Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma delipidation process induces rapid regression of atherosclerosis and mobilisation of adipose tissue

Cholesterol is a major component of atherosclerotic plaques. Cholesterol accumulation within the arterial intima and atherosclerotic plaques is determined by the difference of cellular cholesterol synthesis and/or influx from apo B–containing lipoproteins and cholesterol efflux. In humans, apo A‐1 Milano infusion has led to rapid regression of atherosclerosis in coronary arteries. We hypothesised that a multifunctional plasma delipidation process (PDP) would lead to rapid regression of experimental atherosclerosis and probably impact on adipose tissue lipids. In hyperlipidemic animals, the plasma concentrations of cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipid were, respectively, 6‐, 157‐, and 18‐fold higher than control animals, which consequently resulted in atherosclerosis. PDP consisted of delipidation of plasma with a mixture of butanol‐diisopropyl ether (DIPE). PDP removed considerably more lipid from the hyperlipidemic animals than in normolipidemic animals. PDP treatment of hyperlipidemic animals markedly reduced intensity of lipid staining materials in the arterial wall and led to dramatic reduction of lipid in the adipose tissue. Five PDP treatments increased apolipoprotein A1 concentrations in all animals. Biochemical and hematological parameters were unaffected during PDP treatment. These results show that five PDP treatments led to marked reduction in avian atherosclerosis and removal of lipid from adipose tissue. PDP is a highly effective method for rapid regression of atherosclerosis. J. Clin. Apheresis © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Atom Interferometer Measurement of the Newtonian Constant of Gravity

We measured the Newtonian constant of gravity, G, using a gravity gradiometer based on atom interferometry. The gradiometer measures the differential acceleration of two samples of laser-cooled Cs atoms. The change in gravitational field along one dimension is measured when a well-characterized Pb mass is displaced. Here, we report a value of G = 6.693 × 10–11 cubic meters per kilogram second squared, with a standard error of the mean of ±0.027 × 10–11 and a systematic error of ±0.021 × 10–11 cubic meters per kilogram second squared. The possibility that unknown systematic errors still exist in traditional measurements makes it important to measure G with independent methods.
Using pharmacy claims data to study adherence to glaucoma medications: methodology and findings of the Glaucoma Adherence and Persistency Study (GAPS).

PURPOSE To develop methods for investigating adherence to glaucoma medications by using a modified claims data-based measure of adherence, validation by chart review, and patient and physician interviews. METHODS Data from administrative claims of 13,956 subjects receiving an initial glaucoma medication, and data from overlapping samples of 300 patients' charts, 300 interviews of patients, and 103 interviews of physicians were analyzed and compared. RESULTS The mean medication possession ratio (MPR) was 0.64 (median 0.57) for the 13,956 subjects. Although 59% potentially had an ocular hypotensive agent at 12 months, only 10% had such medication available continuously. Chart review revealed that 31% of subjects "new to therapy" in claims data had actually been previously treated; and that 90% of the 17% who had medication added to initial monotherapy were misclassified by claims-based algorithms as medication switches or no change. Twenty percent of surveyed patients received samples on a regular basis and had lower MPR than those who did not (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Large pharmacy databases offer insight into medication usage but are vulnerable to errors from sampling (since patients who receive samples will be considered to have poor adherence), misidentification of newly treated patients, and misclassification of added versus switched medications. That a large proportion of patients stop and restart medications makes MPR a robust measure of adherence over time that reflects the resumption of medication after a gap in adherence. The data confirm that adherence to treatment with glaucoma medications is poor, similar to adherence in patients with other chronic diseases.
Assessment of the relationship between aortic stiffness and left ventricular functions with echocardiography in patients with Sjögren's syndrome

Capable of multi‐organ involvement in Sjogren's syndrome (SS), cardiac findings of pulmonary effusion, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension are seen in patients with SS. Aortic stiffness (AS) reflects the mechanical tension and elasticity of the aorta. In this study, our aim is to determine if there is any differences in AS and left ventricular function between patients diagnosed as SS and healthy control groups.
Using patient-focused research in evaluating treatment outcome in private practice.

The increasing emphasis on therapist accountability and empirical demonstration of psychotherapeutic treatment effectiveness points to the need for practicing therapists to integrate treatment evaluation methods into routine clinical practice. Unfortunately, most private practitioners have little involvement in carrying out evaluation procedures. In this study we demonstrate how patient-focused research was used to track the progress and outcome of patients seen by a clinical psychologist in private practice. Twenty-nine adults and 40 children/adolescents were evaluated on a weekly basis to assess the number of sessions required to reach improvement (reliable change) and recovery (clinically significant change). Dose-response survival analysis results indicated that 50% of adults reached clinically significant change in 54 sessions, and 50% of youth met the same standard in 14 sessions. These results were compared with outcome in large-scale studies. Implications of this study for integrating treatment evaluation methods into clinical practice are discussed.
Influence of V and Nb Micro‐Alloying on Direct Quenched and Tempered Ultra‐High Strength Steels

The construction of mobile crane booms requires the usage of ultra‐high strength steels. Micro‐alloying elements promote grain refinement during hot rolling and result in increased toughness. The relevant strength is given through a martensitic microstructure, which is accomplished by elements retarding the γ to α transformation. Direct quenching (DQ) from the rolling heat and quenching after a preceding re‐austenitization (RQ) are two different production routes. They differ regarding their productivity, their achievable strength levels, and their resulting microstructures. In order to explore the influence of the production route in combination with prominent micro‐alloying elements, which come to application during hot‐rolling, six steels with varying content of V and Nb are investigated concerning their different properties after DQ and RQ as well as their behavior after tempering. It is found, that Nb strongly improves the strength after thermomechanical processing in the as‐rolled condition. Furthermore, Nb compensates the loss of strength during tempering. This effect is not thoroughly discussed in literature so far. Although Nb leads to grain refining during re‐austenitization, the effects on the strength of RQ steels are minimal. The effect after tempering is also weaker than after direct quenching. It is also shown, that V offers a high strength potential after tempering, however weakens the impact toughness significantly.
Lymphatic vessel invasion as a prognostic factor in patients with primary resected adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction.

PURPOSE To evaluate the value of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) as a predictor of survival in patients with primary resected adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction (AEG). PATIENTS AND METHODS We prospectively evaluated 459 patients undergoing primary surgical resection for tumors of the esophagogastric junction at our institution between 1992 and 2000 (180 adenocarcinomas of the distal esophagus, AEG I; 140 carcinomas of the cardia, AEG II; and 139 subcardial gastric cancers, AEG III). Median follow-up was 36.8 months. The prevalence of LVI was evaluated by two independent pathologists. Univariate and multivariate analysis of prognostic factors was performed. RESULTS The total rate of LVI was 49.9%, with a significant difference between AEG I (38.9%) and AEGII/III (57.0%, P = .0002). Univariate analysis showed a significant correlation between LVI and T category (P < .0001), N category (P < .0001), and resection status (R [residual tumor] category; P < .0001). This was shown for the group of all AEG tumors, as well as for the subgroups AEG I and AEG II/III. On multivariate analysis, LVI was identified as a significant and independent prognostic factor (P = .050) in the population of all patients and in patients with AEG II/III, but not in the subgroup with AEG I. CONCLUSION These data demonstrate the prognostic significance of LVI in patients with AEG tumors, with marked differences between the subgroups AEG I versus AEG II/III. The lower prevalence and lack of prognostic significance of LVI in AEG I might be explained by inflammation involved in the pathogenesis of this entity.
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Prevention Through Facility‐Wide Culture Change

Hospitals across the United States and around the world are fighting the escalation of drug-resistant infections. In response to this costly and life-threatening problem, facilities are engaging in vigorous programs to prevent its occurrence and spread. This article presents one hospital's fight against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by implementing a facility-wide program aimed at changing and standardizing the culture within the hospital.
Optimized Energy Scheduling Algorithm for Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks

 Abstract — Wireless sensor networks can be tiny, low cost, intelligent sensors connected with advanced communication systems. WSNs have pulled in significant consideration as a matter of fact that, industrial as well as medical solicitations employ these in monitoring targets, conservational observation, obstacle exposure, movement regulator etc. In these applications, sensor hubs are thickly sent in the unattended environment with little non-rechargeable batteries. This constraint requires energy-efficient systems to drag out the system lifetime. There are redundancies in data sent over the network. To overcome this, multiple virtual spine scheduling has been presented. Such networks problems are called Maximum Lifetime Backbone Scheduling (MLBS) problems. Though this sleep wake cycle reduces radio usage, improvement can be made in the path in which the group heads stay selected. Cluster head selection with emphasis on geometrical relation of the system will enhance the load sharing among the nodes. Also the data are analyzed to reduce redundant transmission. Multi-hop communication will facilitate lighter loads on the network.
Low-order H/sub /spl infin// controller design for an active suspension system via LMIs

An application of a new controller order reduction technique with stability and performance preservation based on linear matrix inequality optimization to an active suspension system is presented. In this technique, the rank of the residue matrix of a proper rational approximation of a high-order H/sub /spl infin// controller subject to the H/sub /spl infin//-norm of a frequency-weighted error between the approximated controller and the high-order H/sub /spl infin// controller is minimized. However, because solving this matrix rank minimization problem is very difficult, the rank objective function is replaced with a nuclear-norm that can be reduced to a semidefinite program so that it can be solved efficiently. Application to the active suspension system of the Automatic Laboratory of Grenoble provides a fourth-order controller. The experimental results show that the control specifications are met to a large extent.
A Linear-Size Logarithmic Stretch Path-Reporting Distance Oracle for General Graphs

Thorup and Zwick [2001a] proposed a landmark distance oracle with the following properties. Given an n-vertex undirected graph G = (V, E) and a parameter k = 1, 2, …, their oracle has size O(kn1 + 1/k), and upon a query (u, v) it constructs a path Π between u and v of length δ(u, v) such that dG(u, v) ⩽ δ(u, v) ⩽ (2k − 1)dG(u, v). The query time of the oracle from Thorup and Zwick [2001a] is O(k) (in addition to the length of the returned path), and it was subsequently improved to O(1) [Wulff-Nilsen 2012; Chechik 2014]. A major drawback of the oracle of Thorup and Zwick [2001a] is that its space is Ω(n · logn). Mendel and Naor [2006] devised an oracle with space O(n1 + 1/k) and stretch O(k), but their oracle can only report distance estimates and not actual paths. In this article, we devise a path-reporting distance oracle with size O(n1 + 1/k), stretch O(k), and query time O(nε), for an arbitrarily small constant ε > 0. In particular, for k = logn, our oracle provides logarithmic stretch using linear size. Another variant of our oracle has size O(nloglogn), polylogarithmic stretch, and query time O(loglogn). For unweighted graphs, we devise a distance oracle with multiplicative stretch O(1), additive stretch O(β(k)), for a function β(·), space O(n1 + 1/k), and query time O(nε), for an arbitrarily small constant ε > 0. The tradeoff between multiplicative stretch and size in these oracles is far below Erdős’s girth conjecture threshold (which is stretch 2k − 1 and size O(n1 + 1/k)). Breaking the girth conjecture tradeoff is achieved by exhibiting a tradeoff of different nature between additive stretch β(k) and size O(n1 + 1/k). A similar type of tradeoff was exhibited by a construction of (1 + ε, β)-spanners due to Elkin and Peleg [2001]. However, so far (1 + ε, β)-spanners had no counterpart in the distance oracles’ world. An important novel tool that we develop on the way to these results is a distance-preserving path-reporting oracle. We believe that this oracle is of independent interest.
Relation of Age, Gender, and Bone Mass to Circulating Sclerostin Levels in Women and Men

Sclerostin is a potent inhibitor of Wnt signaling and bone formation. However, there is currently no information on the relation of circulating sclerostin levels to age, gender, or bone mass in humans. Thus we measured serum sclerostin levels in a population‐based sample of 362 women [123 premenopausal, 152 postmenopausal not on estrogen treatment (ET), and 87 postmenopausal on ET] and 318 men, aged 21 to 97 years. Sclerostin levels (mean ± SEM) were significantly higher in men than women (33.3 ± 1.0 pmol/L versus 23.7 ± 0.6 pmol/L, p < .001). In pre‐ and postmenopausal women not on ET combined (n = 275) as well as in men, sclerostin levels were positively associated with age (r = 0.52 and r = 0.64, respectively, p < .001 for both). Over life, serum sclerostin levels increased by 2.4‐ and 4.6‐fold in the women and men, respectively. Moreover, for a given total‐body bone mineral content, elderly subjects (age ≥ 60 years) had higher serum sclerostin levels than younger subjects (ages 20 to 39 years). Our data thus demonstrate that (1) men have higher serum sclerostin levels than women, (2) serum sclerostin levels increase markedly with age, and (3) compared with younger subjects, elderly individuals have higher serum sclerostin levels for a given amount of bone mass. Further studies are needed to define the cause of the age‐related increase in serum sclerostin levels in humans as well as the potential role of this increase in mediating the known age‐related impairment in bone formation. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
A companionship between strangers - the hospital environment as a challenge in patient-patient interaction in oncology wards.

AIM To present an identification and discussion of the impact of the hospital environment on interaction among people with cancer. BACKGROUND In recent years, researchers have focused on identifying and describing features of the hospital environment that promote healing, recovery and well-being. It has been discovered that architectural features affect hospitalized patients both positively and negatively. But the research has failed to include fellow patients as part of the hospital environment. DESIGN A qualitative approach influenced by ethnography. METHOD Participant observation and individual qualitative interviews were used to collect data. From a total of 85 observed people with cancer 10 men and 10 women were interviewed. Data were collected over 6 months in 2010-2011 and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. FINDINGS Patients had ambiguous views regarding their fellow patients and the hospital environment. The hospital environment imposed conditions that caused stress factors such as the loss of personal privacy and control, but it also offered the possibility of good company and support from fellow patients. Refuge from fellow patients was hard to achieve and the fact that personal conversations might be overheard by fellow patients caused patients to withhold important information from healthcare professionals. Nevertheless, patients accepted the hospital environment uncritically, with resignation or with silent rebellion. Despite the challenges, 18 of 20 patients preferred multiple-bed rooms with the company of fellow patients. CONCLUSION The influence of the hospital environment on hospitalized people with cancer and their interpersonal interaction needs to be acknowledged by healthcare professionals. In addition, evidence-based hospital design must include research into patient preferences and arguments. Further investigation is needed.
Myosin-dependent remodeling of adherens junctions protects junctions from Snail-dependent disassembly

During Drosophila gastrulation, subapical junctions are repositioned toward the apical surface and, as cortical tension increases, are strengthened in a myosin II–dependent manner, which may reflect a mechanosensitive response of junctional complexes to the tension generated by the activation of myosin.
Deep Sequencing Analysis of HBV Genotype Shift and Correlation with Antiviral Efficiency during Adefovir Dipivoxil Therapy

Background Viral genotype shift in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients during antiviral therapy has been reported, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Methods 38 CHB patients treated with ADV for one year were selected for studying genotype shift by both deep sequencing and Sanger sequencing method. Results Sanger sequencing method found that 7.9% patients showed mixed genotype before ADV therapy. In contrast, all 38 patients showed mixed genotype before ADV treatment by deep sequencing. 95.5% mixed genotype rate was also obtained from additional 200 treatment-naïve CHB patients. Of the 13 patients with genotype shift, the fraction of the minor genotype in 5 patients (38%) increased gradually during the course of ADV treatment. Furthermore, responses to ADV and HBeAg seroconversion were associated with the high rate of genotype shift, suggesting drug and immune pressure may be key factors to induce genotype shift. Interestingly, patients with genotype C had a significantly higher rate of genotype shift than genotype B. In genotype shift group, ADV treatment induced a marked enhancement of genotype B ratio accompanied by a reduction of genotype C ratio, suggesting genotype C may be more sensitive to ADV than genotype B. Moreover, patients with dominant genotype C may have a better therapeutic effect. Finally, genotype shifts was correlated with clinical improvement in terms of ALT. Conclusions Our findings provided a rational explanation for genotype shift among ADV-treated CHB patients. The genotype and genotype shift might be associated with antiviral efficiency.
A subspace algorithm for certain blind identification problems

The problem of blind identification of p-inputs/q-outputs FIR transfer functions is addressed. Existing subspace identification methods derived for p=1 are first reformulated. In particular, the links between the noise subspace of a certain covariance matrix of the output signals (on which subspace methods build on) and certain rational subspaces associated with the transfer function to be identified are elucidated. Based on these relations, we study the behavior of the subspace method in the case where the order of the transfer function is overestimated. Next, an asymptotic performance analysis of this estimation method is carried out. Consistency and asymptotical normality of the estimates is established. A closed-form expression for the asymptotic covariance of the estimates is given. Numerical simulations and investigations are presented to demonstrate the potential of the subspace method. Finally, we take advantage of our new reformulation to discuss the extension of the subspace method to the case p>1. We show where the difficulties lie, and we briefly indicate how to solve the corresponding problems. The possible connections with classical approaches for MA model estimations are also outlined.
Canalicular Network Morphology Is the Major Determinant of the Spatial Distribution of Mass Density in Human Bone Tissue: Evidence by Means of Synchrotron Radiation Phase‐Contrast nano‐CT

In bone remodeling, maturation of the newly formed osteonal tissue is associated with a rapid primary increase followed by a slower secondary increase of mineralization. This requires supply and precipitation of mineral into the bone matrix. Mineral delivery can occur only from the extracellular fluid via interfaces such as the Haversian system and the osteocyte pore network. We hypothesized that in mineralization, mineral exchange is achieved by the diffusion of mineral from the lacunar‐canalicular network (LCN) to the bone matrix, resulting in a gradual change in tissue mineralization with respect to the distance from the pore‐matrix interface. We expected to observe alterations in the mass density distribution with tissue age. We further hypothesized that mineral exchange occurs not only at the lacunar but also at the canalicular boundaries. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the spatial distribution of mass density in the perilacunar and pericanalicular bone matrix and to explore how these densities are influenced by tissue aging. This is achieved by analyzing human jawbone specimens originating from four healthy donors and four treated with high‐dosage bisphosphonate using synchrotron radiation phase‐contrast nano‐CT with a 50‐nm voxel size. Our results provide the first experimental evidence that mass density in the direct vicinity of both lacunae (p < 0.001) and canaliculi (p < 0.001) is different from the mean matrix mass density, resulting in gradients with respect to the distance from both pore‐matrix interfaces, which diminish with increasing tissue age. Though limited by the sample size, these findings support our hypotheses. Moreover, the density gradients are more pronounced around the lacunae than around the canaliculi, which are explained by geometrical considerations in the LCN morphology. In addition, we speculate that mineral exchange occurs at all interfaces of the LCN, not only in mineralization but also in mineral homeostasis. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.