Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes to white matter microstructure in transient ischemic attack: A longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging study

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is associated with localized ischemic changes, identifiable by diffusion‐weighted imaging. Past research has not considered whether TIA is also associated with diffuse changes to white matter microstructure; further past work has not tracked changes longitudinally. Here we examine whole‐brain changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) in individuals with TIA presenting with sensorimotor symptoms. Twenty individuals with a recent (within 30 days) TIA and 12 healthy older adults were recruited. Participants underwent 3.0 T diffusion MRI at baseline; scans were repeated for the TIA group 90 days post‐TIA. Track‐based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to conduct a voxel‐wise analysis of FA between groups. FA was significantly lower in the TIA group relative to healthy controls, primarily in anterior white matter tracts including: forceps minor, anterior thalamic radiations, cingulum, inferior fronto‐occipital fasciculus, and corticospinal tract. TBSS results informed an ROI‐based longitudinal examination of FA in the TIA group. There were no changes to TBSS‐identified clusters, forceps minor, or the corticospinal tract over time. There was lower FA in the anterior thalamic radiations in the TIA‐affected hemisphere at baseline, but no difference between hemispheres at 90 days. In summary, individuals with TIA presenting with sensorimotor symptoms have decreased FA in tracts that are also implicated in sensorimotor function, which outlast the clinical symptoms associated with TIA. This suggests a more profound type of brain damage associated with TIA than has been typically described in past work. Diffusion tensor imaging may have utility as a marker of TIA‐associated changes to white matter pathways. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5795–5803, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Anti-NSP4 Antibody Can Block Rotavirus-induced Diarrhea in Mice

Background: Rotavirus infection is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea and gastroenteritis among children worldwide. The viral proteins (VP), especially VP4- and VP7-induced neutralizing antibodies, were considered to be critical in protective immunity to rotavirus disease. However, whether the antibody to rotavirus nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) protects against rotavirus-induced diarrhea directly is not completely clear, especially for the protective time course. Materials and Methods: To obtain direct evidence, 12-day-old ICR mice were treated with NSP4 and entire rotavirus to induce diarrhea. Results: Both NSP4 and rotavirus-treated mice developed diarrhea, which was accompanied by histological changes in the small intestine compared to age-matched control mice. Anti-NSP4 antibody demonstrated protection against both entire rotavirus-induced diarrhea and NSP4-induced diarrhea. The histological changes in the small intestinal were reversible. These data show that early intervention with anti-NSP4 antibody can prevent rotavirus-induced diarrhea in mice; late intervention with anti-NSP4 antibody could halt diarrhea progression in mice. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate for the first time that administration of anti-NSP4 antibody is effective both prior to and during the time course of rotavirus infection. These observations extend our knowledge of rotavirus infection and its therapeutic options.
Making sound waves: selected papers from the 2016 annual conference of the National Hearing Conservation Association

In 2016, the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) (http://www.hearingconservation.org), held its annual meeting in San Diego, California, with the theme of the meeting ‘‘Making Sound Waves’’. Several papers presented at that meeting were invited to be developed as contributions to this special supplemental edition of the International Journal of Audiology (IJA). The articles included here were specifically selected to highlight the diversity of research activities that are successfully generating new data that inform Best Practices and improve the success of Hearing Loss Prevention Programmes in achieving the goal of preventing the onset and progression of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). In many cases, these articles created widespread waves across the membership, with active discussions propagating well beyond session’s end. This is the seventh year of the partnership between the NHCA and the IJA to produce a meeting-related supplemental issue. As in previous supplemental issues, these papers address the three strategies that can effectively prevent hearing loss when implemented consistently and correctly, which include engineering controls (reduction of sound level at the sound source), administrative controls (reducing the amount of time an individual is in the vicinity of the sound source), and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of hearing protection devices (HPDs) such as ear plugs and ear muffs. There can be little argument that decreasing sound at its source will provide the most consistent protection across workers in that area. The contribution by Roberts et al examines noise exposure data from the US mining industry and provides some insights on how the 1999 Mine Safety and Health Administration revised noise regulations affected exposures among miners. Although the noise levels in US mines have generally decreased, the changes are not consistent across all parts of the industry. This article describes how to better predict noise exposures and subsequent NIHL across workers in the mining industry.
DSL prescriptive targets for bone conduction devices: adaptation and comparison to clinical fittings

Abstract Objective: To develop an algorithm that prescribes targets for bone conduction frequency response shape, compression, and output limiting, along with a clinical method that ensures accurate transforms between assessment and verification stages of the clinical workflow. Design: Technical report of target generation and validation. Study sample: We recruited 39 adult users of unilateral percutaneous bone conduction hearing aids with a range of unilateral, bilateral, mixed and conductive hearing losses across the sample. Results: The initial algorithm over-prescribed output compared to the user’s own settings in the low frequencies, but provided a good match to user settings in the high frequencies. Corrections to the targets were derived and implemented as a low-frequency cut aimed at improving acceptance of the wearer’s own voice during device use. Conclusions: The DSL-BCD prescriptive algorithm is compatible with verification of devices and fine-tuning to target for percutaneous bone conduction hearing devices that can be coupled to a skull simulator. Further study is needed to investigate the appropriateness of this prescriptive algorithm for other input levels, and for other clinical populations including those with single-sided deafness, bilateral devices, children and users of transcutaneous bone conduction hearing aids.
Interproximal periodontal defect model in dogs: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the validity of a surgically created interproximal periodontal defect in dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Surgery was performed in the interproximal area between the maxillary second and third premolars in two beagle dogs. Following an incision and reflection of the gingival flap, a 3-mm wide and 5-mm high defect was prepared surgically at the interproximal area. A thorough root planing was performed and the flap was coronally positioned and sutured. The contra-lateral area was served as the control with no surgical intervention. After 8 weeks of healing, the animals were killed and the defect was analysed histometrically and radiographically. RESULTS The interproximal periodontal defect resembled a naturally occurring defect and mimicked a clinical situation. After healing, the defect showed limited bone (0.89±0.02mm) and cementum regeneration (1.50± 0.48mm). CONCLUSIONS Within the limitations of this pilot study, the interproximal periodontal defect showed limited bone and cementum regeneration. Thus, it can be considered as a standardized, reproducible defect model for testing new biomaterials.
A functional near‐infrared spectroscopic investigation of speech production during reading

This study was designed to test the extent to which speaking processes related to articulation and voicing influence Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures of cortical hemodynamics and functional connectivity. Participants read passages in three conditions (oral reading, silent mouthing, and silent reading) while undergoing fNIRS imaging. Area under the curve (AUC) analyses of the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemodynamic response function concentration values were compared for each task across five regions of interest. There were significant region main effects for both oxy and deoxy AUC analyses, and a significant region × task interaction for deoxy AUC favoring the oral reading condition over the silent reading condition for two nonmotor regions. Assessment of functional connectivity using Granger Causality revealed stronger networks between motor areas during oral reading and stronger networks between language areas during silent reading. There was no evidence that the hemodynamic flow from motor areas during oral reading compromised measures of language‐related neural activity in nonmotor areas. However, speech movements had small, but measurable effects on fNIRS measures of neural connections between motor and nonmotor brain areas across the perisylvian region, even after wavelet filtering. Therefore, researchers studying speech processes with fNIRS should use wavelet filtering during preprocessing to reduce speech motion artifacts, incorporate a nonspeech communication or language control task into the research design, and conduct a connectivity analysis to adequately assess the impact of functional speech on the hemodynamic response across the perisylvian region.
Use of technological aids and interpretation services among children and adults with hearing loss

Abstract Objectives: The technological development of communication aids for people with hearing loss has progressed rapidly over the last decades. Quality has improved and the number of different types of aids has increased. However, few studies have examined the prevalence of technology use and interpreting services use among people with hearing loss as they relate to demographic characteristics of this population. Design: This study reports from national surveys of children and adults with hearing loss. Use of hearing aids, cochlear implants, other aids and interpreting services were analysed with regard to gender, age, degree of hearing loss, mode of communication, having an additional disability, level of educational achievement among adults, and whether or not children lived together with both of their parents. Study sample: 269 children (0–15 years of age) and 839 adults (16–65 years of age). Results: Differences in technology and service use were associated with age, degree of hearing loss, and mode of communication among children and adults, and gender and level of educational achievement among adults. Conclusion: Individual and social factors have an impact on technological hearing aid and interpreter use. More research about individual differences and clinical implications of support services is needed.
Cyclosporine causes no hearing defect in paediatric patients with nephrotic syndrome

Abstract Objective: We aimed to evaluate the ototoxicity of cyclosporine A (CsA) in children with nephrotic syndrome (NS). Design: Data of paediatric patients with NS followed in paediatric nephrology department were evaluated retrospectively, and hearing functions were evaluated by pure tone audiometry (PTA) and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). Age, gender, type of NS, duration and cumulative doses of immunosuppressives were noted. Study sample: The patients who had received CsA (n: 16) and immunosuppressives other than CsA (n: 13) for at least 6 months formed two patient groups and healthy cases formed a control group (n: 20). Children with known previous hearing defect, inner ear trauma or surgery, recurrent otitis media and those using hearing aid were excluded. Results: Gender, age at first clinical presentation, laboratory tests and number of relapses were similar between the groups. No hearing loss was defined in PTA at frequencies of 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000 and 8000 Hz. The results of TEOAEs were similar between the groups and compatible with normal hearing. Conclusions: CsA is not responsible for permanent sensorineural hearing loss in children with NS, and there is no sufficient evidence to consider routine hearing assessment in children with NS treated with CsA.
Clinical features of microinvasive stage I oral carcinoma.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to analyse a case series of microinvasive (tumour thickness <4 mm) stage I oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), with an emphasis on the clinical features of the tumours. METHODS In total, 32 microinvasive and 67 non-microinvasive stage I lesions, which had been surgically treated, were retrospectively studied and compared. The data analysed included gender, age, risk habits, clinical appearance, lesion site, symptoms, nodal involvement and outcome. RESULTS The clinical features of microinvasive lesions meant that, more often than not, they resembled premalignant lesions (P = 0.008), and diagnosis was mainly based on accurate clinical examination rather than the presence of symptoms (P = 0.029). During a median follow-up of 4.5 years, one nodal involvement and one cancer-related death were observed in patients with microinvasive lesions. A significantly higher (P = 0.044) level of nodal involvement was observed in the non-microinvasive lesion group. CONCLUSIONS Stage I OSCC has a favourable prognosis overall, but nodal recurrence is more common in non-microinvasive cancers. As microinvasive lesions tend to present clinically as premalignant lesions, accurate clinical examination is essential if misdiagnosis of early lesions is to be avoided.
Age‐related changes in the ease of dynamical transitions in human brain activity

Executive functions, a set of cognitive processes that enable flexible behavioral control, are known to decay with aging. Because such complex mental functions are considered to rely on the dynamic coordination of functionally different neural systems, the age‐related decline in executive functions should be underpinned by alteration of large‐scale neural dynamics. However, the effects of age on brain dynamics have not been firmly formulated. Here, we investigate such age‐related changes in brain dynamics by applying “energy landscape analysis” to publicly available functional magnetic resonance imaging data from healthy younger and older human adults. We quantified the ease of dynamical transitions between different major patterns of brain activity, and estimated it for the default mode network (DMN) and the cingulo‐opercular network (CON) separately. We found that the two age groups shared qualitatively the same trajectories of brain dynamics in both the DMN and CON. However, in both of networks, the ease of transitions was significantly smaller in the older than the younger group. Moreover, the ease of transitions was associated with the performance in executive function tasks in a doubly dissociated manner: for the younger adults, the ability of executive functions was mainly correlated with the ease of transitions in the CON, whereas that for the older adults was specifically associated with the ease of transitions in the DMN. These results provide direct biological evidence for age‐related changes in macroscopic brain dynamics and suggest that such neural dynamics play key roles when individuals carry out cognitively demanding tasks.
Determining the minimum number of electrodes that need to be pitch matched to accurately estimate pitch matches across the array

Abstract Objective: With bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users there is typically a place mismatch between the locations stimulated by the left and right electrode arrays. This mismatch can affect performance, potentially limiting binaural benefits. One way to address this is by perceptually realigning the arrays such that a given frequency in the input stimulates perceptually matched locations in the two ears. A clinically feasible technique is needed that can determine the appropriate perceptual alignment. A pitch matching task can potentially be used for this, but only if it can be performed in a clinically feasible amount of time. The objective of this study was to determine the minimal number of electrodes that need to be pitch matched to accurately determine pitch matches across the entire array. Design: A retrospective analysis of pitch matching data was conducted. Subsets of pitch matches were selected and the predicted pitch matching across the array was compared to that predicted by the full dataset. Study sample: 16 bilateral CI users. Results: The results indicated that nine pitch matches are sufficient, which can typically be obtained in approximately 7 min. Conclusion: The results reveal a clinically feasible method for determining pitch matches across the array.
Gait Recognition Based on Invariant Leg Classification Using a Neuro-Fuzzy Algorithm as the Fusion Method

This paper presents a human gait recognition algorithm based on a leg gesture separation. Main innovation in this paper is gait recognition using leg gesture classification which is invariant to covariate conditions during walking sequence and just focuses on underbody motions and a neuro-fuzzy combiner classifier (NFCC) which derives a high precision recognition system. At the end, performance of the proposed algorithm has been validated by using the HumanID Gait Challenge data set (HGCD), the largest gait benchmarking data set with 122 objects with different realistic parameters including viewpoint, shoe, surface, carrying condition, and time. And it has been compared to recent algorithm of gait recognition.
Declining oral cancer rates in Sri Lanka: are we winning the war after being at the top of the cancer league table?

OBJECTIVES To investigate the age-standardized incidence, demography, recent trends and patterns of incidence of oral cancer in Sri Lanka between 1985 and 2005. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data on oral and oropharyngeal cancers were obtained from the published hospital-based cancer registry reports in the years 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. The data were analyzed by gender, age (<40 or >40 years), and by site. A linear regression analysis was performed on the age-standardized oral and oropharyngeal cancer incidence rates to examine the trends over a 20-year period. RESULTS There was a steady decline in the age-standardized incidence of lip and oral cavity cancers over the past 20 years in both men and women. A significant reduction of 1.9% per year is noted over this period. Contrary to this, cancers of the oropharynx (C09, C10, and C14) showed a slight increase over the same period. CONCLUSIONS Reversal of betel quid use and smoking must be considered in accounting for declining trends for oral cancer. Increasing rates of oropharyngeal cancer raises the issue whether risk factors for the oropharynx are different to those of the oral cavity, and this may need further investigation.
Geographic and Racial Patterns of Anemia Prevalence Among Low-income Alaskan Children and Pregnant or Postpartum Women Limit Potential Etiologies

Objectives: The etiology of the 10-fold increase in anemia and iron deficiency prevalence among Alaska Native individuals from the culturally traditional southwestern/northern Alaska regions remains unknown. The present study sought to determine anemia prevalence among people enrolled in the Alaska Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program and reconcile results with etiological hypotheses, particularly nutritional iron deficiency and Helicobacter pylori infection. Patients and Methods: An analysis was conducted of 50,964 children 6 to 59 months of age and 30,154 pregnant or postpartum women enrolled in WIC during 1999 to 2006. Based on 3 regional groupings of residence and Alaska Native status, 6 strata were defined. Results: Southwestern/northern Alaska Native children—who are known to have high nutritional iron intake based on subsistence diets—had the highest anemia prevalence (35%). However, southwestern/northern residence increased anemia risk similarly for Alaska Native (relative risk 1.6) and non-Native (relative risk 1.5) children. Anemia prevalence was highest among the youngest children and declined with increasing age at approximately the same rate regardless of race or residence. Alaska Native pregnant or postpartum women from all of the regions had higher anemia prevalences than non-Native women; southwestern/northern residence conferred additional risk to Alaska Native women. Conclusions: A region-specific environmental factor is supported by the increased risk seen among all of the children residing in the southwestern/northern regions. However, the observed patterns make nutritional iron deficiency or H pylori infection unlikely as the sole or major etiologies of the high anemia prevalences observed in some groups.
Taking the Long View: What Does a Child Focus Add to Social Protection?

Recognising that many indicators of vulnerability among children, such as malnutrition or poor educational performance, might reflect intergenerational problems has profound implications for the design and implementation of social protection programmes. Treating the symptoms of these problems is of course essential: a malnourished child needs immediate nutritional support and a child who is failing at school needs special attention. But the argument of this paper is that ‘taking the long view’ is imperative if the reasons why children are malnourished, or failing, are to be correctly identified and adequately addressed. Importantly, the analysis implies directing interventions not exclusively at the children who are at risk, but at others in society who are responsible for the care of children.
Biological characteristics of a cell subpopulation in tongue squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES To isolate the CD133+CD44+ cells from human tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) Tca8113 cell line and investigate biological characteristics of them. MATERIALS AND METHODS Immunomagnetic microbeads were applied to sort the CD133+CD44+ cells. Flow cytometry was used to detect isolation purity. The proliferation, clone-formation efficiencies, invasion and migration, gene expressions, and tumor-formation abilities were analyzed among CD133+CD44+, CD133-CD44-, and total population of cells. RESULTS The average purities of CD133+ and CD44+ cells reached 97.3% and 98.7%, respectively. The proliferation of CD133+CD44+ cells was significantly higher than the other two groups. The clone-forming efficiency of three groups was 70%, 8%, and 14%, respectively. The average invaded and migrated cell numbers of CD133+CD44+ and total population cells were 132 and 36.2, 311.6, and 156.2, respectively. The expressions of Bcl-2 and Sox2 in CD133+CD44+ cells were significantly higher than those in total population cells. A total of 10(4) CD133+CD44+ cells could form secondary tumors in nude mice, while the total population group needed 10(6) cells. CONCLUSIONS The CD133+CD44+ subpopulation cells possess stem-like characteristics. They appear to be the potential targets for future biology therapy of human TSCC.
The Cochrane Library and Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Overview of Reviews

Editors’ note: Umbrella reviews, compiling evidence from multiple Cochrane reviews into one accessible and usable document, are a regular feature of this journal. Our aim for each umbrella review is to focus on the treatment question, ‘which treatment should I use for this condition? ’. It is our hope that the umbrella review will serve as a ‘friendly front end’ to The Cochrane Library, allowing the reader a quick overview (and an exhaustive list) of Cochrane reviews relevant to the clinical decision at hand.