Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of multilevel degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis with spondylolisthesis using a combination of microendoscopic discectomy and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion

Degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) has become increasingly common and is characterized by multilevel disc herniation and lumbar spondylolisthesis, which are difficult to treat. The current study aimed to evaluate the short-term clinical outcomes and value of the combined use of microendoscopic discectomy (MED) and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MI-TLIF) for the treatment of multilevel DLSS with spondylolisthesis, and to compare the combination with traditional posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). A total of 26 patients with multilevel DLSS and spondylolisthesis underwent combined MED and MI-TLIF surgery using a single cage and pedicle rod-screw system. These cases were compared with 27 patients who underwent traditional PLIF surgery during the same period. Data concerning incision length, surgery time, blood loss, time of bed rest and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score prior to and following surgery were analyzed statistically. Statistical significance was reached in terms of incision length, blood loss and the time of bed rest following surgery (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the surgery time and ODI scores of the two groups. The combined use of MED and MI-TLIF has the advantages of reduced blood loss, less damage to the paraspinal soft tissue, shorter length of incision, shorter bed rest time, improved outcomes and shorter recovery times and has similar short-term clinical outcomes to traditional PLIF.
Human Resource Management as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces

The authors use British workplace data for 1980–98 to examine whether increased human resource management (HRM) practices coincided with union decline, consistent with the hypothesis that such practices act as a substitute for unionization. Two initial analyses show no important differences between union and non-union sectors or between newer workplaces (which are likelier to be non-union) and older ones in the pattern of HRM practices over time; and the study's longitudinal analysis picks up no evidence of faster union decline in workplaces or industries that adopted HRM practices than in those that did not. Not only is the hypothesized substitution effect thus not supported, but the authors even uncover some evidence of a complementarity between unions and HRM practices. The authors conclude that increased use of HRM practices is probably not an important factor underpinning union decline in Britain.
Alpha1-microglobulin as an early biomarker of sepsis-associated acute kidney injury: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND Sepsis emerges as the leading risk factor for acute kidney injury (AKI) development in critically ill patients. Much effort has been invested so far on early diagnosis of AKI using promising biomarkers. This study aimed to determine whether urine alpha1-microglobulin (α1m), a lipocaline member previously used as an indicator of proximal tubular dysfunction, can early predict the development of sepsis-associated AKI (SAAKI) in critically ill patients. METHODS A prospective, observational study was conducted in a single center Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Patients with normal renal function admitted to the ICU followed for sepsis and AKI development. Urine α1m levels were analyzed in pooled samples from 24-hour urine collections on sepsis onset and at various time points thereafter. The diagnostic performance of urine α1m was assessed using thenonparametriccalculation of the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS Among 286 critically ill patients admitted to our ICU in a year, 45 patients with sepsis met the inclusion criteria. SAAKI developed in 16 septic patients (35.6%). Urine α1m levels were significantly elevated in all septic patients (average value of all samples on the day of sepsis: 46.02 ± 7.17 mg/l) and showed a trend to increase in patients who finally developed SAAKI. The AUC for SAAKI prediction according to α1m urine levels 24-hours before SAAKI onset was 0.739 (sensitivity 87.5%, specificity 62.07%, cutoff level 47.9 mg/l). Urine α1m 24-hours before SAAKI, serum creatinine on sepsis onset and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score on sepsis onset emerged as the most powerful independent predictors of SAAKI. The combination of these three parameters improved the AUC for SAAKI prediction to 0.944. CONCLUSION Urine α1m levels might help in the early prediction of SAAKI development and may prove useful biomarker. The pathogenetic implications of α1m in sepsis and SAAKI need further investigation. Hippokratia 2014; 18 (3): 262-268.
Contribution and Payoff Feedback in Public Good Experiments with Punishment : Evidence from the U

Recently, experimental economists have provided evidence that cooperation in a social dilemma can be sustained if individuals are allowed to punish free riders. Despite the attention these studies have attracted and the important implications the results have for economic theory, little is known about their robustness. The present study is motivated by findings in oligopoly experiments showing that individuals behave more competitively when they receive information about the earnings of their peers (e.g. Offerman et al. 2002). This is surprising as according to theory information about earnings should not affect behavior when individuals are given all information they need to calculate earnings. This experiment investigates whether a similar phenomenon occurs in public good games with punishment opportunities and, in particular, whether this effect is stronger than the disciplinary effect of punishment. I examine the effect of two different types of feedback on punishment behavior and cooperation levels in a public-good experiment. In one treatment, participants are informed of the individual contributions of the other group members (contribution feedback) as in all public good experiments so far (e.g. Fehr and Gächter , 2000). In a second treatment, instead of receiving information regarding contributions, participants are informed about the payoffs of the other people in their group (payoff feedback). Based on this feedback individuals make their punishment decisions. The information in the two treatments is equivalent as individuals can calculate payoffs based on contribution feedback, and contributions based on payoff feedback. Nevertheless, there is a pronounced difference in behavior across treatments. While cooperation is sustained at intermediate levels under contribution feedback, it quickly unravels under payoff feedback. Part of this decay can be explained by the (weakly) less frequent occurrence of punishments under payoff feedback. The result is that efficiency is much lower under payoff feedback. The evidence raise questions about the robustness of decentralized enforcement of cooperation through punishments.
Molluscs as Models for Translational Medicine

This paper describes the advantages of adopting a molluscan model for studying the biological basis of some central nervous system pathologies affecting humans. In particular, we will focus on the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis, which is already the subject of electrophysiological studies related to learning and memory, as well as ecotoxicological studies. The genome of L. stagnalis has been sequenced and annotated but the gene characterization has not yet been performed. We consider the characterization of the gene networks that play crucial roles in development and functioning of the central nervous system in L. stagnalis, an important scientific development that comparative biologists should pursue. This important effort would add a new experimental model to the limited number of invertebrates already used in studies of translational medicine, the discipline that seeks to improve human health by taking advantage of knowledge collected at the molecular and cellular levels in non-human organisms.
The fusion kinase ITK-SYK mimics a T cell receptor signal and drives oncogenesis in conditional mouse models of peripheral T cell lymphoma

Peripheral T cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are highly aggressive malignancies with poor prognosis. Their molecular pathogenesis is not well understood and small animal models for the disease are lacking. Recently, the chromosomal translocation t(5;9)(q33;q22) generating the interleukin-2 (IL-2)–inducible T cell kinase (ITK)–spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) fusion tyrosine kinase was identified as a recurrent event in PTCL. We show that ITK-SYK associates constitutively with lipid rafts in T cells and triggers antigen-independent phosphorylation of T cell receptor (TCR)–proximal proteins. These events lead to activation of downstream pathways and acute cellular outcomes that correspond to regular TCR ligation, including up-regulation of CD69 or production of IL-2 in vitro or deletion of thymocytes and activation of peripheral T cells in vivo. Ultimately, conditional expression of patient-derived ITK-SYK in mice induces highly malignant PTCLs with 100% penetrance that resemble the human disease. Our work demonstrates that constitutively enforced antigen receptor signaling can, in principle, act as a powerful oncogenic driver. Moreover, we establish a robust clinically relevant and genetically tractable model of human PTCL.
Critical Role of Filamin-binding LIM Protein 1 (FBLP-1)/Migfilin in Regulation of Bone Remodeling*

Background: Bone remodeling must be precisely controlled to maintain a healthy bone mass. Results: Knock-out of FBLP-1/migfilin causes a severe osteopenic phenotype in mice. Conclusion: FBLP-1/migfilin regulates bone remodeling through modulating both osteoblast behavior and osteoclast differentiation. Significance: Identifying molecules that regulate bone remodeling is critical for understanding the pathogenesis of bone diseases and developing novel therapeutic approaches. Bone remodeling is a complex process that must be precisely controlled to maintain a healthy life. We show here that filamin-binding LIM protein 1 (FBLP-1, also known as migfilin), a kindlin- and filamin-binding focal adhesion protein, is essential for proper control of bone remodeling. Genetic inactivation of FBLIM1 (the gene encoding FBLP-1) in mice resulted in a severe osteopenic phenotype. Primary FBLP-1 null bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) exhibited significantly reduced extracellular matrix adhesion and migration compared with wild type BMSCs. Loss of FBLP-1 significantly impaired the growth and survival of BMSCs in vitro and decreased the number of osteoblast (OB) progenitors in bone marrow and OB differentiation in vivo. Furthermore, the loss of FBLP-1 caused a dramatic increase of osteoclast (OCL) differentiation in vivo. The level of receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL), a key regulator of OCL differentiation, was markedly increased in FBLP-1 null BMSCs. The capacity of FBLP-1 null bone marrow monocytes (BMMs) to differentiate into multinucleated OCLs in response to exogenously supplied RANKL, however, was not different from that of WT BMMs. Finally, we show that a loss of FBLP-1 promotes activating phosphorylation of ERK1/2. Inhibition of ERK1/2 activation substantially suppressed the increase of RANKL induced by the loss of FBLP-1. Our results identify FBLP-1 as a key regulator of bone homeostasis and suggest that FBLP-1 functions in this process through modulating both the intrinsic properties of OB/BMSCs (i.e., BMSC-extracellular matrix adhesion and migration, cell growth, survival, and differentiation) and the communication between OB/BMSCs and BMMs (i.e., RANKL expression) that controls osteoclastogenesis.
Esports Analytics Through Encounter Detection

Esports is computer games played in a competitive environment, and analytics in this domain is focused on player and team behavior. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games are among the most played digital games in the world. In these es, teams of players fight against each other in enclosed arena environs, with a complex gameplay focused on tactical combat. Here we present a technique for segmenting matches into spatio‐temporally defined components referred to as encounters, enabling performance analysis. We apply encounter‐based analysis to match data from the popular esport game DOTA, and present win probability predictions based on encounters. Finally,metrics for evaluating team performance during match runtime are proposed.
Providing Robustness for a CCG System

We demonstrate ways to preserve the advantages of using a symbolic grammar formalism as the basis of an NLP system while enhancing its robustness. We automatically acquire a CCG lexicon, combine it with semantic and morphological information from another hand-built, underspecified lexicon, and integrate it with statistical preprocessing methods.
PARTICIPACIÓN DEL CEREBELO Y DEL HIPOCAMPO EN EL CONDICIONAMIENTO CLÁSICO DEL REFLEJO CORNEAL

Uno de los modelos experimentales mas utilizados para el estudio de los procesos de aprendizaje y memoria en mamiferos es el condicionamiento clasico del reflejo corneal. Nuestro grupo de investigacion ha realizado un estudio detallado de las caracteristicas cineticas de las respuestas palpebrales reflejas, voluntarias y emocionales, asi como de las aprendidas mediante tecnicas de condicionamiento clasico. Por otra parte, hemos estudiado la localizacion y, en particular, las propiedades funcionales de las motoneuronas que inervan el musculo orbicularis oculi que hacen posible la realizacion de dichos tipos de movimientos palpebrales. Las motoneuronas faciales codifican la velocidad de contraccion de los parpados durante respuestas reflejas, pero solo codifican su posicion durante respuestas condicionadas o aprendidas. Esta diferencia indica un diferente procesamiento (y/u origen) de ambas ordenes motoras. Tanto la corteza paravermal como el polo rostral del nucleo interposito posterior del cerebelo estan relacionados con los movimientos palpebrales reflejos y aprendidos, contribuyendo posiblemente a su correcta realizacion, pero no a la adquisicion de respuestas palpebrales aprendidas. El hipocampo parece participar en este tipo de condicionamiento asociativo contribuyendo a la identificacion de la relevancia o valor predictivo del estimulo condicionado, durante condicionamientos de tipo pavloviano. Se presentan, por ultimo, una vision integrada del sistema premotor facial y las previsibles lineas futuras de estudio en este modelo experimental de aprendizaje asociativo en mamiferos.
Psychology Research and Behavior Management Dovepress Mental Disorders, Functional Impairment, and Nerve Growth Factor

you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms Abstract: Nerve growth factor (NGF) is an important member of the neurotrophin family and its alteration has been associated with psychiatric disorders. Functionality consists of the activities that an individual can perform, as well as their social participation, which is an important factor in analyzing the carrier living conditions of subjects with psychiatric suffering. Several studies have evaluated functionality in bipolar disorder; however, no studies have evaluated the functionality in other mental disorders. There are also few studies investigating the association between functionality and the biological bases of mental disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the serum NGF levels in psychiatric patients and to verify a possible association between the serum neurotrophic levels and functionality. This was a cross-sectional study with a convenient sample obtained from the Public Mental Health Service from the south of Brazil. The final sample was composed of 286 patients enrolled from July 2013 to October 2014. Data was collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, and the diagnosis was confirmed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) and a Functioning Assessment Short Test. The serum NGF levels were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistic 21.0 software. NGF serum levels were increased significantly in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder compared with patients with no obsessive–compulsive disorder (P=0.015). An increase in serum NGF levels in generalized anxiety disorder patients was observed compared with patients with no generalized anxiety disorder (P=0.047). NGF was negatively associated with autonomy (P=0.024, r=–0.136), work (P=0.040, r=–0.124), and cognition (P=0.024, r=–0.137), thereby showing that changes in serum levels of NGF are associated with functionality in mental disorders.
Robust cutting-edge detection based on intensity concentration

This paper proposes three robust detection algorithms for locating the cutting line in an image captured by a panel-cutting system. All of the proposed methods contain two stages: edge detection and line fitting. In this paper, edge detection can search interest gradients depending on the intensity concentration. Meanwhile, the proposed line-fitting algorithm is able to precisely fit a line by minimizing the summation of L1 distance from each detected edge point to the fitted line. As the result, all of the proposed methods achieve accuracy of more than 85%. Going one step further, full-scale edge detection (FSED) obtains the best performance at 99.05%, which is evaluated by using a variety of real-world images.
Parameter estimation of nonlinear system based on hybrid intelligent method

Parameter estimation of nonlinear system using hybrid intelligent method is presented. A recursive least squares estimation combined with genetic algorithm is used in this study. A recurrent neural network for system identification and a conventional parameter estimation using recursive least-squares method are also given for comparison. After test, the proposed scheme has better performance on parameter estimation than the conventional least-squares estimation and the recurrent neural network.
Location Proxies and Intermediate Node Forwarding for Practical Geographic Forwarding

Two main problems prevent the deployment of geographic forw arding in real systems: geographic forwarding requires that all nodes know their locations, and it has trou ble routing around local dead ends. This paper presents practical solutions to each problem. Thelocation proxy technique allows a node that does not know its location to find a earby location aware node to use as a proxy for geographic forwarding. The technique work s well over a large range of densities of location aware nodes, and allows a tradeoff between bandwidth used for rout ing information and expense of providing location information. Theintermediate node forwarding (INF) mechanism is a probabilistic solution for routing aro und bad geographic topologies via intermediate geographic locations. Existi ng solutions unrealistically assume that nodes have identi cal radio propagation; INF works on a restricted set of situatio ns but makes assumptions that better match reality. Experiments using the ns simulator show that location proxies and INF are effective e nough to make geographic forwarding practical. We believe geographic forwarding wi ll enable scalable ad hoc networking.
Nebivolol: impact on cardiac and endothelial function and clinical utility

Endothelial dysfunction is a systemic pathological state of the endothelium characterized by a reduction in the bioavailability of vasodilators, essentially nitric oxide, leading to impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation, as well as disarrangement in vascular wall metabolism and function. One of the key factors in endothelial dysfunction is overproduction of reactive oxygen species which participate in the development of hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and stroke. Because impaired endothelial activity is believed to have a major causal role in the pathophysiology of vascular disease, hypertension, and heart failure, therapeutic agents which modify this condition are of clinical interest. Nebivolol is a third-generation β-blocker with high selectivity for β1-adrenergic receptors and causes vasodilation by interaction with the endothelial L-arginine/ nitric oxide pathway. This dual mechanism of action underscores several hemodynamic qualities of nebivolol, which include reductions in heart rate and blood pressure and improvements in systolic and diastolic function. Although nebivolol reduces blood pressure to a degree similar to that of conventional β-blockers and other types of antihypertensive drugs, it may have advantages in populations with difficult-to-treat hypertension, such as patients with heart failure along with other comorbidities, like diabetes and obesity, and elderly patients in whom nitric oxide-mediated endothelial dysfunction may be more pronounced. Furthermore, recent data indicate that nebivolol appears to be a cost-effective treatment for elderly patients with heart failure compared with standard care. Thus, nebivolol is an effective and well tolerated agent with benefits above those of traditional β-blockers due to its influence on nitric oxide release, which give it singular hemodynamic effects, cardioprotective activity, and a good tolerability profile. This paper reviews the pharmacology structure and properties of nebivolol, focusing on endothelial dysfunction, clinical utility, comparative efficacy, side effects, and quality of life in general with respect to the other antihypertensive agents.
Initial experience with the new Amplatzer Duct Occluder II.

BACKGROUND Different devices are used for transcatheter occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), each with its own limitations and complications. We report our initial single-center experience with the new Amplatzer Duct Occluder II (ADO II), which has been designed to address some of these issues. METHODS From April until October 2008, 10 consecutive patients with PDA (minimal diameter > or = 2 mm) were enrolled for intention-to-treat with ADO II. The median age was 10.2 years (7 months to 51.4 years); the median weight was 35.5 kg (6.3-70 kg). RESULTS ADO II implantation was attempted in 10/10 patients. The mean PDA diameter was 3.1 mm (+/- 1.0 mm), and the mean device waist diameter was 4.0 mm (+/- 1.3 mm). In 1 patient, the ADO II encroached upon the left pulmonary artery, hence it was changed to an Amplatzer Duct Occluder I. In another patient, the shape and size of the duct necessitated the use of a Cook detachable coil. Complete angiographic closure was achieved in 8/8 ADO II implantations (100%) and in the patient with the coil. In the patient with an ADO I, complete echocardiographic closure was demonstrated at 24 hours. No device embolization or complications related to implantation occurred. CONCLUSIONS This initial experience demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of the ADO II to occlude PDA with a minimum diameter > or = 2 mm. It is especially useful in smaller children with larger duct diameters. Longer-term follow up in a larger cohort of patients is required to establish safety and long-term results.