Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three‐dimensional in situ zonal morphology of viable growth plate chondrocytes: A confocal microscopy study

Longitudinal growth, occurring in growth plates with structurally distinct zones, has clinical implications in the treatment of progressive skeletal deformities. This study documents the three‐dimensional morphology of chondrocytes within histological zones of growth plate using confocal microscopy combined with fluorescent labeling techniques. Three‐dimensional reconstruction of Calcein AM‐labeled chondrocytes was made from stacks of confocal images recorded in situ from 4‐week‐old swine growth plates. Three‐dimensional quantitative morphological measurements were further performed and compared at both tissue and cell levels. Chondrocyte volume and surface area increased about five‐ and threefold, respectively, approaching the chondro‐osseous junction from the pool of reserve cells. Chondrocytes from the proliferative zone were the most discoidal cells (sphericity of 0.81 ± 0.06) among three histological zones. Minimum and maximum cell/matrix volume ratios were identified in the reserve (11.0 ± 2.2) and proliferative zones (16.8 ± 3.0), respectively. Evaluated parameters revealed the heterogeneous and zone‐dependent morphological state of the growth plate. Tissue and cellular morphology may have noteworthy contribution to the growth plate behavior during growth process. The ability to obtain in situ cell morphometry and monitor the changes in the growth direction could improve our understanding of the mechanisms through which abnormal growth is triggered. © 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 29:710–717, 2011
Outcome of Adenotonsillectomy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in Children

Objectives: We evaluated the outcome of adenotonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in children using polysomnography (PSG) data and a quality-of-life (QOL) instrument. Methods: We enrolled children (4 to 14 years of age) who had OSAS diagnosed by overnight PSG and who underwent both adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy between January 2003 and February 2008. All of them had completed postoperative PSG and a paired Obstructive Sleep Apnea 18-Item Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (OSA-18) survey. The statistical analyses were performed with a statistical software package. Results: The study included 84 children with a mean age of 7.1 years. The mean preoperative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) for the study population was 24.6, and the mean postoperative AHI was 3.8 episodes per hour. The percentage of children who had normal PSG parameters after adenotonsillectomy ranged from 69.0% to 86.9% because of fluctuation of the criteria used to define OSAS. Nine children (30%) with severe preoperative OSAS had persistent OSAS (an AHI of at least 5) after surgery. Improvements in QOL were comparable in the cured and not-cured groups (p > 0.05). Risk factors for persistent OSAS were obesity and a high preoperative AHI, on multiple logistic regression analysis. Conclusions: Adenotonsillectomy is associated with improvements in PSG, behavior, and QOL in children with OSAS. However, it may not resolve OSAS in all children. The efficacy and role of additional therapeutic options require more study.
Spatial influence of attractions on tourism development

ABSTRACT Destination planning raises questions relative to spatial organization within the destination and to the spatial extent of the gains generated by attractions. Thus, it is important to increase understanding and knowledge of the mechanisms by which attractions generate tourism development. The aim of this study is to analyze how tourist attractions influence tourism development within destination and what the spatial extent of this influence is. It is argued that both the appeal of tourist attractions and their spatial characteristics are determining factors. Thus, distinguishing local, spread, and diffuse attractions is essential and specific indicators were created to that purpose. Using count data models, an econometric analysis was conducted in order to test the effect of attractions on the number of hotel rooms in 2015 on the one hand, and on the number of employees in the tourism sector in 2014 on the other, in French municipalities. The study brings several original results. First, as in the case of green areas, some attractions may trigger the emergence of tourism development but may also have a depressive effect on the level of tourism development when they exceed a certain threshold. Second, the influence of sport and leisure facilities is more limited in space than for ski slopes, beaches and tourist sites, which confirms that the appeal of attractions determine the spatial extent of tourism development. Third, beyond a distance threshold, some attractions can generate negative spatial spillovers and have a depressive effect on tourism development.
The influence of partial and full thickness tears on infraspinatus tendon strain patterns.

Tears on the bursal and articular sides of the rotator cuff tendons are known to behave differently and strain is thought to play a role in this difference. This study investigates the effect of tear location on the changes in three strain measurements (grip-to-grip, insertion, and mid-substance tissue) in a sheep infraspinatus tendon model during axial loading. We introduced a 14 mm wide defect near the insertion from either the articular or bursal side of the tendon to three depths (3 mm, 7 mm & full) progressively. For each condition, tendons were sinusoidally stretched (4% at 0.5 Hz) while insertion and mid-substance strains were tracked with surface markers. For a fixed load, grip-to-grip strain increased significantly compared to intact for both cuts. Insertion strain increased significantly for the bursal-side defect immediately but not for the articular-side until the 66% cut. Mid-substance tissue strain showed no significant change for partial thickness articular-side defects and a significant decrease for bursal-side defects after the 66% cut. All full thickness cuts exhibited negligible mid-substance tissue strain change. Our results suggest that the tendon strain patterns are more sensitive to defects on the bursal side, and that partial thickness tears tend to induce localized strain concentrations in regions adjacent to the damaged tissue.
Australian Data and Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Objective: We examine the Australian psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SQD), a brief screening measure of behavioural and emotional problems in children and adolescents. Method: Using a large community sample (n = 1359) of young Australian children (4–9 years), we assessed the internal consistency, stability, and external validity of the parent-report SDQ. Normative data and cut-offs were also produced. Results: Moderate to strong internal reliability was exhibited across all SDQ subscales, and support was found for the original five-factor structure of the measure. Adequate validity was evidenced in the relationship of these scales to one another, while correlations between the SDQ subscales, teacher ratings, and diagnostic interviews demonstrated sound external validity. SDQ total difficulties scores were associated with concurrent treatment status and scores over a 12-month period were stable. Conclusions: The current study of the SDQ with Australian children presents evidence of sound psychometric properties. Being the first study to empirically support the use of the SDQ in Australia, it is recommended that the youth and teacher-report forms of the measure receive similar attention in the future.
Leadership Characteristics, School Climate, and Employee Engagement in High Performing, High-Needs Schools

School leadership impacts student achievement through the development of a positive school climate and high levels of employee engagement. This dissertation examined the characteristics and behaviors of a school principal who positively impacted school climate and employee engagement. A case study was conducted at a high performing Title I school, as identified by the Georgia Department of Education. The school’s personal registered an above average grand mean score on the Gallup Q12 Engagement Survey. The school was located in a large urban school district. Social Exchange Theory provided a theoretical framework for this study. The behaviors of the principal were examined to determine specific characteristics that influenced school climate and employee engagement. Interviews, a focus group, and several observations were conducted to gather qualitative data pertinent to the principal’s approach to leadership. The results of the research identified six primary leadership characteristics that impacted school climate and employee engagement: the principal focused on (a) students, (b) building relationships, (c) creating a collaborative environment, (d) communicating clearly, (e) developing others, and (f) reflecting on practice. This study contributes information about leadership characteristics that support the academic performance of students in high-needs schools. This research identified six characteristics required of leadership for students to be academically successful in a positive school climate with highly engaged employees. INDEX WORDS: Leadership characteristics, School climate, Employee engagement, Social exchange theory LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS, SCHOOL CLIMATE, AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN HIGH PERFOMING, HIGH NEEDS SCHOOLS
Latent Membrane Protein 1 of Epstein-Barr Virus Induces CD83 by the NF-κB Signaling Pathway

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects human resting B cells and transforms them in vitro into continuously growing lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). EBV nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA2) is one of the first viral proteins expressed after infection. It is able to transactivate viral as well as cellular target genes by interaction with cellular transcription factors. EBNA2 target genes can be studied easily by using an LCL (ER/EB2-5) in which wild-type EBNA2 is replaced by an estrogen-inducible EBNA2. Since the cell surface molecule CD83, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and a marker for mature dendritic cells, appeared on the surface of ER/EB2-5 cells within 3 h after the addition of estrogen, we analyzed the regulation of CD83 induction by EBV in more detail. Despite its rapid induction, CD83 turned out to be an indirect target gene of EBNA2. We could show that the viral latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is responsible for the induction of CD83 by using an LCL expressing a ligand- or antibody-inducible recombinant nerve growth factor receptor-LMP1 fusion protein. The inducibility of the CD83 promoter by LMP1 was mediated by the activation of NF-κB, as seen by use of luciferase reporter assays using the CD83 promoter and LMP1 mutants. Additionally, fusion constructs of the transmembrane domain of LMP1 and the intracellular signaling domain of CD40, TNF-R1, and TNF-R2 likewise transactivated the CD83 promoter via NF-κB. Our studies show that CD83 is also a target of the NF-κB signaling pathway in B cells.
Molecular and Morphometric Characteristics of Ceratomyxa hamour n. sp. (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida) Infecting the Gallbladder of the Orange‐spotted Grouper Epinephelus coioides from the Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia

Ceratomyxa hamour n. sp. was found to infect the gallbladder of the orange‐spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides located off the Saudi Arabian coast of the Arabian Gulf. The infection was reported as a free‐floating spore in the bile, and pseudoplasmodia were not observed. Mature spores were crescent‐shaped and measured on average 7 μm in length and 16 μm in thickness. The polar capsule, meanwhile, had length to width measurements of 4 μm and 3 μm on average. A periodical survey was conducted throughout a sampling period between December 2012 and December 2013, with the results showing that the parasite was present throughout the year with a mean prevalence of 32.6%. The objective of this study was to characterize this new species based on its morphological and molecular differences from previously described species. Molecular analysis based on the partial sequence of the SSU rDNA gene, showed the highest similarity (97.8%) to Ceratomyxa buri, reported in the cultured yellow tail Seriola quinqueradiata in Japan. Indeed, C. buri and the new species described here formed an individual cluster with a high degree of bootstrap support. This is the first reported species of genus Ceratomyxa from the Arabian Gulf fishes off Saudi Arabia.
Development of a smart home system based on multi-sensor data fusion technology

The objective of this study is to develop a multi-sensor data fusion technology based smart home system and its intelligent monitoring interface. The functions of this system include: 1) smart entertainment and household appliances remote control; 2) indoor positioning and intelligent energy management; and 3) home fire prevention. In addition, an intelligent monitoring interface is developed for the smart home system to provide indoor environmental temperature, CO concentration, communicative environmental alarm, household appliances situation, human motion signals, and the results of gesture classification and indoor positioning in real-time. Finally, the abovementioned functions and intelligent monitoring interface are implemented in an experimental model for validating the effectiveness of the smart home system. We have executed the following three research subjects to accomplish the aforementioned objectives: 1) Develop a wearable sensing device placed on hand and its 3D gesture recognition algorithm to implement a real-time, convenient, and low-cost household appliances remote control system. 2) Develop a wearable sensing device placed on foot and its indoor pedestrian positioning algorithm to realize an effective pedestrian navigation system for smart energy management. 3) Develop a multi-sensor circuit and its intelligent fire prevention and alarm algorithm to realize an intelligent fire prevention and alarm system for home fire prevention. The experimental results have successfully validated the effectiveness of the proposed smart home system and its intelligent monitoring interface.
“What Happens on the Van, Stays on the Van”: The (Re)Structuring of Privacy and Disclosure Scripts on an Appalachian Mobile Health Clinic

Over the past two decades, mobile health clinics have emerged to address the health needs of underserved populations. Mobile clinics offer curbside care in the primary settings of people’s lives: churches, parking lots, grocery stores, and community centers. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how physical and symbolic space helps shape the (re)writing of traditional health care scripts of provider—patient confidentiality and medical disclosure in a mobile clinic serving residents of 21 counties in southeastern Ohio. This analysis centered on how clinic staff members blurred the symbolic and physical space of privacy, merged personal and professional discourses, and triaged multiple patient disclosures in the face of social and spatial constraints.
POZ Domain Transcription Factor, FBI-1, Represses Transcription of ADH5/FDH by Interacting with the Zinc Finger and Interfering with DNA Binding Activity of Sp1*

The POZ domain is a protein-protein interaction motif that is found in many transcription factors, which are important for development, oncogenesis, apoptosis, and transcription repression. We cloned the POZ domain transcription factor, FBI-1, that recognizes the cis-element (bp −38 to −22) located just upstream of the core Sp1 binding sites (bp −22 to +22) of theADH5/FDH minimal promoter (bp −38 to +61)in vitro and in vivo, as revealed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. The ADH5/FDH minimal promoter is potently repressed by the FBI-1. Glutathione S-transferase fusion protein pull-down showed that the POZ domains of FBI-1, Plzf, and Bcl-6 directly interact with the zinc finger DNA binding domain of Sp1. DNase I footprinting assays showed that the interaction prevents binding of Sp1 to the GC boxes of the ADH5/FDHpromoter. Gal4-POZ domain fusions targeted proximal to the GC boxes repress transcription of the Gal4 upstream activator sequence-Sp1-adenovirus major late promoter. Our data suggest that POZ domain represses transcription by interacting with Sp1 zinc fingers and by interfering with the DNA binding activity of Sp1.
Evaluation of a venous-return assist device to treat severe post-thrombotic syndrome (VENOPTS)

Summary Severe post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is responsible for considerable disability, reduced quality of life and increased health care costs. Current therapies are limited and often ineffective. We performed a two-centre,randomized,cross-over controlled trial to evaluate Venowave TM, a novel lower-limb venous-return assist device, for the treatment of severe PTS. Eligible subjects were allocated to receive, in randomized order, Venowave for eight weeks and a control device for eight weeks. The eightweek treatment periods were separated by a four-week period when no device was used (i.e. wash-out period). The primary outcome measure was a ‘clinical success’ defined as: i) reported benefit from the device; and ii) moderate or greater improvement in symptoms of PTS; and iii) willingness to continue using the device. Secondary outcome measures included quality of life (QOL) as measured by VEINES-QOL questionnaire (higher scores indicate better QOL), and PTS severity as measured by the Villalta PTS scale (higher scores indicate more severe PTS). The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00182208). Thirty-two patients were enrolled. Of these, 26 (80%) were also using graduated compression stockings. Twenty-six participants completed both trial periods. Clinical success occurred in 10 (31%) participants receiving Venowave and four (13%) participants receiving the control device, with two (6%) participants reporting a clinical success with both devices (P=0.11). Mean VEINES-QOL score at the end of study period was significantly greater (P=0.004) forVenowave (52.5; SD 5.8) compared to control (50.2;SD 6.2). MeanVillalta scale score at the end of study period was significantly decreased (P=0.004) for Venowave (12.2; SD 6.3) compared to control (15.0; SD 6.1). In conclusion,Venowave appears to be a very promising new therapy for patients with severe PTS, which may be used alone or in combination with graduated compression stockings.
Tunable dispersion compensator and tunable dispersion slope compensator based on induced thermal chirping in fiber Bragg gratings

A prototype for tunable dispersion compensation and another for tunable dispersion slope compensation are presented and studied. They are based on enhanced thermal chirp induced in uniform fiber Bragg gratings. The results are repeatable and show good agreement with the theory. The group delay dispersion was tuned between -184 to 182 ps/nm while the quadratic coefficient was tuned between -20 to -80 ps/nm/sup 2/ with a ripple not higher than 5 ps/nm/sup 2/.
Modeling systems biology from the point of view of discrete and hybrid systems

The research areas at the intersection of biology, computer science, and applied mathematics are all well established at this point in time; they all comprise what is nowadays called systems biology [1], intended as the discipline interested in identifying emergent behavior from the complex interactions of various biological systems. Yet, these interdisciplinary areas seem still in need of absorbing and applying the deepest results and the most advanced techniques coming from their originating fields. In particular, the development of models of biological systems poses questions of scale that are nowadays at the frontier of our software and hardware computing capabilities. Such questions pertain both the representation issues and the pure computational issues. The representation issue arises when the discussion turns to the actual languages and formalisms (the ontologies, cfr. [2], [3]) used to describe and exchange biological models of the genome and of the proteome and their - often discrete - behavior. The computational issues arise when we are faced with the need to treat models of systems comprising a large number of variables, either for formal treatment via reachability analysis or for simulation speed to perform parameter space sweeps (e.g., see [4]). The proposed session gathers contributions that will extend our knowledge of these issues with the goal of advancing our understanding at the core of systems biology.
Judges' Perceptions with Reference to Linguistic Adequacy of Lawyers

This paper is an attempt to record the perceptions of judges in Pakistan with reference to the linguistic adequacy of lawyers that have recently entered the profession after the completion of their required degree. The purpose of the research is to identify the deficiencies revealed at the point when recent graduates become lawyers so that the problem areas could be addressed during the course of their legal studies in institutions of legal education. Therefore, the project aims at recommending an outline of a legal English course that requires to be implemented at institutions of legal education in Pakistan. For this research, data was collected through a survey questionnaire distributed among civil judges. The comprehensive quantitative analysis revealed the deficiencies of recent law graduates’ in a variety of skills and sub-skills required in professional legal settings. The findings are highly useful as they provide insights in sequencing, grading and prioritizing the recommended course outline. Also, the findings are of great interest for legal English teachers and syllabus designers.
Replacement of aprotinin by ε-aminocaproic acid in infants undergoing cardiac surgery: consequences for blood loss and outcome.

BACKGROUND Once aprotinin was no longer available for clinical use, ε-aminocaproic acid (EACA) and tranexamic acid became the only two options for antifibrinolytic therapy. We compared aprotinin and EACA with respect to their blood-sparing efficacy and other major clinical outcome criteria in infants undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS We retrospectively analysed data from a large consecutive cohort of infants (n=227) aged 31-365 days undergoing primary cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass encompassing the transition from aprotinin to EACA (aprotinin n=88, EACA n=139); all other aspects including the medical team and departmental protocols remained unchanged. The primary outcome was postoperative blood loss measured as chest tube output (CTO). Secondary outcome parameters were transfusion requirements, reoperation due to bleeding, renal, vascular, and neurological complications, and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS CTO was significantly higher in the EACA patients {aprotinin 18 (13-27) ml kg(-1) 24 h(-1), EACA 23 (15-37) ml kg(-1) 24 h(-1) [mean (inter-quartile range)], P=0.001}, but transfusion requirements and donor exposures were not significantly different. A sensitivity analysis strengthened our finding that the increased blood loss in the EACA group was attributable to lower efficacy of EACA. There were no significant differences in the other clinical outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS CTO was lower in aprotinin-treated patients. Nonetheless, EACA remains a suitable substitute without measurable differences in other clinical outcome criteria.