Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Children with Down syndrome: oral development and morphology after use of palatal plates between 6 and 48 months of age.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the number of erupted teeth, sucking habits, tongue morphology, facial expression and speech in children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 48 +/- 6 months and treated from 6 months of age with palatal plates in combination with speech and language therapy. METHODS The research took the form of a multicentre, multidisciplinary, longitudinal study of children with DS followed from the age of 6 months. A total of 37 children with DS were included. One child could not cooperate at all and was excluded from the evaluations. In combination with speech and language intervention provided by speech and language therapists, the children used palatal plates provided by dentists from 6 months of age. In the evaluation, the children in the sample (n = 36) were compared with two similarly aged control groups: one group of children with DS who never had used palatal plates (n = 31) and one group of children with normal development (n = 36). The evaluation of oral parameters was performed by dentists after calibration. Registration of facial expression and speech was done by a speech and language therapist, and the evaluation was done by two speech and language therapists and one phonetician who were calibrated in joint discussions. RESULTS In contrast to the children with DS in the control group, the subjects in the study were found to have as many erupted teeth as the children with normal development. The prevalence of sucking habits did not differ between the three groups. Only children with DS sucked their tongue, a toy or other things in addition to a thumb or dummy. The prevalence of tongue diastase in the study group with DS was of the same magnitude as in the evaluation at the age of 18 +/- 3 months. The palatal plates were used by 57-65% of the children without any larger problems. In the study sample, the possible beneficial effects of palatal plate therapy were a lower prevalence of posterior cross-bite, a higher prevalence of frontal cusp-to-cusp relation and a lower prevalence of frontal open bite. Evaluation of facial expression and speech showed a higher score for facial expression and a better communicative capacity in the children in the study group than in the control children with DS. CONCLUSIONS In children with DS, palatal plate therapy between 6 and 48 months of age in connection with speech and language intervention had a positive effect on occlusion, oral motor function, facial expression and speech. No harmful effects were observed. Although this is a valuable method, however, it must be emphasized that palatal plate therapy puts additional demands on already burdened children and their caretakers.
Clinical and pharmacological hallmarks of rifapentine’s use in diabetes patients with active and latent tuberculosis: do we know enough?

Rifapentine is a rifamycin derivate approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for the treatment of active, drug-susceptible tuberculosis (TB). In 2014, rifapentine was approved for the treatment of latent TB infection in patients at high risk of progression to active disease and is currently under evaluation by the European Medicines Agency. Expanding indications of rifapentine largely affect diabetes patients, since about one-third of them harbor latent TB. Clinical consequences of rifapentine use in this population and potentially harmful interactions with hypoglycemic agents are widely underexplored and generally considered similar to the ones of rifampicin. Indeed, rifapentine too may decrease blood levels of many oral antidiabetics and compete with them for protein-binding sites and/or transporters. However, the two drugs differ in protein-binding degree, the magnitude of cytochrome P450 induction and auto-induction, the degree of renal elimination, and so on. Rifapentine seems to be more suitable for use in diabetes patients with renal impairment, owing to the fact that it does not cause renal toxicity, and it is eliminated via kidneys in smaller proportions than rifampicin. On the other hand, there are no data related to rifapentine use in patients >65 years, and hypoalbuminemia associated with diabetic kidney disease may affect a free fraction of rifapentine to a greater extent than that of rifampicin. Until more pharmacokinetic information and information on the safety of rifapentine use in diabetic patients and drug–drug interactions are available, diabetes in TB patients treated with rifapentine should be managed with insulin analogs, and glucose and rifapentine plasma levels should be closely monitored.
First-Trimester Maternal Abdominal Adiposity Predicts Dysglycemia and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Midpregnancy

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the association between first-trimester abdominal adiposity and dysglycemia and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in midpregnancy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a prospective cohort of 485 women, we measured subcutaneous (SAT), visceral (VAT), and total (TAT) adipose tissue depth, using ultrasound at 11–14 weeks’ gestation. Logistic regression analysis assessed the relation between quartiles of SAT, VAT, or TAT depth and the composite outcome of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or GDM, based on a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 weeks. RESULTS Adjusting for maternal age, ethnicity, family history of diabetes, and BMI, quartile 4 versus quartile 1 VAT (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.1, 95% CI 1.1–9.5) and TAT (aOR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1–7.8) were significantly associated with the composite outcome, but SAT was not (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 0.70–4.8). The same was seen for GDM alone. CONCLUSIONS Elevated first-trimester VAT and TAT depth independently predicted the risk of dysglycemia later in pregnancy.
A survey of the accuracy of interpretation of intraoperative cholangiograms.

OBJECTIVES There are few data in the literature regarding the ability of surgical trainees and surgeons to correctly interpret intraoperative cholangiograms (IOCs) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of surgeons' interpretations of IOCs. METHODS Fifteen IOCs, depicting normal, variants of normal and abnormal anatomy, were sent electronically in random sequence to 20 surgical trainees and 20 consultant general surgeons. Information was also sought on the routine or selective use of IOC by respondents. RESULTS The accuracy of IOC interpretation was poor. Only nine surgeons and nine trainees correctly interpreted the cholangiograms showing normal anatomy. Six consultant surgeons and five trainees correctly identified variants of normal anatomy on cholangiograms. Abnormal anatomy on cholangiograms was identified correctly by 18 consultant surgeons and 19 trainees. Routine IOC was practised by seven consultants and six trainees. There was no significant difference between those who performed routine and selective IOC with respect to correct identification of normal, variant and abnormal anatomy. CONCLUSIONS The present study shows that the accuracy of detection of both normal and variants of normal anatomy was poor in all grades of surgeon irrespective of a policy of routine or selective IOC. Improving operators' understanding of biliary anatomy may help to increase the diagnostic accuracy of IOC interpretation.
Vital Signs: Alcohol Poisoning Deaths — United States, 2010–2012

Background Alcohol poisoning is typically caused by binge drinking at high intensity (i.e., consuming a very large amount of alcohol during an episode of binge drinking). Approximately 38 million U.S. adults report binge drinking an average of four times per month and consuming an average of eight drinks per episode. Methods CDC analyzed data for 2010–2012 from the National Vital Statistics System to assess average annual alcohol poisoning deaths and death rates (ICD-10 codes X45 and Y15; underlying cause of death) in the United States among persons aged ≥15 years, by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, and state. Results During 2010–2012, an annual average of 2,221 alcohol poisoning deaths (8.8 deaths per 1 million population) occurred among persons aged ≥15 years in the United States. Of those deaths, 1,681 (75.7%) involved adults aged 35–64 years, and 1,696 (76.4%) involved men. Although non-Hispanic whites accounted for the majority of alcohol poisoning deaths (67.5%; 1,500 deaths), the highest age-adjusted death rate was among American Indians/Alaska Natives (49.1 per 1 million). The age-adjusted rate of alcohol poisoning deaths in states ranged from 5.3 per 1 million in Alabama to 46.5 per 1 million in Alaska. Conclusions On average, six persons, mostly adult men, die from alcohol poisoning each day in the United States. Alcohol poisoning death rates vary substantially by state. Implications for Public Health Practice Evidence-based strategies for preventing excessive drinking (e.g., regulating alcohol outlet density and preventing illegal alcohol sales in retail settings) could reduce alcohol poisoning deaths by reducing the prevalence, frequency, and intensity of binge drinking.
Highly Articulated Kinematic Structure Estimation Combining Motion and Skeleton Information

In this paper, we present a novel framework for unsupervised kinematic structure learning of complex articulated objects from a single-view 2D image sequence. In contrast to prior motion-based methods, which estimate relatively simple articulations, our method can generate arbitrarily complex kinematic structures with skeletal topology via a successive iterative merging strategy. The iterative merge process is guided by a density weighted skeleton map which is generated from a novel object boundary generation method from sparse 2D feature points. Our main contributions can be summarised as follows: (i) An unsupervised complex articulated kinematic structure estimation method that combines motion segments with skeleton information. (ii) An iterative fine-to-coarse merging strategy for adaptive motion segmentation and structural topology embedding. (iii) A skeleton estimation method based on a novel silhouette boundary generation from sparse feature points using an adaptive model selection method. (iv) A new highly articulated object dataset with ground truth annotation. We have verified the effectiveness of our proposed method in terms of computational time and estimation accuracy through rigorous experiments with multiple datasets. Our experiments show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Proinflammatory cytokines and chemokine production and expression by human osteoblasts isolated from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether subchondral osteoblasts (OB) are involved in the production of cytokines and chemokines in rheumatic diseases. METHODS OB were isolated from subchondral bone of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA) and post-traumatic (PT) patients, cultured in vitro in the presence or absence of interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and assessed for the production, immunolocalization, and mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, TNF-alpha) and alpha and beta chemokines [IL-8, growth related gene product (GRO-alpha), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), RANTES, and macrophage inflammatory proteins MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta]. RESULTS Cultured OB from different patients did not release IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, or TNF-alpha, and constitutively secreted IL-8, GRO-alpha, and MCP-1, while RANTES, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta were undetectable or near the lower level of sensitivity of the immunoenzymatic assay. GRO-alpha was significantly higher in RA than in OA and PT patients. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha alone or in combination strongly stimulated chemokine release by OB. Only RANTES production was not increased by the combination of the 2 cytokines. IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha were expressed as cytoplasmic proteins and were not secreted by OB even after stimulation. CONCLUSION OB from subchondral bone release chemokines that could be involved in the mechanisms that directly or indirectly cause bone remodelling and cartilage destruction.
Charge Transfer in 1,8‐Naphthalimide: A Combined Theoretical and Experimental Approach

Photophysics of 1,8‐naphthalimide (NAPMD) in different solvents has been delineated in this paper. Theoretically calculated bond distance of N–H and C=O groups rule out any intramolecular proton transfer in the excited state. Concomitant increase in negative charge on O atom compared to N atom and dipole moment hints at possible intramolecular charge transfer. Progressive redshift with polarity of solvents in emission and absorption spectra also confirms the theoretical prediction. Weakening of N–H bond helps hydrogen abstraction and anion formation in water with decay time of 2.54 ns through intermolecular proton transfer. This was corroborated from the ground state photoexcitation of laboratory synthesized anion of NAPMD. Amide hydrolysis in higher pH and excess proton availability at low pH are responsible for anion emission quenching. A possible electron transfer diminishes phosphorescence at 77 K with changing pH.
Topographic organization of a forebrain pathway involved with vocal learning in zebra finches

A serial pathway from a thalamic nucleus (DLM; the medial portion of the dorsolateral nucleus of the anterior thalamus) to a cortical region (lMAN; the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum) to a motor‐cortical region (RA; the robust nucleus of the archistriatum) is necessary for vocal production during song learning in juvenile zebra finches but not for the recitation of a song already learned by adults. To obtain new information about the possible function of the DLM‐lMAN‐RA pathway in vocal learning, we used anterograde and retrograde tract‐tracing techniques (pressure injections of DiI and DiA) to map the pattern of axonal connections between t these brain regions in adult male zebra finches. Results revealed two topographically organized pathways that traverse the songbird forebrain in parallel. An oval‐shaped dorsal/lateral portion of DLM projects solely to the central core of lMAN (lMANcore), whereas a crescent‐shaped region, including ventral and medial DLM, projects exclusively to a parvicellular shell that encircles IMANcore (lMANshell). In turn, IMANshell neurons project solely to an arc‐shaped region of dorsal archistriatum just lateral to RA (Ad; archistriatum, pars dorsalis), whereas IMANcore neurons project exclusively to RA. We also identified crossed and reciprocal pathways between IMANcore/shell and the lateral portion of the ventral archistriatum, which may contribute to interhemispheric coordination of vocal behavior. A robust topographic organization was observed in the axonal projections from dorsal/lateral‐DLM→IMANcore→RA and from ventral/medial‐DLM→IMANshell→Ad, raising the question of what is being mapped within these two forebrain pathways. Because RA projection neurons are organized myotopically with respect to the major vocal (syringeal) muscles (D. S. Vicario, 1991, J. Comp. Neurol. 309:486–494), one possibility is that a mapping of vocal/expiratory musculature is preserved “upstream” within these pathways. Similarly, the presence of song‐selective auditory neurons in DLM, lMAN, and RA (A. J. Doupe and M. Konishi, 1991, Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 18:527) suggeststhat thesepathways might subserve some form of auditory or auditory‐motor mapping. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Aesthetic perceptions regarding fluorosis by children from an area of endemic fluorosis in India.

OBJECTIVES To assess the perceptions of and concerns regarding dental fluorosis among 12-15 year-old schoolchildren in an area where fluorosis is endemic and to find any association with Tooth Surface Index of Fluorosis (TSIF) scores. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN A cross sectional study. PARTICIPANTS 316 children aged 12-15 years with varying level of dental fluorosis selected from 696 children screened for fluorosis. METHODS The study was undertaken in three villages in rural Gadag, Karnataka, India, with fluoride levels in the drinking water ranging from 2.2 to 4.5 ppm as estimated by the SPADNS spectrophotometric method. Children's fluorosis was assessed under natural lighting conditions on the labial surface of upper anterior teeth using the TSIF 8-point scale. A self-administered questionnaire assessed knowledge, perceptions and concerns. Data were analysed by frequency distributions and Spearman's correlation coefficients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Aesthetic perceptions and TSIF scores. RESULTS The children were aware of the fluoride presence and its health effects. TSIF scores correlated with: the appearance of front teeth (r = 0.135, p = 0.015); feeling fluorosis would hinder smiling (r = 0.116, p = 0.040); feeling distress due to fluorosis (r = 0.111, p = 0.048). CONCLUSION Children were aware of fluoride and its health effects. They also perceived dental fluorosis as an aesthetic problem.
Predictors of Allogeneic Blood Transfusion in Spinal Fusion in the United States, 2004–2009

Study Design. Retrospective study. Objective. To examine the predictors of allogeneic blood transfusion (ALBT) in spinal fusion. Summary of the Background Data. Spinal fusion is among the most common surgical procedures that necessitate blood transfusion. Methods. Using the appropriate International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes, patients who underwent spinal fusion from 2004 to 2009 were identified in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. These patients were then divided into groups of those who received ALBT and those who did not, using the appropriate ICD-9-CM code. Patient demographics, surgical variables, and hospital characteristics were also retrieved. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of ALBT in spinal fusion. Results. Significant predictors of ALBT in spinal fusion included age, female sex, race status, weight loss, anemia, Elixhauser Comorbidity Score, autologous-related blood transfusion, surgical level, surgical approach, revision surgery, number of fused vertebrae, and insurance status. Pediatric and elderly patients were more likely to receive ALBT than middle-aged patients. African American and Hispanic patients were more likely to receive ALBT than Caucasian patients. As the Elixhauser Comorbidity Score increased, the odds ratio increased (score ≥4; odds ratio, 3.07). Thoracolumbar fusion was the strongest predictor among surgery-related variables (odds ratio, 8.56). Private insurance patients were less likely to receive ALBT than Medicare patients. Conclusion. This study identified significant predictors of ALBT in spinal fusion. These factors need to be taken into consideration when developing a patient blood management strategy before surgery. In this study, autologous-related blood transfusion could not avoid ALBT; on the contrary, it was a significant predictor. Level of Evidence: 3
Cobalamin status during normal pregnancy and postpartum: a longitudinal study comprising 406 Danish women

Abstract: Objectives: To assess cobalamin (vitamin B12) status during normal pregnancy and postpartum in a longitudinal setting. Methods: This study was performed in 1995–1996. It comprised 406 healthy, pregnant Danish Caucasian women, living in Copenhagen County. Cobalamin status, i.e. plasma (P‐) cobalamin, P‐methylmalonic acid and P‐homocysteine was measured at 18, 32 and 39 wk gestation and 8 wk postpartum during lactation. Results: P‐cobalamin showed a gradual, significant decline during pregnancy (P < 0.0001) followed by a significant increase postpartum (P < 0.0001); at 18, 32, 39 wk gestation and 8 wk postpartum median values were 225, 172, 161 and 319 pmol/L, respectively. P‐methylmalonic displayed a gradual, significant increase during pregnancy as well as postpartum (P < 0.001) with median values of 0.11, 0.13, 0.14, and 0.16 μmol/L, respectively. P‐homocysteine demonstrated a significant increase during pregnancy and postpartum (P < 0.001). The frequency of P‐cobalamin values <150 pmol/L increased during pregnancy from 15% at 18 wk to 43% at 39 wk gestation and subsequently declined to 3% postpartum. Conclusion: Low cobalamin status may occur among pregnant women, especially in late pregnancy. The recommendations for periconceptional vitamin B12 supplementation should be reconsidered.
Dynamic Indonesian sign language recognition by using weighted K-Nearest Neighbor

People with disability in Indonesia is 2.45% of the total population. And people with hearing disability are the second largest. Usually, they have a problem with communication. A sign language is created to solve the problem. However, it is less popular so only limited people understand it. Therefore, a system which able to recognise sign language is required. This research introduces dynamic feature extraction to recognise sign language. Dynamic features were used to capture trajectory movement of hand skeleton. Because sign languages are characterized not only by hand movement but also by hand position, besides dynamic features this research also used hand position feature. For classification, this study used a combination of Weighted Simple Matching Coefficient (WsMC) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN). Later combination between Weighted Simple Matching Coefficient (WSMC) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) is called by Weighted K-NNN. For the experiment, eighteen sign language gestures were tested. Tree kinds of K-NN was applied in testing; K-NN; locally weighted K-NN; and globally weighted K-NN. The recognition accuracy of this system, although evaluated with a limited vocabulary, presents very promising result with value 88% by using locally weighted K-NN.
An association between air pollution and mortality in six U.S. cities.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have reported associations between particulate air pollution and daily mortality rates. Population-based, cross-sectional studies of metropolitan areas in the United States have also found associations between particulate air pollution and annual mortality rates, but these studies have been criticized, in part because they did not directly control for cigarette smoking and other health risks. METHODS In this prospective cohort study, we estimated the effects of air pollution on mortality, while controlling for individual risk factors. Survival analysis, including Cox proportional-hazards regression modeling, was conducted with data from a 14-to-16-year mortality follow-up of 8111 adults in six U.S. cities. RESULTS Mortality rates were most strongly associated with cigarette smoking. After adjusting for smoking and other risk factors, we observed statistically significant and robust associations between air pollution and mortality. The adjusted mortality-rate ratio for the most polluted of the cities as compared with the least polluted was 1.26 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.08 to 1.47). Air pollution was positively associated with death from lung cancer and cardiopulmonary disease but not with death from other causes considered together. Mortality was most strongly associated with air pollution with fine particulates, including sulfates. CONCLUSIONS Although the effects of other, unmeasured risk factors cannot be excluded with certainty, these results suggest that fine-particulate air pollution, or a more complex pollution mixture associated with fine particulate matter, contributes to excess mortality in certain U.S. cities.