Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evoked potentials in liver diseases

Evoked potentials are objective and quantitative methods capable of evaluating functions of both peripheral and central nervous systems (PNS and CNS). During the past 8 years, we have been using somatosensory, brainstem auditory, and pattern‐reversal visual evoked potentials (SEP, BAEP, VEP) to study hepatic encephalopathy (HE) as well as functional status of the PNS and CNS in various liver diseases including viral hepatitis B, alcoholic liver disease and Wilson's disease (WD). In HE irrespective of its etiologies, there is a sequential prolongation and eventual disappearance of cortical components of the median nerve evoked SEP while there is no change in BAEP, suggesting that HE is primarily due to a disturbance in cerebral cortical function and that median SEP may be used for early detection of HE and for monitoring its clinical course. In addition, absence of the N20‐P25 component, or presence of only the N20 component of the wave complex in fulminant hepatic failure is associated with high mortality, whereas presence of late cortical components in HE is usually associated with reversibility of clinical course. Central conduction time (CCT) of the BAEP is prolonged in patients with WD, alcoholic liver disease and liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis B. Furthermore, BAEP abnormality is most severe in WD, followed by alcoholic liver disease, and finally hepatitis B. Peripheral nerve conduction as determined by the N9 latency of SEP is slowed in alcoholic liver disease and liver cirrhosis of chronic hepatitis B, but normal in WD. Our studies, therefore, suggest that evoked potentials may be useful in the evaluation of both CNS and PNS functions in various liver diseases and also in the diagnosis and monitoring of HE.
Distinguishing geology from biology in the Ediacaran Doushantuo biota relaxes constraints on the timing of the origin of bilaterians

The Ediacaran Doushantuo biota has yielded fossils that include the oldest widely accepted record of the animal evolutionary lineage, as well as specimens with alleged bilaterian affinity. However, these systematic interpretations are contingent on the presence of key biological structures that have been reinterpreted by some workers as artefacts of diagenetic mineralization. On the basis of chemistry and crystallographic fabric, we characterize and discriminate phases of mineralization that reflect: (i) replication of original biological structure, and (ii) void-filling diagenetic mineralization. The results indicate that all fossils from the Doushantuo assemblage preserve a complex mélange of mineral phases, even where subcellular anatomy appears to be preserved. The findings allow these phases to be distinguished in more controversial fossils, facilitating a critical re-evaluation of the Doushantuo fossil assemblage and its implications as an archive of Ediacaran animal diversity. We find that putative subcellular structures exhibit fabrics consistent with preservation of original morphology. Cells in later developmental stages are not in original configuration and are therefore uninformative concerning gastrulation. Key structures used to identify Doushantuo bilaterians can be dismissed as late diagenetic artefacts. Therefore, when diagenetic mineralization is considered, there is no convincing evidence for bilaterians in the Doushantuo assemblage.
Comparison of Information Available in the Medication Profile of an Electronic Health Record and the Inpatient Best Possible Medication History in a Mother and Child Teaching Hospital Center.

BackgroundMedication reconciliation (MedRec) can improve patient safety. In Canada, most provinces are implementing electronic health records (EHR). The Quebec Health Record (QHR) can theoretically be used for medication reconciliation. However, the quantity and the quality of information available in this EHR have not been studied. ObjectivesThe main objective was to compare the quantity and quality of the information collected between the inpatient best possible medication history (BPMH) and the QHR. MethodsThis is a descriptive prospective study conducted at CHU Sainte-Justine, a 500-bed tertiary mother-and-child university hospital center. All inpatients from May 19-26, 2015 were considered for inclusion. Every prescription line in the BPMH and QHR were compared. ResultsThe study included 344 patients and 1,039 prescription lines were analyzed. The medications' name and dosing were more often available in the QHR (95%) than in the BPMH (61%). Concordance between the medication names between QHR and BPMH was found in 48% of the prescription lines; this rate fell to 29% when also factoring daily dosage. ConclusionsThis study suggests that the QHR can provide high-quality information to support the MedRec hospital process. However, it should be used as a second source to optimize the BPMH obtained from a thorough interview with the patient and/or his or her family. More studies are required to confirm the most optimal way to integrate the QHR to the MedRec process in hospitals.
Rapid and Reliable Diagnostic Algorithm for Detection of Clostridium difficile

ABSTRACT We evaluated a two-step algorithm for detection of Clostridium difficile in 1,468 stool specimens. First, specimens were screened by an immunoassay for C. difficile glutamate dehydrogenase antigen (C.DIFF CHEK-60). Second, screen-positive specimens underwent toxin testing by a rapid toxin A/B assay (TOX A/B QUIK CHEK); toxin-negative specimens were subjected to stool culture. This algorithm allowed final results for 92% of specimens with a turnaround time of 4 h.
Configuration of the inferior alveolar canal as detected by cone beam computed tomography

Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the course of the inferior alveolar canal (IAC) including its frequently seen variations in relation to root apices and the cortices of the mandible at fixed pre-determined anatomic reference points using cone beam volumetric computed tomography (CBVCT). Material and Methods: This retrospective study utilized CBVCT images from 44 patients to obtain quantifiable data to localize the IAC. Measurements to the IAC were made from the buccal and lingual cortical plates (BCP/LCP), inferior border of the mandible and the root apices of the mandibular posterior teeth and canine. Descriptive analysis was used to map out the course of the IAC. Results: IACs were noted to course superiorly toward the root apices from the second molar to the first premolar and closer to the buccal cortical plate anteriorly. The canal was closest to the LCP at the level of the second molar. In 32.95% of the cases, the canal was seen at the level of the canine. Conclusions: This study indicates that caution needs to be exercised during endodontic surgical procedures in the mandible even at the level of the canine. CBVCT seems to provide an optimal, low-dose, 3D imaging modality to help address the complexities in canal configuration.
Social housing and pregnancy outcome in captive pigtailed macaques

We present a retrospective analysis of 30 years of breeding records from a colony of pigtailed macaques at the University of Washington's Regional Primate Research Center, specifically examining the effects on pregnancy outcome of sire presence, presence of other pregnant females, group stability, overall group size, and dam age and parity. Data on 2,040 pregnancies (1,890 live births) of socially housed pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) were obtained from the Washington Regional Primate Research Center's animal colony records from 1967 to 1996. Our results suggest that the presence of the sire and other pregnant females, fewer moves, and lower parity increases the probability of a viable birth. In viable and nonviable births, gestation length was positively related to contact with the sire and other pregnant females, number of moves, and dam age. Once the effect of gestational age was taken into account, birthweight increased with increasing parity and decreased with dam age. Clinical treatment of the dam decreased as sire presence and group size increased and number of moves decreased. The length of treatment was dependent on the number of moves experienced by the dam, with more moves associated with longer treatments. Sire presence was the single most important factor in nearly all measures of reproductive outcome. Am. J. Primatol. 47:153–163, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hepatitis C virus infection as a likely etiology of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Although hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related cirrhosis has been suggested as a risk factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), few sizeable studies have tested this hypothesis. We investigated ICC risk factors, with special reference to HCV infection. We conducted a hospital‐based case‐control study including 50 ICC patients and 205 other surgical patients without primary liver cancer. HCV seropositivity was detected in 36% of ICC patients and 3% of controls. By univariate analysis, the odds ratio (OR) for association of anti‐HCV antibodies with development was 16.87 (95% confidence interval (CI), 5.69 to 50.00). History of blood transfusion or diabetes mellitus, elevated serum total bilirubin, elevated aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotrans‐ferase, decreased serum albumin and decreased platelet count were identified as other possible ICC risk factors. By multivariate analysis, anti‐HCV antibodies (adjusted OR, 6.02; 95% Cl, 1.51 to 24.1), elevated alanine aminotransferase, decreased serum albumin, and decreased platelet count were found to be independent risk factors for ICC development. As liver status worsened, the adjusted OR for ICC tended to increase. HCV infection is a likely etiology of ICC in Japan.
Discordant detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in patients with carotid artery disease using polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence microscopy and serological methods

Aim: To determine the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae in carotid plaque and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using a combination of serology, direct antigen detection by immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and to compare the results obtained from each assay. Methods: A total of 54 atherosclerotic carotid plaques were tested for the presence of Chlamydia by PCR and IF methods. Of these 54 patients with carotid artery disease (CAD), 43 were also tested for the presence of C. pneumoniae DNA in PBMCs and for Chlamydia antibodies using two methods, the Medac Chlamydien rELISA and Focus Chlamydia microimmunofluorescence (MIF) methods. Results: Eighteen of the 54 (33%) carotid specimens were positive for the presence of C. pneumoniae DNA, whereas only two of 43 (5%) patients had C. pneumoniae DNA present within their PBMC fraction. Chlamydial antibodies were detected by MIF and/or rELISA in 56% (24/43) of the patients tested. None of the 43 patients was C. pneumoniae positive in all of the test specimens (plaque, PBMCs and serum). Conclusions: Chlamydia pneumoniae is commonly found in Australian patients with CAD. Serology and PCR‐based detection of C. pneumoniae in PBMCs and plaque give highly discordant results.
Psychology and Selfhood in the Segregated South

Segregation restrains the social applications of psychology.In the American South at the turn of the twentieth century, the legal segregation of the races and psychological sciences focused on selfhood emerged simultaneously. The two developments presented conflicting views of human nature. American psychiatry and psychology were optimistic about personality growth guided by the new mental sciences. Segregation, in contrast, placed racial traits said to be natural and fixed at the forefront of identity. In a society built on racial differences, raising questions about human potential, as psychology did, was unsettling.As Anne Rose lays out with sophistication and nuance, the introduction of psychological thinking into the Jim Crow South produced neither a clear victory for racial equality nor a single-minded defense of traditional ways. Instead, professionals of both races treated the mind-set of segregation as a hazardous subject. "Psychology and Selfhood in the Segregated South" examines the tensions stirred by mental science and restrained by southern custom.Rose highlights the role of southern black intellectuals who embraced psychological theories as an instrument of reform; their white counterparts, who proved wary of examining the mind; and northerners eager to change the South by means of science. She argues that although psychology and psychiatry took root as academic disciplines, all these practitioners were reluctant to turn the sciences of the mind to the subject of race relations.
Long term verification of glucose-insulin regulatory system model dynamics

Hyperglycaemia in critically ill patients increases the risk of further complications and mortality. A long-term verification of a model that captures the essential glucose- and insulin-kinetics is presented, using retrospective data gathered in an intensive care unit (ICU). The model uses only two patient specific parameters, for glucose clearance and insulin sensitivity. The optimization of these parameters is accomplished through a novel integration-based fitting approach, and a piecewise linearization of the parameters. This approach reduces the non-linear, non-convex optimization problem to a simple linear equation system. The method was tested on long-term blood glucose recordings from 17 ICU patients, resulting in an average error of 7%, which is in the range of the sensor error. One-hour predictions of blood glucose data proved acceptable with an error range between 711%. These results verify the model's ability to capture long-term observed glucose-insulin dynamics in hyperglycaemic ICU patients.
Change of Scaling-Induced Proinflammatory Cytokine on the Clinical Efficacy of Periodontitis Treatment

Proinflammatory cytokines are key inflammatory mediators in periodontitis. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between proinflammatory cytokines in saliva and periodontal status. To investigate the usefulness of cytokines in the therapeutic approach for periodontal disease, the relationship between stimulated cytokine changes and the periodontitis treatment outcome was investigated in this study. Saliva was obtained from 22 patients diagnosed by dentists as having chronic periodontitis. The proinflammatory cytokine (interleukin-1α (IL-1α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and tumor necrosis factor β (TNF-β)) levels were determined using a commercially available kit. The IL-1β and IL-6 levels increased, whereas the TNF-β levels decreased with the severity of periodontitis (4 mm pocket percentage). Poststimulation IL-1α, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were higher in patients who had an improved treatment outcome. The differences of IL-6 levels (cut point: 0.05 μg/g) yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 90.0% and 81.82%, respectively, for predicting the periodontitis treatment outcome. Among the proinflammatory cytokines, stimulated IL-6 was an excellent marker for predicting the periodontitis treatment outcome.
Cell‐to‐Cell Electrical Interactions During Early and Late Repolarization

Cardiac electrical activity is significantly affected by variations in the conductance of gap junctions that connect myocytes to one another. To better understand how intrinsic (single cell) electrical activity is modulated by junctional conductance, we used a two‐myocyte coupling system in which physically separate cells were electrically coupled via a variable resistance set by the investigator. This brief review summarizes our findings regarding: (1) the effect of the early phase of action potential repolarization (phase 1) and transient outward current (Ito) on action potential conduction, and (2) the effect of coupling on the action potential plateau (late repolarization). We found that inhibition of Ito markedly increased the ability of action potentials to propagate from cell‐to‐cell when junctional conductance was low. Electrically coupling two myocytes together also suppressed their beat‐to‐beat variability in action potential duration and contraction. Similarly, early afterdepolarizations (EADS) were readily suppressed by connecting a normal myocyte to one generating EADs. This high sensitivity of the plateau to variations in junctional interactions arises from the large increase in membrane resistance that occurs during this phase of the action potential.
The Laplacian Spectrum of Complex Networks

The set of all eigenvalues of a characteristic matrix of a graph, also referred to as the spectrum, is a well-known topology retrieval method. In this paper, we study the spectrum of the Laplacian matrix of an observable part of the Internet graph at the IPlevel, extracted from traceroute measurements performed via RIPE NCC and PlanetLab. In order to investigate the factors influencing the Laplacian spectrum of the observed graphs, we study the following complex network models: the random graph of Erdős-Renyi, the smallworld of Watts and Strogatz and the scale-free graph, derived from a Havel-Hakimi powerlaw degree sequence. Along with these complex network models, we also study the corresponding Minimum Spanning Tree (MST). Extensive simulations show that the Laplacian spectra of complex network models differ substantially from the spectra of the observed graphs. However, the Laplacian spectra of the MST in the Erdős-Renyi random graph with uniformly distributed link weights does bear resemblance to it. Furthermore, we discuss an extensive set of topological characteristics extracted from the Laplacian spectra of the observed real-world graphs as well as from complex network models.
Orbitomedial prefrontal cortical projections to hypothalamus in the rat

A previous study in the rat revealed that distinct orbital and medial prefrontal cortical (OMPFC) areas projected to specific columns of the midbrain periaqueductal gray region (PAG). This study used anterograde tracing techniques to define projections to the hypothalamus arising from the same OMPFC regions. In addition, injections of anterograde and retrograde tracers were made into different PAG columns to examine connections between hypothalamic regions and PAG columns projected upon by the same OMPFC regions. The most extensive patterns of hypothalamic termination were seen after injection of anterograde tracer in prelimbic and infralimbic (PL/IL) and the ventral and medial orbital (VO/MO) cortices. Projections from rostral PL/IL and VO/MO targeted the rostrocaudal extent of the lateral hypothalamus, as well as lateral perifornical, and dorsal and posterior hypothalamic areas. Projections arising from caudal PL/IL terminated within the dorsal hypothalamus, including the dorsomedial nucleus and dorsal and posterior hypothalamic areas. There were also projections to medial perifornical and lateral hypothalamic areas. In contrast, it was found that anterior cingulate (AC), dorsolateral orbital (DLO), and agranular insular (AId) cortices projected to distinct and restricted hypothalamic regions. Projections arising from AC terminated within dorsal and posterior hypothalamic areas, whereas DLO and AId projected to the lateral hypothalamus. The same OMPFC regions also projected indirectly, by means of specific PAG columns, to many of the same hypothalamic fields. In the context of our previous findings, these data indicate that, in both rat and macaque, parallel but distinct circuits interconnect OMPFC areas with specific hypothalamic regions, as well as PAG columns. J. Comp. Neurol. 432:307–328, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Bipenalty method for time domain computational dynamics

Penalty functions can be used to add constraints to systems of equations. In computational mechanics, stiffness-type penalties are the common choice. However, in dynamic applications stiffness penalties have the disadvantage that they tend to decrease the critical time step in conditionally stable time integration schemes, leading to increased CPU times for simulations. In contrast, inertia penalties increase the critical time step. In this paper, we suggest the simultaneous use of stiffness penalties and inertia penalties, which is denoted as the bipenalty method. We demonstrate that the accuracy of the bipenalty method is at least as good as (and usually better than) using either stiffness penalties or inertia penalties. Furthermore, for a number of finite elements (bar elements, beam elements and square plane stress/plane strain elements) we have derived ratios of the two penalty parameters such that their combined effect on the critical time step is neutral. The bipenalty method is thus superior to using stiffness penalties, because the decrease in critical time step can be avoided. The bipenalty method is also superior to using inertia penalties, since the constraints are realized with higher accuracy.
Algorithm Design Using Spectral Graph Theory

Spectral graph theory is the interplay between linear algebra and combinatorial graph theory. Laplace’s equation and its discrete form, the Laplacian matrix, appear ubiquitously in mathematical physics. Due to the recent discovery of very fast solvers for these equations, they are also becoming increasingly useful in combinatorial optimization, computer vision, computer graphics, and machine learning. In this thesis, we develop highly efficient and parallelizable algorithms for solving linear systems involving graph Laplacian matrices. These solvers can also be extended to symmetric diagonally dominant matrices and M -matrices, both of which are closely related to graph Laplacians. Our algorithms build upon two decades of progress on combinatorial preconditioning, which connects numerical and combinatorial algorithms through spectral graph theory. They in turn rely on tools from numerical analysis, metric embeddings, and random matrix theory. We give two solver algorithms that take diametrically opposite approaches. The first is motivated by combinatorial algorithms, and aims to gradually break the problem into several smaller ones. It represents major simplifications over previous solver constructions, and has theoretical running time comparable to sorting. The second is motivated by numerical analysis, and aims to rapidly improve the algebraic connectivity of the graph. It is the first highly efficient solver for Laplacian linear systems that parallelizes almost completely. Our results improve the performances of applications of fast linear system solvers ranging from scientific computing to algorithmic graph theory. We also show that these solvers can be used to address broad classes of image processing tasks, and give some preliminary experimental results.
Design of a miniature permanent-magnet generator and energy storage system

The paper describes a methodology for optimizing the design and performance of a miniature permanent-magnet generator and its associated energy storage system. It combines an analytical field model, a lumped reluctance equivalent magnetic circuit, and an equivalent electrical circuit. Its utility is demonstrated by means of a case study on a 15-mW, 6000-r/min generator, and the analysis techniques are validated by measurements on a prototype system.