Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The association of serum magnesium and mortality outcomes in heart failure patients

Background:Low serum magnesium (Mg) has been independently shown to increase risk of heart failure (HF), but data on the association between serum Mg concentration and the outcome of patients with HF are conflicting. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the prognostic effects of hypermagnesemia and hypomagnesemia on cardiovascular (CV) mortality and all-cause mortality (ACM) of patients with HF. Methods:Relevant studies were identified from Medline and Scopus databases. Included and excluded criteria were defined. Effects (i.e., log [risk ratio [RR]]) of hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia versus normomagnesemia were estimated using Poisson regression, and then a multivariate meta-analysis was applied for pooling RRs across studies. Heterogeneity was explored using a meta-regression and subgroup analysis. Results:On analysis, 7 eligible prospective studies yielded a total of 5172 chronic HF patients with 913 and 1438 deaths from CV and ACM, respectively. Most participants were elderly men with left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction ⩽40%. Those patients with baseline hypermagnesemia had a significantly higher risk of CV mortality (RR, 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07–1.78) or ACM (RR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.18–1.54) than those with baseline normomagnesemia. However, baseline hypomagnesemia was not associated with the risk of CV mortality (RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.79–1.57) and ACM (RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.87–1.41). A subgroup analysis by Mg cutoff suggested a dose–response trend for hypermagnesemia effects, that is, the pooled RRs for CV mortality were 1.28 (95% CI, 1.05–1.55) and 1.92 (95% CI, 1.00–3.68) for the cutoff of 0.89 to 1.00 and 1.05 to 1.70 mmol/L, respectively. Conclusion:The present systematic review and meta-analysis suggested that, in HF patients, hypermagnesemia with serum Mg ≥ 1.05 mmol/L was associated with an increased risk of CV mortality and ACM but this was not observed for hypomagnesemia. This finding was limited to the elderly patients with chronic HF who had reduced LV systolic function.
Forgetting of the initial distribution for Hidden Markov Models

The forgetting of the initial distribution for discrete Hidden Markov Models (HMM) is addressed: a new set of conditions is proposed, to establish the forgetting property of the filter, at a polynomial and geometric rate. Both a pathwise-type convergence of the total variation distance of the filter started from two different initial distributions, and a convergence in expectation are considered. The results are illustrated using different HMM of interest: the dynamic tobit model, the non-linear state space model and the stochastic volatility model.
Modeling the intracorneal ring segment effect in keratoconus using refractive, keratometric, and corneal aberrometric data.

PURPOSE To characterize the refractive, keratometric, and corneal aberrometric effect of a specific type of intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) as a function of its thickness and the preoperative conditions of the cornea. METHODS A total of 72 consecutive keratoconic eyes of 57 patients ranging in age from 15 to 68 years were retrospectively analyzed and included in the study. All cases had a diagnosis of keratoconus and had undergone implantation of a 160° arc-length KeraRing segment (Mediphacos, Belo Horizonte, Brazil), by femtosecond laser technology. Correlations between ring segment thickness and several clinical parameters were investigated. In addition, a multiple regression analysis was performed to characterize all factors that influence the ring segment effect. RESULTS Significant reductions in central curvature, corneal astigmatism, and comalike aberrations were found after surgery (P ≤ 0.03). Moderate and limited correlations were found between ring segment thicknesses and changes in mean keratometry and higher order aberrations (r ≤ 0.50, P < 0.01). A consistent linear relationship of the superior ring segment thickness to the induced corneal changes, the preoperative cylinder, and the difference in thickness between inferior and superior segments was found (P < 0.01, R(2) = 0.91). An almost identical model was obtained for the inferior ring segment thickness with the only distinction in the factor being the thickness difference between segments (P < 0.01, R(2) = 0.64). CONCLUSIONS The selection of the ring segment to implant in keratoconus should be based, not only on refraction and subjective appearance of the corneal topographic pattern but also on corneal aberrometry. This highly customized selection would allow a more predictable outcome.
Spherical Cubes and Rounding in High Dimensions

What is the least surface area of a shape that tiles Ropfd under translations by Zopfd? Any such shape must have volume 1 and hence surface area at least that of the volume-1 ball, namely Omega(radicd). Our main result is a construction with surface area O(radicd), matching the lower bound up to a constant factor of 2radic2pi/eap3. The best previous tile known was only slightly better than the cube, having surface area on the order of d. We generalize this to give a construction that tiles Ropfd by translations of any full rank discrete lattice Lambda with surface area 2piparV-1parfb, where V is the matrix of basis vectors of Lambda, and par.parfb denotes the Frobenius norm. We show that our bounds are optimal within constant factors for rectangular lattices. Our proof is via a random tessellation process, following recent ideas of Raz in the discrete setting. Our construction gives an almost optimal noise-resistant rounding scheme to round points in Ropfd to rectangular lattice points.
SiC vs. Si - Evaluation of Potentials for Performance Improvement of Power Electronics Converter Systems by SiC Power Semiconductors

Switching devices based on wide band gap materials as SiC oer a signicant perfor- mance improvement on the switch level compared to Si devices. A well known example are SiC diodes employed e.g. in PFC converters. In this paper, the impact on the system level perfor- mance, i.e. eciency/power density, of a PFC and of a DC-DC converter resulting with the new SiC devices is evaluated based on analytical optimisation procedures and prototype systems. There, normally-on JFETs by SiCED and normally-off JFETs by SemiSouth are considered.
Effect of whole body vibration in Parkinson's disease: A controlled study

In the search of new strategies to improve the quality of life of Parkinson's disease patients, recent work has reported an amelioration of Parkinsonian symptoms using Whole Body Vibration (WBV). A double‐blinded, placebo controlled design was used to evaluate the effect of a 12 WBV sessions‐programme on a number of motor and clinical tests in 23 Parkinson's disease patients. Patients were assigned to one of two groups, one receiving WBV and the other a placebo group. At the end of the programme as well as during intra‐session evaluation, there was no difference between the experimental (vibration) and placebo groups in any outcomes. These results suggest that reported benefits of vibration are due to a placebo response. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society
A new approach for a microparts feeding system based on inertial force.

This paper deals with the presentation of a new microparts feeding system based on inertial force and able to move microcomponents with various shapes and sizes. It is a part of our microfactory project, in which different modular elements work together in order to perform assembly tasks [1], [2], [3], [4]. We present the design and the experimental results of this new type of feeder based on the concepts of modularity and flexibility.
Tiger Parents or Sheep Parents? Struggles of Parental Involvement in Working-Class Chinese Immigrant Families

Background/Context Research on Chinese immigrant parents tends to focus on their high levels of educational involvement and its positive impact on their children's exceptional educational performances. Relatively little research has been conducted to understand the challenges Chinese immigrant parents face in helping their children with school and the resulting influence on parent-child relations and children's adaptation. Focus of Study In this paper, we examined how immigration reshapes parental involvement in these Chinese immigrant families and its subsequent influence on parent-child relations. Setting The research was conducted in the metropolitan area of a northeastern city in the United States. Participants Our participants were 72 Chinese immigrant children and their parents. Research Design Our study utilizes longitudinal interview data with open-ended questions. Open, axial, and selective coding procedures were used in qualitative data analysis. Findings/Results Our findings suggest that when parents face multiple challenges in their adaptation after migration, they often experience a feeling of powerlessness especially in dealing with their children's schooling. This then forces the children to be precociously independent. This dynamic puts strain on parent-child relations and has a negative impact on children's adaptation. Conclusions/Recommendations It is important for schools and other social institutions working with Chinese immigrant families to reach out to parents by providing them with more information and resources to be more involved in their children's education. Immigrant and local communities can also help by offering parent and youth programs to help improve parental involvement and parent-child relations in Chinese and other immigrant families.
Exploring of the Relationship between Individual Innovativeness and Techno-pedagogical Education Competencies of Pre-service Teachers

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the individual innovativeness of preservice teachers and their competencies in techno-pedagogical education. The sample group for the research comprised a total of 389 pre-service teachers, 288 of which were female (74%) and 101 (26%) of which were male, selected from the senior students of 10 different teacher training programs in the Faculty of Education of Trakya University during the spring term of the 2011–2012 academic year. The “Techno-pedagogical Education Competency Scale” developed by Kabakci Yurdakul, Odabasi, Kilicer, Coklar, Birinci and Kurt (2012), and the “Individual Innovativeness” scale developed by Hurt, Joseph and Cook (1977) and adopted into Turkish culture by Kilicer and Odabasi (2010), were used for the research. The results showed that the individual innovativeness of the pre-service teachers fell under the “early-majority” category; while no significant difference was found between individual innovativeness and competency in techno-pedagogical education with the gender variable. It was determined from the research that the techno-pedagogical education competencies of the pre-service teachers were in the “advanced” level. The findings of the research revealed a positive and moderate relationship between the individual innovativeness of pre-service teachers and their competency in techno-pedagogical education.
Detectability of dirty dust grains in brown dwarf atmospheres

Context. Dust clouds influence the atmospheric structure of brown dwarfs, and they affect the heat transfer and change the gas-phase chemistry. However, the physics of their formation and evolution is not well understood. The dust composition can be predicted from thermodynamical equilibrium or time-dependent chemistry that takes into account seed particle formation, grain growth, evaporation, and drift. Aims. In this Letter, we predict dust signatures and propose a potential observational test of the physics of dust formation in brown dwarf atmospheres based on the spectral features of the different solid components predicted by dust formation theory. Methods. A momentum method for the formation of dirty dust grains (nucleation, growth, evaporation, and drift) is applied to a static brown dwarf atmosphere structure to compute the dust grain properties, and in particular, the heterogeneous grain composition and the grain size. The effective medium and Mie theories are used to compute the extinction of these spherical grains. Results. Dust formation results in grains whose composition differs from that of grains formed at equilibrium. Our kinetic model predicts that amorphous SiO 2 [s] (silica) is one of the most abundant solid components, followed by amorphous Mg 2 SiO 4 [s] and MgSiO 3 [s], while SiO 2 [s] is absent in equilibrium models because it is a metastable solid. Solid amorphous SiO 2 [s] possesses a strong broad absorption feature centered at 8.7 μm, while amorphous Mg 2 SiO 4 [s]/MgSiO 3 [s] absorbs at 9.7 μm in addition to other absorption features at longer wavelengths. Those features at λ < 15 μm are detectable in absorption if the grains are small (radius <0.2 μm) in the upper atmosphere, as proposed by our model. Conclusions. We suggest that the detection of a feature at 8.7 μm in deep infrared spectra could provide evidence for non-equilibrium dust formation that yields grains composed of metastable solids in brown dwarf atmospheres. This feature will shift towards 10μm and broaden if silicates (e.g. fosterite) are much more abundant.
Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm: Key immunohistochemical profiles for differential diagnosis

AIM To reveal better diagnostic markers for differentiating neuroendocrine tumor (NET) from solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN), focusing primarily on immunohistochemical analysis. METHODS We reviewed 30 pancreatic surgical specimens of NET (24 cases) and SPN (6 cases). We carried out comprehensive immunohistochemical profiling using 9 markers: Synaptophysin, chromogranin A, pan-cytokeratin, E-cadherin, progesterone receptor, vimentin, α-1-antitrypsin, CD10, and β-catenin. RESULTS E-cadherin staining in NETs, and nuclear labeling of β-catenin in SPNs were the most sensitive and specific markers. Dot-like staining of chromogranin A might indicate the possibility of SPNs rather than NETs. The other six markers were not useful because their expression overlapped widely between NETs and SPNs. Moreover, two cases that had been initially diagnosed as NETs on the basis of their morphological features, demonstrated SPN-like immunohistochemical profiles. Careful diagnosis is crucial as we actually found two confusing cases showing disagreement between the tumor morphology and immunohistochemical profiles. CONCLUSION E-cadherin, chromogranin A, and β-catenin were the most useful markers which should be employed for differentiating between NET and SPN.
Fast Computation of Minimal Cut Sets in Metabolic Networks with a Berge Algorithm that Utilizes Binary Bit Pattern Trees

Minimal cut sets are a valuable tool for analyzing metabolic networks and for identifying optimal gene intervention strategies by eliminating unwanted metabolic functions and keeping desired functionality. Minimal cut sets rely on the concept of elementary flux modes which are sets of indivisible metabolic pathways under steady state condition. However, the computation of minimal cut sets is non-trivial, as even medium sized metabolic networks with just 100 reactions easily have several hundred million elementary flux modes. We developed a minimal cut set tool that implements the well known Berge algorithm and utilizes a novel approach to significantly reduce the program run time by using binary bit pattern trees. By using the introduced tree approach the size of metabolic models that can be analyzed and optimized by minimal cut sets is pushed to new and considerably higher limits.
Situation and influencing factors of abuse among children in Guangzhou

【Objective】 To explore the situation and influencing factors of abuse among children in Guangzhou and to provide useful reference for prevention. 【Methods】 Across-sectional survey was carried out among 7 475 children by self-administered questionnaire during 2008.The questionnaire used for this study mainly included general demographic information and Childhood Trauma Questionaire(CTQ-SF). 【Results】 The prevalence rates of emotional,physical and sexual abuse were 59.41%,31.51% and 17.94%. The score and prevalence rate of emotional abuse of girls were higher than those of boys(t=-4.755,H=24.410,all P0.001). The scores and prevalence rates of physical abuse and sexual abuse of boys were higher than those of girls(t=8.356,H=82.211,all P0.001;t=8.784,H=52.452,all P0.001). Sex;age;family structure;living conditions and frequency of parents drink were common influencing factors of emotional,physical and sexual abuse. 【Conclusions】 The results indicate that abuse among children is not uncommon in our city.Children abuse is associated with many factors,and family conditions are important factors.
Identification of a Major Cluster ofKlebsiella pneumoniae Isolates from Patients with Liver Abscess in Taiwan

ABSTRACT Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as the leading liver abscess pathogen in Taiwan, with the percentage rising from 30% in the 1980s to over 80% in the 1990s. Most of the patients with K. pneumoniae liver abscess are diabetic and without biliary tract disease. Some patients develop serious extrahepatic complications such as endophthalmitis, meningitis, lung abscess, and necrotizing fasciitis. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used for cluster analysis of 96 isolates from patients with liver abscess and 60 isolates from patients with other diseases. A total of 136 PFGE types were identified. Among the 96 liver abscess-associated isolates, 60 (62.5%) were classified in major cluster A. Cluster A included 41 PFGE types (types 1 to 41) which had a genetic similarity of at least 72.4% ± 9.4%. The PFGE patterns of cluster A strains are so similar that they could have originated from the same ancestor. This study demonstrates that cluster A plays an important role in the high incidence of K. pneumoniae liver abscess in Taiwan.
Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With Scurvy and Vitamin Deficiencies in an Autistic Child

Restricted dietary intake is common among children with behavioral issues. Here we report a case of a severely autistic child who presented initially with limp but who soon developed cough, tachypnea, hypoxia, and tachycardia. An echocardiogram revealed evidence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with severely dilated right ventricle and elevated right-sided pressures. The etiology of his PH was unclear but further laboratory evaluation demonstrated severe nutritional deficiencies, in particular an undetectable ascorbic acid (vitamin C) level as well as deficient levels of thiamine (vitamin B1), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), cobalamin (vitamin B12), and vitamin D. Repletion of these vitamins was associated with resolution of his PH and his musculoskeletal complaints. We report this case and a review of the relevant literature as a clinical lesson to expand the differential diagnosis of limp in children who may be difficult to assess as well as to report on an unusual association between severe vitamin deficiencies and PH.
Hybridization of genetic algorithm and local search in multiobjective function optimization: recommendation of GA then LS

Hybridization with local search (LS) is known to enhance the performance of genetic algorithms (GA) in single objective optimization and have also been studied in the multiobjective combinatorial optimization literature. In most such studies, LS is applied to the solutions of each generation of GA, which is the scheme called "GA with LS" herein. Another scheme, in which LS is applied to the solutions obtained with GA, has also been studied, which is called "GA then LS" herein. It seems there is no consensus in the literature as to which scheme is better, let alone the reasoning for it. The situation in the multiobjective function optimization literature is even more unclear since the number of such studies in the field has been small.This paper, assuming that objective functions are differentiable, reveals the reasons why GA is not suitable for obtaining solutions of high precision, thereby justifying hybridization of GA and LS. It also suggests that the hybridization scheme which maximally exploits both GA and LS is GA then LS. Experiments conducted on many benchmark problems verified our claims.
A Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm for Design Space Exploration in High-Level Synthesis

This paper presents a methodology for design space exploration (DSE) in high-level synthesis (HLS), based on a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Since all high-level synthesis sub-tasks are notoriously NP-complete and interdependent and the design objectives are in conflict for nature, most of the already proposed approaches are not efficient in the exploration of this design space and not effective in the identification of different trade-offs. For these reasons, evolutionary algorithms can be considered as good candidates to tackle such difficult explorations. Therefore, we will compare our proposed approach, using different solution encoding, with a publicly available HLS framework and we will show that this approach is able to obtain better optimization results, with respect to the design objectives (latency and area have been considered for optimization), in most of situations and our proposed encoding better approaches the situations when multi-modal functional units (e.g. Arithmetic Logic Units) could be used in the final design solutions.
Endosperm development in Brachypodium distachyon

Grain development and its evolution in grasses remains poorly understood, despite cereals being our most important source of food. The grain, for which many grass species have been domesticated, is a single-seeded fruit with prominent and persistent endosperm. Brachypodium distachyon, a small wild grass, is being posited as a new model system for the temperate small grain cereals, but little is known about its endosperm development and how this compares with that of the domesticated cereals. A cellular and molecular map of domains within the developing Brachypodium endosperm is constructed. This provides the first detailed description of grain development in Brachypodium for the reference strain, Bd21, that will be useful for future genetic and comparative studies. Development of Brachypodium grains is compared with that of wheat. Notably, the aleurone is not regionally differentiated as in wheat, suggesting that the modified aleurone region may be a feature of only a subset of cereals. Also, the central endosperm and the nucellar epidermis contain unusually prominent cell walls that may act as a storage material. The composition of these cell walls is more closely related to those of barley and oats than to those of wheat. Therefore, although endosperm development is broadly similar to that of temperate small grain cereals, there are significant differences that may reflect its phylogenetic position between the Triticeae and rice.