Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacteral Meningitis in Childhood at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh: 1988-1998

Bacterial meningitis is an important acute infectious disease of childhood that remains a source of substantial morbidity and mortality. The impact of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) conjugate vaccines on the epidemiology of the other bacterial causes of meningitis in childhood has received little attention. The objective of this study is to report the experience at a tertiary-care children's hospital with the occurrence of bacterial meningitis before and after the licensure of the HIB conjugate vaccine. With use of International Classification of Diseases diagnostic codes for bacterial meningitis, a list of all children admitted to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh with a primary or secondary diagnosis of meningitis due to H. influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis from January 1, 1988, to December 31, 1998, was constructed. Medical records were examined for basic patient demographic information including age, gender, race, bacterial etiology of meningitis, receipt of vaccine for HIB, underlying conditions, and fatalities. Two hundred twenty-one cases of bacterial meningitis caused by H. influenzae, N. meningitidis, and S. pneumoniae were identified. The age of infected children ranged from 1 month to 18 years, with a mean and median age of 38.1 months and 13 months, respectively. Fifty-two percent of the children were female, 83% were Caucasian and 16% were African-American. Before the routine use of HIB conjugate vaccine, HIB was the bacterial species responsible for the greatest proportion of cases (average of 58%/year). The absolute number of cases of bacterial meningitis attributable to HIB declined after 1991 to an average of 2.5 cases/year. The number of cases of meningitis caused by S. pneumoniae and N. meningitidis have remained relatively stable between 1988 and 1998. The case fatality rates for children with meningitis caused by H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, and N. meningitidis were 0.0%, 9.2%, and 7.5%, respectively. Most cases of meningitis due to HIB occurred in children who had not been immunized. Three children who received the polsaccharide vaccine developed meningitis due to HIB; there were no failures of the conjugate vaccine.
b Requires IL-10 and TGF-Regulatory T Cells Is Antigen-Specific and + CD25+ Nonlymphopenic Hosts by CD4 Protection against Autoimmunity in

CD4 (cid:1) CD25 (cid:1) regulatory T cells (T Reg ) play a critical role in the control of autoimmunity. However, little is known about how T Reg suppress self-reactive T cells in vivo, thus limiting the development of T Reg -based therapy for treating autoimmune diseases. This is in large part due to the dependency on a state of lymphopenia to demonstrate T Reg -mediated suppression in vivo and the unknown Ag speciﬁcity of T Reg in most experimental models. Using a nonlymphopenic model of autoimmune pneumonitis and T Reg with known Ag speciﬁcity, in this study we demonstrated that these T Reg can actively suppress activation of self-reactive T cells and protect mice from fatal autoimmune pneumonitis. The protection required T Reg with the same Ag speciﬁcity as the self-reactive T cells and depended on IL-10 and TGF- (cid:2) . These results suggest that suppression of autoimmunity by T Reg in vivo consists of multiple layers of regulation and advocate for a strategy involving Ag-speciﬁc T Reg for treating organ-speciﬁc autoimmunity, because they do not cause generalized immune suppression. The Journal of Immunology, 2005, 175: 4283–4291.
Differential Analysis of Ovarian and Endometrial Cancers Identifies a Methylator Phenotype

Despite improved outcomes in the past 30 years, less than half of all women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer live five years beyond their diagnosis. Although typically treated as a single disease, epithelial ovarian cancer includes several distinct histological subtypes, such as papillary serous and endometrioid carcinomas. To address whether the morphological differences seen in these carcinomas represent distinct characteristics at the molecular level we analyzed DNA methylation patterns in 11 papillary serous tumors, 9 endometrioid ovarian tumors, 4 normal fallopian tube samples and 6 normal endometrial tissues, plus 8 normal fallopian tube and 4 serous samples from TCGA. For comparison within the endometrioid subtype we added 6 primary uterine endometrioid tumors and 5 endometrioid metastases from uterus to ovary. Data was obtained from 27,578 CpG dinucleotides occurring in or near promoter regions of 14,495 genes. We identified 36 locations with significant increases or decreases in methylation in comparisons of serous tumors and normal fallopian tube samples. Moreover, unsupervised clustering techniques applied to all samples showed three major profiles comprising mostly normal samples, serous tumors, and endometrioid tumors including ovarian, uterine and metastatic origins. The clustering analysis identified 60 differentially methylated sites between the serous group and the normal group. An unrelated set of 25 serous tumors validated the reproducibility of the methylation patterns. In contrast, >1,000 genes were differentially methylated between endometrioid tumors and normal samples. This finding is consistent with a generalized regulatory disruption caused by a methylator phenotype. Through DNA methylation analyses we have identified genes with known roles in ovarian carcinoma etiology, whereas pathway analyses provided biological insight to the role of novel genes. Our finding of differences between serous and endometrioid ovarian tumors indicates that intervention strategies could be developed to specifically address subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer.
Risk Factors for Febrile Neutropenia in Children With Solid Tumors Treated With Cisplatin-based Chemotherapy

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common and potentially fatal adverse drug reaction of cisplatin-based chemotherapy (CDDPBC) in pediatric patients. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the incidence and independent risk factors for FN in pediatric patients with solid tumors treated with CDPPBC. Cohort integration was performed in the first cycle of chemotherapy with CDDPBC and patients were followed up to 6 months after the last cycle. FN was defined according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Relative risks were calculated with confidence intervals at 95% (95% CI) to determine FN risk factors. Multiple logistic regression was performed to identify independent risk factors. One hundred and thirty-nine pediatric patients (median age 7.4 y, range 0.08 to 17 y) were included in the study. FN incidence was 62.5%. Independent risk factors for FN were chemotherapy regimens including anthracyclines (odds ratio [OR]=19.44 [95% CI, 5.40-70.02), hypomagnesaemia (OR=8.20 [95% CI, 1.81-37.14]), and radiotherapy (OR=6.67 [95% CI, 1.24-35.94]). It is therefore concluded that anthracyclines-containing regimens, hypomagnesaemia, and radiotherapy are independent risk factors for FN in patients receiving CDDPBC.
Real-Time Processing of Three Dimensional Ultrasound for Intracardiac Surgery

Real-time three-dimensional ultrasound has been demonstrated as a viable tool for guiding surgical procedures. This visualization technique enables a range of new minimally invasive techniques in cardiac surgery. Ultrasound permits visualization through the opaque blood pool in the heart, and the advent of real-time 3DUS overcomes difficulties with 3D spatial perception in conventional 2D ultrasound. These procedures eliminate the need for a cardiopulminary bypass and its well documented adverse effects. However, challenges remain before clinical implementation of ultrasound-guided intracardiac surgery can be made practical. 3D ultrasound provides limited spatial perception due to distorted appearance of tissue and instruments. The low quality imaging when combined with the confined dynamic environment of a beating heart makes complex tasks difficult for surgeons to perform. These challenges are addressed by improving the display of 3D ultrasound with stereo displays, tracked surgical instruments, and introducing robotics for handling the dynamic cardiac tissue. A study is presented that demonstrates stereo displays improve surgical performance, reducing error rates by 50% and procedure times by 28%. The stereo display was found to help surgeons better interpret the low resolution ultrasound volumes. However, a large source of ultrasound distortion is imaging artifacts created by surgical instruments. A detection technique is presented that identifies the position of the instrument within the ultrasound volume. The algorithm uses a form of the generalized Radon transform and passive markers to identify the full position and orientation of the instrument. This detection technique is amenable to rapid execution on parallel computer architectures and as a result real-time instrument tracking was attained. With a tracked instrument location, it is now possible to develop enhanced surgical displays. Instrument tracking also enables robot guidance that is ideally suited to compensate for the highly dynamic environment of beating heart surgery. A system has been designed and tested that uses real-time instrument and target tracking for robot control.
Regional-scale GIS-models for assessment of hazards from glacier lake outbursts: evaluation and application in the Swiss Alps

Abstract. Debris flows triggered by glacier lake outbursts have repeatedly caused disasters in various high-mountain regions of the world. Accelerated change of glacial and periglacial environments due to atmospheric warming and increased anthropogenic development in most of these areas raise the need for an adequate hazard assessment and corresponding modelling. The purpose of this paper is to pro-vide a modelling approach which takes into account the current evolution of the glacial environment and satisfies a robust first-order assessment of hazards from glacier-lake outbursts. Two topography-based GIS-models simulating debris flows related to outbursts from glacier lakes are presented and applied for two lake outburst events in the southern Swiss Alps. The models are based on information about glacier lakes derived from remote sensing data, and on digital elevation models (DEM). Hydrological flow routing is used to simulate the debris flow resulting from the lake outburst. Thereby, a multiple- and a single-flow-direction approach are applied. Debris-flow propagation is given in probability-related values indicating the hazard potential of a certain location. The debris flow runout distance is calculated on the basis of empirical data on average slope trajectory. The results show that the multiple-flow-direction approach generally yields a more detailed propagation. The single-flow-direction approach, however, is more robust against DEM artifacts and, hence, more suited for process automation. The model is tested with three differently generated DEMs (including aero-photogrammetry- and satellite image-derived). Potential application of the respective DEMs is discussed with a special focus on satellite-derived DEMs for use in remote high-mountain areas.
Strategies for Decreasing Vascular Complications in Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization Patients

Vascular complications are the most common type of complication after a cardiac catheterization. These include hematoma, pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula, peripheral artery occlusion and dissection, and retroperitoneal bleeding. The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority reports that nearly half the medical errors that occurred between June 2004 and December 2006 were cardiac catheterization complications, many of which were vascular related. The American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry benchmark for vascular complications incidence is less than 1% for diagnostic catheterizations and less than 3% for percutaneous coronary intervention. The need to search for strategies to decrease vascular complication in diagnostic cardiac catheterization patients was a priority.
Leucine Supplementation Augments Insulin Secretion in Pancreatic Islets of Malnourished Mice

Objectives: We investigated the influence of leucine supplementation on insulin secretion and on some proteins related to insulin secretion in malnourished mice. Methods: Swiss mice (aged 21 days) received isocaloric normo-17% (NP) or 6% low-protein (LP) diet for 120 days. Half of the NP and LP mice received 1.5% leucine in the drinking water during the last 30 days (NPL and LPL, respectively). Results: The LP mice were hypoinsulinemic compared with the NP group, whereas LPL mice exhibited increased insulinemia in the fed state versus LP mice. The LP mouse islets were less responsive to 22.2 mM glucose, 100 &mgr;M carbachol (Cch), and 10 mM leucine than the NP group. However, LPL islets were more responsive to all these conditions compared with the LP group. The muscarinic type 3 receptor, (M3R) Ca&bgr;2, and PKC-&agr; protein contents were reduced in LP compared with NP islets but significantly higher in LPL than LP islets. The p-AKT/AKT ratio was higher in LPL compared with LP islets. Conclusions: Leucine supplementation increases insulin secretion in response to glucose and leucine and to agents that potentiate secretion, such as Cch, in malnourished mice. The enhanced levels of M3R, Ca&bgr;2, and PKC-&agr; proteins, as well as of the p-AKT/AKT ratio, may play a role in this process.
Modeling treatment process and outcomes.

We recently concluded the third decade of large-scale public funding for community-based drug abuse treatment in the United States. Over these years, basic and applied research in this arena has been carried out and reported at an unprecedented rate, based in part on the requirements of federal agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of our national drug abuse treatment system. Beginning in the early 1970s with the Drug Abuse Reporting Program (DARP), followed by the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS) a decade later, and continuing through the 1990s with the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS), national evaluations have examined over 65,000 admissions to 272 treatment programs using multimodality and multisite sampling plans that allow the study of treatment in natural settings. These national projects comprise only part of the large body of evidence accumulated over the past 30 years that supports the general effectiveness of drug treatment.1-5
Differential role of E-selectin and P-selectin in T lymphocyte migration to cutaneous inflammatory reactions induced by cytokines.

E-selectin and P-selectin are thought to be important in the infiltration of T lymphocytes in inflammation, but their role in cytokine-induced cutaneous inflammatory reactions has not been examined. A technique for quantifying labeled T lymphocyte migration to cytokine-induced dermal inflammation in mice was developed. After i.v. injection, (51)Cr-labeled T lymphocytes migrated to lesions induced by IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and in even greater numbers to the combination of IFN-gamma + TNF-alpha, and to sites injected with concanavalin A (Con A). In E-selectin mAb-treated and in E-selectin-deficient mice, IFN-gamma-, IFN-gamma + TNF-alpha- and Con A-induced T cell accumulation was inhibited by 45-65%, but TNF-alpha-induced infiltration was unaffected. In P-selectin mAb-treated and P-selectin-deficient mice, T cell accumulation remained unchanged in most of the lesions. Combined, E-selectin and P-selectin mAb treatment inhibited T cell accumulation in all four types of reactions, and significantly more than E-selectin blockade alone in migration to Con A. Results in E-selectin- and P-selectin-deficient mice confirmed these observations, and demonstrated strain-dependent differences in the contributions of the two selectins. In conclusion, T cells migrating to dermal inflammatory reactions utilize both E-selectin and P-selectin, but alternate adhesion pathways also contribute, since blocking both endothelial selectins does not abolish T cell migration. P-selectin plays a less important role than E-selectin, since blocking E-selectin, but not P-selectin, alone decreased T cell accumulation. The relative contribution of the selectins varies depending on the initiating inflammatory stimulus and the genetic background.
REINFORCED CONCRETE T-BEAMS STRENGTHENED IN SHEAR WITH FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER SHEETS

This research studies the interaction of concrete, steel stirrups, and external fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets in carrying shear loads in reinforced concrete beams. A total of eight tests were conducted on four laboratory-controlled concrete T-beams. The beams were subjected to a four-point loading. Each end of each beam was tested separately. Three types of FRP, uniaxial glass fiber, uniaxial carbon fiber, and triaxial glass fiber, were applied externally to strengthen the web of the T-beams, while some ends were left without FRP. The test results show that FRP reinforcement increases the maximum shear strengths between 15.4 and 42.2% over beams with no FRP. The magnitude of the increased shear capacity is dependent not only on the type of FRP but also on the amount of internal shear reinforcement. The triaxial glass fiber reinforced beam exhibited more ductile failure than the other FRP reinforced beams. This paper also presents a test model that is based on a rational mechanism and can predict the experimental results with excellent accuracy.
Aquatic turning performance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and functional consequences of a rigid body design

SUMMARY The ability to capture prey and avoid predation in aquatic habitats depends strongly on the ability to perform unsteady maneuvers (e.g. turns), which itself depends strongly on body flexibility. Two previous studies of turning performance in rigid-bodied taxa have found either high maneuverability or high agility, but not both. However, examinations of aquatic turning performance in rigid-bodied animals have had limited taxonomic scope and, as such, the effects of many body shapes and designs on aquatic maneuverability and agility have yet to be examined. Turtles represent the oldest extant lineage of rigid-bodied vertebrates and the only aquatic rigid-bodied tetrapods. We evaluated the aquatic turning performance of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta (Schneider, 1783) using the minimum length-specific radius of the turning path (R/L) and the average turning rate (ωavg) as measures of maneuverability and agility, respectively. We filmed turtles conducting forward and backward turns in an aquatic arena. Each type of turn was executed using a different pattern of limb movements. During forward turns, turtles consistently protracted the inboard forelimb and held it stationary into the flow, while continuing to move the outboard forelimb and both hindlimbs as in rectilinear swimming. The limb movements of backward turns were more complex than those of forward turns, but involved near simultaneous retraction and protraction of contralateral fore- and hindlimbs, respectively. Forward turns had a minimum R/L of 0.0018 (the second single lowest value reported from any animal) and a maximum ωavg of 247.1°. Values of R/L for backward turns (0.0091-0.0950 L) were much less variable than that of forward turns (0.0018-1.0442 L). The maneuverability of turtles is similar to that recorded previously for rigidbodied boxfish. However, several morphological features of turtles (e.g. shell morphology and limb position) appear to increase agility relative to the body design of boxfish.
Peta-scale data warehousing at Yahoo!

Insights based on detailed data on consumer behavior, product performance and marketplace behavior are driving innovation and competition in the internet space. We introduce Everest, a SQL-compliant data warehousing engine, based on a column architecture that we have built and deployed at Yahoo! In contrast to commercially available engines, this massively parallel engine, based on commodity hardware, offers scale, flexibility, specialized analytic operations, and lower administrative & hardware costs. In this paper, we describe the business motivation and the software and deployment architecture of Everest. The engine is in production at Yahoo! since 2007 and currently manages over six petabytes of data.
Evaluation of the Danish footpad lesion surveillance in conventional and organic broilers: Misclassification of scoring

&NA; Danish legislation prescribes surveillance of footpad dermatitis (FPD) at slaughter as an indicator of on‐farm broiler welfare. The 3‐point scale being used was originally developed in Sweden to score feet from conventional broilers, but the extent and causes of misclassifications have not been investigated, neither in conventional nor organic broilers. Hence, we investigated the performance of the official Danish FPD scoring system in conventional and organic broilers by assessing agreement between official scores from the slaughterhouse and consecutive scoring of the same feet by a reference method. We also investigated the impact of performing an incision of the footpad during scoring. In total, 902 conventional and 897 organic broiler feet (˜100 per flock from 18 flocks) were collected at a large Danish slaughterhouse for the official FPD surveillance system. Laboratory scoring, according to predefined criteria for visual and invasive investigations of the feet derived from the official system, was compared to the official scores assigned at slaughter. Footpad lesions were primarily chronic, representing a wide range of severity. Marked differences in color, shape, and degree of papillary hypertrophy and hyperkeratosis of organic and conventional feet were observed. Low agreement primarily regarding score 2 lesions was observed when comparing official and reference foot scores in conventional (0.31) and organic (0.05) broilers. Variation in agreement when comparing flock scores suggested a non‐systematic bias, which might be attributed to differences among official raters. The very low agreement in feet from organic broilers shows that these were more difficult to score than conventional. This might be due to a mismatch between lesion characteristics and scoring criteria, or because the lesions were less severe. Strictly visual examination detected 3 out of 4 score 2 lesions identified by the reference method. This study indicated that a large proportion of severe FPD lesions go unnoticed in the official Danish scoring system. The results further suggested that the complexity and impracticality of the scoring criteria impede uniform scoring among raters and production systems.