Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interventional radiology in the provision and maintenance of long‐term central venous access

Establishing and maintaining venous access forms an increasing proportion of the workload in interventional radiology. Several patient groups require medium‐term to long‐term venous catheters for a variety of purposes, including chemotherapy, long‐term antimicrobials, parenteral nutrition, short‐term access for haemodialysis or exhausted haemodialysis. Often, these catheters are required for treatment and frequent blood testing, which can quickly exhaust the peripheral veins. Long‐term venous access devices minimize the discomfort of frequent cannulation while preserving the peripheral veins. Venous access devices include implantable catheters (ports), tunnelled catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters, which have different functions, advantages and limitations. Imaging‐guided placement is the preferred method of insertion in many institutions because of higher success rates and radiologists are well suited to address catheter complications.
Extrusion processing parameter–mechanical property correlations in rapidly solidified Al–6·7Fe–5·9Ce and Al–6·2Fe–5·9Ce–1·63Si (wt-%) alloy powders

AbstractHigh temperature aluminium alloys containing iron and cerium additions have promising mechanical properties, particularly with regard to thermal stability. Development of these alloys has been possible because of advances in rapid solidification technology. The advantage of rapid solidification is that it produces extended solid solubility or a high volume fraction of strengthening dispersoids depending on the cooling rate. To retain the microstructural advantages of rapid solidification, it has generally been thought necessary to process these alloys at the lowest possible temperature. The present work indicates that for optimum strength levels this is correct but that the greater homogeneity of microstructure produced by higher processing temperature leads to improved ductility and toughness. The present investigation was undertaken to find suitable extrusion processing conditions for two rapidly solidified high temperature aluminium alloys having the compositions Al–6·7Fe–5·9Ce and Al–6·2Fe–5·9.
AGE-Hardened Nickel-Base Alloys for Advanced Energy Applications

Alloy 740H was developed initially in the late 1990’s for coal-fired boiler tubing for service at 700°C under the European Thermie project. In the ensuing years the opportunities for materials to serve in advanced power systems have expanded tremendously, posing many unique problems for designers, fabricators and alloy producers. Power plants have a design life of 40-years or more, are field erected by welding and must be periodically inspected and repaired. Many components such as hot transfer piping, valve bodies, turbine rotors and casings can be quite large. In addition to straight-wall tubes, plant construction requires tees (T) and wyes (Y), transitions, flanges, forged fittings and plate fabrications. Alloy 740H is a gamma prime strengthened alloy similar to alloy 263, but optimized for creep strength, microstructure stability, hot corrosion resistance and heavy section weldability. This paper describes the processing, microstructure and properties required for age-hardenable nickel-base alloys for such advanced energy applications and this status for alloy 740H tube, pipe, fabrications and weld joints.
Distributed Turbo Product Codes over Multiple Relays

In this paper, we propose a Distributed Turbo Product Code (DTPC) over cooperative network using block Bose Chaudhuri Hochquenghem (BCH) codes as component codes. The source broadcasts extended BCH coded frames to the destination and nearby relays. After decoding the received sequences, each relay constructs a product code by arranging the corrected bit sequences in rows and re-encoding them vertically using BCH as component codes to obtain an Incremental Redundancy (IR) for source's data. To obtain independent vertical parities from each relay in the same code space, different circular interleavers are proposed to interleave BCH rows before reencoding vertically. A modified turbo product decoder to cope with Multiple Vertical Parities (MVP) is used at the destination to iteratively decode the systematic data from the source and the vertical parities generated by the relays. Simulation results in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel using network scenarios show 0.3-0.5dB gain improvement in Bit Error Rate (BER) performance over the non-cooperative Turbo Product Codes (TPC).
A hybrid bat algorithm

Swarm intelligence is a very powerful technique to be used for optimization purposes. In this paper we present a new swarm intelligence algorithm, based on the bat algorithm. The Bat algorithm is hybridized with differential evolution strategies. Besides showing very promising results of the standard benchmark functions, this hybridization also significantly improves the original bat algorithm.
Regulation of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-binding proteins by 17 beta-estradiol and N6,O2'-dibutyryl cAMP (DBcAMP) in rat anterior pituitary cells.

The studies in this report were designed I) to characterize the changes in cAMP-binding proteins in the rat anterior pituitary (AP) during the estrous cycle and with aging; 2) to determine whether the increase in cAMP-binding activities by 1 711-estradiol (E2) can be mimicked by N6 ,o� ‘-dibutyryl adenosine 3’,5’-cyclic monophosphate (DScAMP). In 4-month-old cycling female rats, the specific cAMP-binding activity per AP was lowest at diestrus, significantly increased at estrus, and maximum at metestrus (3.40 ± 0.37 pmol/AP, or 148% of the level at diestrus). The specific cAMP-binding activity per mg protein was also greatest at metestrus (11.02 ± 0.87 pmoll mg protein), but lowest at proestrus (6.82 ± 0.08 pmol/mg protein). The rise in serum E2 levels in proestrus preceded the rise in pituitary cAMP-binding activity in estrus and metestrus. With aging, the specific cAMPbinding activity at estrus decreased from 2.88 ± 0.09 pmol/AP at 4 months to 2.33 ± 0.02 pmol/AP at 12 months or to 2.19 ± 0.04 pmol/AP at 24 months. The cAMP-binding activity of a pituitary culture system was increased by treatment with either E2 (1 nM) for 6 days or DBcAMP (1 mM) for 18 h to 140% and 130%, respectively, of that in nontreated controls. Since we reported earlier that E2 stimulates both cAMP levels and cAMP binding in the pituitary and our present data indicate that cAMP can mimic E2 stimulation of cAMP binding, it is likely that E2 regulates pituitary cAMP-binding via an effect on cAMP production.
On the value of high-resolution weather models for atmospheric mitigation in SAR interferometry

Atmospheric delay is one of the major error sources in In-SAR, hindering the accurate monitoring of ground motion. Here we use the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) weather model to hindcast atmospheric delays at SAR acquisition times over both mountainous and flat regions. The performance of the model is evaluated by comparing it to interferograms formed using acquisitions with short temporal baselines (¿4 months). Our results show that for flat regions the model not only misestimates atmospheric delay in magnitude and location but also largely underestimates the (horizontal) spatial variation (turbulent mixing) of the delay. In mountainous areas it can model the height dependent (vertical stratification) part of total delay correctly in some cases but not always. By removing the height dependent part we find again that the model may underestimate the spatial variation of the delay. Therefore, we conclude that the WRF weather model is in general not reliable for the operational mitigation of atmospheric delay in interferograms.
Assessing spatiotemporal patterns of multidrug-resistant and drug-sensitive tuberculosis in a South American setting

SUMMARY We examined the spatiotemporal distribution of laboratory-confirmed multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) cases and that of other TB cases in Lima, Peru with the aim of identifying mechanisms responsible for the rise of MDR TB in an urban setting. All incident cases of TB in two districts of Lima, Peru during 2005–2007 were included. The spatiotemporal distributions of MDR cases and other TB cases were compared with Ripley's K statistic. Of 11 711 notified cases, 1187 received drug susceptibility testing and 376 were found to be MDR. Spatial aggregation of patients with confirmed MDR disease appeared similar to that of other patients in 2005 and 2006; however, in 2007, cases with confirmed MDR disease were found to be more tightly grouped. Subgroup analysis suggests the appearance of resistance may be driven by increased transmission. Interventions should aim to reduce the infectious duration for those with drug-resistant disease and improve infection control.
Long term prognosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy: a five year follow up of 38 cases

Background: Little is known about long term prognosis and course after immune treatments in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Objective: To study long term outcomes and prognostic factors in patients with CIDP. Methods: Clinical and electrophysiological findings, responses to immune modulating treatments, and outcomes five years after the start of treatment were reviewed in 38 CIDP patients. Results: Patients were treated with corticosteroids (89%), immunoglobulin infusion (45%), or plasmapheresis (34%), and 58% received combined therapy. Five years after treatment was begun, 10 (26%) of the patients had complete remission (lasting >2 years with normal nerve conduction studies), and 23 (61%) had partial remission (able to walk) with (26%) or without (34%) immune treatments. The remaining five patients (13%) still had severe disability (unable to walk) or treatment dependent relapses. Patients with complete remission more often had subacute onset, symmetrical symptoms, good response to initial corticosteroid treatment, and nerve conduction abnormalities predominant in the distal nerve terminals. In contrast, insidious onset, asymmetrical symptoms, and electrophysiological evidence of demyelination in the intermediate nerve segments were associated with refractoriness to treatment or treatment dependent relapse. Conclusions: The long term prognosis of CIDP patients was generally favourable, but 39% of patients still required immune treatments and 13% had severe disabilities. Mode of onset, distribution of symptoms, and electrophysiological characteristics may be prognostic factors for predicting a favourable outcome.
Gain Control by Concerted Changes in IA and I H Conductances

Stability of intrinsic electrical activity and modulation of input-output gain are both important for neuronal information processing. It is there-fore of interest to define biologically plausible parameters that allow these two features to coexist. Recent experiments indicate that in some biological neurons, the stability of spontaneous firing can arise from coregulated expression of the electrophysiologically opposing IA and IH currents. Here, I show that such balanced changes in IA and IH dramatically alter the slope of the relationship between the firing rate and driving current in a Hodgkin-Huxley-type model neuron. Concerted changes in IA and IH can thus control neuronal gain while preserving intrinsic activity.
The Relationship Among HRpeak, RERpeak, and VO2peak During Treadmill Testing in Girls

Clear criteria for maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) determination in youth are not available, and no studies have examined this issue in girls. Our purpose was to determine whether different peak heart rate (HRpeak) and peak respiratory exchange ratio (RERpeak) cut points affect girls' (N = 453; M age = 13.3 years, SD = .1) VO2max during a maximal treadmill test. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed VO2max (ml.kg-1.min-1) differed significantly among HRpeak, 180–189 b.min-1 = 34 (SD = .8), 190–194 b.min-1 = 35 (SD = .9), 195–199 b.min-1 = 38 (SD = .8), 200–204 b.min-1 = 40 ml.kg-1.min-1 (SD = .8), and >205 b.min-1 = 42 ml.kg-1.min-1 (SD = .7) but not RERpeak. In studies where evidence of a VO2 plateau was examined, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) did not differ between plateau and no-plateau groups. Although our results suggest the association between lower VO2peak and lower peak heart rate is a true cardiovascular limit to aerobic energy production, we cannot rule out participant effort.
Development of a Japanese Quality of Life Instrument for Older Adults Experiencing Dementia (QLDJ)

This study develops a quality of life instrument for older Japanese people experiencing dementia (QLDJ). Quality of life (QL) for these older adults is defined as a three dimensional construct including 1) interacting with surroundings, 2) expressing self, and 3) experiencing minimum negative behaviors. From 53 items in the initial item pool, 24 were selected based on item reliability and validity using data from 3 studies that involve ten dementia-care experts (Study A) and 36 and 623 older persons and their formal caregivers in various care settings (Study B & C). Factor analysis of these items identified three domains that correspond to the conceptual definition of QL for older adults with dementia. The domain and total QL scores were calculated considering the relative weights of each item. Resultant domain and total scores of the QLDJ showed satisfactory reliability and evidence of validity.
SenSocial: a middleware for integrating online social networks and mobile sensing data streams

Smartphone sensing enables inference of physical context, while online social networks (OSNs) allow mobile applications to harness users' interpersonal relationships. However, OSNs and smartphone sensing remain disconnected, since obstacles, including the synchronization of mobile sensing and OSN monitoring, inefficiency of smartphone sensors, and privacy concerns, stand in the way of merging the information from these two sources. In this paper we present the design, implementation and evaluation of SenSocial, a middleware that automates the process of obtaining and joining OSN and physical context data streams for the development of ubiquitous computing applications. SenSocial enables instantiation, management and aggregation of context streams from multiple remote devices. Through micro-benchmarks we show that SenSocial successfully and efficiently captures OSN and mobile sensed data streams. We developed two prototype applications in order to evaluate our middleware and we demonstrate that SenSocial significantly reduces the amount of programming effort needed for building social sensing applications.
The Effects of Employment Conditions on Smoking Status and Smoking Intensity: The Analysis of Korean Labor & Income Panel 8th–10th Wave

Background The neoliberal policies and its socioeconomic consequences in Korea have made employment conditions insecure and affected employees' health as well. Methods and Findings To examine the association between employment condition and smoking status, we selected male respondents aged 20–59 that participated in all of the 8th–10th wave of Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS) which is a nationally representative data. Precarious working was significantly associated with smoking compared to standard working even after adjusting for socioeconomic indicators and self rated health status. After controlling for overall life satisfaction, the odds ratio of smoking among precarious workers decreased, but it was still marginally significant (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 0.99 to 2.07). A relation between precarious working and heavy smoking was also significant. Precarious working was associated with a decreased likelihood of quitting smoking, while it was not significant any more after adjusting for overall satisfaction on life. Precarious work was also related to a higher likelihood of relapse among former smokers, but was not significant after adjusting for other confounders. Conclusions Precarious workers were more likely to be smokers and heavy smokers than standard workers. Unemployment is also a significant risk factor for decreased quitting and smoking relapse. However, insecure employment was an even more consistent determinant of current smoking behavior than unemployment.
Turn to me: electrophysiological correlates of frontal vs. averted view face and body processing are associated with trait empathy

The processing of emotional faces and bodies has been associated with brain regions related to empathic responding in interpersonal contexts. The aim of the present Electroencephalography (EEG) study was to investigate differences in the time course underlying the processing of bodies and faces showing neutral, happy, or angry expressions. The P100 and N170 were analyzed in response to the presentation of bodies and faces. Stimuli were presented either from a perspective facing the observer directly or being averted by 45° to manipulate the degree to which the participants had the impression of being involved in a dyadic interpersonal interaction. Participants were instructed to identify the emotional expression (neutral, happy, or angry) by pressing the corresponding button. The result pattern mirrored poorer behavioral performance for averted relative to frontal stimuli. P100 amplitudes were enhanced and latencies shorter for averted relative to frontal bodies, while P100 and N170 components were additionally affected by electrode position and hemisphere for faces. Affective trait empathy correlated with faster recognition of facial emotions and most consistently with higher recognition accuracy and larger N170 amplitudes for angry expressions, while cognitive trait empathy was mostly linked to shorter P100 latencies for averted expressions. The results highlight the contribution of trait empathy to fast and accurate identification of emotional faces and emotional actions conveyed by bodies.
Sensitivity of Main Polarimetric Parameters of Multifrequency Polarimetric SAR Data to Soil Moisture and Surface Roughness Over Bare Agricultural Soils

The potential of polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data for the soil surface characterization of bare agricultural soils was investigated by using air- and spaceborne data acquired by Radar Aéroporté Multi-Spectral d'Etude des Signatures (RAMSES), Système Expérimental de Télédétection Hyperfréquence Imageur (SETHI), and RADARSAT-2 sensors over several study sites in France. Fully polarimetric data at ultrahigh frequency, X-, C-, L-, and P-bands were compared. The results show that the main polarimetric parameters studied (entropy, α angle, and anisotropy) are not very sensitive to the variation of the soil surface parameters. Low correlations are observed between the polarimetric and soil parameters (moisture content and surface roughness). Thus, the polarimetric parameters are not very relevant to the characterization of the soil surface over bare agricultural areas.
Exploring the Relationship between Adiposity and Fitness in Young Children.

PURPOSE High levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) may attenuate the association between the excessive adiposity and the risks of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The purpose of this study was to stratify children according to their body mass index (BMI) and adiposity (body fat percentage [BF%]) and to compare levels of CRF across subgroups. METHODS This prospective cohort study comprises a cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of data collected at baseline (n = 641) and 2 yr later (n = 579) on children (7.4-11.6 yr) attending public school in Denmark. Levels of CRF were measured using the Andersen test, whereas BF% was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS There were 560 children (87.4%) classified as normal weight according to BMI at baseline, of which 46 (7.4%) were identified as having excessive BF%. These children had significantly lower CRF (mean [95% confidence interval]: -63.1 m [-100.2 to -25.9]) than children with normal BMI and normal BF%, and the effect of BF% on CRF was significantly worse in boys than girls. Overweight children with high BF% had significantly lower prospective (2 yr) CRF levels (-34.4 m [-58.0 to -10.7]) than children with normal BMI and BF%. However, children who improved their BMI and/or BF% classification during the 2-yr period achieved CRF levels (8.9 m [-30.2 to 47.9]), which were comparable with children with normal BMI and BF% at both measurement time points. CONCLUSION The CRF levels in children are affected by BMI and BF%, although BF% appears to play a greater role. This association between BF% and CRF is sex dependent, with CRF levels in boys being affected to a greater extent by BF%. Children identified as "normal weight" by BMI but presenting with excessive BF% had significantly lower CRF than "normal weight" children with low BF%.
Frequency of Background and Radiation-Induced Apoptosis in Leukocytes of Individuals with α-Thalassemia Variants, Assessed by the Neutral Comet Assay

To study effects of ionizing radiation on apoptosis induction in leukocytes of α-thalassemia (α‐thal) variants compared to normal controls, venous blood samples were obtained from 10 healthy volunteers and 30 α-thal patients. Different types α-thal were diagnosed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood samples were irradiated with three Gy gamma rays, used for comet assay, immediately or 48 h after irradiation. Results show that the frequency of background as well as apoptosis in silent α-thal carriers, α-thal carriers and controls was similar but there was a significant difference between Hb H patients and other groups in the study. The increased apoptosis in Hb H patients might suggest that accumulation of β-globin and oxidative stresses are effective in causing apoptosis, and cells from these patients are more vulnerable to damage from radiation-induced toxic substances. Therefore, from α-thal patients, those with Hb H disease might be considered as radiosensitive in terms of apoptosis formation.
Precipitation Kinetics Study of Al – Zr – X(Sc or Ti) Alloys by Phase Field Simulations and Atom Probe Tomography

Phase field modeling of precipitation kinetics in Al – Zr – Sc and Al – Zr – Ti ternary alloys has been performed. The free energy was evaluated using the Thermo-calc data. Our simulations showed that L12 precipitates in Al – Zr – Sc alloy consists of Sc rich zone of in core and Zirconium rich zone at the precipitate / matrix interface. In Al – Zr – Ti system, Al3 (Zr-Ti) precipitates are homogeneous and no segregation is observed. Phase-field simulation results are compared with 3D APT data.
Coeliac plexus block for pain in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis

We have performed coeliac plexus block by standard percutaneous technique for disabling pain in 36 patients (13 with cancer and 23 with chronic pancreatitis). Eleven of the 13 cancer patients had complete pain relief initially and 7 remained pain free at the time of death. By contrast, only 12 of the 23 patients with pancreatitis had complete pain relief, 6 had partial relief and there was no effect in 5. The mean pain‐free period in the chronic pancreatitis patients was only 2 months, and the longest 4 months. Benefit was least in patients with previous pancreatic surgery and repeat blocks were unhelpful. Transient postural hypotension occurred in most patients; two had nerve root pain and one developed persistent weakness and anaesthesia of the left leg, with bladder disturbance. These results warrant the continuing use of coeliac plexus block in pancreatic cancer, but rarely in chronic pancreatitis.