Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adjustable suture strabismus surgery in pediatric patients using pull-string technique

Background/Purpose: The concept of adjustable suture has been developed in strabismus surgeries for nearly four decades. This technique is not yet universally embraced by strabismus surgeons, especially in pediatric patients. The aim of this study is to describe and evaluate the application of the adjustable suture with pull-string technique in pediatric patients. Methods: A retrospective medical record review was conducted for patients aged 18 years and under who received adjustable suture strabismus surgery using short tag sliding noose with pull-string technique. For the analysis, the patients were arbitrarily divided into three age groups: 6 years and younger, between 6 and 12 years, and 12 years and older. Patients were examined at 1 week and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Results: A total of 123 patients were enrolled in this study. The mean age at the time of surgery was 9.4 years, ranging from 0.7 to 18.4 years. Eighteen (14.6%) patients required adjustment and 105 (85.4%) patients did not require adjustment. The average follow-up was 10.2 months (range, 1–48 months). At their final postoperative follow-up, 93 of 123 (75.6%) patients were within 10 prism diopters of orthophoria. The success rates were 77.6% (66/85) in exotropia patients and 71.1% (27/38) in esotropia patients. The success rates were 76.4% (84/110) for those who receive the procedure as primary surgery and 69.2% (9/13) for those who receive the procedure as reoperative surgery. Of the 18 patients who required adjustment, 16 (88.9%) patients were successful. Of the 105 patients who did not require adjustment, 77 (73.3%) patients were successful. Conclusion: This study showed that the pull-string technique provided similar success rate compared to those reported in literature in pediatric patients. The pull-string technique is developed to simplify the postoperative adjustments. Many surgeons encounter difficulties to handle the postoperative adjustments, especially when they need to retrieve the buried subconjunctival adjustable sutures. The obstacles are reduced with the aid of pull string. Using the pull-string technique, the surgeon can perform adjustable suture surgeries in any age group with confidence.
Liver Transplant Using Donors After Unexpected Cardiac Death: Novel Preservation Protocol and Acceptance Criteria

Donors after cardiac death (DCD) suffer irreversible cardiac arrest prior to donation. We describe our liver transplant experience with DCD whose cardiac arrest is unexpected, not following the removal of ventilatory support, whom we maintain with normothermic extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (NECMO). A potential donor goes into cardiac arrest outside the hospital and is brought to the hospital under continuous cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The donor is declared dead and placed on a cardiocompressor. Femoral vessels are cannulated and connected to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to establish NECMO. Blood parameters and CPB pump flow are monitored throughout NECMO, which is continued until cold preservation. From April 2002 to May 2006, 10 of 40 potential DCD livers were transplanted. Only one graft was lost to primary nonfunction (PNF) and another to hepatic artery thrombosis. Posttransplant hepatic function was good. Certain parameters, such as CPR and NECMO times, hepatic transaminases during NECMO, and donor age, determined the viability of DCD liver grafts and were used to establish criteria for their acceptance. Though considered marginal, unexpected DCD can represent an important source of viable livers for transplant if strict acceptance criteria are employed and they are maintained with NECMO prior to recovery.
The heterogeneity of bound acetylcholine and synaptic vesicles.

Synaptic vesicles containing radioactive acetylcholine have been isolated from slices of Torpedo electric organ incubated with radioactive choline. The recently synthesized radioactive acetylcholine is preferentially removed from the vesicles by iso-osmotic gel filtration. There is therefore a small compartment of loosely bound recently synthesized acetylcholine within the monodisperse vesicle fraction. The specific radioactivity of this compartment correlates most closely with the ;free' acetylcholine of electric organ that is lost when the tissue is homogenized. Membrane-associated vesicles did not contain any particular enrichment of this compartment. On standing at 6 degrees C the loosely bound compartment stabilizes so that it survives iso-osmotic filtration. A study of this phenomenon revealed that it was proportional to the extent of the loss of tightly bound acetylcholine from the vesicles. Incubation with Ca(2+), at pH5.5, or partial hypo-osmotic shock, caused losses of tightly bound acetylcholine and proportional increases in the stabilization of loosely bound acetylcholine of vesicles. Incubation at 20 degrees C caused less loss of tightly bound, and less stabilization of loosely bound, acetylcholine. A theoretical treatment of these exchanges also shows that the random factors promoting loss of tightly bound acetylcholine are statistically correlated with those which cause stabilization of loosely bound acetylcholine. The reciprocal relationship between the exchanges is inconsistent with there being two distinct populations of vesicles, one containing recently synthesized, loosely bound acetylcholine and the other containing tightly bound acetylcholine. It is proposed that all the vesicles contain a core of tightly bound acetylcholine and a surface layer of loosely bound acetylcholine. The origin of the extravesicular acetylcholine and also of the acetylcholine released on stimulation is discussed in the light of these results.
Economic Growth and Agriculture's Relative Decline: Implications of Political Economy of Agricultural Policies

Economic importance of the agricultural sector tends to decline relatively to other sectors in a growing economy. The most notable demand-side factor is Engeli¦s Law, indicating the proportion of income spent on food declines as per capita income increases with economic growth. Supply-side factors include differential rates of technical change between sectors and changes in relative factor supplies with economic growth. Engeli¦s Law becomes less important in the case of an economy open to international trade. It has been commonly observed that most industrial countries have protectionist policies to support agriculture, while less developed countries discriminate against agriculture. In recent years, economists have looked beyond the traditional welfare maximization perspective to explain changes in agricultural policy as economic growth occurs, following a political economic approach. Hence, a further complicating factor is the possibility that a contracting agricultural sector under economic growth tends to endogenously induce a policy bias in favor of agriculture that may end up offsetting the tendency toward an agricultural contraction. Agricultural protection policies, however, have recently come under criticism in the Uruguay Round of GATT (WTO after 1995) negotiations. The UR Agreement on Agriculture focuses on reversing agricultural protection trend, and hence adds more dimensions into political economy determinants of agricultural policy making process. This study analyzes how the relative economic importance of the agricultural sector in a growing economy is determined by the factors associated with economic development. We develop a two-sector general equilibrium model and explain the mechanisms through which both economic and political factors affect the evolution of agriculturei¦s relative importance in the context of economic growth. We conduct a simulation analysis to investigate the hypothesis that growth-induced agricultural support policies can generate positive economic effects that will prevent or reduce agriculturei¦s relative decline with economic growth. The results of various policy scenarios support our hypothesis. The analysis is taken further by conducting an empirical study. A simultaneous equations model is developed and estimated that explicitly takes into account the effect of endogenously determined agricultural protection, using data from six postwar fast-growing Asian economies for the period 1955-96 (before 1997 Asian Financial Crisis). The results show that agriculturei¦s GDP (and labor) share is a function of the real per capita GDP level, and confirm a relative decline in agriculture with economic growth. The hypothesis that agriculturei¦s relative decline is not inevitable is also confirmed by the estimation results. Key words: Agriculturei¦s Relative Share, Economic Growth, Endogeneity of Policy Shifts, Agricultural Protection, Engeli¦s Law, UR Agreement on Agriculture, Asian Economies.
Does a mandibular overdenture improve nutrient intake and markers of nutritional status better than conventional complete denture? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives The need for denture treatment in public health will increase as the population ages. However, the impact of dentures on nutrition, particularly overdenture treatment, remains unclear although the physical and psychological effects are known. We investigated whether treatment with a mandibular implant supported overdenture improves nutrient intake and markers of nutritional status better than a conventional complete denture in edentulous patients. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched for eligible studies published up to April 2016. We included studies which compared the treatment effect of an overdenture to conventional denture on nutrition, in which primary outcomes included changes in intake of macronutrients and/or micronutrients and/or indicators of nutritional status. Two reviewers independently evaluated eligible studies and assessed the risk of bias. We used a fixed effects model to estimate the weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% CI for change in body mass index (BMI), albumin and serum vitamin B12 between overdenture and conventional denture 6 months after treatment. Results Of 108 eligible studies, 8 studies involving 901 participants were included in the narrative appraisal. Four studies reported changes in markers of nutritional status and nutrient intake after treatment with a prosthetic, regardless of type. In a meta-analysis of 322 participants aged 65 years or older from three studies, pooled analysis suggested no significant difference in change in BMI between an overdenture and conventional denture 6 months after treatment (WMD=−0.18 kg/m2 (95% CI −0.52 to 0.16)), and no significant difference in change in albumin or vitamin B12 between the two treatments. Conclusions The modifying effect of overdenture treatment on nutritional status might be limited. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness and efficacy of denture treatments.
Provocation proven drug allergy in Thai children with adverse drug reactions.

BACKGROUND Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a common healthcare problem. The drug provocation test (DPT) is a gold standard for ADR diagnosis. OBJECTIVES To evaluate a correlation between history of ADRs, skin prick test (SPT), intradermal test (ID) and DPT in Thai children. METHODS This was a retrospective review of 211 children under 16 years of age who had a history of ADRs and underwent DPT from January 2006 to December 2012. RESULTS Two hundred and thirty six (236) DPTs were performed in 211 children with a history of ADRs. The median age at which DPTs were performed was 4 years. Thirty-four children (14.4%) had positive DPT. The positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio (LR) + and LR- of SPT were 50, 85.7, 6.9, 98.8%, 5.8 and 0.9, respectively. The PPV, NPV, sensitivity, specificity, LR+ and LR- of ID were 33.3, 84.6, 20, 91.7%, 2.4 and 0.9, respectively. Different presentation of symptoms (maculopapular rashes, urticaria, angioedema and anaphylaxis) did not predict SPT, ID and DPT results. Positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but not atopy, was a risk in the present scope of evaluation for drug allergy (odds ratio 11.44, 95% confidence interval 2.60-50.41). CONCLUSION Drug allergy, denoted by positive DPT, was present in 14.4% of Thai children with a history of ADRs. Antibiotics were the most common cause of ADRs. Both SPT and ID had high NPV and specificity but did not predict DPT results. HIV positivity is a risk factor of drug allergy in Thai children.
Motor Unit Potential Jitter: A New Measure of Neuromuscular Transmission Instability

A new measure of neuromuscular transmission instability, motor unit potential (MUP) jitter, is introduced. MUP jitter can be estimated quickly using MUP trains (MUPTs) extracted from electromyographic (EMG) signals acquired using conventional clinical equipment and needle EMG electrodiagnostic protocols. The primary motivation for developing MUP jitter is to avoid the technical demands associated with estimating jitter using conventional single fiber EMG techniques. At the core of the MUP jitter measure is a classifier capable of labeling a set of aligned MUP segments as single fiber MUP segments, i.e., parts of MUPs generated predominantly by a single fiber and not significantly contaminated by contributions from other fibers. For a set of MUPs generated by the same MU, these segments will have varying occurrence times within the MUPs, but will have consistent morphology across the MUPs. Pairs of sets of single fiber MUP segments generated by different fibers of the same MU and tracked across a MUPT can be used to estimate neuromuscular transmission instability. Aligning MUP segments is achieved using dynamic time warping. Results based on 680 simulated MUPTs show that MUP jitter can be estimated with an average error rate as low as 8.9%. Also, one or more sets of single fiber MUP segments can be detected in 85.3% of the studied trains. The analysis for a single MUPT can be completed in 3.6 s on average using a conventional personal computer.
A Blueprint for Supporting Undergraduates as Researchers through Campus-Led Mentoring Initiatives

� The development of motivated undergradu�tes a� rese�rc�ers � should be taken for granted as part of new-m1llennmm thmking. Students who start their research developmt:nt as early as undergraduate school will have the opportunity to develop a complex set of skills that will enable them and universities to be competitive. Unfortunately, very few blue­ prints exist for reforming higher education institutions to promote the bud­ ding research interests of undergraduate students. In order to encourage change within the current infrastructure of universities, undergraduate re­ search development will need to be sponsored as a goal of systemic reform. What is needed is the coleadership of top administration and committed fac­ ulty to spearhead this goal through formal mechanisms within university cul­ tures so that all research-based disciplines can participate. Based on the few studies that have been published, the need for under­ graduate research development is being real ized in the United States (O'Clock & Rooney, 1 996; Strassburger, 1 995) . The status in other West­ ern nations is an unknown, re lative to the available literature . Regardless, more publication documentation is needed so that this area of develop­ ment can be carefully appraised. We simply do not have enough evidence to know to what extent such reform initiatives a re in operation, both for­ mally and informally. This a rticle offers a blueprint for university-wide mentoring programs, based on an operationa l program that was designed to attract qualified un­ dergraduates. Such a reform initiative needs to promote peer lea rning, re­ search activity, and mentoring partnerships between undergraduates and faculty members. This kind of program should be considered for adoption on a widespread international basis, because, as O'Clock and Rooney ( 1 996) indicate, academically strong students need help in becoming inte­ grated into the academic culture of their discipline while being prepared for graduate studies. The Undergraduate Research Program, which is the basis of this article, is an initiative that completed its second year of operation in 2000-200 1 . This program was formed at the highest level of university sponsorship with the
Development planning in Islamic perspective: new structure based on Indonesia experiences

These studies are directed to find a new design-related structure of the ideal development planning from the Islamic perspective. According to Indonesia's experience in the preparation of appropriate development planning ACT system of national development planning, it was made of a sample as the case showed that the structure of planning is not yet systematically arranged in a clearly structured meanings ranging from the basic values, the position and the interconnectedness between different areas of development. Islam has provided a clear concept and whole related development planning. The basic values that become its Foundation is the aqeedah Islamiyah that Almighty God as the one who Most Wanted, Most Grant and Most Knows the best for human being, while human is obligated to plan as one form of endeavor that will be accountable in the hereafter. Its basic value will become a spirit for the entire planning and will be binding all parties involved in the planning. The orientation of the development is a balance of economic, social and environment within the framework of an adequate spiritual. Based on this thinking, in this paper is presented the initial concept of the planning structure related to the perspective of Islam that includes basic value orientation, development, integration of the fields of the development and preparation of the planning methods through a systems approach.
Crystal structure of glucoamylase from Aspergillus awamori var. X100 to 2.2-A resolution.

The crystal structure of a catalytically active fragment of glucoamylase-I from Aspergillus awamori var. X100 has been determined to a resolution of 2.2 A. Twelve of its 13 alpha-helices are arranged into an "alpha/alpha-barrel. " An inner core of six mutually parallel alpha-helices are connected to each other through a peripheral set of six alpha-helices. The peripheral helices are parallel to each other, but approximately antiparallel to the inner core of alpha-helices. The putative active site lies in the packing void of the inner set of helices. The last 30 residues of the enzyme comprise a separate domain containing 10 sites of O-glycosylation. Each instance of O-glycosylation involves a serine or threonine side chain linked to the alpha-anomer of a single mannosyl residue. The O-glycosylated domain is in an extended conformation, wrapping around the "waist" of the alpha/alpha-barrel. Two additional sites of N-glycosylation contribute well ordered glycosyl chains that lie in proximity to the belt of O-glycosylation. The model developed for glucoamylase is a rare and valuable structural example of a glycoprotein and an exo-acting amylolytic enzyme.
Ultrasound visual feedback treatment and practice variability for residual speech sound errors.

PURPOSE The goals were to (a) test the efficacy of a motor-learning-based treatment that includes ultrasound visual feedback for individuals with residual speech sound errors and (b) explore whether the addition of prosodic cueing facilitates speech sound learning. METHOD A multiple-baseline, single-subject design was used, replicated across 8 participants. For each participant, 1 sound context was treated with ultrasound plus prosodic cueing for 7 sessions, and another sound context was treated with ultrasound but without prosodic cueing for 7 sessions. Sessions included ultrasound visual feedback as well as non-ultrasound treatment. Word-level probes assessing untreated words were used to evaluate retention and generalization. RESULTS For most participants, increases in accuracy of target sound contexts at the word level were observed with the treatment program regardless of whether prosodic cueing was included. Generalization between onset singletons and clusters was observed, as was generalization to sentence-level accuracy. There was evidence of retention during posttreatment probes, including at a 2-month follow-up. CONCLUSION A motor-based treatment program that includes ultrasound visual feedback can facilitate learning of speech sounds in individuals with residual speech sound errors.
Spatial trends of perfluoroalkyl compounds in ringed seals (Phoca hispida) from the Canadian Arctic

The present study examined spatial trends of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) in liver samples from 11 populations of ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in the Canadian Arctic from 2002 to 2005. Trophic position and relative carbon sources were compared by analyzing stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in muscle samples. Geometric mean concentrations of total C9–C15 perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs) ranged from 8.8 to 84 ng/g wet weight, and C9–C11 PFCAs predominated. Perfluorooctane sulfonate was the dominant PFC measured, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 89 ng/g wet weight, contributing between 29 and 56% of the total PFC concentration. Overall, mean PFC concentrations were similar between populations, and differences were attributed largely to elevated levels in the Gjoa Haven (Rae Strait, central Canadian Arctic archipelago) and Inukjuak populations (eastern Hudson Bay) and to lower concentrations at Pangnirtung (Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island). Mean stable nitrogen isotope ratios (±95% confidence intervals) ranged from 14.7‰ (±0.3‰) at Nain (Labrador) to 17.9‰ (±0.7‰) at Gjoa Haven, suggesting that all populations were within the same trophic level. Stable carbon isotope ratios varied widely between the seal populations, ranging from —22.9‰ (±0.2‰) at Gjoa Haven to — 17.7‰ (±0.4‰) at Nain. The δ13C ratios from Gjoa Haven were significantly more depleted than those for other populations and may suggest a terrestrially based carbon source. The depleted stable carbon isotope ratio may explain the elevated PFC concentrations in the Gjoa Haven population. Analysis of covariance indicated that δ13C was a significant covariable for seven of nine seal populations for which δ13C values were available. After adjusting for δ13C values, concentrations of most PFCs generally were statistically greater in the Grise Fiord, Qikiqtarjuaq, Arviat, and Nain populations.
Molecular evolution of retinal and nonretinal opsins

Vision and the circadian rhythms of various biological functions are triggered by phototransduction. The retinal and nonretinal (pineal gland‐specific) opsins are traced back to a single common ancestor. Evolutionary analyses of these opsins identify amino acid changes that are potentially important in the regulation of wavelength absorption of photosensitive molecules—visual pigments. Such theoretical predictions can now be tested experimentally using site‐directed mutagenesis; expressing the mutagenized opsins in tissue culture cells, reconstituting with 11‐cis retinal, and measuring the absorption spectra of the regenerated visual pigments.
Evolution in software product lines: two cases

This paper discuss the results of two case studies from a technical perspective, concentrating on the evolution of software assets in two Swedish organizations that have employed a product-line architecture approach for several years. This paper describes and analyses the commonalities and differences of these two cases, emphasising categories of the evolution of the requirements, of the software architecture and of the software components. This paper concludes with three types of lessons learned about evolution in software product lines: three evolution categories are predominant, three other categories are less significant but still common, and seven guidelines for software product-line evolution emerge. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.