Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pediatric cervical-spine immobilization: achieving neutral position?

This study was designed to evaluate prospectively the ability of current spine-immobilization devices to achieve radiographic-neutral positioning of the cervical spine in pediatric trauma patients. All trauma patients who required spinal immobilization and a lateral cervical spine radiograph were included in the study. A lateral cervical spine radiograph was obtained while the child was immobilized. The Cobb angle (C2-C6) was measured using a handheld goniometer. The method of immobilization, age at injury, and Cobb angle were compared. One hundred and eighteen patients with an average age of 7.9 years were enrolled. The majority were males (71%). The most frequent mechanisms of injury included motor vehicle accidents (35%) and falls (32%). The average Glascow Coma Scale score was 14. Although 31% of the children complained of neck pain, 92% were without neurologic deficits. The Cobb angles ranged from 27 degree kyphosis to 27 degree lordosis, and only 12 of the patients presented in a neutral position (0 degrees). Greater than 5 degrees of kyphosis or lordosis was observed in 60% of the children. Thirty-seven percent of the patients had 10 degrees or greater angulation. The most frequent methods of immobilization included a collar, backboard, and towels (40%), and a collar, backboard, and blocks (20%), but these techniques provided < 5 degrees kyphosis or lordosis in only 45% and 26% of the children respectively. No single method or combination of methods of immobilization consistently placed the children in the neutral position. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Comparison and evaluation of acceleration based step length estimators for handheld devices

A comparison between different step length estimation algorithms for pedestrian dead reckoning is presented. This work covers theoretic evaluation of the estimators' performance and presents a comparison based on measurement data. Measurement data were taken from a group of five adults walking at three different velocities. For reference, the sensors were placed according to the recommendation given for each algorithm. In respect to everyday usability the performance of the estimators is furthermore evaluated for arbitrary placement of the sensors, as it is the case when using a mobile measurement platform like a smartphone.
Optimization and evaluation of single‐cell whole‐genome multiple displacement amplification

The scarcity of genomic DNA can be a limiting factor in some fields of genetic research. One of the methods developed to overcome this difficulty is whole genome amplification (WGA). Recently, multiple displacement amplification (MDA) has proved very efficient in the WGA of small DNA samples and pools of cells, the reaction being catalyzed by the ϕ29 or the Bst DNA polymerases. The aim of the present study was to develop a reliable, efficient, and fast protocol for MDA at the single‐cell level. We first compared the efficiency of ϕ29 and Bst polymerases on DNA samples and single cells. The ϕ29 polymerase generated accurately, in a short time and from a single cell, sufficient DNA for a large set of tests, whereas the Bst enzyme showed a low efficiency and a high error rate. A single‐cell protocol was optimized using the ϕ29 polymerase and was evaluated on 60 single cells; the DNA obtained DNA was assessed by 22 locus‐specific PCRs. This new protocol can be useful for many applications involving minute quantities of starting material, such as forensic DNA analysis, prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or cancer research. Hum Mutat 27(5), 496–503, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Assessing the development of fetal myocardial function by a novel Doppler myocardial performance index

Doppler-derived myocardial performance index are used to assess aspects of systolic and diastolic function in adult as well as fetal heart. The Tei Index (TI) is a useful and non-invasive tool. The aim of this study was to determine normal values of fetal left ventricular (LV) TI in early (16-32 weeks) and late trimester (35-41 weeks) fetuses and to develop a new myocardial performance index (K-index; KI) which focuses on fetal diastolic interval when oxygenated blood from the placenta filled in the LV. Simultaneous recordings of Doppler Ultrasound Signal (DUS) of the LV outflow tracts and fetal electrocardiogram signals were obtained in 55 early- and late-trimester fetuses. The LV isovolumic contraction time (ICT), isovolumic relaxation time (IRT), ventricular ejection time (VET) and ventricular filling time (VFT) were measured from amplitudes and peaks of high frequency component of DUS signals by an automated model. The TI and the new index were calculated by using the formula (ICT + IRT)/VET and (ICT + IRT)/VFT respectively. The TI did not show any significant change from early-to late trimester fetuses (0.74± 0.057 vs 0.75±0.07; NS). On the other hand, KI showed significant decline in values (1.00±0.24 vs 0.87±0.23; p<;0.05) during this development period. The correlation of KI with gestational ages was found to be negative and significant (r=-0.35; p=0.007). No significant correlation of gestational ages with TI was found. Both TI and KI can be easily obtained in the fetus from DUS recording without the need for precise anatomic imaging. In conclusion, KI may be a useful tool to explore the healthy development of fetal myocardial function. More research is needed to check if KI could recognize the compromised fetuses from normal ones in future.
Lectin Site Interaction with Capsular Polysaccharide Mediates Nonimmune Phagocytosis of Type III Group B Streptococci

ABSTRACT Group B Streptococcus (GBS) causes substantial morbidity but most individuals exposed to the organism remain healthy. These experiments tested the hypothesis that engagement of the complement receptor 3 (CR3) lectin site would effectively trigger neutrophil-mediated phagocytosis of complement-opsonized type III GBS by nonimmune human sera. Using an opsonophagocytosis assay, saccharides identified as interacting with the CR3 lectin site effectively inhibited neutrophil-mediated killing of type III, strain COH1. Fructose, which does not interact with the lectin site, promoted significantly less inhibition of opsonophagocytosis. Saccharide-mediated inhibition was reversed in a dose-related fashion by addition of type III, GBS capsular polysaccharide-specific immunoglobulin G. When capsule-deficient or asialo mutant type III strains were employed, the lectin site was not required. Structurally defined GBS serotypes with a side chain at least two sugars in length engaged the lectin site, and N-acetyld-glucosamine was not a required component monosaccharide. Intact type III capsular polysaccharide interacted significantly more efficiently with the lectin site than did oligosaccharides representing approximately 5 or 20 repeating units, respectively. Taken together, these experiments indicate that interaction of type III GBS capsular polysaccharide with the lectin site of CR3 effects phagocytosis of these organisms by nonimmune serum. Use of this mechanism of innate immunity provides a potential explanation for the infrequency with which susceptible individuals exposed to type III GBS develop invasive infection.
Midas touch - chunking information on a robotic user interface using spatial and functional metaphor

In this paper, a robotic user interface (RUI) as an information management system is described. There have been numerous studies regarding 2D- or 3D-based GUIs that attempt to overcome the disadvantages of a hierarchal structure in information handling. Here, the GUI system is extended to RUI in a technique that enhances its capacity to store and recall by exploiting a spatial/functional association between semantic categories and body parts. A robot resembling a bear was implemented for the evaluation of this association. Experimental results revealed that information can be clustered on a specific body part with statistical significance. Information storage and retrieval becomes easier because there is no need for maintenance or memorization of a location in which specific information is stored. In addition, the fact that a robotic interface can be used in parallel with an existing desktop-based system enhances work efficiency.
CHOXC‐8 and CHOXD‐13 expression in embryonic chick skin and cutaneous appendage specification

We studied the expression of two distantly clustered Hox genes which could, respectively, be involved in specification of dorsal feather‐ and foot scale‐forming skin in the chick embryo: cHoxc‐8, a median paralog, and cHoxd‐13, located at the 5′ extremity of the HoxD cluster. The cHoxc‐8 transcripts are present at embryonic day 3.5 (E3.5)in the somitic cells, which give rise to the dorsal dermis by E5, and at E6.5–8.5 in the dorsal dermal and epidermal cells during the first stages of feather morphogenesis. The cHoxd‐13 transcripts are present at E4.5–9.5 in the autopodial mesenchyme and at E10.5–12.5 in the plantar dermis during the initiation of reticulate scale morphogenesis. Both the cHoxc‐8 and cHoxd‐13 transcripts are no longer detectable after the anlagen stage of cutaneous appendage morphogenesis. Furthermore, heterotopic dermal–epidermal recombinations of dorsal, plantar, and apteric tissues revealed that the epidermal ability or inability to form feathers is already established by the time of skin formation. Retinoic acid (RA) treatment at E11 induces after 12 hr an inhibition of cHoxd‐13 expression in the plantar dermis, followed by the formation of feather filaments on the reticulate scales. When E7.5 dorsal explants are treated with RA for 6 days, they form scale‐like structures where the Hox transcripts are no more detectable. Protein analysis revealed that the plantar filaments, made up of feather β‐keratins, corresponded to a homeotic transformation, whereas the scale‐like structures, composed also of feather β‐keratins, were teratoid. These results strengthen the hypothesis that different homeobox genes play a significant role in specifying the regional identity of the different epidermal territories. Dev. Dyn. 1997;210: 274–287. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nuclear Localization of Tegument-Delivered pp71 in Human Cytomegalovirus-Infected Cells Is Facilitated by One or More Factors Present in Terminally Differentiated Fibroblasts

ABSTRACT Herpesviral virions contain a tegument layer that consists primarily of viral proteins. The delivery of fully functional proteins to infected cells upon virion envelope fusion to the plasma membrane allows herpesviruses to modulate cellular activities prior to viral gene expression. Certain tegument proteins can also regulate viral processes. For example, the pp71 tegument protein encoded by the UL82 gene of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) stimulates viral immediate early (IE) gene expression and thus acts to initiate the productive lytic infectious cycle. In terminally differentiated fibroblasts infected with HCMV, tegument-delivered pp71 traffics to the nucleus and degrades the cellular transcriptional corepressor Daxx to initiate viral IE gene expression and lytic replication. However, when HCMV infects incompletely differentiated cells, tegument-delivered pp71 remains in the cytoplasm, allowing the nucleus-localized Daxx protein to silence viral IE gene expression and promote the establishment of a latent infection in certain cell types. We sought to determine whether undifferentiated cells block the trafficking of tegument-delivered pp71 to the nucleus or whether differentiated cells facilitate the nuclear transport of tegument-delivered pp71. Heterogenous cell fusion experiments demonstrated that tegument-delivered pp71 found in the cytoplasm of undifferentiated NT2 cells could be driven into the nucleus by one or more factors provided by fully differentiated fibroblasts. Our data raise the intriguing possibility that latency is the default program launched by HCMV upon viral entry into cells and that lytic infection is initiated only in certain (differentiated) cells that can facilitate the delivery of incoming pp71 to the nucleus.
Problematic alcohol use and sexual assault among male college students: The moderating and mediating roles of alcohol outcome expectancies.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Extant research shows a strong relationship between alcohol use problems and sexual aggression. However, less is known about the effect of intermediary factors (eg, alcohol expectations) that may increase the likelihood of and/or explain sexual aggression during alcohol-related incidents. The present study examined alcohol outcome expectancies' (OE) mediating and/or moderating influence on the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression among male college students. METHODS AND RESULTS One hundred and forty eight (n = 148) male college students volunteered for the study. Seventy-seven males self-reported committing at least one act of sexual aggression in their lifetime. Among those who sexually aggressed, 74% also reported symptoms of problematic drinking. Results show that sexuality-related alcohol OE fully mediated the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression. Results also showed that aggression-related alcohol OE moderated the relationship between problematic alcohol use severity and sexual aggression. Specifically, aggression-related alcohol OE only influenced the relationship between problematic alcohol use and sexual aggression when alcohol problems were less severe. CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE Discussion implicates the possible role alcohol prevention may play in reducing sexual aggression on college campuses, particularly as it relates to adjusting alcohol OE among those most likely to perpetrate.
The African Swine Fever Virus Thymidine Kinase Gene Is Required for Efficient Replication in Swine Macrophages and for Virulence in Swine

ABSTRACT African swine fever virus (ASFV) replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells and contains genes encoding a number of enzymes needed for DNA synthesis, including a thymidine kinase (TK) gene. Recombinant TK gene deletion viruses were produced by using two highly pathogenic isolates of ASFV through homologous recombination with an ASFV p72 promoter–β-glucuronidase indicator cassette (p72GUS) flanked by ASFV sequences targeting the TK region. Attempts to isolate double-crossover TK gene deletion mutants on swine macrophages failed, suggesting a growth deficiency of TK− ASFV on macrophages. Two pathogenic ASFV isolates, ASFV Malawi and ASFV Haiti, partially adapted to Vero cells, were used successfully to construct TK deletion viruses on Vero cells. The selected viruses grew well on Vero cells, but both mutants exhibited a growth defect on swine macrophages at low multiplicities of infection (MOI), yielding 0.1 to 1.0% of wild-type levels. At high MOI, the macrophage growth defect was not apparent. The Malawi TK deletion mutant showed reduced virulence for swine, producing transient fevers, lower viremia titers, and reduced mortality. In contrast, 100% mortality was observed for swine inoculated with the TK+ revertant virus. Swine surviving TK− ASFV infection remained free of clinical signs of African swine fever following subsequent challenge with the parental pathogenic ASFV. The data indicate that the TK gene of ASFV is important for growth in swine macrophages in vitro and is a virus virulence factor in swine.
Schooling, Educational Achievement, and Cognitive Functioning among Young Guatemalan Adults

Quantity and quality of schooling obtained and the resulting skills and knowledge acquired are important components of human capital. We describe the distribution of selected measures of schooling, educational achievement, and cognitive functioning among individuals who participated as children in a nutrition supplementation trial in Guatemala and were followed up in 2002–04. Among 1,469 respondents (response rate 80%), who were 26–41 years of age in 2003, more than 90% of men and women had attended at least some school; more than half of men and more than one-third of women had completed sixth grade. Schooling attainment of both men and women has increased across birth cohorts but the schooling gap between men and women has increased. Parental socioeconomic status, as measured in 1975, is a strong predictor of schooling attainment. Basic literacy is high among those studied, with more than 80% able to read simple sentences. The gap in educational achievement favoring men narrowed across birth cohorts due to increases among younger women. The greater performance among men on the Raven's Progressive Matrices test persisted despite increased scores in the younger birth cohorts for both men and women. Migrants to Guatemala City have completed more years of school and scored higher on the tests of educational achievement and cognitive functioning than have cohort members who have remained in the study villages.
A NEW PARVICAPSULID (MYXOSPOREA) SPECIES IN ADULT PINK SALMON, ONCORHYNCHUS GORBUSCHA, FROM THE QUINSAM RIVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Myxospores consistent with species of Parvicapsula were observed in kidney of 15 of 95 (15.8%) adult pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, collected from the Quinsam River, British Columbia, Canada. The spores were elongate and curved with unequal valves, and 2 spherical-to-subspherical polar capsules within a highly refractile capsular region. The spores were unlike those of P. minibicornis found in nearby populations of Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp. The spore dimensions were similar to those of Parvicapsula pseudobranchicola from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in Norway, and the spores seemed similar to an undescribed Parvicapsula sp. from several Oncorhynchus spp. in Puget Sound, Washington. A sequence of 1,480 base pairs (bp) of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) of the parasite from pink salmon was most similar to, but distinct from, that of other Parvicapsula spp. The parasite is described as a new species, Parvicapsula kabatai n. sp. Polymerase chain reactions amplified a 158-bp sequence, unique to P. kabatai n. sp. , from 22 of 93 (23.7%) adult pink salmon kidney samples, from 3 of 3 juvenile pink salmon collected in the ocean 125 km north of the Quinsam River, and from 2 of 5 archival coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, samples from Puget Sound. The parasite occurs within the lumen and epithelium of renal tubules and ducts, and within the renal interstitium. Concurrent infections with extrasporogonic stages of the myxosporean CKX, the microsporidian Loma salmonae, and a Myxidium sp. also were observed in the adult pink salmon.
TCP throughput enhancement for cognitive radio networks through lower-layer configurations

In this paper, we investigate the TCP throughput performance enhancement for cognitive radio networks (CRNs) through lower-layer configurations. There is an interaction between TCP and the lower-layer operations. The TCP sending rate at the transport layer determines the packet arrival rate of the lower-layer buffer, and meanwhile it is influenced by the average round trip time and packet loss rate, which are determined by the lower-layer mechanisms and configurations. Therefore, an iteration process is employed to investigate the TCP throughput under given channel condition and lower-layer configurations. For each iteration, queueing analysis is done to derive the packet loss rate and average delay on wireless link, which are then used to calculated the TCP throughput. Through derivations and numerical evaluations, the impacts of lower-layer parameters, primary user (PU) activities and channel conditions on the TCP throughput are discussed. Moreover, the way how these factors influence the TCP throughput is tracked. By using the proposed analytical method, TCP throughput enhancement can be achieved through appropriately setting lower-layer configurations.
Hashing for Cross-Modal Similarity Retrieval

Now, cross-modal retrieval similarity on multimedia with texts and images have attracted scholars' more and more attention. The difficulty of cross-modal retrieval is how to effectively construct correlation between multi-modal heterogeneous data. According to canonical correlation analysis, most existing cross-modal methods embed the heterogeneous data into a joint abstraction space by linear projections. The recognition accuracy is an urgent problem. To address this challenge, in this paper, we propose a adaptive boosting method with weighted CCA and Hash to solve cross-modal similarity retrieval. We use hash method to speed up the retrieval efficiency. Using the CCA to connect the image and text data with the original features. The weight is the input parameter of adaboost algorithm. We choose this algorithm to change the weight for reduce the CCA mapping error rate. We first capture the text component which is represented as a sample from a hidden topic model, learned with latent dirichlet allocation, and images are represented as bags of visual (SIFT and GIST) features. Second, the unified hash codes are generated through the high level abstraction space by hash method such as spectral hashing, kernelized locality semantic hashing and iterative quantization. Third, correlations between the two components are learned with weighted canonical correlation analysis. In this part, we use the Adaboost to iterate this process to find the best result. Finally, find out the nearest neighbors. Extensive experiments on two different datasets highlight the advantage of our method.
Demonstration of high-speed staggered lineup GaAsSb-InP unitraveling carrier photodiodes

We demonstrate staggered ("type-II") lineup lattice-matched GaAs/sub 0.51/Sb/sub 0.49/-InP unitraveling carrier photodiodes (UTC-PDs) for application near 1.55 /spl mu/m. The GaAsSb absorbing layer conduction band edge lines up /spl Delta/E/sub C/=0.11 eV above that of InP, and hence, allows the direct injection of photogenerated electrons into an InP collector-without any need for compositional grading around the GaAsSb-InP interface-thus simplifying epitaxial growth and device fabrication. InP-GaAsSb UTC-PDs show low dark current levels, and measurable bandwidths are limited by the test equipment. A transit-limited bandwidth of 105 GHz for a PD with a 1000-GaAsSb absorption layer (C:5/spl times/10/sup 18//cm/sup 3/) and a 2000 InP collector is inferred from the variation of photoresponse bandwidth with device area.
Streptococcus pseudoporcinus sp. nov., a Novel Species Isolated from the Genitourinary Tract of Women

ABSTRACT Streptococcus strains from animal and human sources identified biochemically as Streptococcus porcinus were investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The nine human strains isolated between 1997 and 2005 formed a single cluster with more than 2.1% dissimilarity with S. porcinus strains from animal sources. A novel species, Streptococcus pseudoporcinus sp. nov., is proposed.