Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Expression of Sphingosine Kinase-1 in Head and Neck Carcinoma

Sphingosine kinase-1 (SPHK1) modulates the proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation of keratinocytes through the regulation of ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate levels. However, studies on the expression of SPHK1 in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) specimens are lacking. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to evaluate SPHK1 expression in human primary HNSCCs and to correlate the results with clinical and anatomopathological parameters. We investigated the expression of this protein by immunohistochemistry performed in tissue microarrays of HNSCC and in an independent cohort of 37 paraffin-embedded specimens. SPHK1 expression was further validated by real-time PCR performed on laser capture-microdissected tissue samples. The positive rate of SPHK1 protein in the cancerous tissues was significantly higher (74%) than that in the nontumor oral tissues (23%), and malignant tissues showed stronger immunoreactivity for SPHK1 than normal matching samples. These results were confirmed by real-time PCR quantification of SPHK1 mRNA. Interestingly, the positive expression of SPHK1 was associated with shorter patient survival time (Kaplan-Meier survival curves) and with the loss of p21 expression. Taken together, these results demonstrate that SPHK1 is upregulated in HNSCC and provide clues of the role SPHK1 might play in tumor progression.
Root-associated fungal community response to drought-associated changes in vegetation community

Recent droughts in southwestern USA have led to large-scale mortality of piñon (Pinus edulis) in piñon-juniper woodlands. Piñon mortality alters soil moisture, nutrient and carbon availability, which could affect the root-associated fungal (RAF) communities and therefore the fitness of the remaining plants. We collected fine root samples at a piñon-juniper woodland and a juniper savannah site in central New Mexico. Roots were collected from piñon and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees whose nearest neighbors were live piñon, live juniper or dead piñon. RAF communities were analyzed by 454 pyrosequencing of the universal fungal ITS region. The most common taxa were Hypocreales and Chaetothyriales. More than 10% of ITS sequences could not be assigned taxonomy at the phylum level. Two of the unclassified OTUs significantly differed between savanna and woodland, had few like sequences in GenBank and formed new fungal clades with other unclassified RAF from arid plants, highlighting how little study has been done on the RAF of arid ecosystems. Plant host or neighbor did not affect RAF community composition. However, there was a significant difference between RAF communities from woodland vs. savanna, indicating that abiotic factors such as temperature and aridity might be more important in structuring these RAF communities than biotic factors such as plant host or neighbor identity. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EM) were present in juniper as well as piñon in the woodland site, in contrast with previous research, but did not occur in juniper savanna, suggesting a potential shared EM network with juniper. RAF richness was lower in hosts that were neighbors of the opposite host. This may indicate competitive exclusion between fungi from different hosts. Characterizing these communities and their responses to environment and plant neighborhood is a step toward understanding the effects of drought on a biome that spans 19 000 000 ha of southwestern USA.
EVOLUTION OF HEMIPLEGIAS IN INFANCY

Hemiplegia of infancy has usually been noted first at the time the child began to walk, and it has generally been stated by parents and physicians that they had noted nothing wrong with the baby prior to this time. On the other hand, in the vast majority of instances there has been nothing in the recent past history of the infants to suggest that damage to the nervous system had occurred just prior to the first observation of the hemiplegia. In a large clinic devoted to the care of patients with motor disturbances other than poliomyelitis, there have appeared recurrently children with hemiplegia on whom a diagnosis of brachial palsy had been made. This mistake has been so constant as to suggest a real medical misapprehension; the diagnosis of brachial palsy had been made in the first half of infancy, only to have the cerebral nature of the disorder become
Stratification of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Combinatorial Genetic, Stromal, and Immunologic Markers

Purpose: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is associated with an immunosuppressive milieu that supports immune system evasion and disease progression. Here, we interrogated genetic, stromal, and immunologic features of PDAC to delineate impact on prognosis and means to more effectively employ immunotherapy. Experimental Design: A cohort of 109 PDAC cases annotated for overall survival was utilized as a primary discovery cohort. Gene expression analysis defined immunologic subtypes of PDAC that were confirmed in the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Stromal and metabolic characteristics of PDAC cases were evaluated by histologic analysis and immunostaining. Enumeration of lymphocytes, as well as staining for CD8, FOXP3, CD68, CD163, PDL1, and CTLA4 characterized immune infiltrate. Neoantigens were determined by analysis of whole-exome sequencing data. Random-forest clustering was employed to define multimarker subtypes, with univariate and multivariate analyses interrogating prognostic significance. Results: PDAC cases exhibited distinct stromal phenotypes that were associated with prognosis, glycolytic and hypoxic biomarkers, and immune infiltrate composition. Immune infiltrate was diverse among PDAC cases and enrichment for M2 macrophages and select immune checkpoints regulators were specifically associated with survival. Composite analysis with neoantigen burden, immunologic, and stromal features defined novel subtypes of PDAC that could have bearing on sensitivity to immunologic therapy approaches. In addition, a subtype with low levels of neoantigens and minimal lymphocyte infiltrate was associated with improved overall survival. Conclusions: The mutational burden of PDAC is associated with distinct immunosuppressive mechanisms that are conditioned by the tumor stromal environment. The defined subtypes have significance for utilizing immunotherapy in the treatment of PDAC. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4429–40. ©2017 AACR.
Ranibizumab Treatment for Choroidal Neovascularization from Causes Other than Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Pathological Myopia

Aim: Evaluation of safety and efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to causes other than age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or pathological myopia (PM). Methods: Retrospective and multicentric analysis of 21 eyes with CNV. Nine eyes had angioid streaks, 5 inflammatory chorioretinal diseases, 3 central serous chorioretinopathy and 4 idiopathic CNV. Follow-ups lasted ≧3 months. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), ocular coherence tomography (OCT) and fundus examination were assessed monthly. Results: Sixteen eyes (76%) completed 180 days of follow-up. Overall BCVA increased by +9.8 letters with treatment (p = 0.015). Visual acuity improvements ≧15 letters occurred in 43%. A significant reduction in OCT central thickness was observed. No cases of severe visual acuity loss, systemic or ocular side effects were registered. Conclusion: Short-term results of intravitreal ranibizumab for CNV unrelated to AMD or PM are encouraging. This treatment may constitute the only option for some of these patients.
A logical design methodology for relational databases using the extended entity-relationship model

A database design methodology is defined for the design of large relational databases. First, the data requirements are conceptualized using an extended entity-relationship model, with the extensions being additional semantics such as ternary relationships, optional relationships, and the generalization abstraction. The extended entity-relationship model is then decomposed according to a set of basic entity-relationship constructs, and these are transformed into candidate relations. A set of basic transformations has been developed for the three types of relations: entity relations, extended entity relations, and relationship relations. Candidate relations are further analyzed and modified to attain the highest degree of normalization desired. The methodology produces database designs that are not only accurate representations of reality, but flexible enough to accommodate future processing requirements. It also reduces the number of data dependencies that must be analyzed, using the extended ER model conceptualization, and maintains data integrity through normalization. This approach can be implemented manually or in a simple software package as long as a "good" solution is acceptable and absolute optimality is not required.
Dynamic Strategies for Yaw and Induction Control of Wind Farms Based on Large-Eddy Simulation and Optimization

In wind farms, wakes originating from upstream turbines cause reduced energy extraction and increased loading variability in downstream rows. The prospect of mitigating these detrimental effects through coordinated controllers at the wind-farm level has fueled a multitude of research efforts in wind-farm control. The main strategies in wind-farm control are to influence the velocity deficits in the wake by deviating from locally optimal axial induction setpoints on the one hand, and steering wakes away from downstream rows through yaw misalignment on the other hand. The current work investigates dynamic induction and yaw control of individual turbines for wind-farm power maximization in large-eddy simulations. To this end, receding-horizon optimal control techniques combined with continuous adjoint gradient evaluations are used. We study a 4 × 4 aligned wind farm, and find that for this farm layout yaw control is more effective than induction control, both for uniform and turbulent inflow conditions. Analysis of optimal yaw controls leads to the definition of two simplified yaw control strategies, in which wake meandering and wake redirection are exploited respectively. Furthermore it is found that dynamic yawing provides significant benefits over static yaw control in turbulent flow environments, whereas this is not the case for uniform inflow. Finally, the potential of combining overinductive axial induction control with yaw control is shown, with power gains that approximate the sum of those achieved by each control strategy separately.
Homens, masculinidade e violência: estudo em serviços de atenção primária à saúde

There are few studies on men dealing with violence as a non-fatal event. As a contribution, the prevalences of psychological, physical and/or sexual violence suffered by men and the perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) are described. This was a cross-sectional study on 789 men aged 18 to 60 years, of whom 775 ever partnered. Men were selected in order of arrival at two primary healthcare clinics in the city of Sao Paulo. Sociodemographic characteristics and reported violence were investigated, along with the violence overlapping and perceptions of having suffered or perpetrated violence. The lifetime prevalence of suffered violence was 79% for any type and any aggressor; 63.9%, 52.8% and 6.1% respectively for psychological, physical and sexual violence. For lifetime IPV, the rates were 52.1% for any type and 40%, 31.9% and 3.9% respectively for psychological, physical and sexual violence. For both suffered and perpetrated violence, the psychological type had the highest exclusive rate, followed by physical. Acquaintances were the main aggressors, followed by family members, strangers and female intimate partners. Between suffering and perpetrating IPV, 14.2% of the cases overlapped and 81.2% consisted only of perpetrated violence. It was concluded that although in relation to intimate partner violence, men suffered much less than they perpetrated, the data showed that they were involved in many situations of violence of large magnitude and overlapping situations, both as victims and as aggressors, thus echoing studies on masculinity. This complex set of situations should also be taken into consideration in primary healthcare services.
Remembering ‘bad news’ consultations: An evaluation of tape‐recorded consultations

Two groups of women with a diagnosis of breast cancer were interviewed by a consultant surgeon. The consultation was recorded and one group of women were allowed to take the tape away and make reference to it during the preoperative period. Provision of tapes was found to enhance patients' understanding of their treatment and resulted in fewer visits to their general practitioners. Use of tapes did not, however, reduce psychological morbidity. The study also indicated that partners experience comparable degrees of psychological morbidity and that women who undergo wide local excisions remain significantly more anxious postoperatively than women who have mastectomies.
Impact of Enhanced Physical Education in the Prepubescent Child: Trois Rivieres Revisited

The influence of 1 hour per day of required physical education upon aerobic fitness was tested in 546 prepubescent children recruited from an urban and a rural school in Quebec. Two cohorts of experimental students began the enhanced program in Grade 1, with immediately preceding and succeeding classes as controls. VO2 peak (treadmill) and PWC170 were measured each year within 2 weeks of each child’s birthday. The data showed significant effects of sex (M>F) and environment (urban>rural). Experimental students showed a significant advantage of VO2 peak from 8 to 11 years (M>F; urban>rural). Many students reached less than a centrally limited VO2max, although the quality of peak effort was somewhat better in experimental than in control students. PWC170 values confirmed a training response in the boys but not in the girls. The data illustrate some of the problems of repeated testing of young children, but nevertheless support the value of training in the prepubescent years.
Underlying Factors of Healer Shopping Behaviour of Visceral Leishmaniasis Patients in Nepal

Background: The existing literature on demand for health care primarily deals with first consultation of health care providers; however, in reality, the consumers may make several visits to find the standard health care. Objective: The objective of the study is to identify the pattern of utilization of health care of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) through the use of sequential visits to different health care providers and to examine factors determining the healer shopping behavior of the patients. Methods: The data for this study were collected from the six public hospitals where diagnosis and treatment services for VL are available located in VL endemic districts. Poisson regression model was used in pragmatic approach of demand function to investigate the utilization pattern of health care services. Results: Among the total patients, 16 percent visited to public hospital, 19 percent visited to public clinic, 22 percent visited to private hospitals of clinics and 23 percent subjects used home treatment. One to more than five sequential visits to the providers was found in this study. The forward looking provider’s price is significantly responsible to increase the event of healer shopping; however income has no effect on multiple visits. Information but not education has a greater role to reduce the number of healer shopping events. Information, service obtaining costs and forward looking provider’s prices have robustly determined the healer shopping behaviour of the patients. Conclusion:The demand analysis which captures the multiple care seeking events is appropriate for producing the better information for policy maker.
Failure of empirical systemic antifungal therapy in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients.

RATIONALE Systemic antifungal treatments are empirically administered to the sickest critically ill patients, often without documented invasive fungal infection. OBJECTIVES To estimate the impact of systemic antifungal treatment on 30-day survival of patients suspected to have invasive candidiasis. METHODS All nonneutropenic, nontransplant recipients managed in five intensive care units intubated for at least 5 days, and free of invasive candidiasis, were included. To account for differences in patients' characteristics recorded daily before study end point, a causal model for longitudinal data was used to assess benefits from antifungal treatment. The composite primary end point was hospital mortality or occurrence of invasive candidiasis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Among 1,491 patients, 100 (6.7%) received antifungal treatment for a suspected infection. Patients treated with antifungals were more severely ill than untreated patients. Within the 30-day follow-up period, 363 (24.3%) patients died, and 22 (1.5%) exhibited documented invasive candidiasis. After adjustment on baseline and time-dependent confounders (underlying illness, severity, invasive procedures, Candida colonization), and using a marginal structural model for longitudinal data, treatment was not associated with a decreased risk of mortality or of occurrence of invasive candidiasis (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 0.56-1.96; P = 0.91). CONCLUSIONS This study failed to show outcome benefits for empirical systemic antifungal therapy in the sickest critically ill, nonneutropenic, nontransplanted patients. The post hoc power did not allow us to conclude to an absence of treatment effect especially for specific subgroups. Studies to refine indications for empirical treatment based on surrogate markers of invasive candidiasis are warranted.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis among Children at King Hussein Medical Center

Objective: Eosinophilic esophagitis is a clincopathologic entity characterized by esophageal symptoms in association with a dense eosinophilic infiltrate, the aim of this study is to describe the clinical presentation, laboratory, endoscopic and histopathologic results in children diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis. Methods: This is a retrospective review of the medical records for 38 children with histologic diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis performed at King Hussein Medical Center, during the period between January 2001 to February 2011, with the cut off biopsy diagnosis ≥20/HPF eosinophilic infiltrate. Patients were excluded if gastric or duodenal biopsies showed prominent eosinophilic infiltrate. Patients medical records were reviewed regarding age at presentation, gender, clinical presentation, associated disease. Laboratory, endoscopic and histologic results were also reviewed. Results: A total 38 patients with histological diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis were included in this study. Thirty-one (82%) were males and 7 (18%) were females. Their ages ranged between 2-14 years. Mean age 8 years. The most commonly clinical presentation of eosinophilic esophagitis was vomiting which occurred among 26 children (68%), however, rash was presented in only one child (2%). Peripheral eosinophilia >(0.5×10/L) was found in 45%. High serum IgE level (>100 IU/ml) was found in 39%. Positive radio allergo sorbent testing in 39%. The most frequent endoscopic findings were loss of normal vascularity found in 19 (50%) children, however, white exudates were found in 2(5%) children. Mean eosinophil count was 70 (20-120), eosinophilic degranulation, and bazal zone hyperplasia reported in 18 children (47%). Conclusion: Eosinophilic esophagitis in Jordan displays similar clinical, endoscopic and pathologic features to those described in other countries. Endoscopic and histologic feature remain the gold standard for diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis Key word: clinical presentation, Eosinophilic esophagitis, Endoscopic and histopathologic features.
Strategies for reducing visual impairment and blindness in rural and remote areas of Africa

The prevalence of visual impairment (VI) and blindness in Africa is one of the highest in the world; a large proportion of the causes are preventable. The prevalence is particularly high in rural and remote areas, where many of the continent’s inhabitants live. This is of great concern because of the low number and poor distribution of primary eye care practitioners, as well as poor eye care infrastructure services in those areas. Uncorrected refractive errors are a major cause of avoidable VI and blindness, and optometrists play a major role in refractive error correction on the continent. However, as with other healthcare providers in Africa, optometrists are few and tend to be mainly in major cities. This paper highlights possible strategies, in alignment with the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, that can reduce VI in rural and remote areas of the continent. The strategies include increasing the eye care workforce, attracting them to rural areas and retaining them there, improving the eye care infrastructure, service improvement such as equitable distribution of eye care practitioners, implementing preventive measures such as vision screening and affordable spectacles, and eye health education such as eye health promotions, school health programmes and eye care awareness campaigns. Such strategies could drastically reduce the prevalence of VI and blindness in rural and remote areas of Africa.
Gait before and 10 years after rhizotomy in children with cerebral palsy spasticity

Object. Selective dorsal rhizotomy is a neurosurgical procedure performed for the relief of spasticity in children with cerebral palsy, but its long-term functional efficacy is still unknown. The authors sought to address this issue by means of an objective, prospective study in which quantitative gait analysis was used. Methods. Eleven children with spastic diplegia (mean age at initial surgery 7.8 years) were evaluated preoperatively in 1985 and then at 1, 3, and at least 10 years after surgery. For comparison, 12 age-matched healthy individuals were also studied. Retroreflective targets were placed over the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and each individual's gait was videotaped. The video data were subsequently entered into a computer for extraction and analysis of the gait parameters. An analysis of variance yielded a significant time effect (p < 0.05), and post hoc comparisons revealed differences before and after surgery and with respect to the healthy volunteers. The knee and hip ranges of motion (5.
Special Report Diagnosis and Therapy of Kawasaki Disease in Children

Adnan S. Dajani, MD, Chairman; Kathryn A. Taubert, PhD; Michael A. Gerber, MD; Stanford T. Shulman, MD; Patricia Ferrieri, MD; Michael Freed, MD; Masato Takahashi, MD; Fredrick Z. Bierman, MD; Adolf W. Karchmer, MD; Walter Wilson, MD; Shahbudin H. Rahimtoola, MD; David T. Durack, MD, DPhil, (Liaison, Infectious Diseases Society of America); Georges Peter, MD (Liaison, American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases), Members, Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, American Heart Association
Extracting structured data from Web pages

Many web sites contain large sets of pages generated using a common template or layout. For example, Amazon lays out the author, title, comments, etc. in the same way in all its book pages. The values used to generate the pages (e.g., the author, title,.) typically come from a database. In this paper, we study the problem of automatically extracting the database values from such template-generated web pages without any learning examples or other similar human input. We formally define a template, and propose a model that describes how values are encoded into pages using a template. We present an algorithm that takes, as input, a set of template-generated pages, deduces the unknown template used to generate the pages, and extracts, as output, the values encoded in the pages. Experimental evaluation on a large number of real input page collections indicates that our algorithm correctly extracts data in most cases.