Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Effectiveness and Safety Analysis of Dual Antiplatelet Therapies Within an Integrated Delivery System

Background: Dual antiplatelet therapy is a mainstay of care for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients; however, uncertainty exists in real-world practice about comparative effectiveness and safety outcomes. Objective: To evaluate outcomes of different oral P2Y12 inhibitors in PCI patients. Methods: We retrospectively studied patients treated between July 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013. Patients received clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, or more than 1 antiplatelet (switch) during PCI. Outcomes were evaluated for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and bleeding at 1 year. Propensity score matching with Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to determine predictors of MACE and bleeding. Results: A total of 8127 patients were included: clopidogrel (n = 6872), prasugrel (n = 605), ticagrelor (n = 181), and switch (n = 469). Treatment with prasugrel was associated with the lowest risk of MACE using multivariate regression (odds ratio [OR] = 0.57; 95% CI = 0.36-0.92; P = 0.02). In the propensity score–matched analysis, only the prasugrel group was associated with a lower risk of MACE compared with the clopidogrel group. Clopidogrel was associated with the lowest risk of major bleeding using multivariate regression (OR = 0.64; 95% CI = 0.42-0.98; P = 0.042). Both ticagrelor (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.11-3.59) and the switch groups (HR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.09-2.50) were associated with a greater risk of major bleeding compared with clopidogrel. However, no differences were found in the propensity score–matched analysis. Conclusions: Dual antiplatelet therapies differed in both MACE and bleeds in a real-world setting of PCI. Prasugrel was associated with fewer MACE, whereas clopidogrel had fewer major bleeding events.
Role of B-Cell Proliferation in the Establishment of Gammaherpesvirus Latency

ABSTRACT Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (γHV68) provides a tractable small animal model with which to study the mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of latency by gammaherpesviruses. Similar to the human gammaherpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), γHV68 establishes and maintains latency in the memory B-cell compartment following intranasal infection. Here we have sought to determine whether, like EBV infection, γHV68 infection in vivo is associated with B-cell proliferation during the establishment of chronic infection. We show that γHV68 infection leads to significant splenic B-cell proliferation as late as day 42 postinfection. Notably, γHV68 latency was found predominantly in the proliferating B-cell population in the spleen on both days 16 and 42 postinfection. Furthermore, virus reactivation upon ex vivo culture was heavily biased toward the proliferating B-cell population. DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) is a critical maintenance methyltransferase which, during DNA replication, maintains the DNA methylation patterns of the cellular genome, a process that is essential for the survival of proliferating cells. To assess whether the establishment of γHV68 latency requires B-cell proliferation, we characterized infections of conditional Dnmt1 knockout mice by utilizing a recombinant γHV68 that expresses Cre-recombinase (γHV68-Cre). In C57BL/6 mice, the γHV68-Cre virus exhibited normal acute virus replication in the lungs as well as normal establishment and reactivation from latency. Furthermore, the γHV68-Cre virus also replicated normally during the acute phase of infection in the lungs of Dnmt1 conditional mice. However, deletion of the Dnmt1 alleles from γHV68-infected cells in vivo led to a severe ablation of viral latency, as assessed on both days 16 and 42 postinfection. Thus, the studies provide direct evidence that the proliferation of latently infected B cells is critical for the establishment of chronic γHV68 infection.
Compressive sensing for feedback reduction in MIMO broadcast channels

We propose a generic feedback channel model, and compressive sensing based opportunistic feedback protocol for feedback resource (channels) reduction in MIMO Broadcast Channels under the assumption that both feedback and downlink channels are noisy and undergo block Rayleigh fading. The feedback resources are shared and are opportunistically accessed by users who are strong (users above a certain fixed threshold). Strong users send same feedback information on all shared channels. They are identified by the base station via compressive sensing. The proposed protocol is shown to achieve the same sum-rate throughput as that achieved by dedicated feedback schemes, but with feedback channels growing only logarithmically with number of users.
Behavioral response of human spermatozoa to a concentration jump of chemoattractants or intracellular cyclic nucleotides.

BACKGROUND A major question in mammalian sperm chemotaxis is whether the cells sense a chemoattractant gradient by comparing the chemoattractant concentration between time points or between spatial points. METHODS To resolve this question, we exposed human spermatozoa to a temporal chemoattractant gradient under conditions of no spatial gradient by rapidly mixing the cells with progesterone or bourgeonal on a microscope slide and analyzing their swimming with motion analysis software. RESULTS The cells responded within seconds with an increase in velocity and lateral head displacement, and with a decrease in the linearity of swimming, becoming hyperactivated at the peak of the response. All the responses were transient, lasting for a number of seconds. Essentially similar results were obtained upon intracellular photorelease of cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cyclic guanosine monophosphate, which are thought to be involved in mediating the chemotactic response. CONCLUSION These results suggest that human spermatozoa sense and respond to a temporal chemoattractant gradient. On the basis of these observations, we propose a potential model for the chemotactic response of spermatozoa in a spatial chemoattractant gradient.
Progressive cerebral edema associated with high methionine levels and betaine therapy in a patient with cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency.

Cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency, the most common form of homocystinuria, is an autosomal recessive inborn error of homocysteine metabolism. Treatment of B6-nonresponsive patients centers on lowering homocysteine and its disulfide derivatives (tHcy) by adherence to a methionine-restricted diet. However, lifelong dietary control is difficult. Betaine supplementation is used extensively in CBS-deficient patients to lower plasma tHcy. With betaine therapy, methionine levels increase over baseline, but usually remain below 1,500 micromol/L, and these levels have not been associated with adverse affects. We report a child with B6-nonresponsive CBS deficiency and dietary noncompliance whose methionine levels reached 3,000 micromol/L on betaine, and who subsequently developed massive cerebral edema without evidence of thrombosis. We investigated the etiology by determining methionine and betaine metabolites in our patient, and several possible mechanisms for her unusual response to betaine are discussed. We conclude that the cerebral edema was most likely precipitated by the betaine therapy, although the exact mechanism is uncertain. This case cautions physicians to monitor methionine levels in CBS-deficient patients on betaine and to consider betaine as an adjunct, not an alternative, to dietary control.
The supramolecular structure of the GPCR rhodopsin in solution and native disc membranes

Rhodopsin, the prototypical G-protein-coupled receptor, which is densely packed in the disc membranes of rod outer segments, was proposed to function as a monomer. However, a growing body of evidence indicates dimerization and oligomerization of numerous G-protein-coupled receptors, and atomic force microscopy images revealed rows of rhodopsin dimers in murine disc membranes. In this work we demonstrate by electron microscopy of negatively stained samples, blue native- and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, chemical crosslinking, and by proteolysis that native bovine rhodopsin exists mainly as dimers and higher oligomers. These results corroborate the recent findings from atomic force microscopy and molecular modeling on the supramolecular structure and packing arrangement of murine rhodopsin dimers.
Improving and ensuring best practice continence management in residential aged care.

Background Continence Management within residential aged care is an every day component of care that requires assessment, implementation of strategies, resource allocation and evaluation. At times the management of incontinence of aged residents can be challenging and unsuccessful. The project chosen through the Clinical Fellowship program was Continence Management with the aim of raising awareness of best practice to assist in improving and providing person-centred resident care. Aims/objectives • Review the literature on best practice management of incontinence • Evaluate current practice in continence management for elderly residents within residential aged care services • Improve adherence to best practice strategies of care for incontinence • Raise awareness within the nursing home of the best practice management of incontinence • Promote appropriate and effective use of resources for continence management • Deliver individualised person-centred care to residents. • Ensure best practice in continence management Methods The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System clinical audit tool was utilised to measure current practice against best practice. The results identify gaps that require improvement. The Getting Research into Practice process then allowed analysis of the level of compliance with each of the audit criteria, which would identify any barriers in implementing a selected course of action and aim to improve compliance. The project team was consulted with additional stakeholder consultation to form an action plan and implement strategies to improve practice. Results Although 100% compliance with all audit criteria in audit 1 and 2 was not achieved, there was improvement in the criteria concerning the documented fluid intake for residents. Further strategies have been identified and implemented and this continues to be a 'work in progress'. Staff now have an acute awareness of what best practice means and the impact their practices have on continence management. The JBI clinical audit and feedback cycle will continue to facilitate the measuring and implementation of best practice for resident outcomes in residential aged care.
Perspective on the Development of Lead‐free Piezoceramics

A large body of work has been reported in the last 5 years on the development of lead-free piezoceramics in the quest to replace lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) as the main material for electromechanical devices such as actuators, sensors, and transducers. In specific but narrow application ranges the new materials appear adequate, but are not yet suited to replace PZT on a broader basis. In this paper, general guidelines for the development of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics are presented. Suitable chemical elements are selected first on the basis of cost and toxicity as well as ionic polarizability. Different crystal structures with these elements are then considered based on simple concepts, and a variety of phase diagrams are described with attractive morphotropic phase boundaries, yielding good piezoelectric properties. Finally, lessons from density functional theory are reviewed and used to adjust our understanding based on the simpler concepts. Equipped with these guidelines ranging from atom to phase diagram, the current development stage in lead-free piezoceramics is then critically assessed.
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-Encoded RNA Promotes Growth of EBV-Infected T Cells through Interleukin-9 Induction

EBV associates with various T-cell-proliferating diseases such as chronic active EBV infection and nasal lymphoma. In contrast to B cells, which are highly susceptible to EBV infection in vitro, T cells are refractory to EBV infection in vitro, and it has been difficult to examine the effects of EBV infection on T cells. We recently generated EBV recombinants with a selectable marker, which made it possible to select EBV-infected cells even when the efficiency of infection was low. Using the recombinant virus, we found that a human T-cell line, MT-2, was susceptible to EBV infection, and we succeeded in isolating EBV-infected cell clones with type II EBV latency, which was identical with those seen in EBV-infected T cells in vivo. EBV-infected MT-2 cell clones had shorter cell doubling times and higher saturation density than non-EBV-infected counterparts. We found that EBV-positive MT-2 cells expressed higher levels of interleukin (IL)-9 than EBV-negative MT-2 cells at the transcriptional level. It was also demonstrated that EBV-encoded small RNA was responsible for IL-9 expression. Addition of recombinant IL-9 accelerated the growth of MT-2 cells, whereas growth of the EBV-converted MT-2 cells was blocked by treatment with an anti-IL-9 antibody. These results suggest that IL-9 induced by EBV-encoded small RNA acts as an autocrine growth factor for EBV-infected T cells. Analysis of nasal lymphoma biopsies indicated that three of four specimens expressed IL-9. The present findings suggest that EBV directly affects the pathogenesis of EBV-associated T-cell diseases.
Enhanced Post-Ischemic Neurogenesis in Aging Rats

Hippocampal neurogenesis persists in adult mammals, but its rate declines dramatically with age. Evidence indicates that experimentally-reduced levels of neurogenesis (e.g., by irradiation) in young rats has profound influence on cognition as determined by learning and memory tests. In the present study we asked whether in middle-aged, 10- to 13-months-old rats, cell production can be restored toward the level present in young rats. To manipulate neurogenesis we induced bilateral carotid occlusion with hypotension. This procedure is known to increase neurogenesis in young rats, presumably in a compensatory manner, but until now, has never been tested in aging rats. Cell production was measured at 10, 35, and 90 days after ischemia. The results indicate that neuronal proliferation and differentiation can be transiently restored in middle-aged rats. Furthermore, the effects are more pronounced in the dorsal as opposed to ventral hippocampus thus restoring the dorso-ventral gradient seen in younger rats. Our results support previous findings showing that some of the essential features of the age-dependent decline in neurogenesis are reversible. Thus, it may be possible to manipulate neurogenesis and improve learning and memory in old age.
Change of Pulsatility Index of the Fetal Middle Cerebral Artery after Auditory Stimulation in No Risk Pregnancies and in Pregnancies with Gestational Hypertension

Purpose: An aim was to determine the degree and the mode of variation of PI of middle cerebral artery in no risk pregnancies and in pregnancies with gestational hypertension, after the constant sound stimuli. Method: Study included 343 patients divided in two groups. Group 1: low risk pregnancies and group 2: gestational hypertension. Ultrasound prenatal auditory screening was performed after the 27th week of gestation. Results: The percentage of fetuses with increase of cerebral blood flow was slightly higher in the pregnancies with hypertension. Conclusion: An average change of PI of median cerebral artery was higher in this group.
How far can you get with a modern face recognition test set using only simple features?

In recent years, large databases of natural images have become increasingly popular in the evaluation of face and object recognition algorithms. However, Pinto et al. previously illustrated an inherent danger in using such sets, showing that an extremely basic recognition system, built on a trivial feature set, was able to take advantage of low-level regularities in popular object and face recognition sets, performing on par with many state-of-the-art systems. Recently, several groups have raised the performance “bar” for these sets, using more advanced classification tools. However, it is difficult to know whether these improvements are due to progress towards solving the core computational problem, or are due to further improvements in the exploitation of low-level regularities. Here, we show that even modest optimization of the simple model introduced by Pinto et al. using modern multiple kernel learning (MKL) techniques once again yields “state-of-the-art” performance levels on a standard face recognition set (“labeled faces in the wild”). However, at the same time, even with the inclusion of MKL techniques, systems based on these simple features still fail on a synthetic face recognition test that includes more “realistic” view variation by design. These results underscore the importance of building test sets focussed on capturing the central computational challenges of real-world face recognition.
The Effect of 3‐Month Ingestion of Ginkgo biloba Extract on Pancreatic β‐Cell Function in Response to Glucose Loading in Normal Glucose Tolerant Individuals

Ginkgo biloba extract is ingested on a chronic basis for enhancing mental focus and improving cognitive function in the elderly. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract on glucose‐stimulated pancreatic β‐cell function in normal glucose‐tolerant individuals. Twenty individuals (14 females and 6 males, ages 21–57 years) underwent a 2‐hour 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) before and after ingestion of Ginkgo biloba extract (120 mg/day at bedtime) for 3 months. Ginkgo biloba extract ingestion caused a decrease in systolic blood pressure from 125 ± 15 to 118 ± 12 mmHg (p < 0.05) and in diastolic blood pressure from 86 ± 10 to 68 ± 10 (p < 0.01). Fasting plasma insulin and C‐peptide were increased, and the insulin and C‐peptide areas under the curve during the OGTT changed from 136 ±55 to 162 ± 94 μU/ml/h (p = 0.1232) and 9.67 ± 5.34 to 16.88 ± 5.20 ng/ml/h (p < 0.001), respectively. The observed dissimilar insulin/C‐peptide response curves may be due to Ginkgo biloba‐induced increase of the rate of insulin metabolic clearance.
Non-monotone Behaviors in MIN / MAX / AVG Circuits and their Relationship to Simple Stochastic Games ∗

In this paper, we examine the problem of finding optimal strategies in simple stochastic games, and the equivalent problem of finding stable configurations of MIN/MAX/AVG circuits. The problem can be seen as a nontrivial extension to linear programming, but no polynomialtime algorithm is known, despite significant efforts to find such an algorithm. Our investigation will be concerned with the relative computational power of properties of these circuits. We will begin by defining the computational problems associated with these games and circuits, and stating in which senses the two are equivalent. We observe that the stable circuit problem is in PLS∩PPAD and will demonstrate the power of MIN/MAX/AVG circuits when we allow the circuit to signal acceptance by switching the direction of output of a MIN or MAX gate. Specifically, we find that the associated computational problem is PSPACE-hard, so unless NP = PSPACE this variant is harder than the original stable circuit problem.
Finite element modeling of axonal elongation and use of stem cells

The basic function of an axon is to conduct electrical impulses away from the cell body, using special molecular structures. Axons move through their environment via the growth cone, which is placed on the top of the axon, and where the mass is added. When an axon is damaged, there is no information flow. Using stem cells we can accomplish axon repair. Besides stem cells growth, mechanical tension leaves impact on the axonal elongation improvement. We modeled axonal elongation using finite element method. If we apply force at the growth cone with mass adding, the axon will be considered as a material with viscoelastic properties. To achieve a nonlinear elongation along the axon and to include a viscoelastic material in our finite element model, we made a function of Young‘s modulus along the axon. The results show that the axon has a nonlinear elongation as a viscoelastic material. Mass adding is considered as a change of material concentration (diffusion equation). The current model with axon as a viscoelastic material and the calculation of axonal elongation using the diffusion equation is a good approach to an appropriate model of axon. We also numerically analyzed the behavior of stem cells inside the scaffold mixed with hydrogel and collagen fibers in order to simulate nerve repair which goes to the spinal cord. Our goal is to create a model which will give more information about the processes of axon healing and growing, with a good match in comparison with the experimental results.
Interleaved buck converters based on winner-take-all switching

This paper studies basic interleaved buck converters using a switching rule based on a winner-take-all principle. As the parameters are selected suitably, the system can realize multiphase synchronization automatically which is convenient for the ripple reduction of the output current. As the parameters vary, the system exhibits a variety of synchronous phenomena. Using the piecewise-constant model, we give the parameter condition theoretically for existence and stability of the synchronous phenomena. The simple test circuit is presented and typical synchronous phenomena are confirmed experimentally.
Should possible recurrence of disease contraindicate liver transplantation in patients with end‐stage alveolar echinococcosis? A 20‐year follow‐up study

Liver transplantation (LT) is currently contraindicated in patients with residual or metastatic alveolar echinococcosis (AE) lesions. We evaluated the long‐term course of such patients who underwent LT and were subsequently treated with benzimidazoles. Clinical, imaging, serological, and therapeutic data were collected from 5 patients with residual/recurrent AE lesions who survived for more than 15 years. Since 2004, [18F]‐2‐fluoro‐2‐deoxyglucose (FDG)–positron emission tomography (PET) images were available, and the levels of serum antibodies (Abs) against Echinococcus multilocularis–recombinant antigens were evaluated. Median survival time after LT was 21 years. These patients were from a prospective cohort of 23 patients with AE who underwent LT: 5 of 8 patients with residual/recurrent AE and 4 of 9 patients without residual/recurrent AE were alive in September 2009. High doses of immunosuppressive drugs, the late introduction of therapy with benzimidazoles, its withdrawal due to side effects, and nonadherence to this therapy adversely affected the prognosis. Anti‐Em2plus and anti‐rEm18 Ab levels and standard FDG‐PET enabled the efficacy of therapy on the growth of EA lesions to be assessed. However, meaningful variations in Ab levels were observed below diagnostic cutoff values; and in monitoring AE lesions, images of FDG uptake taken 3 hours after its injection were more sensitive than images obtained 1 hour after its injection. In conclusion, benzimidazoles can control residual/recurrent AE lesions after LT. Using anti‐rEm18 or anti‐Em2plus Ab levels and the delayed acquisition of FDG‐PET images can improve the functional assessment of disease activity. The potential recurrence of disease, especially in patients with residual or metastatic AE lesions, should not be regarded as a contraindication to LT when AE is considered to be lethal in the short term. Liver Transpl 17:855‐865, 2011. © 2011 AASLD.