Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma/Thrombin Gel Combined with Split-Thickness Skin Graft to Manage Postinfectious Skin Defects: A Randomized Controlled Study

BACKGROUND: Managing cutaneous substance loss after debridement is challenging, especially if it is secondary to necrotizing soft tissue infection, such as necrotizing fasciitis and Fournier gangrene. After skin graft reconstruction, the healing process is longer and may be difficult, depending on the wound site, skin defect size, and patient comorbidities. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether autologous platelet-rich plasma (A-PRP) could accelerate and improve wound healing after cutaneous reconstruction for tissue loss secondary to soft tissue infection. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A prospective, controlled, randomized, open-label study was conducted. Patients (N = 27) were randomized into 2 groups by drawing lots using sealed envelopes: an experimental (n = 14) and a control group (n = 13). Initially, all the necrotic tissue was extensively debrided and excised. In the experimental group, patients underwent a split-thickness skin graft (STSG) combined with A-PRP/thrombin gel sprayed on the wound bed and on the STSG after staple fixation. In the control group, patients underwent an STSG alone. RESULTS: Results showed that the mean complete healing time was significantly reduced (by almost 50%) when A-PRP/thrombin gel was combined with an STSG compared with STSG alone (37.9 [SD, 14.3] days in the experimental group vs 73.7 [SD, 50.84] days in the control group, P = .01). No patient experienced complications during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The combination of A-PRP/thrombin gel and an STSG significantly improved clinical outcomes and shortened the wound healing time. Therefore, this treatment combination could provide a way to heal skin after a necrotizing soft tissue infection with minimal recovery time.
Input, retention, and output factors affecting adult age differences in visuospatial short-term memory.

OBJECTIVES The sources of age differences in short-term memory for spatial locations were explored in 2 experiments that examined factors related to input, to maintenance, and to output. METHOD In each experiment, 4 dots were presented briefly, followed after a retention interval by a probe dot, which was judged to either match or not match one of the 4 memory-set dots. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results showed that poorer performance by older adults could be attributed independently to reduced visual acuity, to less effective use of rehearsal strategies, and to differences in response biases.
Flexible Pseudo-Relevance Feedback for NTCIR-2

The University of Cambridge/Microsoft/Toshiba team participated in the NTCIR-2 Japanese-English Cross-Language IR task only, using the Okapi Basic Search System at the University of Cambridge. The aim of our participation this year was to improve the reliability of pseudo-relevance feedback (PRF) rather than to achieve a high cross-language performance. We therefore regarded the cross-language task as a monolingual one, after having translated the Japanese search requests into English using a machine translation system that was not tuned in any way for the NTCIR-2 task. Our ﬂexible pseudo-relevance feed-back (FPRF) strategies attempt to estimate the best PRF parameter values for each test request based on results with a set of training requests. Seven automatic runs were submitted using the DESCRIPTION ﬁelds: one FPRF run which varies the number of pseudo-relevant documents across requests, four FPRF runs which vary the number of expansion terms across requests, and traditional runs with and without PRF. This paper reports on our pre-submission and post-submission FPRF experiments.
The Impact of Information Culture on Patient Safety Outcomes

Summary Background: An organization’s information culture and information management practices create conditions for processing patient information in hospitals. Information management incidents are failures that could lead to adverse events for the patient if they are not detected. Objectives: To test a theoretical model that links information culture in acute care hospitals to information management incidents and patient safety outcomes. Methods: Reason’s model for the stages of development of organizational accidents was applied. Study data were collected from a cross-sectional survey of 909 RNs who work in medical or surgical units at 32 acute care hospitals in Finland. Structural equation modeling was used to assess how well the hypothesized model fit the study data. Results: Fit indices indicated a good fit for the model. In total, 18 of the 32 paths tested were statistically significant. Documentation errors had the strongest total effect on patient safety outcomes. Organizational guidance positively affected information availability and utilization of electronic patient records, whereas the latter had the strongest total effect on the reduction of information delays. Conclusions: Patient safety outcomes are associated with information management incidents and information culture. Further, the dimensions of the information culture create work conditions that generate errors in hospitals.
Self-compassion and Well-being among Older Adults

Two studies assessed the role of self-compassion as a moderator of the relationship between physical health and subjective well-being in the elderly. In Study 1, 132 participants, ranging in age from 67 to 90 years, completed a questionnaire that assessed their perceptions of their physical health, self-compassion, and subjective well-being. Participants who were in good physical health had high subjective well-being regardless of their level of self-compassion. However, for participants with poorer physical health, self-compassion was associated with greater subjective well-being. In Study 2, 71 participants between the ages of 63 and 97 completed a questionnaire assessing self-compassion, well-being, and their willingness to use assistance for walking, hearing, and memory. Self-compassionate participants reported being less bothered by the use of assistance than those low in self-compassion, although the relationship between self-compassion and willingness to use assistive devices was mixed. These findings suggest that self-compassion is associated with well-being in later life and that interventions to promote self-compassion may improve quality of life among older adults.
Scavenger Receptor B2 as a Receptor for Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease and Severe Neurological Diseases

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the major causative agents of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Infection with EV71 is occasionally associated with severe neurological diseases such as acute encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, and cardiopulmonary failure. Because cellular receptors for viruses play an important role in cell, tissue, and species tropism, it is important to identify and characterize the receptor molecule. Recently, cellular receptors and host factors that stimulate EV71 infection have been identified. Several lines of evidence suggest that scavenger receptor class B, member 2 (SCARB2) plays critical roles in efficient EV71 infection and the development of disease in humans. In this review, we will summarize the findings of recent studies on EV71 infection and on the roles of SCARB2.
A Novel View-Level Target Bit Rate Distribution Estimation Technique for Real-Time Multi-view Video Plus Depth

This paper presents a novel view-level target bit rate distribution estimation technique for real-time Multi-view video plus depth using a statistical model that is based on the prediction mode distribution. Experiments using various standard test sequences show the efficacy of the technique, as the model manages to estimate online the view-level target bit rate distribution with an absolute mean estimation error of 2% and a standard deviation of 0.9%. Moreover, this technique provides adaptation of the view-level bit rate distribution providing scene change handling capability.
Major mental disorders in Butajira, southern Ethiopia

Previous studies conducted in Ethiopia lack information on the prevalence of specific mental disorders in rural communities. The lifetime and one‐month prevalence of specific ICD‐10 mental disorders and their associated socio‐demographic factors were determined using the translated Amharic version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in a rural population. A total of 501 community subjects selected from a predominantly rural district by stratified random sampling were interviewed by non‐clinician interviewers. The weighted aggregate lifetime prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 31.8% (26.7% when substance dependence was not included). The most frequent specific diagnoses were: dissociative disorders (6.3%), mood disorders (6.2%), somatoform disorders (5.9%), and anxiety disorders (5.7%). After adjustment in a multivariate logistic model, female sex was shown to have a statistically significant association with mood disorders (Odds Ratio, OR = 3.84, 95% CI: 1.90, 7.73) and somatoform disorders (OR=2.30, 95% CI: 1.13, 4.60). Severe cognitive and mood disorders were significantly associated with being elderly, i.e. 60 or more years of age (OR=7.71, 95%) CI: 1.58, 7.53; and OR=3.68, 95%) CI=1.36, 9.95, respectively). Khat dependence was associated with being Muslim and with earning a low income. (OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 1.02, 11.98; and OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.96, respectively). It is concluded that psychiatric morbidity is a major public health problem in the rural community.
Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 Expression in Osteosarcoma

Shen, Cote, and colleagues developed a quantitative RNA-based PD-L1 assay and report PD-L1 expression in 84% of human osteosarcomas, of which 24% were at high levels and correlated with TILs, indicating that this subset of patients may benefit from anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy. Programmed cell death ligand 1 (PDL1, also known as B7H1) is a cell-surface protein that suppresses the cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell–mediated immune response. PDL1 expression and its clinical relevance in sarcomas are not well understood. Therefore, we sought to measure RNA expression levels for PDL1 in 38 clinically annotated osteosarcoma tumor samples and aimed to determine if PDL1 expression correlates with clinical features and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Quantitative real-time RT-PCR for PDL1 was optimized in 18 cell lines, of which 5 were osteosarcoma derived. qRT-PCR results were validated via flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in select cell lines. Total RNA was isolated from 38 human osteosarcoma samples for qRT-PCR analysis. Clinical data were sorted, and significance was determined by the Student t test. TILs were examined in patient samples by tissue microarray hematoxylin–eosin staining. We confirmed the constitutive PDL1 mRNA expression in cell lines by qRT-PCR, flow cytometry, and IHC. Across human osteosarcoma samples, PDL1 mRNA gene expression ranged over 4 log (>5,000-fold difference). Relative expression levels were evaluated against clinical factors such as age/gender, metastasis, recurrence, chemotherapy, percentage of necrosis, and survival; no significant associations were identified. The presence of TILs was associated with high PDL1 expression (R2 = 0.37; P = 0.01). In summary, we developed an RNA-based assay to determine PDL1 expression levels, and we show, for the first time, that high levels of PDL1 are expressed in a subset of osteosarcoma, and PDL1 expression is positively correlated with TILs. Multiple agents targeting PD1/PDL1 are in clinical development, and this may be a novel immunotherapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma clinical trials. Cancer Immunol Res; 2(7); 690–8. ©2014 AACR.
Are patients and healthcare providers satisfied with health sector reform implemented in family health centres?

Background Patients' and healthcare providers' satisfactions are important outcomes for any healthcare programmes. In Egypt, the Health Sector Reform Program (HSRP) has been implemented since 1999 in primary healthcare (PHC) centres adopting the family health approach. Objectives To assess the clients' satisfaction towards the overall health services provided by health centres affiliated to HSRP and to evaluate the satisfaction of healthcare providers, physicians, nurses and social workers. Methodology Four reformed PHC units were compared with four non-reformed units in the Alexandria governorate regarding patients' and providers' satisfactions. Assessment of the satisfaction was done using survey questionnaire and focus group discussion. The provider survey questionnaire was carried out on all providers working in the selected units. Focus group discussion was done in one reformed health unit and another non-reformed unit. Results The current study showed that providers in the reformed PHCs were more satisfied than providers in non-reformed PHCs regarding availability of equipments, job satisfaction and income satisfaction. No significant differences were noticed between both groups regarding social relations with either colleagues or directors. The patient satisfaction was higher in accredited family health units compared to non-accredited units in all aspects: cleanness, doctors and nurses, waiting area and waiting time. During the focus group discussion, patients in the accredited PHCs expressed their satisfaction regarding the cleanness, privacy, attitude of doctors and nurses as well the waiting area and waiting time. Conclusion Implemented HSRP in PHC units has had positive implications regarding patients' and providers' satisfactions in most areas studied.
Time to take hypermobility seriously (in adults and children).

A third of a century has elapsed since the hypermobility syndrome (HMS) appeared on the rheumatological horizon w1x. From the outset it was perceived more as a curiosity than as an entity that could have signi®cant (let alone serious) import. In both children and adults it aroused more wonder at the seemingly bizarre contortionist manoeuvres patients could perform (to the misplaced amusement of medical students and their teachers) than a quest for appreciating and alleviating the adverse aspects of the condition. There is now abundant evidence from papers published in peer-reviewed journals in many countries to demonstrate the serious impact that hypermobility can have on peoples' lives w2x. There is no longer (if there ever was) any justi®cation for regarding hypermobility as merely a circus act w3x. The original description of Kirk et al. w1x de®ned the HMS as the occurrence of`musculoskeletal symptoms in the presence of generalised joint laxity in otherwise normal subjects'. It was diagnosis by exclusion, the phrasèotherwise normal' implying the absence of other identi®able rheumatic disease. Yet much has been learnt since to change our concept of the condition. It has been established from a number of studies w4, 5x, ®rst that hypermobility is more often pauciarticular than polyarticular and, secondly that it does not have to be generalized to cause symptoms w6x. Even a single hypermobile joint may suffer any or all of the consequences of laxity, including a tendency to dislocate , develop traumatic synovitis or premature osteo-arthritis, or it may just hurt for no visibly obvious reason w2x. Thirdly, the HMS, as seen from the clinic perspective, far from occurring inòtherwise normal subjects', has all the hallmarks of a forme fruste of a heritable disorder of connective tissue (HDCT). That is to say, it is imbued with features that overlap with its more serious cousinsÐthe Marfan and Ehlers±Danlos (EDS) syndromes and osteogenesis imperfectaÐthough in general its features are milder and lesser in degree w7x. As life expectancy is not reduced, the use of the term`benign joint hypermobility syndrome' (BJHS) has largely replaced the earlier HMS w8x. The British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) Special Interest Group on the HDCTs has recently published a revised set of validated diagnostic criteria for the BJHS w9x, which many authorities now believe to be identical with the hypermobility type of the EDS (formerly EDS type III w10x). The BJHS represents a complex mix of acute, recurrent or recalcitrant, …
Developing a Group-based Security Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents a group-based security scheme for distributed wireless sensor networks. The scheme is proposed with 3-types of entities: one or more base stations, Y number of group dominator nodes, and N number of ordinary sensor nodes. We model the group-based deployment using Gaussian (normal) distribution and show that more than 85% network connectivity can be achieved with the proposed model. The small groups with pre-shared secrets form the secure groups where group dominators form the backbone of the network. The scheme is devised for dealing with sensory data aggregated by groups of collocated sensors; i.e., local sensed data are collected by the dominating nodes and sent an aggregated packet to the base station via other group dominators. The scheme is shown to be light-weight, and it offers a stronger defense against node capture attacks. Analysis and simulation results are presented to defend our proposal. Analysis shows that robustness can significantly be improved by increasing the deployment density using both the dominating and/or ordinary sensor nodes.
Mutation, Aliasing, Viewpoints, Modular Reasoning, and Weak Behavioral Subtyping

Existing work on behavioral subtyping either ignores aliasing or restricts the behavior of additional methods in a subtype and only allows one to use invariants and history constraints in reasoning. This prevents many useful subtype relationships; for example, a type with immutable objects (e.g., immutable sequences), cannot have a behavioral subtype with mutable objects (e.g., mutable arrays). Furthermore, the associated reasoning principle is not very useful, since one cannot use the preand postconditions of methods. Weak behavioral subtyping permits more behavioral subtype relationships, does not restrict the behavior of additional methods in subtypes, and allows the use of preand postconditions in reasoning. The only cost is the need to restrict aliases so that objects cannot be manipulated through the view of more than one type.
Recovery and long-term renal excretion of propofol, its glucuronide, and two di-isopropylquinol glucuronides after propofol infusion during surgery.

BACKGROUND The metabolism of the short-acting anaesthetic agent propofol has been described over the first 24 h. However, the long-term disposition of propofol and its metabolites is unclear. We describe the pharmacokinetics (renal excretion rates and renal clearance) of propofol and its metabolites over 60 h. METHODS Ten patients undergoing lung surgery were included in the study. They received anaesthesia with continuous i.v. propofol at an average rate of 10 mg min(-1). During surgery and 60 h thereafter, we sampled blood and urine. Propofol and its metabolites were measured using gradient high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS In nine patients, propofol and its glucuronides were found in the plasma over the first 15 h. In the urine, however, even after 60 h, propofol and its quinol glucuronides were still detectable. One patient had a markedly different pharmacokinetic profile, showing a limited renal excretion or absorption of 12% of the dose. CONCLUSIONS After an infusion of propofol, patients excrete propofol and its metabolites in the urine over a period in excess of 60 h. We hypothesize that (re)absorption of propofol and its metabolites by the kidney is a major process in elimination and that the reabsorbed compounds are gradually conjugated in the kidney and excreted in the urine. One patient showed a different pharmacokinetic profile for which we currently have no explanation.
Building up user confidence for the spaceborne derived global and continental land cover products for the Mediterranean region: the case of Thessaly

Across globe and space agencies nations recognize the importance of homogenized land cover information, prone to regular updates, both in the context of thematic and spatial resolutions. Recent sensor advances and the free distribution policy promote the utilization of spaceborne products in an unprecedented pace into an increasingly wider range of applications. Ensuring credibility to the users is a major enabler in this process. To this end this study contributes with a systematic accuracy performance measurement and continental/global land cover layers' inter-comparison moving towards confidence built up. Confidence levels during validation and a weighted overall accuracy assessment were applied. Google Earth imagery was employed to assess the accuracy of three land cover products, i.e., Globeland30, HRLs and CLC 2012, for the years 2010 and 2012. Reported rates indicate a minimum weighted overall accuracy of 84%. Specific classes' performance deviations from the general trend were noted and discussed on the basis of an unbiased sampling approach. By integrating confidence levels during the ground truth annotation, stratified sampling on the several Corine Level 3 subclasses and the weighted overall accuracy assessment, the different aspects of the considered land cover products can be highlighted more objectively.
Improved Formulation for Investigation of Proximity-Coupled Microstrip Antenna in Homogeneous Dielectric Half Space

Analytical evaluation of asymptotic part of the Green's function, in product with piece-wise sinusoidal, entire domain, and travelling wave mode basis functions, is presented. The Sommerfeld type double integral in spectral domain is solved and reduced into a single integral in spatial domain with very short integration range. The derived results lead to develop a computational efficiency improved code, which has been found 27 times faster than the earlier validated common method of moments code.
Cost-Effective Viral Marketing for Time-Critical Campaigns in Large-Scale Social Networks

Online social networks (OSNs) have become one of the most effective channels for marketing and advertising. Since users are often influenced by their friends, “word-of-mouth” exchanges, so-called viral marketing, in social networks can be used to increase product adoption or widely spread content over the network. The common perception of viral marketing about being cheap, easy, and massively effective makes it an ideal replacement of traditional advertising. However, recent studies have revealed that the propagation often fades quickly within only few hops from the sources, counteracting the assumption on the self-perpetuating of influence considered in literature. With only limited influence propagation, is massively reaching customers via viral marketing still affordable? How do we economically spend more resources to increase the spreading speed? We investigate the cost-effective massive viral marketing problem, taking into the consideration the limited influence propagation. Both analytical analysis based on power-law network theory and numerical analysis demonstrate that the viral marketing might involve costly seeding. To minimize the seeding cost, we provide mathematical programming to find optimal seeding for medium-size networks and propose VirAds, an efficient algorithm, to tackle the problem on large-scale networks. VirAds guarantees a relative error bound of O(1) from the optimal solutions in power-law networks and outperforms the greedy heuristics that realizes on the degree centrality. Moreover, we also show that, in general, approximating the optimal seeding within a ratio better than O(logn) is unlikely possible.