Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion Using rhBMP-2 With Tapered Interbody Cages

In a multicenter, prospective, randomized, nonblinded, 2-year study, 279 patients with degenerative lumbar disc disease were randomly divided into two groups that underwent interbody fusion using two tapered threaded fusion cages. The investigational group (143 patients) received rhBMP-2 on an absorbable collagen sponge, and a control group (136 patients) received autogenous iliac crest bone graft. Plain radiographs and computed tomographic scans were used to evaluate fusion at 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery. Mean operative time (1.6 hours) and blood loss (109.8 mL) were less in the investigational rhBMP-2 group than in the autograft control group (2.0 hours and 153.1 mL). At 24 months the investigational group's fusion rate (94.5%) remained higher than that of the control group (88.7%). New bone formation occurred in all investigational patients. At all intervals, mean postoperative Oswestry, back pain, and leg pain scores and neurologic status improved in both treatment groups with similar outcomes. In the control group, eight adverse events related to the iliac crest graft harvest occurred (5.9%), and at 24 months 32% of patients reported graft site discomfort and 16% were bothered by its appearance. Lumbar fusion using rhBMP-2 and a tapered titanium fusion cage can yield a solid union and eliminate the need for harvesting iliac crest bone graft.
Preclinical vascular disease identifies smokers at risk for COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the only disease among the 10 leading causes of death in the United States with a prevalence that has steadily increased over the past four decades and for which no effective therapy has been developed to substantially blunt its progressive course. COPD has climbed to become the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, leading to the deaths of more than 120,000 people each year. Healthcare expenses and loss of work because of this disease have been estimated to cost over $37 billion annually. COPD is traditionally identified by the finding of an irreversible chronic airflow limitation. This limitation is thought to be present (diagnosed and undiagnosed) in up to 50 million people in the United States (1). Smoking has been clearly identified as the primary cause for COPD, but to date, there is no effective means to identify this disease before it becomes clinically manifested as airflow obstruction and impairs function or quality of life. The report by Alford et al. (2) in PNAS describes the use of ECG-gated multidetector row computed tomography (CT) perfusion imaging to identify vascular dysfunction in smokers with normal lung function and correlates this information with very early CT manifestations of centrilobular emphysema. This suggests a minimally invasive image-based biomarker that can identify subjects at high risk for developing COPD. Hopefully, this biomarker will stimulate new fields of research that could result in the development of preventative therapies for this poorly controlled disease epidemic.
Retrograde endocannabinoid inhibition of goldfish retinal cones is mediated by 2-arachidonoyl glycerol

A functional role for retinal endocannabinoids has not been determined. We characterized retrograde suppression of membrane currents of goldfish cones in a retinal slice. Whole-cell recordings were obtained from cone inner segments under voltage clamp. IK(V) was elicited by a depolarizing pulse to +54 mV from a holding potential of −70 mV. A fifty-millisecond puff of saline with 70 mM KCl or Group I mGluR agonist DHPG was applied through a pipette directly at a mixed rod/cone (Mb) bipolar cell body. The amplitude of IK(V) decreased 25% compared to the pre-puff control. Retrograde suppression of IK(V) was blocked by CB1 receptor antagonist, SR141716A. The FAAH inhibitor URB597 had no effect on the suppression of IK(V), whereas nimesulide, a COX-2 inhibitor, prolonged the effects of the K+ puff 10-fold. Orlistat, a blocker of 2-AG synthesis, blocked the effect of the K+ puff. Group I mGluR activation of Gq/11 was demonstrated in that a puff with DHPG decreased IK(V) of cones by 32%, an effect blocked by SR141716A. The effect of DHPG was not blocked by the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP, indicating involvement of mGluR1. The suppressive effect of the K+ puff vanished in a Ca2+-free, 2 mM Co2+ saline. TMB-8 or ryanodine, blocked the effect of DHPG, but not that of the K+ puff, showing that calcium influx or release from intracellular stores could mediate retrograde release. We suggest that retrograde suppression of cone IK(V) is mediated by Ca2+-dependent release of 2-AG from Mb bipolar cell dendrites by separate mechanisms: (1) voltage-dependent, mimicked by the K+ puff, that may be activated by the depolarizing ON response to light; (2) voltage-independent, occurring under ambient illumination, mediated by tonic mGluR1 activation. The negative feedback of this latter mechanism could regulate tonic glutamate release from cones within narrow limits, regardless of ambient illumination.
Shortfall in mental health service utilisation

Background Treatment coverage for mental disorders is poor in most developed countries. Aims To explore some reasons for the poor treatment coverage for mental disorders in developed countries. Method Data were taken from Australian national surveys and from the World Health Report. Results Only one-third of people with a mental disorder consulted. Probability of consulting varied by diagnosis: 90% for schizophrenia, which is accounted for by external factors; 60% for depression; and 15% for substance use and personality disorders. The probability of consulting varied by gender, age, marital status and disability, from 73% among women aged 25–54 years, disabled and once married to 9% among males without these risk factors. Those who did not consult but were disabled or comorbid said that they “preferred to manage themselves”. Data from five countries showed no evidence that overall health expenditure, out-of-pocket cost or responsiveness of the health system affected the overall consulting rates. Conclusions Societal, attitudinal and diagnostic variables account for the variation. Funding does not. Public education about the recognition and treatment of mental disorders and the provision of effective treatment by providers might remedy the shortfall.
Wordlikeness and word learning in children with hearing loss.

BACKGROUND The more a novel word conforms to the phonotactics of the language, the more wordlike it is and the easier it is to learn. It is unknown to what extent children with hearing loss (CHL) take advantage of phonotactic cues to support word learning. AIMS This study investigated whether CHL had similar sensitivities to wordlikeness during a word-learning task as children with normal hearing (CNH). METHODS & PROCEDURES Sixteen CHL and 24 CNH participated in a novel word-learning task. Novel words varied by English wordlikeness. Recall was tested using a forced-choice identification task wherein foils for each trial related semantically, lexically or not at all. Receptive vocabulary and working memory were also assessed. OUTCOMES & RESULTS All children were able to identify high wordlike novel words more accurately than low wordlike novel words. The number of errors on identification of words that were moderate in wordlikeness was inversely correlated to vocabulary size (not working memory) and CHL had smaller vocabularies than CNH. When in error, CHL were more likely than CNH to select a semantically related foil. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Although they are sensitive to extremes in wordlikeness, compared with their peers with normal hearing, CHL present with subtle differences in word learning. Clinical implications for exploiting wordlikeness in service of word learning assessment and intervention are presented.
Cortical Degeneration with Swollen Chromatolytic Neurons: Its Relationship to Pick's Disease

We report two cases of dementia in which cortical degeneration with widespread swollen chromatolytic neurons (SCN) was the dominant pathologic feature. Each patient had received the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease on the basis of clinical findings. There was no deficit of cortical choline acetyltransferase activity, assayed in one case, or lesions of the nucleus basalis of Meynert. The brains had moderate to marked frontal atrophy. Comparison of SCN with several other cerebral degenerative disorders indicates a similarity with certain features of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and with corticodentatonigral degeneration. The pathologic features of our cases are those of a number of other cases reported as “Pick's disease,” and may represent an earlier stage in the pathogenetic process than the severe, sharply circumscribed atrophy with “nonspecific” cell loss and gliosis as the only microscopic residuals. Our findings re-emphasize the need to search for pathogenetically distinct subgroups which have been wholly or partially subsumed into the concept of Pick's disease.
Elevated antibody titers to Epstein‐Barr virus prior to the diagnosis of Epstein‐Barr‐virus‐associated gastric adenocarcinoma

Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) has recently been identified in the tumor cells of patients with gastric carcinoma. We tested pre‐morbid serum samples from a carefully monitored cohort of Japanese men in order to investigate the possibility that patients with EBV‐associated gastric cancer represent a sub‐set of individuals with long‐standing difficulties in appropriately managing EBV infection. From a serum bank, we obtained 108 samples derived from 54 patients destined to develop gastric adenocarcinoma and 54 controls. Samples were tested under code for antibodies to EBV‐capsid antigen, early antigen and nuclear antigen. Individuals who were positive for IgA antibodies against EBV viral‐capsid antigen (VCA) and IgG antibodies against the R component of EBV early antigen were at a 3.9‐fold and 1.9‐fold excess risk of disease, respectively. Antibody titers to EBV VCA were significantly higher in those destined to get EBV‐associated gastric cancer than those subsequently developing non‐EBV‐associated gastric cancer or age‐and‐gender‐matched controls. These findings suggest that the inability to control EBV infection on a long‐term basis exists many years prior to the development of EBV‐associated gastric cancer, and that EBV may play an etiologic role in this sub‐set of malignancies.
Determinants Of Ethical Sensitivity Among Malaysian Accounting Students

Accounting is part of everyone’s life and affects all stakeholders who are the users of the accounting information. Organisations are created to serve stakeholders and governments to govern, regulate and safe guard the interests of these stakeholders. Accounting frequently experiences behavioural issues and human governance which is a subset of corporate governance is addressed in this study to examine the individual’s ethical sensitivity and its predictors. This study explores the level of ethical sensitivity and its relationship with religiosity, ethical orientation, gender and academic performance among final year accounting students in Malaysia. This study addresses the lack and the need to inculcate religiously orientated topics to be embedded and inculcated in the syllabi of bachelor of accounting. A mixed method research is applied in this study where questionnaires are administered to final year undergraduate accounting students at selected public and private universities in Malaysia for quantitative method and interview of expert panel for qualitative method. This study utilised Shaub’s (1989) ethical sensitivity questionnaire to measure ethical sensitivity, Allport’s Religiosity Orientation Scale to measure religiosity and Forsyth’s Ethics Position Questionnaire to measure ethical intention. Students are found to be ethically sensitive and by using Binary Logistic Regression, it is concluded that ethical sensitivity is influenced by intrinsic religiosity, idealism and relativism but not influenced by gender, academic performance, social extrinsic religiosity and personal extrinsic religiosity. Similar outcomes are derived from the six interviewees that is analysed using King’s (2004) template analysis method to triangulate the results derived from quantitative method. The Institutions of Higher Learning in Malaysia can further enhance the 12th learning outcome of ‘Laporan Hala Tuju 2’ to ‘Demonstrate Behaviour Consistent with Professional Ethics and Social Responsibility’ and the requirement of International Federation of Accountant’s IES 4 of ‘Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes’. Gender and academic performance’s influence on ethical sensitivity may give some insights to the prospective employer on the selection criteria of future accountants and auditors, with regards to ethical conduct.
Are REITs a Distinct Asset Class?

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are often considered to be a distinct asset class. But, do REITs deserve this designation? While exact definitions for asset class vary, a number of statistical methods can provide strong evidence either for or against the suitability of the designation. The authors step back from the established real estate and REITs literature and answer this broader question. Beginning with a set of asset class criteria, the authors then utilize a variety of statistical methods from the literature and factor-based asset pricing to evaluate REITs for their candidacy as a distinct asset class. REITs fail to satisfy almost all of the relevant criteria leading the authors to conclude that REITs, in fact, are not a distinct asset class but do deserve a market capitalization weighted allocation in a diversified investment portfolio.
WHO IS ABOUT TO ACCEPT THE SURFACE MINE? SOCIAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PROJECT OF ENERGETIC COMPLEX GUBIN-BRODY

This paper refers to the plans of an opening of a new surface mine and power plant based on the resources of the Gubin lignite deposit in Lubuskie province. This is an investment which social reception is very controversial and is an interesting laboratory of social relationships. It is an example of a situation rarely encountered in the Polish reality. The thematic of conflicts connected with infrastructural investments is not popular in social studies, and even less considering energy issues, particularly relating to conventional energy. The planned open-pit mine will affect an area of two communities – municipal Gubin and municipal Brody. The project is treated as a very important one for the Polish power system and has been taken into account in strategic documents of the Polish government and regional strategies (Naworyta 2011, Naworyta, Badera 2012). As almost every planned investment related to energy Gubin-Brody project generates social anxiety and unrest. Residents of the community are afraid of mine’s negative impact on a daily life and health, and do not trust the solutions that are applied in the process of investment. The most important part of any investment process is to obtain social acceptance of residents of the investment area. This consent sometimes turns out to be the greatest value of the investment location (see also Kasztelewicz, Klich 2008). This acceptance can also be treated as a barometer of trust of both involved in the investment: residents, and the entire energy sector. Various subjects involved in investing procedure influence the local community wanting their members to get a support – either they want to force people to accept the investment or they try to create the conditions conducive to the resignation from the investor plans
Regional and Subcellular Distribution of S‐Adenosylhomocysteine Hydrolase in the Adult Rat Brain

The regional distribution of S‐adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase was determined in the rat brain. Small variations in enzyme activity between different regions were observed. Highest activity was found in hypothalamus and bulbus olfactorius, the least in pons and medulla. About 70% of the enzyme activity was recovered in the soluble fraction of the tissue homogenate and 25% was localized to the crude mitochondrial fraction. The corresponding values for lactate dehydrogenase were 40% and 50%, respectively. The small amount of enzyme (5%) sedimenting with the nuclear fraction could be explained by contamination of this fraction with soluble proteins and synaptosomes. Further separation of the crude mitochondrial fraction by discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation showed that most of the enzyme activity was localized to the synaptosomes, but a substantial amount was found in the top layer of the gradient. The relative specific activity of lactate dehydrogenase in the top layer was less than that of S‐adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase. No time‐dependent leakage of S‐adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase from the synaptosomes could be demonstrated. After hypoosmotic treatment of the crude mitochondrial fraction and separation of this fraction on a discontinuous sucrose gradient, S‐adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase and DOPA decarboxylase showed the same distribution in the gradient and were recovered in the cytoplasmic fraction.
β1B integrin subunit contains a double lysine motif that can cause accumulation within the endoplasmic reticulum

Human epidermal keratinocytes are one of the few cell types that express the β1B splice variant of the β1 integrin subunit. Although in transfection experiments β1B acts as a dominant negative inhibitor of cell adhesion, we found that β1B was expressed at very low levels in keratinocytes, both in vivo and in culture, and had a predominantly cytoplasmic distribution, concentrated within the endoplasmic reticulum. To examine why β1B accumulated in the cytoplasm, we prepared chimeras between CD8α and the β1A and β1B integrin cytoplasmic domains. In transfected HeLa cells, both constructs reached the cell surface but the rate of maturation of the β1B chimera was considerably retarded relative to β1A. The β1B cytoplasmic domain contains two lysine residues that resemble the double lysine motif characteristic of many proteins that are resident within the endoplasmic reticulum. Mutation of each lysine individually to serine had no effect on CD8β1B maturation, but when both residues were mutated the rate of CD8β1B maturation increased to that of CD8β1A. Further analysis of β1B function in keratinocytes must, therefore, take into account the low abundance of the isoform relative to β1A and the potential for β1B to accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum. J. Cell. Biochem. 78:97–111, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A mutation in the voltage‐gated sodium channel gene associated with pyrethroid resistance in Latin American Aedes aegypti

Pyrethroids are commonly used as mosquito adulticides and evolution of resistance to these compounds is a major threat to public health. ‘Knockdown resistance’ to pyrethroids (kdr) is frequently caused by nonsynonymous mutations in the voltage‐gated sodium channel transmembrane protein (para) that reduce pyrethroid binding. Early detection of kdr is critical to the development of resistance management strategies in mosquitoes including Aedes aegypti, the most prevalent vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses. Brengues et al. described seven novel mutations in hydrophobic segment 6 of domain II of para in Ae. aegypti. Assays on larvae from strains bearing these mutations indicated reduced nerve sensitivity to permethrin inhibition. Two of these occurred in codons Iso1011 and Val1016 in exons 20 and 21 respectively. A transition in the third position of Iso1011 encoded a Met1011 replacement and a transversion in the second position of Val1016 encoded a Gly1016 replacement. We have screened this same region in 1318 mosquitoes in 32 additional strains; 30 from throughout Latin America. While the Gly1016 allele was never detected in Latin America, we found two new mutations in these same codons. A transition in the first position of codon 1011 encodes a Val replacement while a transition in the first position of codon 1016 encodes an Iso replacement. We developed PCR assays for these four mutations that can be read either on an agarose gel or as a melting curve. Selection experiments, one with deltamethrin on a field strain from Santiago de Cuba and another with permethrin on a strain from Isla Mujeres, Mexico rapidly increased the frequency of the Iso1016 allele. Bioassays of F3 offspring arising from permethrin susceptible Val1016 homozygous parents and permethrin resistant Iso1016 homozygous parents show that Iso1016 segregates as a recessive allele in conferring kdr. Analysis of segregation between alleles at the 1011 and 1016 codons in the F3 showed a high rate of recombination even though the two codons are only separated by a ~250 bp intron. The tools and information presented provide a means for early detection and characterization of kdr that is critical to the development of strategies for resistance management.
Hearing Difficulty Attributable to Employment by Industry and Occupation: An Analysis of the National Health Interview Survey—United States, 1997 to 2003

Objective: To estimate the national burden of hearing difficulty among workers in US industries and occupations. Methods: Data on 130,102 employed National Health Interview Survey respondents between the ages of 18 to 65 years who were interviewed between 1997 and 2003 were analyzed to estimate the population prevalence, adjusted prevalence ratios, and fractions of hearing difficulty attributable to employment. Results: The estimated population prevalence of hearing difficulty was 11.4% (24% attributable to employment). The adjusted prevalence ratios of hearing difficulty were highest for railroads, mining, and primary metal manufacturing industry. Occupations with increased risk of hearing difficulty were mechanics/repairers, machine operators, and transportation equipment operators. Conclusions: Hearing difficulty was differentially distributed across various industries. In industries with high rates, employers and workers should take preventive action to reduce the risk of occupational hearing loss.
Mutual region growing for adaptive segmentation of geographical images

In this paper we propose a new technique of mutual region growing for solving land-cover sorting problems. Land-cover classification subdivides regions of aerial photographs and satellite photographic images into distinct regions, and automation is required for large-scale investigations. In the conventional division method and region growing scheme used for classification without tutorial data, the processing algorithm is simple. However, much labor is required to find the appropriate processing rules, depending on the type of images. In this study, we propose a method of region growing using the structural features of adjacent pixels in the tutorial image, while also utilizing the features of region growing which organize regions with identical properties. In our new method, we aim at flexibly acquiring classification rules by referring to the classification results for the tutorial data. We propose a region growing method in which region growing is performed in the tutorial image by using characteristics based on the neighboring structures of the pixel under consideration. In this technique, the features of the region to be classified in the tutorial image are expressed in the output image by using an agreement index. This index can be obtained by comparing the image structures of the input image and the tutorial image. We also attempt to speed up processing by rearranging the image structure in the teacher image, using a statistical technique. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 35(14): 64–77, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.10688