Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated with Total Inpatient Costs and Length of Stay During Surgical Hospitalization Among Veterans Who Underwent Lower Extremity Amputation

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify patient- and facility-level factors associated with total inpatient costs and length of stay (LOS) among veterans who underwent lower extremity amputation. DesignPatient data for 1536 veterans were compiled from nine databases from the Veterans Health Administration between October 1, 2002, and September 30, 2003. Linear mixed models were used to identify the factors associated with the natural logarithm of total inpatient costs and LOS. ResultsStatistically significant factors associated with both higher total inpatient costs and longer LOS included admission by transfer from another hospital, systemic sepsis, arrhythmias, chronic blood loss anemia, fluid and electrolyte disorders, weight loss, specialized inpatient rehabilitation, and higher hospital bed counts. Device infection, coagulopathy, solid tumor without metastasis, Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities accreditation, and the Medicare Wage Index were associated with only higher total inpatient costs. The factors associated with only longer LOS included older age, not being married, previous amputation complication, congestive heart failure, deficiency anemias, and paralysis. ConclusionsMost drivers of total inpatient costs were similar to those that increased LOS, with a few exceptions. These findings may have implications for projecting future healthcare costs and thus could be important in efforts to reducing costs, understanding LOS, and refining payment and budgeting policies.
Levamisole Induced Autoimmunity

Abstract Background: We present the case of a patient with vitiligo that was treated with levamisol and presented with pure levamisole induced vasculopathy. The patient had no cocaine use and immunologic findings persisted for more than 4 years after the consumption of the drug. Case Presentation: 70 year-old women with a history relevant for vitiligo. Shortly after initiating levamisole she developed extensive necrotic skin lesions, coagulopathy and thrombocytopenia. At the time she presented an hemorragic stroke that resulted in hemiparesia. Four months later, she presented with loss of consciousness and a mixed aphasia. A CT scan revealed the prior lesion only, an EEG showed abnormal activity. Her lab tests showed a positive lupus anticoagulant and p-ANCA. She was initially managed with phenytoin, levetiracetam and enoxaparin. She returned with a status epilepticus and was then managed with phenyotin, levetiracetam, and diazepam with no response. Considering a nonthrombotic manifestation of antiphospholipid syndrome methylprednisolone 1 gr per day for three doses were administered with improvement in language and motor function. She continued enoxaparin and prednisone with good results. Mycophenolate mofetil was later added to her treatment as a prednisone sparing agent. Lupus anticoagulant persists positive to this date. Conclusions: Vasculopathy presenting as skin necrosis or purpura is a feature of both cocaine and levamisole use. There are very few cases of levamisole only induced vasculitis and even less in the adult population. It is conventionally believed that the sole therapeutic intervention needed is avoidance of levamisol exposure. In this case, the persistence of lupus anticoagulant for more than 4 years, the neurologic symptoms upon steroid suspension and immediate response to bolus led to the decision of maintenance immunosupresive therapy and anticoagulation. There is a subset of patients who may develop an autoimmune disease and should be observed and treated for longer periods.
A generalized framework for analyzing time-space switched optical networks

Previous advances in photonic switching have paved the way for realizing all-optical time switched networks. The current technology of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) offers bandwidth granularity that match peak electronic transmission speed by dividing the fiber bandwidth into multiple wavelengths. However, the bandwidth of a single wavelength is too large for certain traffic. Time division multiplexing (TDM) allows multiple traffic streams to share the bandwidth of a wavelength efficiently. While introducing wavelength converters and time slot interchangers improve the network blocking performance, it is often of interest to know the incremental benefits offered by every additional stage of switching. As all-optical networks in future are expected to employ heterogeneous switching architectures, it is necessary to have generalized network model that allows one to study these networks under a unified framework. In this paper, a network model, called the Trunk Switched Network (TSN), is proposed to facilitate modeling and analysis of such networks. An analytical model for evaluating the blocking performance of a class of TSN's has also been developed. Using the analytical model, it is shown that a significant performance improvement is obtained with a time-space switch with no wavelength conversion at each node in a multi-wavelength TDM switched network.
A Bayesian Approach to Learning Bayesian Networks with Local Structure

Recently several researchers have investigated techniques for using data to learn Bayesian networks containing compact representations for the conditional probability distributions (CPDs) stored at each node. The majority of this work has concentrated on using decision-tree representations for the CPDs. In addition, researchers typically apply non-Bayesian (or asymptotically Bayesian) scoring functions such as MDL to evaluate the goodness-of-fit of networks to the data. In this paper we investigate a Bayesian approach to learning Bayesian networks that contain the more general decision-graph representations of the CPDs. First, we describe how to evaluate the posterior probability-- that is, the Bayesian score--of such a network, given a database of observed cases. Second, we describe various search spaces that can be used, in conjunction with a scoring function and a search procedure, to identify one or more high-scoring networks. Finally, we present an experimentd evaluation of the search spaces, using a greedy algorithm and a Bayesian scoring function.
Risk factors for suicide in melancholia A case‐record evaluation of 89 suicides and their controls

Eighty‐nine inpatients with a primary severe depression and melancholia who had committed suicide were investigated. They were admitted to the Department of Psychiatry, Lund, Sweden between 1956–1969 and died before 1984. Matched controls were selected. Case records were evaluated at index admission to find suicidal risk factors in melancholia. Prospective ratings were compared. Women committing suicide had higher scores than their controls on the items unmarried, non‐compliance and suicide attempt but lower ratings on disharmonic childhood and non‐severe physical disease. Men committing suicide had higher scores on the items heredity for psychosis and a brittle or sensitive personality. For the latter item suicide was related to life‐weariness. Suicide attempt was related to acute onset and lack of psychomotor retardation. Two suicidal processes were proposed for men: one related to aggression and one not. Social factors seem less important in the prediction of suicide in melancholia than in depression in general.
Reengineering of configurations based on mathematical concept analysis

We apply mathematical concept analysis to the problem of reengineering configurations. Concept analysis will reconstruct a taxonomy of concepts from a relation between objects and attributes. We use concept analysis to infer configuration structures from existing source code. Our tool NORA/RECS will accept source code, where configuration-specific code pieces are controlled by the preprocessor. The algorithm will compute a so-called concept lattice, which —when visually displayed — offers remarkable insight into the structure and properties of possible configurations. The lattice not only displays tine-grained dependencies between configurations, but also visualizes the overall quality of configuration structures according to software engineering principles. In a second step, interferences between configurations can be analyzed in order to restructure or simplify configurations. Interferences showing up in the lattice indicate high coupling and low cohesion between configuration concepts. Source files can then be simplified according to the lattice structure. Finally, we show how governing expressions can be simplified by utilizing an isomorphism theorem of mathematical concept analysis.
Policy instruments for pollution control in developing countries.

Economic development in developing countries must be accomplished in a manner that does not harm the environment with pollution. Pollution harms human health and productivity. Thus appropriate strategies must be developed that promote growth, reduce poverty, and protect the environment. A review of the current literature is performed with attention paid to cost-effective interventions i.e., comparisons of regulatory and fiscal instruments that can reduce pollution. Both direct instruments (like effluent charges, tradable permits, deposit refund systems, emission regulations and regulatory agency funding for purification, cleanup, waste disposal, and enforcement) and indirect instruments (like input/output taxes and subsidies, substitution subsidies, abatement inputs, regulation of equipment and processes, and development of clean technologies) are examined. Examples are used to show how indirect instruments can be successful when monitoring and enforcement is too costly. A careful examination of distributive concerns illustrate how the effect on the poor may need particular consideration and how groups with vested interests can help evaluate the probable success of such interventions.
Comparison of neonatal growth in normal, low and very low birth weights until 18 months

Background: Birth weight is considered as the most important index of neonates’ growth as well as the most important determinant of infants’ mortality. This study was conducted to investigate the growth pattern in normal, low and very low birth weight neonates for 18 months in the health care centers of Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional and retrospective study, 214 neonates (90 with normal, 90 with low and 34 with very low birth weights) were enrolled in the health care centers of Isfahan and their growth in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th months were investigated. The data collection tool was a 3-part questionnaire which was validated using content validity. A part of data was completed based on the health file of the family. Findings: The mean of weight, height and head circumference in the months 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 15 in the three groups with normal, low and very low birth weights were significantly different. In the ages of 6, 15, 12 and 18 months, there was the highest frequency of horizontal trend in the growth pattern of children in the three groups. In the growth rate of neonates with low birth weight, there was the highest frequency of horizontal trend at the age of 12 months and there was the highest frequency of descending trend in the 15th months. Conclusions: The findings showed that according to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) percentiles, low and very low birth weight infants had lower growth in weight, length and head circumference compared to normal birth weight infants. Therefore, special attention should be given to healthcare and post-birth growth surveillance of these two groups to maintain and improve the health level of them.
Importance of Baseline Specification in Evaluating Conservation Interventions and Achieving No Net Loss of Biodiversity

There is an urgent need to improve the evaluation of conservation interventions. This requires specifying an objective and a frame of reference from which to measure performance. Reference frames can be baselines (i.e., known biodiversity at a fixed point in history) or counterfactuals (i.e., a scenario that would have occurred without the intervention). Biodiversity offsets are interventions with the objective of no net loss of biodiversity (NNL). We used biodiversity offsets to analyze the effects of the choice of reference frame on whether interventions met stated objectives. We developed 2 models to investigate the implications of setting different frames of reference in regions subject to various biodiversity trends and anthropogenic impacts. First, a general analytic model evaluated offsets against a range of baseline and counterfactual specifications. Second, a simulation model then replicated these results with a complex real world case study: native grassland offsets in Melbourne, Australia. Both models showed that achieving NNL depended upon the interaction between reference frame and background biodiversity trends. With a baseline, offsets were less likely to achieve NNL where biodiversity was decreasing than where biodiversity was stable or increasing. With a no‐development counterfactual, however, NNL was achievable only where biodiversity was declining. Otherwise, preventing development was better for biodiversity. Uncertainty about compliance was a stronger determinant of success than uncertainty in underlying biodiversity trends. When only development and offset locations were considered, offsets sometimes resulted in NNL, but not across an entire region. Choice of reference frame determined feasibility and effort required to attain objectives when designing and evaluating biodiversity offset schemes. We argue the choice is thus of fundamental importance for conservation policy. Our results shed light on situations in which biodiversity offsets may be an inappropriate policy instrument
Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution: Research and Practice Assigning Change Requests to Software Developers

SUMMARY The paper presents an approach to recommend a ranked list of expert developers to assist in the implementation of software change requests (e.g., bug reports and feature requests). An Information Retrieval (IR)-based concept location technique is first used to locate source code entities, e.g., files and classes, relevant to a given textual description of a change request. The previous commits from version control repositories of these entities are then mined for expert developers. The role of the IR method in selectively reducing the mining space is different from previous approaches that textually index past change requests and/or commits. The approach is evaluated on change requests from three open-source systems: ArgoUML, Eclipse, and KOffice, across a range of accuracy criteria. The results show that the overall accuracies of the correctly recommended developers are between 47 and 96% for bug reports, and between 43 and 60% for feature requests. Moreover, comparison results with two other recommendation alternatives show that the presented approach outperforms them with a substantial margin. Project leads or developers can use this approach in maintenance tasks immediately after the receipt of a change request in a free-form text.
Identification of a Potential ISR Determinant from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PM12 against Fusarium Wilt in Tomato

Biocontrol of plant diseases through induction of systemic resistance is an environmental friendly substitute to chemicals in crop protection measures. Different biotic and abiotic elicitors can trigger the plant for induced resistance. Present study was designed to explore the potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PM12 in inducing systemic resistance in tomato against Fusarium wilt. Initially the bioactive compound, responsible for ISR, was separated and identified from extracellular filtrate of P. aeruginosa PM12. After that purification and characterization of the bacterial crude extracts was carried out through a series of organic solvents. The fractions exhibiting ISR activity were further divided into sub-fractions through column chromatography. Sub fraction showing maximum ISR activity was subjected to Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the identification of compounds. Analytical result showed three compounds in the ISR active sub-fraction viz: 3-hydroxy-5-methoxy benzene methanol (HMB), eugenol and tyrosine. Subsequent bioassays proved that HMB is the potential ISR determinant that significantly ameliorated Fusarium wilt of tomato when applied as soil drench method at the rate of 10 mM. In the next step of this study, GC-MS analysis was performed to detect changes induced in primary and secondary metabolites of tomato plants by the ISR determinant. Plants were treated with HMB and Fusarium oxysporum in different combinations showing intensive re- modulations in defense related pathways. This work concludes that HMB is the potential elicitor involved in dynamic reprogramming of plant pathways which functionally contributes in defense responses. Furthermore the use of biocontrol agents as natural enemies of soil borne pathogens besides enhancing production potential of crop can provide a complementary tactic for sustainable integrated pest management.
Establishing the contribution of nursing in the community to the health of the people of Scotland: integrative literature review.

AIM This paper is a report of an integrative literature review to explore the evidence base for nursing in the community. BACKGROUND The Scottish Executive (2005) in Scotland (UK), announced that a review of nursing in the community should be undertaken to inform implementation of the policy Delivering for Health. This policy called for a fundamental shift in the focus of care away from acute hospitals into the community where health care in the future will be concentrated. To inform this review of nursing in the community, the Scottish Executive commissioned a literature review. METHODS An integrative literature review was carried out during 2006 (February to April). We carried out an extensive literature search using multiple electronic databases and hand-searched key texts to find suitable systematic reviews and primary quantitative and qualitative papers for review (1996-March 2006). We included English language publications describing systematic reviews and primary empirical research about community nurses' contributions to the health of people. FINDINGS Seventy-three papers (12 systematic reviews and 61 studies) met our inclusion criteria. All of the studies were scored as either 'low' or 'medium' quality. None merited a 'high' quality rating. CONCLUSIONS There is little research evaluating the impact of community nursing actions. Adequately resourced research is needed to strengthen the evidence base to support nurses in the community in delivering effective and efficient care that meet the health needs of people and communities.
Big Data Platforms and Techniques

Data is growing at unprecedented rate and has led to huge volume generated; the data sources include mobile, internet and sensors. This voluminous data is generated and updated at high velocity by batch and streaming platforms. This data is also varied along structured and unstructured types. This volume, velocity and variety of data led to the term big data. Big data has been premised to contain untapped knowledge, its exploration and exploitation is termed big data analytics. This literature reviewed platforms such as batch processing, real time processing and interactive analytics used in big data environments. Techniques used for big data are machine learning, Data Mining, Neural Network and Deep Learning. There are big data architecture offerings from Microsoft, IBM and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Big data potentials can transform economies and reduce running cost of institutions. Big data has challenges such as storage, computation, security and privacy
Effect of exercise-induced neurogenesis on cognitive function deficit in a rat model of vascular dementia

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is strongly correlated with progressive cognitive decline in neurological diseases, such as vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer's disease. Exercise can enhance learning and memory, and delay age-related cognitive decline. However, exercise-induced hippocampal neurogenesis in experimental animals submitted to CCH has not been investigated. The present study aimed to investigate whether hippocampal neurogenesis induced by exercise can improve cognitive deficit in a rat model of VaD. Male Wistar rats (age, 8 weeks; weight, 292±3.05 g; n=12–13/group) were subjected to bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2VO) or sham-surgery and each group was then subdivided randomly into no exercise and treadmill exercise groups. Exercise groups performed treadmill exercise daily at 15 m/min for 30 min for 4 weeks from the third to the seventh week after 2VO. It was demonstrated that the number of neural progenitor cells and mature neurons in the subgranular zone of 2VO rats was increased by exercise, and cognitive impairment in 2VO rats was attenuated by treadmill exercise. In addition, mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the hippocampus were increased in the exercise groups. Thus the present study suggests that exercise delays cognitive decline by the enhancing neurogenesis and increasing BDNF expression in the context of VaD.
Effects of Secondary Plant Metabolites on Microbial Populations: Changes in Community Structure and Metabolic Activity in Contaminated Environments

Secondary plant metabolites (SPMEs) play an important role in plant survival in the environment and serve to establish ecological relationships between plants and other organisms. Communication between plants and microorganisms via SPMEs contained in root exudates or derived from litter decomposition is an example of this phenomenon. In this review, the general aspects of rhizodeposition together with the significance of terpenes and phenolic compounds are discussed in detail. We focus specifically on the effect of SPMEs on microbial community structure and metabolic activity in environments contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Furthermore, a section is devoted to a complex effect of plants and/or their metabolites contained in litter on bioremediation of contaminated sites. New insights are introduced from a study evaluating the effects of SPMEs derived during decomposition of grapefruit peel, lemon peel, and pears on bacterial communities and their ability to degrade PCBs in a long-term contaminated soil. The presented review supports the “secondary compound hypothesis” and demonstrates the potential of SPMEs for increasing the effectiveness of bioremediation processes.
COP I domains required for coatomer integrity, and novel interactions with ARF and ARF‐GAP

We performed a systematic mapping of interaction domains on COP I subunits to gain novel insights into the architecture of coatomer. Using the two‐hybrid system, we characterize the domain structure of the α‐, β′‐, ϵ‐COP and β‐, γ‐, δ‐, ζ‐COP coatomer subcomplexes and identify links between them that contribute to coatomer integrity. Our results demonstrate that the domain organization of the β‐, γ‐, δ‐, ζ‐COP subcomplex and AP adaptor complexes is related. Through in vivo analysis of α‐COP truncation mutants, we characterize distinct functional domains on α‐COP. Its N‐terminal WD40 domain is dispensable for yeast cell viability and overall coatomer function, but is required for KKXX‐dependent trafficking. The last ∼170 amino acids of α‐COP are also non‐essential for cell viability, but required for ϵ‐COP incorporation into coatomer and maintainance of normal ϵ‐COP levels. Further, we demonstrate novel direct interactions of coatomer subunits with regulatory proteins: β′‐ and γ‐COP interact with the ARF‐GTP‐activating protein (GAP) Glo3p, but not Gcs1p, and β‐ and ϵ‐COP interact with ARF‐GTP. Glo3p also interacts with intact coatomer in vitro.