Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laminoplasty and Pedicle Screw Fixation for Cervical Myelopathy Associated With Athetoid Cerebral Palsy: Minimum 5-Year Follow-up

Study Design. Retrospective case series. Objective. To evaluate the outcomes after laminoplasty and posterior spinal fusion using pedicle screws for cervical myelopathy associated with athetoid cerebral palsy. Summary of Background Data. A variety of surgical procedures have been reported including decompression without fusion, spinal fusion by anterior, posterior, or circumferential approach in this population. However, involuntary neck movements bring risk of postoperative neurological deterioration due to progression of kyphosis, pseudoarthrosis, or adjacent segmental degeneration. Methods. A consecutive series of 17 patients who underwent midline T-saw laminoplasty and posterior spinal fusion using pedicle screws were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age was 52 years (8 females and 9 males) at the time of surgery. The mean follow-up was 71 months. Radiographical measures were made in change of Cobb angle of sagittal plane from C2 to C7 and accuracy of pedicle screws. Barthel Index that shows independence in activities of daily life and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association score were also evaluated. Results. Preoperative Cobb angle of sagittal plane from C2 to C7 measured 11.0°± 14.5° of kyphosis, which improved to 1.5°± 12.7° postoperatively (P < 0.05). Solid posterior bony fusion was achieved in all cases without rigid orthosis such as halo vest. There were 2 cases of adjacent segmental instability, which required additional surgery. Nineteen (13%) out of the 138 screws showed deviation from the pedicle with postoperative computed tomography. However, there were no neurovascular complications during or after the surgery in any cases. Postoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association score and Barthel Index significantly improved in 32% ± 16%, and 48% ± 26%, respectively. Conclusion. Laminoplasty and pedicle screw fixation provided strong internal fixation and improved neurological function and activities of daily living for cervical myelopathy associated with athetoid cerebral palsy. Level of Evidence: 4
The Wulff theorem revisited

The parametrized indicator measures and the Brunn-Minkowski inequality are used to prove that the Wulff set W‪‪‪‪‪г‪ is a minimizer for the surface energy where the density is the support function of W‪‪‪‪‪г. The support of the indicator measures associated to minimizing sequences is characterized. It is shown that if W‪‪‪‪‪г is polyhedral then minimizing sequences cannot oscillate.
A New Method for Haptoglobin Phenotyping

Haptoglobin is an acute-phase protein with three major phenotypes: Hp 1-1, Hp 2-1 and Hp 2-2. Studies have shown that functional differences between these phenotypes have important consequences in a number of pathological disorders (e.g. cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, infectious disease), making phenotype determination of potential use in the clinical field. Previous methods for haptoglobin phenotyping have involved electrophoresis (starch, acetate and polyacrylamide gels) with phenotype visualization by peroxidase-sensitive stains that were often carcinogenic. Less hazardous immunoblotting and isoelectric focusing procedures are also available but the methods are lengthy, expensive and often complex. Here, we describe a new method for haptoglobin phenotyping using commercially available agarose gels and a non-carcinogenic stain (3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine). Our method showed 100% agreement with starch gel electrophoresis and reliably distinguished between commercial haptoglobin phenotype standards and serum samples from patients (n = 125). We obtained a sensitivity of 0·4 g/L for all phenotypes and the gels were stable for up to 2 months. This safer and easier to use method may permit increased access to knowledge of haptoglobin phenotype, allowing improved patient management and better tailoring of treatment in a variety of clinical conditions.
Helicobacter pylori infection and polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor region

Twin studies evidence that genetic factors of the host influence the acquisition and the clinical outcome of Helicobacter pylori infections in addition to bacterial and environmental factors. In the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α‐gene, allelic frequencies of the polymorphic microsatellite TNFa and the promoter polymorphism TNF‐308 were studied for 209 H. pylori+ patients and compared to 184 H. pylori— controls. In the H. pylori+ group 34 individuals suffered from duodenal ulcer and 45 from gastric ulcer. Genotyping of the TNFa microsatellite and TNF‐308 polymorphisms was performed after polymerase chain reaction by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and allele‐specific oligonucleotide hybridizations, respectively. The phenotype frequency of microsatellite allele TNFa6 was lower in the H. pylori+ females as well as infected females with gastric ulcer compared to uninfected controls. Infected men with duodenal ulcer had a decreased frequency of allele TNFa10. The genotype TNF1/TNF1 of the polymorphism TNF‐308 is a risk factor for duodenal ulcer in H. pylori+ females; p = 0.01; relative risk (RR) = 10.7; corrected p‐value (pc) = 0.05. Thus, the TNF region is crucial in the complex genetic predisposition for H. pylori infection for certain patient subgroups.
Effect of particle size of granules on some mechanical properties of paracetamol tablets

Solid dosage forms are invariably multiparticulate systems of heterogenous particle size distribution. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of particle size distribution of paracetamol granules on some tablet mechanical properties of paracetamol tablets. Granules were formed by wet massing paracetamol powder (200 g) with 20% (w/w) of maize starch mucilage as binder. Resulting granules were classified into different size fractions (212 - 1700 im) by sieve analysis and samples of granules from the various size fractions were compressed into tablets of weight 500 ± 4.3 mg, diameter 12.3 ± 2.3 mm and thickness 3.6 ± 1.2 mm, using a single punch tablet machine at a compression pressure load of 7 arbitrary units on the load scale. The tablets were equilibrated for 24 h before evaluation. Tablet mechanical parameters evaluated were packing fraction (Pf), tensile strength (T), particle density, porosity and friability. The results showed that T values and friability index decreased slightly from 1.48 MNm-2 to 1.35 MNm-2 and 1.77 to 0.93%, respectively, following an increase in the granule sizes from 212 to 1700 im. These differences were, however, not statistically significant. The packing fraction (Pf) of the tablets increased from 0.853 to 0.960 significantly following an increase in granule size from 212 to 1700 im. The indication is that there is a higher degree of consolidation of the compacts formed from larger granules as a result of plastic deformation and fragmentation than those from smaller granules. The study showed that varying the granule size distribution in a powdered bed affects some tablet mechanical characteristics. The implication of this is that the granule sizes should be controlled during tableting and/or filling into capsule in order to avoid weight and content variation while ensuring that only tablets with desirable mechanical characteristics are formed.
Evolutionary changes in symbiont community structure in ticks

Ecological specialization to restricted diet niches is driven by obligate, and often maternally inherited, symbionts in many arthropod lineages. These heritable symbionts typically form evolutionarily stable associations with arthropods that can last for millions of years. Ticks were recently found to harbour such an obligate symbiont, Coxiella‐LE, that synthesizes B vitamins and cofactors not obtained in sufficient quantities from blood diet. In this study, the examination of 81 tick species shows that some Coxiella‐LE symbioses are evolutionarily stable with an ancient acquisition followed by codiversification as observed in ticks belonging to the Rhipicephalus genus. However, many other Coxiella‐LE symbioses are characterized by low evolutionary stability with frequent host shifts and extinction events. Further examination revealed the presence of nine other genera of maternally inherited bacteria in ticks. Although these nine symbionts were primarily thought to be facultative, their distribution among tick species rather suggests that at least four may have independently replaced Coxiella‐LE and likely represent alternative obligate symbionts. Phylogenetic evidence otherwise indicates that cocladogenesis is globally rare in these symbioses as most originate via horizontal transfer of an existing symbiont between unrelated tick species. As a result, the structure of these symbiont communities is not fixed and stable across the tick phylogeny. Most importantly, the symbiont communities commonly reach high levels of diversity with up to six unrelated maternally inherited bacteria coexisting within host species. We further conjecture that interactions among coexisting symbionts are pivotal drivers of community structure both among and within tick species.
Energy Absorption of Nano-Reinforced and Sandwich Composites in Ballistic and Low-Velocity Punch-Shear

This paper presents an investigation on energy absorption characteristics of nano-reinforced panels, laminated face sheets and sandwich composites in high velocity ballistic and low velocity punch-shear experiments. The vinyl ester panels were reinforced with 1.25 and 2.5 wt. percent nanoclay and exfoliated graphite platelets. Three different face sheets were manufactured with E-glass, Owens Corning HP ShieldStrand? glass and T-700 Carbon woven fabric in vinyl ester; and one with the E-glass and graphite platelets impregnated vinyl ester matrix. The sandwich composites were fabricated with balsa, PVC foam, 3D-fiber reinforced Tycor? and fire resistant fly-ash based Eco-Core? cores in between E-glass/vinyl ester face sheets. Ballistic tests were conducted according to NIJ level III using a universal receiver equipped with a barrel to launch 0.308 caliber M80 ball round projectile at about 890 m/s. Low velocity punch-shear tests were performed at around 3 m/s according to ASTM D3763 Standard using a drop-weight impact test system. The tortuosity of the fractured surface in nanocomposite specimens has been investigated using digital microscope. In ballistic tests, the 3-D fiber reinforced Tycor? core provided the most resistance when projectile strikes at the web-flange interface region. The 2.5 wt. pct. graphite platelet reinforced nanocomposite, HP ShieldStrand? glass vinyl ester face sheets, and E-glass/Eco-Core? sandwich composite showed the best energy absorption under low velocity punch-shear.
"I Never Knew I Was a Bilingual": Reimagining Teacher Identities in TESOL

This study examines imagined professional and linguistic communities available to preservice and in-service English as a second language and English as a foreign language teachers enrolled in one TESOL program. A discursive analysis of the students' positioning in their linguistic autobiographies suggests that the traditional discourse of linguistic competence positions students as members of one of two communities, native speakers or non-native speakers/L2 learners. The analysis also suggests that contemporary theories of bilingualism and second language acquisition, in particular Cook's (1992, 1999) notion of multicompetence, open up an alternative imagined community, that of multicompetent, bilingual, and multilingual speakers. This option allows some teachers to construe themselves and their future students as legitimate L2 users rather than as failed native speakers of the target language.
Optimal transmission switching as a remedial action to enhance power system reliability

Increasing redundant paths in transmission grids has always been thought to be a tool to enhance service reliability. However, network equations by intertwining power flows through redundant paths impose more limits on systems with more redundancy. Accordingly, autonomous removing of a few lines may relief capacity limit violations in some contingency events thereby enhancing service reliability. This paper aims to study impacts of manual removing of transmission lines on composite system reliability. For doing so, the existing model is extended to consider optimal transmission switching (OTS) as a remedial action. The model minimizes total damage cost imposed by load curtailments. The extended model is formulated in mixed integer linear programming (MILP) format that can be easily solved via commercial solvers. The model is applied to likely contingencies wherein violations in capacity limits are encountered. Then, the results along with occurrence probability of the contingencies are taken into use to calculate load point and system oriented reliability indices. Simulation results on the modified reliability test system (MRTS) demonstrate great enhancements in service reliability when OTS is realized.
A hybrid diagnostic method based on wigner-ville distribution and wavelet packet transform

Effective machine health monitoring requires a time-frequency representation with high resolution. This paper presents a hybrid signal processing technique, based on Wavelet Packet Transform (WPT) and Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD). It allows high resolution without introducing the cross-term interference as the original WVD method does. The suitability of applying this method is shown by both simulation and experiments.
Force Control of Musculoskeletal Manipulator Driven By Spiral Motors

This paper presents force control of musculoskeletal manipulator driven by spiral motors. The kinematic and dynamic properties are shown to address the presence of ennvironmental contact with the manipulator. From this contact, the force control schemes were explored, by comparing between monoarticular-only structure and biarticular structure manipulator. Force control schemes were divided into independent muscle control, end effector step force command, and muscular viscoelasticity control. The results show advantages of biarticular actuation compared to monoarticular-only actuation in the feasibility of magnetic levitation (gap) control alongside force control.
Antagonisms among isogenic strains of Escherichia coli in the digestive tracts of gnotobiotic mice

We have observed that antagonisms occur between isogenic strains of Escherichia coli associated with gnotobiotic mice. The strains differed in the carriage of plasmids or in chromosomal mutations. The plasmid-free strains, in general, inhibited the establishment of plasmid-bearing strains in the gastrointestinal tract of mice. The outcome of the interactions between isogenic pairs, however, depended on the order in which the strains were introduced into the mice. Maintaining the bacterial strains in monoassociation with gnotobiotic mice resulted in the "adaptation" of the bacteria to their host. Thus, in all cases, "adapted" strains became the dominant population in the feces of mice, regardless of whether the adapted strains was introduced into mice before or after its isogenic partner which had been cultured in vitro. The ecological advantage disappeared when the adapted strain was cultured in broth. Ultrastructural differences in cell morphology were observed between strains maintained in vivo and in vitro.
The cellular receptor for measles virus—elusive no more

The identity of the measles virus receptor has been controversial. Several years ago CD46 was identified as a cellular receptor for the Edmonston strain of measles virus, but most clinical isolates of measles virus, which are most efficiently isolated in the marmoset B cell line B95a, cannot grow in many CD46+ cell lines. Although some researchers attributed it to post‐entry block in viral replication, others believed that there is a receptor other than CD46 for wild‐type measles viruses. A new study showed that human signalling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM; also known as CDw150) is a cellular receptor for measles virus, including the Edmonston strain. SLAM is expressed on lymphocytes and dendritic cells, and plays an important role in lymphocyte activation. The identification of SLAM as a measles virus receptor nicely explains the pathogenesis of measles virus infection. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Controlling scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in goats

TRANSMISSIBLE spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of neurodegenerative diseases caused by the accumulation in the central nervous system (CNS) of an anomalous isoform called prion protein (Prusiner 1982). Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) represents one of the most important food crises of past decades in Europe. BSE started in the UK, due to cattle consumption of feedstuff contaminated with prions (Wilesmith and others 1992). In Europe, efforts have focused on eradicating the disease in the bovine population. However, since sheep and goats are susceptible to prion diseases, eradication efforts in these species have to be considered; in fact, in 2005 the first case of natural BSE in a goat from France was diagnosed (Eloit and others 2005). These findings imply that BSE in small ruminants (particularly goats) could represent a danger for human health and therefore various strategies must be considered to avoid infection. It has been recognised that polymorphisms of the PRNP gene are responsible for some element of susceptibility or resistance to prion diseases. Studies in sheep have shown that the haplotype …
Accuracy of self-reporting of diabetes mellitus and hypertension and its determinants among Omani adults.

ational health surveys depend commonly on data collected through self-administered questionnaires due to the privilege of its lower costs. 1 In several studies, self-reported data was compared with medical records, disease registries, or the results of clinical and laboratory investigations. Some authors evaluate the accuracy of self-reporting for both people who responded positively and people who responded negatively to a specific question regarding chronic disease, whereas others limit their investigation to the positive responders or to people who have the condition according to medical records or clinical examination. Certain patient’s characteristics are presumed to influence the accuracy of self-reported data. In several studies, the associations have been examined between gender, age and educational level. 2 The aim of the present study is to investigate the accuracy of Omani subjects’ on self-reporting of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension as compared with the diagnosis of these diseases according to the pre-set criteria; and to examine whether certain subject’s characteristics influence the accuracy of self-reporting of these chronic diseases in a community based survey (National Health Survey, 2000). The survey adopted a multi-stage, stratified probability-sampling design representing the 10 regions of the Sultanate of Oman according to proportional allocation of the population size in each region. Sixteen willayates were selected out of 59 (27%). The total number of households selected was 1968 with a total of 7011 subjects aged >20 years. The response rate varies from 77.5-91.5% according to physical or laboratory measurement. Five thousand four hundred and thirty-one Omani subjects were subjected to data analysis to test the accuracy of self-reporting of DM and 6414 were subjected to data analysis to test the accuracy of self-reportin g of hypertension. The tools used in the survey were Household Health Status questionnaire, which covers the demographic data and includes self-reporting of DM, hypertension. Measurements of blood pressure (BP), weight, height, waist and hip circumference were registered in the questionnaire. The World Health Organization (WHO) procedures were used for taking the measurements. 3 The questionnaire also included items for the results of laboratory investigations taken from fasting blood sugar, and serum cholesterol. The WHO criteria (1999) for diagnosis of hypertension, and glucose intolerance was adopted. 3 Prevalence of hypertension was estimated based on adding the subjects with self-reporting of
Tuning the ribosome: The influence of rRNA modification on eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis and function

ABSTRACT rRNAs are extensively modified during their transcription and subsequent maturation in the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm. RNA modifications, which are installed either by snoRNA-guided or by stand-alone enzymes, generally stabilize the structure of the ribosome. However, they also cluster at functionally important sites of the ribosome, such as the peptidyltransferase center and the decoding site, where they facilitate efficient and accurate protein synthesis. The recent identification of sites of substoichiometric 2′-O-methylation and pseudouridylation has overturned the notion that all rRNA modifications are constitutively present on ribosomes, highlighting nucleotide modifications as an important source of ribosomal heterogeneity. While the mechanisms regulating partial modification and the functions of specialized ribosomes are largely unknown, changes in the rRNA modification pattern have been observed in response to environmental changes, during development, and in disease. This suggests that rRNA modifications may contribute to the translational control of gene expression.
Aberrant dendrite growth in central nervous system white matter induced by a mutant proteolipid protein transgene

Transgenic mice were produced that carry a construct encoding a mutant form of the DM20 isoform of myelin proteolipid protein. The transgene is under the direction of the human Plp gene promoter, which has previously been shown to direct tissue‐specific expression of transgenes. Two lines of mice were generated with this construct, both of which express the transgene at extremely low levels. Central nervous system myelination proceeds normally in the transgenic mice. However, in aged transgenic mice, areas of dendrite processes synapsed with axonal termini were observed within the white matter of the spinal cord. This phenotype was accompanied by focal areas of astrocytic hypertrophy and an increase in apoptotic cell death in white matter but not gray matter. One interpretation of these findings is that expression of the mutant DM20 alters signaling between oligodendrocytes and neurons, producing abnormal neurite outgrowth. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:262–268, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Stalk Regions Define Responsiveness to Soluble versus Membrane-Bound Ligand

ABSTRACT The family of tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFRs) and their ligands form a regulatory signaling network that controls immune responses. Various members of this receptor family respond differently to the soluble and membrane-bound forms of their respective ligands. However, the determining factors and underlying molecular mechanisms of this diversity are not yet understood. Using an established system of chimeric TNFRs and novel ligand variants mimicking the bioactivity of membrane-bound TNF (mTNF), we demonstrate that the membrane-proximal extracellular stalk regions of TNFR1 and TNFR2 are crucial in controlling responsiveness to soluble TNF (sTNF). We show that the stalk region of TNFR2, in contrast to the corresponding part of TNFR1, efficiently inhibits both the receptor's enrichment/clustering in particular cell membrane regions and ligand-independent homotypic receptor preassembly, thereby preventing sTNF-induced, but not mTNF-induced, signaling. Thus, the stalk regions of the two TNFRs not only have implications for additional TNFR family members, but also provide potential targets for therapeutic intervention.