Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional status after childbirth in an Australian sample.

OBJECTIVE To investigate changes in functional status after childbirth from 6 weeks to 6 months post-delivery. DESIGN Prospective, longitudinal survey. SETTING Maternal-child health centers and immunization clinics in regional New South Wales, Australia. PARTICIPANTS Two hundred Australian mothers from culturally diverse backgrounds, ages 20-35 years, who had experienced normal pregnancies, labors, and deliveries and delivered healthy singleton infants between 37 and 42 weeks gestation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The Inventory of Functional Status After Childbirth. RESULTS Significant increases in functional status were noted in household (t = -6.871, df = 311, p = .0001), social (t = -5.856, df = 311, p = .0001), and self-care activities (t = -3.469, df = 313, p = .0006). However, none of the mothers had achieved full functional status by 6 months postdelivery. CONCLUSIONS A gradual resumption of past role-related activities may reflect the normal adjustments required when a woman becomes a mother. Mothers not only resume most aspects of previous roles, but also add to their multiple role demands by assuming primary responsibility for infant care. Further investigations are required to identify why aspects of certain roles are resumed and others are discarded either temporarily or permanently.
Recognition for Group Work: Gender Differences in Academia

How is credit for group work allocated when individual contributions are not observed? I use data on academics' publication records to test whether demographic traits like gender influence how credit is allocated under such uncertainty. While solo-authored papers send a clear signal about ability, coauthored papers are noisy, providing no specific information about each contributor's skills. I find that men are tenured at roughly the same rate regardless of coauthoring choices. Women, however, are less likely to receive tenure the more they coauthor. The result is much less pronounced among women who coauthor with other women.
Overlapped and differential expression of cAMP‐dependent kinase‐inhibitor isoforms during avian organogenesis period

Although cAMP‐dependent kinase (PKA) has been known to regulate many biological systems, including patterning, cell differentiation and proliferation, it is not well understood how the spatial‐temporal specificity of the PKA signaling is generated. While the PKA signal activation is regulated in many ways, a direct visualization of PKA activity in situ is not possible. Thus, examinations of PKA regulators will provide indirect, but nonetheless important information to elucidate the distribution of PKA activity. In the present study, three isoforms of PKA‐inhibitor (PKI) genes were identified from avian genome, and their expression patterns were examined during the organogenesis period. PKI genes were strongly expressed in muscle, liver, and nervous system primordia, suggesting their inhibitory roles on the PKA signaling in the development of these tissues.
Risk of merkel cell carcinoma after solid organ transplantation.

BACKGROUND Solid organ transplant recipients have elevated risks of virus-related cancers, in part because of long-term immunosuppression. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer recently found to have a viral origin, but little is known regarding the occurrence of MCC after transplant. METHODS We linked the US Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients with data from 15 population-based cancer registries to ascertain MCC occurrence among 189498 solid organ transplant recipients from 1987 to 2009. Risks for MCC following transplantation were compared with the general population using standardized incidence ratios, and Poisson regression was used to compare incidence rates according to key patient and transplant characteristics. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS After solid organ transplantation, overall risk of MCC was increased 23.8-fold (95% confidence interval = 19.6 to 28.7, n = 110). Adjusted risks were highest among older recipients, increased with time since transplantation, and varied by organ type (all P ≤ .007). Azathioprine, cyclosporine, and mTOR inhibitors given for maintenance immunosuppression increased risk, and non-Hispanic white recipients on cyclosporine and azathioprine experienced increasing MCC risk with lower latitude of residence (ie, higher ultraviolet radiation exposure, P = .012). CONCLUSIONS MCC risk is sharply elevated after solid organ transplant, likely resulting from long-term immunosuppression. Immunosuppressive medications may act synergistically with ultraviolet radiation to increase risk.
Cough and dyspnoea may discriminate allergic and infectious respiratory phenotypes in infancy

To cite this article: Rancière F, Clarisse B, Nikasinovic L, Just J, Momas I. Cough and dyspnoea may discriminate allergic and infectious respiratory phenotypes in infancy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2012: 23: 367–375.
A numerically validated probabilistic model of a simplified total hip replacement construct

Hip replacement constructs are paradigms of uncertain systems, and as such are suited to the application of probabilistic methods to assess their structural integrity. In order to gain confidence in a probabilistic model, it would be useful to verify the findings with experimental data; however, this is difficult to achieve in practice because of the exhaustive number of parameter combinations that need to be tested. As an alternative to experimental testing, benchmarking can be carried out provided a known analytical solution is available. To this end, a simplified 2D two-beam model of the femoral part of a total hip replacement construct was utilised to analyse uncertainties and variability in the construct as it is subjected to load. The use of a simplified model enabled geometric parameters to be investigated; these are commonly not considered in probabilistic models due to the increased complexity involved. Analytical and finite element representations of the model were developed and compared. The probabilistic study used the Monte Carlo simulation technique and the first-order reliability method to look at the inducible displacement of a hip implant, a phenomenon that has been linked to the most common cause of hip implant failure, aseptic loosening. Excellent correlation was observed between the analytical and probabilistic solutions, and it was shown that probabilistic approaches could efficiently predict the response of the simplified beam model while readily identifying the parameters most likely to compromise the structural integrity of the construct.
ApoB100,LDLR-/- mice exhibit reduced electroretinographic response and cholesteryl esters deposits in the retina.

PURPOSE To evaluate the retinal phenotype of 7- and 14-month-old apoB100,LDLR-/- mice, a relevant animal model of lipid metabolism dysfunction. METHODS Single-flash electroretinograms were obtained from 7- and 14-month-old apoB100,LDLR-/- and control mice fed a standard diet under both scotopic and photopic conditions. Visual cycle retinoids were analyzed in eyes from dark-adapted mice. Retinal and choroidal vascularization was evaluated with scanning laser ophthalmoscopy. Fatty acids were analyzed in the retina. Esterified and free cholesterol was detected in eye cryosections. RESULTS Scotopic and photopic b-wave amplitudes were significantly reduced in apoB100,LDLR-/- mice compared with control mice at 7 and 14 months of age (between -25% and -35% in 7-month-old animals and between -50% and -60% in 14-month-old animals at 25 cds/m2). Esterified cholesterol was found to accumulate at the basement of the retinal pigment epithelium in apoB100,LDLR-/- mouse eyes. On the contrary, no significant changes in the retinal profile of fatty acids and visual retinoids were observed in apoB100,LDLR-/- mice compared with control animals. CONCLUSIONS The exclusive expression of apoB100 in LDL receptor-null mouse altered the ERG profile, without modifying the visual cycle of retinoids and led to cholesterol deposition in the retina. These findings clearly suggest the role of cholesterol metabolism in the functioning of the retina and possibly in the etiology of ocular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration.
Operating an underwater manipulator via P300 brainwaves

It would be difficult and stressful for a single operator to operate an underwater manipulator using his/her both hands in deep sea environments while the operator has to monitor or manipulate additional equipment. In order to reduce the operating pressure and make full use of the operator potentials, in this paper we propose a control strategy for operating the underwater manipulator via P300 brainwaves, which provides the operator a new way to operate the underwater manipulator without need for both hands. In this case, the two hands can be used to manipulate other equipment. The manipulator is a master-slave servo hydraulic manipulator with 7 functions, consisting of six degrees of freedom (DOFs) and a parallel gripper for manipulations. A p300 interface is designed by considering operation tasks of the underwater manipulator. It's a 3∗3 image matrix where each image corresponds to an underwater manipulator behavior. An experimental platform, in which a virtual underwater manipulator is developed, is used for validating the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed brainwave-based strategy. Eight subjects are invited to do a typical underwater operational task, grasping a marine organism sample, on the virtual experimental platform. Their experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and effective.
Phosphorylation of the Kinase Homology Domain Is Essential for Activation of the A-Type Natriuretic Peptide Receptor

ABSTRACT Natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A) is the biological receptor for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). Activation of the NPR-A guanylyl cyclase requires ANP binding to the extracellular domain and ATP binding to a putative site within its cytoplasmic region. The allosteric interaction of ATP with the intracellular kinase homology domain (KHD) is hypothesized to derepress the carboxyl-terminal guanylyl cyclase catalytic domain, resulting in the synthesis of the second messenger, cyclic GMP. Here, we show that phosphorylation of the KHD is essential for receptor activation. Using a combination of phosphopeptide mapping techniques, we have identified six residues within the ATP-binding domain (S497, T500, S502, S506, S510, and T513) which are phosphorylated when NPR-A is expressed in HEK 293 cells. Mutation of any one of these Ser or Thr residues to Ala caused reductions in the receptor phosphorylation state, the number and pattern of phosphopeptides observed in tryptic maps, and ANP-dependent guanylyl cyclase activity. The reductions were not explained by decreases in NPR-A protein levels, as indicated by immunoblot analysis and determinations of cyclase activity in the presence of detergent. Conversion of Ser-497 to Ala resulted in the most dramatic decrease in cyclase activity (∼20% of wild-type activity), but conversion to an acidic residue (Glu), which mimics the charge of the phosphoserine moiety, had no effect. Simultaneous mutation of five of the phosphorylation sites to Ala resulted in a dephosphorylated receptor which was unresponsive to hormone and had potent dominant negative inhibitory activity. We conclude that phosphorylation of the KHD is absolutely required for hormone-dependent activation of NPR-A.
Effect of Aging on Brain Injury Prediction in Rotational Head Trauma—A Parameter Study with a Rat Finite Element Model

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of age-related intracranial changes on the potential outcome of diffuse axonal injuries and acute subdural hematoma under rotational head loading. Methods: A simulation-based parametric study was conducted using an updated and validated finite element model of a rat head. The validation included a comparison of predicted brain cortex sliding with respect to the skull. Further, model material properties were modified to account for aging; predicted tissue strains were compared with experimental data in which groups of rats in 2 different lifecycle stages, young adult and mature adult, were subjected to rotational trauma. For the parameter study, 2 age-dependent factors—brain volume and region-specific brain material properties—were implemented into the model. The models young adult and old age were subjected to several injurious and subinjurious sagittal plane rotational acceleration levels. Results: Sequential analysis of the simulated trauma progression indicates that an increase in acute subdural hematoma injury risk indicator occurs at an early stage of the trauma, whereas an increase in diffuse axonal injury risk indicators occurs at a later stage. Tissue stiffening from young adult to mature adult rats produced an increase in strain-based thresholds accompanied by a wider spread of strain distribution toward the rear part of the brain, consistent with rotational trauma experiments with young adult and mature adult rats. Young adult to old age brain tissue softening and brain atrophy resulted in an increase in diffuse axonal injuries and acute subdural hematoma injury risk indicators, respectively. Conclusions: The findings presented in this study suggest that age-specific injury thresholds should be developed to enable the development of superior restraint systems for the elderly. The findings also motivate other further studies on age-dependency of head trauma.
Oil Spill emergency response mapping for coastal area using SAR imagery and GIS

Oil spill disaster is unexpected accident occurs through failures in operations, transportations, ship accidents, human errors or due to other disasters such as flood and earthquake. Most of oil spills happen in coastal and sea environment that make the emergency response for the accident much difficult and complicate. Intricate operations involve through complexity of sea and coastal conditions, especially in bad weather where the access to the accident site is difficult. Management of such event needs an organized contribution, covering all procedures of disaster operation from monitoring and detection to mitigation and relief. This paper presents methods of SAR image and GIS technology applications for oil spill management in coastal area. The developed framework is based on automatic detecting and mapping of oil spills in SAR image and provision of oil spill location and extent map which includes information about the spill thicknesses and geographic references such as major towns and features along the coastal area. The output from SAR image processing then transferred into oil spill trajectory simulation model to simulate the next destinations of oil spill. Oil spill trajectory predicts the movement, spreading, and coastal impact of oil spill in the marine environment. The output vectors from trajectory simulation used as input data for creating other disaster products including oil spill risk map, affected area map and emergency response map. Each product demonstrates the results from various analyses aspects, include situational analysis, risk analysis, damage analysis, and emergency response analysis using satellite SAR image in GIS and image analysis software. All the models and applications are described and depicted.
Participation in a clinical trial: views of children and young people with diabetes.

AIM To investigate whether involvement in research can have a positive effect on the education and management of disease of children and young people with diabetes. METHOD Children's and young people's experiences of exposure to intensified intervention during a clinical trial were examined by a questionnaire given to 44 young patients with type 1 diabetes from the UK and Ireland. The young people had participated in a trial comparing specific insulin regimes. Most patients were obliged to increase injection frequency, clinic attendance, glucose monitoring and diary entries. FINDINGS Of the 44 patients, 36 completed the questionnaire. Most, including the younger children, did not regard basal-bolus therapy, additional injections or intensified self-monitoring as barriers to self-management. They also believed that the management of their diabetes was further supported as a result of increased contact and intensive insulin management. Many of the children participating in this study felt they had learned something about their diabetes, and, furthermore, almost all opted to remain on an intensive treatment regimen. CONCLUSION These results suggest that trial involvement benefits the young person's approach to self-management of diabetes.
Free vascularized fibular graft salvage of complications of long-bone allograft after tumor reconstruction.

BACKGROUND Long-bone allograft reconstruction following tumor extirpation can be complicated by problems such as nonunion at the host-allograft junction, allograft fracture, or allograft infection. Free vascularized bone grafts can be used to address these complications. The purpose of the current study was to examine retrospectively the outcomes and complications following allograft reconstruction salvage with onlay vascularized fibular grafts. METHODS A tumor registry review was conducted to identify all patients who underwent a reconstruction with a vascularized fibular graft for allograft reconstruction complications following tumor resection (host-graft nonunion, allograft fracture, or allograft nonunion) in the last nineteen years. The records of these patients were analyzed for details regarding the neoplasms and the treatment thereof, details of the free vascularized fibular graft reconstruction, time to osseous union, functional outcome, and clinical outcome. RESULTS Thirty-three patients satisfied the criteria for this study. The involved bones were the femur (eighteen patients), tibia (eight), and humerus (seven). Osseous union was achieved in all patients at a mean of 7.7 months. The average duration of follow-up was seventy-three months. Twenty-three patients achieved a good or excellent functional outcome. Ultimately, seven patients had a failure of the allograft reconstruction, which resulted in limb loss in five of them. Postoperative complications were relatively common in this series. CONCLUSIONS Free vascularized fibular grafting is a useful adjunctive surgical treatment for nonunion, fracture, and infection of an intercalary allograft reconstruction in limb salvage surgery. It has, however, a high rate of associated complications often resulting in failure.
Assessing the Validity of Multinomial Models Using Extraneous Variables: An Application to Prospective Memory

The class of multinomial processing tree (MPT) models has been used extensively in cognitive psychology to model latent cognitive processes. Critical for the usefulness of a MPT model is its psychological validity. Generally, the validity of a MPT model is demonstrated by showing that its parameters are selectively and predictably affected by theoretically meaningful experimental manipulations. Another approach is to test the convergent validity of the model parameters and other extraneous measures intended to measure the same cognitive processes. Here, we advance the concept of construct validity (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955) as a criterion for model validity in MPT modelling and show how this approach can be fruitfully utilized using the example of a MPT model of event-based prospective memory. For that purpose, we investigated the convergent validity of the model parameters and established extraneous measures of prospective memory processes over a range of experimental settings, and we found a lack of convergent validity between the two indices. On a conceptual level, these results illustrate the importance of testing convergent validity. Additionally, they have implications for prospective memory research, because they demonstrate that the MPT model of event-based prospective memory is not able to differentiate between different processes contributing to prospective memory performance.
Abnormal Thermoregulation in Diabetic Autonomic Neuropathy

Hypothermia has been reported to be more common in diabetic people than in nondiabetic people, and we have investigated the possibility that autonomie neuropathy may be associated with disordered thermoregulation. After an overnight fast and maintenance of normoglycemia, 12 insulin-treated diabetic patients with and 11 without neuropathy and 12 nondiabetic control subjects, all <55 yr, were subjected to external cooling by perfusing water at 16°C through a liquid-conditioned coverall for ≤45 min. Patients with autonomie neuropathy had impaired vasoconstriction to cooling, particularly in the foot, calf, and forearm. Core temperature rose by 0.2°C in control subjects and by 0.15°C in patients with diabetes but no neuropathy. In contrast, group mean core temperature was unchanged in those with autonomie neuropathy and fell in 3 subjects (P < .001). Cooling caused shivering in 6 patients with diabetic autonomie neuropathy, but not in those with neuropathy or control subjects (P < .05). Baseline metabolic rates were similar in all three groups, but the increase after cooling was significantly greater among those who shivered (P < .05–.02). Thus, young diabetic patients with autonomie neuropathy have impaired thermoregulation to a relatively short period of external cooling, even during metabolic stability, which may predispose to hypothermia.
Phase 2 trial of preoperative irinotecan plus cisplatin and conformal radiotherapy, followed by surgery for esophageal cancer

Esophagectomy for locally advanced esophageal cancer (LAEC) is associated with limited survival. Trimodality therapy yields a small survival advantage, with cisplatin and 5‐fluorouracil regimens most frequently studied. Newer regimens may impact these poor outcomes. This phase 2 trial assessed the feasibility and efficacy of induction chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin and irinotecan followed by esophagectomy.