Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laparoscopic Versus Open Appendectomy: Outcomes Comparison Based on a Large Administrative Database

Objective:To compare length of hospital stay, in-hospital complications, in-hospital mortality, and rate of routine discharge between laparoscopic and open appendectomy based on a representative, nationwide database. Summary Background Data:Numerous single-institutional randomized clinical trials have assessed the efficacy of laparoscopic and open appendectomy. The results, however, are conflicting, and a consensus concerning the relative advantages of each procedure has not yet been reached. Methods:Patients with primary ICD-9 procedure codes for laparoscopic and open appendectomy were selected from the 1997 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database that approximates 20% of all US community hospital discharges. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the risk-adjusted endpoints. Results:Discharge abstracts of 43,757 patients were used for our analyses. 7618 patients (17.4%) underwent laparoscopic and 36,139 patients (82.6%) open appendectomy. Patients had an average age of 30.7 years and were predominantly white (58.1%) and male (58.6%). After adjusting for other covariates, laparoscopic appendectomy was associated with shorter median hospital stay (laparoscopic appendectomy: 2.06 days, open appendectomy: 2.88 days, P < 0.0001), lower rate of infections (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5 [0.38, 0.66], P < 0.0001), decreased gastrointestinal complications (OR = 0.8 [0.68, 0.96], P = 0.02), lower overall complications (OR = 0.84 [0.75, 0.94], P = 0.002), and higher rate of routine discharge (OR = 3.22 [2.47, 4.46], P < 0.0001). Conclusions:Laparoscopic appendectomy has significant advantages over open appendectomy with respect to length of hospital stay, rate of routine discharge, and postoperative in-hospital morbidity.
Détermination automatique de relations linéaires vérifiées par les variables d'un programme

Definitions et resultats fondamentaux sur les polyedres convexes. Operations sur les polyedres convexes. contextes abstraits. Systeme d'equations en avant associe a un programme. Analyse approchee en avant des programmes. Analyse approchee en arriere des programmes. Primitives evoluees. Application de la methode. Note sur l'implementation et les performances. comparaison avec des travaux voisins.
Use of Cell Culture-PCR Assay Based on Combination of A549 and BGMK Cell Lines and Molecular Identification as a Tool To Monitor Infectious Adenoviruses and Enteroviruses in River Water

ABSTRACT Viral contamination in environmental samples can be underestimated because a single cell line might reproduce only some enteric viruses and some enteric viruses do not exhibit apparent cytopathic effects in cell culture. To overcome this problem, we evaluated a cell culture-PCR assay based on a combination of A549 and Buffalo green monkey kidney (BGMK) cell lines as a tool to monitor infectious adenoviruses and enteroviruses in river water. Water samples were collected 10 times at each of four rivers located in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, and then cultured on group 1 cells (BGMK cells alone) and group 2 cells (BGMK and A549 cells). Reverse transcription and multiplex PCR were performed, followed by phylogenetic analysis of the amplicons. Thirty (75.0%) of the 40 samples were positive for viruses based on cell culture, and the frequency of positive samples grown on group 2 cells (65.0%) was higher than the frequency of positive samples grown on group 1 cells (50.0%). The number of samples positive for adenoviruses was higher with A549 cells (13 samples) than with BGMK cells (one sample); the numbers of samples positive for enteroviruses were similar with both types of cells. By using phylogenetic analysis, adenoviral amplicons were grouped into subgenera A, C, D, and F, and enteroviral amplicons were grouped into coxsackieviruses B3 and B4 and echoviruses 6, 7, and 30, indicating that A549 and BGMK cells were suitable for recovering a wide range of adenoviral and enteroviral types. The cell culture-PCR assay with a combination of A549 and BGMK cells and molecular identification could be a useful tool for monitoring infectious adenoviruses and enteroviruses in aquatic environments.
Purulent Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

Introduction: Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) requently causes skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Referring primary care physicians often prescribe inactive antibiotics when referring SSTIs caused by MRSA for incision and debridement. Methods: Demographics and culture results (organism and sensitivity) were collected for patients treated for SSTI between 2007-2009. Antibiotic regimens started by referring PCPs were noted. Prevalence of MRSA and antibiotic resistance profiles were tabulated. Isolates resistant to the drug initially prescribed were also noted. Results: Of 187 patients, 40.1% grew MRSA. All MRSA was sensitive to doxycycline and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, whereas 88% were sensitive to clindamycin and 79% to levofloxacin. 48% of patients received an antibiotic inadequate for their isolate before referral. Conclusions: CA-MRSA is extremely common. Patients are often prescribed antibiotics inadequate for MRSA. Doxycycline or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole with incision/drainage should be used as initial therapy for SSTI when MRSA is suspected.
Design, Analysis, and Reporting of Crossover Trials for Inclusion in a Meta-Analysis

Randomized crossover trials are clinical experiments in which participants are assigned randomly to a sequence of treatments and each participant serves as his/her own control in estimating treatment effect. We need a better understanding of the validity of their results to enable recommendations as to which crossover trials can be included in meta-analysis and for development of reporting guidelines. Objective To evaluate the characteristics of the design, analysis, and reporting of crossover trials for inclusion in a meta-analysis of treatment for primary open-angle glaucoma and to provide empirical evidence to inform the development of tools to assess the validity of the results from crossover trials and reporting guidelines. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane’s CENTRAL register for randomized crossover trials for a systematic review and network meta-analysis we are conducting. Two individuals independently screened the search results for eligibility and abstracted data from each included report. Results We identified 83 crossover trials eligible for inclusion. Issues affecting the risk of bias in crossover trials, such as carryover, period effects and missing data, were often ignored. Some trials failed to accommodate the within-individual differences in the analysis. For a large proportion of the trials, the authors tabulated the results as if they arose from a parallel design. Precision estimates properly accounting for the paired nature of the design were often unavailable from the study reports; consequently, to include trial findings in a meta-analysis would require further manipulation and assumptions. Conclusions The high proportion of poorly reported analyses and results has the potential to affect whether crossover data should or can be included in a meta-analysis. There is pressing need for reporting guidelines for crossover trials.
Reflective-memory multiprocessor

Reflective memory may be thought of as hardware-supported replication of data on multiple computers. This simple mechanism has been extended further, in software, to support memory semantics required by multiprocessors. The paper describes the reflective memory implementation of the Encore Infinity-a distributed shared memory multiprocessor. A brief overview the system is provided and comparisons are made with other cached architectures. Spinlocks are employed in this system to manage the herculean cache coherency problems which are a natural result of any system which employs massive replication. A brief introduction to the recovery procedure used to return crashed nodes to normal operation is also described. <<ETX>>
A Systemic Small RNA Signaling System in Plants

Systemic translocation of RNA exerts non-cell-autonomous control over plant development and defense. Long-distance delivery of mRNA has been proven, but transport of small interfering RNA and microRNA remains to be demonstrated. Analyses performed on phloem sap collected from a range of plants identified populations of small RNA species. The dynamic nature of this population was reflected in its response to growth conditions and viral infection. The authenticity of these phloem small RNA molecules was confirmed by bioinformatic analysis; potential targets for a set of phloem small RNA species were identified. Heterografting studies, using spontaneously silencing coat protein (CP) plant lines, also established that transgene-derived siRNA move in the long-distance phloem and initiate CP gene silencing in the scion. Biochemical analysis of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) phloem sap led to the characterization of C. maxima Phloem SMALL RNA BINDING PROTEIN1 (CmPSRP1), a unique component of the protein machinery probably involved in small RNA trafficking. Equivalently sized small RNA binding proteins were detected in phloem sap from cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and lupin (Lupinus albus). PSRP1 binds selectively to 25-nucleotide single-stranded RNA species. Microinjection studies provided direct evidence that PSRP1 could mediate the cell-to-cell trafficking of 25-nucleotide single-stranded, but not double-stranded, RNA molecules. The potential role played by PSRP1 in long-distance transmission of silencing signals is discussed with respect to the pathways and mechanisms used by plants to exert systemic control over developmental and physiological processes.
How much uncertainty can be dealt with by feedback?

Feedback is used primarily for reducing the effects of the plant uncertainty on the performance of control systems, and as such understanding the following questions is of fundamental importance: How much uncertainty can be dealt with by feedback? What are the limitations of feedback? How does the feedback performance depend quantitatively on the system uncertainty? How can the capability of feedback be enhanced if a priori information about the system structure is available? As a starting point toward answering these questions, a typical class of first-order discrete-time dynamical control systems with both unknown nonlinear structure and unknown disturbances is selected for our investigation, and some concrete answers are obtained in the paper. In particular, we find that in the space of unknown nonlinear functions, the generalized Lipschitz norm is a suitable measure for characterizing the size of the structure uncertainty, and that the maximum uncertainty that can be dealt with by the feedback mechanism is described by a ball with radius 3/2+/spl radic/2 in this normed function space.
Determining oil and dispersant exposure in sea turtles from the northern Gulf of Mexico resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Documentation of exposure of threatened and endangered sea turtles to petroleum and dispersant released into the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill was a critical component of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. Substances collected from the skin of oiled and suspected oiled turtles were analyzed for petroleum hydrocarbons to determine oiling status and oil sources. Tissue, gastroenteric and bile samples from a subset of visibly oiled and unoiled turtles that died during the spill in 2010 and in 2011 were analyzed for evidence of internal exposure and absorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the dispersant component dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (DOSS). The volume of external oil collected from sea turtles was sufficient to confirm the presence of petroleum on 61% of turtles, and oil from the DWH spill was identified as the source in 97% of those turtles in which conclusive comparison was possible. Visibly oiled turtles had higher concentrations of tissue PAH or biliary fluorescent PAH metabolites compared to those determined in unoiled animals. Findings in most of the unoiled turtles were suggestive of low-level PAH exposure from various sources that may represent background values for sea turtles from the northern GoM. DOSS levels were below the limit of quantitation in all samples analyzed except in an esophagus sample of a heavily oiled sea turtle. Overall, the results for petroleum or petroleum-derived compounds of both external and internal samples of sea turtles supported visual observations of oiling.
Cognitive and behavioral evaluation of nutritional interventions in rodent models of brain aging and dementia

Evaluation of behavior and cognition in rodent models underpins mechanistic and interventional studies of brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases, especially dementia. Commonly used tests include Morris water maze, Barnes maze, object recognition, fear conditioning, radial arm water maze, and Y maze. Each of these tests reflects some aspects of human memory including episodic memory, recognition memory, semantic memory, spatial memory, and emotional memory. Although most interventional studies in rodent models of dementia have focused on pharmacological agents, there are an increasing number of studies that have evaluated nutritional interventions including caloric restriction, intermittent fasting, and manipulation of macronutrients. Dietary interventions have been shown to influence various cognitive and behavioral tests in rodents indicating that nutrition can influence brain aging and possibly neurodegeneration.
Sibling cases of Vici syndrome: Sleep abnormalities and complications of renal tubular acidosis

Vici syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by albinism, agenesis of the corpus callosum, and developmental delays. Cardiac complications usually cause poor prognosis. We report sibling cases of Vici syndrome, and address complications of renal tubular acidosis. We also demonstrate the significance of serial examinations of brain natriuretic peptides, and discuss the possible early use of a β‐blocker to control cardiomyopathy. A sleep study including polysomnography indicated functional brainstem involvement, in which muscle atonia during non‐rapid sleeping eye movements, and bursts of rapid eye movements increased. These findings provide new clues for medical care of patients with Vici syndrome. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pralatrexate Is Synergistic with the Proteasome Inhibitor Bortezomib in In vitro and In vivo Models of T-Cell Lymphoid Malignancies

Purpose: Pralatrexate (10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin) is an antifolate with improved cellular uptake and retention due to greater affinity for the reduced folate carrier (RFC-1) and folyl-polyglutamyl synthase. Based on the PROPEL data, pralatrexate was the first drug approved for patients with relapsed and refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Bortezomib is a proteasome inhibitor that has shown some activity in patients with T-cell lymphoma. Experimental Design: Assays for cytotoxicity including mathematical analysis for synergism, flow cytometry, immunoblotting, and a xenograft severe combined immunodeficient-beige mouse model were used to explore the in vitro and in vivo activities of pralatrexate alone and in combination with bortezomib in T-cell lymphoid malignancies. Results: In vitro, pralatrexate and bortezomib exhibited concentration- and time-dependent cytotoxicity against a broad panel of T-lymphoma cell lines. Pralatrexate showed synergism when combined with bortezomib in all cell lines studied. Pralatrexate also induced potent apoptosis and caspase activation when combined with bortezomib across the panel. Cytotoxicity studies on normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed that the combination was not more toxic than the single agents. Western blot assays for proteins involved in broad growth and survival pathways showed that p27, NOXA, HH3, and RFC-1 were all significantly modulated by the combination. In a severe combined immunodeficient-beige mouse model of transformed cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, the addition of pralatrexate to bortezomib enhanced efficacy compared with either drug alone. Conclusion: Collectively, these data suggest that pralatrexate in combination with bortezomib represents a novel and potentially important platform for the treatment of T-cell malignancies. Clin Cancer Res; 16(14); 3648–58. ©2010 AACR.
Inhibition of 5α‐reductase enhances testosterone‐induced expression of U19/Eaf2 tumor suppressor during the regrowth of LNCaP xenograft tumor in nude mice

Intermittent androgen deprivation therapy (IADT) was developed to improve the quality of life and retard prostate cancer progression to castration resistance. IADT involves regrowth of the tumor during the off cycle upon testosterone recovery. Our previous studies showed that testosterone is more potent than dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the induction of a subset of androgen‐responsive genes during rat prostate regrowth. However, it is not clear if the same phenomenon would occur during androgen‐induced regrowth of prostate tumors. Understanding the differences between testosterone and DHT in inducing androgen‐responsive genes during prostate tumor regrowth may provide new insight for improving IADT.
Terminal complement proteins C5b-9 release basic fibroblast growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor from endothelial cells

Interactions between endothelium and vascular smooth muscle cells play a major role in the biology of the blood vessel wall. Growth factors released from endothelial cells control in part the normal and pathological proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Endothelial deposits of C5b-9 proteins, the membrane attack complex of complement (MAC), have been found in a variety of pathological tissues in which cell proliferation is an early characteristic abnormality, including atherosclerosis. We have explored a possible bridging role for terminal complement C5b-9 proteins in eliciting focal signals for cell proliferation by releasing growth factors from endothelial cells. We found that both bovine aortic and human umbilical vein cells respond to the MAC by releasing basic fibroblast growth factor and platelet- derived growth factor. These mitogens stimulate DNA synthesis in Swiss 3T3, vascular smooth muscle, and glomerular mesangial cells. Based on these findings, we propose that complement-induced release of mitogens from endothelial cells is a novel pathogenic mechanism for proliferative disorders.
The Nrf2‐inducible antioxidant defense in astrocytes can be both up‐ and down‐regulated by activated microglia:Involvement of p38 MAPK

The effects of microglia‐conditioned medium (MCM) on the inducible Nrf2 system in astrocyte‐rich cultures were investigated by determination of glutathione (GSH) levels, γglutamylcysteine ligase (γGCL) activity, the protein levels of Nrf2, Keap1, the modulatory subunit of γGCL (γGCL‐M) and activated MAP kinases (ERK1/2, JNK and p38). Microglia were either cultured for 24 h in serum‐free culture medium to achieve microglia‐conditioned medium from non‐activated cells (MCM0), used as control condition, or activated with different concentrations (0.1–1,000 ng mL−1) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to produce MCM0.1–1,000. Acute exposure (24 h) to MCM100 increased GSH, γGCL activity, the protein levels of γGCL‐M, Nrf2, and activated JNK and ERK1/2 in astrocyte‐rich cultures. In contrast, treatment with MCM10 for 24 h decreased components of the Nrf2 system in parallel with activation of p38 MAPK. Stimulation of the Nrf2 system by tBHQ was partly intact after 24 h but blocked after 72 h treatment with MCM10 and MCM100. This down‐regulation after 72 h correlated with activation of p38 MAPK and lack of ERK1/2 and JNK activation. The negative effects were partly reversed by an inhibitor of p38 which restored tBHQ mediated protection against oxidative stress. In conclusion, the study showed a negative effect of MCM10 on the inducible anti‐oxidant defense in astrocyte‐rich cultures at both 24 and 72 h that correlated with activation of p38 and was partly reversed by a p38 inhibitor. A transient protective effect of MCM100 on astrocyte‐rich cultures against H2O2 toxicity was observed at 24 h which coincided with activation of JNK and ERK1/2. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Maximizing Broadcast Throughput Under Ultra-Low-Power Constraints

Wireless object tracking applications are gaining popularity and will soon utilize emerging ultra-low-power device-to-device communication. However, severe energy constraints require much more careful accounting of energy usage than what prior art provides. In particular, the available energy, the differing power consumption levels for listening, receiving, and transmitting, as well as the limited control bandwidth must all be considered. Therefore, we formulate the problem of maximizing the throughput among a set of heterogeneous broadcasting nodes with differing power consumption levels, each subject to a strict ultra-low-power budget. We obtain the oracle throughput (i.e., maximum throughput achieved by an oracle) and use Lagrangian methods to design EconCast - a simple asynchronous distributed protocol in which nodes transition between sleep, listen, and transmit states, and dynamically change the transition rates. We also show that EconCast approaches the oracle throughput. The performance is evaluated numerically and via extensive simulations and it is shown that EconCast outperforms prior art by 6x - 17x under realistic assumptions. Finally, we implement EconCast using the TI eZ430-RF2500-SEH energy harvesting nodes and experimentally show that in realistic environments it obtains 57% - 77% of the achievable throughput.
Establishing the Measurement Invariance of the Very Short Form of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised for Mothers Who Vary on Race and Poverty Status

ABSTRACT We examined the measurement invariance of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised–Very Short Form (IBQR–VSF; Putnam, Helbig, Gartstein, Rothbart, & Leerkes, 2014) in a sample of 470 racially (185 White, 285 African American) and socioeconomically diverse mothers (158 below federal poverty threshold, 296 above federal poverty threshold) of infants. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, we demonstrated configural, full metric, and full scalar invariance demonstrating that the 3-factor structure (negative emotionality, positive affectivity/surgency, orienting/regulatory capacity), pattern of item loadings, and item means were comparable for White and African American mothers, and for poor and not poor mothers. In addition, we demonstrated full error invariance across racial groups and partial error variance invariance across poverty status, demonstrating that item reliability was comparable for White and African American mothers, and both those above and below the poverty line (with the exception of a subset of items). Thus, the IBQR–VSF appears appropriate for use in racially and socioeconomically diverse samples.
U-Health Service for Managing Chronic Disease: A Case Study on Managing Metabolic Syndrome in a Health Center in South Korea

Objectives We were to analyze the effect of managing metabolic syndrome using a u-health service in a health center. Methods We collected biometric data from 316 subjects living in a county (gun) in South Korea before and after the introduction of uhealth services in 2010. Analysis was done by contingency table using SPSS and latent growth model using AMOS. Results We found that regional u-health services affected instance of metabolic syndrome. Further, biometrics and health behavior improved. After six months of u-health services, the number of subjects with three or more factors for metabolic syndrome decreased by 62.5%; 63.3% of regular drinkers stopped drinking; 83.3% of subjects who rarely exercised began to exercise twice a week or more; and 60.9% of smokers stopped smoking. Conclusions U-health services can change health behavior and biometrics to manage metabolic syndrome in rural areas. The usefulness of u-health services is discussed.