Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire after 15 Years of Field Trial

Background: The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire has been used to assess a variety of hand and upper extremity injuries and conditions for nearly 15 years. It has been included in several overviews of upper extremity outcomes measures, but it has not been systematically examined regarding its clinometric properties during field trials. Methods: The authors conducted a review of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire in the English language literature from 1998 through March of 2012. Data from clinical studies were abstracted and compiled. Results: The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire has been used in 58 clinical studies, and its clinometric properties have been analyzed in an additional 18 publications. The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire compares favorably with other hand outcomes instruments in the areas of test-retest reliability, validity, and responsiveness. High internal consistency may indicate redundancy within the items in the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire. The strength of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire is its multidimensional construct in measuring patient-rated outcomes in symptom, function, aesthetics, and satisfaction. Conclusions: The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire has been applied across a variety of conditions affecting the hand and upper limb. Its psychometric properties have been tested through field trials in various clinical settings around the world.
The impact of intra‐operative transoesophageal echocardiography on cardiac surgical practice

The use of transoesophageal echocardiography during cardiac surgery has increased dramatically and it is now widely accepted as a routine monitoring and diagnostic tool. A prospective study was carried out between September 2004 and September 2007, and included all patients in whom intra‐operative echocardiography was performed, 2 473 (44%) out of a total of 5 591 cases. Changes to surgery were subdivided into predictable (where echocardiographic examination was planned specifically to guide surgery) and unpredictable (new pathology not diagnosed pre‐operatively). A change in the planned surgical procedure was documented in 312 (15%) cases. In 216 (69%) patients the changes were predictable and in 96 (31%) they were unpredictable. The number of predictable changes increased between 2004–5 and 2006–7 (8% vs 13%, p = 0.025). In these cases, intra‐operative echocardiography was specifically requested by the surgeon to help determine the operative intervention. This has implications for consent and operative risk, which have yet to be fully determined.
PCR‐RFLP Analysis of Cytomegalovirus Infections Associated with Bone Marrow Transplantation in Japanese Children

In order to investigate the longitudinal molecular epidemiology of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections associated with bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in Japanese children, we analyzed 36 CMV strains from 11 cases. Three regions (DNA polymerase, glycoprotein H, and immediate‐early regions) of CMV DNA were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and amplified products were each digested with two restriction enzymes, followed by electrophoresis. These restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses allowed the differentiation of 36 strains into 13 genotypes. Each patient excreted his or her own CMV with distinct genotype over the study period of up to one year. CMVs of two different genotypes were recovered during a one‐month study from one recipient, who received a peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Although the majority of patients and donors were CMV‐seropositive before BMT, multiple CMV infections might not be common and the reactivation of latently infected CMV might be prominent in Japanese children receiving transplants.
Resistance of Nasopharyngeal Pathogens and Antimicrobial Prescription Rates for Children in an Area Under Controlled Antimicrobial Use

Background: To reduce the spread of drug-resistant pathogens, appropriate use of antimicrobials is an indispensable measure. From January 2002, we undertook campaigns about antimicrobial treatment in Sado Island, Japan. Methods: The subjects were born in 1996 (group-1996) or during 2002–2004 (group-2002–2004) and received outpatient treatment at our hospital. We evaluated the subjects’ medical information from patient records during their first 3 years of life. Demographic data, duration of breast-feeding, and attending a day-care center (DCC) were evaluated using a questionnaire. Results: Average visit-based antimicrobial prescription rates significantly decreased from 535 for group-1996, to 70 for group-2002–2004 per 1000 hospital visits (P < 0.001). The rate of cephalosporin prescriptions significantly decreased (77.1%–16.7%; P < 0.001), while amoxicillin (0.8%–29.5%) and macrolides (21.0%–52.4%) significantly increased (P < 0.001). Regarding 417 nasopharyngeal cultures from group-2002–2004, 77.8% (179/230) of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains were nonsusceptible to penicillin. For Haemophilus influenzae strains, 30.6% (59/193) were nonsusceptible to ampicillin. Living with older sibling(s) and early DCC attendance were associated with carriage of resistant pathogens. Conclusions: In a closed area under controlled antimicrobial use, our data indicated that decreasing antimicrobial prescriptions alone could not achieve elimination of resistant pathogens. Strategies to control transmission at DCCs or from older sibling(s) are also essential.
Role of the Chemokine Stromal Cell-Derived Factor 1 in Autoantibody Production and Nephritis in Murine Lupus1

In normal mice, stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1/CXCL12) promotes the migration, proliferation, and survival of peritoneal B1a (PerB1a) lymphocytes. Because these cells express a self-reactive repertoire and are expanded in New Zealand Black/New Zealand White (NZB/W) mice, we tested their response to SDF-1 in such mice. PerB1a lymphocytes from NZB/W mice were exceedingly sensitive to SDF-1. This greater sensitivity was due to the NZB genetic background, it was not observed for other B lymphocyte subpopulations, and it was modulated by IL-10. SDF-1 was produced constitutively in the peritoneal cavity and in the spleen. It was also produced by podocytes in the glomeruli of NZB/W mice with nephritis. The administration of antagonists of either SDF-1 or IL-10 early in life prevented the development of autoantibodies, nephritis, and death in NZB/W mice. Initiation of anti-SDF-1 mAb treatment later in life, in mice with established nephritis, inhibited autoantibody production, abolished proteinuria and Ig deposition, and reversed morphological changes in the kidneys. This treatment also counteracted B1a lymphocyte expansion and T lymphocyte activation. Therefore, PerB1a lymphocytes are abnormally sensitive to the combined action of SDF-1 and IL-10 in NZB/W mice, and SDF-1 is key in the development of autoimmunity in this murine model of lupus.
Proteinases participating in the processing and activation of prolegumain in primary cultured rat macrophages

Abstract The mammalian legumain is a recently identified lysosomal cysteine proteinase belonging to the clan CD and homologous to plant legumain. This enzyme has the characteristic of specifically hydrolyzing peptide bonds after asparagine residues. As in the case of papain-type cysteine proteinases, legumain is synthesized as an inactive zymogen, and processed into a mature form localized in lysosomes. However, the mechanism of its activation remains unclear. In this study, we analyze which types of proteinases may participate in the processing of legumain in rat primary cultured macrophages using various proteinase inhibitors after 24 h treatment with Bafilomycin A1, a vacuolar ATPase inhibitor. The processing of legumain in macrophages was accomplished by papain-type cysteine proteinases other than cathepsin B.
High-Pressure B-Type Polymorphs of Some Rare-Earth Sesquioxides

New high pressure forms of the sesquioxides of holminum, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium have been obtained by exposure of the C-type sesquioxides to pressures between 25 and 40 kilobars and temperatures between 900� and 1020�C. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that these new high-pressure phases are of the monoclinic B-type which is known for several of the lighter rare-earth sesquioxides (samarium through dysprosium).
FPGA implementation of object recognition processor for HDTV resolution video using sparse FIND feature

This paper describes FPGA implementation of object recognition processor for HDTV resolution 30 fps video using the Sparse FIND feature. Two-stage feature extraction processing by HOG and Sparse FIND, a highly parallel classification in the support vector machine (SVM), and a block-parallel processing for RAM access cycle reduction are proposed to perform a real time object recognition with enormous computational complexity. From implementation of the proposed architecture in the FPGA, it was confirmed that detection using the Sparse FIND feature was performed for HDTV images at 47.63 fps, on average, at 90 MHz. The recognition accuracy degradation from the original Sparse FIND-base object detection algorithm implemented on software was 0.5%, which shows that the FPGA system provides sufficient accuracy for practical use.
The Tumor Invasion Inhibitor Dihydromotuporamine C Activates RHO, Remodels Stress Fibers and Focal Adhesions, and Stimulates Sodium–Proton Exchange

The motuporamines are macrocyclic alkaloids that inhibit tumor cell invasion by an, as yet, unknown mechanism. A structure–activity study recently identified dihydromotuporamine C (dhMotC) as a highly active and readily synthesized analogue. Here, we show that dhMotC causes subtle cytoskeletal alterations in highly invasive MDA231 breast tumor cells that include an increase in the thickness and number of cytoplasmic actin stress fibers. Experiments with serum-starved Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts showed that micromolar concentrations of dhMotC that inhibit tumor cell invasion induce the formation of new stress fibers and large focal adhesion complexes that are dispersed around the entire cell periphery. dhMotC treatment of Swiss 3T3 cells also initiates a strong, long-lived activation of the small GTP-binding protein Rho, and it stimulates Rho kinase-dependent sodium–proton exchanger activity. Liposome-mediated cell loading of C3 exoenzyme prevents dhMotC-mediated Rho activation and stress fiber formation in 3T3 cells. C3 exoenzyme loading also reestablishes elongated MDA231 breast tumor cell invasion in the presence of dhMotC. Taken together, these results indicate that the ability to activate Rho is one important determinant of the anti-invasive activity of dhMotC.
The effects of two adhesive ankle-taping methods on strength, power, and range of motion in female athletes.

BACKGROUND Taping is a ubiquitous strategy to help prevent ankle sprains. The restrictive qualities of various taping methods may impair athletic performance. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to compare the Gibney closed basket weave taping method with heel-locks to heel-locks and figure-eights in order to determine their effect on vertical jump performance and active range of motion (ROM) before and after exercise. METHODS Eleven female varsity basketball athletes were subjected to three conditions of no ankle support (control), heel-locks, and figure-eights. The dependent variables of ankle active ROM, plantarflexor maximum voluntary contraction and jump height for the countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ), and concentric only squat jump (COSJ) were randomly ordered. Following taping or control conditions, participants were pre-tested, completed a ten-minute treadmill run at 9.6 km/hr with a 3 minute cool down and then repeated the testing procedures. RESULTS There were no significant differences in jump performance between taping methods or the effect of exercise. However significant differences for pre-/post-exercise for plantarflexor (p < 0.0001) and dorsiflexor (p = 0.007) active ROM and between no support and taping for plan-tarflexor ROM (p = 0.004) was found. CONCLUSIONS Despite plantarflexor active ROM being restricted by both taping procedures compared to the control, no effect on jump performance occurred.
Optimization of adaptive identification for time-varying filters

Adaptive identification in a time-varying context is studied when controlled by the LMS algorithms with constant gain µ, under the assumption of correlated successive input vectors. It is well-known by experience that the tracking mean square error (MSE) ¿(µ) results from the trade-off between the gradient part which is µ-increasing and the lag contribution which is µ-decreasing. In this paper we clarify the relative roles of the gradient and lag errors by proving their decoupled character. This property relies upon independence between the additive noise at the output of the plant to be identified and the information vector at the plant input. Convergence of the MSE is established rather than assumed. Quantitative evaluations of upper and lower bounds allow an approximate optimization of the gain. In two important cases the optimum is exact. One of these cases is "slow-variations". It is defined in a quantitative manner thanks to the ratio of the "variation"-noise to the output additive noise.
Software de Realidad Virtual para rehabilitación de enfermedades neuro-musculares

Las enfermedades neuromusculares (ENM) son enfermedades de caracter genetico, generalmente hereditarias que afectan los musculos o los nervios que los controlan. En su mayoria son progresivas y llevan a la discapacidad. El objetivo de este documento es mostrar una profunda investigacion realizada acerca de la rehabilitacion de estas ENM (principalmente la ataxia) utilizando para esta el uso de software de Realidad Virtual, asi como las escalas de clasificacion de grado de avance y tecnicas de rehabilitacion.
Prevention of Mitochondrial Oxidative Damage Using Targeted Antioxidants

Mitochondrial‐targeted antioxidants that selectively block mitochondrial oxidative damage and prevent some types of cell death have been developed. These antioxidants are ubiquinone and tocopherol derivatives and are targeted to mitochondria by covalent attachment to a lipophilic triphenylphosphonium cation. Because of the large mitochondrial membrane potential, these cations accumulated within mitochondria inside cells, where the antioxidant moiety prevents lipid peroxidation and protects mitochondria from oxidative damage. The mitochondrially localized ubiquinone also protected mammalian cells from hydrogen peroxide‐induced apoptosis while an untargeted ubiquinone analogue was ineffective against apoptosis. When fed to mice these compounds accumulated within the brain, heart, and liver; therefore, using these mitochondrial‐targeted antioxidants may help investigations of the role of mitochondrial oxidative damage in animal models of aging.
In-Home Air Filtration for Improving Cardiovascular Health: Lessons from a CBPR Study in Public Housing

Background: Particulate air pollution, including from motor vehicles, is associated with cardiovascular disease. Objectives: To describe lessons learned from installing air filtration units in public housing apartments next to a major highway. Methods: We reviewed experience with recruitment, retention, and acceptance of the air filtration units. Results: Recruitment and retention have been challenging, but similar to other studies in public housing. Equipment noise and overheated apartments during hot weather have been notable complaints from participants. In addition, we found that families with members with Alzheimer’s or mental disability were less able to tolerate the equipment. Conclusions: For this research, the primary lesson is that working closely with each participant is important. A future public health program would need to address issues of noise and heat to make the intervention more acceptable to residents.
Discrimination of UXO in soil using broadband polarimetric GPR backscatter

Polarimetric analysis of ground penetrating radar (GPR) backscatter offers a new means of discriminating subsurface metallic target shapes from one another. Such discrimination is urgently needed to distinguish buried unexploded ordnance (UXO) from other subsurface objects. To illuminate the underlying phenomenology of scattering from objects enveloped in soil, three-dimensional (3D) simulations are performed over a broad frequency band, characteristic of new low frequency GPRs. For moist soil, this means that the subsurface wavelength may range from a fraction of the target size to an order of magnitude larger With a transmitting antenna representation that produces typical subsurface GPR beam features, combined effects of positional, orientation, and frequency diversity are investigated. Despite long wavelengths, results show distinctive features in reflections obtained from contrasting example target shapes. Full polarimetric analysis suggests the capability for inferring the length of elongated targets, aspect ratio and rotational symmetry, and gross shape along the axis for either elongated or flattened bodies of revolution in problematical orientations.
Artifacts in ultrasonic contrast agent studies.

Intravenously injected ultrasonic contrast agents making use of encapsulated gas microbubbles have excellent clinical potential for both color and spectral Doppler studies. However, a number of artifacts are associated with sonographic contrast agent measurements. Three artifacts were identified: (1) color "blooming," (2) increased maximum Doppler shift, and (3) spectral "bubble noise. " Experiments have been conducted with Albunex and Levovist. These agents were injected into rabbits and humans to allow the cause of the artifacts to be established. Color blooming occurs soon after the bolus injection and is seen as gray scale pixels changing to color display. This is caused by the increase in flow signal strength. The apparent increase in the maximum Doppler shift frequency is due to the limited dynamic range of the spectral display. Only signals above a certain threshold are visible. As the Doppler signal power is enhanced, the highest frequency visible also increases. Finally, very large excursions can sometimes be seen in the spectral display (bubble noise). These might be due to either the breakdown of microbubbles or individual very large bubbles. The color blooming and bubble noise artifacts are easily identifiable and will not influence diagnostic management. The increase in peak Doppler shifts is more troublesome as it prevents comparison of spectral parameters obtained before and after injection of contrast agent.
Localização e Representação Tridimensional de Bolhas de Ar a Partir de Tomogramas Pulmonares

Resumo – As bolhas pulmonares com conteudo aereo podem ocorrer na sequencia de enfisemas ou outras patologias, reduzindo a oxigenacao sanguinea e, em caso de ruptura, podendo colocar ar na cavidade sub-pleural. Para realizar um diagnostico medico e consequente tratamento, e necessario localizar e caracterizar morfologicamente as bolhas pulmonares. Neste artigo, descrevemos um metodo de localizacao, representacao e quantificacao das bolhas pulmonares, baseado nos niveis de Hounsfield da regiao pulmonar que contem as bolhas, nas caracteristicas fisicas das bolhas e ainda sua na coerencia axial ao longo do exame TAC.
A comparison between the effects of diltiazem and isosorbide dinitrate on digoxin pharmacodynamics and kinetics in the treatment of patients with chronic ischemic heart failure.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of an arteriolar dilator (diltiazem hydrochloride) versus a venodilator (isosorbide dinitrate) on digoxin kinetics and to estimate the efficacy and tolerability of these vasodilators when combined with digoxin for 10 days therapy in patients with congestive heart failure secondary to ischemic heart disease. METHODS A double blind randomized cross over study was carried out to investigate the effect of an arteriolar dilator (diltiazem hydrochloride 180 mg/day orally) versus a venodilator (isosorbide dinitrate 30 mg/day orally) on digoxin kinetics (0.25 mg/day orally), after 10 days therapy in patients with heart failure due to ischemic heart disease. Also, the effect of these drugs on blood pressure, heart rate, renal functions and serum electrolytes, and their efficacy and tolerability in combination with digoxin were studied. This study was carried out in the Department of Medicine, Main Alexandria University Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt, during the period May 1999 through to May 2000. RESULTS Diltiazem caused a significant increase in digoxin maximum serum concentration without significant change in time to reach maximum concentration and the apparent volume of distribution. The total digoxin clearance was significantly reduced and the elimination half life was prolonged. Subsequently the area under time-concentration curve and the steady-state digoxin level were increased, but were still within therapeutic margin. On the other hand isosorbide dinitrate significantly increased digoxin maximum serum concentration but without change in the other digoxin pharmacokinetic parameters. Isosorbide dinitrate, but not diltiazem, caused significant reduction in supine and standing blood pressure, while both drugs did not significantly alter pulse rate, renal functions, serum sodium potassium and electrocardiographic pattern. CONCLUSION Patients who received diltiazem displayed a mean 51% increase in the area under the plasma concentration-time curve, 50% increase in mean steady state serum digoxin concentration, and 37% increase in peak serum digoxin concentration. While patients who received isosorbide dinitrate showed only a 15% increase in digoxin maximum serum concentration and no statistically significant change in mean steady state digoxin concentration or area under the plasma concentration-time curve. The elimination half life during the diltiazem phase was prolonged by 29% while there was no significant change with isosorbide dinitrate. Netiher diltiazem or isosorbide dinitrate significantly altered the time to reach maximum serum digoxin concentration. The addition of a vasodilator such as, diltiazem or isosorbid dinitrate to digoxin could significantly improve the symptoms and signs of heart failure compared to digoxin alone. They were well tolerated and without fear of electrolyte imbalance which potentiate digoxin toxicity.