Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surgical treatment of familial adenomatous polyposis: ileorectal anastomosis or restorative proctolectomy?

CONTEXT Controversy regarding the best operative choice for familial adenomatous polyposis lays between the morbidity of restorative proctocolectomy and the supposed mortality due to rectal cancer after ileorectal anastomosis. OBJECTIVES To evaluate operative complications and oncological outcome after ileorectal anastomosis and restorative proctocolectomy. METHODS Charts from patients treated between 1977 and 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical and endoscopic data, results of treatment, pathological reports and information regarding early and late outcome were recorded. RESULTS Eighty-eight patients - 41 men (46.6%) and 47 women (53.4%) - were assisted. At diagnosis, 53 patients (60.2%) already had associated colorectal cancer. Operative complications occurred in 25 patients (29.0 %), being 17 (19.7%) early and 8 (9.3%) late complications. There were more complications after restorative proctocolectomy (48.1%) compared to proctocolectomy with ileostomy (26.6%) and ileorectal anastomosis (19.0%) (P = 0,03). There was no operative mortality. During the follow-up of 36 ileorectal anastomosis, cancer developed in the rectal cuff in six patients (16,6%). Cumulative cancer risk after ileorectal anastomosis was 17.2% at 5 years, 24.1% at 10 years and 43.1% at 15 years of follow-up. Age-dependent cumulative risk started at 30 years (4.3%), went to 9.6% at 40 years, 20.9% at 40 years and 52% at 60 years. Among the 26 patients followed after restorative proctocolectomy, it was found cancer in the ileal pouch in 1 (3.8%). CONCLUSIONS 1. Operative complications occurred in about one third of the patients, being more frequently after the confection of ileal reservoir; 2. greater age and previous colonic carcinoma were associated with the development of rectal cancer after ileorectal anastomosis; 3. patients treated by restorative proctocolectomy are not free from the risk of pouch degeneration; 4. the disease complexity and the various risk factors (clinical, endoscopic, genetic) indicate that the best choice for operative treatment should be based on individual features discussed by a specialist; 5. all patients require continuous and long-term surveillance during postoperative follow-up.
On Complexity of Counting Fixed Point Configurations in Certain Classes of Graph Automata

We study computational complexity of counting the fixed point configurations (FPs) in certain discrete dynamical systems. We prove that counting FPs in Sequential and Synchronous Dynamical Systems (SDSs and SyDSs, respectively) is computationally intractable, even when each node is required to update according to a symmetric Boolean function. We also show that the problems of counting the garden of Eden configurations (GEs), as well as all transient configurations, are just as hard in that setting. Moreover, the hardness of enumerating FPs holds even in some severely restricted cases, such as when the nodes of an SDS or SyDS use only two different symmetric Boolean update rules, and when each node has a neighborhood size bounded by a small constant.
Physiologic Aspects of Aging: Impact on Cancer Management and Decision Making, Part I

A gradual diminution in the physiologic reserve or functional capacity over time is the characteristic hallmark of aging, and this has a direct impact on the choice of cancer therapy and its toxicity profile in elderly patients with cancer. With the expected rapid rise of the older population as a subgroup, oncologists will increasingly treat elderly patients. Provision of competent care to this increasing pool of older patients with cancer necessitates that oncology professionals become familiar with age-associated changes in organ physiology and their impact on cancer treatment and toxicity. In this comprehensive review, we have listed changes in cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and renal physiology with aging. Also enumerated is the impact of these changes on cancer therapy and toxicity in each organ system-based section. Cardiovascular changes primarily lead to reduction of the cardiac functional reserve, with a consequent increase in the risk of congestive heart failure. Changes in gastrointestinal physiology lead to increased mucosal damage. A reduction in pulmonary reserve has implications for postradiation complications, and a decline in renal function leads to an increased potential for nephrotoxicity. These changes impair the ability of older patients with cancer to tolerate cancer therapy and increase their risk of toxicities. This may lead to an overall decline in functional status, resulting frailty, poor quality of life, and ultimately poor outcomes. Becoming familiar with age-related physiologic changes is the first step for oncologists seeking to better tailor their treatments. This, combined with adoption of some of the clinical interventions suggested in this review, can help better manage the geriatric oncology patient. Further research is necessary for the development of more specific evidence-based recommendations.
Mini‐review: Mechanical factors affecting cartilage regeneration in vitro

In the last 5 to 10 years, tissue engineering has revolutionized the way in which medical researchers and clinicians are thinking of and, in some cases, actually treating diseases involving tissue damage and destruction. One such disease, osteoarthritis, results from progressive degeneration of articular cartilage, which has a limited ability to repair itself. With tissue engineering, scientists are now able to regenerate cartilage in vitro from isolated mature chondrocytes. While the regeneration process is still not fully understood, enough has been learned that physicians are already implanting cultured chondrocytes into humans and other animals in the hopes of effecting joint repair. One aspect which has not been fully explored is the effect of mechanical stress on developing and implanted cartilage, especially over the long term. This article will review in brief what is now known about the mechanical factors affecting cartilage regeneration in vitro and what still remains to be determined for optimum tissue engineering of cartilage constructs. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Survival of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Water: Quarantine and Disease Control Implications

Amphibian chytridiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease of amphibians thought to be moved between countries by trade in infected amphibians. The causative fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, produces aquatic, motile zoospores; infections have been achieved in experiments by exposing amphibians to water containing zoospores. However, the ability of this fungus to survive in the environment in the absence of an amphibian host is unknown. We show that B. dendrobatidis will survive in tap water and in deionized water for 3 and 4 weeks, respectively. In lake water, infectivity was observed for 7 weeks after introduction. The knowledge that water can remain infective for up to 7 weeks is important for the formulation of disease control and quarantine strategies for the management of water that has been in contact with amphibians.
Effects of moisture stress levels at different growth stages on nodulation and nitrogen fixation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris l.) Genotype

Moisture stress is among the limiting factors to crop yields. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of moisture stress imposed at different growth stages of bean plants on nodulation and nitrogen fixation. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse and in the field, at Sokoine University of Agriculture. The bean genotype "Kijivu" was used, the stages were; (i) VC (Cotyledonary and unifoliolate leaves visible), (ii) V2 (Second trifoliolate leaf unfolded), (iii) V4 (Fourth trifoliolates on the main stem, blossom clusters not opened) and (iv) R2 (Pods 1/2 inch long. Irrigation treatments were initiated to maintain moisture treatments of 100%, 75%, 50%, or 25% of the soils field capacity for each plant growth stage until plant maturity. Moisture stress significantly affected nodulation, nitrogen fixation, and finally grain yields. Numbers of nodules per plant were reduced by 56.0% in greenhouse and 69.2% in the field between V4 and VC at 25% moisture regime. Shoot biomass was reduced by 40.8% and 26.8% while root biomass was reduced 23.5% and 31.5% in greenhouse and field, respectively. These results suggest that for maximum nodulation and nitrogen fixation to be achieved, moisture stress must be avoided at the VC and V2 growing stages.
Power-Aware Compiler Controllable Chip Multiprocessor

Chip multi-processors (CMP) have attracted much attention since they achieve higher performance not by raising operating frequency but by utilizing a number of transistors in parallel. However, simply increasing the number of processor elements (PE) will result in raising power consumption. This work presents a power-aware compiler controllable heterogeneous CMP and its performance and power evaluation with the OSCAR (optimally scheduled advanced multiprocessor) parallelizing compiler (K. Ishizaka et al., 2004).
Humor as a nursing intervention

This article describes the use of humor as a nursing intervention and asks if nurses can justify the integration of the use of humor into the repertoire of nursing interventions. Several uses for humor are illustrated, and humor is differentiated from laughter. The article quotes many nurse leaders' opinions about humor and identifies do's and do not's of appropriate humor; it discusses six research studies in which health care professionals used humor as a treatment protocol. The studies were in the areas of preoperative teaching, clinical evaluation, strategies to prevent hopelessness in adolescents with oncologic illness, and group cohesiveness. Results of these six studies give some evidence, although not robust, that humor is an effective intervention. Methods of determining and implementing humor as an appropriate nursing intervention are included.
Psychological Distress and Progression to AIDS in a Cohort of Injection Drug Users

Objective: We investigated whether distress was independently associated with more rapid progression to AIDS among HIV‐infected injection drug users (IDUs). Design: A cohort study of IDUs in Baltimore followed from 1988 through 1999. A total of 451 IDUs met the eligibility criteria of being HIV‐seropositive but AIDS‐free at baseline. Methods: We used Cox proportional hazards models to investigate progression to AIDS within 2 years of baseline, controlling for CD4 lymphocyte count, HIV‐1 viral load, and oral thrush. Results: Of the 451 participants, 76.3% were male and 95.8% were African‐American; the median age at enrollment was 34 years. The cumulative incidence of AIDS within 2 years of baseline was 7.1%. In multiple regression analysis, distress was associated with more rapid time to AIDS (adjusted relative hazard [RH] = 2.39: 95% CI: 1.16‐4.90). The strongest association was observed among IDUs with the lowest (<200 × 106/L) CD4 counts (adjusted RH = 4.94; 95% CI: 1.30‐18.77). Conclusions: Psychological distress was independently associated with shorter time to AIDS among HIV‐infected IDUs, especially among those with the lowest CD4 cell counts, but was not predictive of mortality in this cohort. Further study of the effects of psychological distress on AIDS progression within this population is warranted.
Effect of Orthographic Processes on Letter Identity and Letter-Position Encoding in Dyslexic Children

The ability to identify letters and encode their position is a crucial step of the word recognition process. However and despite their word identification problem, the ability of dyslexic children to encode letter identity and letter-position within strings was not systematically investigated. This study aimed at filling this gap and further explored how letter identity and letter-position encoding is modulated by letter context in developmental dyslexia. For this purpose, a letter-string comparison task was administered to French dyslexic children and two chronological age (CA) and reading age (RA)-matched control groups. Children had to judge whether two successively and briefly presented four-letter strings were identical or different. Letter-position and letter identity were manipulated through the transposition (e.g., RTGM vs. RMGT) or substitution of two letters (e.g., TSHF vs. TGHD). Non-words, pseudo-words, and words were used as stimuli to investigate sub-lexical and lexical effects on letter encoding. Dyslexic children showed both substitution and transposition detection problems relative to CA-controls. A substitution advantage over transpositions was only found for words in dyslexic children whereas it extended to pseudo-words in RA-controls and to all type of items in CA-controls. Letters were better identified in the dyslexic group when belonging to orthographically familiar strings. Letter-position encoding was very impaired in dyslexic children who did not show any word context effect in contrast to CA-controls. Overall, the current findings point to a strong letter identity and letter-position encoding disorder in developmental dyslexia.
RECENT RESEARCH ON AGE, SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, AND EARLY FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

The aim of this chapter is to provide a critical overview of the issues and research conducted since the most recent state-of-the-art article published in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics by David Singleton (2001). First, we summarize what research has said about the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) in cognitive science and neurobiology, then we review recent findings of age-related studies since 2000 focusing on what late beginners and adults can achieve, and how early and later beginners compare in bilingual programs. The second part of the presentation explores language policy and classroom implications of the CPH for foreign language teaching. As English has become the lingua franca, early programs have mushroomed all over the world. However, besides overwhelming enthusiasm, more recently critical voices can also be heard. On the one hand, early exposure is often seen as a key to success and a solution to all problems in language education; on the other hand, it may be perceived as a threat to first language development and identity. Finally, we explore areas for further research.
Discussion of “Oil-Whirl Fault Modeling, Simulation, and Detection in Sleeve Bearings of Squirrel Cage Induction Motors”

The discussers are in agreement with the authors that research on analysis and detection of sleeve bearing faults is an important area that has not been investigated in the literature due to the difficulties of testing involved. We also have recently started the investigation with requests from industry for remote, electrical signal based detection of sleeve bearing faults. Electrical monitoring of sleeve bearing faults is meaningful for medium-high voltage motors that do not have proximity probes installed, especially for cases where the motor operating environment is unfavorable for vibration analysis. It can also contribute to monitoring of low voltage motors with sleeve bearings used in applications such as seal-less pumps or compressors (appliances), where the cost of vibration analysis cannot be justified.
Atomic Force Microscope Images of Nanobubbles on a Hydrophobic Surface and Corresponding Force-Separation Data

Domains, apparently nanobubbles, have been observed on a hydrophobic glass surface in water using an atomic force microscope operated in tapping mode. Phase images show the domains to be softer than the underlying substrate. Complementary force curves between a silica colloid probe and the glass surface display features characteristic of the hydrophobic interaction, including a jump-in distance that is comparable to the height of the imaged domains. Images and force curves have been acquired over a range of pH conditions to probe the nature of the overall interaction and gain some insight into the conformation of nanobubbles on the sample surface. The bubbles appear to regrow following their removal by the application of high loads through either contact mode imaging or tapping mode imaging at high drive amplitudes. They are not present in a solvaphilic fluid (ethanol) but regrow following the subsequent reintroduction of H2O. The correlation between image and force data, supported by existing results in .
Conversion Arthrodesis for Failed First Metatarsophalangeal Joint Hemiarthroplasty

Background: Arthrodesis is currently the most commonly performed surgical procedure for the treatment of arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. Hemiarthroplasty of the first MTP joint has been shown to have inferior clinical results and higher revision rates. The objective of this study was to assess the clinical outcome of the salvage of failed hallux phalangeal hemiarthroplasty with conversion to arthrodesis. Methods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent salvage of the first MTP joint hemiarthroplasty with conversion to arthrodesis was performed. Preoperative assessment included the visual analog pain (VAP) scale and AOFAS Hallux Metatarsophalangeal Interphalangeal scoring system (AOFAS-HMI). Postoperative outcomes were graded via AOFAS-HMI, VAP, and Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM). Results: Twenty-one hemiarthroplasties were converted to arthrodesis in 21 patients, with 18 available for follow-up included in the study. There were 13 women and 5 men. Local autologous bone graft was used in 12 cases, while 6 patients required tricortical iliac crest bone graft for the treatment of extensive bone loss. At final follow-up, at a mean of 4.3 years, the average VAS pain score had diminished to 0.75 from 7.8 preoperatively out of 10, while the mean AOFAS-HMI improved from 36.2 out of 100 preoperatively to 85.3 out of 90 (modified to exclude first MTP motion). The mean FAAM ADL/sports were 97.3/91.3, respectively. All patients achieved fusion although at a longer interval than primary fusions. Conclusions: Conversion from a failed hallux phalangeal hemiarthroplasty to arthrodesis showed similar success to primary arthrodesis which was achieved in the majority of cases with the use of regional bone graft for small defects. However, the time to fusion was longer than that of primary arthrodesis, and it sometimes required structural bone graft for augmentation. Level of Evidence: Level IV, retrospective case series.
Control of lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and release by Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium

The influence of the relA gene on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis and release by Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium was investigated. Similar results were obtained with both species. The incorporation of [3H]galactose into LPS by galE mutants was inhibited by at least 50% (as compared with normal growing controls) during amino acid deprivation of relA+ strains. This inhibition could be prevented by the treatment of the amino acid-deprived relA+ bacteria with chloramphenicol, a known antagonist of the stringent control mechanism. Furthermore, LPS biosynthesis was not inhibited during amino acid deprivation of isogenic relA mutant strains. These results indicate that LPS synthesis is regulated by the stringent control mechanism. Normal growing cells of both relA+ and relA strains released LPS into the culture fluid at low rates. Amino acid deprivation stimulated the rate of LPS release by relA mutants but not by relA+ bacteria. Chloramphenicol treatment markedly stimulated the release of cell-bound LPS by amino acid-deprived relA+ cells. Thus, a low rate of LPS release was characteristic of normal growth and could be increased in nongrowing cells by relaxing the control of LPS synthesis.
Regulation of Adiposity and Obesity Risk By Dietary Calcium: Mechanisms and Implications

Dietary calcium plays a pivotal role in the regulation of energy metabolism; high calcium diets attenuate adipocyte lipid accretion and weight gain during periods of overconsumption of an energy-dense diet and increase lipolysis and preserve thermogenesis during caloric restriction, thereby markedly accelerating weight loss. Intracellular Ca2+ has a key role in regulating adipocyte lipid metabolism and triglyceride storage, with increased intracellular Ca2+ resulting in stimulation of lipogenic gene expression and lipogenesis, suppression of lipolysis, and increased lipid filling and adiposity. Moreover, we have recently demonstrated that the increased calcitriol released in response to low calcium diets stimulates Ca2+ influx in human adipocytes and thereby promotes adiposity. Accordingly, suppressing calcitriol levels by increasing dietary calcium is an attractive target for the prevention and management of obesity. In support of this concept, transgenic mice expressing the agouti gene specifically in adipocytes (a human-like pattern) respond to low calcium diets with accelerated weight gain and fat accretion, while high calcium diets markedly inhibit lipogenesis, accelerate lipolysis, increase thermogenesis and suppress fat accretion and weight gain in animals maintained at identical caloric intakes. Further, low calcium diets impede body fat loss, while high calcium diets markedly accelerate fat loss in transgenic mice subjected to caloric restriction. These findings are further supported by clinical and epidemiological data demonstrating a profound reduction in the odds of being obese associated with increasing dietary calcium intake. Notably, dairy sources of calcium exert a significantly greater anti-obesity effect than supplemental sources in each of these studies, possibly due to the effects of other bioactive compounds, such as the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor found in milk, on adipocyte metabolism, indicating an important role for dairy products in the control of obesity.
MRI-guided percutaneous cryotherapy for soft-tissue and bone metastases: initial experience.

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine the safety and feasibility of percutaneous MRI-guided cryotherapy in the care of patients with refractory or painful metastatic lesions of soft tissue and bone adjacent to critical structures. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-seven biopsy-proven metastatic lesions of soft tissue (n = 17) and bone (n = 10) in 22 patients (15 men, seven women; age range, 24-85 years) were managed with MRI-guided percutaneous cryotherapy. The mean lesion diameter was 5.2 cm. Each lesion was adjacent to or encasing one or more critical structures, including bowel, bladder, and major blood vessels. A 0.5-T open interventional MRI system was used for cryoprobe placement and ice-ball monitoring. Complications were assessed for all treatments. CT or MRI was used to determine local control of 21 tumors. Pain palliation was assessed clinically in 19 cases. The mean follow-up period was 19.5 weeks. RESULTS Twenty-two (81%) of 27 tumors were managed without injury to adjacent critical structures. Two patients had transient lower extremity numbness, and two had both urinary retention and transient lower extremity paresthesia. One patient had chronic serous vaginal discharge, and one sustained a femoral neck fracture at the ablation site 6 weeks after treatment. Thirteen (62%) of the 21 tumors for which follow-up information was available either remained the same size as before treatment or regressed. Eight tumors progressed (mean local progression-free interval, 5.6 months; range, 3-18 months). Pain was palliated in 17 of 19 patients; six of the 17 experienced complete relief, and 11 had partial relief. CONCLUSION MRI-guided percutaneous cryotherapy for metastatic lesions of soft tissue and bone adjacent to critical structures is safe and can provide local tumor control and pain relief in most patients.