Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Open Reduction Internal Fixation and Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty of Selected Acetabular Fractures

Objective: The purpose of our study was to analyze the outcomes of patients treated with combined open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) and primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) for selected cases of acetabular fractures. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: University Medical Center. Patients and Participants: Four hundred twenty patients underwent ORIF for displaced acetabular fractures at our institution. Twenty-one of these patients underwent ORIF and primary THA. All surgeries were performed under the direct supervision of a fellowship-trained orthopaedic trauma surgeon and a fellowship trained adult reconstructive surgeon who acted as a cosurgeon. At the time of review, 18 patients met the 1-year follow-up requirement and formed the study cohort. Mean patient age was 71 years (range 55-86 years). There was 1 transverse fracture, 1 anterior column posterior hemitransverse and 1 both-column fracture. There were 15 posterior wall fractures. Of the 15 posterior wall fractures, 1 was associated with posterior column fracture, 1 with dome fracture, 2 with transverse fractures, and 9 with femoral head impaction fracture. There were 2 patients with isolated posterior wall fractures. Clinical outcomes were analyzed using Harris hip score. Radiographs were analyzed for implant migration and loosening around the implant. Results: Of the 18 patients in the study, 14 patients were followed for more than 2 years (average 3.9 years, range 1-10.1 years). All but 1 patient healed successfully. One patient required revision and placement of a constrained prosthesis due to failure of acetabular component, 3 weeks post-index procedure. Harris hip score ranged from 78 to 99 with a mean of 88. The radiographs showed an average medial displacement of 1.2 mm (range 0-3 mm) and an average vertical displacement of 1.3 mm (range 0-4 mm). There was no radiographic evidence of acetabular component loosening, but loosening was evident on 1 uncemented femoral stem. Conclusions: Treatment of acetabular fractures remains challenging particularly in the presence of severe osteopenia, comminution, or associated femoral head fracture. In appropriately selected patients, ORIF and primary THA provide an acceptable treatment option.
How careers change: understanding the role of structure and agency in career change. The case of the humanitarian sector

Abstract This paper examines how agency and structure interact to influence the changing nature of careers in the French Humanitarian Sector – a sector that is undergoing a significant shift towards increased professionalization. Drawing on Giddens structuration theory, the study uses the concept of career script as a dynamic framework to understand both career stability and change. Data was collected at both an individual and organizational level to identify three careers scripts in operation in the field and examine the ways in which they evolve over time. The paper provides an analysis of the power relations involved in the development of career scripts and the professionalization of the humanitarian sector, suggesting a potentially greater role for agency than is typically acknowledged. Finally the paper concludes with a consideration of the wider implications for the study of career change in the future.
Thyroid iodide transport is reduced by administration of monoamine oxidase A inhibitors to rats.

The present work was addressed to study a possible relationship between monoamine oxidase (MAO) and the thyroid iodide transport mechanism. Normal rats treated with clorgyline (a selective MAO-A inhibitor) or tranylcypromine (a non-selective MAO inhibitor) showed a significantly diminished thyroid MAO activity, while deprenyl and pargyline (MAO-B inhibitors) did not modify the thyroidal enzyme activity with respect to the control group. Under these conditions, in vivo iodide transport was reduced both by clorgyline and tranylcypromine administration whereas it remained unchanged after treatment with MAO-B inhibitors. The effect of MAO inhibitors on thyroid MAO activity and in vivo iodide transport was also evaluated in rats treated with exogenous thyrotrophin (TSH) after endogenous TSH secretion blockade produced by T4 administration. In this condition, thyroid MAO activity was significantly lowered by clorgyline and was not modified by deprenyl. In contrast to the results observed in normal rats, in vivo iodide transport in TSH-treated rats remained unaltered after treatment either with clorgyline or deprenyl. MAO activity evaluated in bovine thyroid follicles in primary culture was highly sensitive to low concentrations of clorgyline (< 10 nmol/l) and relatively insensitive to deprenyl, a finding that indicates a predominance of the MAO-A isoform in the follicular cells in culture. When clorgyline (0.1 and 1 mumol/l) or deprenyl (1 mumol/l) were added to the culture medium, no modifications in the active transport of iodide were observed. These results indicate the absence of a direct linkage between thyroid MAO activity and the active iodide transport. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Non-Linear Interactions and Exchange Rate Prediction: Empirical Evidence Using Support Vector Regression

ABSTRACT This paper analysed the prediction of the spot exchange rate of 10 currency pairs using support vector regression (SVR) based on a fundamentalist model composed of 13 explanatory variables. Different structures of non-linear dependence introduced by nine different Kernel functions were tested and the predictions were compared to the Random Walk benchmark. We checked the explanatory power gain of SVR models over the Random Walk by applying White’s Reality Check Test. The results showed that the majority of SVR models achieved better out-of-sample performance than the Random Walk, but in overall they failed to achieve statistical significance of predictive superiority. Furthermore, we observed that non-mainstream Kernel functions performed better than the ones commonly used in the machine-learning literature, a finding that can provide new insights regarding machine-learning methods applications and the predictability of exchange rates using non-linear interactions between the predictors.
Knowledge about Pain among Newly Graduated Occupational Therapists: Relevance for Curriculum Development

In recent years there has been a growing awareness amongst health professionals of the need to prepare undergraduate students more adequately for practice with clients who have pain. Occupational therapists have a central role in enabling such clients to have productive lives despite pain. In this study, an examination was made of the adequacy of preparation for pain practice in graduates from one Australian occupational therapy curriculum. Recent occupational therapy graduates from the University of Queensland, Australia, who responded to a postal survey, obtained an overall 53% correct response rate to a 69-item pain knowledge and attitudes questionnaire. Results indicated the need for further education in this area, especially in the areas of pharmacological management, and pain assessment and measurement. These results were comparable to those obtained from final year occupational therapy students at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia prior to undertaking an elective course about pain. Follow-up interviews with a number of new graduates supported the inclusion of an elective pain course in the undergraduate occupational therapy curriculum at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Requirements for Effective Antitumor Responses of TCR Transduced T Cells1

Adoptive transfer of TCR gene-modified T cells has been proposed as an attractive approach to target tumors for which it is difficult or impossible to induce strong tumor-specific T cell responses by vaccination. Whereas the feasibility of generating tumor Ag-specific T cells by gene transfer has been demonstrated, the factors that determine the in vivo effectiveness of TCR-modified T cells are largely unknown. We have analyzed the value of a number of clinically feasible strategies to enhance the antitumor potential of TCR modified T cells. These experiments reveal three factors that contribute greatly to the in vivo potency of TCR-modified T cells. First, irradiation-induced host conditioning is superior to vaccine-induced activation of genetically modified T cells. Second, increasing TCR expression through genetic optimization of TCR sequences has a profound effect on in vivo antitumor activity. Third, a high precursor frequency of TCR modified T cells within the graft is essential. Tumors that ultimately progress in animals treated with this optimized regimen for TCR-based adoptive cell transfer invariably display a reduced expression of the target Ag. This suggests TCR gene therapy can achieve a sufficiently strong selective pressure to warrant the simultaneous targeting of multiple Ags. The strategies outlined in this study should be of value to enhance the antitumor activity of TCR-modified T cells in clinical trials.
Influence of age and gender on gastroesophageal reflux in symptomatic patients.

Studies have reported that normal males have significantly more physiologic gastroesophageal reflux (GER) than women but little difference in reflux parameters is seen between younger and older normal individuals. The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of age and gender on GER in symptomatic patients. We reviewed 353 24-h pH studies performed in patients with reflux symptoms. The following parameters were assessed: % time pH < 4 of total, upright and supine periods; total reflux episodes; total reflux episodes > 5 min; longest reflux episode. These parameters were analyzed according to age and gender using non-parametric tests. The median age was 47 years and this was used as the cutoff between younger and older patients. Also, an elderly group (age > or = 65) was analyzed. Age did not influence % time pH < 4 for total, upright and supine periods. However, older symptomatic patients had longer reflux episodes. As with normal subjects, male patients had significantly (P < 0.05) more reflux than females, comparing median values for the percentage times pH < 4: total 4.7 vs 2.7%; upright 5.2 vs 3.3%; supine 1.2 vs 0.4%; total reflux episodes 63 vs 45; episodes > 5 min (2 vs 0) and longest reflux episode 9 vs 5 min. Therefore, different cutoff values may be necessary for males and females in diagnosing abnormal reflux.
Heritability of structural brain network topology: A DTI study of 156 twins

Individual variation in structural brain network topology has been associated with heritable behavioral phenotypes such as intelligence and schizophrenia, making it a candidate endophenotype. However, little is known about the genetic influences on individual variation in structural brain network topology. Moreover, the extent to which structural brain network topology overlaps with heritability for integrity and volume of white matter remains unknown. In this study, structural network topology was examined using diffusion tensor imaging at 3T. Binary connections between 82 structurally defined brain regions per subject were traced, allowing for estimation of individual topological network properties. Heritability of normalized characteristic path length (λ), normalized clustering coefficient (γ), microstructural integrity (FA), and volume of the white matter were estimated using a twin design, including 156 adult twins from the newly acquired U‐TWIN cohort. Both γ and λ were estimated to be under substantial genetic influence. The heritability of γ was estimated to be 68%, the heritability estimate for λ was estimated to be 57%. Genetic influences on network measures were found to be partly overlapping with volumetric and microstructural properties of white matter, but the largest component of genetic variance was unique to both network traits. Normalized clustering coefficient and normalized characteristic path length are substantially heritable, and influenced by independent genetic factors that are largely unique to network measures, but partly also implicated in white matter directionality and volume. Thus, network measures provide information about genetic influence on brain structure, independent of global white matter characteristics such as volume and microstructural directionality. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5295–5305, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Polyomavirus BK Nephropathy: A (Re‐)emerging Complication in Renal Transplantation

Persisting polyomavirus replication is now widely recognized as a (re‐)emerging cause of renal allograft dysfunction. Up to 5% of renal allograft recipients can be affected about 40 weeks (range 6–150) post‐transplantation. Progression to irreversible failure of the allograft has been observed in up to 45% of all cases. The BK virus strain is involved in the majority of the cases. Risk factors may include treatment of rejection episodes and increasing viral replication under potent immunosuppressive drugs such as tacrolimus, sirolimus or mycophenolate. The diagnosis requires the histological demonstration of nuclear polyomavirus inclusions in affected tubular epithelial cells. Interstitial inflammatory infiltrates and fibrosis become more prominent in the persisting disease and may be difficult to distinguish from (coexisting) rejection. Detection of polyomavirus‐inclusion bearing cells (‘decoy cells’) in the urine and quantification of BK virus DNA in the plasma have been proposed as surrogate markers for polyomavirus replication and allograft disease, respectively. Antiviral treatment is not yet established; however, reports of treatment with cidofovir are encouraging. Current management aims at the judicious modification and/or reduction of immunosuppression which, in view of preceding or concurrent rejection, is not without risk.
Predictive factors of occupational noise-induced hearing loss in Spanish workers: A prospective study

The purpose of our study was to identify the main factors associated with objective noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), as indicated by abnormal audiometric testing, in Spanish workers exposed to occupational noise in the construction industry. We carried out a prospective study in Tenerife, Spain, using 150 employees exposed to occupational noise and 150 age-matched controls who were not working in noisy environments. The variables analyzed included sociodemographic data, noise-related factors, types of hearing protection, self-report hearing loss, and auditory-related symptoms (e.g., tinnitus, vertigo). Workers with pathological audiograms had significantly longer noise-exposure duration (16.2 ± 11.4 years) relative to those with normal audiograms (10.2 ± 7.0 years; t = 3.99, P < 0.001). The vast majority of those who never used hearing protection measures had audiometric abnormalities (94.1%). Additionally, workers using at least one of the protection devices (earplugs or earmuffs) had significantly more audiometric abnormalities than those using both protection measures simultaneously (Chi square = 16.07; P < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis indicates that the use of hearing protection measures [odds ratio (OR) = 12.30, confidence interval (CI) = 4.36-13.81, P < 0.001], and noise-exposure duration (OR = 1.35, CI = 1.08-1.99, P = 0.040) are significant predictors of NIHL. This regression model correctly predicted 78.2% of individuals with pathological audiograms. The combined use of hearing protection measures, in particular earplugs and earmuffs, associates with a lower rate of audiometric abnormalities in subjects with high occupational noise exposure. The use of hearing protection measures at work and noise-exposure duration are best predictive factors of NIHL. Auditory-related symptoms and self-report hearing loss do not represent good indicators of objective NIHL. Routine monitoring of noise levels and hearing status are of great importance as part of effective hearing conservation programs.
Cytokines and Neurotrophins Interact in Normal and Diseased States

Abstract: Neurotrophins (NTs) such as nerve growth factor (NGF) as well as cytokines, for example, interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), are communicators between the nervous and immune systems. There is evidence for mutual interactions between NTs and cytokines. Strategies are being developed to elucidate the molecular mechanism/s of interactions and to understand how cytokines are involved in health and disease. Analysis of underlying signaling pathways in glial cells indicates that different transcription factors, such as NF‐κB, cAMP‐responsive‐element binding protein (CREB), and activator protein 1 (AP‐1), are involved in NT induction. IL‐6 and NTs of the NGF family are coexpressed at sites of nerve injury. Interactions of these factors could modulate both neuronal de‐ and regeneration: IL‐6 in conjunction with its soluble IL‐6 receptor induces a specific pattern of NTs in astrocytes in defined brain regions. This indicates that the IL‐6 system mediates a local supply of NTs that participate in diverse CNS functions, such as protection of neurons from insults, neuronal survival, and neuroimmune responses.
Quantifying the shifts and intensification in the annual cycles of diurnal temperature extremes for human comfort and crop production

Any significant change in climate is known to have a significant impact on crop production and human resources, which are generally difficult to quantify. In the present study, two indices are defined: (i) refined growing season (GS) characteristics and (ii) transition period, based on the annual cycles of diurnal temperature extremes, to unravel any possible impact on these productive elements. Multi-dimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition, a nonlinear, non-stationary approach is used to extract the annual cycles of diurnal temperature extremes. Since the adverse impact is reportedly more critical over tropical regions, the Indian region is chosen as the study area, and 1° × 1° gridded daily minimum and daily maximum temperature data are used. Results reveal earlier onset and lengthening of GS, with notable spatial variations. Further, a drastic reduction in the transition (i.e. comfortable) period is observed over the warm humid regions, majorly due to the encroachment of summer days. On the contrary, over semi-arid regions, the transition period is found to be increasing, majorly due to the shortening of winter. The quantification of these changes may aid in implementing regional adaptation strategies related to the two productive elements.
INTRODUCTION OF CLUSTERIZATION PRINCIPLES IN THE SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ECOLOGICAL SAFETY OF THE EXISTENT BUILDING FUND

The aim of the work is to introduce clusterization principles in the solution of problems of energy efficiency and ecological safety of the existent building fund. The material of the research is the process of modeling of energetically effective architecture-building clusters. In this sense it is topical and expedient to elaborate technologies and schemes, able to support making decisions as to the formation of energetically effective architecture-building clusters. The main attention is paid to the solution of infrastructure problems of energy saving of the architecture-building branch, connected with the absence of universal models, distinct algorithms of the formation of energy efficiency clusters and reliable instruments of their activity optimization. But realization of advantages of energy efficiency clusters is possible only at introducing effective mechanisms of the formation of a structure, able to provide a result, optimal by an energy efficiency criterion. The work offers a scheme of the formation process of such structure. The synthesis of models of energetically effective architecture-building clusters is based on principles of the systemic construction of geometric models and provides the imitative modeling of different development scenarios of synthesized clusters. At this stage of the research a function of making decisions as to the real cluster formation is left for experts. But an algorithm of the synthesis of models provides the formation of a knowledge base that will be in further a base of an “internal model” of the intellectual system of supporting decisions making, elaborated for modeling cluster structures. The scientific novelty of the work is in the elaboration of theoretical bases of the technology of coordinating the structure with object properties.
Early Prognostic Indicators of Outcome in Infants With Neonatal Cerebral Infarction: A Clinical, Electroencephalogram, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Objective. The aim of this study was to identify prognostic factors in newborns with cerebral infarction. Design. Antenatal and perinatal factors and early clinical, electroencephalogram (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were compared with neurodevelopmental outcome in 24 children with evidence of cerebral infarction on neonatal MRI. Results. Out of 24 infants, 19 had an infarction in the territory of a major cerebral vessel and 5 in the borderzone between cerebral arteries. Neuromotor outcome was normal in 17 and abnormal in 7 infants. Of these 7 infants, 5 infants showed a definite hemiplegia, whereas the other 2 showed some asymmetry of tone or function but no definite hemiplegia. None of the adverse antenatal or perinatal factors was significantly associated with abnormal outcome. Neonatal clinical examination was also not always predictive of the outcome. The extent of the lesion on MRI was a better predictor. In particular, it was the concomitant involvement of hemisphere, internal capsule and basal ganglia that was always associated with an abnormal outcome whereas the involvement of only one or two of the three tended to be associated with a normal outcome. EEG was also very helpful. Abnormal background activity either unilateral or bilateral was found in 6 infants and 5 out of 6 developed hemiplegia. In contrast, the presence of seizure activity in presence of a normal background was not related to abnormal outcome. Conclusions. Early MRI and EEG can help to identify the infants with cerebral infarction who are likely to develop hemiplegia.
Local Policymaking in Sport: Sport Managers’ Perspectives on Work Processes and Impact

Abstract In this study we sought a better understanding of the development and functioning of local sport policy, from the perspective of local sport managers (LSMs). Local sport budgets in the Netherlands continue to be allocated mainly to sport facilities (85% of sport budgets), despite increasing interest in the instrumental value of sport, particularly to achieve health and welfare objectives. This seems to produce somewhat of a mismatch between wider policy discourse and local sport policy. We studied LSMs’ perspectives on recent changes in sport policy, and how these relate to changes in the environment (from a socio-ecological perspective), alongside LSMs’ actual practices, policy values and personal beliefs regarding effective sport policy and social impact. For this purpose we conducted nine semi-structured interviews with LSMs from different municipalities in the Netherlands. This was to illuminate ‘the walk’ in local sport policy, rather than only ‘the talk’ (i.e., the line set out in policy documents). We conclude that the day-to-day work of LSMs was indeed influenced by developments in the broader environment (particularly, austerity measures, organizational restructuring and changed national policies and related discourses). However, the focus of LSMs’ activities remained on ensuring a good sport facility infrastructure, as a necessary precondition to utilize the instrumental value of sport. The LSMs expressed a belief in the goodness of sport and tried to ‘sell’ this to other departments. Yet, they exhibited little critical reflection on (preconditions for) effective sport policy and the need for policy monitoring and evaluation.