Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Screening Tests for Urinary Tract Infection in Children: A Meta-analysis

Objective. To review systematically and to summarize the existing literature regarding performance of rapid diagnostic tests for urinary tract infection (UTI) in children. Design. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods. Published articles reporting the performance of urine dipstick tests (leukocyte esterase [LE] and/or nitrite), Gram stain, or microscopic analysis of spun or unspun urine in the diagnosis of UTI in children ≤12 years of age. Articles were identified through a comprehensive MEDLINE search, and those articles meeting a priori inclusion criteria were selected. Eligibility criteria included the use of urine culture as the reference standard, independent comparison of urine culture with the results of one of the screening tests, definition of positive screening test results provided, only pediatric patients included or evaluable separately, and both gold standard and screening test performed on all patients. For each test, heterogeneity of reported sensitivity and specificity of all studies was determined. The subgroups of studies with similar definitions of UTI and age of study subjects were analyzed separately to account for some of the differences in reported results. When significant unexplained heterogeneity among studies precluded simple combining of results, a summary receiver–operator characteristic curve was fitted for each screening test, from which pooled estimates of true-positive rate (TPR; ie, sensitivity) and false-positive rate (FPR; 1-specificity) were calculated. Primary Results. A total of 1489 titles were identified by the MEDLINE search; 26 articles met all criteria for inclusion. There was significant heterogeneity among studies for nearly all tests for both TPR and FPR, which was explained only partially by the stringency of the definition of UTI or age of subjects studied. Based on the pooled estimates, the presence of any bacteria on Gram stain on an uncentrifuged urine specimen had the best combination of sensitivity (0.93) and FPR (0.05). Urine dipstick tests performed nearly as well, with a sensitivity of 0.88 for the the presence of either LE or nitrite and an FPR of 0.04 for the presence of both LE and nitrite. Pyuria had lower TPR and higher FPR: for presence of >5 white blood cells/high-power field in a centrifuged urine sample, the TPR was 0.67 and the FPR was 0.21, whereas for >10 white blood cells per mm3 in uncentrifuged urine, the TPR was 0.77 and the FPR was 0.11. Conclusions. Both Gram stain and dipstick analysis for nitrite and LE perform similarly in detecting UTI in children and are superior to microscopic analysis for pyuria.
Large Independent Sets in Triangle-Free Planar Graphs

Every triangle-free planar graph on n vertices has an independent set of size at least (n + 1)/3, and this lower bound is tight. We give an algorithm that, given a triangle-free planar graph G on n vertices and an integer k ≥ 0, decides whether G has an independent set of size at least (n + k)/3, in time \(2^{O(\sqrt{k})}n\). Thus, the problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by k. Furthermore, as a corollary of the result used to prove the correctness of the algorithm, we show that there exists e > 0 such that every planar graph of girth at least five on n vertices has an independent set of size at least n/(3 − e).
Epidemics and immunization in scale‐free networks

Complex interacting networks are observed in systems from such diverse areas as physics, biology, economics, ecology, and computer science. For example, economic or social interactions often organize themselves in complex network structures. Similar phenomena are observed in traffic flow and in communication networks as the internet. In current problems of the Biosciences, prominent examples are protein networks in the living cell, as well as molecular networks in the genome. On larger scales one finds networks of cells as in neural networks, up to the scale of organisms in ecological food webs. This book defines the field of complex interacting networks in its infancy and presents the dynamics of networks and their structure as a key concept across disciplines. The contributions present common underlying principles of network dynamics and their theoretical description and are of interest to specialists as well as to the non-specialized reader looking for an introduction to this new exciting field. Theoretical concepts include modeling networks as dynamical systems with numerical methods and new graph theoretical methods, but also focus on networks that change their topology as in morphogenesis and self-organization. The authors offer concepts to model network structures and dynamics, focussing on approaches applicable across disciplines.
Value Chains of Public and Private Health-care Services in a Small EU Island State: A SWOT Analysis

The global financial and macroeconomic crisis of 2008/2009 and the ensuing recessions obliged policy makers to maximize use of resources and cut down on waste. Specifically, in health care, governments started to explore ways of establishing collaborations between the public and private health-care sectors. This is essential so as to ensure the best use of available resources, while securing quality of delivery of care as well as health systems sustainability and resilience. This qualitative study explores complementary and mutual attributes in the value creation process to patients by the public and private health-care systems in Malta, a small European Union island state. A workshop was conducted with 28 professionals from both sectors to generate two separate value chains, and this was followed by an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). The latter revealed several strengths and opportunities, which can better equip health-policy makers in the quest to maximize provision of health-care services. Moreover, the analysis also highlighted areas of weaknesses in both sectors as well as current threats of the external environment that, unless addressed, may threaten the state’s health-care system sustainability and resilience to macroeconomic shocks. The study goes on to provide feasible recommendations aimed at maximizing provision of health-care services in Malta.
Caveolin-1 as a promoter of tumour spreading: when, how, where and why

Caveolae are non‐clathrin invaginations of the plasma membrane in most cell types; they are involved in signalling functions and molecule trafficking, thus modulating several biological functions, including cell growth, apoptosis and angiogenesis. The major structural protein in caveolae is caveolin‐1, which is known to act as a key regulator in cancer onset and progression through its role as a tumour suppressor. Caveolin‐1 can also promote cell proliferation, survival and metastasis as well as chemo‐ and radioresistance. Here, we discuss recent findings and novel concepts that support a role for caveolin‐1 in cancer development and its distant spreading. We also address the potential application of caveolin‐1 in tumour therapy and diagnosis.
CogALex-V Shared Task: HsH-Supervised – Supervised similarity learning using entry wise product of context vectors

The CogALex-V Shared Task provides two datasets that consists of pairs of words along with a classification of their semantic relation. The dataset for the first task distinguishes only between related and unrelated, while the second data set distinguishes several types of semantic relations. A number of recent papers propose to construct a feature vector that represents a pair of words by applying a pairwise simple operation to all elements of the feature vector. Subsequently, the pairs can be classified by training any classification algorithm on these vectors. In the present paper we apply this method to the provided datasets. We see that the results are not better than from the given simple baseline. We conclude that the results of the investigated method are strongly depended on the type of data to which it is applied.
Landscape genetics and population structure in Valley Oak (Quercus lobata Née).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Although long-distance pollen movement is common in wind-pollinated trees, barriers to gene flow may occur in species that have discontinuous ranges or are confined to certain habitat types. We investigated the genetic structure of Quercus lobata Née populations throughout much of their range in California. We assessed the connectivity of populations and determined if barriers to gene flow occurred, and if so, if they corresponded to landscape features. METHODS We collected leaf samples from 270 trees from 12 stands of Quercus lobata and genotyped these trees using eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. Genetic structure and clustering was evaluated using genetic distance methods, Bayesian clustering approaches, and network analysis of spatial genetic structure. KEY RESULTS The southernmost population of Quercus lobata sampled from the Santa Monica area comprised a separate genetic cluster from the rest of the species, suggesting that Transverse Ranges such as the San Gabriel Mountains limit gene flow. Population differentiation among the other sites was small but significant. Network analysis reflected higher connectivity among populations along the Central Coast range, with few connections spanning the dry, low Central Valley. CONCLUSIONS While long distance pollen movement has been shown to be common in oaks, on larger spatial scales, topographic features such as mountain ranges and the large, flat Central Valley of California limit gene flow. Such landscape features explain gene flow patterns much better than geographic distance alone.
Energy reduction opportunities in an HEVC real-time encoder

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is one of the latest released video standards and offers up to 40% bitrate savings when compared to the widespread H.264/AVC standard, at the cost of a substantial complexity growth. Constraining the complexity of HEVC encoding is a challenging task for embedded applications based on a software encoder. In the last few years, the Internet of Thingss (IoTs) has become a reality. Forecoming applications are likely to boost mobile video demand to an unprecedented level. In this context, designing energy-efficient HEVC real-time encoders is becoming a major challenge for software and hardware designers. In this paper, an analysis is conducted of the energy reduction opportunities offered by an HEVC encoder. The energy reduction search space is demonstrated, and the impact on energy consumption of encoding tools at various levels of granularity is measured.
Microbial Compounds Selectively Induce Th1 Cell-Promoting or Th2 Cell-Promoting Dendritic Cells In Vitro with Diverse Th Cell-Polarizing Signals1

Upon microbial infection, specific Th1 or Th2 responses develop depending on the type of microbe. Here, we demonstrate that different microbial compounds polarize the maturation of human myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) into stably committed Th1 cell-promoting (DC1) or Th2 cell-promoting (DC2) effector DCs that polarize Th cells via different mechanisms. Protein extract derived from the helminth Schistosoma mansoni induced the development of DC2s that promote the development of Th2 cells via the enhanced expression of OX40 ligand. Likewise, toxin from the extracellular bacterium Vibrio cholerae induced development of DC2s as well, however, via an OX40 ligand-independent, still unknown mechanism. In contrast, toxin from the intracellular bacterium Bordetella pertussis induced the development of DC1s with enhanced IL-12 production, which promotes a Th1 cell development. Poly(I:C) (dsRNA, mimic for virus) induced the development of extremely potent Th1-inducing DC1, surprisingly, without an enhanced IL-12 production. The obtained DC1s and DC2s are genuine effector cells that stably express Th cell-polarizing factors and are unresponsive to further modulation. The data suggest that the molecular basis of Th1/Th2 polarization via DCs is unexpectedly diverse and is adapted to the nature of the microbial compounds.
Illicit anabolic steroid use: a controlled personality study

The illicit use of anabolic steroids for strength and cosmetic reasons appears to be an increasing problem. Although alcohol and drug abuse have been associated with increased risk for personality psychopathology, the personality correlates of illicit anabolic steroid abuse are unknown. To determine whether personality psychopathology is common among anabolic steroid users, we evaluated a series of illicit anabolic steroid users and compared them with a group of age‐matched alcoholics and 2 control groups. Anabolic steroid users were found to have increased risk for personality psychopathology compared with community controls. This risk appeared to be partially explained by a group membership effect. Additionally, similar to the alcoholic group, illicit anabolic steroid users also demonstrated significant antisocial traits.
Paternal Factors and Inequity Associated with Access to Maternal Health Care Service Utilization in Nepal: A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background The threat of maternal mortality can be reduced by increasing use of maternal health services. Maternal death and access to maternal health care services are inequitable in low and middle income countries.The aim of this study is to assess associated paternal factors and degree of inequity in access to maternal health care service utilization. Methods Analysis illustrates on a cross-sectional household survey that followed multistage-cluster sampling. Concentration curve and indices were calculated. Binary logistic regression analysis was executed to account paternal factors associated with the utilization of maternal health services. Path model with structural equation modeling (SEM) examined the predictors of antenatal care (ANC) and institutional delivery. Results The finding of this study revealed that 39.9% and 45.5% of the respondents’ wives made ANC visits and utilized institutional delivery services respectively. Men with graduate and higher level of education were more likely (AOR: 5.91, 95% CI; 4.02, 8.70) to have ANC of their wives than men with no education or primary level of education. Men with higher household income (Q5) were more likely (1.99, 95% CI; 1.39, 2.86) to have ANC for their wives. Similarly, higher household income (Q5) also determined (2.74, 95% CI; 1.81, 4.15) for institutional delivery of their wives. Concentration curve and indices also favored rich than the poor. SEM revealed that ANC visit was directly associated to institutional delivery. Conclusions Paternal factors like age, household wealth, number of children, ethnicity, education, knowledge of danger sign during pregnancy, and husband’s decision making for seeking maternal and child health care are crucial factors associated to maternal health service utilization. Higher ANC coverage predicts higher utilization of the institutional delivery. Wealthier population is more concentrated to maternal health services. The inequities between the poor and the rich are necessary to be addressed through effective policy and programs.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Promoter Gene Polymorphisms Are Not Associated with Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Chinese Hemodialysis Patients

Abstract Background and aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible influence of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) gene promoter polymorphisms on the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Chinese hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: A total of 884 HD patients from 14 HD centers in south China were investigated. The TNF-α gene promoter polymorphisms at positions 238 and 308 of the patients were detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: Among the 884 patients, 176 (19.9%) were anti-HCV (+), and 142 (80.7%) of the anti-HCV (+) patients became chronically infected. The anti-HCV (+) patients showed longer duration of HD, higher rate of blood transfusion, kidney transplantation, and dialyzer reuse, compared with the anti-HCV (−) patients. However, the distributions of TNF-α −238 and −308 alleles and genotypes had no significant differences between the anti-HCV (+) and the anti-HCV (−) patients (p > 0.05). And the frequencies of the above alleles and genotypes were also approximately equally distributed in the persistent infection and in the viral clearance HD patients (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study did not suggest that the TNF-α −238 and −308 polymorphisms had influence on the infection of HCV in Chinese HD patients.
Comparative studies of high power diode-pumped Yb:CALGO and Yb:KYW lasers

A direct comparison of continuous-wave diode-pumped Yb:CALGO and Yb:KYW lasers was demonstrated. The lasers were characterized not only in terms of output power but also in terms of thermal lensing. The results showed that in the medium to low power regimes the Yb:KYW laser outperformed the Yb:CALGO laser in terms of optical efficiency, however, in high power regime the latter showed much more favorable thermal behavior than Yb:KYW.
Bureaucrats and Public Procurement

This paper deals with a Niskanen type of public-procurement agency. It is shown that the procurement game should be separated into an investment game and a project game, the first game to be played before nature determines the actual realizations of benefit and costs of the project, the second game to be played afterward. In the first game the relationship-specific investments of agency and seller are determined, in the second game the decision on the production of the project is taken. In contrast to many other incomplete-contract papers, in our Niskanen setting it is meaningless to write one and only one contract which refers to both investment and production. Welfare-optimal procurement of the project can be attained under relatively weak assumptions; welfare-optimal investments of the seller (and only of the seller) may result under special circumstances; welfare-optimal investments of both agency and seller cannot be reached.
Pheochromocytoma in rats with multiple endocrine neoplasia (MENX) shares gene expression patterns with human pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytomas are rare neoplasias of neural crest origin arising from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and sympathetic ganglia (extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma). Pheochromocytoma that develop in rats homozygous for a loss-of-function mutation in p27Kip1 (MENX syndrome) show a clear progression from hyperplasia to tumor, offering the possibility to gain insight into tumor pathobiology. We compared the gene-expression signatures of both adrenomedullary hyperplasia and pheochromocytoma with normal rat adrenal medulla. Hyperplasia and tumor show very similar transcriptome profiles, indicating early determination of the tumorigenic signature. Overrepresentation of developmentally regulated neural genes was a feature of the rat lesions. Quantitative RT-PCR validated the up-regulation of 11 genes, including some involved in neural development: Cdkn2a, Cdkn2c, Neurod1, Gal, Bmp7, and Phox2a. Overexpression of these genes precedes histological changes in affected adrenal glands. Their presence at early stages of tumorigenesis indicates they are not acquired during progression and may be a result of the lack of functional p27Kip1. Adrenal and extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma development clearly follows diverged molecular pathways in MENX rats. To correlate these findings to human pheochromocytoma, we studied nine genes overexpressed in the rat lesions in 46 sporadic and familial human pheochromocytomas. The expression of GAL, DGKH, BMP7, PHOX2A, L1CAM, TCTE1, EBF3, SOX4, and HASH1 was up-regulated, although with different frequencies. Immunohistochemical staining detected high L1CAM expression selectively in 27 human pheochromocytomas but not in 140 nonchromaffin neuroendocrine tumors. These studies reveal clues to the molecular pathways involved in rat and human pheochromocytoma and identify previously unexplored biomarkers for clinical use.
MINIMIZING OPTIMAL CO2 FEED TO ALGAL CULTURES UTLIZING MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES GENERATING MICRON-SIZED BUBBLES

ii Acknowledgements . iv List of Tables . vii List of Figures . viii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Materials and Methods . 5 2.1 Strain Selection and Culture Conditions . 5 2.1. 1 Strain Selection . 5 2.1. 2 Culture Media . 5 2.1. 3 Culture Conditions . 5 2.2 Cell Growth and Size Analysis . 6 2.2.1 Cell Density . 6 2.2.2 Cell Size . 7 2.3 Intracellular Component Analysis . 7 2.3. 1 Lipid Analysis . 7 2.3. 2 Protein Analysis . 7 2.3. 3 Pigment Analysis . 7 2.4 Microfluidic Bubbler Construction and Operation . 9 2.4. 1 Fabrication . 9 2.4. 2 Operation. 11 2.4. 3 Comparative Bubbling Equipment . 11 2.5 KLa Determination . 12 Chapter 3: Identifying Optimal CO2 Feed . 15 3.
The Reliability Testing and Fatigue Behavior Study of Micro Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

In this paper, a high performance micro piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) fabricated on stainless substrates is presented. A PZT piezoelectric active layer with a thickness of about 10 μm was deposited on a stainless steel substrate by the aerosol deposition method. The cantilever beam-shaped PEH was then fabricated by metal-MEMS processing of the PZT/stainless steel composite structure. The size of the cantilever PEH transducer developed was about 1 cm2 and a proof mass was attached to tune its resonant frequency to around 120 Hz for harvesting mechanical vibrations from direct drive AC motors. The PEH transducer showed an output voltage and an output power of 8.9 Vp-p and 107.8 μW, respectively, when connected with optimal load and excited under 0.5 g acceleration level. In order to realize the fatigue behavior and reliability of the PEH in field applications, the PEH transducer was driven at its own resonant frequency and tested under 1.0 g acceleration level for millions of cycles and the vibration modes were measured with a laser scanning vibrometer. The PEH transducer had an operating lifetime of about 1.8 million cycles at 1.0 g cyclic loading based on the shift of its resonant frequencies and the decrease in electrical output. The experimental results show the resonant frequencies of the first, second and third modes were all shifted to lower frequencies with increasing operation cycle number due to the development of microcracks in the ceramic PZT active layer. However, the same PEH transducer could survive millions of cycles (in the high millions) at 0.5 g cyclic loading without any significant changes in the resonant frequencies and electrical output. The results confirm the operating limits of the PEH transducer and suggest further protection and reinforcement are required for the transducer to operate at high acceleration loadings.
Speed of sound in diseased liver observed by scanning acoustic microscopy with 80 MHz and 250 MHz.

In this study, the speed of sound (SOS) of two types of rat livers (eight normal livers, four cirrhotic livers) was measured with a scanning acoustic microscope using two transducers, one of which had an 80-MHz and the other a 250-MHz center frequency. The 250-MHz transducer had a better spatial resolution adapted to studying fiber or hepatic parenchymal cells. In normal livers, averages of the SOS values were from 1598 to 1677 m/s at 80-MHz and from 1568 to 1668 m/s at 250-MHz. In the fiber tissue of cirrhotic livers, averages of the SOS values were from 1645 to 1658 m/s at 80-MHz and from 1610 to 1695 m/s at 250-MHz, while the SOS values in the other tissue of cirrhotic livers ranged from 1644 to 1709 m/s at 80-MHz and from 1641 to 1715 m/s at 250-MHz. In one liver, SOS in fiber tissue was larger than that of tissues without fiber while in others it was lower. The resulting two-dimensional SOS maps provide a unique quantitative insight of liver acoustic microstructures in a healthy liver and in a cirrhotic ones. This study would be helpful to understand the complex relationship between acoustic properties and liver disease including fiber tissue.