Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Alternative Approach Using Long Elephant Trunk for Extensive Aortic Aneurysm: Elephant Trunk Anastomosis at the Base of the Innominate Artery

BackgroundAlthough a staged elephant trunk procedure has been widely used, the early mortality of the first stage operation as well as the interval mortality between operations remains unsatisfactory. We developed an alternative elephant trunk procedure to reduce mortality and morbidity. Methods and Results Ascending aorta and arch vessels were minimally dissected. During systemic cooling, a four-branched arch graft with a sewing “collar” and a long “elephant trunk” was prepared. The ascending aorta was opened under selective brain perfusion with moderate hypothermia (25°C), and the elephant trunk was then pulled down into the descending aorta using the catching catheter introduced via a femoral artery. The elephant trunk anastomosis using the collar was made at the base of the innominate artery. The arch vessels were divided and closed at aortic stump, and grafted separately as a consequence of the very proximal site for the elephant trunk anastomosis. Between October 1998 and September 2001, 17 patients, ranging in age from 25 to 79 years (mean 67 years) with extensive aortic aneurysm underwent this operation. Preoperative cardiac complications included coronary artery disease in 5, aortic regurgitation in 3, and 3 of these 8 patients had poor left ventricular function with an ejection fraction less than 40%. Nine patients underwent a second stage operation, in 1 of them the permanent elephant trunk procedure was initially attempted but the second stage procedure was done because of increasing endo-leakage. The mean interval between operations was 8 days (range 1 to 14 days) in the remaining 8 patients. In 5 of 6 patients who underwent the permanent elephant trunk procedure, a decrease in the size of the aneurysm based on thromboexclusion was observed using serial computed tomography scans. A single stage repair was performed in 1 patient. The 30-day survival rate of all operations was 100%, however, there was 1 in-hospital death (6%) after the second operation. There was no stroke, however, paraplegia occurred after the first operation in 1 patient (6%) of the in-hospital death. No new phrenic or recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred as a result of surgery. ConclusionsThe present technique using a modification of the elephant trunk technique for extensive aortic aneurysm provides acceptable mortality and morbidity. The present strategy would be an alternative for the standard elephant trunk procedure in some high-risk patients with advanced age and comorbidities.
Expresso: automatic incorporation of structural information in multiple sequence alignments using 3D-Coffee

Expresso is a multiple sequence alignment server that aligns sequences using structural information. The user only needs to provide sequences. The server runs BLAST to identify close homologues of the sequences within the PDB database. These PDB structures are used as templates to guide the alignment of the original sequences using structure-based sequence alignment methods like SAP or Fugue. The final result is a multiple sequence alignment of the original sequences based on the structural information of the templates. An advanced mode makes it possible to either upload private structures or specify which PDB templates should be used to model each sequence. Providing the suitable structural information is available, Expresso delivers sequence alignments with accuracy comparable with structure-based alignments. The server is available on .
Cognitive Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis

In Multiple Sclerosis (MS) prevalence studies of community and clinical samples, indicate that 45–60% of patients are cognitively impaired. These cognitive dysfunctions have been traditionally described as heterogeneous, but more recent studies suggest that there is a specific pattern of MS-related cognitive dysfunctions. With the advent of disease-modifying medications for MS and emphasis on early intervention and treatment, detection of cognitive impairment at its earliest stage becomes particularly important. In this review the authors address: the cognitive domains most commonly impaired in MS (memory, attention, executive functions, speed of information processing, and visual–spatial abilities); the pathophysiological mechanism implied in MS cognitive dysfunction and correlated brain MRI features; the importance of neuropsychological assessment of MS patients in different stages of the disease and the influence of its course on cognitive performance; the most used tests and batteries for neuropsychological assessment; therapeutic strategies to improve cognitive abilities.
Phase‐Modulated binomial RF pulses for fast spectrally‐selective musculoskeletal imaging

Two fat‐suppressed three‐dimensional gradient echo pulse sequences, FLASH and DESS (Double Echo in Steady‐State), that have significantly reduced scan time compared with conventional chemical shift fat‐suppression sequences are presented. This fat‐suppression technique is based on selectively exciting water spins using a time‐optimized binomial RF pulse pair at the water resonance frequency with a null in the excitation profile at the fat frequency. To minimize the total pulse length, the delay between the binomial components of the RF pulse is decreased from a standard jump‐return implementation. To maintain the proper null frequency, the phase of the second RF pulse is shifted such that it returns the fat resonance back to its initial z position while further tipping the water spins. Nonselective phase‐modulated RF pulse pairs can be implemented in 1.20 ms at 1.0 T, significantly reducing the minimum TR.
Comparison of Inflammatory and Acute-Phase Responses in the Brain and Peripheral Organs of the ME7 Model of Prion Disease

ABSTRACT Chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as prion disease and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are reported to be associated with microglial activation and increased brain and serum cytokines and acute-phase proteins (APPs). Unlike AD, prion disease is also associated with a peripheral component in that the presumed causative agent, PrPSc, also accumulates in the spleen and other lymphoreticular organs. It is unclear whether the reported systemic acute-phase response represents a systemic inflammatory response to prion disease or merely reflects central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. For this study, we investigated whether intracerebrally initiated prion disease (ME7 model) provokes splenic, hepatic, or brain inflammatory and acute-phase responses. We detected no significant elevation of proinflammatory cytokines or activation of macrophages in the spleens of these animals, despite clear PrPSc deposition. Similarly, at 19 weeks we detected no significant elevation of transcripts for the APPs serum amyloid A, complement C3, pentraxin 3, and α2-antiplasmin in the liver, despite CNS neurodegeneration and splenic PrPSc deposition at this time. However, despite the low CNS expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines, there was robust expression of these APPs in degenerating brains. These findings suggest that PrPSc is not a stimulus for splenic macrophages and that neither peripheral PrPSc deposition nor CNS neurodegeneration is sufficient to produce a systemic acute-phase response. We also propose that serum cytokine and APP measurements are not useful during preclinical disease. Possible consequences of the clear chronic elevation of APPs in the CNS are discussed.
Housing as a Heuristic Condition in the Simultaneous Projection of Population and Households

Conventional population projections regard individuals, rather than households, as population units of reference. Such an approach has been questioned on both methodological and empirical grounds. Furthermore, in applications to smaller populations, conventional population projections have repeatedly yielded poor results. The simultaneous projection of population and households, on the other hand, regards households as population units of reference, but, in applications based on the notion of the household composition matrix, it has occasionally yielded analytically infeasible results. In the present study I examine the simultaneous projection of population and households in a etropolitan area, under feasibility constraints. A housing-market specification is expressed as a feasibility condition against multipliers of the household composition matrix, extracted here for the Cleveland Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA), 1990. The feasibility condition is shown to function as a gateway to exogenous considerations regarding the transfer of headship in households, and is exemplified in a forecast of population and households for the Cleveland CMSA.
A novel Golgi membrane protein is part of a GTPase‐binding protein complex involved in vesicle targeting

Through two‐hybrid interactions, protein affinity and localization studies, we previously identified Yip1p, an integral yeast Golgi membrane protein able to bind the Ras‐like GTPases Ypt1p and Ypt31p in their GDP‐bound conformation. In a further two‐hybrid screen, we identified Yif1p as an interacting factor of Yip1p. We show that Yif1p is an evolutionarily conserved, essential 35.5 kDa transmembrane protein that forms a tight complex with Yip1p on Golgi membranes. The hydrophilic N‐terminal half of Yif1p faces the cytosol, and according to two‐hybrid analyses can interact with the transport GTPases Ypt1p, Ypt31p and Sec4p, but in contrast to Yip1p, this interaction is dispensable for Yif1 protein function. Loss of Yif1p function in conditional‐lethal mutants results in a block of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐to‐Golgi protein transport and in an accumulation of ER membranes and 40–50 nm vesicles. Genetic analyses suggest that Yif1p acts downstream of Yip1p. It is inferred that Ypt GTPase binding to the Yip1p–Yif1p complex is essential for and precedes vesicle docking and fusion.
Modeling the Impact of Nutrition Interventions on Birth Outcomes in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST).

Background: Negative birth outcomes [small-for-gestational age (SGA) and preterm birth (PTB)] are common in low- and middle-income countries and have important subsequent health and developmental impacts on children. There are numerous nutritional and non-nutritional interventions that can decrease the risk of negative birth outcomes and reduce subsequent risk of mortality and growth faltering.Objective: The objective of this article was to review the current evidence for the impact of nutritional interventions in pregnancy [calcium supplementation, iron and folic acid supplementation, multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementation, and balanced energy supplementation (BES)] and risk factors (maternal anemia) on birth outcomes, with the specific goal of determining which intervention-outcome linkages should be included in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) software.Methods: A literature search was conducted by using the WHO e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions as the starting point. Recent studies, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews were reviewed for inclusion on the basis of their relevance to LiST.Results: On the basis of the available scientific evidence, the following linkages were found to be supported for inclusion in LiST: calcium supplementation on PTB (12% reduction), MMN supplementation on SGA (9% reduction), and BES on SGA (21% reduction among food-insecure women). Conclusions: The inclusion of these linkages in LiST will improve the utility of the model for users who seek to estimate the impact of antenatal nutrition interventions on birth outcomes. Scaling up these interventions should lead to downstream impacts in reducing stunting and child mortality.
Preliminary study on the use of complex media for antenna characterization

Propagation in complex media can be thought of as an advantageous way to speed up antenna characterization. If the geometry of the medium is well controlled, the different reflections that take place can be fruitfully used for antenna radiation pattern (ARP) measurement. The feasibility of this concept is presented here for the case of a simple geometry. Preliminary results are presented and it is shown how frequency diversity can be fruitfully used to retrieve the free space radiation pattern (RP). A special care is given to the conditioning of the mathematical model as retrieving the free space radiation pattern consists in solving an inverse problem.
QRS duration and QRS fractionation on surface electrocardiogram are markers of right ventricular dysfunction and atrialization in patients with Ebstein anomaly.

BACKGROUND Ebstein anomaly is a rare and heterogeneous congenital heart defect affecting the tricuspid valve and right ventricular (RV) myocardium. Few studies have analysed the electrocardiographic features of Ebstein anomaly and none has addressed correlations with disease severity. METHODS Patients with Ebstein anomaly who had undergone electrocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) within 6 weeks between 2001 and 2009 were included. Exclusion criteria were: associated congenital cardiac defect, previous RV myoplasty and/or reduction surgery, class I anti-arrhythmic drug therapy, and paced/pre-excited QRS. Standard electrocardiogram (ECG) findings were correlated with CMR-based RV measures and clinical profile. RESULTS The mean age of the 63 study patients was 22 ± 13 years. An RV conduction delay (rsR' pattern in right precordial leads) was present in 45 patients (71%). The QRS duration correlated with anatomic RV diastolic volume (r = +0.56, P < 0.0001) and inversely with RV ejection fraction (EF; r = -0.62, P < 0.0001). The presence of QRS fractionation predicted greater atrialized RV volume (80 ± 31 vs. 45 ± 37 mL/m(2), P < 0.001). Normal QRS duration was associated with smaller anatomic RV diastolic volume (150 ± 57 vs. 256 ± 100 mL/m(2); P < 0.0001), higher RV EF (48 ± 6 vs. 34 ± 14%; P < 0.0001), higher oxygen consumption (VO(2)) at cardiopulmonary exercise (25.8 vs. 21.8 mL/kg/min, P = 0.05) and lower incidence of oxygen desaturation with exercise (25 vs. 65%, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION Delayed and prolonged depolarization of the RV is common in patients with Ebstein anomaly. The QRS duration is a marker of RV enlargement and dysfunction. QRS fractionation is associated with a greater atrialized RV volume. A preserved surface ECG identifies a subset of patients with Ebstein anomaly with mild morphological and functional abnormalities and better clinical profile.
Control of Anthrax Toxin Gene Expression by the Transition State Regulator abrB

ABSTRACT Bacillus anthracis produces the anthrax toxin proteins protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF) in a growth phase-dependent manner when cultured in liquid medium. Expression of the toxin genes pagA, lef, and cya peaks in late log phase, and steady-state levels of the toxin proteins are highest during the transition into stationary phase. Here we show that an apparent transition state regulator negatively regulates toxin gene expression. We identified two orthologues of the B. subtilis transition state regulator abrB in the B. anthracis genome: one on the chromosome and one on the 182-kb virulence plasmid pXO1. The orthologue located on the chromosome is predicted to encode a 94-amino-acid protein that is 85% identical to B. subtilis AbrB. The hypothetical protein encoded on pXO1 is 41% identical to B. subtilis AbrB but missing 27 amino acid residues from the amino terminus compared to the B. subtilis protein. Deletion of the pXO1-encoded abrB orthologue did not affect toxin gene expression under the conditions tested. However, a B. anthracis mutant in which the chromosomal abrB gene was deleted expressed pagA earlier and at a higher level than the parent strain. Expression of a transcriptional pagA-lacZ fusion in the abrB mutant was increased up to 20-fold during early exponential growth compared to the parent strain and peaked in mid-exponential rather than late exponential phase. In contrast to the strong effect of abrB on pagA expression, lef-lacZ and cya-lacZ expression during early-log-phase growth was increased only two- to threefold in the abrB null mutant. Western hybridization analysis showed increased PA, LF, and EF synthesis by the mutant. As is true in B. subtilis, the B. anthracis abrB gene is negatively regulated by spo0A. Our findings tie anthrax toxin gene expression to the complex network of postexponential phase adaptive responses that have been well studied in B. subtilis.
The Impact of Rapid Automatized Naming and Phonological Awareness on the Reading Fluency of a Minority Student Population

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) on the reading fluency (RF) of students from traditionally underrepresented groups. The study included 86 participants attending 1st through 4th grade within an inner-city charter school located in a high-poverty, urban environment. The majority of participants were of African American descent (97%). This study moved beyond previous research by employing structural equation modeling to investigate the relationship between RAN, PA, and RF. The results from the analyses suggested that RAN and PA were valid and reliable predictors of participants' RF. RAN was also found to account for more variance in the prediction of reading fluency than phonological awareness alone. The results also suggest that RAN is a member of the phonological awareness family, within this homogenous population; thus, the double-deficit hypothesis was not supported. Further, the findings from the study provide support for the use of RAN assessments to identify students at-risk for reading difficulty; however, the results suggest that teachers should focus classroom-based interventions on the acquisition and development of PA skills—in contrast to improving RAN-based skills.
Constructing Bayesian Network in a Changing World

Although the process of decision-making has been investigated for centuries, only in the last few decades have investigators systematically addressed how decisions are made in a dynamic, real-world environment. One of the most daunting challenges faced by decision support systems is a perpetual change in their environment. Existing decision support methodologies, tools, and frameworks are often difficult to scale up and adapt to changing knowledge. In this paper, a framework that constructs a decision model from knowledge base according to the changes in environment is presented. The generated Bayesian network can be changed as the situation evolves. This paper describes the knowledge representation and model construction process. Bayesian networks combination method is also discussed in details.
Stable articulatory tasks and their variable formation: tamil retroflex consonants

A real-time MRI examination of retroflex stops and rhotics in Tamil reveals that in some contexts these consonants may in fact be achieved with little or no retroflexion of the tongue tip. Rather, maneuvering and shaping of the tongue in order to achieve post-alveolar contact varies across vowel contexts. Between back vowels /a/ and /u/, post-alveolar constriction involves curling back of the tongue tip, but in the context of high front vowel /i/, the same constriction is achieved by bunching of the tongue. It appears that though there is a stable constriction target in the post-alveolar region, its achievement is not fixed but is instead a consequence of the variable state of the vocal tract in different vowel contexts. Articulatory configurations of the tongue across these vowel contexts were examined by comparing measures of Gaussian curvature at evenly spaced points along the vocal tract. The results support the notion that so-called retroflex consonants have a specified target constriction in the post-alveolar region, but that the specific articulations employed to achieve this constriction are not fixed, in keeping with the task dynamic model of speech production. Index Terms: retroflex, Tamil, real-time MRI
Enhanced equivalence checking: toward a solidarity of functional verification and manufacturing test generation

This article, from the Motorola (now Freescale) PowerPC design group, presents an interesting synergy among test, equivalence verification, and constraints. The authors use RTL, gate, and switch models of a design in two different flows one for test and one for functional verification to show that rectifying constraints and merging tests between the-two flows saves significant presilicon debug effort.
Religious tendency and gender roles: Predictors of the attitudes toward women's work roles?

Our aim in this study was to investigate if religious tendency and gender roles predicted attitudes of Turkish university students towards women’s work roles. The study was conducted with 138 students from the Ankara University Educational Sciences Department. The Attitude Towards Women’s Work Roles Scale (Kuzgun & Sevin, 2004), Religious Tendency Scale (Onay, 1997, 2002), and Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1981) were the tools employed in order to collect data. The findings revealed that the thought dimension of religious tendency, and feminine and androgynous gender roles significantly predicted attitudes towards women’s work roles.
Comparing teacher and peer perceptions of aggression: An ecological approach.

Teacher and peer perceptions of aggression were investigated in a sample of 899 students. Teachers rated their students in Grades 3 through 8 on an 8-item scale assessing peer-directed aggression. Students completed a questionnaire within classrooms that measured acceptance, rejection, and peer-directed aggression. Both teachers and peers reported higher levels of aggression in boys than in girls. Teacher and peer perceptions of aggressive behavior were more congruent for boys than for girls, but this congruence differed significantly as a function of ethnicity. Significant differences among individual classrooms also existed in both teaacher and peer ratings, as well as in the relationships between the 2 measures
Cultural differences in mothers' developmental goals and ethnotheories

The influence of ecocultural context on parents' image of the adaptive adult is explored via a comparison between the child-rearing goals and ethnotheories of 20 immigrant mothers from the former Soviet Union and 20 Israeli-born mothers. It is assumed that parents' socializing practices are premised on developmental ethnotheories reflecting societal child rearing models and expectations for children's development. The image of the “adaptive adult” in parents' country of origin is so fundamentally ingrained in their beliefs about child rearing that it is retained after immigration, and is integrated with aspects of the image of adaptive adulthood which prevails in the host culture. The current study explored (through semistructured interviews) mothers' developmental ethnotheories concerning the nature of development, how it can be influenced, and why it should be influenced, with regard to cognitive competence, autonomy, emotional regulation, and social understanding and behaviour of their 3-4-year-old chi.
Dysphorics cannot ignore unpleasant information

Using a negative affective priming (NAP) design that allows the disentanglement of NAP for unpleasant and pleasant information, we found significant NAP only for unpleasant information for low scorers on the BDI, whereas high scorers showed significant but reversed NAP for unpleasant information and a significant NAP effect for pleasant information. The result is compatible with the hypothesis that depression is associated with an inability to suppress task-irrelevant negative information.