Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time Delay between Onset of Symptoms and Diagnosis in Pulmonary Thromboembolism

Background: Although pulmonary thromboembolism is usually considered as an acute illness, delayed presentations are fairly common. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate delays to presentation/diagnosis and their likely correlation with patients’ clinical and radiographic findings in pulmonary thromboembolism. Methods: All cases of pulmonary embolism diagnosed in our hospital between March 2002 and May 2006 were reviewed for the date of symptom onset, the dates of presentation and diagnosis, clinical findings, localization of embolism in pulmonary vascular tree and pleuropulmonary changes arising secondary to thrombotic occlusion. The parameters related to presentation delays were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the 178 patients enrolled, 30.4% presented to hospital 1 week after the start of their symptoms and there was an average of 8.4 ± 11.4 days’ (median 4 days, range 0–75) delay to presentation. The delay from presentation to diagnosis was 0.9 ± 1.9 days (median 0, range 0–16). Patients with hypotension, respiratory rate >20 and atelectasis in spiral CT presented earlier. However, no correlation was found between delays and the level of thromboembolic occlusion in pulmonary artery. Conclusion: Pulmonary thromboembolism should be considered not only in an acute setting, but also in patients with prolonged respiratory symptoms, since there was a significant delay to presentation amongst our patients. The presence of hypotension and a high respiratory frequency was clearly associated with early presentation.
Displacement of the C Terminus of Herpes Simplex Virus gD Is Sufficient To Expose the Fusion-Activating Interfaces on gD

ABSTRACT Viral entry by herpes simplex virus (HSV) is executed and tightly regulated by four glycoproteins. While several viral glycoproteins can mediate viral adhesion to host cells, only binding of gD to cellular receptor can activate core fusion proteins gB and gH/gL to execute membrane fusion and viral entry. Atomic structures of gD bound to receptor indicate that the C terminus of the gD ectodomain must be displaced before receptor can bind to gD, but it is unclear which conformational changes in gD activate membrane fusion. We rationally designed mutations in gD to displace the C terminus and observe if fusion could be activated without receptor binding. Using a cell-based fusion assay, we found that gD V231W induced cell-cell fusion in the absence of receptor. Using recombinant gD V231W protein, we observed binding to conformationally sensitive antibodies or HSV receptor and concluded that there were changes proximal to the receptor binding interface, while the tertiary structure of gD V231W was similar to that of wild-type gD. We used a biosensor to analyze the kinetics of receptor binding and the extent to which the C terminus blocks binding to receptor. We found that the C terminus of gD V231W was enriched in the open or displaced conformation, indicating a mechanism for its function. We conclude that gD V231W triggers fusion through displacement of its C terminus and that this motion is indicative of how gD links receptor binding to exposure of interfaces on gD that activate fusion via gH/gL and gB.
Inflow stenosis in arteriovenous fistulas and grafts: a multicenter, prospective study.

BACKGROUND Traditionally, arteriovenous hemodialysis access inflow stenosis has been reported to occur infrequently (0% to 4%). In contrast, recent reports have suggested a significantly higher incidence (14% to 42%). Interpretation of these studies has been complicated by the presence of one or more confounding factors such as retrospective study design, small sample size, arteriovenous fistulas grouped with grafts to determine the incidence of inflow stenosis, inclusion of fistulas that had failed primarily, failure to provide adequate definition of inflow stenosis, and the technique of retrograde angiography. This is a report of a prospective, multicenter study to examine the incidence of inflow stenosis separately in arteriovenous fistulas and grafts. METHODS Patients were referred to interventional nephrology either for percutaneous balloon angioplasty or thrombectomy procedures. Angiography to evaluate access inflow (arterial anastomosis and adjacent vascular structures) was performed in all cases. This was accomplished by retrograde angiography using either manual occlusion of the venous side and/or advancing a diagnostic catheter across the arterial anastomosis. Multiple images using digital subtraction angiography were recorded in multiple planes. An inflow stenosis was defined as stenosis within the arterial system, artery-graft anastomosis (graft cases), artery-vein anastomosis (fistula cases) and juxta-anastomotic region (the first 2 cm downstream from the arterial anastomosis). Vascular stenosis was defined as >/=50% reduction in luminal diameter judged by comparison with either the adjacent vessel or graft. A standardized definition for anastomotic stenosis was applied. RESULTS Two hundred and twenty three consecutive procedures (grafts, 122; fistulas, 101) were performed in 158 patients. Inflow stenosis occurred in 36/122 (29%) in graft cases. All had a coexisting stenosis on the venous side. In fistula cases, 41/101 (40%) had inflow stenosis. Of these, 22 (54%) had a coexisting lesion on the venous side. Overall, inflow stenosis occurred in 77/223 procedures (35%). CONCLUSION This prospective, multicenter study demonstrates that access inflow stenosis occurs in one third of the cases referred to interventional facilities with clinical evidence of venous stenosis or thrombosis. This is much higher than has been traditionally reported.
Inter-functional Market Orientation Between Marketing Departments and Technical Departments in the Management of the New Product Development Process

The marketing concept states that firms who first determine and then satisfy customer needs should realize superior performance. Market orientation (MO) operationalizes the marketing concept and is the organization-wide generation of market intelligence, dissemination of the intelligence across departments, and organization-wide responsiveness to it (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). Market oriented firms should enjoy successful new product programs (Slater and Narver, 1994). However, empirical findings are mixed. This research conceptualizes MO at the departmental level, specifically within cross-functional new product teams. Findings here suggest interfunctional market orientation (IFMO), between marketing and technology groups, is directly related to new product program success.
Effect of Xiaoyaosan Decoction on Learning and Memory Deficit in Rats Induced by Chronic Immobilization Stress

Xiaoyaosan (XYS) decoction is a famous prescription which can protect nervous system from stress and treat liver stagnation and spleen deficiency syndrome (LSSDS). In this experiment, we observed the effect of XYS decoction on chronic immobilization stress (CIS) induced learning and memory deficit in rats from behaviors and changes of proteins in hippocampus. We used XYS decoction to treat CIS induced learning and memory deficit in rats with rolipram as positive control, used change of body weight and behavioral tests to determine whether the rats have LSSDS and have learning and memory deficit or not. We used Western blotting to determine the content of postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) and synaptophysin (SYP) in hippocampus. Results showed that XYS could improve the situation of slow weight gain induced by CIS, improve the ability of learning and memory, reverse the symptom of liver stagnation and spleen deficiency syndrome (LSSDS) in rats, and increase the levels of PSD-95 and SYP on the hippocampal nerve synapses. These findings suggested that XYS decoction may be helpful in reversing CIS induced learning and memory deficit by increasing the levels of PSD-95 and SYP on the hippocampal nerve synapses and improving synaptic plasticity.
Reverse Engineering Method Stereotypes

An approach to automatically identify the stereotypes of all the methods in an entire system is presented. A taxonomy for object-oriented class method stereotypes is given that unifies and extends the existing literature to address gaps and deficiencies. Based on this taxonomy, a set of definitions is given and method stereotypes are reverse engineered using lightweight static program analysis. Classification is done solely by programming language structures and idioms, in this case C++. The approach is used to automatically re-document each method by annotating the original source code with the stereotype information. A demonstration of the accuracy and scalability of the approach is given
Use of Multiplex PCR and PCR Restriction Enzyme Analysis for Detection and Exploration of the Variability in the Free-Living Amoeba Naegleria in the Environment

ABSTRACT A multiplex PCR was developed to simultaneously detect Naegleria fowleri and other Naegleria species in the environment. Multiplex PCR was also capable of identifying N. fowleri isolates with internal transcribed spacers of different sizes. In addition, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the PCR product distinguished the main thermophilic Naegleria species from the sampling sites.
Circulating and Tumor-Infiltrating Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Patients with Colorectal Carcinoma

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous family of myeloid cells that suppress T cell immunity in tumor-bearing hosts. In patients with colon cancer, MDSCs have recently been described as Lin−/lowHLA-DR−CD11b+CD33+ cells correlating with cancer stage, metastasis and chemotherapy response. To learn in more detail the dynamic change and clinical relevance of circulating and tumor-infiltrating Lin−/lowHLA-DR−CD11b+CD33+ MDSC in colorectal cancer, we harvested the blood from 64 patients with varying stage of colorectal cancer and tumor and matched paraneoplastic tissues from 5 patients with advanced colorectal cancer, subjected them to multicolor flow cytometric analysis of percentage, absolute number and phenotype of MDSC and finally characterized their immunosuppressive functions. Our results demonstrate that peripheral blood from colorectal cancer patients contains markedly increased percentage and absolute number of Lin−/lowHLA-DR−CD11b+CD33+ MDSCs compared with healthy individuals, and this increase is closely correlated with clinical cancer stage and tumor metastasis but not primary tumor size and serum concentrations of cancer biomarker. A similar increase of MDSCs was also observed in the tumor tissues. Phenotyping MDSCs shows that they express high CD13 and CD39, low CD115, CD117, CD124 and PD-L1, and devoid of CD14, CD15 and CD66b, reminiscent of precursor myeloid cells. MDSCs from cancer patients but not healthy donors have the immunosuppressive activity and were able to inhibit in vitro autologous T-cell proliferation. Collectively, this study substantiates the presence of increased immunosuppressive circulating and tumor-resident Lin−/lowHLA-DR−CD11b+CD33+ MDSCs in patients with colorectal cancers correlating with cancer stage and metastasis, and suggests that pharmacologic blockade of MDSCs should be considered in future clinical trials.
On the Intraday Relation between the VIX and Its Futures

We study the intraday dynamics of the VIX and VIX futures for the period January 2, 2008 to December 31, 2014. Considering first the results of a Vector Autoregression (VAR) using daily data, we observe that there is some evidence of causality from VIX futures to the VIX. Estimating a VAR using our ultra‐high frequency data, we find strong evidence for bi‐directional Granger causality between the VIX and the VIX futures. Overall, this effect appears to be stronger from VIX futures to the VIX than the other way around. Impulse response functions and variance decompositions confirm the dominance of the VIX futures. Lastly, we show that the causality from the VIX futures to the VIX has been increasing over our sample period, whereas the reverse causality has been decreasing. We observe that the VIX futures have become increasingly more important in the pricing of volatility. We further document that the VIX futures dominate the VIX more on days with negative returns, and on days with high values of the VIX, suggesting that those are the days when investors use VIX futures to hedge their positions rather than trading in the S&P500 index options. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 36:870–886, 2016
BACTERIAL CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF POSTTHERAPY RECURRENT BACTERIURIA AMONG CHILDREN WITH ACUTE UNCOMPLICATED CYSTITIS CAUSED BY ESCHERICHIA COLI

Multiple characteristics of pretherapy Escherichia coli urine isolates from 39 children with acute, uncomplicated cystitis (including specific virulence genes and phylogenetic groups) identified an increased risk for recurrent bacteriuria after 3-day (but not 10-day) therapy with amoxicillin-clavulanate. Rapid testing conceivably could facilitate rational selection of treatment duration for pediatric cystitis. Certain traits might represent good targets for preventive interventions.
Inertial waves driven by differential rotation in a planetary geometry

Dynamics occurring in the Earth's outer core involve convection, dynamo action, geomagnetic reversals, and the effects of rapid rotation, among other processes. Inertial waves are known to arise in rotating fluids, and their presence in the core has been previously argued using seismological data (Aldridge and Lumb 1987). They may also be involved in flows affecting the geodynamo. We report experimental observations of inertial wave modes in an Earth-like geometry: laboratory spherical Couette flow with an aspect ratio 0.33, using liquid sodium as the working fluid. Inertial modes are detected via magnetic induction and show good agreement with theoretical predictions in frequency, wavenumber, and magnetic induction structure. Our findings imply that linear wave behavior can dominate the dynamics even in turbulent flows with large Reynolds number Re, where nonlinear behaviors might be expected (here Re ∼ 107). We present evidence that strong differential rotation excites the modes via over-reflection. Earth's inner core may also super-rotate and thereby excite inertial modes in the same way. Zonal flows in the core, likely to have higher speeds than the super-rotation, may be a stronger source for exciting inertial modes in the Earth.
Safety and Efficacy of a Totally Subcutaneous Implantable-Cardioverter Defibrillator

Background— The most frequent complications associated with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) involve the transvenous leads. A subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) has been developed as an alternative system. This study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the S-ICD System (Cameron Health/Boston Scientific) for the treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation). Methods and Results— This prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter trial included adult patients with a standard indication for an ICD, who neither required pacing nor had documented pace-terminable ventricular tachycardia. The primary safety end point was the 180-day S-ICD System complication-free rate compared with a prespecified performance goal of 79%. The primary effectiveness end point was the induced ventricular fibrillation conversion rate compared with a prespecified performance goal of 88%, with success defined as 2 consecutive ventricular fibrillation conversions of 4 attempts. Detection and conversion of spontaneous episodes were also evaluated. Device implantation was attempted in 321 of 330 enrolled patients, and 314 patients underwent successful implantation. The cohort was followed for a mean duration of 11 months. The study population was 74% male with a mean age of 52±16 years and mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 36±16%. A previous transvenous ICD had been implanted in 13%. Both primary end points were met: The 180-day system complication-free rate was 99%, and sensitivity analysis of the acute ventricular fibrillation conversion rate was >90% in the entire cohort. There were 38 discrete spontaneous episodes of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation recorded in 21 patients (6.7%), all of which successfully converted. Forty-one patients (13.1%) received an inappropriate shock. Conclusions— The findings support the efficacy and safety of the S-ICD System for the treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT01064076.
Determining and Modeling Dominant Processes of Interrill Soil Erosion

Understanding the dominant process of interrill soil erosion is imperative to better modeling interrill sediment delivery rates. The objectives are to (1) determine the limiting erosion process (detachment vs. transport) that controls interrill erosion under the study conditions, (2) quantify the effects of water and/or sediment influxes from upslope on downslope sediment transport and interrill erosion, and (3) evaluate the ability of commonly used hydraulic parameters for simulating interrill sediment delivery. Runoff, sediment delivery, and raindrop splash were simultaneously collected from two flumes (1.8 m × 0.5 m) and a 2.5‐cm slot between the flumes for three intensities of 60, 90, and 120 mm/hr at three slopes of 9%, 18%, and 27% under two cover treatments. Results showed that slot splash rates were consistently greater than flume wash rates, indicating that sediment transport capacity limited interrill sediment delivery under the study conditions. Soil detachment by raindrop impact was more influenced by surface water depth, while sediment transport capacity by flow velocity. The former played a bigger role in determining interill sediment delivery under detachment‐limited cases while the latter under transport‐limited conditions. Linear correlation coefficients between sediment delivery rates and hydraulic predictors were 0.545 for shear stress, 0.946 for stream power, 0.867 for unit stream power, and 0.948 for an empirical lumped model that includes a rainfall intensity term. Stream power and the empirical model were better predictors for interrill sediment delivery. However, their predictive abilities need to be assessed more rigorously at various impact levels of rainfall kinetic energy.
Structured Operational Semantics of a fragment of the language Scheme

In this paper we give a big-step Structured Operational Semantics (SOS), in the style of Plotkin, Kahn and Milner, of a significant fragment of the functional programming language Scheme, including quote, eval, quasiquote and unquote. The SOS formalism allows us to discuss incrementally the various features of the language and to keep a low mathematical overhead, thus producing a rigorous account of the semantics of a ‘real’ programming language, which nonetheless has a pedagogical value. More specifically, we formalize four strictly increasing fragments of Scheme, using a number of formal systems which express the evaluation of expressions, the display of output results, and the handling of errors.
Early Distal‐less expression in a developing crustacean limb bud becomes restricted to setal‐forming cells

SUMMARY Distal‐less (Dll) plays a well‐known role in patterning the distal limb in arthropods. However, in some taxa, its expression even during early limb development is not always limited to the distal limb. Here, I trace the expression of Distal‐less in a crustacean (Thamnocephalus platyurus) from the early limb bud to later stages of limb development, a period that includes differentiation of juvenile and adult morphology. During early development, I find two distinct types of DLL expression: one correlated with proximal distal leg patterning and the other restricted to setal‐forming cells. Later in development, all the DLL expression is restricted to setal‐forming cells. Based on the particular cells expressing DLL, I hypothesize an ancestral role for Dll function in the formation accessory cells of sensilla.
Combining Structure from Motion and close-range stereo photogrammetry to obtain scaled gravel bar DEMs

ABSTRACT Digital elevation models (DEMs) have been increasingly applied in topographic studies in areas such as physical geography and hydraulic engineering. Several methods have been proposed to reconstruct DEMs, including classic close-range stereo photogrammetry and the more novel Structure from Motion (SfM) methodology. Past published studies tend to apply SfM to large-scale environmental processes, whilst classic close-range stereophotogrammetry is focusing on detailed small-scale applications. However, SfM requires multiple ground control points (GCPs) to allow for proper DEM scaling. The larger the study area, the more GCPs are required, resulting in increased operational complexity and time-consuming application of SfM. As the accuracy of the DEM depends on the equipment used to measure GCPs, this can also result in a cost-expensive operation. In the present study, we introduce a combined SfM and close-range stereo photogrammetry application, with the close-range stereo photogrammetry results serving as a control for providing scale, thus eliminating the need for traditional GCPs. To validate our methodology, we studied a 40 m long gravel bar. We used GoPro Hero 3 cameras for SfM measurements and replaced GCPs by DEMs obtained through close-range stereo photogrammetry with a Nikon D5100 camera pair in stereo. In addition to using photo-mode frames, we also studied the quality of DEMs obtained with GoPro Hero 3 video-mode frames, and show how the DEM quality is reduced due to the smaller image format, hence coarser point cloud spacing, which eventually results in a convex curvature when image overlap was increased. Our results show that it is possible to collect high-quality topographic surface data by only using cameras, and alleviate the need for GCPs. The proposed workflow reduces the complexity, time, and resource demands associated with deploying GCPs and necessary independent geo-referencing, ensuring that digital photogrammetry will continue to gain popularity for field surveying.
Performance Analysis of Optimum Tilt Angle and Beam Configuration to Derive Horizontal Wind Velocities by Postset Beam Steering Technique

Software beam synthesis by postset beam steering (PBS) technique is used to derive the horizontal wind velocities from multireceiver phased-array radar data. In order to improve the efficiency of beam synthesis, the Capon beamforming method is used to synthesize time series signals in the desired line-of-sight angle within the radar transmit beam volume (3.6° beamwidth). This paper describes beam synthesizing in optimum directions to reduce the error in the measurement of horizontal wind velocities using the PBS technique. For this purpose, beams are synthesized at various tilt angles with multibeam configuration. From the synthesized beam, power spectral distribution is obtained by one of the subspace methods, i.e., eigenvector (EV). The mean Doppler frequency and radial wind velocity at the desired line-of-sight angle are derived by an adaptive-moment estimation method from an EV-produced power spectrum. Using the moments obtained in various radial directions, horizontal wind components are derived by the conventional method for wind profiler radars. Also, an analysis is done for the required number of beams to improve PBS-based wind estimation. The statistical comparisons of performances of various tilt angles and beam configurations are being studied using the data collected from a multireceiver phased-array radar system (middle and upper atmosphere radar, Shigaraki, Japan). The analyzed results show that beam synthesis at the tilt angle from 1.5 ° to 2.0° using a 16-beam configuration minimize the error in horizontal wind estimation by PBS technique.