Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized, Controlled, Study of Absorbable Nasal Packing on Outcomes of Surgical Treatment of Rhinosinusitis with Polyposis

Background The aim of this study was to establish the effect of absorbable dressing on postoperative discomfort and mucosal healing after sinus surgery. A prospective, randomized, controlled, blinded study was performed. Methods Patients 18–80 years old undergoing sinus surgery were enrolled in the study. Each patient's ethmoid cavities were randomized to receive either absorbable dressing or the standard nonabsorbable sinus packs. Therefore, patients served as their own control. Preoperative CT scan and intraoperative endoscopic photographs were used for staging within the Lund-Mackay system. The procedure was performed as indicated by extent of disease. The remaining absorbable dressing was removed at 2 weeks by endoscopic suctioning in the clinic. Patients completed questionnaires regarding sinus symptoms and discomfort. Postoperative endoscopic appearance was graded by a single rhinologist. Length of follow-up was 6 months. Results Thirty-five patients were randomized. There were no significant adverse events in either group. Patients’ symptom scores improved at 2 weeks and at 1 and 3 months when compared with preoperation. Both groups had similar preoperative grade of disease and extent of surgery. Endoscopic appearance of the absorbable cavity showed a trend toward improvement at 2 weeks (p < 0.05). Endoscopic appearance showed a similar trend toward improvement at 1, 3, and 6 months in the absorbable group (NS). Twenty-seven patients had a strong preference for a particular nasal packing of which 16 of 27 (59.3%) patients preferred the absorbable dressing. Conclusion The absorbable dressing showed a trend toward positive effect on early wound healing and in late results. Strong patient preference was indicated for the absorbable dressing over standard sponges.
Age-Related Changes in the Compressive Strength of Cancellous Bone. The Relative Importance of Changes in Density and Trabecular Architecture*

Compressive testing to failure in the weight-bearing axis was done on 255 specimens of cancellous bone that had been machined from forty-four femora from human cadavera. The donors had ranged in age from twenty to 102 years at the time of death. After mechanical testing, the apparent density and trabecular architecture were determined. Linear regression analysis showed that the compressive strength decreased by 8.5 per cent each decade (p < 0.001). Apparent density and volume fraction also decreased significantly with age (p < 0.001). Histomorphometric analysis demonstrated that the surface-to-volume ratio and the mean separation of the trabecular plate increased with age, whereas the mean thickness and connectivity of the trabecular plate decreased. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that age-related changes in apparent density played an important role in the decrease in mechanical strength, accounting for a 92 per cent reduction. Microstructural changes were highly correlated with apparent density and therefore had little independent effect. Thus, similar to the situation with cortical bone, the quantitative changes in aging cancellous-bone tissue, rather than the qualitative changes, influenced the mechanical competence of the bone. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study provides information concerning the difference in the properties of human cancellous bone as a function of age. Because of the importance of changes in apparent density, non-invasive means can be used to estimate the mechanical properties of cancellous bone in vivo. Thus, it may be possible to predict the risk of fracture and to explain further some aspects of the mechanics of fracture in the elderly.
Has provoking microbiota aggression driven the obesity epidemic?

Alterations in the gut microbiome have increasingly been implicated in driving obesity and its associated diseases, but underlying mechanisms remain poorly defined. Herein, in addition to reviewing the field, we hypothesize that a highly significant causative factor of such inflammatory disease‐associated microbiome alterations is a more aggressive microbiota that encroaches upon its host, with components having high potential to activate host pro‐inflammatory gene expression in a manner that drives metabolic disease. We further hypothesize that a range of societal changes, including use of antibiotics and increasing consumption of food additives, have provoked such microbiota aggression and, consequently, may be contributing factors to the increased incidence of obesity and its associated diseases.
A Study of The Role of Business-IT Strategy In IT Alignment and Firm Performance in Iran Manufacturing Firms

The present study was conducted in Mazandaran, a province in north of Iran and aimed to analyze the effect of business-IT strategy on ITalignment and firm performance. According to the registrar Office of Industrial Township in Mazandaran Province, 2000 companies have been selected as the survey population. A total of 380 questionnaires were distributed among the respondents and 329usable questionnaires were returned. The factor analysis and the findings show that business strategy and IT strategyhave a significant positive influence on IT alignment (hypotheses1 and 2);IT alignment has a significant positive influence on firms’ marketing and financial performance (hypotheses3 and 4). The results also show that all indirect relationships between research variables are supported.
Age, sex, and secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease in everyday practice.

BACKGROUND Many researchers have studied age- and sex-related differences in the management of patients with coronary artery disease. However, the results are inconsistent. AIM To assess sex- and age-related bias in the secondary prevention in patients hospitalised due to ischaemic heart disease. METHODS Five hospitals with departments of cardiology serving a city and surrounding districts in southern Poland participated in the study. Consecutive patients hospitalised from 1 April 2005 to 31 July 2006 due to acute coronary syndrome or for a myocardial revascularisation procedure and aged ≤ 80 years were recruited and interviewed 6-18 months after hospitalisation. RESULTS The hospital records of 640 patients were reviewed and 513 (80.2%) patients participated in the follow-up interview. Women were older and less educated than their male counterparts. Sex was not independently associated with the control of major risk factors in the post-discharge period, whereas age was related to a higher probability of having high blood pressure and a lower chance of smoking. Multivariate analysis showed that females were prescribed calcium antagonists (odds ratio [OR] 2.13; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.34-3.39) and diuretics (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.00-2.31) more often than males. Age was independently related to the prescription rate of diuretics (≥ 70 years vs. < 60 years; OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.19-2.20). The prescription rate of antiplatelets, beta-blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme-inhibitors/sartans, lipid-lowering drugs, and anticoagulants was not related to age or sex. CONCLUSIONS We found no major sex-related difference in the frequency of achieving recommended goals in secondary prevention, whereas age was related to a lower prevalence of smoking and a higher probability of having high blood pressure in subjects after hospitalisation for coronary artery disease.
The development of rectal microbicides for HIV prevention

Introduction: Individuals practicing unprotected receptive anal intercourse are at particularly high risk of HIV infection. Men who have sex with men in the developed and developing world continue to have disproportionate and increasing levels of HIV infection. The last few years have seen important progress in demonstrating the efficacy of oral antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis, vaginal microbicides, and treatment as prevention, but there has also been significant progress in the development of rectal microbicides for HIV prevention. Areas covered: The purpose of this review is to summarize the status of rectal microbicide research and to identify opportunities, challenges, and future directions in this important field of HIV prevention research. The design of completed and ongoing Phase I rectal microbicide studies that include the generation of comprehensive pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data may allow for more rational decisions about which rectal microbicides should be advanced to later stage development. Expert opinion: There is a strong rationale for the development of rectal microbicides for HIV prevention. Preclinical data provide supportive evidence for the feasibility of this approach, and there is significant interest in rectal microbicide development from communities at risk of HIV acquisition through unprotected receptive anal intercourse in both the developed and developing world. Demonstration of sustained safety, acceptability, and product adherence in the MTN-017 Phase II study of tenofovir 1% gel will be an important step in rectal microbicide development and will hopefully lead to Phase III effectiveness testing of this novel HIV prevention strategy.
Residual tembotrione and atrazine in carrot

ABSTRACT Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is a vegetable crop that is grown throughout the year across various regions of Brazil in rotation or in succession to other cultures. Herbicide residual effect has emerged as a concern, because of the possibility of carryover. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of tembotrione and atrazine residues – in mixture and isolated – on carrot planted in succession to corn. The experiment was designed in randomized blocks with five replications. Treatments consisted of tembotrione (50.4 g ha−1), tembotrione (100.8 g ha−1), tembotrione + atrazine (50.4 g ha−1+ 2 L ha−1), tembotrione + atrazine (100.8 g ha−1+ 2 L ha−1), and atrazine (2.00 L ha−1) applied eight months before carrot seeding, plus a control treatment with no herbicide application. Investigated variables were shoot dry mass, productivity, and classification of carrot roots. The presence of atrazine and tembotrione decreased dry mass in the area, and only tembotrione reduced total root productivity. Thus, there is a carryover effect to tembotrione application that reduces the dry matter accumulation of shoot and total productivity, and an atrazine + tembotrione (100.8 g ha−1) mixture reduces the total productivity after application of these herbicides to soil.
Renal disease among males with haemophilia

Summary. Haematuria is common among persons with haemophilia (PWH), but its long‐term effects on the kidney and renal function are not well defined. In addition, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis C, or exposure to nephrotoxic agents as therapy for these infections may place PWH at increased risk for renal disease. To examine factors associated with chronic renal disease (CRD) and acute renal disease (ARD) in PWH, we analysed data collected from the medical records of 3422 males with haemophilia living in six US states from 1993 to 1998. Renal disease cases were ascertained from among 2075 persons who were hospitalized at least once over the 6‐year period. Of these, 60 (2.9%) were diagnosed during one or more hospitalizations with either ARD (29/60) or CRD (31/60). In multivariate analyses, we examined associations between renal disease and demographic and clinical factors including age, race, haemophilia type and severity, hypertension, diabetes, history of recent renal bleeds, presence of an inhibitor, and infection with hepatitis C or HIV. HIV infection and hypertension were strongly associated with both ARD and CRD. PWH who had ARD were also more likely to have an inhibitor than those without this diagnosis. PWH who had CRD were more likely to be older and non‐white and to have had a recent admission for a kidney bleed than those without diagnosed CRD. In summary, we found that HIV infection and haemophilia‐related factors including inhibitors and kidney bleeds were associated with renal disease in a cohort of males with haemophilia.
Genetic linkage map and QTL analysis of agronomic and fiber quality traits in an intraspecific population.

Molecular techniques have been developed that can enhance breeding efficiency for quantitatively inherited traits, many of which are economically important. Examples include yield, yield components, and fiber properties. Such traits do not consistently fall into discrete classes because environmental conditions greatly modify their performance. Molecular markers such as restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) can aid in selecting for quantitative traits because they identify the segments of chromosomes that contain useful quantitative trait loci (QTL) or gene locations. Thus, once identified, breeders can select for desirable QTLs without interference from environmental effects. An RFLP genetic linkage map of cotton was developed from 119 F2.3 families derived from a cross of MD5678ne × 'Prema' and used for QTL analysis of yield, yield components, and fiber traits. Twenty-six QTLs were identified that were associated with agronomic and fiber quality traits. The identification of QTLs may indicate the presence of genes that influence expression of specific traits. Most QTLs contributed by the Prema parent conditioned low yield of fibers that were long, strong, and fine, while those from MD5678ne imparted high yield of short, weak, and coarse fibers. Analysis of these QTLs will identify specific chromosome regions that affect economic traits, and can allow breeders to search germplasm for useful genes and ultimately accelerate the breeding progress. ABSTRACT
A profile of anti-vaccination lobbying on the South African internet, 2011-2013.

BACKGROUND The South African Vaccination and Immunisation Centre receives many requests to explain the validity of internet-based anti-vaccination claims. Previous global studies on internet-based anti-vaccination lobbying had not identified anti-vaccination web pages originating in South Africa (SA). OBJECTIVE To characterise SA internet-based anti-vaccination lobbying. METHODS In 2011, searches for anti-vaccination content were performed using Google, Yahoo and MSN-Bing, limited to English-language SA web pages. Content analysis was performed on web pages expressing anti-vaccination sentiment about infant vaccination. This was repeated in 2012 and 2013 using Google, with the first 700 web pages per search being analysed. RESULTS Blogs/forums, articles and e-shops constituted 40.3%, 55.2% and 4.5% of web pages, respectively. Authors were lay people (63.5%), complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners (23.1%), medical professionals practising CAM (7.7%) and medical professionals practising only allopathic medicine (5.8%). Advertisements appeared on 55.2% of web pages. Of these, 67.6% were sponsored by or linked to organisations with financial interests in discrediting vaccines, with 80.0% and 24.0% of web pages sponsored by these organisations claiming respectively that vaccines are ineffective and that vaccination is profit driven. The vast majority of web pages (92.5%) claimed that vaccines are not safe, and 77.6% of anti-vaccination claims originated from the USA. CONCLUSION South Africans are creating web pages or blogs for local anti-vaccination lobbying. Research is needed to understand what influence internet-based anti-vaccination lobbying has on the uptake of infant vaccination in SA.
Does Concurrent Training Intensity Distribution Matter?

Abstract Varela-Sanz, A, Tuimil, JL, Abreu, L, and Boullosa, DA. Does concurrent training intensity distribution matter? J Strength Cond Res 31(1): 181–195, 2017—Previous research has demonstrated the influence of intensity distribution on endurance training adaptations. However, no study has addressed the influence of intensity distribution on the effectiveness of concurrent training (CT). The main objective of this study was to compare the effects of 2 CT programs with different training intensity distribution and externally equated loads on physical fitness. Thirty-one sport science students volunteered and were evaluated for resting heart rate variability (HRV), countermovement jump, bench press, half squat, and maximum aerobic speed (MAS). All were randomly distributed into either a traditional-based training group (TT; n = 11; 65–75% of MAS, combined with 10–12 repetition maximum [RM]), polarized training group (PT; n = 10; 35–40% and 120% of MAS, combined with 5RM and 15RM), or control group (CG; n = 10). After 8 weeks of training (3 days.week−1), TT and PT exhibited similar improvements in MAS, bench press, and half squat performances. No differences were observed between TT and PT groups for perceived loads. There were no changes in HRV for any group, although TT exhibited a reduction in resting heart rate. Compared with other groups, the PT group maintained jump capacity with an increment in body mass and body mass index without changes in body fatness. In conclusion, PT induced similar improvements in physical fitness of physically active individuals when compared with TT. However, PT produced a lower interference for jumping capacity despite an increment in body mass, whereas TT induced greater bradycardia. Extended studies with different intensity distributions should be conducted to better determine the dose-response of CT in various populations.
A rapid radioimmunoassay for determining plasma concentrations of LH in dogs.

A heterologous dog LH radioimmunoassay was modified to provide accurate results for LH concentrations in blood plasma of dogs within 3-4 h. This assay utilizes radioiodinated ovine LH (LER-1056-C2), antiserum against ovine LH (GDN-15) at a final dilution of 1:48,000 and dog LH (LER-1685-1) as standard. A 60-min incubation, including a 30-min delay in the addition of tracer, was carried out at 37 degrees C. The free and antibody-bound hormone were separated by addition of a Micro Sepharose bead suspension containing anti-gamma-globulin, followed by incubation at room temperature for 30 min. The minimum detectable concentration in this assay, calculated from the precision profile, was 1.5 micrograms/l. The amount of dog LH needed to cause 50% reduction of the initial binding was 1.57 +/- 0.13 ng/tube (15.7 micrograms/l for 100-microliters samples). Daily blood samples were collected in heparinized tubes from the cephalic vein of 5 pointer and 7 beagle bitches from the onset of pro-oestrus until 3-4 days after either the last mating or artificial insemination with frozen semen or until metoestrus. Samples were assayed for LH content by the short and normal incubations as well as for progesterone and oestradiol-17 beta content. In all bitches plasma concentrations of progesterone increased rapidly within 1 week after the LH peak which indicates that they had ovulated. Comparison of the short (1.5 h) with the normal (24 h) incubation system resulted in a regression equation: y = 1.0 + 0.7 x (r = 0.95, n = 153 samples). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Convergent multi-view geometric error correction with pseudo-inverse projection homography

The paper presents a geometric error correction method for convergent multi-view images, reducing the vertical parallax and non-uniform horizontal disparities over the set of input camera views. The global optimization method using inter-camera geometric relations on an arc is described. Camera orientations and optical centers are adjusted towards a uniform, circular distribution closest to the actual camera setup. Experimental validation shows up to 20% improvements over state-of-the-art w.r. t. reducing geometric errors and reaching better scalability/robustness to large rotation angles between adjacent camera views. The corrected images can be readily used for visualization on autostereoscopic 3D displays, and/or for further processing in an advanced 3D-TV imaging pipeline.
Prediction of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis based on disease activity markers.

OBJECTIVE The risks and predictors for mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined in a cohort of 152 consecutive outpatients (119 women, 33 men) seen in a 2 month period. METHODS We evaluated 4 measures of disease activity: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), physician and patient global assessment of disease activity, and the Ritchie Articular Index (RAI) as mortality predictors, adjusting for disease severity, treatment, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) comorbidity. RESULTS During followup from 1978 through 1998, 111 patients (86 women, 25 men) died, and only one was lost to followup. The standardized mortality ratio for women was 161 (95% confidence interval 129-199), for men 152 (95% CI 99-223), and for both sexes combined 156 (95% CI 128-188). In a proportional hazards model adjusted for age and sex, at the beginning of the period and for the whole group, significant predictors of mortality were Steinbrocker functional class, Larsen index, CVD comorbidity, use of corticosteroids ever, ESR, and the physician and patient global assessment of disease activity; but the rheumatoid factor (RF), RAI, and use of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs were not significant predictors. When evaluating the 4 assessments of disease activity adjusting for confounders, only physician global assessment hazard ratio (HR) = 1.32 per 1 SD (95% CI 1.00-1.74) and ESR HR = 1.47 per 1 SD (95% CI 1.11-1.93) were significant predictors. CONCLUSION This longterm followup study of a single clinical patient cohort showed a significant increase in mortality among patients with RA compared to the general population in Malmö. In addition to disease damage and CVD comorbidity, measures of disease activity independently predicted mortality, which supports the hypothesis that improving these variables may also improve longterm outcome.
Identity, Space and the Media: Thinking through Diaspora

This paper proposes a spatial approach to identity and mediation as, it is argued, this approach provides a framework for grasping and analysing the complex and changing formation of identity in current times and in an interconnected world. More specifically, it looks at the significance of mobility, immediate and mediated intersections and juxtapositions of difference as necessary elements of the analysis of current formations of identity. The paper proposes a multi-spatial analysis and looks at the spatial matrix of diasporic belonging in developing the discussion. The case of diaspora is chosen as an exemplary case of cultural formation within an interconnected world. As it is argued, diaspora captures human mobility and (re-)settlement not as opposites, not as cause and effect, but rather as co-existing elements of a world connected through flows and networks. Diaspora also presents an exceptional case of intense mediation, as communication networks and information exchange develop across various locations and they follow different directions with consequences for identity and community.