Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Choice of Ear for Cochlear Implantation: The Effect of History and Residual Hearing on Predicted Postoperative Performance

Objective This study used mathematical formulas predicting cochlear implant outcomes to investigate the effects of implantation in the poorer ear on postoperative speech recognition. Design Retrospective cohort study with mathematical and statistical analyses. This study used the University of Iowa formula for predicting outcomes derived from implantation of the better ear on the basis of duration of deafness and preoperative speech understanding, applying this predictive model to a cohort of patients undergoing implantation in the poorer ear at The Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Setting Tertiary referral center with active cochlear implant program. Patients Postlingually deafened adults (n = 58) with preoperative Central Institute for the Deaf sentence scores less than or equal to 40%. Intervention Cochlear implantation with all three Food and Drug Administration–approved devices. Main Outcome Measure Postoperative monosyllabic word recognition scores and correlations between actual and predicted results. Results There was good statistical correlation between the predicted postoperative performance using the University of Iowa formula and the actual performance of our cohort of patients undergoing implantation in the poorer ear (r = 0.50, p < 0.0001). In addition, as a population, our cohort had a mean postoperative consonant-nucleus-consonant word score of 41.8%, which was statistically the same as that predicted by the University of Iowa formula (43.6%). Conclusions The postoperative performance of cochlear implant patients is most closely correlated with duration of deafness. However, our results indicate that this measure may not be ear specific and is more reflective of the total auditory receptivity of the patient. These observations help to form guidelines for choice of ear for implantation.
Ethics, Ecology, and the Future: Art and Design Face the Anthropocene

ABSTRACT Art and design have become platforms for discussing the long-term implications of technology and modernity, most recently in relation to ecological crisis and the Anthropocene. While artists, designers and curators seek to raise awareness of the Anthropocene, it is important to remain critical of the narratives these practitioners develop. This paper provides a brief critique of how these issues are being addressed in the cultural sphere, suggesting that works of critical, conceptual and speculative design may be best suited to addressing the Anthropocene as they foster critical thinking about how we relate to technology and science, how we organize ourselves politically and socially, and how we define ourselves in the broader ecological assemblage. Artists and designers discussed include Marina Zurkow, Una Chaudhuri, Oliver Kellhammer, Fritz Ertl and Sarah Rothberg; Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby; and Jae Rhim Lee.
Intranasal Immunization with a Colloid-Formulated Bacterial Extract Induces an Acute Inflammatory Response in the Lungs and Elicits Specific Immune Responses

ABSTRACT Nonspecific stimulation of lung defenses by repeated oral administration of immunomodulators, such as bacterial extracts, has shown potential for the prevention of respiratory tract infections. Here, we show that intranasal (i.n.) immunization with a bacterial extract formulated as a colloid induces an acute inflammatory response in the lungs characterized by increased production of CCL and CXCL chemokines and a major influx of dendritic cells (DCs) and neutrophils, with a higher proportion of DCs showing an activated phenotype (high CD80/CD86 expression). Cytokine levels measured in bronchoalveolar-lavage samples showed a small increase in the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha and similar levels of the other cytokines measured (interleukin 10 [IL-10], IL-12, and gamma interferon [IFN-γ]) in immunized mice compared with control mice. However, the recall response of primed animals after antigenic challenge induced increased expression of IL-12 and IFN-γ mRNAs in lung homogenates. Overall, all these effects were not due to the lipopolysaccharide content in the bacterial extract. Furthermore, we found that three i.n. doses administered 2 to 3 weeks apart were enough to elicit long-lasting specific serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and secretory IgA antibody responses. Assessment of IgG subclasses showed a balanced pattern of IgG1-IgG2a responses. The serum total IgE concentrations were also elevated in immunized mice 2 weeks after the third dose, but they significantly decreased soon afterwards. Our results suggest that simple formulations of bacterial extracts administered i.n. are highly immunogenic, eliciting local and systemic immune responses, and may serve as the basis for cost-effective immunotherapies for the prevention and treatment of respiratory infections.
Potential role of multidrug resistant proteins in refractory epilepsy and antiepileptic drugs interactions

Abstract Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder. About one-third of epilepsy patients have a multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype and develop refractory epilepsy (RE). Changes in the properties of the antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) targets resulting in reduced drug sensitivity, can’t explain the MDR phenotype. This particular refractoriness is now attributed to overexpression of multidrug transporters in brain, leading to impaired access of AEDs to CNS targets, and it was documented in both human as well as in experimental models of RE. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) identified in the MDR1-ABCB1gene (C3435T/CC-genotype) is associated with increased intestinal expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) that affects levels of AEDs in plasma. The functional studies of P-gp using P-gp inhibitors could show the still unclear clinical impact of ABCB1 polymorphisms on AEDs resistance. Some drug-drug interactions previously believed to be cytochrome P450 (CYP) mediated are now also considered to be due to the modulation of multidrug-transporters. Because in certain cases pharmacoresistance can be overcome by add-on therapy, co-administered P-gp inhibitors could contribute to the effectiveness of AEDs treatment in RE. And in this regard, perhaps we can postulate to P-gp as a new clinical therapeutic target in multidrug-refractory epilepsy.
Effects of Incidental Emotions on Moral Dilemma Judgments: An Analysis Using the CNI Model

Effects of incidental emotions on moral dilemma judgments have garnered interest because they demonstrate the context-dependent nature of moral decision-making. Six experiments (N = 727) investigated the effects of incidental happiness, sadness, and anger on responses in moral dilemmas that pit the consequences of a given action for the greater good (i.e., utilitarianism) against the consistency of that action with moral norms (i.e., deontology). Using the CNI model of moral decision-making, we further tested whether the three kinds of emotions shape moral dilemma judgments by influencing (a) sensitivity to consequences, (b) sensitivity to moral norms, or (c) general preference for inaction versus action regardless of consequences and moral norms (or some combination of the three). Incidental happiness reduced sensitivity to moral norms without affecting sensitivity to consequences or general preference for inaction versus action. Incidental sadness and incidental anger did not show any significant effects on moral dilemma judgments. The findings suggest a central role of moral norms in the contribution of emotional responses to moral dilemma judgments, requiring refinements of dominant theoretical accounts and supporting the value of formal modeling approaches in providing more nuanced insights into the determinants of moral dilemma judgments.
Strengthening the afferent limb of rapid response systems: an educational intervention using web-based learning for early recognition and responding to deteriorating patients

Background The timely recognition and response to patients with clinical deteriorations constitute the afferent limb failure of a rapid response system (RRS). This area is a persistent problem in acute healthcare settings worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the effect of an educational programme on improving the nurses’ knowledge and performances in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration. Method The interactive web-based programme addressed three areas: (1) early detection of changes in vital signs; (2) performance of nursing assessment and interventions using airway, breathing, circulation, disability and expose/examine and (3) reporting clinical deterioration using identity, situation, background, assessment and recommendation. Sixty-seven registered nurses participated in the randomised control study. The experimental group underwent a 3 h programme while the control group received no intervention. Pretests and post-tests, a mannequin-based assessment and a multiple-choice knowledge questionnaire were conducted. We evaluated the participants’ performances in assessing, managing and reporting the deterioration of a patient using a validated performance tool. Results A significantly higher number of nurses from the experimental group than the control group monitored respiratory rates (48.2% vs 25%, p<0.05) and pulse rates (74.3% vs 37.5%, p<0.01) in the simulated environment, after the intervention. The post-test mean scores of the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group for knowledge (21.29 vs 18.28, p<0.001), performance in assessing and managing clinical deterioration (25.83 vs 19.50, p<0.001) and reporting clinical deterioration (12.83 vs 10.97, p<0.001). Conclusions A web-based educational programme developed for hospital nurses to strengthen the afferent limb of the RRS significantly increased their knowledge and performances in assessing, managing and reporting clinical deterioration.
Immunodominance of cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes co‐injected in vivo and modulation by interleukin‐12

Immunodominance (ID) of T cell epitopes is a well‐documented phenomenon that might have profound significance in the evolution of T cell responses to pathogens, tumors, autoantigens and vaccines. With the intention of developing vaccines composed of several cytotoxic T cell (CTL) epitopes, we injected mice with peptide mixtures containing two to five CTL epitopes and observed clear patterns of ID. In a first case, ID strictly correlated with the competitor activity of the individual peptides for H‐2Kd, whereas in a second case, the absence of correlation between ID and competitor activity, binding affinity, half‐life of the peptides in serum, induction of proliferation in vitro and the individual immunogenicity of the peptides, suggested to us that ID of co‐injected CTL epitopes can be determined both at the peptide level (binding affinity to H‐2Kd) and at the T cell level. This hypothesis is supported by our finding that interleukin‐12 strongly modulates ID when it is not correlated with MHC binding.
AN EXAMINATION OF URANIUM LEVELS IN CANADIAN FORCES PERSONNEL WHO SERVED IN THE GULF WAR AND KOSOVO

A uranium bioassay program was conducted involving 103 active and retired Canadian Forces personnel. The total uranium concentrations in each of two 24-h urine collections were analyzed separately at independent commercial laboratories by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The mean and median concentrations were determined to be 4.5 ng L−1 and 2.8 ng L−1, respectively, from ICP-MS and 17 ng L−1 and 15 ng L−1, respectively, from INAA. The total uranium concentrations were sufficiently low so that isotopic (238U:235U ratio) assays could not be performed directly from urine samples. Isotopic assays were performed on hair samples from 19 of the veterans participating in the testing. The isotopic hair assays were scattered around the natural 238U:235U ratio of 137.8, ranging from 122 ± 21 to 145 ± 16 (1&sfgr;). Due to concern expressed in the media over possible depleted uranium exposure and long-term retention in bone, a single bone sample (vertebrate bone marrow) from a deceased member of the Canadian Forces was also analyzed for total uranium content and isotopic ratio by ICP-MS. The sample was shown to have 16.0 ± 0.3 &mgr;g kg−1 uranium by dry weight and a 238U:235U isotopic ratio of 138 ± 4, consistent with natural uranium.
To Be or Not to Be a Euro Country? The Behavioural Political Economics of Currency Unions

The aim of this paper is to use a behavioural political economy approach to revise the standard approach of optimal currency areas, and applying it to the Eurozone case. We discuss the pros and cons of the Euro membership if behavioural biases - prospect theory - influence the citizens and consequently the political actors. The theoretical framework is used to analyse in general under which conditions the Euro irreversibility assumption is likely to hold and specifically the support in favour of the Euro membership in a country case.
Effect of temporally patterned TNF-α delivery on in vitro osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on biodegradable polymer scaffolds

Recent insight into the critical role of pro-inflammatory cytokines, particularly tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), in bone regeneration has heralded a new direction in the design of tissue engineering constructs. Previous studies have demonstrated that continuous delivery of 50 ng/ml TNF-α to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured on three-dimensional (3D) biodegradable electrospun poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PCL) microfiber meshes stimulates mineralized matrix deposition, a marker of osteogenic differentiation. Since TNF-α exhibits a biphasic pattern of expression following bone fracture in vivo, this study aimed to investigate the effects of temporal patterns of TNF-α delivery on in vitro osteogenic differentiation of MSCs cultured on 3D electrospun PCL scaffolds. MSCs were cultured for 16 days and exposed to continuous, early, intermediate, or late TNF-α delivery. To further elucidate the effects of TNF-α on osteogenic differentiation, the study design included MSCs precultured both in the presence and absence of typically required osteogenic supplement dexamethasone. Mineralized matrix deposition was not observed in constructs with dexamethasone-naïve MSCs, suggesting that TNF-α is not sufficient to trigger in vitro osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. For MSCs precultured with dexamethasone, TNF-α suppressed alkaline phosphatase activity, an early marker of osteogenic differentiation, and stimulated mineralized matrix deposition, a late stage marker of MSC osteogenic differentiation. By elucidating the impact of temporal variations in TNF-α delivery on MSC osteogenic differentiation, our results offer insight into the regenerative mechanism of TNF-α and provide the design parameters for a novel tissue engineering strategy that rationally controls TNF-α signaling to stimulate bone regeneration.
Skills, personality traits, and gender wage gaps: evidence from Bangladesh

We use a recent first-hand linked employer-employee survey covering the formal sector of Bangladesh to explain gender wage gaps by the inclusion of measures of cognitive attainment and personality traits. Our results show that cognitive skills have greater explanatory power than personality traits in determining mean wages. Unconditional quantile regressions show that cognitive attainment as measured by reading and numeracy seems to confer different benefits on women and men respectively. The Big Five trait of agreeableness is positively associated with females' wages across the wage distribution. Decompositions show that about 30-40 per cent of the wage gap can be explained by characteristics along the wage distribution. Cognitive skills cumulatively account for a larger share of the explained component than personality traits do, and matter more at lower percentiles. However, together these cognitive and socio-emotional skills matter to a lesser degree than factors such as one's tenure in the firm.
Temperature sensitive mutants of BHK cells affected in cell cycle progression

Three different temperature sensitive mutants derived from the Syrian hamster cell line BHK 21 were found to have greatly reduced DNA synthesis at the non‐permissive temperature. These mutants are distinct by complementation analysis and behave at the non‐permissive temperature as cell cycle traverse defective mutants. Microfluorometric analysis of mutant populations arrested at the non‐permissive temperature shows an accumulation of cells with G1 DNA content. Mutants ts 13 and ts HJ4 synchronized in G1 by serum or isoleucine deprivation and shifted to the non‐permissive temperature at the time of release do not enter the S phase, while in the case of mutant ts 11 preincubation at the non‐permissive temperature before release is required to completely prevent its entry into S. Ts 13 and ts 11 are able to traverse the S phase at the non‐permissive temperature when synchronized at the boundary G1/S; in this case, preincubation of ts 11 at the non‐permissive temperature before release does not affect the ability of these cells to perform DNA synthesis. On the other hand, ts HJ4 appears to traverse S only partially when tested under similar conditions. Temperature shift experiments of mutant populations at different times after isoleucine synchronization suggest that ts 13 and ts 11 are blocked at the non‐permissive temperature in early G1, whereas ts HJ4 is probably affected near the initiation of DNA synthesis, or in some early S function.
The Rise of the Global Corporation and the Polarization of the Managerial Class in the US

ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand the sharp divergence in the earnings of top managerial executives in the US since the 1980s, within the historical context of the evolution and transformation of the corporate landscape through the 20th century. In particular, as US multinational corporations expanded their reach to the global market at the end of the 20th century and offshoring increased, globally dispersed US multinational corporations began to draw a rising share of their surpluses from their overseas affiliates. The article argues that this development is key to understanding the growing disparity between the earnings of the executives at the top of the managerial hierarchy and those lower down. The disproportionate rise of top managers’ wage income reflects their claim to a larger share of globally produced surplus. Discussions of the rising earnings of the managerial elite in the US need to take this historical process into account.
A Randomized Trial of 12-Week Interventions for the Treatment of Developmental Phonological Disorder in Francophone Children.

PURPOSE This study was designed to test the relative efficacy of different combinations of intervention approaches when targeting speech production accuracy and phonological awareness skills. All children received individual speech therapy, a home program, and a small-group phonological awareness intervention. METHOD Sixty-five 4-year-olds with a developmental phonological disorder received these intervention components in different combinations over 12 weeks, resulting in 4 groups: output-oriented individual intervention and articulation practice home program, output-oriented individual intervention and dialogic reading home program, input-oriented individual intervention and articulation practice home program, and input-oriented individual intervention and dialogic reading home program. RESULTS A significant interaction of the individual treatment condition and the home program condition was observed for 2 outcome measures: targeted feature match (which reflected changes in speech production accuracy for features and word shape structures that were targeted in therapy) and explicit phonological awareness skills. CONCLUSION In this context, in which the children received a brief period of direct therapy and a home program component provided sequentially, the most effective strategy was to teach the parents to use treatment procedures at home that were congruent with the direct therapy component.
Identification of an Intragenic Ribosome Binding Site That Affects Expression of the uncB Gene of the Escherichia coli Proton-Translocating ATPase (unc) Operon

ABSTRACT The uncB gene codes for the a subunit of the Fo proton channel sector of the Escherichia coli F1 Fo ATPase. Control of expression of uncB appears to be exerted at some step after translational initiation. Sequence analysis by the perceptron matrices (G. D. Stormo, T. D. Schneider, L. Gold, and A. Ehrenfeucht, Nucleic Acids Res. 10:2997–3011, 1982) identified a potential ribosome binding site within the uncB reading frame preceding a five-codon reading frame which is shifted one base relative to theuncB reading frame. Elimination of this binding site by mutagenesis resulted in a four- to fivefold increase in expression of an uncB′-′lacZ fusion gene containing most ofuncB. Primer extension inhibition (toeprint) analysis to measure ribosome binding demonstrated that ribosomes could form an initiation complex at this alternative start site. Two fusions oflacZ to the alternative reading frame demonstrated that this site is recognized by ribosomes in vivo. The results suggest that expression of uncB is reduced by translational frameshifting and/or a translational false start at this site within the uncB reading frame.
Mutagenic Stabilization of the Photocycle Intermediate of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)

The optical spectra of the Aequorea victoria green fluorescent protein (GFP) are governed by an equilibrium between three different chromophore states. Mutants that predominantly show either the protonated (A) or the deprotonated (B) form of the chromophore have previously been described. In contrast, the I form, which is formed by rapid excited‐state deprotonation of the A form of the chromophore, has only been described as an obligatory photochemical intermediate. We report the design of a new GFP mutant with a stabilized I form. For this purpose, we introduced two isosteric point mutations, Thr203Val and Glu222Gln, that selectively raise the potential energy of both the A and the B form. Knowledge of the absorption spectrum of the I form at room temperature allows the detailed analysis of concentration dependent changes in bulk wild‐type(wt)‐GFP spectra, as well as the determination of the dimerization constant of GFP. This information expands the use of GFP to that of a spectral probe for protein concentration. We determined energy differences between the chromophore ground states in the monomer and the dimer and reconstructed part of the potential energy surface.