Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thrombolysis in Stroke Mimics: Frequency, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcome

Background and Purpose— Intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke is usually based on clinical assessment, blood test results, and CT findings. Intravenous thrombolysis of stroke mimics may occur but has not been studied in detail. Methods— We determined frequency, clinical characteristics, and outcome of mimic patients versus patients with stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis using data of a prospective, single-center thrombolysis data bank. Results— Among 250 patients, 243 (97.2%) had strokes and 7 (2.8%) were mimics. Seizure was the most frequent diagnosis among mimics. There was a trend toward lower National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores in mimics (9.9±4.2) compared with strokes (13.7±5.4; P=0.06). Global aphasia without hemiparesis was the presenting symptom in 3 (42.9%) mimics versus 8 (3.3%) strokes (P=0.002). Orolingual angioedema, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage occurred in 3 (1.2%), 13 (5.3%), and 30 (12.3%) patients with stroke, but were absent in mimics. After 3 months, 6 (85.7%) mimics and 86 (35.4%) strokes had a modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 1 (P=0.01). Conclusions— Only few patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis did eventually have a final diagnosis other than stroke, ie, mostly seizures. Their outcome was favorable. Although clinical features differed between the stroke and the mimic groups, the differences were not distinctive enough to allow assigning individual patients to either of the groups. Multimodal neuroimaging or electroencephalographic recordings may be helpful for this assignment. However, their potential benefit has to be weighed against the potential harm of delayed thrombolysis.
Nondestructive imaging of atomically thin nanostructures buried in silicon

Microwave microscopy enables three-dimensional characterization of atomically thin semiconductor structures with nanometer precision. It is now possible to create atomically thin regions of dopant atoms in silicon patterned with lateral dimensions ranging from the atomic scale (angstroms) to micrometers. These structures are building blocks of quantum devices for physics research and they are likely also to serve as key components of devices for next-generation classical and quantum information processing. Until now, the characteristics of buried dopant nanostructures could only be inferred from destructive techniques and/or the performance of the final electronic device; this severely limits engineering and manufacture of real-world devices based on atomic-scale lithography. Here, we use scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) to image and electronically characterize three-dimensional phosphorus nanostructures fabricated via scanning tunneling microscope–based lithography. The SMM measurements, which are completely nondestructive and sensitive to as few as 1900 to 4200 densely packed P atoms 4 to 15 nm below a silicon surface, yield electrical and geometric properties in agreement with those obtained from electrical transport and secondary ion mass spectroscopy for unpatterned phosphorus δ layers containing ~1013 P atoms. The imaging resolution was 37 ± 1 nm in lateral and 4 ± 1 nm in vertical directions, both values depending on SMM tip size and depth of dopant layers. In addition, finite element modeling indicates that resolution can be substantially improved using further optimized tips and microwave gradient detection. Our results on three-dimensional dopant structures reveal reduced carrier mobility for shallow dopant layers and suggest that SMM could aid the development of fabrication processes for surface code quantum computers.
Stability of polyoma DNA sequences and virus-coded proteins during tumor formation

To determine the stability of polyoma viral DNA in transformed rat cells during their growth in vivo, we compared the state and arrangement of polyoma virus DNA sequences in virus-transformed rat cell lines before and after their passage in vivo. In cell lines from 12 independent tumors induced by the inoculation of animals with three different transformed cell lines, we could detect no significant changes in the arrangement of viral DNA sequences associated with the in vivo passage of these cell lines. In 13 of 14 tumor cell lines examined, the pattern of polyoma virus tumor antigens, characterized by the presence of the polyoma virus large, middle, and small tumor antigens, was unchanged.
Nuttalliella namaqua: A Living Fossil and Closest Relative to the Ancestral Tick Lineage: Implications for the Evolution of Blood-Feeding in Ticks

Ticks are monophyletic and composed of the hard (Ixodidae) and soft (Argasidae) tick families, as well as the Nuttalliellidae, a family with a single species, Nuttalliella namaqua. Significant biological differences in lifestyle strategies for hard and soft ticks suggest that various blood-feeding adaptations occurred after their divergence. The phylogenetic relationships between the tick families have not yet been resolved due to the lack of molecular data for N. namaqua. This tick possesses a pseudo-scutum and apical gnathostoma as observed for ixodids, has a leathery cuticle similar to argasids and has been considered the evolutionary missing link between the two families. Little knowledge exists with regard to its feeding biology or host preferences. Data on its biology and systematic relationship to the other tick families could therefore be crucial in understanding the evolution of blood-feeding behaviour in ticks. Live specimens were collected and blood meal analysis showed the presence of DNA for girdled lizards from the Cordylid family. Feeding of ticks on lizards showed that engorgement occurred rapidly, similar to argasids, but that blood meal concentration occurs via malpighian excretion of water. Phylogenetic analysis of the 18S nuclear and 16S mitochondrial genes indicate that N. namaqua grouped basal to the main tick families. The data supports the monophyly of all tick families and suggests the evolution of argasid-like blood-feeding behaviour in the ancestral tick lineage. Based on the data and considerations from literature we propose an origin for ticks in the Karoo basin of Gondwanaland during the late Permian. The nuttalliellid family almost became extinct during the End Permian event, leaving N. namaqua as the closest living relative to the ancestral tick lineage and the evolutionary missing link between the tick families.
Pregnancy outcomes associated with intrauterine growth restriction.

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to examine the incidence of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and neonatal outcomes of pregnancies delivered from 26 to 41 weeks' gestation. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective review of a linked database of all deliveries in California in 1994 through 1996 that were reported to the Office of Statewide Health and Planning Development. MATERIAL AND METHODS A database of maternal and neonatal discharge summaries linked to birth and death certificates were examined for gestational age at delivery, diagnosis of IUGR, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), length of stay, and hospital charges (CHA). More than 1.4 million singleton deliveries were examined by week of gestation and separated into the presence or absence of IUGR and then examined for adverse neonatal outcomes. RESULTS The frequency of IUGR was increased in the preterm newborn infants compared with those at 40 weeks' gestation (26 = 8.9%, 27 = 7.7%, 28 = 9.8%, 29 = 10.5%, 30 = 12.3%, 31 = 9.1%, 32 = 7.5%, 33 = 6.6%, 34 = 5.6%, 35 = 5.0%, 36 = 4.4%, 37 = 3.7%, 38 = 2.3%, 39 = 1.5%, 40 = 1.1%). Up to 28 weeks' gestation, the incidence of RDS was higher for infants without IUGR compared with infants with IUGR (not significant). Starting at 29 weeks' gestation, RDS was higher for infants with IUGR. Initially not significant, this difference was statistically significant starting from 34 weeks. The findings were similar for IVH, NEC, and length of stay. The threshold at which the relationship between the presence of IUGR and the outcome flipped was 30, 28, and 29 weeks, whereas significance was observed at 34, 35, and 30 weeks, respectively. CHA were always higher for those patients with IUGR but became significantly higher after 29 weeks. CONCLUSION IUGR was increased with prematurity and may represent an important risk factor to check for in women who present with preterm labor. Prematurity associated with adverse neonatal outcomes (RDS, IVH, NEC, CHA) were largely unaffected by IUGR until the third trimester. From then on, all adverse outcomes were increased compared with normally grown premature infants, suggesting a need for closer surveillance for IUGR in the third trimester.
Estimating the Fitness Advantage Conferred by Permissive Neuraminidase Mutations in Recent Oseltamivir-Resistant A(H1N1)pdm09 Influenza Viruses

Oseltamivir is relied upon worldwide as the drug of choice for the treatment of human influenza infection. Surveillance for oseltamivir resistance is routinely performed to ensure the ongoing efficacy of oseltamivir against circulating viruses. Since the emergence of the pandemic 2009 A(H1N1) influenza virus (A(H1N1)pdm09), the proportion of A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses that are oseltamivir resistant (OR) has generally been low. However, a cluster of OR A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses, encoding the neuraminidase (NA) H275Y oseltamivir resistance mutation, was detected in Australia in 2011 amongst community patients that had not been treated with oseltamivir. Here we combine a competitive mixtures ferret model of influenza infection with a mathematical model to assess the fitness, both within and between hosts, of recent OR A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses. In conjunction with data from in vitro analyses of NA expression and activity we demonstrate that contemporary A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are now more capable of acquiring H275Y without compromising their fitness, than earlier A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses circulating in 2009. Furthermore, using reverse engineered viruses we demonstrate that a pair of permissive secondary NA mutations, V241I and N369K, confers robust fitness on recent H275Y A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses, which correlated with enhanced surface expression and enzymatic activity of the A(H1N1)pdm09 NA protein. These permissive mutations first emerged in 2010 and are now present in almost all circulating A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses. Our findings suggest that recent A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are now more permissive to the acquisition of H275Y than earlier A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses, increasing the risk that OR A(H1N1)pdm09 will emerge and spread worldwide.
Mechanical energy-based Lyapunov function design for twisting and super-twisting sliding mode control

The methodology of stability analysis of the twisting and super-twisting control systems is based on similarity of their equations with those for passive second-order mechanical systems. The approach makes designing Lyapunov functions transparent: they are the sum of kinetic and potential energies. Finite time convergence at the presence of disturbances is demonstrated along with estimations of the convergence time and upper level of admissible disturbances.
Physical Activity and Hemostatic and Inflammatory Variables in Elderly Men

Background—Physical activity is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, but the mechanisms are uncertain. Hemostatic and inflammatory markers have been linked with risk of cardiovascular disease. We therefore examined the relationship between physical activity and hemostatic and inflammatory variables. Methods and Results—In 1998 to 2000, 20 years after the initial screening of 7735 men 40 to 59 years old from general practices in 24 British towns, 4252 subjects (77% of available survivors, now 60 to 79 old) attended for reexamination. A fasting blood sample was available in 4088 men. All men on warfarin (n=134) and men with incomplete data on physical activity (n=144) were excluded, leaving 3810 men for analysis. Physical activity showed a significant and inverse dose-response relationship with fibrinogen, plasma and blood viscosity, platelet count, coagulation factors VIII and IX, von Willebrand factor, fibrin d-dimer, tissue plasminogen activator antigen, C-reactive protein, and white cell count, even after adjustment for possible confounders. The effects were similar in men with and without prevalent cardiovascular disease. No relationship was seen with activated partial thromboplastin time, activated protein C resistance, hematocrit, or factor VII. An examination of changes in physical activity between baseline and 20 years later showed that inactive men who took up at least light physical activity had levels of blood variables approaching those who remained at least lightly active. Those who became inactive showed levels more similar to those who remained inactive. Conclusions—These data suggest that the benefit of physical activity on cardiovascular disease may be at least partly a result of effects on hemostasis and inflammation.
Fisher vectors meet Neural Networks: A hybrid classification architecture

Fisher Vectors (FV) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are two image classification pipelines with different strengths. While CNNs have shown superior accuracy on a number of classification tasks, FV classifiers are typically less costly to train and evaluate. We propose a hybrid architecture that combines their strengths: the first unsupervised layers rely on the FV while the subsequent fully-connected supervised layers are trained with back-propagation. We show experimentally that this hybrid architecture significantly outperforms standard FV systems without incurring the high cost that comes with CNNs. We also derive competitive mid-level features from our architecture that are readily applicable to other class sets and even to new tasks.
Cutaneous B‐cell lymphoma: Pathological spectrum and clinical outcome in 51 consecutive patients

The clinical behavior and optimal treatment of patients presenting with skin infiltration by B‐cell lymphoma have not been established. To clarify this we assessed the clinical and laboratory features of 51 patients presenting with cutaneous infiltration by B‐cell lymphoma. Follow‐up data was available for 46 patients with a median age of 68 years (range 16–89 years) and a median follow‐up of 32.5 months (range 5–123 months). Thirty‐three of 51 (65%) patients had diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and 15/51 (29%) had marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). The remaining 3 patients had follicular lymphoma, CLL, and post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disease. Of the 33 patients with DLBCL, follow‐up was available in 29; 24/29 (83%) had primary cutaneous disease, which was unifocal in 17/24 (71%). Following treatment, 8/24 (33%) of the primary cases relapsed. Of the 8 who relapsed, 7 had received local forms of treatment only. Follow‐up data was available in 14/15 patients with MZL. 11/14 (79%) had primary cutaneous disease, which was unifocal in 8 (73%). Following treatment, 4 of these cases relapsed (36%); all had received local therapy only. It is evident from this study that a significant proportion (∽20%) of patients who present with cutaneous infiltration by B‐cell lymphoma have systemic disease. Staging is therefore mandatory in these patients. Approximately 1/3 patients with primary cutaneous DLBCL or MZL ultimately relapse, and relapse rates appear higher in thosepatients receiving local therapy only. Systemic or combined modality therapy may therefore be the most appropriate treatment at presentation. This should be assessed prospectively in randomized trials. Am. J. Hematol. 75:195–199, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Localization and targeting of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Kre2p/Mnt1p alpha 1,2-mannosyltransferase to a medial-Golgi compartment

The yeast Kre2p/Mnt1p alpha 1,2-mannosyltransferase is a type II membrane protein with a short cytoplasmic amino terminus, a membrane- spanning region, and a large catalytic luminal domain containing one N- glycosylation site. Anti-Kre2p/Mnt1p antibodies identify a 60-kD integral membrane protein that is progressively N-glycosylated in an MNN1-dependent manner. Kre2p/Mnt1p is localized in a Golgi compartment that overlaps with that containing the medial-Golgi mannosyltransferase Mnn1p, and distinct from that including the late Golgi protein Kex1p. To determine which regions of Kre2p/Mnt1p are required for Golgi localization, Kre2p/Mnt1p mutant proteins were assembled by substitution of Kre2p domains with equivalent sequences from the vacuolar proteins DPAP B and Pho8p. Chimeric proteins were tested for correct topology, in vitro and in vivo activity, and were localized intracellularly by indirect immunofluorescence. The results demonstrate that the NH2-terminal cytoplasmic domain is necessary for correct Kre2p Golgi localization whereas, the membrane-spanning and stem domains are dispensable. However, in a test of targeting sufficiency, the presence of the entire Kre2p cytoplasmic tail, plus the transmembrane domain and a 36-amino acid residue luminal stem region was required to localize a Pho8p reporter protein to the yeast Golgi.
Optimising Small-World Properties in VANETs with a Parallel Multi-Objective Coevolutionary Algorithm

Cooperative coevolutionary evolutionary algorithms dier from standard evolutionary algorithms architecture in that the popu- lation is split into subpopulations, each of them optimising only a sub- vector of the global solution vector. All subpopulations cooperate by broadcasting their local partial solutions such that each subpopulation can evaluate complete solutions. Cooperative coevolution has recently been used in evolutionary multi-objective optimisation, but few works have exploited its parallelisation capabilities or tackled real-world prob- lems. This article proposes to apply for the rst time a state-of-the- art parallel asynchronous cooperative coevolutionary variant of the non- dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II), named CCNSGA-II, on the injection network problem in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). This multi-objective optimisation problem, consists in nding the min- imal set of nodes with backend connectivity, referred to as injection points, to constitute a fully connected overlay that will optimise the small-world properties of the resulting network. Recently, the well-known NSGA-II algorithm was used to tackle this problem on realistic instances in the city-centre of Luxembourg. In this work we compare the perfor- mance of the CCNSGA-II to the original NSGA-II in terms of both quality of the obtained Pareto front approximations and execution time speedup.
Sinonasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: updates on treatment

Purpose of review Over the past two decades, the management of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in chronic rhinosinusitis has posed significant challenges. This document reviews current management techniques and novel treatment modalities for sinonasal MRSA infections. Recent findings Topical antibiotic therapy, that is, drops (ofloxacin) and ointments (mupirocin) as off-label use for the management of MRSA chronic sinusitis, has shown beneficial results. Other more recently trialed nonantibiotic modalities such as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and colloidal silver irrigation are also showing promise. Summary Sinonasal MRSA is considered to be associated with recalcitrant chronic sinusitis. Advancements in systemic and local antibiotics in its management have been slow and unsatisfactory. Attention is shifting to the use of nonantibiotic antibacterial treatments. Knowledge of these options is critical to improve the overall management of these chronic patients.
Array index allocation under register constraints in DSP programs

Code optimization for digital signal processors (DSPs) has been identified as an important new topic in system-level design of embedded systems. Both DSP processors and algorithms show special characteristics usually not found in general-purpose computing. Since real-time constraints imposed on DSP algorithms demand for very high quality machine code, high-level language compilers for DSPs should take these characteristics into account. One important characteristic of DSP algorithms is the iterative pattern of references to array elements within loops. DSPs support efficient address computations for such array accesses by means of dedicated address generation units (AGUs). In this paper, we present a heuristic code optimization technique which, given an AGU with a fixed number of address registers, minimizes the number of instructions needed for address computations in loops.
On Bedload and Suspended Load Measurement Performances in Sheet Flows Using Acoustic and Conductivity Profilers

Intense sediment transport experiments were performed in a gravity‐driven open‐channel flow with two sizes of uniformly distributed nonspherical acrylic particles having median diameters of 1.0 and 3.0 mm and a maximum packing volumetric concentration (ϕ) of 0.55. The flow conditions were adapted to each particle size to ensure similar sediment transport flow regimes as sheet flow corresponding to Shields numbers slightly above unity and a suspension number, ratio of settling velocity to friction velocity, near unity for the two experiments. An acoustic scattering‐based system (Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler) and conductivity probes (Conductivity Concentration Profiler [CCP]) with two different vertical resolutions, 1 mm (CCP1mm) and 2 mm (CCP2mm) were used to measure instantaneous concentration profiles across the bedload and suspension layers. Measured concentration profiles, bed interface position, and sheet flow layer thicknesses are compared between the two techniques. The capabilities and limitations of both technologies are outlined. Average volumetric sediment concentration profiles were overestimated by 10% with the Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler in the dense sheet layer when ⟨ϕ(z)⟩≳ 0.35, and by 100% with the CCP in the more diluted region when ⟨ϕ(z)⟩≲ 0.015 and ⟨ϕ(z)⟩≲ 0.20 for CCP1mm and CCP2mm, respectively. Good agreement is found between the three systems in terms of average and time‐resolved bed level position and sheet layer thickness, validating the different bed interface detection methods on data from the two sensors.
Capacity of MIMO Systems With Mutual Coupling: Transmitter Optimization With Dual Power Constraints

This paper deals with the fundamental limit of capacity for MIMO wireless systems with antenna mutual coupling. Motivated by practical considerations, the capacity-achieving precoder is found by maximizing the capacity subject to two separate power constraints; namely, a constraint on the available power at the transmitter which is imposed on a per-amplifler basis, and a constraint on the allowable radiated power. These two separate constraints occur because MIMO antenna systems are usually unable to use a perfect conjugate multiport impedance match in practice and therefore MIMO systems with mutual coupling usually do not radiate all of the power input or available to them. Assuming that perfect channel state information is available to both the transmitter and receiver, we first derive sufficient conditions on the power constraints, in terms of the mutual coupling, under which the dual-constraint problem reduces to effectively a single-constraint problem. This greatly simplifies the optimization problem in some cases. For the more general case where both constraints are relevant, we present an efficient suboptimal algorithm by first relaxing the per-amplifier power constraint to a sum power constraint and then solving the dual-constraint problem based on dynamic water-filling and mode-dropping. Finally, we investigate the optimal precoder design at high signal to noise ratios, and provide stronger theoretical results in this regime. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our technique when dual power constraints are important to consider.