Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the Impact of Cochlear Implantation on the Early Gross Motor Development of Children With a Hearing Loss

Objective: As deaf children are now implanted at a very early age, the influence of a cochlear implant (CI) on the early motor development of children with a hearing loss becomes relevant. Design: Forty-eight children with a hearing loss were included in this controlled prospective follow-up study and were subdivided into a CI group (n = 23) receiving a CI during the follow-up period and a control group (n = 25) receiving no CI during the follow-up period. All children were assessed around the ages of 6 (T1), 12 (T2), 18 (T3), and 24 (T4) months with a motor test battery consisting of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2), Alberta Infant Motor Scales (AIMS) (only at T1 and T2), and Ghent Developmental Balance Test (GDBT) (only at T3 and T4). In addition, collic vestibular-evoked myogenic potential testing was performed in all children. Group differences in PDMS-2 Gross Motor Quotient (GMQ), Fine Motor Quotient, AIMS z score, and GDBT z score were analyzed using Linear Mixed Model (LMM) analysis for repeated measures. Results: For PDMS-2 GMQ, the LMM revealed significant effects for group (p = 0.04), test moment (p < 0.001), and for the interaction between these two factors (p = 0.035). Contrasts indicated that the CI group showed a greater deterioration in PDMS-2 GMQ between T2 and T3 compared with that showed by the control group (p = 0.002). The LMM for PDMS-2 Fine Motor Quotient and AIMS z score showed no significant effects. For GDBT z score, the LMM pointed out significant effects for group (p = 0.013) and test moment (p < 0.001), but no significant interaction between these two factors. Contrasts indicated that the CI group performed significantly weaker than the control group at both test moments (T3 and T4; all p < 0.012) and that both groups showed a significant recovery in GDBTz scores between T3 and T4 (all p < 0.012). Conclusions: This study shows that the trajectory of gross motor development can be changed in children with a hearing loss after a cochlear implantation. Implanted children show a drop in their gross motor performance within the age range of 6 to 18 months, at which period the majority of the implantations took place, with a tendency of recovery toward the age of 2 years. However, longer follow-up will be necessary to trace whether the implanted children catch up their motor delay in comparison with nonimplanted children with a hearing loss at later age.
Three-dimensional image-based modelling of linear features for plant biomass estimation

Biomass estimation is important for biological research and agricultural management. Low-cost two-dimensional (2D) computer vision has been applied to non-contact biomass estimation. However, the rapid increase of computing power has enabled the use of stereo vision models for this purpose. The objectives of this study were to develop an alternative 3D image-based reconstruction model that utilizes geometric features of plant leaves for estimation of biomass and to evaluate its robustness to varying illumination conditions, complex plant geometry, and leaf surface texture. At its core, the proposed model extracts and matches linear features that are then reconstructed in 3D space. As linear features characterize the plant's silhouette and entities on its surface, a detailed and accurate 3D reconstruction of its shape can be obtained. The algorithm performance was evaluated both in greenhouse and field studies, showing accurate estimation under varying canopy geometries, growth stages, and illumination conditions. Results show an ability to accurately estimate height (error ˜4.5%) and leaf cover area (error ˜4.5%) values under these conditions. Additionally, a strong linear relation was obtained between estimated plant volume and measured biomass (R 2 ˜ 0.92), which proved to be an accurate predictor when applied on new plants (error ˜4.5%). These abilities make this model a promising tool for future development of biological models and precision agricultural practices.
Genetic influences on smoking cessation and relapse in pregnant women

Summary Cigarette smoking during pregnancy continues to be a significant public health concern. Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with low birth weight (<2500 g), fetal growth restriction, placental problems, pre-term delivery and spontaneous abortion. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to give birth to low birth weight infants, and smoking during pregnancy is estimated to be responsible for 20–30% of all low birth weight infants. Smoking during pregnancy not only affects placental function, thus causing obstetrical complications, but nicotine also crosses the placenta and acts as a neuroteratogen. This in turn, elevates the risk of cognitive and auditory processing deficits, and has also been found to be negatively associated with long-term consequences on offspring behaviour. In addition, smoking has negative long-term health consequences for both mother and child, including respiratory conditions, cancer and cardiovascular problems. This review provides insight into the genetic influences on smoking behaviour in pregnant women. In particular, the roles of genes in the neurotransmitter pathways are highlighted. It also emphasises the need for further research in this area, and provides rationale for the importance of focusing on pregnant women who are highly motivated to quit when researching smoking behaviours in women.
Effects of Stimulus Polarity and Artifact Reduction Method on the Electrically Evoked Compound Action Potential

Objective: Previous research from our laboratory comparing electrically evoked compound action potential (ECAP) artifact reduction methods has shown larger amplitudes and lower thresholds with cathodic-leading forward masking (CathFM) than with alternating polarity (AltPol). One interpretation of this result is that the anodic-leading phase used with AltPol elicits a less excitatory response (in contrast to results from recent studies with humans), which when averaged with responses to cathodic-leading stimuli, results in smaller amplitudes. Another interpretation is that the latencies of the responses to anodic- and cathodic-leading pulses differ, which when averaged together, result in smaller amplitudes than for either polarity alone due to temporal smearing. The purpose of this study was to separate the effects of stimulus polarity and artifact reduction method to determine the relative effects of each. Design: This study used a within-subjects design. ECAP growth functions were obtained using CathFM, anodic-leading forward masking (AnodFM), and AltPol for 23 CI recipients (N = 13 Cochlear and N = 10 Advanced Bionics). N1 latency, amplitude, slope of the amplitude growth function, and threshold were compared across methods. Data were analyzed separately for each manufacturer due to inherent differences between devices. Results: N1 latencies were significantly shorter for AnodFM than for CathFM and AltPol for both Cochlear and Advanced Bionics participants. Amplitudes were larger for AnodFM than for either CathFM or AltPol for Cochlear recipients; amplitude was not significantly different across methods for Advanced Bionics recipients. Slopes were shallowest for CathFM for Cochlear subjects, but were not significantly different among methods for Advanced Bionics subjects. Thresholds with AltPol were significantly higher than both FM methods for Cochlear recipients; there was no difference in threshold across methods for the Advanced Bionics recipients. Conclusions: For Cochlear devices, the smaller amplitudes and higher thresholds observed for AltPol seem to be the result of latency differences between polarities. These results suggest that AltPol is not ideal for managing stimulus artifact for ECAP recordings. For the Advanced Bionics group, there were no significant differences among methods for amplitude, slope, or threshold, which suggests that polarity and artifact reduction method have little influence in these devices. We postulate that polarity effects are minimized for symmetrical biphasic pulses that lack an interphase gap, such as those used with Advanced Bionics devices; however, this requires further investigation.
Pediatric otolaryngology : principles and practice Shifting trends : mastoiditis from a surgical to a medical disease

Objective: The aim of this study is to review the outcome of pediatric patients suffering from acute ⁎ Corresponding a Surgery, Shaare Zedek Tel. : +972 26480569; E-mail address: sh 0196-0709/$ – see fro doi:10.1016/j.amjoto. 2 mastoiditis treated conservatively and to correlate this to the evolution of our understanding of the shift in which mastoiditis has been transformed from a surgical to a medial disease. Methods: We perfomed a retrospective review patient files hospitalized in our tertiary-care center between 2005–2008. We examined the data concerning the infection which included: presenting signs/symptoms, prior otologic history, treatment (including both surgical and conservative) prior to hospitalization and during hospitalization, computed tomography (CT), hospital duration, complications and overall outcome. This data was analyzed and compared between different patients who underwent different treatment strategies. Results: Fifty-one patients were included in this retrospective review. Initially, forty-nine patients admitted to our hospital were treated conservatively. This treatment included intra-venous antibiotics, myringtomy and if needed subperiosteal abscess incision and drainage. Only 2 patients underwent CT scanning on admission. Further on, during hospitalization 4 additional patients underwent CT scanning due to continued fever or progression of local disease. All four CT scans showed no intra-cerebral complications, and so all continued with conservative treatment. Conclusion: Most cases of acute mastoidits may be treated with a conservative therapy regime. This regime, in our opinion, should include three branches: the first intravenous antibiotic therapy using a broad spectrum antibiotic. The second is myringotomy and the third branch is incision and drainage of subperiosteal abscess when needed. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Burn injuries in Enugu, Nigeria

Background : Burn injury has been observed as a world wide problem. The knowledge of the epidemiology is important for planning of management and preventive programmes and every community is encouraged to study the epidemiology of burns since this important problem varies from community to community. Method : This is a retrospective review of all our burn patients who presented with acute burn injuries between January 1993 and December 1997. Admission registers and patients' folders were the sources of information. The information obtained include age, sex, place of injury, month of injury, cause of injury, management and outcome. Results : A total of 285 patients with acute burn injuries were studied. Males were 180 [63.2%] while females were 101 [35.4%]. Flame was the single most common cause of burn injury [147 or 49.1%] while electrical burns was less frequent [4 or 1.4%]. Majority of burn injuries occurred in the months of December and January. The mortality rate was 23.2%. Conclusion : The incidence and mortality of burn injury has remained high in this environment. We suggest a well targeted prevention campaign program to reduce this high incidence and high mortality in this environment. Keywords : burn injuries, epidemiology, flame mortality, December/ January Nigerian Journal of Surgical Research Vol. 7(3&4) 2005: 271-273
Partitioning to Uncover Conditions for Permutation Tests to Control Multiple Testing Error Rates

This article discusses specific assumptions necessary for permutation multiple tests to control the Familywise Error Rate (FWER). At issue is that, in comparing parameters of the marginal distributions of two sets of multivariate observations, validity of permutation testing is affected by all the parameters in the joint distributions of the observations. We show the surprising fact that, in the case of a linear model with i.i. d. errors such as in the analysis of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), this issue has no impact on control of FWER, if the test statistic is of a particular form. On the other hand, in the analysis of gene expression levels or multiple safety endpoints, unless some assumption connecting the marginal distributions of the observations to their joint distributions is made, permutation multiple tests may not control FWER. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Comparison of Dinoprostone slow release pessary (Propess) with gel (Prostin) for induction of labour at term–a randomised trial

Summary A randomised controlled trial was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Dinoprostone Slow Release Pessary (Propess) with Gel (Prostin) for induction of labour (IOL) at term. A total of 120 women requiring IOL at term with no previous uterine surgery and no contraindication to prostaglandins were included. The main outcome measures were efficacy of drug preparations, patient satisfaction and the cost-effectiveness. The secondary outcome measures noted were maternal complications during the labour, type of delivery, the neonate's Apgar scores at birth and 5 min and incidence of significant morbidities. There were insignificant differences between the two groups in induction-to-delivery interval, mode of delivery, number of women delivering within 24 h and neonatal outcomes. However, the number of vaginal examinations was significantly lower in the Propess group. Propess was found to be more cost effective compared with Prostin in view of single dose and less midwifery hours.
Closed-Set Speech Discrimination Tests for Assessing Young Children

Objective: The main objective of this study is to obtain data assessing normative scores, test–retest reliability, critical differences, and the effect of age for two closed-set consonant-discrimination tests. Design: The two tests are intended for use with children aged 2 to 8 years. The tests were evaluated using normal-hearing children within the appropriate age range. The tests were (1) the closed-set consonant confusion test (CCT) and (2) the consonant-discrimination subtest of the closed-set Chear Auditory Perception Test (CAPT). Both were word-identification tests using stimuli presented at a low fixed level, chosen to avoid ceiling effects while avoiding the use of background noise. Each test was administered twice. Results: All children in the age range 3 years 2 months to 8 years 11 months gave meaningful scores and were able to respond reliably using a computer mouse or a touch screen to select one of four response options displayed on a screen for each trial. Assessment of test–retest reliability showed strong agreement between the two test runs (interclass correlation ≥ 0.8 for both tests). The critical differences were similar to those for other monosyllabic speech tests. Tables of these differences for the CCT and CAPT are provided for clinical use of the measures. Performance tended to improve with increasing age, especially for the CCT. Regression equations relating mean performance to age are given. Conclusions: The CCT is appropriate for children with developmental age in the range 2 to 4.5 years and the CAPT is appropriate as a follow-on test from the CCT. If a child scores 80% or more on the CCT, they can be further tested using the CAPT, which contains more advanced vocabulary and more difficult contrasts. This allows the assessment of consonant perception ability and of changes over time or after an intervention.
Effect of Restriction of the Lower Thoracic Wall and Abdominal Wall by the Lumbo-Sacral Orthosis on Cardio-Pulmonary Response during Ergometry Exercise

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to better clarify the influence of wearing a lumbo-sacral orthosis (LSO) on the respiratory and circulatory responses during ergometry exercise, especially on work capacity and energy consumption. [Subjects] Work capacity (WC), peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and values of gas exchange threshold (VO2GET) in ten healthy male subjects (age 19.9 ± 0.6 yr, height 1.71 ± 0.06 m, weight 61.2 ± 5.0 kg; mean ± SD) were examined. [Methods] Experimental conditions were as follows: a non-elastic lumbo-sacral orthosis (NLSO) or an elastic lumbo-sacral orthosis (ELSO) were worn and no orthosis was used for the control. For statistic analyses, one-way ANOVA was performed. A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. [Results] In this study, we found no significant differences among the three conditions. Mean values of WC were 237 ± 32.6 W in controls, 220 ± 35.2 W with the NLSO and 227 ± 32.3 W with the ELSO, except for one subject who was instructed to stop exercising. Values of VO2peak were, on the average, 2.59 ± 0.34 ml/min in controls, 2.30 ± 0.40 ml/min in the NLSO and 2.41 ± 0.45 ml/min in the ELSO, excluding the subject who failed to exercising. Mean values of VO2GET were 1.21 ± 0.30 ml/min in controls, 1.02 ± 0.24 ml/min with the NLSO and 1.14 ± 0.32 ml/min with the ELSO, for all of the 10 subjects. [Conclusion] It was concluded that both types of LSO had no effect on cardio-pulmonary responses during ergometry exercise.
Measures of prediction error for survival data with longitudinal covariates

Prediction of future events using longitudinally collected patient measurements is increasingly popular as technical and methodological advances allow the construction of more and more complex prognostic models. We aim to give an overview of existing approaches to measure the prediction error of such dynamic predictions and link these to a measure proposed in a preceding paper (Schoop et al.), the conditional prediction error. We present theoretical results of the conditional prediction error, especially regarding the comparison of different prediction rules and its behavior in the presence of misspecification of the link between longitudinal covariates and survival time. A simulation study investigating the performance of its estimator in finite sample sizes rounds off this paper.
A Practical Guide to Cataract and Lens Implant Surgery

This is the third edition of a substantial work, and within it can be found much valuable information about the optical states of normal and abnormal eyes and how they are dealt with. But surrounding this valuable information is a great deal of matter whose relationship to the subject of refraction may be questioned. The relevance of the pathology of senile macular degeneration is doubtful, for example, and rather more space is devoted to the subject of squint and amblyopia than is perhaps appropriate. Even in purely optical matters one is surprised to find a modern text making no reference at all to the work on accommodation by Fisher. Again, the expectations of the results of refraction are raised somewhat high by the suggested causes for failure to obtain a 20/20 result. Aneisokonia is discussed without a true perspective of its present day importance, and this is reflected in the fact that nothing new is referred to on aneisokonia during the last 10 years at least. There is some lack of correlation between the subject of objective and subjective refraction. It is rather as if the reader is expected to know quite a lot about the subject before tackling this work. Perhaps in the United States the way retinoscopy is recorded differs from that on this side of the Atlantic, but one is surprised by the fact that in a book on refraction there is nowhere to be seen the characteristic cross with which we record the findings of retinoscopy, and on this matter the use of the terms 'gross' and 'net' retinoscopy is unfamiliar. On some of the newer topics the work is helpful, for example, on the available automatic refracting machines and in the section on pseudophakia and on surgery for the ametropias. From these standpoints at least the book deserves a place as a reference source. J D ABRAMS
Children With Cochlear Implants Recognize Their Mother's Voice

Objectives: The available research indicates that cochlear implant (CI) users have difficulty in differentiating talkers, especially those of the same gender. The goal of this study was to determine whether child CI users could differentiate talkers under favorable stimulus and task conditions. We predicted that the use of a highly familiar voice, full sentences, and a game-like task with feedback would lead to higher performance levels than those achieved in previous studies of talker identification in CI users. Design: In experiment 1, 21 CI users aged 4.8 to 14.3 yrs and 16 normal-hearing (NH) 5-yr-old children were required to differentiate their mother's scripted utterances from those of an unfamiliar man, woman, and girl in a four-alternative forced-choice task with feedback. In one condition, the utterances incorporated natural prosodic variations. In another condition, nonmaternal talkers imitated the prosody of each maternal utterance. In experiment 2, 19 of the child CI users and 11 of the NH children from experiment 1 returned on a subsequent occasion to participate in a task that required them to differentiate their mother's utterances from those of unfamiliar women in a two-alternative forced-choice task with feedback. Again, one condition had natural prosodic variations and another had maternal imitations. Results: Child CI users in experiment 1 succeeded in differentiating their mother's utterances from those of a man, woman, and girl. Their performance was poorer than the performance of younger NH children, which was at ceiling. Child CI users' performance was better in the context of natural prosodic variations than in the context of imitations of maternal prosody. Child CI users in experiment 2 differentiated their mother's utterances from that of other women, and they also performed better on naturally varying samples than on imitations. Conclusions: We attribute child CI users' success on talker differentiation, even on same-gender differentiation, to their use of two types of temporal cues: variations in consonant and vowel articulation and variations in speaking rate. Moreover, we contend that child CI users' differentiation of speakers was facilitated by long-term familiarity with their mother's voice.