Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early radiographic features in patients with anterior cruciate ligament rupture

OBJECTIVE To determine, in a preliminary cross sectional study of patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptured knees, which of the radiographic features—subchondral cortical plate thickness, trabecular sclerosis, and osteophytosis—appears before or in association with changes in joint space width (JSW) as a surrogate for articular cartilage thickness in patients with ruptured knees. METHODS 19 patients (14 men), mean (95% CI) age 28.7 (23.6 to 33.8) years, had ACL rupture in one knee only, confirmed by arthroscopy. Anterior draw, Lachman's test, and pivot shift tests were performed and ×5 posteroanterior macroradiographs of both knees in a standing semiflexed view were taken at a mean (95% CI) time from injury of 34.3 (26.9 to 41.7) months. In each radiograph, computerised methods were used to measure minimum JSW and fractal signature analysis (FSA) to quantify the vertical and horizontal trabecular organisation, osteophyte area, and the subchondral cortical plate thickness, in the medial and lateral tibial compartments of all knees. RESULTS Physical examination confirmed the presence of joint laxity in the injured knees. No statistical difference in either medial or lateral JSW and subchondral cortical plate thickness was detected between ACL ruptured and uninjured knees. FSA showed a significant decrease in fractal dimension for the horizontal trabeculae (size 0.42 mm) in the medial compartment of the ACL ruptured knees compared with the uninjured knees (p<0.01, multivariate analysis of variance). There was an inverse correlation (R −0.74) between the time since knee injury and the difference in FSA values for ACL ruptured and uninjured knees in medial compartment horizontal trabeculae (size 0.4 mm). No significant changes were detected in the lateral compartment. Osteophytes were detected in the medial compartment of nine ACL injured knees. CONCLUSION Compared with the uninjured knee, ACL rupture leads to thickening of subchondral horizontal trabeculae (decreased FSA) in the medial tibial compartment of all knees, reaching significance at about four years after injury. Osteophytes were present in the same compartment in 9/19 knees. No changes in JSW and subchondral cortical plate thickness were detected. Whether the bony changes detected in these ACL ruptured knees presage those of early osteoarthritis requires further study.
Molecular and cellular signatures of human vaccine adjuvants

Oil-in-water emulsions are potent human adjuvants used for effective pandemic influenza vaccines; however, their mechanism of action is still unknown. By combining microarray and immunofluorescence analysis, we monitored the effects of the adjuvants MF59 oil-in-water emulsion, CpG, and alum in the mouse muscle. MF59 induced a time-dependent change in the expression of 891 genes, whereas CpG and alum regulated 387 and 312 genes, respectively. All adjuvants modulated a common set of 168 genes and promoted antigen-presenting cell recruitment. MF59 was the stronger inducer of cytokines, cytokine receptors, adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte migration, and antigen-presentation genes. In addition, MF59 triggered a more rapid influx of CD11b+ blood cells compared with other adjuvants. The early biomarkers selected by microarray, JunB and Ptx3, were used to identify skeletal muscle as a direct target of MF59. We propose that oil-in-water emulsions are the most efficient human vaccine adjuvants, because they induce an early and strong immunocompetent environment at the injection site by targeting muscle cells.
Semiclassical theory of weak antilocalization and spin relaxation in ballistic quantum dots

We develop a semiclassical theory for spin-dependent quantum transport in ballistic quantum dots. The theory is based on the semiclassical Landauer formula, that we generalize to include spin-orbit and Zeeman interaction. Within this approach, the orbital degrees of freedom are treated semiclassically, while the spin dynamics is computed quantum mechanically. Employing this method, we calculate the quantum correction to the conductance in quantum dots with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction. We find a strong sensitivity of the quantum correction to the underlying classical dynamics of the system. In particular, a suppression of weak antilocalization in integrable systems is observed. These results are attributed to the qualitatively different types of spin relaxation in integrable and chaotic quantum cavities.
Cultural Adaptation Process for International Dissemination of the Strengthening Families Program

The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is an evidence-based family skills training intervention developed and found efficacious for substance abuse prevention by U.S researchers in the 1980s. In the 1990s, a cultural adaptation process was developed to transport SFP for effectiveness trials with diverse populations (African, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American). Since 2003, SFP has been culturally adapted for use in 17 countries. This article reviews the SFP theory and research and a recommended cultural adaptation process. Challenges in international dissemination of evidence-based programs (EBPs) are discussed based on the results of U.N. and U.S. governmental initiatives to transport EBP family interventions to developing countries. The technology transfer and quality assurance system are described, including the language translation and cultural adaptation process for materials development, staff training, and on-site and online Web-based supervision and technical assistance and evaluation services to assure quality implementation and process evaluation feedback for improvements.
Cost‐Efficacy Analysis of 3‐Hydroxy‐3‐Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Inhibitors Based on Results of the STELLAR Trial: Clinical Implications for Therapeutic Selection

Study Objective. To compare the cost/1% reduction in low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and the cost/patient achieving the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) LDL goal based on the results of the Statin Therapies for Elevated Lipid Levels Compared Across Doses to Rosuvastatin (STELLAR) trial.
The role of cytokines in the initiation, expansion, and control of cellular immunity to tuberculosis

Summary: Tuberculosis (TB) results from an interaction between a potent immune response and a chronically persistent pathogen. The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to induce a strong immune response while being able to resist the ability of the host to clear bacteria provides an excellent tool with which to investigate the role of specific cytokine pathways on the induction, expansion, and control of the effector T‐cell response. In this review, the role of interleukin‐12p40 (IL‐12p40), IL‐12p70, IL‐23, and IL‐27 in the immune response to Mtb are described. We show that IL‐12(p40)2 acts to mediate the activation of dendritic cells to become responsive to homeostatic chemokines. We also show that IL‐12p70 is required for the optimal interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) T‐cell response, which is required for control of Mtb growth. IL‐23 can induce IFN‐γ responses in the lung if IL‐12 is not present, but its major role is in supporting the IL‐17 response within the lung. Neither IL‐23 nor IL‐17 is required for early control of Mtb in the lung. IL‐23 and IL‐17, however, can be instrumental in vaccine‐induced protection. Finally, IL‐27 limits protective immunity in the lung, but it is also required for long‐term survival. These cytokines are therefore key players in the immune response to TB.
Re: Hormonal markers and hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma risk: a nested case-control study among men.

Steroid 5 -reductase type II (SRD5A2) catalyzes the conversion of testosterone to a more potent androgen, dihydrotestosterone, and plays an important role in steroidogenesis. One hypothesis for a hormonal etiology in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was raised by a study that showed a positive association between testosterone levels and the incidence of HCC in Taiwan (1), in which the V allele of V89L in SRD5A2 was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of HCC. Because V89L is a functional allele that encodes for an enzyme with enhanced activity (2), polymorphisms in SRD5A2 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of HCC. However, Yu et al. (1) analyzed only two SRD5A2 polymorphisms, one of which is not present among the Chinese population. Here, we genotyped five additional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which span most of the SRD5A2 gene, to assess whether such polymorphisms predispose men to HCC. Six SRD5A2 SNPs were studied. Three were coding SNPs, C5R and R227Q, which had been studied for predisposition to prostate cancer (3,4), and V89L. The other three were intronic S N P s , I V S 1 + 6 1 8 1 T > C ( d b S N P rs#2300703), IVS1+17627C>G (dbSNP rs#2300702), and IVS1–20568T>A (dbSNP rs#2268794). DNA from peripheral white blood cells of 117 male hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC patients (case patients) and 102 male chronic HBV carriers (control subjects) was extracted and genotyped by using the polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism technique (5). All subjects provided written informed consent, and the study received approval from the institutional research ethics committee. We found a statistically significant association between the V allele of V89L and HCC (chi-square P .030), with 57.8% of control subjects and 71.8% of case patients carrying at least one V allele. Compared with that of subjects homozygous for the LL genotype, the odds ratio for HCC case subjects carrying one or more V allele was 1.86 (95% confidence interval 1.02 to 3.39). All subjects carried the wild-type C5R and R227Q alleles. IVS1+6181T>C, IVS1+17627C>G, and IVS1–20568T>A are all located within the 51-kb intron 1 of SRD5A2. The frequencies of minor alleles IVS1+6181C, IVS1+17627G, and IVS1–20568A were similar among case patients and control subjects (35.3% and 32.8%, 36.6% and 38.3%, 8.0% and 6.3%, respectively) and were not associated with an increased risk of HCC (Table 1). These results suggest that, among the six SRD5A2 SNPs, only V89L is associated with a statistically significant risk of HCC among Chinese men. Our data support the hypothesis that SRD5A2 plays an important role in the predisposition to HCC in chronic hepatitis B carriers and that V89L may be the primary functional allele accounting for the increased risk associated with this gene.
Mortality from second tumors among long-term survivors of retinoblastoma.

BACKGROUND Children diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eye, tend to develop and die of second primary cancers in childhood and adolescence, but few investigations have followed patients into adulthood. Retinoblastoma is frequently caused by inherited mutations of the RB1 tumor suppressor gene. Most patients with germline (hereditary) mutations have bilateral disease. PURPOSE We sought to quantify the mortality from second malignancies among long-term survivors of retinoblastoma and to identify factors that predispose to these deaths. METHODS A retrospective cohort study examined mortality among 1603 patients enrolled at 1 year after diagnosis of retinoblastoma during the period 1914-1984. Data on demography, family history, and retinoblastoma treatment were collected by medical chart review and questionnaire interview. Number of deaths, by cause, was compared with the corresponding expected figure based on U.S. mortality data for the general population for 1925-1990. RESULTS Follow-up was complete for 1458 patients (91%) for a median of 17 years after retinoblastoma diagnosis. A total of 305 deaths occurred, 167 of them from retinoblastoma. There were 96 deaths from second primary tumors (relative risk [RR] = 30), 21 from other known causes (RR = 1.0), and 21 from ill-defined or unknown causes. Statistically significant excess mortality was found for second primary cancers of bone, connective tissue, and malignant melanoma and benign and malignant neoplasms of brain and meninges. Among 919 children with bilateral retinoblastoma, 90 deaths from second primary tumors occurred (RR = 60). Deaths from second tumors were more frequent among females (RR = 39) than males (RR = 22) (P = .007). The cumulative probability of death from second primary neoplasms was 26% at 40 years after bilateral retinoblastoma diagnosis, and additional cancer deaths occurred thereafter. Radiotherapy for retinoblastoma further increased the risk of mortality from second neoplasms. An excess of mortality from a second cancer, not seen in prior studies, was found among the 684 children with unilateral disease (RR = 3.1; 95% confidence interval = 1.0-7.3). CONCLUSIONS These findings implicate germinal mutations in the retinoblastoma gene in second cancer mortality. Radiotherapy treatment for retinoblastoma appears to further enhance the inborn susceptibility to development of a second cancer. IMPLICATIONS Patients with retinoblastoma, particularly bilateral retinoblastoma, should have careful follow-up, and interventions should be developed to reduce mortality from a second cancer.
Safety and efficacy of sildenafil citrate for the treatment of female sexual arousal disorder: a double-blind, placebo controlled study.

PURPOSE We evaluated the efficacy and safety of sildenafil citrate in spontaneously or surgically postmenopausal women with female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD). MATERIALS AND METHODS Sildenafil (a 50 mg dose adjustable to 100 or 25 mg) was evaluated in a 12-week, double-blind, placebo controlled study in 202 postmenopausal women with FSAD who had protocol specified estradiol and free testosterone concentrations, and/or were receiving estrogen and/or androgen replacement therapy. Patients were excluded if emotional, relationship or historical abuse issues contributed significantly to sexual dysfunction. Primary end points were questions 2 (increased genital sensation during intercourse or stimulation) and 4 (increased satisfaction with intercourse and/or foreplay) from the Female Intervention Efficacy Index (FIEI). Secondary end points were the remaining questions from this index, the Sexual Function Questionnaire and sexual activity event log questions. RESULTS Significant improvements in FIEI questions 2 (p = 0.017) and 4 (p = 0.015) were noted with sildenafil compared with placebo. For women with FSAD without concomitant hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) sildenafil was associated with significantly greater improvement in 5 of 6 FIEI items compared with placebo (p <0.02). No significant improvements were shown for women with concomitant HSDD. Most adverse events were mild to moderate with headache, flushing, rhinitis, nausea and visual symptoms reported most frequently. CONCLUSIONS Sildenafil was effective and well tolerated in postmenopausal women with FSAD without concomitant HSDD or contributory emotional, relationship or historical abuse issues. All patients had protocol specified estradiol and free testosterone concentrations or were receiving estrogen and/or androgen replacement therapy.
Pelvic osteomyelitis presenting as groin and medial thigh pain: a resident's case problem.

STUDY DESIGN Resident's case problem. BACKGROUND Groin pain represents a diagnostic challenge and requires a diagnostic process that rules out life-threatening illness or disease processes. Osteomyelitis is a potential fatal disease process that requires accurate diagnosis and medical management. Osteomyelitis presents a problem for the outpatient physical therapist, as the described physical findings for the diagnosis of osteomyelitis are nonspecific. DIAGNOSIS A 67-year-old man with groin and bilateral medial thigh pain was referred for physical therapy care to address right adductor weakness and generalized deconditioning. He had undergone extensive treatment for bladder cancer, with a recent radical cystoprostatectomy and cutaneous urinary diversion with an Indiana pouch. Postsurgical magnetic resonance imaging indicated normal findings, and the patient was currently being managed by an orthopaedic surgeon, who diagnosed the patient as having obturator nerve palsy. The physical therapist's examination produced findings inconsistent with this diagnosis. Subsequently, nuclear medicine studies revealed pubic symphysitis/osteomyelitis with secondary myositis, predominantly affecting the right adductor muscles. DISCUSSION Osteomyelitis represents a difficult problem for the outpatient physical therapist. Careful consideration of red-flag symptoms and inconclusive physical testing indicate the need for further medical work-up. In this case, appropriate medical management led to improvement in patient function, highlighting the need for early diagnosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Differential diagnosis, level 4.
Android apps consistency scrutinized

The increasingly larger selection of mobile apps has made it difficult for users to understand what a particular app does and how it differs from the others. A user typically learns about an app from the app's public information (while deciding whether to install it), from the app's UI (while exploring the UI), and from the app's actual behaviors (while using it). Users may become confused or surprised if there are inconsistencies between (a) the public information and UI, (b) the UI and the actual behavior, or (c) the public information and the actual behavior. For example, turning on the camera (actual behavior) when there is no button that says SNAP (UI) is a potentially confusing inconsistency. We present work-in-progress toward a methodology for automatically detecting inconsistencies in Android apps with respect to permissions and similarity. We report our preliminary results on a large corpus of 178,765 apps.
Genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common form of pediatric cancer. Although exposure to environmental agents appears to predispose individuals to this disease, little attention has been paid to the role of genetic susceptibility to environmental exposures in the etiology of childhood ALL. The enzymes GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1, CYP1A1, and CYP2E1 are involved in the bioactivation and detoxification of a variety of xenobiotics present in food, organic solvents, tobacco smoke, drugs, alcoholic drinks, pesticides, and environmental pollutants. Polymorphisms in the genes coding for these enzymes have been associated with increased susceptibility to different cancers, including hematologic malignancies. To investigate whether these polymorphisms represent risk‐modifying factors for childhood ALL, a study was conducted involving 113 Brazilian patients of childhood ALL and 221 controls with similar ethnic backgrounds. The data revealed that carriers of the rare GSTP1 Val allele were at higher risk of ALL (odds ratio [OR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1–6.8; P = 0.04). No difference was found in the prevalence of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 null genotypes between ALL patients and the controls, and no association was found between CYP1A1*2 and CYP2E1*3 variants and ALL. However, when the mutant CYP1A1 and CYP2E1 alleles were considered together with the GSTM1 and GSTP1 risk‐elevating genotypes, the risk of ALL was increased further (OR = 10.3; 95% CI = 1.0–111.8; P = 0.05), suggesting a combined effect. These results imply that genetic variants of xenobiotic metabolizing genes influence the risk of developing childhood ALL. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 43:100–109, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Health Capacity Development Through Telemedicine in Africa

Summary Objective: The aim of this paper is to identify and report the issues facing human capacity development through the use of telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: Data were obtained through literature review and personal observation. Results: Sub-Saharan Africa has a great burden of disease and an extreme shortage of health workers. Its countries are poor and the majority of its population rural. Telemedicine for clinical practice and education of health workers is seen as a possible means of addressing some of the health problems of Africa. A number of factors have been identified that impede the use of telemedicine in sub-Saharan Africa. These include, poverty, shortage of human resources, very limited existing infrastructure, lack of connectivity, high connectivity costs, lack of capacity development and policy issues. Examples of successful use of telemedicine and tele-educational programmes in Africa to develop capacity in health are given. Conclusions: Initiatives to develop capacity through tele-education appear to have been well received and are more successful than clinical telemedicine. There is need to raise awareness of telemedicine if it is to assist in developing ehealth capacity in Africa.
New type of cavity-backed antenna with circular polarization

The paper presents a new type of cavity-backed antenna with circular polarization (CBACP) employing two printed orthogonally crossed dipoles having complex-conjugated impedances. The dipoles are fed by a symmetrical (balanced) microstrip line terminated with a balun and a coaxial SMA connector. Diameter and height of the cavity are: D=70mm and H=25mm, respectively while the central frequency of the antenna's operating range is 5.3 GHz. VSWR is less than 2 in the 19 % of the frequency range and axial ratio (AR) is less than 3dB in the 4 % of the range. Aperture efficiencies with respect to directive and effective gain are 95 % and 75.7 %, respectively, representing, to our knowledge, the best result for this type of antenna structure.
Effect of Alkaloids Isolated from Phyllodium pulchellum on Monoamine Levels and Monoamine Oxidase Activity in Rat Brain

Phyllodium pulchellum (P. pulchellum) is a folk medicine with a significant number of bioactivities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects displayed by alkaloids fractions, isolated from the roots of P. pulchellum, on neurotransmitters monoamine levels and on monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity. Six alkaloids, which had indolealkylamine or β-carboline skeleton, were obtained by chromatographic technologies and identified by spectroscopic methods such as NMR and MS. After treatment with alkaloids of P. pulchellum, the reduction of DA levels (54.55%) and 5-HT levels (35.01%) in rat brain was observed by HPLC-FLD. The effect of alkaloids on the monoamines metabolism was mainly related to MAO inhibition, characterized by IC50 values of 37.35 ± 6.41 and 126.53 ± 5.39 μg/mL for MAO-A and MAO-B, respectively. The acute toxicity indicated that P. pulchellum extract was nontoxic.
Uniform Linear Array Based Spectrum Sensing from Sub-Nyquist Samples

With the emergence of Cognitive Radios (CRs), that aim at solving the spectrum scarcity issue, the traditional task of spectrum sensing has recently been revisited. Blind sub-Nyquist sampling and reconstruction methods of multiband signals have been proposed, alleviating the burden of both the analog and digital sides. In this work, we propose a new sub-Nyquist sampling system composed of sensors lying in a uniform linear array (ULA) that adopts some of the concepts of the Modulated Wideband Converter (MWC). Our system overcomes two practical issues of the MWC: the challenging choice of mixing functions which intentionally aliases the signal, and the introduction of the same sensor noise to all of the system channels. We provide two carrier frequencies recovery algorithms, and show how the signal can be reconstructed once these are estimated. We derive bounds for the minimal number of sensors and minimal sampling rate required for perfect signal reconstruction. Simulations show that for an equal number of channels or sensors and an identical sampling rate, our system outperforms the traditional MWC in terms of reconstruction performance.