Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical impact, safety, and accuracy of the remotely monitored implantable loop recorder Medtronic Reveal LINQTM

Aims Implantable loop recorders (ILR) are indicated in a variety of clinical situations when extended cardiac rhythm monitoring is needed. We aimed to assess the clinical impact, safety, and accuracy of the new Medtronic Reveal LINQTM ILR that can be inserted outside the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory and remotely monitored. Methods and results All 154 consecutive patients (100 males, 63 ± 15 year-old) who received the Reveal LINQTM ILR during the period July 2014-June 2016 were enrolled. The device was implanted in a procedure room and all patients where provided with the MyCareLinkTM remote monitoring system. Data were reviewed every working day via the Carelink® web system by a specialist nurse who, in case of significant events, consulted an electrophysiologist. During a mean follow-up of 12.1 (6.7-18.4) months (range 2-24 months), a diagnosis was made in 99 (64%) patients and in 60 (39%) ≥1 therapeutic interventions were established following recording of arrhythmias. In 26 of these 60 patients, remote monitoring prompted therapeutic interventions following asymptomatic arrhythmic events 3.8 months before the next theoretical scheduled in-office data download. False bradycardia detection for undersensing occurred in 44 (29%) patients and false tachycardia detection for oversensing in 4 (3%). One patient experienced skin erosion requiring explantation and none suffered from infection. Conclusion The remote monitoring feature of the Reveal LINQTM allowed earlier diagnosis of asymptomatic but serious arrhythmias in a significant proportion of patients. Implantation of the device outside the EP laboratory appeared safe. However, R-wave undersensing and consequent false recognition of bradyarrhythmias remains a clinically important technical issue.
Evaluation of a Person-Centered, Theory-Based Intervention to Promote Health Behaviors

Background Effective promotion of health behaviors requires strong interventions. Applying person-centered approaches and concepts synthesized from two motivational theories could strengthen the effects of such interventions. Objectives The aim of the study was to report the effect sizes, fidelity, and acceptability of a person-centered, health behavior intervention based on self-regulation and self-determination theories. Methods Using a pre- and postintervention design, with a 4-week follow-up, advanced practice registered nurses made six weekly contacts with 52 volunteer participants. Most participants were educated White women. Advanced practice registered nurses elicited participant motives and particular goals for either healthy diet or physical activity behaviors. Minutes and type of activity and servings of fat and fruit/vegetables were assessed. Results Effect sizes for engaging in moderate aerobic activity and in fruit/vegetable and fat intake were 0.53, 0.82, and −0.57, respectively. The fidelity of delivery was 80–97% across contacts, and fidelity of participants’ receipt of intervention components was supported. Participant acceptance of the intervention was supported by positive ratings on aspects of relevance and usefulness. Discussion To advance the science of health behavior change and improve client health status, person-centered approaches and concepts synthesized from motivational theories can be applied and tested with a randomized, controlled design and diverse samples to replicate and extend this promising behavioral intervention.
Association between type of feeding at discharge from the hospital and nutritional status of very low birth weight preterm infants

The ideal feeding for premature babies has been the source of extensive debate. The aim of this study was to assess the association between type of feeding at discharge and the nutritional status of very low birth weight infants. This was a retrospective cohort of preterm babies with birth weight ≤1500 g, born between January 2006 and December 2013. The infants were divided into 3 groups according to type of feeding at discharge: exclusive breast milk (group 1), mixed feeding (group 2) and exclusive artificial formula (group 3). Frequencies of each group were calculated, as well as mean Z-score differences in weight, length and head circumference. Six hundred and forty-nine newborns were included. The mean weight of groups 1, 2, and 3 was 1338.7, 1104.0, and 1254.7 g, respectively, and their mean gestational age was 31.9, 30, and 31.2 weeks, respectively. The Z-score differences (means±SD) for groups 1, 2, and 3 were: −0.84±0.68, −1.02±0.75, and −0.86±0.71 for weight, −0.21±1.23, −0.52±1.64 and −0.08±1.34 for head circumference, and −1.10±1.18, −1.54±1.37, and −0.97±1.21 for length. A significant difference was observed between groups 2 and 3 in the adjusted Z-score model for length, with no significant differences in anthropometric measurements for the other comparative analyses. Because of its many advantages, breastfeeding should be stimulated within neonatal units since nutritional status was not influenced by the different types of feeding.
Lightweight Active Object Retrieval with Weak Classifiers

In the last few years, there has been a steadily growing interest in autonomous vehicles and robotic systems. While many of these agents are expected to have limited resources, these systems should be able to dynamically interact with other objects in their environment. We present an approach where lightweight sensory and processing techniques, requiring very limited memory and processing power, can be successfully applied to the task of object retrieval using sensors of different modalities. We use the Hough framework to fuse optical and orientation information of the different views of the objects. In the presented spatio-temporal perception technique, we apply active vision, where, based on the analysis of initial measurements, the direction of the next view is determined to increase the hit-rate of retrieval. The performance of the proposed methods is shown on three datasets loaded with heavy noise.
CT-P13 in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

ABSTRACT Introduction: The first biosimilar infliximab, CT-P13 infliximab-dyyb was approved in 2013 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and in 2016 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for 4 years. Areas covered: CT-P13 with the three brand names on the market has highly similar efficacy and safety profiles but lower price than originator infliximab and are approved in more than 80 countries. One of the most important determinants of the implementation of CT-P13 in the treatment of RA is scientific evidence from clinical studies and real-world pharmacovigilance data. Here, we review all available clinical data supporting the similarity of CT-P13 to originator infliximab in its clinical efficacy and safety for the treatment of RA and related arthritis. In addition, we consider the role of CT-P13 in therapeutic strategies for RA treatment. Expert commentary: With its highly similar efficacy and safety profile to originator infliximab and its lower price, CT-P13 is expected to be very useful in RA treatment, whether it is applied earlier or switched from originator infliximab or other biologics. Future educational initiatives will be important to overcome misunderstandings about biosimilars and to improve the implementation of CT-P13.
Depression Is Associated With High Levels of C-Reactive Protein and Low Levels of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide: Results From the 2007-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

OBJECTIVE Major depressive disorder may be due to psychoneuroimmunological dysfunction, as studies have documented increased levels of a variety of inflammatory mediators in depressed subjects. Nitric oxide (NO) is marker of inflammation, and fractional exhaled NO (FeNO) is a marker of airway inflammation. Plasma NO and FeNO levels have been shown to be lower in subjects with depression in small studies. We sought to assess the association of depression with C-reactive protein (CRP) and FeNO levels in a large and representative sample of the US population. METHODS Population-based cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES collects health information about the US population through interviews, medical examinations, and laboratory tests. We included subjects ≥ 20 years old who participated in NHANES in 2007 to 2012, responded to the depression questions, and had CRP values or ≥ 2 reproducible FeNO measures. Depression was measured using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Subjects were classified as depressed if PHQ-9 scores were ≥ 10. FeNO and CRP levels were log transformed. Unadjusted and adjusted regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS A total of 14,276 subjects responded to the PHQ-9, and 7.73% had depressive symptoms. Of these subjects, 10,036 had CRP values and 12,513 had FeNO measurements. Subjects with depressive symptoms had, after adjustment, CRP levels that were 31% higher (95% confidence interval [CI], 14% to 50%) and FeNO levels that were 10.7% lower (95% CI, -2.5% to -17.1%) than in subjects with no depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Depression is associated with high CRP levels and low FeNO levels. Of importance, this study (1) assesses the association of depression with CRP and exhaled NO levels in a large and representative sample of the US population, (2) contributes to the neuroimmunological dimension of depression, (3) confirms the association of depression with high levels of CRP, and (4) assesses, for the first time, the association of depression with peripheral NO in more than 10,000 subjects from the general population.
Neuregulin-1β Is Associated With Disease Severity and Adverse Outcomes in Chronic Heart Failure

Background— Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) is a paracrine factor released by microvascular endothelial cells that has cardioprotective effects in animal models of heart failure. However, circulating NRG-1 has not been studied in human heart disease. We used a novel immunoassay to test whether circulating NRG-1β is associated with disease severity and clinical outcomes in chronic heart failure. Methods and Results— Serum NRG-1β was quantified in 899 outpatients in the Penn Heart Failure Study, a referral cohort representing a broad spectrum of systolic heart failure. Circulating NRG-1β was significantly elevated in patients with worse disease severity (median, 6.2 ng/mL for New York Heart Association class IV versus 4.4 ng/mL for class I; P=0.002). In adjusted models, NRG-1β was independently associated with an increased risk of death or cardiac transplantation over a median follow-up of 2.4 years (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 2.39; P=0.03 comparing fourth versus first NRG-1β quartile). Associations with outcome differed by heart failure cause and symptom severity, with the strongest associations observed in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (interaction P=0.008) and New York Heart Association class III/IV symptoms (interaction P=0.01). These findings were all independent of brain natriuretic peptide, and assessment of NRG-1β and brain natriuretic peptide jointly provided better risk stratification than each biomarker individually in patients with ischemic or New York Heart Association class III/IV heart failure. Conclusions— Circulating NRG-1β is independently associated with heart failure severity and risk of death or cardiac transplantation. These findings support a role for NRG-1/ErbB signaling in human heart failure and identify serum NRG-1β as a novel biomarker that may have clinical applications.
Beyond Cue Reactivity: Non-Drug-Related Motivationally Relevant Stimuli Are Necessary to Understand Reactivity to Drug-Related Cues

Neurobiological models of addiction posit that drug use can alter reward processes in two ways: (1) by increasing the motivational relevance of drugs and drug-related cues and (2) by reducing the motivational relevance of non-drug-related rewards. Here, we discuss the results from a series of neuroimaging studies in which we assessed the extent to which these hypotheses apply to nicotine dependence. In these studies, we recorded smokers’ and nonsmokers’ brain responses to a wide array of motivationally relevant visual stimuli that included pleasant, unpleasant, cigarette-related, and neutral images. Based on these findings, we highlight the flaws of the traditional cue reactivity paradigm and we conclude that responses to non-drug-related motivationally relevant stimuli should be used to appropriately gauge the motivational relevance of cigarette-related cues and to identify smokers attributing higher motivational relevance to drug-related cues than to non-drug-related rewards. Identifying these individuals is clinically relevant as they achieve lower rates of long-term smoking abstinence when attempting to quit. Finally, we show how this approach may be extended beyond nicotine dependence to inform theoretical and clinical research in the study of obesity. Implications The cue reactivity paradigm (ie, comparing responses evoked by drug-related cues to those evoked by neutral cues) cannot provide conclusive information about the motivational relevance of drug-related cues. Responses to non-drug-related motivationally relevant stimuli should be used to appropriately gauge the level of motivational relevance that substance-dependent individuals attribute to drug-related cues.
Connecting Visual Objects Reduces Perceived Numerosity and Density for Sparse but not Dense Patterns

How is numerosity encoded by the visual system? – directly, or derived indirectly from texture density? We recently suggested that the numerosity of sparse patterns is encoded directly by dedicated mechanisms (which have been described as the “Approximate Number System” ANS). However, at high dot densities, where items become “crowded” and difficult to segregate, “texture-density” mechanisms come into play. Here we tested the importance of item segmentation on numerosity and density perception at various stimulus densities, by measuring the effect of connecting visual objects with thin lines. The results confirmed many previous studies showing that connecting items robustly reduces the apparent numerosity of patterns of moderate density. We further showed that the apparent density of moderate-density patterns is also reduced by connecting the dots. Crucially, we found that both these effects are strongly reduced at higher numerosities. Indeed for density judgments, the effect reverses, so connecting dots in dense patterns increases the apparent density (as expected from the physical characteristics). The results provide clear support for the three-regime framework of number perception, and suggest that for moderately sparse stimuli, numerosity – but not texture-density – is perceived directly.
Gating mass cytometry data by deep learning

Mass cytometry or CyTOF is an emerging technology for high-dimensional multiparameter single cell analysis that overcomes many limitations of fluorescence-based flow cytometry. New methods for analyzing CyTOF data attempt to improve automation, scalability, performance, and interpretation of data generated in large studies. Assigning individual cells into discrete groups of cell types (gating) involves time-consuming sequential manual steps, untenable for larger studies. We introduce DeepCyTOF, a standardization approach for gating, based on deep learning techniques. DeepCyTOF requires labeled cells from only a single sample. It is based on domain adaptation principles and is a generalization of previous work that allows us to calibrate between a target distribution and a source distribution in an unsupervised manner. We show that Deep-CyTOF is highly concordant (98%) with cell classification obtained by individual manual gating of each sample when applied to a collection of 16 biological replicates of primary immune blood cells, even when measured accross several instruments. Further, DeepCyTOF achieves very high accuracy on the semi-automated gating challenge of the FlowCAP-I competition as well as two CyTOF datasets generated from primary immune blood cells: (i)14 subjects with a history of infection with West Nile virus (WNV), (ii) 34 healthy subjects of different ages. We conclude that deep learning in general, and DeepCyTOF specifically, offers a powerful computational approach for semi-automated gating of CyTOF and flow cytometry data.
The discovery of the ability of rod photoreceptors to signal single photons

Vertebrate rod photoreceptors evolved the astonishing ability to respond reliably to single photons. In parallel, the proximate neurons of the visual system evolved the ability to reliably encode information from a few single-photon responses (SPRs) as arising from the presence of an object of interest in the visual environment. These amazing capabilities were first inferred from measurements of human visual threshold by Hecht et al. (1942), whose paper has since been cited over 1,000 times. Subsequent research, in part inspired by Hecht et al.’s discovery, has directly measured rod SPRs, characterized the molecular mechanism responsible for their generation, and uncovered much about the specializations in the retina that enable the reliable transmission of SPRs in the teeth of intrinsic neuronal noise.
Complications after Body Contouring Surgery in Post-Bariatric Patients : The Importance of a Stable Weight Close to Normal

Objective: Body contouring surgery is in high demand following the increase in bariatric surgery. Massive weight loss leads to an excess of lax, overstretched skin causing physical and psychosocial discomfort. Plastic surgical procedures can give rise to an improvement in quality of life, but the relative high complication rate could negatively affect these potential gains. The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of complications in order to optimize outcomes in this patient population. Methods: Out of a group of 465 post-bariatric patients, 61 patients underwent body contouring surgery following massive weight loss. A total of 43 respondents were reviewed retrospectively for demographic data, preand post-operative weight status and co-morbidities. Medical complications were categorized according to the modified Clavien classification. All cases were analyzed for risk factors. Results: A stable weight over a period of at least 3 months prior to body contouring surgery is associated with a significant lower complication rate (odds ratio 0.24; CI 0.07–0.79) and the percentage excess weight loss (odds ratio 0.96; 95% CI 0.92–1.00) was an independent predictor for the occurrence of complications. The overall complication rate was 27.9% with a major complication rate of 8.8%. Most frequent procedures were abdominoplasty (61%) and breast reduction/ mammapexy (25%). Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance to strive for a stable weight close to normal before surgery to minimize the risk of complications. The positive effects of the long-term results of bariatric surgery tolerate the relative high complications rate. Careful pre-operative planning and patient selection are essential to optimize the results of body contouring surgery of post-bariatric patients.
Data censoring with set-membership algorithms

In this paper, we use the set-membership normalized least-mean-square (SM-NLMS) algorithm to censor the data set in big data applications. First, we use the distribution of the noise signal and the excess of the steady-state mean-square error (EMSE) to estimate the threshold for the desired update rate in the single threshold SM-NLMS (ST-SM-NLMS) algorithm. Then, we introduce the double threshold SM-NLMS (DT-SM-NLMS) algorithm which defines an acceptable range of the error signal. This algorithm censors the data with very low and very high output estimation error. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the estimated threshold and corroborate the superior performance of the DT-SM-NLMS algorithm.
Measuring Moral Injury

As the construct of moral injury has gained increased conceptual and empirical attention among military personnel and veterans, preliminary attempts to operationalize and measure the construct have emerged. One such measure is the Moral Injury Event Scale (MIES). The aim of the current study was to further evaluate the MIES’s psychometric properties in two military samples: a clinical sample of Air Force personnel and a nonclinical sample of Army National Guard personnel. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across both samples supported a three-factor solution: transgressions by others, transgressions by self, and betrayal. Transgressions-Others was most strongly associated with posttraumatic stress; Transgressions-Self was most strongly associated with hopelessness, pessimism, and anger; and Betrayal was most strongly associated with posttraumatic stress and anger. Results support the construct validity of the MIES, although areas for improvement are indicated and discussed.
Inter/intra-chip optical interconnection network: opportunities, challenges, and implementations

Recent advances in photonics technologies have made optical interconnection network an attractive option for computing systems from high-performance computers and data centers to automobiles and cell phones. Optical interconnection network promises ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, and great energy efficiency to alleviate the inter-rack, intra-rack, intra-board, and intra-chip communication bottlenecks in multiprocessor systems. Silicon-based photonics technologies piggyback onto developed silicon fabrication processes to provide viable and cost-effective solutions. Both industry and academia have invested significant efforts to develop and commercialize optical interconnection network technologies. This paper reviews the latest progresses and provides insights into the challenges and future developments.
Drop weight impact response of woven natural silk/Epoxy laminated composite plates

Woven natural silk fabric has been commonly used in textile industries for centuries. Irrespective of their mechanical and environmental merits, their utilizations as reinforcement material for composites structures are very rare. Therefore, this work is focused on the use of woven natural silk as a reinforcement material in composites panels. Since a major concern over laminated composite is their being susceptible to internal damage caused by impact loads; the impact response of woven natural silk fabric reinforced epoxy (WNS/Epoxy) were investigated. Composite panel, prepared in configurations of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30layers of WNS and tested under a drop weight impact of 32J, 48J and 64J were analyzed. Load bearing capability and damage fragmentations were investigated. An increased load bearing capability was observed with increase in number of WNS ply. Delamination and surface damage area fragmentation also increased with increase in impact load. The SEM showed failure mechanism as a combination of failures.