Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic review of clinical research addressing the prevalence, aetiology, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of otitis media in Australian Aboriginal children

The objective of this review was to systemically identify and summarize all the clinically relevant evidence available from studies addressing the prevalence, aetiology, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of otitis media in Australian Aboriginal children. Electronic searching of Medline, the Australian Medical Index and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Bibliographic Index was performed. This was supplemented by hand searching the Menzies School of Health Research otitis media collection, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information Bulletin and Aboriginal Health: an annotated bibliography. Data were extracted and placed in a series of evidence tables relevant to clinical practice. There were59 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The majority were surveys, and only 19 addressed diagnosis, prognosis or therapy. Severe otitis media in rural Aboriginal children does not occur in isolation but as part of a spectrum of chronic bacterial infections of the respiratory tract. Although the aspects of poverty that result in this condition remain to be clarified, exposure to other young children with chronic nasal discharge is likely to be important. Whilst there is a considerable amount of literature on otitis media in Australian Aboriginal children, the number of studies most relevant to improving health outcomes is small. A systematic approach to disease surveillance, diagnosis, and application of medical interventions is required urgently. Future medical research should be concerned with the evaluation of interventions and the generalisabilty of studies from different populations.
Speed and efficiency but not accuracy or timing deficits of limb movements in alcoholic men and women.

BACKGROUND Lesions of the cerebellum, a concomitant of alcoholism, can disrupt quality and regularity of movement. Whether evidence for such dysfunction lingers in patients with uncomplicated alcoholism, which is known to affect cerebellar structural integrity, is controversial. METHODS We used quantitative measures to examine component processes of five classes of movement associated with regional cerebellar function: limb ataxia (alternated finger tapping and variants of the finger-to-nose and heel-to-shin tests), paced tapping, eye-hand coordinated tracing, timed response reflecting preparation and execution time, and postural stability. The subjects examined were 39 abstinent alcoholics (13 men and 26 women) and 21 age-matched controls (9 men and 12 women). For limb ataxia, the dependent measures were the trajectory deviation from the subject's own average movement path and the speed of travel from beginning points to endpoints. RESULTS Repeated-measures analysis of variance comparing movement speed of finger to nose and heel to shin yielded significant interactions in all conditions (p < 0.007); this indicated that the alcoholics were relatively slower in the upper- than lower-limb tasks. Movements by the alcoholic men were significantly slower but less deviant from an ideal trajectory in all upper-limb conditions than those of the control men (p < 0.002). Although measures of lower-limb movement trajectory did not distinguish the groups, tests of ataxia of stance and gait did. The groups did not differ, however, on tests of timed tapping or sinusoid tracing. CONCLUSIONS Alcohol-related postural instability in abstinent alcoholics is functional evidence supporting the postulated damage to the anterior superior vermis. Altered speed or accuracy trade-offs, with alcoholics moving slower to attain equivalent or even smaller trajectory deviations, are symptomatic of cerebellar hemisphere dysfunction that is characterized by deliberation of otherwise automatic movements.
Late sequelae of systemic lupus erythematosus in children

Cel pracy: Toczen rumieniowaty ukladowy, jedna z ukladowych chorob tkanki lącznej, jest klasycznym przykladem chorob z autoimmunizacji. Mlodzienczy toczen rumieniowaty ukladowy stanowi 5–10% wszystkich zachorowan na te chorobe. Autorzy na podstawie 20-letniej obserwacji podjeli probe analizy do tyczącej zmiany obrazu klinicznego, przebiegu, prognozy oraz poźnych nastepstw choroby u dzieci. Material i metody: Badaniami objeto 138 dzieci. Rozpoznanie choroby ustalo no na podstawie kryteriow ACR (American College of Rheumatolo gy); kazdy pacjent spelnial co najmniej 4 kryteria. Dzieci byly hospitalizowane w Klinice Reumatologii Wieku Rozwojowego Instytutu Reumatolo gii w Warszawie w latach 1985–2005. Przeprowadzając analize dotyczącą oceny aktywności na początku choroby i w jej poźniejszym przebiegu, zastosowano skale SLEDAI (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index). Wyniki: Ocena przebiegu choroby w badanym okresie wykazala, ze byl on lagodniejszy u dzieci, ktore zachorowaly w poźniejszym okresie. Poprawe wyrazoną znacznym zmniejszeniem lub ustąpieniem aktywności choroby uzyskano u 85 dzieci, postep choroby lub utrzymywanie sie aktywności pomimo stosowanego leczenia – u 47 dzieci. Sześcioro dzieci zmarlo. Najczestszą przyczyną zgonu byla posocznica. Wnioski: Przebieg choroby zmienil sie w ciągu ostatnich 20 lat. Obnizyl sie znacznie wskaźnik śmiertelności, cześciej uzyskuje sie poprawe i remisje choroby. Średni wiek zachorowania ulegl podwyzszeniu mniej wiecej o 2 lata. Najczestszą przyczyną zgonow są obecnie uogolnione infekcje (we wcześniejszych latach byla to niewydolnośc nerek). Zmniejszyla sie początko wa aktywnośc choroby oceniana w skali SLEDAI. Istotnej statystycznie zmianie ulegla tez czestośc wystepowania niektorych objawow na początku choroby: rzadziej obserwuje sie zajecie nerek i padaczke, cześciej psy chozy i obecnośc przeciwcial przeciw na tywnemu DNA.
A paradox in the laterality of melody processing

Melody lateralisation has been examined extensively, using well known behavioural techniques−dichotic/monaural listening and dual tasks. The literature using these techniques has produced paradoxical results for the lateralisation of melody processing particularly with non-musicians. Research using the dichotic/monaural listening paradigm suggests right hemisphere processing for non-musicians while the dual task paradigm has suggested a left hemisphere dominance. The current study utilises both monaural listening and dual task techniques within trials. The results replicated the paradox in the literature. The dichotic/monaural listening melody measure (d ') suggest right hemisphere processing of melodies for both musicians and non-musicians. In contrast, the dual task measure suggests left hemisphere processing for the non-musicians and bilateral processing for the musicians. Both measures were collected from the same stimulus presentations and are therefore paradoxical particularly for the non-musicians. Irrespective of which task participants are primarily attending, both laterality measures should produce internally consistent patterns if they are measuring the same aspects of melody processing. Although the paradox for the musicians may be resolved by postulating an attentional bias towards the tapping task, no such explanation is possible for the non-musicians. In light of the paradoxical findings produced by these two measures, their utility for providing unambiguous information about lateralisation of mental processing is questionable.
Does a Good Fit between Mobile Work Support Functions and Mobile Sales-Force Worker Tasks Lead to Improved Work Performance?

Mobile devices can improve the way sales-force work is conducted in information intensive industries such as the pharmaceutical industry. However, there is a lack of empirical research which has examined the extent to which a good fit between mobile work support functions and sales-force worker tasks and individual characteristics influences intention to use. Does a good fit translate into a perceived positive impact on sales-force worker performance? Drawing on TTF and TAM theories, an online survey was conducted with sales-force workers in the German division of a large pharmaceutical company. The findings indicate that location dependence and time criticality positively influence perceived usefulness of mobile work support functions and that this perceived fit positively influences intention to use and perceived performance impact of mobile work support functions. Furthermore, there are differences in the perceived usefulness of mobile work support functions across job roles, pharmaceutical business units and length of tenure.
A Clinicopathological Correlation of Pre-Operative Radiotherapy in Soft Tissue Sarcoma

The purpose of this study to evaluate the radiological and pathological response to neo-adjuvant radiotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma.Total 30 patients of soft tissue sarcoma of extremities were treated with neoadjuvant radiotherapy followed by definitive surgery. All patients had MRI imaging pre and post radiotherapy. Radiological tumor response was assessed by volume changes on axial T1 gadolinium enhanced MRI. Pathological tumor response was assessed in terms of percentage area of necrosis in resected specimen. Radioghraphically, 73% patients demonstrated decrease in tumor volume while 24% of patient showed an increase in the tumor volume compared to the pre-radiotherapy values. The median change in tumor volume was 36%(range, -272 to 70%). The median pathologic percentage tumor necrosis was 70%( range, 0-92%). 20% of patients showed > 90% of necrosis and associated with favorable oncogenic outcome, although these association was not statistically significant. Soft-tissue sarcomas show significant pathological treatment responses in the form of hyaline fibrosis, necrosis and granulation tissue. Despite this, there is minimal early volumetric response to radiation. Although radiological partial response was predictive of pathological response, the significance of radiological progression was unclear. Myxoid and other liposarcoma tumor type were predictive of both pathological and radiological tumor response.
Response to conjugate Haemophilus influenzae B vaccine among infants in Niamey, Niger.

Despite near elimination of Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) meningitis from several industrialized countries following introduction of conjugate Hib vaccines into infant immunization schedules, Hib remains a major cause of meningitis and pneumonia in resource-poor countries. In Niger, Hib causes nearly 200 cases of meningitis per 100,000 children < one year of age, and > 40% of cases are fatal. We evaluated the immunogenicity of Hib polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (PRP-T) administered in the same syringe as diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine among infants in Niger. Infants were randomized into group 1 (PRP-T at six, 10, and 14 weeks), group 2 (PRP-T at 10 and 14 weeks), or a control group (meningococcal A/C polysaccharide vaccine). By 14 weeks of age, all subjects in groups land 2 had > or = 0.15 microg/ml of anti-PRP antibody, and 82% versus 76% had > or = 1.0 microg/ml of antibody (P=not significant). By nine months of age the proportion of infants with > or = 0.15 and > or = 1.0 microg/ml was group I=97% and 76%; group 2=93% and 67%; controls=10% and 2.6%. Four weeks after the first, second, and third doses of PRP-T, infants in group 1 showed geometric mean titers (GMTs) of 0.19, 3.97, and 6.09 microg/ml while infants in group 2 had GMTs of 2.40 and 4.41 microg/ml four weeks after the delayed first and second doses. Both PRP-T groups had significantly higher GMTs at 18 weeks and nine months of age than infants in the control group. The Hib PRP-T vaccine was immunogenic in infants in Niger. The strong response after PRP-T was initiated one month after the first DTP vaccination may reflect carrier priming. Two dose schedules of PRP-T should be given serious consideration, particularly if their reduced cost permits vaccine introduction that would be otherwise unaffordable.
System abstraction and interface for interoperable SERVER objects in OMEGA

The OMEGA (Object-based Modeling Environment for Geoscientific Applications) system is intended to support geoscientific modeling tasks. In this paper, we emphasize those aspects of OMEGA that are relevant to the integration of distributed computational tools and objects. OMEGA is capable of delegating specialized computations to a variety of external packages through the SERVER objects and associated interface methods. In this sense, OMEGA may be viewed as a software coupling system into which existing packages and application-specific software may be plugged with minimal effort. Most of the engineering details of the coupling mechanism are encapsulated and automated for the end-user. <<ETX>>
Prognostic value of codon 918 (ATG→ACG) RET proto‐oncogene mutations in sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma

We have determined the frequency of 918 RET proto‐oncogene mutations (ATG→ACG) in primary MTC tumors and metastases and correlated the presence or absence of this mutation with the clinical outcome of patients suffering from sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). A total of 197 samples, consisting of both primary tumors and lymph node metastases from 34 patients with sporadic MTC, were collected for PCR analysis of the RET 918 mutation. In 75 of the samples (38%), codon 918 (ATG→ACG) mutations could be detected. The mutations showed a heterogeneous distribution: 21/34 patients (62%) had mutations in at least 1 tumor sample, and in 13 patients (38%) the mutation was present in all examined samples. Patients were considered 918mt when at least 1 tumor sample showed the RET 918 mutation. These 918mt and 918 wild‐type (918wt) patients did not differ significantly concerning sex, age at diagnosis, TNM stage at diagnosis, number of examined tumor samples or follow‐up time. However, 918mt patients showed more aggressive development of distant metastases during follow‐up (p = 0.032, Fisher's exact test) with decreased metastases‐free survival (p < 0.005, log‐rank test). Furthermore, 918mt patients had a significantly lower survival rate than 918wt patients (p = 0.048, log‐rank test). These data show that the RET codon 918 mutation has a prognostic impact on patients with sporadic MTC which may influence follow‐up treatment. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Serum and Tissue LDH Levels in Patients with Breast/Gynaecological Cancer and Benign Diseases

Background: Lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) is involved in anaerobic glycolysis. In cancer patients, serum total lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels are often increased, and the gene for one of its isoenzymes, LDHA, is up-regulated. These features have been linked to poor prognosis in several studies. Methods: We investigated comparatively the total serum LDH activity and tissue isoenzyme LDH5 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) levels in patients with breast (n = 18) and gynaecological (n = 23) malignancies and benign diseases (n =54). Results: The serum LDH levels were significantly higher in patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma (349 ± 100 IU/l) and ovarian cystadenocarcinomas (383 ± 116 IU/l) compared to healthy controls (256 ± 68 IU/l) (p values 0.01 and 0.006, respectively). This difference did not reach significance in patients with breast cancer (328 ± 169 IU/l; p = 0.17)). Uterine leiomyoma patients showed intermediate LDH levels (310 ± 81 IU/l), while patients with breast fibroadenomas and ovarian cystadenomas had LDH serum levels close to carcinomas (308 ± 60 and 348 ± 135 IU/l, respectively). LDH5 isoenzyme was strongly expressed in cancer cells, exhibiting a mixed cytoplasmic/nuclear subcellular pattern. Interestingly, a high LDH5 content in tissue sections was not invariably accompanied by high LDH serum levels. High HIF1α tissue expression was linked to high tissue LDH5 expression. Conclusion: Serum and tissue LDH is up-regulated in gynaecologic and breast malignancies and in a subset of benign conditions such as fibro- and cystadenomas. The release of LDH, however, in the bloodstream is partly related to the LDHA gene up-regulation.
Physical states of Bianchi type IX quantum cosmologies described by the Chern-Simons functional.

A class of exact solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for diagonal Bianchi type IX cosmologies with cosmological constant is derived in the metric representation. This class consists of all the ``topological solutions'' which are associated with the Bianchi type IX reduction of the Chern-Simons functional in Ashtekar variables. The different solutions within the class arise from the topologically inequivalent choices of the integration contours in the transformation from the Ashtekarrepresentation to the metric representation. We show how the saddle-points of the reduced Chern-Simons functional generate a complete basis of such integration contours and the associated solutions. Among the solutions we identify two, which, semi-classically, satisfy the boundary conditions proposed by Vilenkin and by Hartle and Hawking, respectively. In the limit of vanishing cosmological constant our solutions reduce to a class found earlier in special fermion sectors ofsupersymmetric Bianchi type IX models.
A new adaptive support vector machine for diagnosis of diseases

Automatic disease diagnosis systems have been used to treat diseases for many years. The data used in the construction of these systems require correct classification. Therefore, previous literature has proposed a variety of methods. This paper develops a general‐purposed, fast and adaptive automatic disease diagnosis system, using the information generated by the newly‐designed classifier, which makes decisions with a simple rule base comprising the rules in ‘if‐then’ form. This newly‐proposed methodology is based on the support vector machine (SVM), a powerful classification algorithm. In the proposed method of this study, we added a feature of adaptivity to an SVM. In order to increase the success rate and decrease the decision‐making time, the bias value of the standard SVM is changed in an adaptive structure. This process introduces a new kind of SVM, ‘adaptive SVM’, seeking a diagnosis of diseases in a more successful way. During the training and test operations of this newly designed system, we used diabetes and breast cancer datasets, acquired from the medical database of California University. This newly proposed methodology has 100% correct classification rates on both diabetes and breast cancer datasets.
Bisphosphonate release profiles from magnetite microspheres

Hyperthermia has been suggested as a novel, minimally invasive cancer treatment method. After implantation of magnetic nano- or microparticles around a tumour through blood vessels, irradiation with alternating magnetic fields facilitates the efficient in situ hyperthermia even for deep-seated tumours. On the basis of this idea, if the microspheres are capable of delivering drugs, they could be promising multifunctional biomaterials effective for chemotherapy as well as hyperthermia. In the present study, magnetite microspheres were prepared by aggregation of the iron oxide colloid in water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion. The release behaviour of alendronate, a typical bisphosphonate, from the microspheres was examined in vitro as a model of the bone tumour prevention and treatment system. The alendronate was successfully incorporated onto the porous magnetite microspheres in vacuum conditions. The drug-loaded microspheres maintained their original spherical shapes even after shaking in ultrapure water for 3 days, suggesting that they have sufficient mechanical integrity for clinical use. It was attributed to high aggregation capability of the magnetite nanoparticles through van der Waals and weak magnetic attractions. The microspheres showed slow release of the alendronate in vitro, resulting from tight covalent or ionic interaction between the magnetite and the alendronate. The release rate was diffusion-controlled type and well controlled by the alendronate concentration in drug incorporation to the microspheres.
Significance of the Porosity and Physical Chemistry of Calcium Phosphate Ceramics Biodegradation‐Bioresorption

Biodegradation or bioresorption of implant materials is characterized by changes in the physicochemical properties of the material after implantation. In the case of calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramic implants, physical changes may include disintegration, loss of mechanical strength, and changes in porosity; chemical changes may include dissolution, formation of other CaP phases, and possible transformation of these phases (from one type of CaP to another) on the ceramic surfaces. Many reports in the literature on the biodegradation or bioresorption of CaP ceramics cannot be taken seriously because of the lack of appropriate characterization of the material, that is, whether it is pure calcium hydroxyapatite (HA), which has the formula Ca,,(PO,),(OH),; pure whitlockite, which is also named p-tricalcium phosphate (p-TCP), and which has the formula Ca,(PO,),; or a biphasic (BCP), which is some mixture of P-TCP and HA, the ratio of p-TCP to HA for which is not always defined. Thus, for this report, which is based on the collective scientific experience of the task group and on the scientific literature, the materials that have been appropriately characterized by X-ray diffraction were considered. These materials are sintered HA; aand P-TCP; BCP; and hydrothermally converted CaCO, (also known as corralline HA). The questions addressed were the following: 1) Do these materials biodegrade? 2) What are the factors affecting biodegradation-bioresorption? 3) What are the possible mechanisms of biodegradation-bioresorption? 4) What are the methods used for the in vitro and in vivo assessment of biodegradation-bioresorption? 5 ) What factors should be considered in the biodegradation of CaP ceramics in special cases (for example, as coatings on metals or as components of polymer4eramic composites)? This report is presented with the following components: 1) answers to the questions addressed; 2) implications of biodegradation-bioresorption; 3) recommendations for future studies and for putting unsubstantiated beliefs and myths to rest.
Glioblastoma with oligodendroglioma component in a ewe

Herein we describe a glioblastoma partially occupying the telencephalic portion of the left cerebral hemisphere of a Sardinian (syn. Sarda) breed ewe. Microscopically, the mass consisted of a pleomorphic spindle-shaped cell component organized as bundles and numerous small areas of round cells displaying an oligodendroglioma-like aspect. A high number of mitotic figures, large areas of necrosis surrounded by pseudopalisading glial cells, and multiple foci of dystrophic mineralization were also observed. The neoplasm was highly vascularized with glomerular vascular proliferation. Immunohistochemically, neoplastic cells proved to be strongly positive for nestin, vimentin, and olig-2, whereas they were invariably negative for synaptophysin. Few neoplastic cells and reactive astrocytes, mainly located at the edge of necrotic foci, proved to be positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein, whereas glomerular vascular proliferation was clearly positive for factor VIII and vascular endothelial growth factor. Gene sequencing analysis demonstrated homozygous p53 tumor suppressor gene (TP53) point mutations in the DNA-binding domain located in exon 8. The presence of round cells immunoreactive for olig-2 demonstrated that this tumor is a glioblastoma with oligodendroglioma component. Our pathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings largely overlap those previously reported in humans and dogs.