Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Postoperative Pain in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and the Association With Preoperative Pain

Study Design. Review of a prospective database registry of surgical patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of postoperative pain and its impact on patient-reported postoperative outcomes using the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-22 outcomes questionnaire. Summary of Background Data. Although reportedly rare, postoperative pain can be a devastating situation for the patient with AIS. Most recent studies examining outcomes in AIS surgical treatment use the SRS Pain domain score to assess pain in this population. Methods. A prospectively enrolled multicenter database was queried. Patients with minimum 2-year follow-up and 2-year SRS scores were included. Postoperative pain after the acute phase of recovery when reported by the patient to the treating surgeon/clinical team in follow-up is recorded as a complication in the database. Patients included in this series were grouped as either reporting pain or not to the surgeon/clinical team postoperatively. Pre- and postoperative SRS scores were then compared between these 2 groups using analysis of variance (P < 0.05). Results. Five hundred and eighty-four patients meeting the inclusion criteria were identified. Sixty-one (11%) reported pain at sometime between 2 weeks and 2 years postoperatively. Thirteen were within the 6-month postoperative period. Of the remaining 48 reporting pain between 6 and 24 months postoperatively, 41 (7% of the total cohort) had no obvious cause for their pain. More than half of these patients (26/41) were referred for further treatment (physical therapy, referral to pain specialist, further imaging). These 41 patients had significantly decreased 2-year SRS scores in the domains of Pain, Self-image, Mental health, and Total score (P < 0.05). The patients with postoperative pain were found to have significantly lower preoperative Pain domain scores (P < 0.001), indicative of greater pain preoperatively, yet there were no other domains effected preoperatively. For this group the pre- to postoperative SRS pain scores did not show significant change (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Unexplained pain after the 6-month postoperative period occurred in 7% of the cohort. The results indicate that patients reporting pain to their surgeons/clinical team postoperatively have lower pain scores on a subjective outcome instrument thus further validating the SRS-22 outcome tool. This reported pain seems to be associated with decreases in other SRS-22 domains. Interestingly, these patients also have lower preoperative pain scores than those without postoperative pain. Study into causes of pain in AIS and whether preoperative education and expectations targeted at this population would positively impact outcomes is warranted, especially because on average patients after AIS surgery have less pain. Level of Evidence: 3
A Slow pH-dependent Conformational Transition Underlies a Novel Mode of Activation of the Epithelial Na+/H+ Exchanger-3 Isoform*

Allosteric control of Na+/H+ exchange by intracellular protons ensures rapid and accurate regulation of the intracellular pH. Although this allosteric effect was heretofore thought to occur almost instantaneously, we report here the occurrence of a slower secondary activation of the epithelial Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE)-3 isoform. This slow activation mode developed over the course of minutes and was unique to NHE3 and the closely related isoform NHE5, but was not observed in NHE1 or NHE2. Activation of NHE3 was not due to increased density of exchangers at the cell surface, nor was it accompanied by detectable changes in phosphorylation. The association of NHE3 with the cytoskeleton, assessed by its retention in the detergent-insoluble fraction, was similarly unaffected by acidification. In contrast to the slow progressive activation elicited by acidification, deactivation occurred very rapidly upon restoration of the physiological pH. We propose that NHE3 undergoes a slow pH-dependent transition from a less active to a more active state, likely by changing its conformation or state of association.
John Eliot’s Mission to the Indians before King Philip’s War

The Context of the Mission The Submission of the Sachems and the Birth of the Mission The Early Development of the Mission The Mission and the Millennium The Natick Mission The Remaining Praying Towns Missionary Work outside Massachusetts Bay The Supervision of the Mission Conclusion: The Apostle and the Indians Appendixes John Cotton's Lectures on Revelation and Canticles Variant Indian Personal and Place Names in the Missionary History of Massachusetts Bay Population Figures and Permanent and Temporary Personnel in the Prewar Settlements Principal Nonantum and Petonset Indians Eliot's Massachusett Publications Abbreviations Principal Printed Sources Notes Index
Optimization of a novel mechanism for a minimally invasive surgery robot

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has many advantages compared with open surgery, but there are still many drawbacks in performing MIS. Using robotic technologies, many problems caused by human restrictions, such as fatigue and low precision, can be solved. In this paper, a novel mechanism for a MIS robot is proposed.
Role of metabolism in arsenic toxicity.

In humans, as in most mammalian species, inorganic arsenic is methylated to methylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) by alternating reduction of pentavalent arsenic to trivalent and addition of a methyl group from S-adenosylmethionine. The methylation of inorganic arsenic may be considered a detoxification mechanism, as the end metabolites, MMA and DMA, are less reactive with tissue constituents, less toxic, and more readily excreted in the urine than is inorganic arsenic, especially the trivalent form (AsIII, arsenite). The latter is highly reactive with tissue components, due to its strong affinity for sulfhydryl groups. Thus, following exposure to AsV the first step in the biotransformation, i.e. the reduction to AsIII, may be considered a bioactivation. Also, reactive intermediate metabolites of high toxicity, mainly MMAIII, may be formed and distributed to tissues. Low levels of MMAIII and DMAIII have been detected in urine of individuals chronically exposed to inorganic arsenic via drinking water. However, the contribution of MMAIIIand DMAIII to the toxicity observed after intake of inorganic arsenic by humans remains to be elucidated. The major route of excretion of arsenic is via the kidneys. Evaluation of the methylation of arsenic is mainly based on the relative amounts of the different metabolites in urine. On average human urine contains 10-30% inorganic arsenic, 10-20% MMA and 60-80% DMA.
A new interpretation of the pace‐maker current in calf Purkinje fibres.

1. The properties of the ‘pace‐maker’ current iK2 of Purkinje fibres are investigated to verify whether its behaviour during voltage‐clamp pulses is consistent with the view that iK2 is a K current deactivating on hyperpolarization in the range ‐50 to ‐100 mV. 2. During voltage‐clamp pulses in the range positive to the apparent reversal potential (Erev), low concentrations of Cs depress the time‐dependent current change without altering the time‐independent current component. The total current becomes more outward in Cs, which on the assumption that Cs only affects the iK1 and iK2 channels implies that iK2 is inward in the voltage range analysed. 3. Ba strongly reduces the time‐independent component due to iK1 and therefore limits the contribution of K depletion to the total current time course during hyperpolarizations. In the presence of barium a current reversal is not obtained even with large hyperpolarizations in normal Tyrode solution. If in Ba‐containing solutions the external K concentration is raised from 3 up to 48 mM, iK2 greatly increases in the inward direction during hyperpolarizations in the range ‐51 to ‐101 mV, implying that it cannot be carried by K only. 4. In the presence of Ba, measurements of the membrane conductance due to iK2 indicate a channel‐opening process during hyperpolarizations and a channel‐closing process during depolarizations, in the K‐concentration range analysed. 5. It is concluded that iK2 is not, as had been previously thought, a pure K current, but is rather an inward current activated during hyperpolarizations negative to about ‐50 mV. This provides further evidence for a possible identity between iK2 in Purkinje fibres and the current if in the SA node.
Force decay of elastomeric ligatures: influence on unloading force compared to self-ligation.

OBJECTIVE To compare elastomeric ligatures (EL) vs self-ligating (SL) brackets in terms of their effects on the unloading force of a 0.014-inch CuNiTi aligning wire. MATERIALS AND METHODS By simulating the alignment of a lingually malposed canine and using a full-arch design, three ligation methods -- SL, EL, and "relaxed" elastomeric ligature (REL) -- were tested with 30 wires per group. Each test was conducted in a dry field within a Plexiglas case at 35 +/- 2 degrees C. Eleven brackets were affixed from first molar to first molar site on a steel plate with a space created at the location of the left canine. The wire was deflected 3 mm then was unloaded at a speed of 2 mm per minute. Data were gathered from four points along the unloading plot generated during each test and then were compared by using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare combinations of groups. RESULTS Wires ligated with EL and REL produced an average unloading force equal to 56% and 88%, respectively, of the same wire in an SL bracket. CONCLUSIONS The unloading forces produced by a wire after force decay of the elastomers are not statistically different from the forces present in self-ligating systems.
A Simplified Method for Testing Bordetella pertussisfor Resistance to Erythromycin and Other Antimicrobial Agents

ABSTRACT Present methods of antimicrobial susceptibility testing ofBordetella pertussis are time consuming and require specialized media that are not commercially available. We tested 52 isolates of B. pertussis for resistance to erythromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, and rifampin by agar dilution with Bordet-Gengou agar (BGA) containing 20% horse blood (reference method), Etest using BGA and Regan-Lowe agar without cephalexin (RL−C), and disk diffusion using BGA and RL−C. The organisms tested included four erythromycin-resistant isolates ofB. pertussis from a single patient, a second erythromycin-resistant strain of B. pertussis from an unrelated patient in another state, and 47 nasopharyngeal surveillance isolates of B. pertussis from children in the western United States. The results of agar dilution testing using direct inoculation of the organisms suspended in Mueller-Hinton broth were within ±1 dilution of those obtained after overnight passage of the inoculum in Stainer-Scholte medium, which is the traditional method of testing B. pertussis. The Etest method produced MICs similar to those of the agar dilution reference method for three of the four antimicrobial agents tested; the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole results were lower with Etest, particularly when the direct suspension method was used. Most of the Etest MICs, except for that of erythromycin, were on scale. Disk diffusion testing using RL−C medium was helpful in identifying the erythromycin-resistant strains, which produced no zone of inhibition around the disk; susceptible isolates produced zones of at least 42 mm. Thus, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of B. pertussis can be simplified by using the Etest or disk diffusion on RL−C to screen for erythromycin-resistant isolates of B. pertussis.
The effects of ring annuloplasty on mitral leaflet geometry during acute left ventricular ischemia.

BACKGROUND The perturbed mitral leaflet geometry that leads to acute ischemic mitral regurgitation during acute left ventricular ischemia has not been quantified, nor is it known whether annuloplasty rings affect these detrimental changes in leaflet geometry. METHODS Radiopaque markers were implanted on both mitral leaflets and around the anulus in 3 groups of sheep: one group without rings served as the control group (n = 7); the others underwent Duran (n = 6; Medtronic Heart Valve Division, Minneapolis, Minn) or Carpentier-Edwards Physio (n = 5; Baxter Cardiovascular Division, Santa Ana, Calif) ring annuloplasty. After recovery, 3-dimensional marker coordinates were obtained by means of biplane videofluoroscopy before and during acute posterolateral left ventricular ischemia. Leaflet geometry was defined by measuring distances between annular and leaflet markers and perpendicular distances to the leaflet markers from a best-fit annular plane. RESULTS In all control animals, left ventricular ischemia was associated with acute ischemic mitral regurgitation and apical displacement (away from the annular plane) of the posterior leaflet edge and base markers by 0.6 +/- 0.4 mm (P =.01) and 0.7 +/- 0.2 mm (P <.001), respectively. The distance between the posterior leaflet markers and the mid-posterior anulus did not change significantly during ischemia. The anterior leaflet edge marker extended 1.0 +/- 0. 5 mm (P =.01) away from the mid-anterior anulus during ischemia, but compared with its nonischemic position, the anterior leaflet was not displaced apically away from the annular plane. In all animals in the Duran and Physio groups, leaflet geometry was unchanged during ischemia, and acute ischemic mitral regurgitation was not detected. CONCLUSION Acute ischemic mitral regurgitation was associated with restricted motion of the posterior leaflet and extension of the anterior leaflet. Annuloplasty rings prevented these geometric perturbations of the mitral leaflets during acute left ventricular ischemia and preserved valvular competence.
Acceptance of Blended learning Approach for Arab and European Universities

Blended learning provides new teaching and learning opportunities not only in the existing classroom but also the ability to expand the classroom beyond the campus. It’s looking at offering instruction using a blended-learning approach where 30% of the instruction will be delivered via traditional instruction (instructor led) and 70% via online instruction (using Learning Management System (LMS)). We envision this blended learning approach to cross the traditional subject boundaries in business and law with the applied sciences. Many factors play role in the blended learning such the emerging technologies that should be used such as IoT [1-10, 23-45], Security [11-22, 49], E-learning tools [46-55], Software Engineering [56-89], Web Content [74-93], smart devices and Machine Learning [94-108]. While technology permits the development of blended learning programs, it may be challenging for instructors to transfer the interaction, support, and rigor of traditional Business and Law college curricula in the Arab and European Universities into this new format. We will seek to identify the interests and acceptance of the blended learning approach by the target population. Gunupudi et.al [109-129] proposed several machine learning techniques that perform dimensionality reduction and classification in order to improve the performance. As a part of future work, a proposal in support of intra/inter-campus collaborations between the Programs in the Arab and European Universities will be presented.
A novel streptococcal cell–cell communication peptide promotes pneumococcal virulence and biofilm formation

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a major human pathogen. It is a common colonizer of the human respiratory track, where it utilizes cell–cell communication systems to coordinate population‐level behaviors. We reasoned that secreted peptides that are highly expressed during infection are pivotal for virulence. Thus, we used in silico pattern searches to define a pneumococcal secretome and analyzed the transcriptome of the clinically important PMEN1 lineage to identify which peptide‐encoding genes are highly expressed in vivo. In this study, we characterized virulence peptide 1 (vp1), a highly expressed Gly–Gly peptide‐encoding gene in chinchilla middle ear effusions. The vp1 gene is widely distributed across pneumococcus as well as encoded in related species. Studies in the chinchilla model of middle ear infection demonstrated that VP1 is a virulence determinant. The vp1 gene is positively regulated by a transcription factor from the Rgg family and its cognate SHP (short hydrophobic peptide). In vitro data indicated that VP1 promotes increased thickness and biomass for biofilms grown on chinchilla middle ear epithelial cells. Furthermore, the wild‐type biofilm is restored with the exogenous addition of synthetic VP1. We conclude that VP1 is a novel streptococcal regulatory peptide that controls biofilm development and pneumococcal pathogenesis.
Molecular Mechanisms of Acute Renal Failure following Ischemia/Reperfusion

Acute renal failure (ARF) necessitating renal replacement therapy is a common problem associated with high morbidity and mortality in the critically ill. Hypotension, followed by resuscitation, is the most common etiologic factor, mimicked by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in animal models. Although knowledge of the pathophysiology of ARF in the course of this condition is increasingly detailed, the intracellular and molecular mechanisms leading to ARF are still incompletely understood. This review aims at describing the role of cellular events and signals, including collapse of the cytoskeleton, mitochondrial and nuclear changes, in mediating cell dysfunction, programmed cell death (apoptosis), necrosis and others. Insight into the molecular pathways in the various elements of the kidney, such as vascular endothelium and smooth muscle and tubular epithelium leading to cell damage upon I/R will, hopefully, open new therapeutic modalities, to mitigate the development of ARF after hypotensive episodes and to promote repair and resumption of renal function once ARF has developed.
ATM Release at Resected Double-Strand Breaks Provides Heterochromatin Reconstitution to Facilitate Homologous Recombination

Non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR) represent the two main pathways for repairing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). During the G2 phase of the mammalian cell cycle, both processes can operate and chromatin structure is one important factor which determines DSB repair pathway choice. ATM facilitates the repair of heterochromatic DSBs by phosphorylating and inactivating the heterochromatin building factor KAP-1, leading to local chromatin relaxation. Here, we show that ATM accumulation and activity is strongly diminished at DSBs undergoing end-resection during HR. Such DSBs remain unrepaired in cells devoid of the HR factors BRCA2, XRCC3 or RAD51. Strikingly, depletion of KAP-1 or expression of phospho-mimic KAP-1 allows repair of resected DSBs in the absence of BRCA2, XRCC3 or RAD51 by an erroneous PARP-dependent alt-NHEJ process. We suggest that DSBs in heterochromatin elicit initial local heterochromatin relaxation which is reversed during HR due to the release of ATM from resection break ends. The restored heterochromatic structure facilitates HR and prevents usage of error-prone alternative processes.
Dynamic pass-transistor dot operators for efficient parallel-prefix adders

We employ a dynamic pass-transistor technique to drastically reduce the area requirement and power dissipation of the dot-operator cell in parallel-prefix adders. The technique is demonstrated in both 0.35 /spl mu/m and 0.13 /spl mu/m process technologies on a 64-bit Kogge-Stone carry tree. In a comparison with a corresponding domino implementation it is shown that the transistor count and the power dissipation can be reduced with as much as 25% and 50%, respectively. On top of the area and power reduction, the delay can also be significantly reduced by using NMOS precharge transistors, but this requires a clock signal with a higher voltage.
Keystroke dynamics for authentication using dynamic time warping

Stolen credential incident is rising nowadays, most of the cyber attacks have been targeting user credential which could be easily abused. The usage of behavioral biometric is predicted to be increasing in order to encounter such act by authenticating user using multi-factor authentication of both password and behavioral biometrics to stop illegitimate user attempt. Keystroke dynamics is a behavioral biometric that can be collected efficiently from user typing behavior. This research studied about keystroke dynamic authentication system using dynamic time warping, dataset is used in testing phase along with system usability questionnaire. The method results in 17.6% equal error rate and 70 points of system usability scale.
Ease of laryngeal passage during fibreoptic intubation: a comparison of three endotracheal tubes

Background: The use of a fibreoptic bronchoscope to facilitate endotracheal intubation is well established in modern anaesthetic practice. Difficulty may be encountered when inserting an endotracheal tube over the fibrescope as the bevelled tip can impinge on the vocal cords or epiglottis and impede advancement through the laryngeal inlet. Intavent have recently developed a tapered tip tube for use with their Intubating Laryngeal Mask Airway. A randomised, double‐blind study was performed to compare the ease of railroading three different tubes over a fibrescope placed in the trachea.
Folivory as a Constraint on Social Behaviour of Langurs in South India

Folivory, being a dietary constraint, can affect the social time of colobines. In the present study, we compared food items and activity budgets of two closely related species of colobines inhabiting South India, i.e. the Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus hypoleucos) and Nilgiri langur (Semnopithecus johnii), to determine whether folivory had an impact on social time in these species. Our study established that Nilgiri langurs were more folivorous than Hanuman langurs. Nilgiri langurs spent much less time on social activities, but more time on resting, although the social organization of S. hypoleucos was similar to that of the Nilgiri langur. The enforced resting time for fermentation of leafy food items may have reduced the time available for social interactions, which in turn affected the social time in Nilgiri langurs. By comparing the data from previous studies on other Hanuman langur species, we found that S. hypoleucos spent a similar amount of time on social activities as Semnopithecus entellus. Hence, the social behaviour of S. entellus and S. hypoleucos is phylogenetically highly conservative.
Performance of Reed-Solomon codes using the Guruswami-Sudan algorithm with improved interpolation efficiency

List decoding is a novel method for decoding Reed-Solomon (RS) codes that generates a list of candidate transmitted messages instead of one unique message as with conventional algebraic decoding, making it possible to correct more errors. The Guruswami-Sudan (GS) algorithm is the most efficient list decoding algorithm for RS codes. Until recently only a few papers in the literature suggested practical methods to implement the key steps (interpolation and factorisation) of the GS algorithm that make the list decoding of RS codes feasible. However, the algorithm's high decoding complexity is unsolved and a novel complexity-reduced modification to improve its efficiency is presented. A detailed explanation of the GS algorithm with the complexity-reduced modification is given with simulation results of RS codes for different list decoding parameters over the AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels. A complexity analysis is presented comparing the GS algorithm with our modified GS algorithm, showing the modification can reduce complexity significantly in low error weight situations. Simulation results using the modified GS algorithm show larger coding gains for RS codes with lower code rates, with more significant gains being achieved over the Rayleigh fading channels.