Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and pattern of occupational injuries at workplace among welders in coastal south India

Background: Injuries among welders are an important health issue in metal industries at global level. The study aimed to assess the prevalence and pattern of injuries and its possible associated risk factors among welders. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 209 welders in metal industries of Puducherry, coastal south India. Data regarding all types of injuries during the past 1 year were collected by administering a pre-designed questionnaire. The various risk factors associated with injuries that include age, training before induction, experience, job duration, tobacco chewing, alcohol use and use of protective measures were assessed using standard questionnaire. The data was analyzed by univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Majority of subjects were aged between 20 and 40 years (160, 76.6%) and educated below 10th standard (181, 86.6%). Mean number of injury was found to be 10.74 (SD = 5.74) in the preceding year. All of them had more than 2 injuries and 44% (92) of them had more than 10 injuries. All of them had abrasions and more than three fourths of them had each of lacerations, foreign body in the eye, flash burns and contusions. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age less than 30 years (OR = 5.19), tobacco use (OR = 2.56), alcohol use (OR = 3.96) and institutional training (OR = 0.10) were the predictors associated with more than 10 injuries among welders. Conclusion: Injury among welders is an important health problem in this area. Strategies for strengthening institutional training for younger age groups may help in decreasing the burden of injuries.
Characterization of metal and metal alloy films as contact materials in MEMS switches

This study presents a basic step toward the selection methodology of electric contact materials for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) metal contact switches. This involves the interrelationship between two important parameters, resistivity and hardness, since they provide the guidelines and assessment of contact resistance, wear, deformation and adhesion characteristics of MEMS switches. For this purpose, thin film alloys of three noble metals, platinum (Pt), rhodium (Rh) and ruthenium (Ru) with gold (Au), were investigated. The interrelationship between resistivity and hardness was established for three levels of alloying of these metals with gold. Thin films of gold (Au), platinum (Pt), ruthenium (Rh) and rhodium (Ru) were also characterized to obtain their baseline data for comparison. All films were deposited on silicon substrates. When Ru, Rh and Pt are alloyed with Au, their hardness generally decreases but resistivity increases. This decrease or increase was, in general, dependent upon the amount of alloying.
Negative thermal expansion in oriented crystalline polymers

Measurements on the thermal expansivity α∥ and α⟂ (along and normal to the draw direction, respectively) have been carried out for a series of oriented polymers with widely different crystallinities (0.36–0.81) and draw ratios (1–20) and over large temperature ranges covering the major amorphous transitions in each case. While α⟂ increases with temperature, α∥ tends to decrease sharply above the transition temperature. For highly crystalline polymers, α∥ decreases to values typical of polymer crystals (−1 × 10−5 K−1) and this can be attributed to the constraining effect of the crystalline bridges connecting the crystalline blocks. However, for polymers of lower crystallinity, α∥ may become an order of magnitude more negative and this remarkable phenomenon is attributed to the rubber–elastic contraction of taut tie-moleucles. Since taut tie-molecules and bridges have drastically different effects on α∥ at high temperatures, this allows a rough determination of their relative fractions.
Measurements of Lacrimal Glands from Cadavers, With Descriptions of Typical Glands and Three Gross Variants

Objective: To measure cadaveric human lacrimal glands. Methods: Excised lacrimal glands from 22 male and 23 female embalmed cadavers were stored in embalming fluid. They were then blotted, weighed, and measured using dividers and a digital micrometer. Results: Besides the typical gland (Type I), three gross variants were found. The subencapsulated variant (Type II) has dense connective tissue covering its deep surface. This would prevent the usual horizontal positioning of the lobes relative to the levator palpebrae superioris aponeurosis (lpsa), causing the latter to extend but minimally beneath the free edge of the orbital lobe. Consequently, the gland lies mainly beside the globe and angulated parallel to the lpsa. Its adjacent palpebral lobe lies beneath the latter. The bilayered variant (Type III) has its smaller orbital lobe's deep surface affixed above its large, ovoid palpebral lobe. Most of the gland droops beside the globe except for the edge of its orbital lobe which lies above the edge of the lpsa and beneath which the palpebral lobe's anteromedial portion lies. The macrovariant (Type IV) resembles the typical gland. However, between its big lobes is an unusually large gape for the lpsa. Conclusions: Variant lacrimal glands are common (51.1%). Three types have been identified. The subencapsulated (26.7%) and bilayered (22.2%) types are the more common ones. Only one macrovariant (2.2%) specimen was found. Several dimorphisms exist in the typical and subencapsulated types, specimens from male cadavers being larger.
Impact of Information on Network Performance - An Information-Theoretic Perspective

Available network information is an important factor in determining network performance. In this paper, we study the basic limits on the amount of network information that should be transmitted in the network to achieve a given level of network performance. From the perspective of information theory, network information is an information source, and the lower bound on network information is the minimum code letters required to encode the source. We propose a general information-theoretic framework, which can be applied to any network, to study the effect of network information on the performance of any network protocol. We also analyze the tradeoff between network performance improvement and network information collection overhead. To illustrate our approach, we use the framework to determine the lower bound on the traffic information for a simple scheduling protocol in wireless networks. The results in this paper may be used to analyze and evaluate network protocols and guide future designs.
A distributed, load-aware, power and frequency bargaining protocol for LTE-based networks

A distributed, load-aware, joint power and frequency allocation protocol is introduced for LTE-based cellular networks, and system-level simulations are performed. Our proposed scheme aims to cooperatively limit the impact of Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) on the center users' throughput compared to the Reuse 1 scheme, while providing sufficient throughput for the edge users. This is achieved through an asynchronous, lightweight scheme of local message exchange between neighboring LTE eNodeBs. The proposed scheme facilitates a type of “bargain” where an overloaded sector requests permission to utilize its neighbors' edge bands for its center users at a limited set of transmit power levels. Grants are generated at each neighbor by solving a small-scale optimization problem. Using an LTE simulator we evaluate our scheme on a network with 21 sectors of varying load patterns. The proposed scheme's performance for center users is consistently improved with respect to FFR-3, while for edge users the performance degradation is controlled by a parameter we set in the optimization problems' definitions; compared to Reuse 1 edge users still have gains. Specifically, we observed up to a 46% gain in the sectors' center throughput with a cost below 9% at the edges when compared to the classic FFR scheme, while the overall system throughput goes up by up to 26% in heavily loaded scenarios.
Effect of Ciprofloxacin Concentration on the Frequency and Nature of Resistant Mutants Selected from Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutS and mutT Hypermutators

ABSTRACT The rapid emergence of drug resistance upon treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections with fluoroquinolones is a serious concern. In this study, we report the effect of hypermutability on the mutant selection window for ciprofloxacin (CIP) by comparing the hypermutator MPAO1 mutS and mutT strains with the wild-type strain. The mutant selection window was shifted to higher CIP concentrations for both hypermutators, presenting the mutS strain with a broader selection window in comparison to the wild-type strain. The mutation prevention concentrations (MPC) determined for mutT and mutS strains were increased 2- and 4-fold over the wild-type level, respectively. In addition, we analyzed the molecular bases for resistance in the bacterial subpopulations selected at different points in the window. At the top of the window, the resistant clones isolated were mainly mutated in GyrA and ParC topoisomerase subunits, while at the bottom of the window, resistance was associated with the overexpression of MexCD-OprJ and MexAB-OprM efflux pumps. Accordingly, a greater proportion of multidrug-resistant clones were found among the subpopulations isolated at the lower CIP concentrations. Furthermore, we found that the exposure to CIP subinhibitory concentrations favors the accumulation of cells overexpressing MexCD-OprJ (due to mutations in the transcriptional repressor NfxB) and MexAB-OprM efflux pumps. We discuss these results in the context of the possible participation of this antibiotic in a mutagenic process.
Diabetes Promotes Cardiac Stem Cell Aging and Heart Failure, Which Are Prevented by Deletion of the p66shc Gene

Diabetes leads to a decompensated myopathy, but the etiology of the cardiac disease is poorly understood. Oxidative stress is enhanced with diabetes and oxygen toxicity may alter cardiac progenitor cell (CPC) function resulting in defects in CPC growth and myocyte formation, which may favor premature myocardial aging and heart failure. We report that in a model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to telomeric shortening, expression of the senescent associated proteins p53 and p16INK4a, and apoptosis of CPCs, impairing the growth reserve of the heart. However, ablation of the p66shc gene prevents these negative adaptations of the CPC compartment, interfering with the acquisition of the heart senescent phenotype and the development of heart failure with diabetes. ROS elicit 3 cellular reactions: low levels activate cell growth, intermediate quantities trigger cell apoptosis, and high amounts initiate cell necrosis. CPC replication predominates in diabetic p66shc−/−, whereas CPC apoptosis and myocyte apoptosis and necrosis prevail in diabetic wild type. Expansion of CPCs and developing myocytes preserves cardiac function in diabetic p66shc−/−, suggesting that intact CPCs can effectively counteract the impact of uncontrolled diabetes on the heart. The recognition that p66shc conditions the destiny of CPCs raises the possibility that diabetic cardiomyopathy is a stem cell disease in which abnormalities in CPCs define the life and death of the heart. Together, these data point to a genetic link between diabetes and ROS, on the one hand, and CPC survival and growth, on the other.
Abacus: fast legalization of standard cell circuits with minimal movement

Standard cell circuits consist of millions of standard cells, which have to be aligned overlap-free to the rows of the chip. Placement of these circuits is done in consecutive steps. First, a global placement is obtained by roughly spreading the cells on the chip, while considering all relevant objectives like wirelength, and routability. After that, the global placement is legalized, i.e., the cell overlap is removed, and the cells are aligned to the rows. To preserve the result of global placement, cells should be moved as little as possible during legalization This paper presents "Abacus", which is a fast approach to legalize standard cell circuits with minimal movement. The approach is based on sorting the cells according to their position first, and legalizing the cells one at a time then. Legalizing one cell is done by moving the cell from row to row until the optimal place with the lowest movement is found. Whenever a cell is moved to a row, the cells already aligned to the row are placed by dynamic programming to minimize their total movement. Therefore, our approach Abacus moves already legalized cells during legalization. In contrast to this, Tetris [1], which uses a similar legalization technique, does not move already legalized cells. Consequently, the average movement is about 30% lower in Abacus than in Tetris. On the other hand, the CPU time of the whole placement process is increased by only 7% with our legalization approach. Applying Abacus to routability-driven placement results in 1% improvement in routed wirelength
Peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization in patients with primary refractory lymphoma or at first relapse: comparison with patients at diagnosis and impact on clinical outcome

Peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) mobilization was evaluated in 53 patients receiving the high‐dose sequential (HDS) regimen: 27 had non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma or Hodgkin's disease, primary refractory or at first relapse, 26 had non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma at diagnosis. Mobilization was assessed following either 7 g/m2 cyclophosphamide (48 patients) or 2 g/m2 etoposide, both followed by G‐CSF (filgrastim) at 5 μg/kg/d. PBPC mobilization was significantly higher in patients at diagnosis compared to refractory/relapsed patients (median peak values of circulating CFU‐GM: 25 209/ml v 4270/ml , P < 0.0001 and CD34+ cells: 286/μl v 47/μl, P < 0.0001). All patients receiving HDS as up‐front treatment mobilized enough PBPC for an autograft, often requiring a single leukapheresis; whereas only 15 patients under salvage treatment with HDS were able to complete PBPC autograft. Bone marrow (BM) cells, alone or with PBPC, were needed in six patients, and autograft could not be performed in six patients. Among refractory/relapsed patients, those having a high PBPC mobilization experienced a significantly longer EFS compared to those who had not; autograft completion also significantly enhanced EFS. Thus, the use of an effective mobilizing protocol does not ensure adequate PBPC mobilization in moderately pretreated patients; low mobilization must be considered as an early sign of poor outcome in patients receiving a high‐dose salvage programme.
Factors associated with over-serving at drinking establishments.

AIMS To address characteristics of drinking establishments, bartenders and patrons that may affect the likelihood of over-serving. DESIGN A systematic examination of 425 purchase attempts with pseudo-intoxicated patrons enacting scripts that, according to the law, should lead to the denial of alcohol sales. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Drinking establishments in the three largest cities in Norway (Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo) were visited by male and female actors aged 20-30 years on weekend nights, with a total of 425 purchase items. MEASUREMENTS Over-serving was recorded when the pseudo-intoxicated patron was served alcohol. Characteristics of the drinking establishment, the bartender and the pseudo-intoxicated patron were recorded systematically. RESULTS Pseudo-intoxicated patrons were served in 347 of 425 purchase attempts (82%). In bivariate analyses, the over-serving rate increased with venue characteristics, music/noise level and intoxication level among patrons. These factors were intercorrelated and correlated with poor lighting. The over-serving rate was also higher when the pseudo-intoxicated patron was female and when the purchase attempt occurred after midnight. In multi-variate analyses, two factors increased the likelihood of over-serving significantly: a high problematic bar indicator score (poor lighting, high music/noise level and high intoxication level among patrons) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.9, 6.4] and female gender of pseudo-intoxicated patrons (adjusted OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.4, 4.7). The rate of over-serving was 95% when both risk factors were present and 67% when both factors were absent. CONCLUSIONS In urban settings in Norway, it is likely that over-serving occurs frequently, and is increased by the risk factors of poor lighting, loud music and high intoxication level among patrons.
Prefrontal Dopamine D1 Receptors and Working Memory in Schizophrenia

Studies in nonhuman primates documented that appropriate stimulation of dopamine (DA) D1 receptors in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is critical for working memory processing. The defective ability of patients with schizophrenia at working memory tasks is a core feature of this illness. It has been postulated that this impairment relates to a deficiency in mesocortical DA function. In this study, D1 receptor availability was measured with positron emission tomography and the selective D1 receptor antagonist [11C]NNC 112 in 16 patients with schizophrenia (seven drug-naive and nine drug-free patients) and 16 matched healthy controls. [11C]NNC 112 binding potential (BP) was significantly elevated in the DLPFC of patients with schizophrenia (1.63 ± 0.39 ml/gm) compared with control subjects (1.27 ± 0.44 ml/gm; p = 0.02). In patients with schizophrenia, increased DLPFC [11C]NNC 112 BP was a strong predictor of poor performance at the n-back task, a test of working memory. These findings confirm that alteration of DLPFC D1 receptor transmission is involved in working memory deficits presented by patients with schizophrenia. Increased D1 receptor availability observed in patients with schizophrenia might represent a compensatory (but ineffective) upregulation secondary to sustained deficiency in mesocortical DA function.
Pulmonary metastases at diagnosis of neuroblastoma in pediatric patients: CT findings and prognosis.

OBJECTIVE We undertook this study to determine the frequency, CT appearance, and clinical implications of the rare occurrence of pulmonary metastases among children presenting with neuroblastoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS A search of the Children's Cancer Group database revealed 21 of 567 children with reported lung metastases at original diagnosis of neuroblastoma. CT examinations available for 17 of these patients were analyzed retrospectively to determine if lung metastases were present, and if so, to characterize their radiographic features. RESULTS Seventeen (3%) of 567 patients presenting with Evans stage IV neuroblastoma had confirmed pulmonary metastases at diagnosis. All had metastases to at least one site other than the lungs. The most common CT appearance of pulmonary lesions was of up to five, small, bilateral, noncalcified nodules. In nine patients (53%), the pulmonary nodules initially resolved with treatment. In this cohort, six children developed progressive disease and died, and three are still alive. All eight children whose lung lesion did not completely respond to treatment died. Overall, children with pulmonary metastases had unfavorable Shimada histology, a higher association with amplification of the MYCN oncogene (p = 0.0002), and a decreased event-free survival (p < 0.001) when compared with all children with stage IV neuroblastoma without pulmonary metastases. CONCLUSION The search for neuroblastoma lung metastases, which occur more frequently than previously reported, is clinically important because their presence portends a poor prognosis.
Scalable Computing: Practice and Experience

Dependability represents a critical requirement for modern distributed systems. Today new requirements emerged. Among them reliability, safety, availability, security and maintainability are needed by more and more modern distributed service computing architectures. In this paper we present an approach to ensuring dependability in distributed infrastructures using virtualization for fault-tolerance, augmented with advanced security models. The proposed solution is part of a hierarchical architectural model that allows a unitary and aggregate approach to dependability requirements while preserving scalability of large scale distributed systems. In this context we propose dependability solutions based on the use of virtualization and modern security models, combined together to automatically protect services and applications belonging to the distributed system. We also present evaluation results for several scenarios, involving applications and services with different characteristics.
To dip or not to dip: Reconciling optical imaging and fMRI data

Several optical studies have reported a brief initial increase of deoxyhemoglobin (1), which is consistent with an initial dip observed in the functional MRI (fMRI) signal, evoked by local neuronal activity. This effect is small and not always present (2), but it has stirred great interest because it may reflect a rapid increase of oxidative metabolism before increases in blood flow and, thus, may have a narrower spatial spread than the main positive hemodynamic response.
The causes of difficult tracheal intubation and preoperative assessments in different age groups

Background We studied the differences in airway assessment factors among old, middle, and young age groups, and evaluated the frequency and causes of difficult intubation among these groups. Methods Patients were divided into young (< 40 yr, n = 75 ), middle (40-59 yr, n = 83), and old (≥ 60 yr, n = 89) group. Airway assessment factors such as head and neck movement, thyromental distance, interincisor gap, dentition, Mallampati score, and Arné score were assessed. After muscle relaxation, cervical joint rigidity and Cormack-Lehane (C-L) grade were assessed. The differences in airway assessment factors between difficult (C-L grade 3, 4) and easy (C-L grade 1, 2) intubation were then examined. Logistic regression analysis was also carried out to identify the extent to which airway assessment factors reflected difficult intubation. Results As aging, head and neck movement, thyromental distance, and interincisor gap decreased, the grade of dentition, Mallampati score, cervical joint rigidity and the ratio of Arné score > 11 increased. In the old and middle group, the incidence of difficult intubation was increased compared with the young group. Dentition in the young group, Mallampati score and interinsisor gap in the middle group and Mallampati score, cervical joint rigidity in the old group respectively predicted difficult intubation. Conclusions Compared to young individuals, middle-aged or elderly adults are likely to experience more difficulty in endotracheal intubation and its predictive factors could vary by age group.