Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The outcome after aortic valve-sparing (David) operation in 179 patients: a single-centre experience.

OBJECTIVES The David aortic valve-sparing reimplantation (AVr-D) operation is increasingly being used in patients with aortic root aneurysmal disease and pliable aortic cusps. The objective of this study was to assess our early and medium-term outcomes with the AVr-D operation. METHODS Between 2003 and 2011, a total of 179 patients underwent AVr-D procedures. The mean patient age was 49.7 ± 15.1 years, and 23.5% (n = 42) were females. Marfan syndrome was present in 17.3% of patients (n = 31), and acute Type A aortic dissection in 15.6% (n = 28). Clinical follow-up was 100% complete and was 1.8 ± 1.6 years (0 days to 7.5 years) long. Echocardiographic follow-up was performed 2.2 ± 1.5 years (0 days to 7.5 years) postoperatively and was 77% complete. RESULTS Early mortality was 1.1% (n = 2), with both deaths occurring in patients with Type A dissection. Pre-discharge echocardiography revealed no patients with >2+ aortic insufficiency (AI), 19.6% of patients (n = 34) with 1+ or 2+ AI and 80.4% of patients (n = 145) with trace or no AI. Left ventricular end-diastolic diameters decreased significantly from 5.6 ± 0.9 to 5.1 ± 0.8 cm early postoperatively (P < 0.01). Transvalvular maximum gradients were similar before discharge and at last follow-up (10.6 ± 5.4 vs. 10.0 ± 8.2 mmHg, P = 0.4). AI grade increased significantly over time (0.3 ± 0.4 before discharge vs. 0.5 ± 0.6 at follow-up, P = 0.01), but remained less than moderate in 93.6% of patients. Four patients required aortic valve re-replacement during follow-up, two due to early endocarditis and two due to non-coronary leaflet prolapse in Marfan patients. Five-year freedom from aortic valve reoperation was 95.9 ± 2.0%. CONCLUSIONS AVr-D is associated with a low mortality and morbidity rate, even in patients with Type A aortic dissection. Although a slightly higher rate of recurrent AI may be present in patients with Marfan syndrome, freedom from recurrent AI and reoperation remains excellent during medium-term follow-up. The David operation should be considered the gold standard for patients with proximal aortic root pathology (aneurysm or dissection) and pliable aortic cusps.
Spezifisches Verteilungsmuster der Knorpelelastizität und -dicke am Talus des Pferdes

Zusammenfassung Gegenstand und Ziel: In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden erstmals Referenzwerte für die Knorpelelastizität und Knorpeldicke am Talus des Pferdes ermittelt. Die postmortal durchgeführte Untersuchung umfasste 24 Pferde verschiedenen Alters (zwei Fohlen, ein Jährling, 21 adulte Tiere). Material und Methoden: Die Knorpelelastizität wurde an 23 Messpunkten mit einer auch intra vitam einsetzbaren Indentermesssonde (Art - scan® 200) getestet. Die Bestimmung der Knorpeldicke erfolgte mit einer Messlupe an 18 Messpunkten des geschnittenen Knorpelpräparats. Ergebnisse: Die Sprunggelenke der neugeborenen Fohlen zeigten eine homogene Verteilung der Knorpelelastizität über den gesamten Rollkamm. Eine Knorpeldickemessung war aufgrund der noch nicht abgeschlossenen enchondralen Ossifikation nicht möglich. Die Tali des Jährlings wiesen bereits eine deutliche Heterogenität der Knorpelelastizität und -dickeF auf. Die adulten Tiere zeigten mit einer hohen Signifikanz (p < 0,001) einen deutlichen Trend einer nach distal abnehmenden Knorpelelastizität und einer gegenläufigen Verteilung der Knorpeldicke. An den proximalen Messpunkten wurden Werte von 0,873–1,321 Newton (N) erreicht, an den distalsten Messpunkten nur noch 0,375–0,550 N. Für die Knorpeldicke ergaben sich proximal Werte von 0,49–0,78 mm und distal von 0,68–1,08 mm. Schlussfolgerung: Die verwendete Messsonde eignet sich zur Bestimmung der Knorpelelastizität beim Pferd. Die Knorpelelastizität und -dicke am equinen Talus weisen ein lokales und altersabhängiges Verteilungs muster auf. Klinische Relevanz: Bei der Detektion von frühen pathologischen Veränderungen der Knorpelmatrix muss die lokalisations- und altersspezifische Ausprägung der Knorpelelastizität berücksichtigt werden.
Loosening tight junctions. Lessons from the intestine.

the two major charges of the intestinal epithelium are to absorb the vast quantity of water, ions, and nutrients presented it and to prevent the free mixing oflumenal content with underlying interstitial and vascular fluids. This latter re-sponsibility is often generically referred to as intestinal epithelial barrier function. Here I present a perspective on one component of this barrier, the intercellular tight junction. The thrust of this is that not only are tight junctions crucial to baseline intestinal barrier function, but that these tight junction barriers may be regulated and, as a result ofthis manipulation, the junctions also play a substantive role in the uptake of nutrients. Although my focus will be on the intestinal epithelium, links will be drawn to work done in other epithelia relating to intercellular tight junctions. Lastly, emerging evidence that tight junctions may be functionally altered in model disease states, even when the epithelium remains confluent, is considered. This latter concept reenforces the notion of the high degree of plasticity expressed by these important barriers.
Joining forces

In flowering plants, gravity perception appears to involve the sedimentation of starch-filled plastids, called amyloplasts, within specialized cells (the statocytes) of shoots (endodermal cells) and roots (columella cells). Unfortunately, how the physical information derived from amyloplast sedimentation is converted into a biochemical signal that promotes organ gravitropic curvature remains largely unknown. Recent results suggest an involvement of the Translocon of the Outer Envelope of (Chloro)plastids (TOC) in early phases of gravity signal transduction within the statocytes. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that govern gravity signal transduction in flowering plants and summarizes models that attempt to explain the contribution of TOC proteins in this important behavioral plant growth response to its mechanical environment.
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.

1. Switch On the FACSCalibur with the green switch on the right side panel. 2. Switch On the Computer afterwards. 3. Check if PBS tank is full. 4. Pressurize the PBS Tank (pull valve down). 5. Log in 6. Start CellQuest and connect to cytometer (Acquire→Connect to Cytometer) 7. Open status window (Cytometer→Status) 8. Take out the H2O tube (left on during the previous shutdown procedure) and press PRIME. 9. When the light switches back to STANDBY, proceed as follows. o Place Bleach 5%, put the machine speed on HIGH and press RUN. Let it run for 2min. o Place a tube with H20 for 2min at HIGH speed.
Affinity enhancement of HER2-binding Z(HER2:342) affibody via rational design approach: a molecular dynamics study

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) contributes to the development of breast cancers and malignancies. On the other hand, engineered affibody Z(HER2:342) that binds to HER2 can be successfully used for both diagnostic purposes and specific ablation of malignant HER2-positive cell lines. In the current study, electrostatics-based prediction was applied for improving Z(HER2:342) binding affinity using computational design. The affibody Z(HER2:342) alone and in complex with HER2 was energetically minimized, solvated in explicit water, and neutralized. After heating and equilibration steps, the system was studied by isothermal-isobaric (NPT) MD simulation. According to trajectories, Z(HER2:342) specifically binds to HER2 through hydrogen bonds and salt bridges. Based on the electrostatic binding contributions, two affinity-matured variants namely V1 (Tyr35Arg) and V2 (Asn6Asp and Met9Glu) were rationally designed. More investigations through MD simulation show that V1 interacts with HER2 receptor more strongly, compared to Z(HER2:342) and V2.
Study and verification of a slow speed PM generator with outer rotor for small scale wind turbines

This paper considers the study of a directly driven low-speed permanent magnet synchronous generator specially constructed for a vertical axis wind turbine. The studied PM generator with outer rotor construction offers an alternative to fix the wind turbine directly to the end-disk of rotor. As an advantage of the outer rotor PM generator construction it is easier and more reliable to fix the magnets on the rotor active surface. An analysis to optimize the active length of both stator magnetic core and air-gap has been presented. Cogging torque has been analyzed to reduce it by slot skewing. Electromagnetic simulations of the PM generator were performed by using finite element analysis and the SPEED software. A 5 kVA PM generator was designed, manufactured and tested. The test results of the prototype PM generator have been analyzed and compared with the calculated characteristics and data.
Unsupervised Induction of Compositional Types for English Adjective-Noun Pairs

The paper examines how adjectival modiﬁcation classes can be detected by applying unsupervised methods on adjective-noun co-occurrence data. It evaluates a k-means baseline, two graphical models, and a recently introduced bidirectional clustering algorithm against HeiPLAS, a manually annotated gold standard for hidden modiﬁcational classes. The paper shows that the bidirectional clustering algorithm performs best on this task, and discusses how the results of the unsupervised approaches can be employed for building a frame-based inventory of adjectival modiﬁcation
Mastoiditis and Acute Otitis Media in Children with Cochlear Implants: Recommendations for Medical Management

Acute otitis media (OM) or mastoiditis is a very dangerous condition for the ear after cochlear implantation. However, acute OM is very common in childhood and can occasionally occur in an implanted ear. Most cases of acute OM can be successfully treated with intravenous high-dosage antibiotics. In cases of mastoiditis and clinical signs of mastoid abscess, retroauricular drainage is necessary to prevent infection of the implant bed. In a series of 366 children given implants (1 to 14 years), acute OM occurred in 5.6% during a follow-up period of 1 to 8 years. Seven ears had to be opened by means of myringotomy. Five ears were opened by retroauricular incision with mastoid revision on the implanted side. Adenoidectomy and use of ventilation tubes before cochlear implantation, as well as careful subtotal mastoidectomy during the implantation, can reduce the incidence of acute OM in children after implantation. Early and subsequent treatment with operative mastoid drainage can prevent implant loss and should be performed at the implantation center.
OCBA in the yield optimization of analog integrated circuits by evolutionary algorithms

An strategy based on the optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA) approach is presented to reduce the simulation cost in the yield optimization of analog integrated circuits (ICs), when it is performed on classical Monte Carlo simulations. OCBA is applied to distribute the large portion of the budget simulations among critical IC sizing optimization cases, while limiting the simulations for the non-critical cases. The optimal sizing is performed by applying three evolutionary algorithms, namely: non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), multi-objective evolutionary algorithm with decomposition (MOEA/D), and particle swarm optimization (PSO). They are executed within the OCBA-based strategy to enhance the yield of an operational transconductance amplifier using IC technology of 90 nm.
MultiVis: improving access to visualisations for visually impaired people

This paper illustrates work undertaken on the MultiVis project to allow visually impaired users both to construct and browse mathematical graphs effectively. We start by discussing the need for such work, before discussing some of the problems of current technology. We then discuss Graph Builder, a novel tool to allow interactive graph construction, and Sound Bar which provides quick overview access to bar graphs.
Male-Specific Function of Dmrt7 by Sexually Dimorphic Translation in Mouse Testis

Dmrt7 is known to be an essential gene for spermatogenesis but not for oogenesis despite mRNA expression in both testis and ovary. In this study, we examined further expression of Dmrt7 transcript and protein. Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis revealed that there was an alternative splicing variant possessing the entire sequence of intron 1 in adult testis (intron 1 variant), in addition to the mature form of mRNA. In fetal ovary, the intron 1 variant was not expressed whereas the fully spliced form of mRNA was expressed. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that DMRT7 protein was present only in spermatocytes of adult testis but not in fetal ovary. In situ hybridization analyses revealed that the fully spliced form of Dmrt7 mRNA as well as the intron 1 variant were expressed in spermatogonia, spermatids and Sertoli cells in addition to spermatocytes. We also found that poly(A) tails of Dmrt7 mRNA underwent modification of its length from 70 to 440 bp long. Unlike Arbp mRNA, the size variation of poly(A) tails was observed in immature testis in which spermatids were absent. In this study, we demonstrated that Dmrt7 had unique sexually dimorphic expression patterns in transcripts that associated with spermatocyte-specific translation, but not in ovary.
Recurrence and malignant degeneration after resection of adult hemispheric low-grade gliomas.

OBJECT Unlike their malignant counterparts, low-grade gliomas are associated with prolonged survival. However, these tumors have a propensity to progress after resection and ultimately undergo malignant degeneration. The factors associated with recurrence and malignant degeneration remain relatively unknown. The authors set out to determine factors that were independently associated with recurrence and malignant degeneration in patients who underwent resection of a hemispheric low-grade glioma. METHODS Adult patients who underwent craniotomy and resection of a hemispheric low-grade glioma (WHO Grade II) at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution's academic tertiary-care institution between 1996 and 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. Multivariate proportional hazards regression analyses were used to identify associations with tumor recurrence and malignant degeneration. RESULTS Of the 191 consecutive patients with low-grade gliomas in this series (89 fibrillary astrocytomas, 89 oligodendrogliomas, and 13 mixed gliomas), 83 (43%) and 44 (23%) experienced tumor recurrence and malignant degeneration at last follow-up, respectively. The 5-year progression-free and malignancy-free survival rates were 44 and 74%, respectively. Independent predictors of recurrence were duration of longest lasting symptom (relative risk [RR] 0.978, 95% CI 0.954-0.996, p = 0.01), tumor size (RR 1.328, 95% CI 1.109-1.602, p = 0.002), and preoperative contrast enhancement (RR 2.558, 95% CI 1.241-5.021, p = 0.01). Independent factors associated with malignant degeneration were fibrillary astrocytoma pathology (RR 1.800, 95% CI 1.008-4.928, p = 0.04), tumor size (RR 1.086, 95% CI 1.044-1.358, p = 0.04), and gross-total resection (RR 0.526, 95% CI 0.221-1.007, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The identification and consideration of factors associated with recurrence and malignant progression may help guide treatment strategies aimed at delaying recurrence and preventing malignant degeneration for patients with hemispheric low-grade gliomas.
Cardiovascular mortality risk in chronic kidney disease: comparison of traditional and novel risk factors.

CONTEXT Elderly persons with chronic kidney disease have substantial risk for cardiovascular mortality, but the relative importance of traditional and novel risk factors is unknown. OBJECTIVE To compare traditional and novel risk factors as predictors of cardiovascular mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A total of 5808 community-dwelling persons aged 65 years or older living in 4 communities in the United States participated in the Cardiovascular Health Study cohort. Participants were initially recruited from 1989 to June 1990; an additional 687 black participants were recruited in 1992-1993. The average length of follow-up in this longitudinal study was 8.6 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Cardiovascular mortality among those with and without chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of less than 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2. RESULTS Among the participants, 1249 (22%) had chronic kidney disease at baseline. The cardiovascular mortality risk rate was 32 deaths/1000 person-years among those with chronic kidney disease vs 16/1000 person-years among those without it. In multivariate analyses, diabetes, systolic hypertension, smoking, low physical activity, nonuse of alcohol, and left ventricular hypertrophy were predictors of cardiovascular mortality in persons with chronic kidney disease (all P values <.05). Among the novel risk factors, only log C-reactive protein (P = .05) and log interleukin 6 (P<.001) were associated with the outcome as linear predictors. Traditional risk factors were associated with the largest absolute increases in risks for cardiovascular deaths among persons with chronic kidney disease: for left ventricular hypertrophy, there were 25 deaths per 1000 person-years; current smoking, 20 per 1000 person-years; physical inactivity, 15 per 1000 person-years; systolic hypertension, 14 per 1000 person-years; diabetes, 14 per 1000 person-years; and nonuse of alcohol, 11 per 1000 person-years vs 5 deaths per 1000 person-years for those with increased C-reactive protein and 5 per 1000 person-years for those with increased interleukin 6 levels. A receiver operating characteristic analysis found that traditional risk factors had an area under the curve of 0.73 (95% confidence interval, 0.70-0.77) among those with chronic kidney disease. Adding novel risk factors only increased the area under the curve to 0.74 (95% confidence interval, 0.71-0.78; P for difference = .15). CONCLUSIONS Traditional cardiovascular risk factors had larger associations with cardiovascular mortality than novel risk factors in elderly persons with chronic kidney disease. Future research should investigate whether aggressive lifestyle intervention in patients with chronic kidney disease can reduce their substantial cardiovascular risk.
Effect of CPAP treatment for obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome on lipid profile: a meta-regression analysis.

STUDY OBJECTIVE Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) frequently exhibit higher rates of dyslipidemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. Treatment for OSA by CPAP may improve cholesterol metabolism. This meta-regression analysis (MA) estimates the effect of CPAP treatment on dyslipidemia. METHODS PubMed and Cochrane libraries were searched by utilizing different combinations of keywords: CPAP, obstructive sleep apnea, serum lipids, dyslipidemia, cholesterol, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein, LDL, high density lipoprotein, HDL, triglyceride, and TG. Inclusion criteria were: (1) English articles and (2) studies with an adult population with the diagnosis of OSA who were treated with CPAP. The OSA group must have cholesterol profile including TC, LDLc, HDLc, and TG, without and with CPAP treatment. Fifty-four studies were reviewed, while 29 studies pooled for MA. RESULTS Thirty-four datasets from 29 studies with 1,958 subjects pooled. Treatment duration range was from 2 days to 1 year. TC standardized mean differences (SMD) ranged from -41.5 to -0.077, pooled mean difference (PMD) was -5.660 (LL -6.715 to UL -4.606, p < 0.001). SMD in LDL ranged from -3.7 to 0; PMD was -0.488 (LL -0.715 to UL -0.261, p < 0.001). HDL SMD ranged from -0.498 to 1.94. The PMD was 0.207 (LL 0.05 to UL 0.364, p < 0.01). TG SMD ranged from -9.327 to 1.98; PMD was -0.054 (LL -0.124 to UL 0.016, p < 0.129). CONCLUSIONS CPAP treatment for OSA seems to improve dyslipidemia (decrease in total cholesterol and LDL, and increase in HDL). It does not appear to affect TG levels.
Immunotherapy for drug-refractory mucosal leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND Pentavalent antimony (Sb(v)) is the mainstay therapy for mucosal leishmaniasis (ML), but it is toxic, and relapses are common. Immunotherapy using a mixture of killed parasites, with or without bacille Calmette-Guerin, is an alternative but is used sporadically because of inconsistent results. METHODS We developed a defined immunotherapeutic antigen preparation for use in an observational, open-label trial to treat 6 patients with ML with a history of Sb(v) therapy failure. All patients were treated with the antigens thiol-specific antioxidant, Leishmania major stress inducible protein 1, Leishmania elongation initiation factor, and Leishmania heat shock protein 83, plus granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Patients underwent clinical and pathological evaluations before the initiation of immunotherapy and at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 60 months after. RESULTS One month after the third injection, 1 patient showed complete clinical remission (CC) and remained disease free for the duration of the study. At the 9-month follow-up examination, 5 patients showed CC, and all patients were asymptomatic at a subsequent 5-year follow-up examination. CONCLUSIONS These data support the concept that vaccine therapy with a defined antigen combination, used with standard chemotherapy, is a safe and effective approach to treat drug-refractory ML.
Excessief sporten onder adolescente en jongvolwassen mannen: Een review van de mogelijke sociologische en psychologische verklaringen

Steeds meer mannelijke adolescenten en jongvolwassenen lijken een preoccupatie te hebben met krachtsport; in een mate waarin het gedefinieerd kan worden als excessief sporten. Verschillende mogelijke oorzaken zijn vanuit sociologisch en psychologisch oogpunt al aangedragen. Dit reviewartikel vergelijkt de resultaten van twee artikelen uit deze disciplines en de onderliggende wetenschapsfilosofische uitgangspunten. Goodwin, Haycraft en Meyer (2011) vonden een relatief kleine invloed van de media en een meer prominente invloed van de aansporingen van de vader. Halliwell, Dittmar en Orsborn (2007) bouwen vanuit psychologisch opzicht voort op de media-invloed en stellen dat excessief sporten, en dan met name met als doel om spieren te ontwikkelen, een beschermende factor is bij blootstelling aan het mannelijke lichaamsideaal in de media. Beide onderzoeken hanteren fundamenteel andere wetenschapsstijlen die een volledige integratie onmogelijk lijken te maken, maar elkaar wel complementeren. Ten slotte lijken de artikelen prooi te zijn gevallen aan bepaalde kwaliteitverlagende ontwikkelingen die zich sinds een paar decennia in de wetenschap voordoen.
L'emploi des jeunes peu qualifiés en France

D ebut 2013, pres de 1,9 million de jeunes de 15 a 29 ans ne sont ni a l’ecole, ni en emploi, ni en en formation, soit 17 % de cette classe d’âge. Si la crise a aff ecte l’ensemble des pays developpes, nombre de nos voisins europeens connaissent des taux d’emploi des jeunes nettement superieurs au notre. Le niveau d’etude est le critere decisif quant a la trajectoire du jeune. Or, aujourd’hui, 900 000 jeunes ont quitte le systeme scolaire sans diplome. Aider ces jeunes a s’inserer dans la vie professionnelle est un defi majeur. Nous proposons pour cela deux types de mesures : celles qui ont pour objet d’ameliorer la formation des jeunes et leur accompagnement vers l’emploi et celles qui visent a stimuler l’off re d’emploi des entreprises.