Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is wound drainage necessary after lumbar spinal fusion surgery?

BACKGROUND Despite a lack of any evidence to support the utilization of closed-suction drainage after spinal surgery, it is a frequently utilized procedure. MATERIAL/METHODS A retrospective evaluation of eighty-five consecutive posterior lumbar fusions at a single level for degenerative disease was performed during the six-year period between March of 1996 and February 2002 by a single surgeon. No patient had a drain placed at the conclusion of the surgical procedure. RESULTS One patient developed a postoperative deep wound infection requiring debridements and intravenous antibiotics for six weeks. One patient developed a postoperative cellulitis that resolved with PO antibiotics. One patient who received intravenous Lovenox (Enoxaparin) for deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis in the immediate peri-operative period developed a hematoma that was surgically decompressed. No additional complications were noted. The results of this study compare favorably with similar well-matched historical controls using routine peri-operative lumbar wound drainage. CONCLUSIONS Lumbar spinal fusion for degenerative disease without closed suction drainage in the immediate post-op period does not appear to increase the risks of wound related complications postoperatively as compared to historical controls. The routine use of postoperative closed-suction drainage following a single level posterior lumbar fusion for degenerative disease is not supported by the currently available literature. Such a conclusion is not applicable in nondegenerative pathologies such as metastatic disease following radiation where the risk of bleeding and wound complications may be much greater. In addition, individual patient subgroups with degenerative disease, such as those at risk for perioperative epidural bleeding, may benefit from the placement of a perisurgical drain.
Does Meditation Enhance Cognition and Brain Plasticity?

Meditation practices have various health benefits including the possibility of preserving cognition and preventing dementia. While the mechanisms remain investigational, studies show that meditation may affect multiple pathways that could play a role in brain aging and mental fitness. For example, meditation may reduce stress‐induced cortisol secretion and this could have neuroprotective effects potentially via elevating levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Meditation may also potentially have beneficial effects on lipid profiles and lower oxidative stress, both of which could in turn reduce the risk for cerebrovascular disease and age‐related neurodegeneration. Further, meditation may potentially strengthen neuronal circuits and enhance cognitive reserve capacity. These are the theoretical bases for how meditation might enhance longevity and optimal health. Evidence to support a neuroprotective effect comes from cognitive, electroencephalogram (EEG), and structural neuroimaging studies. In one cross‐sectional study, meditation practitioners were found to have a lower age‐related decline in thickness of specific cortical regions. However, the enthusiasm must be balanced by the inconsistency and preliminary nature of existing studies as well as the fact that meditation comprises a heterogeneous group of practices. Key future challenges include the isolation of a potential common element in the different meditation modalities, replication of existing findings in larger randomized trials, determining the correct “dose,” studying whether findings from expert practitioners are generalizable to a wider population, and better control of the confounding genetic, dietary and lifestyle influences.
Experimental Analysis of Mechanical and Electrical Characteristics of Metal-Coated Conductive Spheres for Anisotropic Conductive Adhesives (ACAs) Interconnection

An accurate characterization for the deformation behavior of conductive particles is important: 1) to understand the anisotropic conductive adhesive (ACA) interconnection and 2) to optimize the ACA bonding parameter. This paper introduces an experimental technique, which has been developed to allow continuous monitoring of deformation characteristics of a single conductive particle. The load-deformation curve of a single conductive particle is measured, which provides the quantitative estimation of the mechanical and electrical characteristics of metal-coated polymer spheres used in ACAs. Based on the load-deformation result of a single conductive particle and the number of trapped particles on a bump, equivalent spring models are used to predict the deformation degree of conductive particles after flip chip assembly. For two kinds of conductive particles with different polymer cores, the mechanical and electrical characteristics of ACA interconnection were studied. Such results are used to further achieve a more sophisticated approach of the ACA bonding process and contact reliability
Cross‐modal reorganization of cortical afferents to dorsal auditory cortex following early‐ and late‐onset deafness

Cat auditory cortex is known to undergo cross‐modal reorganization following deafness, such that behavioral advantages in visual motion detection are abolished when a specific region of deaf auditory cortex, the dorsal zone (DZ), is deactivated. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the connectional adaptations that might subserve this plasticity. We deposited biotinylated dextran amine (BDA; 3,000 MW), a retrograde tracer, unilaterally into the posterior portion of the suprasylvian fringe, corresponding to area DZ of hearing, early‐deafened (onset <1 month), and late‐deafened (onset >3 months) cats to reveal cortical afferent projections. Overall, the pattern of cortical projections to DZ was similar in both hearing and deafened animals. However, there was a progressive increase in projection strength among hearing and late‐ and early‐deafened cats from an extrastriate visual cortical region known to be involved in the processing of visual motion, the posterolateral lateral suprasylvian area (PLLS). Additionally, although no such change was documented for the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian area (PMLS), labeled neurons were present within a subregion of PMLS devoted to foveal vision in both late‐ and early‐deafened animals but not in hearing controls. PMLS is also an extrastriate visual motion processing area and is widely considered to be the homolog of primate middle temporal area. No changes in auditory cortical connectivity were observed among groups. These observations suggest that amplified cortical projections from extrastriate visual areas involved in visual motion processing to DZ may contribute to the cross‐modal reorganization that functionally manifests as superior visual motion detection ability in the deaf animal. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:654–675, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Is Alzheimer's Disease a Result of Presynaptic Failure? - Synaptic Dysfunctions Induced by Oligomeric β-Amyloid

Since Alois Alzheimer first described morphological alterations associated with his patient's dementia more than 100 years ago, Alzheimer's disease (AD) was defined as neurodegenerative disease caused by extracellular deposits of misfolded proteins. These amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles have been unambiguously considered as hallmarks of this ailment, accompanied by devastating brain atrophy and cell loss. When a 40-42 amino acid peptide, called beta-amyloid (Abeta), was identified as a main component of amyloid plaques and a few genetic cases of AD were linked to Abeta metabolism, the Abeta hypothesis of AD was proposed. It was initially thought that an increase in Abeta42 precipitates plaque formation, which causes the generation of neurofibrillary tangles and ultimately the death of neurons. However, during the last decade it became apparent that soluble rather than deposited Abeta is associated with dementia. Among the constituents of soluble Abeta, small oligomeric forms were increasingly associated with neuropathology. There is now ample evidence that Abeta oligomers do not affect neuronal viability in general, but interfere specifically with synaptic function. Long-term neurophysiological impairment ultimately causes degeneration of synapses, which becomes most apparent on the morphological level by retraction of dendritic spines. Loss of meaningful synaptic connections in the brain of patients with AD will shatter their capacity to encode and retrieve memories. The precise molecular mechanism of Abeta oligomer-induced impairment of synaptic transmission is not fully understood, but there are several independent observations that oligomers interfere with the vesicular release machinery at the presynaptic terminal. While this hypothesis offers a promising avenue to understand the underlying cause of cognition and memory deficits in the AD brain, it also opens a possibility to address new mechanisms for preventing and ultimately curing AD.
Zinc gluconate is an agonist of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐α in the epidermis

Abstract: Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors‐α (PPARs‐α) are nuclear receptors with anti‐inflammatory properties. Zinc gluconate is efficient in the treatment of several inflammatory dermatoses. The aim of our work was to determine whether the modulation of PPAR‐α expression and activity could be one of the mechanisms of action of zinc gluconate anti‐inflammatory activity in inflammatory dermatoses. Thus, we used ex vivo skin explants incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a pro‐inflammatory molecule, with or without zinc gluconate. We evaluated PPAR‐α protein expression using immunohistochemistry, PPAR‐α DNA‐binding activity using an ELISA‐like technique, and PPAR‐α mRNA levels using quantitative PCR. On the one hand, we found that PPAR‐α epidermal protein expression was stimulated by LPS and that LPS suppressed PPAR‐α mRNA expression, without modifying its function. On the other hand, in inflammatory LPS‐stimulated explants, zinc gluconate significantly upregulated PPAR‐α function and mRNA expression level, without changing its epidermal protein expression. These results suggest that zinc gluconate may be a PPAR‐α agonist, which might play a role in the anti‐inflammatory activity of this molecule.
Effect of Inhibiting Malonyl-CoA Decarboxylase on Cardiac Remodeling after Myocardial Infarction in Rats

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of inhibiting malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) on cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI) in rats. We used an ultrasound (US)-mediated microbubble (MB) approach for targeted delivery of a microRNA (miRNA) interference plasmid to the myocardium to silence MCD expression. Methods: Five pairs of RNA interference sequences were screened and ranked according to their highest inhibition rates in HEK293 cells. The plasmid with the highest inhibition rate was transfected by US into the rat myocardium after mixing with lipid MB. Twelve and 16 weeks after MI, cardiac function was measured by echocardiography, and glucose transporter-4 (GLUT-4) and high-energy phosphate levels were monitored in the myocardium before and after transfection. Results: Ejection fraction (EF) decreased by 16% in the control MI group, while it decreased by 8% in the MCD inhibition group that utilized the US-mediated MB approach. Concomitant with the improved EF, high-energy phosphates were increased and lactic acid was decreased in the left ventricle (LV), with no changes in triglyceride or GLUT-4 levels. Conclusions: Inhibiting MCD by an US-mediated injection of miRNA into the rat myocardium increased energy reserves in the LV after MI, most likely by limiting lactic acidosis and improving cardiac function without increasing lipid toxicity.
A coordinate system for the synthesis of visual and kinesthetic information

The results of this study suggest that information derived from kinesthetic inputs alone is not normally used to generate an estimate of the location of the hand in extrapersonal space. This finding provides support for the interpretation of previous results suggesting that a representation of a visual target in extrapersonal space must be transformed into a kinesthetic reference frame before the parameters of a targeted arm movement can be computed (Soechting and Flanders, 1989b). We asked subjects to use a pointer to indicate the spatial location of their hand following an unseen passive displacement. We found that subjects had large errors in the locations that they chose and that there was a large degree of variability for repeated trials with the same hand location. The errors were a result neither of using the pointer to indicate a spatial locus nor of an inability to make use of kinesthetic information. Instead, the errors resulted from an inability of subjects to synthesize an estimate of the hand's spatial location from only kinesthetic cues. We also asked subjects to use the pointer to indicate the location of their hand following a passive displacement when they had visual information about the passive displacement. In this case, we found that subjects performed better than when they had only kinesthetic information, but not as well as when they had only visual information about target location. This finding suggests that kinesthetic information about target location affects the processing of visual information.
The impact of chronic cigarette smoking on recovery from cortical gray matter perfusion deficits in alcohol dependence: longitudinal arterial spin labeling MRI.

BACKGROUND Neuroimaging studies reported cerebral perfusion abnormalities in individuals with alcohol use disorders. However, no longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of cerebral perfusion changes during abstinence from alcohol have been reported. METHODS Arterial spin labeling MRI was used to evaluate cortical gray matter perfusion changes in short-term abstinent alcohol dependent individuals in treatment and to assess the impact of chronic cigarette smoking on perfusion changes during abstinence. Seventy-six patients were scanned at least once. Data from 19 non-smoking (17 males, 2 females) and 22 smoking (21 males, 1 female) patients scanned at 1 and 5 weeks of abstinence were used to assess perfusion changes over time. Twenty-eight age-equated healthy controls (25 males, 3 females) were scanned for cross-sectional comparison, 13 of them were scanned twice. Given the age range of the cohort (28 to 68 years), age was used as a covariate in the analyses. Mean perfusion was measured in voxels of at least 80% gray matter in the frontal and parietal lobes and related to neurocognitive and substance use measures. RESULTS At 1 week of abstinence, frontal and parietal gray matter perfusion in smoking alcoholics was not significantly different from that in non-smoking alcoholics, but each group's perfusion values were significantly lower than in controls. After 5 weeks of abstinence, perfusion of frontal and parietal gray matter in non-smoking alcoholics was significantly higher than that at baseline. However, in smoking alcoholics, perfusion was not significantly different between the time-points in either region. The total number of cigarettes smoked per day was negatively correlated with frontal gray matter perfusion measured at 5 weeks of abstinence. Lobar perfusion measures did not correlate significantly with drinking severity or cognitive domain measures at either time-point. CONCLUSION Although cerebral perfusion in alcohol dependent individuals shows improvement with abstinence from alcohol, cigarette smoking appears to hinder perfusion improvement.
Increase in circulating endothelial precursors by atorvastatin in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether atorvastatin can increase bone marrow-derived circulating endothelial precursors (CEPs) and improve the vascular symptoms in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma). METHODS The study was designed as an open-label, prospective study involving 14 patients with SSc who received 10 mg/day of atorvastatin for 12 weeks and were followed up for the subsequent 4 weeks. CEPs were quantified at weeks 0 (pretreatment), 4, 8, 12 (during treatment), and 16 (posttreatment) by cell sorting followed by 3-color flow cytometry. Raynaud's phenomenon variables, global measures, and psychological scales as well as circulating angiogenic factors and endothelial activation/injury markers were serially assessed. The potential of CEPs to differentiate into mature endothelial cells was examined in cultures with angiogenic stimuli. RESULTS None of the patients experienced an adverse event, but 1 dropped out because of an excessive decrease in serum total cholesterol. Atorvastatin treatment resulted in a 1.7- to 8.0-fold increase in CEPs from baseline levels (P < 0.0001), but the numbers returned to within baseline levels at posttreatment. However, 8 patients (62%) experienced a gradual decrease in the number of CEPs, even while taking atorvastatin. Variables indicating the extent of Raynaud's phenomenon improved significantly, and up-regulated levels of angiogenic factors and vascular endothelial activation/injury markers decreased significantly during atorvastatin treatment. These variables returned to within baseline levels after discontinuation of the drug. In contrast, atorvastatin failed to improve the in vitro maturation potential of CEPs. CONCLUSION The results of this pilot study suggest that atorvastatin treatment can increase CEPs and may be effective in improving Raynaud's phenomenon, even in SSc patients who have CEP dysfunction intrinsically.
Visual Analytics of Group Differences in Tensor Fields: Application to Clinical DTI

We present a visual analytics system for exploring group differences in tensor fields with respect to all six degrees of freedom that are inherent in symmetric second-order tensors. Our framework closely integrates quantitative analysis, based on multivariate hypothesis testing and spatial cluster enhancement, with suitable visualization tools that facilitate interpretation of results, and forming of new hypotheses. Carefully chosen and linked spatial and abstract views show clusters of strong differences, and allow the analyst to relate them to the affected structures, to reveal the exact nature of the differences, and to investigate potential correlations. A mechanism for visually comparing the results of different tests or levels of smoothing is also provided. We carefully justify the need for such a visual analytics tool from a practical and theoretical point of view. In close collaboration with our clinical co-authors, we apply it to the results of a diffusion tensor imaging study of systemic lupus erythematosus, in which it revealed previously unknown group differences.
Sexual functioning and self‐reported depressive symptoms among college women

We conducted an exploratory study comparing 47 college‐aged women reporting depressive symptoms but not receiving antidepressant medication to 47 age‐matched controls. We examined various dimensions of sexual functioning, including sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, pleasure, and satisfaction. The women with depressive symptoms reported more inhibited sexual arousal, more inhibited orgasm, more sexual pain problems, and less sexual satisfaction and pleasure than control participants. Novel to this study, the women with depressive symptoms reported greater desire for sexual activity alone (masturbation) than the nondepressed women. The findings are discussed in terms of primary reinforcers and depressive symptomology.
Super-Twisting algorithm for systems with uncertain control gain: A Lyapunov based approach

A Lyapunov based analysis of convergence for the Super-Twisting algorithm for systems with uncertain control gain is presented. Through a Lyapunov function we have found the conditions over the matched perturbations and the uncertain control gain to preserve the properties of insensitivity and finite-time convergence to Sliding Modes of order two, that the Super-Twisting algorithm is able to achieve.
Corticosteroids: Sculptors of the Hippocampal Formation

The influence of corticosteroids on hippocampus-dependent learning and memory processes is now indisputable. On the other hand, closer scrutiny of early studies together with interpretations from newer studies would suggest that the proposition that corticosteroid-induced hippocampal cell death accounts fully for the associated cognitive deficits is only partially correct. Firstly, it is now clear that a specific sub-population of hippocampal neurons, the granule cells of the dentate gyrus, is more sensitive to changes in the corticosteroid environment; this fact raises the interesting question of what might be the unique properties of granule cells that render them more vulnerable to these hormones, since virtually all hippocampal cells express corticosteroid receptors. Secondly, from a critical analysis of the available data, the picture that emerges is that corticosteroids, by acting through two distinct receptors, influence not only cell birth and death, but probably also cell differentiation. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) occupation appears to be essential for the survival of existing and newly generated granule neurons. In contrast, while glucocorticoid receptors (GR) can induce loss of neurons in the absence of MR activation, it appears that their occupation usually results in less drastic effects involving only dendritic atrophy and loss of synaptic contacts. This revised scheme of corticosteroid actions on hippocampal structure should explain earlier observations that many of the cognition- impairing effects of corticosteroids are reversible.
Alterations in regulators of the extracellular matrix in non-Hodgkin lymphomas

Bone marrow angiogenesis is increased in non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). Compounds affecting extracellular matrix (ECM) may modify angiogenesis. Here we investigated ECM regulators in 48 unselected NHL patients compared with 35 controls. Untreated patients had elevated (P < 0.05) serum matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) 1, while MMP-2, TIMP-2 and syndecan-1 were not significantly different from controls. MMP-9 mRNA was significantly up-regulated in blood mononuclear cells, while mRNA expressions of the other ECM regulators were unaltered. We found strong correlations between mRNA expressions of both vascular endothelial growth factor and fibroblast growth factor 2, and MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2. After therapy, serum MMP-2 increased while MMP-9 decreased (P < 0.05), the others being unchanged. Several compounds affecting ECM may be involved in angiogenic activity in NHL.
Performance Evaluation of Mobile Applications in Mobile Cloud Environments

The current society lives in the era of the mobile devices (especially smarthphones). These devices are used to execute various tasks: send mail, access internet bank, payments and so on. However, mobile device faces with an issue of availability because the battery autonomy is limited. To extend the battery autonomy, one emerging solution is to use the cloud and offload tasks to save energy. One existing issue in this context is related to the decision of which applications are better candidates to this approach, and this issue can be mitigated by the use of performance evaluation techniques. However there is a lack in the literature about how to carry performance evaluation activities in the context of mobile cloud computing. Based on that, this work presents a methodology to realize studies of performance evaluation on mobile cloud computing environments considering measurement approaches. To evaluate the proposed methodology, a case study was developed and the results shows how to compare the impact of executing an application in the device in comparison to execute it in the cloud through the use of offload techniques.