Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography in newborn infants.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS A miniaturized 5.5 to 10 MHz, phased-array, single longitudinal plane transducer mounted on a 3.3-mm diameter catheter (miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography [TEE]) may overcome mechanical limitations of standard pediatric transesophageal probes. We evaluated whether the miniaturized TEE probe could define clinically relevant anatomy in 17 infants who weighed less than 6 kg. RESULTS Twenty-two studies were performed in 17 infants without complication, weighing 2.1 to 5.6 kg. Twenty of twenty-two studies were diagnostic. Pediatric biplane TEE was not possible in 13 studies. Lack of horizontal plane imaging with miniaturized TEE made evaluation difficult in patients with atrioventricular septal defect. CONCLUSION Miniaturized TEE provided diagnostic intraoperative TEE in the majority of infants studied and may allow broader and safer application of TEE to neonates and small infants.
Quality of care as a determinant of health-related quality of life in ill-hospitalized adolescents at a tertiary care hospital in North India.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate if quality of care (QoC) provided by hospital is a determinant of ill-hospitalized adolescent's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from parent's perspective. DESIGN Prospective cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital of Northern India after institutional ethical approval. SETTING Hospital in pediatric department of a tertiary care, teaching medical University in Lucknow, northern India. PARTICIPANTS Sick adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years and hospitalized for four categories of illnesses, namely, acute infective; chronic infective, non-hemopoetic; hemopoetic disorders and miscellaneous. INTERVENTION QOC assessment was done using 'Pyramid instrument' and HRQoL by culturally modified WHOQOL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF). The Pyramid instrument comprises 43 questions to collect information about awareness of eight indices: namely illness, routines, accessibility, medical treatment, care processes, staff attitude, participation and staff work environment and scored on 1-4 Likert scale. WHOQOL-BREF has four domains: physical, psychological, social relations and environment and scored on 1-5 Likert scale. RESULTS From January 2008 to December 2008, 300 adolescents with a mean age of 12.5 ± 2.6 years and 61.3% males were included. The pyramid instrument showed a substantial internal consistency (α = 0.88, P-value < 0.0001). The mean QoC was highest for medical treatment (0.76 ± 0.13) and lowest for participation (0.54 ± 0.16). The mean parent's report of child's HRQoL was highest for physical (42.8 ± 7.4) and lowest for environment domain (37.2 ± 7.1). Four QoC indices namely, medical treatment, care processes, staff attitude and participation had significant associations with the mean HRQoL. In a hierarchical linear regression, staff attitude was the only significant determinant of HRQoL (β coefficient: 23.16, 95% confidence interval: 15.8-30.5, P-value < 0.0001). CONCLUSION The Pyramid instrument is a reliable instrument for assessing parent's perception of QoC provided to hospitalized adolescents in Indian context. QoC was positively associated with HRQoL, thus, an increased focus on QoC especially staff attitude is likely to enhance adolescent's overall HRQoL.
International Clinical Guidelines for the Adoption of Digital Pathology: A Review of Technical Aspects

Digital slides, also called whole-slide images, are being evaluated to replace conventional microscopy, and several guidelines have been published. This paper reviews technical specifications of digital pathology systems that have been included in the guidelines and position papers from the Canadian Association of Pathologists, the College of American Pathologists, the American Telemedicine Association, the Digital Pathology Association, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Society of Toxicologic Pathology, the European Commission, the Spanish Society of Anatomic Pathology, The Royal College of Pathologists and The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. In conclusion, most technical aspects are well covered by these guidelines, although they offer limited information regarding image quality and compression, and file formats.
Classification of Broadcast News Audio Data Employing Binary Decision Architecture

A novel binary decision architecture (BDA) for broadcast news audio classification task is presented in this paper. The idea of developing such architecture came from the fact that the appropriate combination of multiple binary classifiers for two-class discrimination problem can reduce a miss-classification error without rapid increase in computational complexity. The core element of classification architecture is represented by a binary decision (BD) algorithm that performs discrimination between each pair of acoustic classes, utilizing two types of decision functions. The first one is represented by a simple rule-based approach in which the final decision is made according to the value of selected discrimination parameter. The main advantage of this solution is relatively low processing time needed for classification of all acoustic classes. The cost for that is low classification accuracy. The second one employs support vector machine (SVM) classifier. In this case, the overall classification accuracy is conditioned by finding the optimal parameters for decision function resulting in higher computational complexity and better classification performance. The final form of proposed BDA is created by combining four BD discriminators supplemented by decision table. The effectiveness of proposed BDA, utilizing rule-based approach and the SVM classifier, is compared with two most popular strategies for multiclass classification, namely the binary decision trees (BDT) and the One-Against-One SVM (OAOSVM). Experimental results show that the proposed classification architecture can decrease the overall classification error in comparison with the BDT architecture. On the contrary, an optimization technique for selecting the optimal set of training data is needed in order to overcome the OAOSVM.
Interferometric determination of the diameter of a silicon sphere using a direct optical frequency tuning system

A new interferometer with a direct optical frequency tuning system using a phase-lock loop (PLL) offset locking has been developed to accurately measure the volumes of 1-kg single crystal silicon spheres. Three lasers are used in this system. The first one is an iodine-stabilized He-Ne laser, which is used as a reference laser. The second one is an offset-locked He-Ne laser whose optical frequency is offset-locked to the reference laser. The third one is an external cavity diode laser whose optical frequency is offset-locked to the offset-locked He-Ne laser by a PLL circuit. By changing the offset frequency between the diode laser and the offset-locked He-Ne laser, the optical frequency of the diode laser can be tuned continuously over a frequency range of 19 GHz and stabilized at a desired frequency with an uncertainty of 900 kHz within an integration time of 1/30 s. Accurate optical frequency changes in the diode laser produced by this system have been used to measure the sphere diameter by phase-shifting interferometry. Outlines of the interferometer and the frequency tuning system are presented. Preliminary results of the diameter measurement for a silicon sphere are also presented.
Examining perceptions of the usefulness and usability of a mobile-based system for pharmacogenomics clinical decision support: a mixed methods study

Background. Pharmacogenomic testing has the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy, but clinical application of pharmacogenetic knowledge has remained uncommon. Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems could help overcome some of the barriers to clinical implementation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception and usability of a web- and mobile-enabled CDS system for pharmacogenetics-guided drug therapy–the Medication Safety Code (MSC) system–among potential users (i.e., physicians and pharmacists). Furthermore, this study sought to collect data on the practicability and comprehensibility of potential layouts of a proposed personalized pocket card that is intended to not only contain the machine-readable data for use with the MSC system but also human-readable data on the patient’s pharmacogenomic profile. Methods. We deployed an emergent mixed methods design encompassing (1) qualitative interviews with pharmacists and pharmacy students, (2) a survey among pharmacogenomics experts that included both qualitative and quantitative elements and (3) a quantitative survey among physicians and pharmacists. The interviews followed a semi-structured guide including a hypothetical patient scenario that had to be solved by using the MSC system. The survey among pharmacogenomics experts focused on what information should be printed on the card and how this information should be arranged. Furthermore, the MSC system was evaluated based on two hypothetical patient scenarios and four follow-up questions on the perceived usability. The second survey assessed physicians’ and pharmacists’ attitude towards the MSC system. Results. In total, 101 physicians, pharmacists and PGx experts coming from various relevant fields evaluated the MSC system. Overall, the reaction to the MSC system was positive across all investigated parameters and among all user groups. The majority of participants were able to solve the patient scenarios based on the recommendations displayed on the MSC interface. A frequent request among participants was to provide specific listings of alternative drugs and concrete dosage instructions. Negligence of other patient-specific factors for choosing the right treatment such as renal function and co-medication was a common concern related to the MSC system, while data privacy and cost-benefit considerations emerged as the participants’ major concerns regarding pharmacogenetic testing in general. The results of the card layout evaluation indicate that a gene-centered and tabulated presentation of the patient’s pharmacogenomic profile is helpful and well-accepted. Conclusions. We found that the MSC system was well-received among the physicians and pharmacists included in this study. A personalized pocket card that lists a patient’s metabolizer status along with critically affected drugs can alert physicians and pharmacists to the availability of essential therapy modifications.
Toll-like receptor 4 in butylated hydroxytoluene-induced mouse pulmonary inflammation and tumorigenesis.

Because chronic pulmonary diseases predispose to lung neoplasia, the identification of the molecular mechanisms involved could provide novel preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) transduce exogenous and endogenous signals into the production of inflammatory cytokines to coordinate adaptive immune responses. To determine the role of Tlr4 in chronic lung inflammation, we compared lung permeability, leukocyte infiltration, and nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1) DNA binding in butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)-treated (four weekly injections of 125-200 mg/kg each) inbred mouse strains with functional Tlr4 (OuJ and BALB) and mutated Tlr4 (HeJ and BALB(Lps-d)). We also measured primary tumor formation in these mice after single-carcinogen injection (3-methylcholanthrene; 10 microg/kg), followed by BHT treatment (six weekly injections of 125-200 mg/kg each). Mice with functional Tlr4 had reduced lung permeability, leukocyte inflammation, and primary tumor formation (BALB(Lps-d), mean = 22.3 tumors/mouse, versus BALB, mean = 13.9 tumors/mouse, difference = 8.4 tumors/mouse, 95% confidence interval = 4.6 to 12.1 tumors/mouse; P = . 025) compared with mice with mutated Tlr4. NFkappaB DNA binding activity was higher in OuJ than in HeJ mice; however, AP-1 activity was elevated in HeJ mice. To our knowledge, this is the first model to demonstrate a modulatory role for Tlr4 in chronic lung inflammation and tumorigenesis.
Comparison of Ribotyping and Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic-PCR for Identification of Fecal Escherichia coli from Humans and Animals

ABSTRACT This report compares the performances of two popular genotypic methods used for tracking the sources of fecal pollution in water, ribotyping and repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR (rep-PCR). The rep-PCR was more accurate, reproducible, and efficient in associating DNA fingerprints of fecal Escherichia coli with human and animal hosts of origin.
An artificially evolved albumin binding module facilitates chemical shift epitope mapping of GA domain interactions with phylogenetically diverse albumins

Protein G‐related albumin‐binding (GA) modules occur on the surface of numerous Gram‐positive bacterial pathogens and their presence may promote bacterial growth and virulence in mammalian hosts. We recently used phage display selection to evolve a GA domain, PSD‐1 (phage selected domain‐1), which tightly bound phylogenetically diverse albumins. With respect to PSD‐1's broad albumin binding specificity, it remained unclear how the evolved binding epitope compared to those of naturally occurring GA domains and whether PSD‐1's binding mode was the same for different albumins. We investigate these questions here using chemical shift perturbation measurements of PSD‐1 with rabbit serum albumin (RSA) and human serum albumin (HSA) and put the results in the context of previous work on structure and dynamics of GA domains. Combined, these data provide insights into the requirements for broad binding specificity in GA‐albumin interactions. Moreover, we note that using the phage‐optimized PSD‐1 protein significantly diminishes the effects of exchange broadening at the binding interface between GA modules and albumin, presumably through stabilization of a ligand‐bound conformation. The employment of artificially evolved domains may be generally useful in NMR structural studies of other protein–protein complexes.
Relative value of oyster reef as habitat for estuarine nekton in Galveston Bay, Texas

Biogenic reefs formed by dense aggregations of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica are a dominant feature in most estuarine systems along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Oyster reefs are complex in their structural nature and have long been recognized for their potential habitat value. However, relatively few studies have characterized nekton abundance in this complex habitat type, and live high-relief oyster beds have been particularly difficult to sample with conventional gear. We used a quantitative sampling device to compare nekton use among high-relief live oyster reef, vegetated marsh edge Spartina alterniflora, and nonvegetated bottom habitat types. During 1 yr of seasonal sampling we collected 3791 fishes and 12 386 crustaceans representing 38 and 21 different species, respectively. Density and biomass of most fishes and crustaceans were significantly higher in oyster reef than over nonvegetated bottom. For benthic crustaceans, oyster reef supported a higher density and biomass than vegetated marsh edge. Nektonic crustaceans were generally more abun- dant in marsh edge than on oyster reef. Species composition and richness varied among habitat types and season; however, richness was highest in oyster reef, followed by marsh edge, and lowest on nonvegetated bottom, except during seasonal low densities during winter. Species composition and size differences were observed among habitat types. Our results show that oyster reef supports a high density, biomass, and richness of estuarine nekton in relation to typically examined estuarine habitat types and has the potential to be an essential habitat. Identifying and quantifying the role of oyster reefs will be critical to implementing effective management for essential fish habitat.
Reproducibility assessment of metabolic variables characterizing muscle energetics in Vivo: A 31P‐MRS study

The purpose of the present study was to assess the reliability of metabolic parameters measured using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) during two standardized rest‐exercise‐recovery protocols. Twelve healthy subjects performed the standardized protocols at two different intensities; i.e., a moderate intensity (MOD) repeated over a two‐month period and heavy intensity (HEAVY) repeated over a year's time. Test‐retest reliability was analyzed using coefficient of variation (CV), limits of agreement (LOA), and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). During exercise and recovery periods, most of the metabolic parameters exhibited a good reliability. The CVs of individual concentration of phosphocreatine ([PCr]), concentration of adenosine diphosphate ([ADP]), and pH values recorded at end of the HEAVY exercise were lower than 15%. The CV calculated for the rate of PCr resynthesis and the maximal oxidative capacity were less than 13% during the HEAVY protocol. Inferred parameters such as oxidative and total adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production rates exhibited a good reliability (ICC ≈ 0.7; CV < 15% during the HEAVY protocol). Our results demonstrated that measurement error using 31P‐MRS during a standardized exercise was low and that biological variability accounted for the vast majority of the measurement variability. In addition, the corresponding metabolic measurements can reliably be used for longitudinal studies performed even over a long period of time. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Continuous Femoral Nerve Block versus Intra-articular Injection for Pain Control after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Background Continuous femoral nerve blocks have been recommended for postoperative pain control after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Hypothesis A pain control protocol involving a continuous ropivacaine femoral nerve block will decrease pain and narcotic use in the first 24 hours after surgery compared with a postoperative pain control protocol involving an intra-articular injection of bupivacaine/morphine. Study Design Randomized controlled clinical trial; Level of evidence, 2. Methods Ninety subjects, aged 15 years or older, who were receiving arthroscopically assisted bone–patellar tendon–bone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were randomly assigned to 2 groups. The first group received a ropivacaine continuous femoral nerve block and oral hydrocodone (block group). The second group received an intra-articular bupivacaine/morphine injection and oral oxycodone (injection group). Patients in both groups could receive intramuscular injection of hydromorphone for breakthrough pain; most patients in the block group also received bolus doses of ropivacaine through the femoral catheter. Subjects rated their worst, average, and current pain levels using a visual analog scale and category-ratio scale the morning after surgery. Postoperative narcotic pain medication use was converted to morphine-equivalent doses. Results Postoperative pain ratings did not differ between the treatment groups. The largest difference in pain ratings between the groups was 0.5 cm for worst pain level (P = .345). Total narcotic use did not differ significantly between groups (1.1 morphine equivalent doses in both groups; P = .671). Conclusions Continuous femoral block with ropivacaine appeared to have no clinical advantage in the immediate postoperative period after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction when compared with an intra-articular injection of bupivacaine/morphine. Both methods are effective for pain control after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
Training Designs for Estimation of Spatially Correlated Fading Channels in MIMO Amplify-and-Forward Two-Way Multi-Relay Networks

In this letter, we present training designs for estimation of spatially correlated multiple-input multiple-output amplify-and-forward two-way multi-relay channels. An optimal training structure is initially derived to minimize total mean-square-error of the channel estimation and, then, source training power and relay amplification parameters are optimized numerically. For the purpose of complexity reduction and implementation simplicity, an upper bound-based power allocation is also proposed in a closed form. Simulation results show that the proposed schemes considerably outperform the conventional schemes.
Cuticular hydrocarbon discrimination/variation among strains of the mosquito, Anopheles (Cellia) stephensi Liston.

Cuticular lipids were removed from adult female Anopheles stephensi Liston and the hydrocarbons present were separated and quantified by gas chromatography. Comparison was made between the hydrocarbons of four An. stephensi strains: Russ, sensitive to DDT and malathion and originally isolated in the former U.S.S.R. ; Beech, a DDT-resistant Indian strain with high sensitivity to Plasmodium species; St Mal, a strain from Pakistan shown to be resistant to malathion; and Iraq, a DDT-susceptible strain from Iraq. Discriminant analysis indicated that the four groups were distinct and that, on average, 78% of the population could be separated on the basis of the quantities of some of the cuticular hydrocarbons. The profiles of Beech and Russ or Russ and St Mal could be separated in 98% of the cases. There was reduced segregation between the profiles of St. Mal and Iraq, suggesting greater similarity in the hydrocarbons of these two strains. The usefulness of cuticular hydrocarbon in determining species relationships is discussed.
DUSP 6 / MKP 3 is overexpressed in papillary and poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma and contributes to neoplastic properties of thyroid cancer cells

Thyroid carcinomas derived from follicular cells comprise papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), follicular thyroid carcinoma, poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma (PDTC) and undifferentiated anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC). PTC, the most frequent thyroid carcinoma histotype, is associated with gene rearrangements that generate RET/PTC and TRK oncogenes and with BRAF-V600E and RAS genemutations. These last two genetic lesions are also present in a fraction of PDTCs. The ERK1/2 pathway, downstream of the known oncogenes activated in PTC, has a central role in thyroid carcinogenesis. In this study, we demonstrate that the BRAF-V600E, RET/PTC, and TRK oncogenes upregulate the ERK1/2 pathway’s attenuator cytoplasmic dual-phase phosphatase DUSP6/MKP3 in thyroid cells. We also show DUSP6 overexpression at the mRNA and protein levels in all the analysed PTC cell lines. Furthermore, DUSP6 mRNA was significantly higher in PTC and PDTC in comparison with normal thyroid tissues both in expression profile datasets and in patients’ surgical samples analysed by real-time RT-PCR. Immunohistochemical and western blot analyses showed that DUSP6 was also overexpressed at the protein level in most PTC and PDTC surgical samples tested, but not in ATC, and revealed a positive correlation trendwith ERK1/2 pathway activation. Finally, DUSP6 silencing reduced the neoplastic properties of four PTC cell lines, thus suggesting that DUSP6 may have a pro-tumorigenic role in thyroid carcinogenesis. Key Words
Analysis of Perishable-Inventory Systems with Censored Demand Data

We consider a multiperiod inventory system of a perishable product with unobservable lost sales. Demand distribution parameters are unknown and are updated periodically using the Bayesian approach based on the censored historical sales data. We develop an explicit expression of the first-order condition for optimality that demonstrates the key trade-off of the problem. The result generalizes partial characterizations of this trade-off in the literature. It shows that the myopic solution is a lower bound on the optimal inventory level. It also enables us to quantify the expected marginal value of information.