Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Morphometric Characteristics of the Thoracic and Lumbar Pedicles

A total of 2,905 pedicle measurements were made from T1–L5. Measurements were made from spinal computerized tomography (CT) scan examinations and individual vertebral specimen roentgenograms. Parameters considered were the pedicle isthmus width in the transverse and sagittal planes, pedicle angles in the transverse and sagittal planes, and the depth to the anterior cortex in a line parallel to the midline of the vertebral body and along the pedicle axis. There was no significant difference between data obtained from CT scans and specimen roentgenograms. Pedicles were widest at L5 and narrowest at T5 in the transverse plane. The widest pedicles in the sagittal plane were seen at T11, the narrowest at T1. Due to the oval shape of the pedicle, the sagittal plane width was generally larger than the transverse plane width. The largest pedicle angle in the transverse plane was at L5. The posterolateral to anterolateral pedicle axis orientation in the transverse plane, seen at other levels throughout the thoracolumbar spine, reversed at T12. In the sagittal plane, the pedicles angled caudally at L5 and cephaladly from L3–T1. The depth to the anterior cortex was significantly longer along the pedicle axis than along a line parallel to the midline of the vertebral body at all levels with the exception of T12 and T11.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF IMPROVED RICE TECHNOLOGIES’ ADOPTION AMONG SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the socio-economic determinants of the adoption of improved rice technologies by small scale farmers in Kogi State, Nigeria. It specifically investigated, influence of socio-economic characteristics on the adoption of improved rice technologies, adoption level of farmers and constraints against adoption of rice technologies. Multistage random sampling was used to pick 120 registered rice farmers with the Kogi State Agricultural Development Project (ADP). Frequencies, percentages, mean, mode, mean scores and ordered probit regression were used to analyze the data. From the result, all the farmers adopted the use of agrochemicals (100%) and the farmers were categorized into low, medium and high adopters, with 60% of the farmers being high adopters. The result also showed that lack of infrastructural facilities was a major constraint experienced by farmers in the study area having a mean score of 3.7. However, the ordered probit revealed that membership of cooperative (1.029277 at 1% significance), source of fund (0.0100499 at 1% significance)) and source of labour (0.2746477, at 10% significance) determined the adoption of rice technologies while marginal effect on farm size, household size, contact with extension agents favoured the adoption of all the eight most important rice technologies which could be used as a measure towards pleasant disposition to commercial rice farming. The study recommends that private rice industries should utilize this positive disposition for rice farmers towards rice technology adoption by establishing rice processing industries in the study area and making the farmers’ rice out growers to feed the industries.
Recognition of affective haptic stimuli conveyed by different fabrics sing EEG-based sparse SVM

This study reports on the modification of electroencephalographic (EEG) power spectra as a response to quantifiable affective haptic stimuli. Ten healthy subjects (5 females) were enrolled to interact with a haptic device able to mimic caress-like stimuli by using different fabric strips at different velocities. More specifically, 2 velocity levels and 4 different fabrics, i.e. hemp, burlap, velvet and silk, were combined to deliver different affective elicitations. Subjects were also asked to evaluate the haptic stimuli in terms of arousal (activation/deactivation) and valence (pleasantness/unpleasantness) scores. Results are reported in terms of p-value topographic maps, revealing that only silk (pleasant fabric) and burlap (unpleasant fabric) were able to induce a suppression of EEG rhythms in all the frequency bands. Moreover, silk strip was able to induce a significant activation in both lateral and contralateral areas at lower velocity (valence) stimulation. In addition, a pattern recognition approach was proposed to automatically recognize pleasant and unpleasant elicitation using a L1-regularized SVM, showing an average accuracy of 70%.
Placental Lesions as Predictors of Cerebral Palsy and Abnormal Neurocognitive Function at School Age in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants (<1 kg)

Extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants (<1 kg) have high rates of neurodisability. Although previous studies have implicated placental lesions in adverse short-term neurologic outcomes in this population, none have assessed their effects in these children once they reach school age. We conducted a secondary analysis of placental pathology in a cohort study of inborn singleton ELBW infants born between 1992 and 1995 and evaluated for cerebral palsy (CP) and abnormal neurocognitive testing at 8 years of age (N = 129). The neurocognitive tests were the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and 6 subtests of the NEPSY: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment. We found that placental lesions associated with maternal vascular underperfusion (increased syncytial knots and acute atherosis) were risk factors for CP, while villous edema was associated with low scores on both neurocognitive tests. Histologic chorioamnionitis (HCA) was not predictive of outcome in the population as a whole, but a severe fetal vascular response was associated with a lower NEPSY score in the subpopulation with HCA (N = 69). Placentas with increased syncytial knots, villous edema, and those with neither finding constituted nonoverlapping subgroups with distinct pathologic and perinatal characteristics. Among infants with villous edema (N = 25), those with neurologic impairment had lower gestational ages and more severe degrees of HCA. However, by logistic regression these other factors were not independent risk factors for abnormal neurocognitive testing, and only HCA with a severe fetal vascular response decreased the association of villous edema with low test scores for NEPSY, but not K-ABC.
Dual-Plane Prosthetic Reconstruction Using the Modified Wise Pattern Mastectomy and Fasciocutaneous Flap in Women with Macromastia

Background: Skin-sparing mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction in women with macromastia is often difficult. The Wise pattern skin-reducing mastectomy often provides the best options for shape and symmetry, but is not without morbidity. The authors reviewed their experience with a modified Wise pattern mastectomy and tissue expander reconstruction to improve safety. Methods: All patients with breast cancer who underwent a skin-sparing mastectomy and modified Wise pattern skin-reducing reconstruction with a tissue expander were included. A dual-plane technique was used by covering the expander with the pectoralis muscle and a vascularized lower pole fasciocutaneous flap. Patient demographics were queried and outcomes were assessed. Results: Twenty-seven patients (34 breasts) underwent tissue expander reconstruction using the dual-plane vascularized coverage technique. The average body mass index was 34 (range, 24 to 42). The average contralateral reduction weight was 502 g on all 20 unilateral reconstructions. Postoperative complications occurred in 37 percent of the patients (10 of 27), with seroma being the most common [six of 34 reconstructions (18 percent)]. The unplanned reoperation rate was 15 percent. The average follow-up was 16 months (range, 2 months to 4.5 years). Conclusions: The authors have demonstrated that modifications to the Wise pattern mastectomy with a tissue expander using a dual plane of vascularized tissue coverage can optimize results in patients with breast cancer and macromastia. Complications still occur, but they can usually be treated conservatively.
Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy by Ultrasound-Guided Direct Puncture in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: Feasibility, Compliance, and Complications

Objective This prospective pilot study investigated the feasibility, complications, and compliance of the administration of intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy by direct puncture under ultrasonographic guidance performed on consecutive patients with recurrent ovarian cancer (ROC). Methods Patients were evaluated to undergo secondary cytoreduction and/or to receive IP chemotherapy. Patients received standard intravenous therapy for ROC plus IP administration by direct puncture needle, under ultrasonographic guidance. Results From January 2008 to January 2011, 38 patients were enrolled. A total of 402 IP procedures were performed, with a mean of 10.5 procedures per patient. The feasibility rate was 97.4%. In 237 cases (98.8%) of subgroup 1 (abdominal wall thickness ⩽6 cm), the procedure was performed after 1 attempt, meanwhile in 6% of cases of subgroup 2 (abdominal wall thickness >6 cm), more than 1 attempt was necessary (P < 0.01). The mean procedure time was 10 minutes (range, 5–30 minutes). We recorded a total of 2.25% mild intraprocedure complications. No significant difference was identified for the complication rate according to the abdominal wall thickness or according to the number of previous laparotomies. A total of 5 procedures (1.2%) were not performed as a result of patients’ noncompliance. The mean pain score according to the visual analog pain scale was moderate at the first evaluation (after 3 minutes) and mild at the final evaluation (after 10 minutes). Conclusions The administration of IP chemotherapy with a direct puncture, under ultrasound guidance, for patients with ROC, is a safe and feasible method, with a high acceptance from patients.
Does Health Insurance Coverage Influence Household Financial Portfolios? A Case Study in Urban China

Health insurance lowers the medical financial burden of the insured through a risk-sharing mechanism, and more importantly, reduces the motivation for precautionary saving. This paper explores the relationship between health insurance coverage and household financial portfolios. We choose 2002 urban China as a case study when the health insurance system had a problem of limited adverse selection. Using data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project Survey, we find that health insurance coverage influences householdsi¯ preference for financial assets, especially for the risky financial assets. These effects become more pronounced as the coverage rate of health insurance in the family increases. Our results are consistent with precautionary saving theory which suggests that future expenditure risk could affect household asset portfolios. Therefore, development of social security or a health insurance system could effectively promote the development of financial markets, especially riskier aspects of financial markets.
Relationship between virulence of Mycobacterium avium strains and induction of tumor necrosis factor alpha production in infected mice and in in vitro-cultured mouse macrophages

We studied the ability of two Mycobacterium avium strains with different virulences to induce tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) synthesis by mouse resident peritoneal macrophages (RPM phi) in vitro in an experiment to look for a possible correlation between virulence and this TNF-inducing capacity. The low-virulence strain, 1983, induced significantly higher production of TNF by RPM phi than did the high-virulence strain, ATCC 25291. TNF neutralization during culture of infected RPM phi resulted in enhancement of growth of strain 1983 and had no effect on growth of strain ATCC 25291; TNF treatment of strain ATCC 25291-infected macrophages had no effect on mycobacterial growth. The extent of M. avium growth and the amount of TNF synthesis were independent of the presence of contaminating T cells or NK cells in the macrophage monolayers. Intraperitoneal administration of anti-TNF monoclonal antibodies to BALB/c mice infected intravenously with M. avium 1983 abrogated the elimination of the bacteria in the liver and caused a slight increase in bacterial growth in the spleen. Neutralization of TNF led to a minor increase in the proliferation of M. avium ATCC 25291 in the liver and spleen of BALB/c mice late in infection. Anti-TNF treatment did not affect the growth of the two M. avium strains in BALB/c.Bcgr (C.D2) mice, suggesting that restriction of M. avium strains to induce TNF production by macrophages may limit their ability to proliferate both in vitro and in vivo.
Engagement of Research Scholar in Research

Doing research requires genuine interest, sufficient time, rigorous effort and high degree of engagement in it. In India research appears to be the last priority of several academicians. They take up this task only to full fill the academic requirement. This paper aims to study the attitude of research scholars, what makes them to take up the research task and how really they are engaged in the research activity. For this a sample of 317 research scholars were chosen from the PhD aspirants enrolled with Visvesvaraya Technological
Nuclear Activity of MLA Immune Receptors Links Isolate-Specific and Basal Disease-Resistance Responses

Plant immune responses are triggered by pattern recognition receptors that detect conserved pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or by resistance (R) proteins recognizing isolate-specific pathogen effectors. We show that in barley, intracellular mildew A (MLA) R proteins function in the nucleus to confer resistance against the powdery mildew fungus. Recognition of the fungal avirulence A10 effector by MLA10 induces nuclear associations between receptor and WRKY transcription factors. The identified WRKY proteins act as repressors of PAMP-triggered basal defense. MLA appears to interfere with the WRKY repressor function, thereby de-repressing PAMP-triggered basal defense. Our findings reveal a mechanism by which these polymorphic immune receptors integrate distinct pathogen signals.
Two successful pregnancies following autotransplantation of frozen/thawed ovarian tissue.

BACKGROUND Cryopreservation of the ovarian cortex with subsequent autotransplantation has, on an experimental basis, been performed to preserve fertility in women being treated for a malignant disease. The present study reports ovarian activity and pregnancies following autotransplantation of frozen/thawed ovarian tissue. METHODS One complete ovary was cryopreserved from each of six patients who were 26-35 years old prior to treatment. Tissue from three of the patients was transported 4-5 h on ice prior to cryopreservation. After a period of 17-32 months, orthotopic autotransplantation was performed replacing 20-60% of the tissue. Two patients received additional heterotopic transplants. RESULTS In all cases, the tissue restored menstrual cyclicity 14-20 weeks following transplantation. Four of the six women conceived following assisted reproduction: two women (who had the tissue transported 4-5 h prior to cryopreservation) each, based on the orthotopic transplanted tissue, delivered one healthy child (February 2007 and January 2008); one woman miscarriaged in gestational Week 7; and the other had a positive hCG test but no clinical pregnancy. The remaining two women did not become pregnant. CONCLUSIONS Two additional healthy children have been born as a result of the ovarian cryopreservation procedure. In both cases, the ovarian tissue was transported 4-5 h prior to freezing demonstrating that hospitals may offer cryopreservation without having the necessary expertise locally.
How does cultural intelligence affect organisational culture: the mediating role of cross-cultural role conflict, ambiguity, and overload

Abstract Drawing on the tenets of role stress theory for insight into the cross-cultural and relational effects of role stressors, adaptability and organisation, we explain the mediating effect of these stressors to identify the extent of relationships across a broad scope of cultural settings. The current study examines cross-cultural role conflict, ambiguity and overload – the three role stressors – as mediators of the relationship between cultural intelligence and organisational culture. Survey data were collected from 299 employees across high-risk industries in four countries: Australia, the United Kingdom, United States of America and Singapore. Results demonstrated that cultural intelligence is positively related to organisational culture, while cross-cultural role conflict, ambiguity and overload are negatively associated with organisational culture. Moreover, results from mediation analysis highlighted that cross-cultural role conflict, ambiguity and overload partially mediate the relationship between cultural intelligence and organisational culture, providing a broader understanding of its connective influence both locally and in a cross-border setting. Implications for theory and managerial practice, along with avenues for future research, are discussed.
Maternal obesity in the ewe increases cardiac ventricular expression of glucocorticoid receptors, proinflammatory cytokines and fibrosis in adult male offspring

Obesity during human pregnancy predisposes offspring to obesity and cardiovascular disease in postnatal life. In a sheep model of maternal overnutrition/obesity we have previously reported myocardial inflammation and fibrosis, as well as cardiac dysfunction in late term fetuses, in association with chronically elevated blood cortisol. Significant research has suggested a link between elevated glucocorticoid exposure in utero and hypertension and cardiovascular disease postnatally. Here we examined the effects of maternal obesity on myocardial inflammation and fibrosis of their adult offspring. Adult male offspring from control (CON) mothers fed 100% of National Research Council (NRC) recommendations (n = 6) and male offspring from obese mothers (MO) fed 150% NRC (n = 6), were put on a 12-week ad libitum feeding challenge then necropsied. At necropsy, plasma cortisol and left and right ventricular thickness were markedly increased (P<0.05) in adult male MO offspring. Myocardial collagen content and collagen-crosslinking were greater (P<0.05) in MO offspring compared to CON offspring in association with increased mRNA and protein expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GR). No group difference was found in myocardial mineralocorticoids receptor (MR) protein expression. Further, mRNA expression for the proinflammatory cytokines: cluster of differentiation (CD)-68, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were increased (P < 0.05), and protein expression of CD-68, TGF-β1, and TNF-α tended to increase (P<0.10) in MO vs. CON offspring. These data provide evidence for MO-induced programming of elevated plasma cortisol and myocardial inflammation and fibrosis in adult offspring potentially through increased GR.
Increasing GLP-1-induced beta-cell proliferation by silencing the negative regulators of signaling cAMP response element modulator-alpha and DUSP14.

OBJECTIVE Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a growth and differentiation factor for mature beta-cells and their precursors. However, the overall effect of GLP-1 on increasing beta-cell mass in both in vivo and in vitro conditions is relatively small, and augmenting this effect would be beneficial for the treatment or prevention of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Here, we searched for cellular mechanisms that may limit the proliferative effect of GLP-1 and tested whether blocking them could increase beta-cell proliferation. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We examined GLP-1-regulated genes in beta TC-Tet cells by cDNA microarrays. To assess the effect of some of these gene on cell proliferation, we reduced their expression using small heterogenous RNA in beta-cell lines and primary mouse islets and measured [(3)H]thymidine or 5'-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation. RESULTS We identified four negative regulators of intracellular signaling that were rapidly and strongly activated by GLP-1: the regulator of G-protein-signaling RGS2; the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) antagonists cAMP response element modulator (CREM)-alpha and ICERI; and the dual specificity phosphatase DUSP14, a negative regulator of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway. We show that knockdown of CREMalpha or DUSP14 or expression of a dominant-negative form of DUSP14 increased beta-cell line proliferation and enhanced the GLP-1-induced proliferation of primary beta-cells. CONCLUSIONS Together, our data show that 1) the cAMP/protein kinase A/CREB and MAPK/ERK1/2 pathways can additively control beta-cell proliferation, 2) beta-cells have evolved several mechanisms limiting GLP-1-induced cellular proliferation, and 3) blocking these mechanisms increases the positive effect of GLP-1 on beta-cell mass.
A Close to Capacity Double Iterative Based Precoder Design for MU-MIMO Broadcast Channel with Multi-Stream Support

Many algoritms have been proposed for precoders design in a multiuser MIMO system (MU-MIMO). Nevertheless, the proposed solutions showed to have better results for some SNRs (signal to noise ratio) regions and degrade in some other parts. This paper proposes a new double iterative procedure for sum-rate maximization. The proposed algorithm is based on jointly optimizing the precoders and decoders using two different decoding schemes. The solution here is supporting multi-streams per user. The algorithm is based on a WMMSE (weighted minimum mean square error) precoder combined with two iterative receivers namely the MF (matched filter) and MMSE (minimum mean square error) decoders. The resulting precoding matrices from the first algorithm (WMMSE/MF) are used as an initialization for the second one (WMMSE/MMSE). The choice of these decoders and their combination has been done according to their properties. Another crucial point in this proposal is the decision on the switching point between these two algorithms. A dynamic algorithm introducing very low extra complexity is proposed here. To validate our proposed solution we compare it with an existing MMSE and WMMSE based iterative optimization algorithms. The obtained results demonstrate significant gains without introducing supplementary complexity. Comparison with DPC (dirty paper coding) performances shows how close our proposed solution is to the BC (broadcast channel) channel capacity.
Genetic versus histological grading in stereotactic biopsies.

With diagnostic stereotactic biopsies in astrocytoma sometimes false results will be encountered. A false positive result is defined as a histological diagnosis which is afterwards proved to be untrue. Although this happens very seldom (1-2%) in characterizing the tumor type (e.g. astrocytoma versus lymphoma), there is a probability of undergrading in malignant astrocytomas due to regional heterogeneity in malignancy grade. The issue of 'sampling error' has been addressed by many authors. It was shown that undergrading in astrocytomas is a likely event in fibrillar astrocytomas that often show geographically distinct areas of well and poorly differentiated elements. In a recent study on histological grading versus genetic characterization of heterogeneous astrocytomas we published that low-grade areas within high-grade malignant astrocytomas have already the genetic features of high-grade malignancy. Therefore, particularly in stereotactic biopsies which contain relatively small samples of tumor tissue, this fact is of paramount importance. Undergrading may lead to withholding radiotherapy from the patient and to falsification of long-term survival results in series of so-called low-grade astrocytomas. We like to stress the importance of taking biopsies from different parts of the tumor, especially from parts with different density enhancement to contrast with CT scanning, and will discuss the technical advancements made in the genetic grading of astrocytomas. Particularly loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 10 and eventually amplification of the EGFR indicate a high grade of malignancy.