper eyelid include the presence of a pretarsal fat pad and a moderate fat increase in the double Asian eyelid.
Photic history modifies susceptibility to retinal damage in albino trout

Albino vertebrates exposed to intense light typically lose photoreceptors via apoptosis, and thus serve as useful models of retinal degeneration. In contrast, albino rainbow trout exposed to intense light maintain populations of rod and cone nuclei despite substantial damage to rod outer segments (ROS). The aim of this study was to differentiate between two hypotheses that could account for this divergent result: (1) trout rod nuclei remain intact during light damage, or (2) rod nuclei die but are replaced by cell proliferation. A further aim was to examine whether photic history modulates retinal damage, as in rodents. Albino and normally pigmented trout were moved from defined photic regimes into full daylight, while some were not moved to serve as protected controls. ROS were always maintained in pigmented fish and in albinos protected from full daylight. In albinos exposed to full daylight, ROS were removed over most of the central retina, whereas rod nuclei were maintained in the outer nuclear layer over 10 days. Pyknotic and TUNEL-labeled rod nuclei were abundant in affected albinos at all time-points tested. Rod death occurred without a decrease in the number of rod nuclei, confirming that proliferation must be replacing cells. Indeed a transient increase in proliferation was observed in retinal progenitors of albinos receiving 5 days of damaging light. This proliferative response was decreased with further damage. Cones remained intact even in areas where rod nuclei had degenerated. Pretreatment with light of moderate versus low intensity light affected the cell death and proliferative responses, and the ectopic localization of rod opsin. We conclude that apoptotic demise of rods, but not cones, occurred during light damage in retinas of albino trout and proliferative responses have a limited a capacity to replace lost rods.
Local versus systemic control of numbers of endometrial T cells during pregnancy in sheep

Pregnancy in sheep is associated with changes in numbers of specific T‐lymphocyte populations in the uterine endometrium. These changes probably contribute to evasion by the conceptus of maternal immunological rejection and indicate a possible role for T cells in placental growth, parturition and post‐parturient uterine defence against infection. The purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate the relative importance of systemic signals (i.e. those present throughout the uterus or from the circulation, including conceptus hormones secreted into the maternal blood) versus locally acting conceptus signals for regulating changes in numbers of endometrial lymphocytes during pregnancy. The approach taken was to surgically confine pregnancy to one uterine horn and compare differences in lymphocyte numbers between the two uterine horns as well as between both horns of pregnant ewes with those of ovariectomized ewes. As compared with ovariectomized ewes, there was a decline in numbers of CD45R+ lymphocytes within glandular epithelium and an increase in γδ T‐cell number within the luminal epithelium. These changes occurred in both the pregnant and non‐pregnant uterine horns of unilaterally pregnant ewes. Moreover, there were no significant differences in lymphocyte numbers between the two uterine horns of unilaterally pregnant ewes. Expression of CD25 was absent in tissues from both uterine horns. In conclusion, changes in numbers of endometrial lymphocytes during pregnancy, rather than due to locally acting signals of conceptus origin, are the result of hormonal signals of maternal or conceptus origin that either act directly on endometrial lymphocytes or stimulate the uterine endometrium to induce synthesis of regulatory molecules that affect lymphocyte dynamics.
Attitudes towards mobile banking: are there any differences between users and non-users?

Extant research has focused on monitoring the behaviour of people who use mobile banking (MB) but it has paid little attention to understanding the impact of information technology usage behaviour due to cultural differences. Humans are the weakest link in information technology adoption; past research has shown that not all users are predisposed to change their behaviour radically and adopt new channels of banking. This paper examines the demographic patterns of users and non-users of MB. The paper also investigates the attitudinal influences of users and non-users of MB based on innovation attributes. Using empirical research, the study identifies constructs of innovation attributes that were perceived to be significantly different among the users and non-users of MB. The study provides valuable insights into MB in Saudi Arabia that have not been previously investigated. From a practical point, findings of this study will be particularly useful to banks, financial institutions and telecommunication service providers.
Neutrophil serine proteases: potential key regulators of cell signalling during inflammation

Abstract. Wiedow O, Meyer‐Hoffert U (University Kiel, Kiel, Germany; and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden). Neutrophil serine proteases: potential key regulators of cell signalling during inflammation (Review). J Intern Med 2005; 257: 319–328.
Avaliação da segurança de pontes existentes: abordagem probabilística bayesiana

Dissertacao desenvolvida no Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil ao abrigo do protocolo existente entre o ISEL e o LNEC, e submetida a Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtencao do grau de doutor em Engenharia Civil
Chemokine Receptor–Dependent Control of Skin Tissue–Resident Memory T Cell Formation

Infection or inflammation of the skin recruits effector CD8+ T cells that enter the epidermis and form populations of long-lived tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells. These skin TRM cells migrate within the constrained epidermal environment by extending multiple dynamic dendritic projections and squeezing between keratinocytes to survey the tissue for pathogens. In this study, we examined the signals required for this distinctive mode of T cell migration by inhibiting key cytoskeletal components and performing intravital two-photon microscopy to visualize TRM cell behavior. We found that TRM cell motility and dendrite formation required an intact actomyosin cytoskeleton and the Rho-associated coiled-coil containing kinases. We also identified an essential role for microtubules for maintaining skin TRM cell shape and cellular integrity. We reveal a role for pertussis toxin–sensitive signaling for TRM cell dendritic morphology and migration that is independent of CXCR3 or CXCR6, or the skin-selective chemokine receptors CCR10 and CCR8. However, we found that CXCR6 and CCR10 expression by CD8+ T cells was required for the optimal formation of memory T cell populations, in particular TRM cell populations in the skin.
Stimulation of Glycolysis in the Lens by Pyruvate. Implications in Protection against Oxidative Stress

Objective: We have previously demonstrated that pyruvate protects the lens against oxidative stress in vitro as well as prevents cataract formation in vivo induced by oxidative stress. The effects have been attributed to its property of scavenging various reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally we hypothesize that the preventive effect is also due to its effect of stimulating glycolysis. Methods: This has been tested as follows: freshly isolated mice lenses were incubated for 4 hours in Tyrode medium containing 5-3H-glucose as a tracer in the presence and absence of 2 mM sodium pyruvate and determining generation of 3 H2O and 3 H-lactate separated by column chromatography in succession through homemade anion exchange column followed by the phenylboronate and formate mini-columns. Results: the concentration of 3 H2O in the medium at the end of incubation was 95 µM in the controls incubated without pyruvate. In the presence of pyruvate (2 mM) added to the medium, the concentration of 3 H2O attained in the medium was 152 µM. The corresponding value expressed on the basis of lens weight was 46 nanomoles/lens in the control group vs. 88 nanomoles/lens with 2 mM pyruvate. Conclusion: As hypothesized, pyruvate was found to stimulate glycolysis in the lens as indicated by the enhanced generation of both 3 H2O and 3 H-lactate in lenses incubated in its presence as compared to controls. The observed metabolic stimulation is attributed to recycling of NAD generated during the reduction of pyruvate to lactate, NAD being the required cofactor in the oxidation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 1,3-diphosphoglycerate. That such stimulation is involved in its protective effect is also apparent by our previous reports showing higher ATP levels in the lenses cultured in medium generating ROS in the presence of pyruvate than in its absence, the primary source of ATP in lens being glycolysis.
Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in the reproductive system of male goats Detecção de Toxoplasma gondii no sistema reprodutor de caprinos machos

Male goats of mating age serologically negative for Toxoplasma gondii were divided into three groups: GI – controls (placebo) (n = 2); GII – infected with 1 × 10 6 tachyzoites (RH strains) (n = 2); and GIII – infected with 2 × 10 5 oocysts (P strains) (n = 2). Clinical, hematology, parasite and serology tests and studies of parasites in the semen through bioassay and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and in reproductive organs (bioassay) were performed to assess toxoplasma infection. Serological titers peaked at 4096 in two animal groups infected with the protozoan. The bioassays allowed an early detection of protozoa in semen samples of tachyzoite-inoculated animals. T. gondii DNA was identified through PCR in the semen in five (Days 5, 7, 28, 49, and 70) and two (both at day 56) different days post-inoculation in GII and GIII animals, respectively. It was also possible to detect T. gondii DNA in reproductive organs (prostate pool, testicles, seminal vesicle and epididymis) of goats inoculated with either tachyzoites or oocysts. The present study suggests the possibility of venereal transmission of T. gondii among goats and it should be further assessed.