Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Enneking Stage 3 Aggressive Vertebral Hemangiomas With Intralesional Spondylectomy: Report of 10 Cases and Review of the Literature

Study Design A retrospective review of consecutive series of Enneking stage 3 vertebral hemangiomas surgically treated at a major tertiary spine tumor center. Objective To determine the short-term recurrence rates, pain improvement, and operative morbidity of intralesional spondylectomy combined with preoperative embolization for Enneking stage 3 vertebral hemangiomas. Summary of Background Data Aggressive vertebral hemangiomas (Enneking stage 3) often involve both the anterior and posterior columns with spinal canal and local soft tissue extension and may present with dramatic bony destruction, spinal instability, and pain accompanied with neurologic compromise. Although the current treatment paradigm for most vertebral hemangiomas is conservative management directed toward symptomatic relief, the subset of patients presenting with this rare variant requires more extensive surgical treatment. Methods A retrospective clinical review of patients diagnosed with Enneking stage 3 vertebral hemangiomas was conducted at the University of California at San Francisco. Results We identified 10 consecutive cases of Enneking stage 3 hemangiomas. Average follow-up was 2.42 years. The most common presentation was pain with or without myelopathy. Three of the 10 cases were recurrences after prior partial resection and reconstruction or cement augmentation. All patients underwent preoperative embolization. Average blood loss despite embolization was 2.1 L (range: 0.8 to 5 L). Average preoperative back pain visual analog scale was 7.2 and postoperative visual analog scale was 3.1 at 6 months. On postoperative imaging, all patients had gross total resection. Six patients had staged posterior/anterior transcavitary approach and 4 patients underwent single stage posterior transpedicular spondylectomy. To date, no patient has required adjuvant radiation therapy for tumor recurrence. Conclusions Our results suggest that complete wide resection of aggressive Enneking stage 3 lesions can be safely accomplished with acceptable morbidity and blood loss and significant improvement in pain and neurological status. Partial resection of stage 3 lesions, even with stabilization or vertebroplasty, may lead to early recurrence.
Excessive degradation of intracellular protein in macrophages prevents presentation in the context of major histocompatibility complex class II molecules

The endogenous major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II presentation pathway allows biosynthesized, intracellular antigens access for presentation to MHC class II‐restricted T cells. This pathway has been well documented in B cells and fibroblasts, but may not be universally available in all antigen‐presenting cell types. This study compares the ability of different antigen‐presenting cells, expressing endogenous C5 protein (fifth component of mouse complement) as a result of transfection, to present their biosynthesized C5 to MHC class II‐restricted T cells. B cells and fibroblasts expressing C5 were able to present several epitopes of this protein with MHC class II molecules, whereas macrophages were unable to do so, but readily presented C5 from an extracellular source. However, macrophage presentation of endogenous C5 could be achieved when they were treated with low doses of the lysosomotropic agent ammonium chloride. In the presence of an inhibitor of autophagy, presentation of endogenous C5 was abrogated, indicating that biosynthesized C5 is shuttled into lysosomal compartments for degradation before making contact with MHC class II molecules. Taken together, this suggests that proteolytic activity in lysosomes of macrophages may be excessive, compared with fibroblasts and B cells, and destroys epitopes of the C5 protein before they can gain access to MHC class II molecules. Thus, there are inherent differences in presentation pathways between antigen‐presenting cell types; this could reflect their specialized functions within the immune system with macrophages focussing preferentially on internalization, degradation, and presentation of extracellular material.
A first step toward liposome-mediated intracellular bacteriophage therapy

Objectives: The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria presents a severe challenge to medicine and public health. While bacteriophage therapy is a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics, the general inability of bacteriophages to penetrate eukaryotic cells limits their use against resistant bacteria, causing intracellular diseases like tuberculosis. Bacterial vectors show some promise in carrying therapeutic bacteriophages into cells, but also bring a number of risks like an overload of bacterial antigens or the acquisition of virulence genes from the pathogen. Methods: As a first step in the development of a non-bacterial vector for bacteriophage delivery into pathogen-infected cells, we attempted to encapsulate bacteriophages into liposomes. Results: Here we report effective encapsulation of the model bacteriophage λeyfp and the mycobacteriophage TM4 into giant liposomes. Furthermore, we show that liposome-associated bacteriophages are taken up into eukaryotic cells more efficiently than free bacteriophages. Conclusion: These are important milestones in the development of an intracellular bacteriophage therapy that might be useful in the fight against multi-drug-resistant intracellular pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Comparison of Resonance Outcomes after Pharyngeal Flap and Furlow Double-Opposing Z-Plasty for Surgical Management of Velopharyngeal Incompetence

Objective The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that no significant difference exists in the speech outcomes between patients with severe velopharyngeal incompetence (VPI) who receive a pharyngeal flap and patients with less severe VPI who receive a Z-plasty for management of VPI. Design This retrospective study from 1993 to 2002 included a review of pre- and postoperative perceptual speech and resonance assessments of patients with marginal VPI who received a Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty and patients with VPI who received a pharyngeal flap. Setting All patients had surgical management of VPI at the Cleft Palate– Craniofacial Clinic at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Results Both groups benefited from surgery with significant reduction in perceived hypernasality (p < .001). Comparison of postoperative assessments indicated no difference between the groups in hypernasality or hyponasality ratings. Neither group had a significant increase in hyponasality. Conclusion Both pharyngeal flap and double-opposing Z-plasty proved equally effective at reducing hypernasality when the selection of the surgical procedures was based on preoperative ratings of perceived hypernasality and evaluation of velopharyngeal physiology. Severity of the VPI is an important factor when considering surgical management of VPI. Thorough preoperative evaluations of patients with VPI are essential in appropriate treatment planning.
The double-edge effect of retailers’ cause-related marketing: When scepticism cools the warm-glow effect

Purpose – Cause-related marketing – linking product sales with donations to a cause – are popular with consumers because they produce warm-glow feelings (the positive route). But when they involve large donations, they may trigger consumer scepticism, reducing the warm glow (the negative route). Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether large donations in cause-related marketing can produce consumer scepticism and reduce the warm-glow effect and positive attitude towards the retailer. Design/methodology/approach – An experiment varying the donation size (large, medium, small) in a cause-related marketing offer run by an office equipment retailer is set up. Hypotheses are tested using bootstrapping regression analyses. Findings – The negative route has the greater effect: scepticism towards the offer mediates the relationship between donation size and the warm glow. Furthermore, scepticism towards a large donation is higher (lower) for respondents scoring low (high) on altruism and high (low) on familiarity with cause-related marketing. Practical implications – When using cause-related marketing, retailers should choose their features and target audience carefully in order to reduce scepticism, e.g., small donations should be offered in promotions targeting consumers who are familiar with cause-related marketing and show low altruism. Originality/value – This study contributes to the recent research examining the negative effects of cause-related marketing by explicitly conceptualising and measuring scepticism towards cause-related marketing. The findings are also valuable because they indicate the importance of a shift in focus, away from the conventional question of cause-related marketing effectiveness to the more specific and under-investigated problem of the appropriate core target consumers.
Career guidance, school experiences and the university participation of young people from equity groups

University participation is a strong predictor of labour market success, personal health and wellbeing, and positive familial and social outcomes. However, in contemporary Australia large differences in University participation rates remain between young people from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds. In this paper we leverage contemporary longitudinal data for a representative Australian sample of students and event-history regression models to examine the associations between equity-group membership (coming from a low socio-economic background, non-English-speaking background or a regional/remote area), school factors (career guidance and school experiences), and students’ likelihood to enrol into University. We find evidence that equity-group membership reduces the likelihood of University participation (except for non-English-speaking background), whereas receipt of career advice and positive school experiences increase such likelihood. Importantly, school factors more strongly predict subsequent University participation amongst young people from equity groups. These findings are important and policy-relevant, as they suggest that policy initiatives aimed at improving school factors will result in expanded University enrolments, and smaller enrolment gaps between young people from advantaged and disadvantaged social strata.
Does Financial Stability Matter to the Fed in Setting US Monetary Policy

The Taylor rule presents a traditional approach to guiding and evaluating contemporary monetary policy as a function of inflation and economic slack. While the responsibilities of the Federal Reserve (Fed) include price stability and long-run growth, its mission has grown to include financial stability. Surprisingly, the question of whether financial stability ought to be considered as an element of monetary policy is hotly contested. This study aims to determine whether policymakers’ discussions of financial stability and other factors systematically explain deviations of observed policy rates from the rates implied by the Taylor rule. To this end, we conduct content analysis of the Fed’s monetary policy discussions to discover actual topics that enter into policy. We offer two main findings: First, discussion themes extracted from released Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes provide explanatory power beyond standard Taylor rule variables. Second, additional explanatory power is provided by a tri-mandate policy rule that accounts for changes in the economic and financial system as moderated by the evolving preferences of the policymakers. We show that a discussion-based thematic model with financial stability dominates Taylor-type rules during normal times. Moreover, the tri-mandate policy model with financial stability dominates Taylor-type rules in zero lower bound conditions. Taken together, these findings reveal that financial stability has mattered to the Fed continuously and remains critical in setting monetary policy in zero lower bound.
Comprehensive discharge planning for the hospitalized elderly. A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of a comprehensive discharge planning protocol, designed specifically for the elderly and implemented by nurse specialists, on patient and caregiver outcomes and cost of care. DESIGN Randomized clinical trial. SETTING Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. PATIENTS 276 patients and 125 caregivers. Patients were 70 years and older and were placed in selected medical and surgical cardiac diagnostic-related groups. MEASUREMENTS Group differences in patient outcomes (length of initial hospital stay, length of time between initial hospital discharge and readmission, and rehospitalization rates) and charges for care (charges for initial hospitalization, rehospitalizations, health services after discharge, and nurse specialist services) were measured 2, 6, and 12 weeks after discharge. RESULTS From the initial hospital discharge to 6 weeks after discharge, patients in the medical intervention group had fewer readmissions, fewer total days rehospitalized, lower readmission charges, and lower charges for health care services after discharge. No differences in these outcomes were found between the surgical intervention and control groups during this period. CONCLUSIONS Study findings support the need for comprehensive discharge planning designed for the elderly and implemented by nurse specialists to improve their outcomes after hospital discharge and to achieve cost savings. The findings also suggest that this intervention had its greatest effect in delaying or preventing rehospitalization of patients in the medical intervention group during the first 6 weeks after discharge.
A Study on the Phenomenon of Overeducation in China and Its Trend Analysis

The paper analyzes the overeducation incidence in different department and occupation by mode method. Our conclusions are, first, overeducation occurrence is relatively high mainly among senior skilled workers since the quality requirement of the professors and doctors is much higher in China, and, second, the incidence of overeducation in husbandry remains at a low level all the way which indicates that the agricultural human capital attraction and level is weak due to the inferior income. Based on the ORU model, we found that the yield of education changes along with the economic development of China by analyzing the yield of overeducation from 1997 to 2011. The yield of overeducation gradually increased from 1997 to 2011 but it fell after the economic crisis then rose up again in low velocity with the return of every job differing. The income of the senior over educated technical workers is higher than the unskilled ones. People’s income disparity is expanding between the workers receiving more and less education over time.
OB for Social Development: A Position Paper

The thesis of the paper is that OB can contribute richly to socio-economic development of poor Third World societies. It can do so through research on OB-related problems of the strategic organizations of these societies and on the strategic individuals and groups in these organizations. The concept of the strategic organization, individual, and team is expounded. Interesting OB research questions pertaining to strategic organizations are delineated in the areas of motivation and control, coordination and collaboration, boundary management, management of growth, institution building, innovation and change, and sickness and revitalization.
A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial of Famciclovir Versus Acyclovir for the Treatment of Localized Dermatomal Herpes Zoster in Immunocompromised Patients

In this randomized, double-blind, multicenter, acyclovir-controlled study, the efficacy and safety of famciclovir were evaluated for the treatment of herpes zoster in patients who were immunocompromised following bone marrow or solid organ transplantation or oncology treatment. A total of 148 patients, 12 years or older with clinical evidence of localized herpes zoster, received either oral famciclovir, 500 mg three times daily, or acyclovir, 800 mg five times daily, for 10 days. Famciclovir was equivalent to acyclovir with respect to the numbers of patients reporting new lesion formation while on therapy (77% vs. 73%, respectively). There were no significant differences between the groups in the time to cessation of new lesion formation, full crusting, complete healing of lesions, or loss of acute phase pain. Treatment with famciclovir was well tolerated, with a safety profile comparable to that of acyclovir. Thus oral famciclovir is a convenient, effective, and well-tolerated regimen for immunocompromised patients with herpes zoster.
Polypeptide cartography of Spiroplasma taiwanense

Spiroplasma taiwanense is the first member of the Class Mollicutes to be subjected to polypeptide cartography using computerized image analysis. The small genome size characteristic of this group was shown to code for low numbers of polypeptides when compared to other bacterial species. Silver‐stained two‐dimensional electrophoresis gels, following separation by either isoelectric focusing and sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (ISO‐DALT) or nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis (NEPHGE), were used to create databases from 10 and 6 gels, respectively, for each technique and produced, respectively, 263 and 287 replicated spots. Polypeptides were mapped with respect to molecular mass and glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase carbamylation standards. Of interest was the unexpectedly high percentage (50.2%) of the total normalised optical intensity associated with all 263 spots detected by ISO‐DALT electrophoresis, having been contributed by just 29 dominant protein spots. These 29 polypeptides are to be given priority in microsequencing and microanalysis aimed at their identification.
Stieltjes imaging method for molecular Auger transition rates: Application to the Auger spectrum of water.

A Stieltjes imaging method for the calculation of molecular Auger transition rates within Wentzel's ansatz is devised and numerically applied to the Auger emission spectrum of water vapor. Continuum orbitals are solved in the anisotropic field of the doubly ionized molecule using an extended set of ${L}^{2}$ integrable basis functions. The effects on the Auger rates of nonorthogonality between the bound orbitals (electronic relaxation) as well as of hole mixing due to the interaction of the residual final states are numerically evaluated and discussed. Comparisons are made with a previously devised atomic decomposition scheme and with experiment. The summation of Auger channel rates gives a value of 0.15 eV for the lifetime broadening of the core-hole state of water.
Role of Gbx2 and Otx2 in the formation of cochlear ganglion and endolymphatic duct

The boundary of gene expression of transcription factors often plays a role in making a signaling center in development. In the otic vesicle, Gbx2 is expressed in the dorso‐medial region including the endolymphatic duct, and Otx2 in the ventral region. Fgf10 is expressed between their expression boundaries, and the cochleovestibular ganglion develops close to the medial side of the Fgf10 expressing domain. Similar expression patterns are observed in the central nervous system, where Otx2 and Gbx2 expression abut at the mid–hindbrain boundary, and the repressive interaction between Otx2 and Gbx2 defines the mid–hindbrain boundary. These analogous expression patterns raise a question about the role of the interaction between Gbx2 and Otx2 in the otic vesicle. To address this, we misexpressed Gbx2 and Otx2 to the otic epithelium. Ectopic Gbx2 expression could repress Otx2 expression and vice versa. In addition, Fgf10 expression was repressed and cochlear ganglion formation was interfered with. Moreover, endolymphatic duct was severely hypomorphic in the Otx2 misexpressing embryos. These results suggest that the interaction between Gbx2 and Otx2 in developing inner ear defines Fgf10 expression domain to induce the cochlear ganglion. It is also suggested that Gbx2 expression is important for the formation of the endolymphatic duct.
Peripheral Blood Fibrocytes from Burn Patients: Identification and Quantification of Fibrocytes in Adherent Cells Cultured from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Peripheral blood fibrocytes are a newly identified leukocyte subpopulation that displays fibroblast-like properties. These blood-borne cells can rapidly enter the site of injury at the same time as circulating inflammatory cells. We hypothesize that circulating fibrocytes represent an important source of fibroblasts for healing of extensive burn wounds where it may be difficult for fibroblasts to migrate from the edges of uninjured tissue. In this study we identified and quantified fibrocytes among the adherent cells cultured from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from 18 burn patients and 12 normal individuals, based on their ability to express type I collagen. Our results showed that adherent cells cultured from PBMC of burn patients differentiated to fibrocytes more efficiently than did those from normal individuals. The percentage of type I collagen-positive fibrocytes was significantly higher for patients than for controls (89.7 ± 7.9% versus 69.9 ± 14.7%, p < 0.001). This percentage was consistently higher for patients with a ≥30% total body surface area burn until 1 year, with the highest percentage appearing within 3 weeks of injury. A positive correlation was found between the levels of serum transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and the percentage of fibrocytes developing in the cultures of PBMC derived from these patients. We also demonstrated that fibrocytes were derived from CD14+ cells but not CD14− cells. Conditioned medium from CD14− cells was, however, required for fibrocyte differentiation, whereas direct contact between CD14− and CD14+ cells was not necessary. Treatment of the cell cultures with TGF-β1 enhanced the development of collagen-positive cells, whereas the inclusion of neutralizing anti-TGF-β1 antibodies in the CD14− conditioned medium suppressed fibrocyte differentiation. These data suggest that the development of fibrocytes is up-regulated systemically in burn patients. Increased TGF-β in serum stimulates the differentiation of the CD14+ cell population in PBMC into collagen-producing cells that may be important in wound healing and scarring.
The 45 Years of Foreign Direct Investment Research: Approaches, Advances and Analytical Areas

What are the main tenets associated with foreign direct investment (FDI)? What research has been performed in the area of FDI to date? Which direction should research in this field proceed in the days to come? As there is no article with comprehensive coverage of all the studies on FDI, we review empirical research in this area between the years 1970 and 2014 as an attempt to answer these questions. We identify the advances and analytical areas of FDI research, list out the impactful research papers and authors, theoretical and methodological approaches, leading journals and variables of interest that exist in the area of FDI research. As the research into the FDI has advanced significantly over the last two decades, we have also tried to point out the gaps in the literature. Taken together, our paper highlights the heterogeneous nature of FDI across countries and firms.