Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of Plasma Prealbumin concentration in assessment of nutritional status of adult patients admitted in rural Hospitals in Rivers State, Nigeria

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a common condition among patients admitted to hospitals, and it is associated with a worse prognosis and increased mortality. Although several screening systems are now available, PEM is still poorly recognized especially in the rural settings as there is no consensus on which test is more reliable and feasible in clinical practice. Prealbumin (PAB) is a potential useful PEM marker because its serum concentrations are closely related to early changes in nutritional status. We studied PEM prevalence and PAB serum concentrations in 120 hospitalized patients. The Detailed Nutritional Assessment (DNA) was used as the reference method to determine PEM. PAB performance was compared with that of 2 other methods, the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and the Prognostic Inflammatory and Nutritional Index score (PINI). According to the DNA reference method, 51% of patients were classified with mild malnutrition and 23% with severe malnutrition. PAB showed the best concordance with the standard DNA method (concordance index, 80%) and a good sensitivity/specificity profile (84.9%/78.9%) compared with SGA and PINI. We conclude that PAB could represent a feasible and reliable tool in the evaluation of nutritionalstatus, especially in rural settings where it is difficult to obtain a more detailed and comprehensive nutritional assessment such as the DNA.
Two-fold pricing to guarantee individual profits and maximum social welfare in multi-hop wireless access networks

In a multi-hop wireless access network, where each node is an independent self-interested commercial entity, pricing is helpful not only to encourage collaboration but also to utilize the network resources efficiently. In this paper, we propose a market-based model with two-fold pricing (TFP) for wireless access networks. In our model, the relay-pricing is used to encourage nodes to forward packets for other nodes. Each node receives a payment for the relay service that it provides. We also consider interference-pricing to leverage optimal resource allocation. Together, the relay and interference prices incorporate both cooperative and competitive interactions among the nodes. We prove that TFP guarantees positive profit for each individual wireless node for a wide range of pricing functions. The profit increases as the node forwards more packets. Thus, the cooperative nodes are well rewarded. We then determine the relay and interference pricing functions such that the network social welfare and the aggregate network utility are maximized. Simulation results show that, compared to two recently proposed single-fold pricing models, where only the relay or only the interference prices are considered, our proposed TFP scheme significantly increases the total network profit as well as the aggregate network throughput. TFP also leads to more fair revenue sharing among the wireless relay nodes.
Ultragraph C -algebras via topological quivers

Given an ultragraph in the sense of Tomforde, we construct a topological quiver in the sense of Muhly and Tomforde in such a way that the universal C -algebras associated to the two objects coincide. We apply results of Muhly and Tomforde for topological quiver algebras and of Katsura for topological graph C -algebras to study the K-theory and gauge-invariant ideal structure of ultragraph C -algebras.
A CT sigma-delta modulator with a hybrid loop filter and capacitive feedforward

A CT (continuous-time) sigma-delta modulator (CT ΣΔM) clocked at 128 MHz with a hybrid active-passive loop filter is presented for WCDMA applications. This 5th-order loop filter architecture mainly consists of two passive integrators and three active integrators. To erase the summation amplifier used in the CIFF (chain of integrators with weighted feedforward summation) topology, the capacitive feedforward structure is employed. In addition, local feedback resistors are formed as the bridge-T network to reduce the chip area. After chip being fabricated in TSMC 0.18 µm 1.8 V CMOS technology, the overall measured results have achieved dynamic range of 62 dB over a 2 MHz signal bandwidth, SNDR of 60.26 dB, IM3 of −48 dB and power dissipation of 9 mW. Including pads, the overall chip area is 0.642 (1.07 × 0.6) mm2.
Taspase1 processing alters TFIIA cofactor properties in the regulation of TFIID

TFIIA is an important positive regulator of TFIID, the primary promoter recognition factor of the basal RNA polymerase II transcription machinery. TFIIA antagonises negative TFIID regulators such as negative cofactor 2 (NC2), promotes specific binding of the TBP subunit of TFIID to TATA core promoter sequence elements and stimulates the interaction of TBP-associated factors (TAFs) in the TFIID complex with core promoter elements located downstream of TATA, such as the initiator element (INR). Metazoan TFIIA consists of 3 subunits, TFIIAα (35 kDa), β (19 kDa) and γ (12 kDa). TFIIAα and β subunits are encoded by a single gene and result from site-specific cleavage of a 55 kDa TFIIA(α/β) precursor protein by the protease Taspase1. Metazoan cells have been shown to contain variable amounts of TFIIA (55/12 kDa) and Taspase1-processed TFIIA (35/19/12 kDa) depending on cell type, suggesting distinct gene-specific roles of unprocessed and Taspase1-processed TFIIA. How precisely Taspase1 processing affects TFIIA functions is not understood. Here we report that Taspase1 processing alters TFIIA interactions with TFIID and the conformation of TFIID/TFIIA promoter complexes. We further show that Taspase1 processing induces increased sensitivity of TFIID/TFIIA complexes to the repressor NC2, which is counteracted by the presence of an INR core promoter element. Our results provide first evidence that Taspase1 processing affects TFIIA regulation of TFIID and suggest that Taspase1 processing of TFIIA is required to establish INR-selective core promoter activity in the presence of NC2.
Early geomagnetic data from the Astronomical Observatory of Madrid (1879–1901)

The recovery of early geomagnetic data is essential to improve knowledge of the evolution of the geomagnetic field. A recently recovered dataset is described that includes mean decadal (10 days) values of the geomagnetic declination and some disperse values of geomagnetic inclination measured at the Astronomical Observatory of Madrid from 1879 to 1901. These recovered data are compared directly with the results obtained from a geomagnetic model. The data have now been made accessible for the scientific community in digital form.
TNF / TNFR 1 signaling upregulates CCR 5 expression by CD 8 + T lymphocytes and promotes heart tissue damage during Trypanosoma cruzi infection : beneficial effects of TNF-a blockade

Laboratório de Auto-imunidade e Imuno-regulação (LAIIR), Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Av. Brasil 4365, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 1Laboratório de Imunologia, Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brasil 2Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Instituto Rene Rachou-Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil 3Departamento de Morfologia Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
Primary care

Dr John Ferguson is the current President of the Section of General Practice of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was in academic general practice in Edinburgh for 20 years and was involved in the continuum of medical education as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of General Practice and an Associate Regional Adviser in General Practice to the Edinburgh Postgraduate Board for Medicine. He is the past Chairman of the Examination Board of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London. In September 1992, he was appointed to the new post of Medical Director to the Prescription Pricing Authority in Newcastle upon Tyne, which is an NHS Special Health Authority, whose responsibility is to process over 518 million prescriptions per annum in England, and to arrange the payment in excess of £4.94 billion.
Subjective Well-Being Among the Old-Old: The Role of Health, Personality and Social Support

The purpose of this study was to devise and test a path model that explains how background variables, physical capacity, and psychosocial resources (locus of control and social network supportiveness) affect three well-being outcome measures—self-rated health, mental health, and life satisfaction—among the old-old in Israel. A sample of European-born persons aged seventy-five and over, drawn randomly from the population registry in the greater Tel Aviv area, was administered a structured questionnaire in personal interviews (N = 194). The findings confirm that the relationship between background variables, physical capacity and well-being is differentially mediated by the psychosocial resources, with different variable combinations predicting each of the respective facets of well-being. Moreover, the relative strength of the relationships between locus of control and social network supportiveness and well-being indicate that among the old-old, personality factors may be more consequential than social resources for one's well-being.
Randomized Evaluation of Pulse Oximetry in 20,802 Patients; I: Design, Demography, Pulse Oximetry Failure Rate, and Overall Complication Rate

BackgroundAlthough pulse oximetry is currently In widespread use, there are few data documenting Improvement in patient outcome as a result of the use of oximetry. The authors describe the study design, patient demographic findings, data validation, pulse oximetry failure rate, and overall postoperative complication rates in the first large prospective randomized multicenter clinical trial on perloperative pulse oximetry monitoring. Methods;In five Danish hospitals, by random assignment, monitoring did or did not include pulse oximetry for patients 18 yr of age and older, whether scheduled for elective or emergency operations, or for regional or general anesthesia, except during cardiac and neurosurgical procedures. Operational definitions were established for perioperative events and postoperative complications. The data were collected preoperatively, during anesthesia, in the postanesthesia care unit, and until the day of discharge from the hospital or the seventh postoperative day. ResultsOf 20,802 patients, 10,312 were assigned to the oximetry group and 10,490, to the control group. In general, the demographic data, patient factors, and anesthetic agents used were distributed evenly. A slight intergroup difference was found in the distribution of age, duration of surgery, some types of surgery, and some types of anesthesia. The total failure rate of the oximetry was 2.5%, but it increased to 7.2% in patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 4 (P < 0.00001). In 14.9% of the patients, one or more events occurred in the operating room and 13.5% in the postanesthesia care unit. The overall postoperative complication rate was 9.7%. The total rates of cardiovascular and respiratory complications were 2.78% and 3.50%, respectively. Within the
Ceftriaxone pharmacokinetics in newborn infants

Ceftriaxone pharmacokinetics were determined in 40 newborn infants who were 1 to 45 days of age. Mean peak plasma concentrations of 136 to 173 micrograms/ml were observed at the completion of a 15-min intravenous infusion of 50 mg of ceftriaxone per kg. Mean half-life values were 5.2 to 8.4 h, and mean plasma clearances were 0.7 to 1.8 ml/min. Rectal swab cultures from 14 of 16 infants had either reduced numbers of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria or no growth during therapy. A once-daily dosage schedule is suggested for ceftriaxone therapy in newborn infants.
Real-Time Depth-of-Field Rendering Using Anisotropically Filtered Mipmap Interpolation

This article presents a real-time GPU-based post-filtering method for rendering acceptable depth-of-field effects suited for virtual reality. Blurring is achieved by nonlinearly interpolating mipmap images generated from a pinhole image. Major artifacts common in the post-filtering techniques such as bilinear magnification artifact, intensity leakage, and blurring discontinuity are practically eliminated via magnification with a circular filter, anisotropic mipmapping, and smoothing of blurring degrees. The whole framework is accelerated using GPU programs for constant and scalable real-time performance required for virtual reality. We also compare our method to recent GPU-based methods in terms of image quality and rendering performance.
Heavy Metal Levels in Some Popular Vegetables from Some Selected Markets in Saudi Arabia

HEAVY metals accumulation in vegetables consider a world problem that may affect food safety and human health. In the present study fifteen vegetable species consisting of five leafy; Arugula (Eruca sativa), Cabbage (Brassica oleracea), Corchorus (Corchorus capsularis), Dill (Anethum graveolens) and Parsley (Petroselinum sativum); five fruits (Cucumber (Cucumis sativus), Eggplant (Solanum melongena), Green pepper (Capsicum annuum), Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo); in addition to five tubers; Garlic (Allium sativum), Onion (Allium cepa), Radish (Raphanus sativus), Potato (Solanum tuberosum) and Yam (Ipomoea batatas) purchased from a local markets in Rafha Governorate at the Northern Border region in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were tested for levels of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), iron (Fe), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) metals using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained showed that levels of Cd, Pb, As, Fe, Cu and Zn ranged from 0.13±0.073 to 1.63±0.96; 0.33±0.18 to 5.38±2.67; 0.020±0.001 to 0.052±0.033; 0.41±0.09 to 10.81±7.29; 0.49±0.13 to 4.37±0.89 and 2.05±0.80 to 94.20±73.28μg/g, respectively, for all vegetable samples. The highest average concentrations of Cd, Pb, As, Fe, Cu and Zn were recorded in leafy species as 0.46±0.19 to 1.63 ± 0.96; 0.00 to 5.38 ± 2.67; 0.00 to 0.049±0.031; 2.95±1.47 to 10.81±1.29; 1.42±0.73 to 4.37±0.89; 4.63±1.37 to 21.99±18. 60μg/g, respectively. The highest mean levels 94.20±73.28 and 10.81±7.29μg/g were recorded for Zn and Fe in potato and corchorus, respectively; while the lowest mean levels 0.13±0.073 and 0.33±0.18μg/g were for Cd and Pb in garlic and radish respectively. The element concentrations of these vegetables were within safety baseline levels for human consumption.
Logic Synthesis for Layout Regularity using Decision Diagrams

This paper presents a methodology for logic synthesis of Boolean functions in the form of regular structures that can be mapped into standard cells or programmable devices. Regularity offers an elegant solution to hard problems arising in layout and test generation, at no extra cost or at the cost of increasing the number of gates, which does not always translate into the increase of circuit area. Previous attempts to synthesize logic into regular structures using decision diagrams suffered from an increase in the number of logic levels due to multiple repetitions of control variables. This paper proposes new techniques, which lead to fewer variable repetitions and significantly improve the performance of synthesis algorithms. Experimental results show that the generated regular circuits are larger in the number of gates and comparable in delay to the circuits without regularity produced by SIS, yet they exhibit a number of important advantages, such as localization and predictability of interconnect, reduction in the gate output load, and improved testability.
Hot Spots of Climate Extremes in the Future

A Regional Extreme Climatic Change Index (RECCI), simultaneously considering the changes in intensity, frequency and interannual variability of three major extreme climatic variables (i.e., precipitation, temperature and wind speed), is constructed to represent regional changes of climate extremes in response to global warming. First, the daily outputs from 13 models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 project in both historical and future simulations under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario are used to compute the extreme climatic indices. Second, the RECCI is computed on both annual and seasonal time scales during three periods (i.e., 2016–2035, 2046–2065 and 2080–2099) over 26 subregions. Finally, the spatiotemporal change of the RECCI is investigated, and then, the 26 subregions are classified into four categories for each period. The first category with the largest RECCI value is very sensitive to global warming, which is called hot spots of climate extremes. The results show that most hot spots are not time invariant on annual and seasonal time scales with some exceptions. On the annual time scale, the Amazon Basin is the only persistent hot spot in all three periods. For the seasonal time scale in March‐April‐May, the climate extremes in the Amazon Basin always display the strongest responsiveness to global warming, and the Eastern Africa is the only persistent hot spot in June‐July‐August in three periods. Similar results are also found for the other two seasons and periods. In addition, the change in extreme temperature is crucial over the East Asia with change in frequency prominent.
Focal Mechanisms for Subcrustal Earthquakes Beneath the Gibraltar Arc

Intermediate deep earthquakes are usually associated with active subduction, and show mostly dip‐slip faulting mechanisms aligned with the downgoing oceanic lithosphere. Forty‐two new focal mechanisms from 50‐ to 100‐km depth beneath the Gibraltar Arc and Alboran Sea show different characteristics. The most abundant solutions are strike‐slip mechanisms, in agreement with relative plate motion between Nubia and Eurasia. Additional reverse faulting mechanisms indicate compression in direction of absolute plate motion, reproducing the basal drag of the mantle on the hanging lithosphere. In turn, no signature of ongoing subduction was found. Migrated sections of P wave receiver functions suggest that a significant part of intermediate deep seismicity is produced within the stalled remnants of Jurassic age, oceanic lithosphere that once formed the connection between the Alpine Tethys and the central Atlantic and later has been buried beneath the Gibraltar Arc.
Telmisartan But Not Valsartan Increases Caloric Expenditure and Protects Against Weight Gain and Hepatic Steatosis

The potential effects of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) on adipose tissue biology and body weight are of considerable interest, because these agents are frequently used to treat hypertension in patients who are prone to visceral obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. In rats fed a high-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, we compared the effects of 2 ARBs, telmisartan and valsartan, on body weight, food intake, energy expenditure, fat accumulation, fat cell size, and hepatic triglyceride levels. Telmisartan, but not valsartan, promoted increases in caloric expenditure and protected against dietary-induced weight gain. In the telmisartan-treated rats, absolute food intake, but not food intake adjusted for body weight, was lower than in valsartan-treated rats or controls. Telmisartan reduced the accumulation of visceral fat and decreased adipocyte size to a much greater extent than valsartan and was also associated with a significant reduction in hepatic triglyceride levels. Moreover, telmisartan, but not valsartan, increased the expression of both nuclear-encoded and mitochondrial-encoded genes in skeletal muscle known to play important roles in mitochondrial energy metabolism. Thus, in addition to a class effect of ARBs in modulating adipocyte size, these findings raise the possibility that certain molecules, like telmisartan, may have a particularly strong impact on fat cell volume and fat accumulation, as well as distinctive effects on energy metabolism, that may help protect against dietary-induced visceral obesity and weight gain.
The Early vs Late Infantile Strabismus Surgery Study: do sources for bias exist in this non-randomised trial?

BACKGROUND The Early vs Late Infantile Strabismus Surgery Study Group investigates whether early or late surgery is preferable in infantile convergent strabismus, in a non-randomised, prospective, multicentre clinical trial. The current state of the study after end of recruitment is reported here, focusing on the question of possible sources for bias in this non-randomised trial. METHOD The prognostic factors were analysed at baseline in order to check for imbalances between the two treatment groups. Reasons for possible differences are discussed. RESULTS There is no evidence for clinically relevant inhomogeneities between the two groups concerning the distribution of the three prognostic factors spherical equivalent, degree of amblyopia, and limitation of abduction. The fourth prognostic factor, horizontal angle of squint, differs significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSION In the analysis of the final results we may have to account for differences in angle of squint at baseline by its inclusion as a covariate or by stratification.
Andromeda X, a New Dwarf Spheroidal Satellite of M31: Photometry

We report the discovery of Andromeda X, a new dwarf spheroidal satellite of M31, based on stellar photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using follow-up imaging data we have estimated its distance and other physical properties. We find that Andromeda X has a dereddened central surface brightness of μV, 0 ~ 26.7 mag arcsec-2 and a total apparent magnitude of Vtot ~ 16.1, which at the derived distance modulus, (m - M)0 ~ 24.12-24.34, yields an absolute magnitude of MV ~ -8.1 ± 0.5; these values are quite comparable to those of Andromeda IX, a previously discovered low-luminosity M31 satellite. The discoveries of Andromeda X and of numerous other extremely faint satellites around M31 and the Milky Way in the past few years suggest that such objects may be plentiful in the Local Group.
Erratum: Supersymmetric solutions of minimal gauged supergravity in five dimensions [Phys. Rev. D 68, 105009 (2003)]

All purely bosonic supersymmetric solutions of minimal gauged supergravity in five dimensions are classified. The solutions fall into two classes depending on whether the Killing vector constructed from the Killing spinor is time-like or null. When it is timelike, the solutions are determined by a four-dimensional Kahler base-manifold, up to an anti-holomorphic function, and generically preserve 1/4 of the supersymmetry. When it is null we provide a precise prescription for constructing the solutions and we show that they generically preserve 1/4 of the supersymmetry. We show that $AdS_5$ is the unique maximally supersymmetric configuration. The formalism is used to construct some new solutions, including a non-singular deformation of $AdS_5$, which can be uplifted to obtain new solutions of type IIB supergravity
Mapping Information Flows on Twitter

Social network services like Twitter and Facebook have created an expectation that you interact with your customers, followers and friends. There’s an expectation to connect rather than broadcast, listen and engage in conversations. But how can we expect to interact with our invisible audience when we can’t really see whose there? For the first time in history, there is a plethora of information produced by people’s actions. We can now observe a friend take another’s recommendation to purchase an item, or a powerful stream of clicks to content that we choose to curate. Social media professionals are jumping on the bandwagon and attempting to quantify social interactions by using terms like influence, reach, trust and klout. But even though data is more visible than ever, it is still representative of people’s complex reasoning mechanism, changing relationships, timing and logic. This paper looks at two different ways to analyze and display characteristics of online audiences on Twitter through information flows. By visualizing flows, it is possible to “put a face” to an audience, seeing interactions between interconnected users. By replaying a representation of the series of events, it is possible to note key moments in the act of information dissemination.