Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Light chain tubulopathy without Fanconi syndrome.

A 59-year-old white male was found to have mild proteinuria and renal insufficiency during a life insurance test in 2003. His serum creatinine has been stable at 1.6mg/dl since then. His 24 h urine protein was 720mg in 2003 and 861mg in 2006. Urinalysis showed 1þ protein with inactive sediment. His ANA, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis C antibody and serum cryoglobulin were all negative. He had normal serum complement and anti-streptolysin O (ASLO) titer. In December 2005, he was found to have IgG-k paraprotein on serum protein immunofixation and kBence Jonce protein on urine protein immunofixation. He subsequently underwent a bone marrow biopsy which revealed 20% plasmacytosis with k restriction and was diagnosed with ‘smoldering’ multiple myeloma. The patient underwent a renal biopsy to determine the cause of his renal insufficiency and mild proteinuria. With normal glomeruli, many proximal tubules contained numerous intracytoplasmic needleshaped crystals that stained hypereosinophilic on haematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff stainnegative and trichrome-red. The proximal tubules displayed intact brush borders without degenerative changes or atrophy. On electron microscopy, the intracellular crystals appeared as rhomboid and rod-shaped electron dense inclusions. (Figure 1A). The crystals were present predominantly free within the cytoplasm (not membrane-bound). The crystals stained strongly for k-light chain (with negativity for lambda, IgG, IgM and IgA) by immunofluorescence performed on pronase-digested paraffin sections (Figure 1B). Despite the abundant light chain inclusions in proximal tubular cells, extensive laboratory
Evaluation of blood flow and electromyographic activity in the perioral muscles.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Although the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the perioral muscles, including the orbicularis oris and mentalis muscles, has been described in individuals with lip incompetence during lip sealing, blood flow through these muscles remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine the blood flow associated with EMG activity in the perioral muscles using laser speckle imaging in individuals with lip incompetence. SUBJECTS/METHODS Blood flow and EMG activity of the superior and inferior orbicularis oris and mentalis muscles were measured with the lips in contact (C condition) and apart (O condition) in lip incompetence (experimental) and control subjects (n = 15 in each group; mean age: 29.5 years). The change ratios of blood flow and EMG activity in the C condition versus O condition (C/O ratios) were calculated and plotted in a scattergram. The Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, discriminant analysis using the Mahalanobis generalized distance, and Spearman correlation were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS In the experimental group, blood flow and EMG activity in all muscles were significantly greater in the C condition than in the O condition. The plots of C/O ratios in the experimental group showed a distinct and wide distribution and were significantly different than those in the control group. In both groups, a significant positive correlation was observed between blood flow and EMG activity in the mentalis muscle. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS The present findings suggest that observing blood flow in the mentalis muscle is an effective and easily performed method of evaluating lip incompetence.
On Validation Setup for Multiclass Imbalanced Data Sets

The validation of experiments is commonly evaluated with Cross-Validation methods. In the literature the 10-fold, followed by bootstrap, are the most indicated methods. However there lacks a study of a proper validation procedure for imbalanced data sets, specially for the rare class case. In this work the most used validation methods were tested in ten imbalanced data sets, with a generic and an ad hoc classifiers. Analyses showed that 10-fold, followed by hold-out, are the indicated methods when using a generic classifier. For the ad hoc classifier the 10-fold, followed by bootstrap, are the indicated ones. In the case of rare classes in a data set, the most indicated method is the repeated hold-out.
Modeling Topic-Level Academic Influence in Scientific Literatures

Scientific articles are not born equal. Some generate an entire discipline while others make relatively fewer contributions. When reviewing scientific literatures, it would be useful to identify those important articles and understand how they influence others. In this paper, we introduce J-Index, a quantitative metric modeling topic-level academic influence. J-Index is calculated based on the novelty of each article as well as its contributions to the articles where it is cited. We devise a generative model named Reference Topic Model (RefTM) which jointly utilizes the textual content and citation information in scientific literatures. We show how to learn RefTM to discover both the novelty of each paper and the strength of each citation. Experiments on a collection of more than 420,000 research papers demonstrate that RefTM outperforms the stateof-the-art approaches in terms of topic coherence as well as prediction performance, and validate J-Index’s effectiveness of capturing topic-level academic influence in scientific literatures.
Calorimetric Measurements of CO2 Absorption into Aqueous N -Methyldiethanolamine Solutions

A reaction calorimeter was used to study the rate and heat effects during CO2 absorption into aqueous solutions of N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). The experiments were carried out at constant pressure of 0.1 MPa and 0.3 MPa over a range of temperature from 293 K to 333 K. The amine content changed from 10 to 30 mass %. The experimental equipment and procedure were described with the emphasis on complexity originating from the difficulty of interpreting the chemical absorption data and measuring the enthalpy of absorption. The employed technique was also found to be useful in determining the CO2 solubility in aqueous MDEA. The enthalpy of absorption was found to be independent of pressure and amine concentration and it increased with temperature. A new method to estimate the chemical reaction rate from heat flow data has been developed and proved to be valid for the CO2—H2O—MDEA system. The present results show that the employed technique offers a big advantage of simultaneous monitoring of many data which are involved in the absorption process.
A novel risk-based decision-making paradigm

This paper presents a novel rodent decision-making task that explores uncertainty, independently of expectation and predictability. Using a 5-hole operating box, adult male Wistar rats were given choices between a small certain (safe) food reward and a large uncertain (risk) food reward. We found that animals strongly preferred the safe option when it had a fixed position or was cued with a light in a random placement scheme, but had no preference for safe or risk options when the latter were associated with light. Importantly, when the reward was manipulated animals could perceive alterations in the outcome value and biased their choice pattern to the most profitable option. In addition, we found that the D2/D3 agonist quinpirole biased all decisions toward risk in this paradigm. Finally, a c-fos analysis revealed that several brain areas known to be involved in decision-making mechanisms, including the medial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens and the striatum, were activated by the task. In summary, this paradigm is a useful and highly reliable tool to explore decision-making processes in contexts of uncertainty.
The Experience of Miners Relocated to Alternative Positions due to Silicosis in the Andean of CODELCO, Chile, 2010

Objectives To understand the personal experiences of mine workers that have experienced job relocation due to silicosis at the Andina Division of Corporación Nacional del Cobre (CODELCO), Chile. The purpose of the study was to provide useful information for the development of new local, business and public policies for the care of workers with silicosis. Methods A qualitative study based on a practical case study of 5 workers. The information was collected by means of structured individual interviews. The method of analysis was phenomenology. Results The corporal axis was the most commented upon. It included awareness of the illness, body pains, fatigue, and antagonistic mood disorders (sadness, or the difficulty in finding meaning in life). As far as personal relationships, there was evidence of strong relationships with family, coworkers and friends, as well as extended family. Over all, the experience of relocation was positive with periods of impatience and uncertainty. The job reassignment provided a new and pleasant context for the relocated workers and in the process improved their perception of their quality of life. Conclusions A multidisciplinary team should attend mine workers relocated because of silicosis by addressing the mental and physical aspects of their disease, along with the integral participation of close family members. It is suggested that this investigation be maintain over time to record the personal experiences in the medium-term, adding new cases with the intention of shedding more light on the phenomenon being studied. As a preventive measure, continual workshops are needed on the proper use of respiratory protection in addition, a group of monitors is required.
Multi-dimensional Density Estimation

Modern data analysis requires a number of tools to undercover hidden structure. For initial exploration of data, animated scatter diagrams and nonparametric density estimation in many forms and varieties are the techniques of choice. This article focuses on the application of histograms and nonparametric kernel methods to explore data. The details of theory, computation, visualization, and presentation are all described.
A remarkable recurrent nova in M 31: The predicted 2014 outburst in X-rays with Swift

The M 31 nova M31N 2008-12a was recently found to be a recurrent nova (RN) with a recurrence time of about 1 year. This is by far the fastest recurrence time scale of any known RNe. Our optical monitoring programme detected the predicted 2014 outburst of M31N 2008-12a in early October. We immediately initiated an X-ray/UV monitoring campaign with Swift to study the multiwavelength evolution of the outburst. We monitored M31N 2008-12a with daily Swift observations for 20 days after discovery, covering the entire supersoft X-ray source (SSS) phase. We detected SSS emission around day six after outburst. The SSS state lasted for approximately two weeks until about day 19. M31N 2008-12a was a bright X-ray source with a high blackbody temperature. The X-ray properties of this outburst were very similar to the 2013 eruption. Combined X-ray spectra show a fast rise and decline of the effective blackbody temperature. The short-term X-ray light curve showed strong, aperiodic variability which decreased significantly after about day 14. Overall, the X-ray properties of M31N 2008-12a are consistent with the average population properties of M 31 novae. The optical and X-ray light curves can be scaled uniformly to show similar time scales as those of the Galactic RNe U Sco or RS Oph. The SSS evolution time scales and effective temperatures are consistent with a high-mass WD. We predict the next outburst of M31N 2008-12a to occur in autumn 2015.
Who Gets a Teach-Back? Patient-Reported Incidence of Experiencing a Teach-Back

To ensure comprehension, clinicians have been urged to use “teach-backs”—explicitly asking patients to repeat back key points of instruction—with every patient receiving new care management instructions. Yet, it is not known whether certain patient groups are more likely to receive teach-backs than others. This study used results from the patient survey of the Communication Climate Assessment Toolkit to examine patient-reported incidence of teach-back by patient education level, age, language preference, race/ethnicity, and perception of sufficient time with doctors. In a multivariable model, patients had significantly greater odds of reporting a teach-back if they were of African American race/ethnicity, had non-English language preference, less education, increased age, or perceived that they had sufficient time with their doctor. This study concludes that some physicians seem to be directing teach-back efforts at certain patients, including those from demographic groups where lower literacy is more common, potentially leading patients who could benefit from teach-back to be overlooked. In addition, the strong correlation between reporting receiving a teach-back and reporting having enough time with a doctor merits further study.
LSDX: A New Labelling Scheme for Dynamically Updating XML Data

In order to facilitate query processing for XML data, several path indexing, labelling and numbering scheme have been proposed. However, if XML data need to be updated frequently, most of these approaches will need to re-compute existing labels which is rather time consuming. In this paper, we propose a new Labelling Scheme for Dynamic XML data (LSDX) that supports the representation of the ancestor - descendant relationship and sibling relationship between nodes. Moreover, LSDX supports the process of updating XML data without the need of re-labelling existing labels, hence facilitating fast update. Some experimental works have been conducted to show its effectiveness.
Dialysis-Associated Hypertension Treated with Telmisartan – DiaTel: A Pilot, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over, Randomized Trial

Treatment of hypertension in hemodialysis (HD) patients is characterised by lack of evidence for both the blood pressure (BP) target goal and the recommended drug class to use. Telmisartan, an Angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) that is metabolised in the liver and not excreted via HD extracorporeal circuit might be particularly suitable for HD patients. We designed and conducted a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind and cross-over trial for treatment of dialysis–associated hypertension with telmisartan 80 mg once daily or placebo on top of standard antihypertensive treatment excluding other Renin-Angiotensin-System (RAS) blockers. In 29 patients after randomization we analysed BP after a treatment period of 8 weeks, while 13 started with telmisartan and 16 with placebo; after 8 weeks 11 continued with telmisartan and 12 with placebo after cross-over, respectively. Patients exhibited a significant reduction of systolic pre-HD BP from 141.9±21.8 before to 131.3±17.3 mmHg after the first treatment period with telmisartan or placebo. However, no average significant influence of telmisartan was observed compared to placebo. The latter may be due to a large inter-individual variability of BP responses reaching from a 40 mmHg decrease under placebo to 40 mmHg increase under telmisartan. Antihypertensive co-medication was changed for clinical reasons in 7 out of 21 patients with no significant difference between telmisartan and placebo groups. Our starting hypothesis, that telmisartan on top of standard therapy lowers systolic office BP in HD patients could not be confirmed. In conclusion, this small trial indicates that testing antihypertensive drug efficacy in HD patients is challenging due to complicated standardization of concomitant medication and other confounding factors, e.g. volume status, salt load and neurohormonal activation, that influence BP control in HD patients. Trial Registration Clinicaltrialsregister.eu 2005-005021-60
Prevalence of simian and Sydney creases in the Ijaws of South-South Nigeria.

Simian, and Sydney creases are anomalous palmar crease that had generated medical attention as their presence correlate strongly with several human chromosomal abnormalities and diseases. Works on these creases have been done on several human populations; racial and ethnic, but no specific documented study had singled out the Ijaws of SouthSouth Nigeria in respect to these palmar creases aberration. This study was to determine the prevalence of simian and Sydney creases in apparently normal individual of the Ijaw ethnicity of SouthSouth Nigeria and to compare it with known population prevalence. Five hundred and seven subjects of Ijaw origin were randomly selected. Subjects palms were physically inspected for simian and / or Sydney crease. Observations were categorised into gender and right / left palm(s). Relationship between creases, gender and right or left palm was assessed by Fisher's exact test. Results shows that the prevalence of male with simian crease in the male population and in the entire population was 3.98% and 1.77% respectively, while that for female were 4.27% and 2.37%. Sexual predilection was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Subject in the study population with simian crease is 4.14%. Sydney crease was uncommon, it occurred in 0.19% of individuals. Values in the Ijaws of SouthSouth Nigeria were generally lower than those of the Orient and higher than those of the Caucasians. Confirming that physical anthropology trait varies amongst populations.
Quality of life in type II diabetic patients in primary health care.

INTRODUCTION This study evaluated the quality of life of patients with type II diabetes in primary health care with the Turkish version of the Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life (ADDQoL) instrument. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 180 patients diagnosed with type II diabetes and registered at an urban primary health care unit in Turkey were included to this study. RESULTS The ADDQoL instrument showed good internal consistency and factor structure. Diabetes had the largest impact on "enjoyment of food" (mean impact rating -1.65) and the least impact on "others fussing" (-0.44). The duration of diabetes and insulin therapy had a significant impact on quality of life among diabetic patients. CONCLUSION Multidimensional assessments of quality of life including both generic and disease-specific measures are important for diabetic patients in primary health care. FUNDING not relevant TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant.
Prognostic Impact of Blood Pressure Variability on Aortic Dissection Patients After Endovascular Therapy

AbstractHypertension has been deemed as a pivotal risk factor for the development of aortic dissection; however, the importance and prognostic significance of blood pressure variability (BPV) in aortic dissection are always ignored.A total of 173 acute type B aortic dissection patients were enrolled in and retrospectively reviewed between January 2009 and November 2013. There were 74 patients with high BPV and 99 with low BPV stratified by preoperative mean BPV. Technical success was achieved in all patients. The proportions of hypertension and general anesthesia were significantly higher in the high BPV group (70.3% vs 55.6% and 77% vs 62.6%, P = 0.049 and 0.043, respectively). The risk of aorta-related death in the high BPV group was apparently higher than the low BPV group (28.4% vs 9.1%, P = 0.001). By performing multivariable logistic regression, we found history of hypertension was likely to be a risk factor of BPV (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.010–3.911), and high BPV was an independent predictor of aorta-related death (95% CI: 1.671–9.587). The difference of aorta-related mortality was pronounced between high and low BPV subgroups regardless of the refractory hypertension (41.4% vs 14.3% and 20.0% vs 7.0%, P = 0.023 and 0.037, respectively). The thrombosis ratio of false lumen was significantly higher in the low BPV group at 3-month (72.4 ± 17.5% vs 51.8 ± 11.6%, P < 0.001) and 6-month (86.4 ± 9.1% vs 69.7 ± 7.9%, P < 0.001). High BPV is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of aortic dissection. Further studies on BPV might provide new preventive and therapeutic strategies for aortic dissection.
Aspiration thrombectomy during primary percutaneous coronary intervention as adjunctive therapy to early (in-ambulance) abciximab administration in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction: an analysis from Leiden MISSION! acute myocardial infarction treatment optimization program.

BACKGROUND The benefits of early abciximab administration and thrombus aspiration in ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) have previously been elaborated. However, whether there is an adjunctive effect of thrombus aspiration among STEMI patients, with angiographic evidence of thrombus, receiving early prehospital abciximab remains unclear. METHODS In the context of a fixed protocol for PPCI, 158 consecutive patients with STEMI were enrolled, in whom abciximab was started early before hospital arrival (in-ambulance); 79 patients who had PPCI with thrombus aspiration (thrombectomy-facilitated PCI group), were compared to 79 who had PPCI without thrombus aspiration (conventional PCI group) in a prospective nonrandomized study. The primary end-point was complete ST-segment resolution within 90 minutes. Secondary end points included distal embolization, enzymatic infarct size as well as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) assessed by gated single-photon emission computed tomography. Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were evaluated up to 12 months. RESULTS Both groups were comparable for baseline characteristics. ST-segment resolution was significantly higher in the thrombectomy-facilitated group (P = 0.002), and multivariate analysis identified thrombectomy as an independent predictor of ST-segment resolution (OR = 9.4, 95% CI = 2.6-33.5, P = 0.001). Distal embolization was higher in the conventional PCI group among patients with higher thrombus grades. No difference was observed between both groups in infarct size assessed by peak creatine kinase (p = 0.689) and peak Tn-T levels (P = 0.435). Also, the LVEF at 3 months was similar (P = 0.957). At 12 month clinical follow-up, thrombus aspiration was, however, associated with reduced all-cause mortality (log-rank p = 0.032). CONCLUSION Among STEMI patients treated with PPCI and in-ambulance abciximab, it appears that a selective strategy of thrombus aspiration still has additive benefit.
Continuous quality improvement in primary care: what's happening?

OBJECTIVES Despite much health care interest in quality and Continuous Quality Improvement, there is little quantitative information about it. The purpose of this study was to measure the attitudes, activities, and organizational cultures concerning Continuous Quality Improvement in a group of Midwestern primary care clinics. METHODS Three surveys of the clinicians, nurses, and other staff in 44 primary care clinics in the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul were conducted. These surveys assessed: (1) attitudes about quality improvement, (2) previous efforts in these clinics to use process improvement teams, and (3) the extent to which the clinics' organizational cultures were perceived as supporting quality. The Provider Attitude Survey was completed by clinicians and nurses; the Process Improvement Progress was completed by members of the best Continuous Quality Improvement teams, if any; and the Quality Systems Inventory was completed by all personnel. RESULTS Most of the clinical personnel reported support for various Continuous Quality Improvement concepts, but their understanding and experience were limited. Only 20 (45%) clinics had had at least one Continuous Quality Improvement team in the past, only five of the 12 teams with adequate information had completed an improvement cycle, and only seven reported improving a process with it. The mean clinic scores for quality culture were no better than those in other types of organizations. CONCLUSIONS Despite relatively favorable attitudes and some Continuous Quality Improvement activities, there appears to be a need to help clinics build skill and experience for the required care improvements.