Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A hospital based study of rickettsial diseases evidenced by Weil Felix test in a tertiary care hospital

Introduction: Rickettsial infections, one of the re-emerging diseases are increasingly underdiagnosed due to nonspecific symptoms, absence of reliable and affordable diagnostic test and contribute substantially to the acute febrile burden and preventive illness in many populations. A delay in diagnosis and therapy are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Objectives: To determine and categorize rickettsial disease titers by Weil Felix test, and to know the frequency of rickettsial diseases in febrile patients presenting to a tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, a total of 100 samples were tested by Weil Felix test from patients with fever and results were analyzed. Results: Out of 100 samples 64 were positive. Male preponderance was seen. The most common clinical symptom were fever, rash followed by hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. One patient with a high titer of more than 1280 died of encephalitis. Conclusion: In the absence of availability of a good reliable serological or molecular evidence, Weil Felix test can be used in the laboratories mainly due to cost and technical aspects of other reliable tests for diagnosis.
Effect of physical activity and body size on survival after diagnosis with colorectal cancer

Background: Physical inactivity and obesity increase the risk of colorectal cancer but little is known about whether they influence prognosis after diagnosis. Methods: Incident cases of colorectal cancer were identified among participants of the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study, a prospective cohort study of 41 528 Australians recruited from 1990 to 1994. Participants diagnosed with their first colorectal cancer between recruitment and 1 August 2002 were eligible. At the time of study entry, body measurements were taken and participants were interviewed about their physical activity. Information on tumour site and stage, treatments given, recurrences, and deaths were obtained from systematic review of the medical records. Results: A total of 526 cases of colorectal cancer were identified. Median follow up among survivors was 5.5 years, and 208 deaths had occurred, including 181 from colorectal cancer. After adjusting for age, sex, and tumour stage, exercisers had an improved disease specific survival (hazard ratio 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–1.00)). The benefit of exercise was largely confined to stage II–III tumours (hazard ratio 0.49 (95% CI 0.30–0.79)). Increasing per cent body fat resulted in an increase in disease specific deaths (hazard ratio 1.33 per 10 kg (95% CI 1.04–1.71)). Similarly, increasing waist circumference reduced disease specific survival (hazard ratio 1.20 per 10 cm (95% CI 1.05–1.37)). Conclusions: Increased central adiposity and a lack of regular physical activity prior to the diagnosis of colorectal cancer is associated with poorer overall and disease specific survival.
Vehicle trajectory prediction based on motion model and maneuver recognition

Predicting other traffic participants trajectories is a crucial task for an autonomous vehicle, in order to avoid collisions on its planned trajectory. It is also necessary for many Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, where the ego-vehicle's trajectory has to be predicted too. Even if trajectory prediction is not a deterministic task, it is possible to point out the most likely trajectory. This paper presents a new trajectory prediction method which combines a trajectory prediction based on Constant Yaw Rate and Acceleration motion model and a trajectory prediction based on maneuver recognition. It takes benefit on the accuracy of both predictions respectively a short-term and long-term. The defined Maneuver Recognition Module selects the current maneuver from a predefined set by comparing the center lines of the road's lanes to a local curvilinear model of the path of the vehicle. The overall approach was tested on prerecorded human real driving data and results show that the Maneuver Recognition Module has a high success rate and that the final trajectory prediction has a better accuracy.
Biomarkers: improving the cost‐effectiveness of biological drugs for autoimmune disorders

Biological drugs are gradually becoming the treatment of choice for chronic autoimmune diseases. However, their high costs are a key healthcare concern limiting their attractiveness for payers. This can, in part, be offset by implementing drug response biomarkers so that payers will only cover the drugs for patients who are most likely to benefit from them. Identifying such biomarkers in turn depends on the availability of well‐characterized clinical samples. Research collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry, clinicians, and academia is paramount for achieving this goal. Drug Dev Res 72:549–552, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A peer pressure experiment: Recreation of the Asch conformity experiment with robots

The question put forward in this paper is whether robots can create conformity by means of group pressure. We recreate and expand on a classic social psychology experiment by Solomon Asch, so as to explore three main dimensions. First, we wanted to know whether robots can prompt conformity in human subjects, and whether there is a significant difference between the degree to which individuals conform to a group of robots as opposed to a group of humans. Secondly we ask whether group pressure (from human or robot peers) can exert influence in verbal judgments, analogously to the influence on visual judgments that is known from previous research [3], [2]. Thirdly, we investigate whether the level of conformity differs between an ambiguous situation and a non-ambiguous situation. Our results show that in both visual and verbal tasks, participants exhibit conformity with human peers, but not with robot peers. The social influence of robot peers is not a significant predictor of verbal or visual judgments in our tasks. Furthermore, the level of conformity is significantly higher in an ambiguous (unclear) situation.
Kidney Transplantation Halts Cardiovascular Disease Progression in Patients with End‐Stage Renal Disease

Morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease have a devastating impact on patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end‐stage renal disease. Renal function decline in itself is thought to be a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that the elevated CV mortality in kidney transplant patients is due to the preexisting CVD burden and that restoring renal function by a kidney transplant might over time lower the risk for CVD. We analyzed 60 141 first‐kidney‐transplant patients registered in the USRDS from 1995 to 2000 for the primary endpoint of cardiac death by transplant vintage and compared these rates to all 66813 adult kidney wait listed patients by wait listing vintage, covering the same time period. The CVD rates peaked during the first 3 months following transplantation and decreased subsequently by transplant vintage when censoring for transplant loss. This trend could be shown in living and deceased donor transplants and even in patients with end‐stage renal disease secondary to diabetes. In contrast, the CVD rates on the transplant waiting list increased sharply and progressively by wait listing vintage. Despite the many mechanisms that may be in play, the enduring theme underlying rapid progression of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in renal failure is the loss of renal function. The data presented in this paper thus suggest that the development or progression of these lesions could be ameliorated by restoring renal function with a transplant.
Research utilization models: frameworks for implementing evidence-based occupational therapy practice

Evidence-based practice is an important step in the professional evolution of occupational therapy and also provides the means for state-of-the-art innovative clinical service for clients. An essential step in incorporating innovations and developments into clinical practice is through research utilization. Nine models of research utilization developed in the literature are reviewed and critiqued. These are: (1) the Conduct and Utilization of Research in Nursing (CURN) Project; (2) the Stetler-Marram Model; (3) the University of North Carolina Approach; (4) the Innovation Diffusion Process Model; (5) Killeen's Matrix of Research Activity; (6) the Iowa Model of Research In Practice; (7) the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education In Nursing Project; (8) the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Project; and (9) the Linkage Model. Research utilization models provide a framework for collaboration and the necessary conditions for research utilization activities to be successful. Copyright © 1999 Whurr Publishers Ltd.
Large-scale direct SLAM with stereo cameras

We propose a novel Large-Scale Direct SLAM algorithm for stereo cameras (Stereo LSD-SLAM) that runs in real-time at high frame rate on standard CPUs. In contrast to sparse interest-point based methods, our approach aligns images directly based on the photoconsistency of all high-contrast pixels, including corners, edges and high texture areas. It concurrently estimates the depth at these pixels from two types of stereo cues: Static stereo through the fixed-baseline stereo camera setup as well as temporal multi-view stereo exploiting the camera motion. By incorporating both disparity sources, our algorithm can even estimate depth of pixels that are under-constrained when only using fixed-baseline stereo. Using a fixed baseline, on the other hand, avoids scale-drift that typically occurs in pure monocular SLAM.We furthermore propose a robust approach to enforce illumination invariance, capable of handling aggressive brightness changes between frames - greatly improving the performance in realistic settings. In experiments, we demonstrate state-of-the-art results on stereo SLAM benchmarks such as Kitti or challenging datasets from the EuRoC Challenge 3 for micro aerial vehicles.
Patterns of dental wear in the early Maori dentition

The levels of tooth wear were surveyed in 50 pre-contact Maori skulls (23 of them female) from New Zealand. In addition to a generalized tooth wear index, we evaluated occlusal wear for erosion and abrasion. Occlusal microwear was also investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and, finally, the occlusal slope was determined at the level of the first molar teeth. The general pattern of wear was one of severe occlusal reduction with no significant differences between males and females. Both silicone impressions and SEM views confirmed a large component (30%) of erosion. While most individuals had flat wear planes, 33% of males and 44% of females showed reversed Monson's curves. Accentuated Monson's curves were found in 23.8% of males. While these results confirm early studies of the excessive wear experienced by pre-contact Maori, our study shows for the first time that erosion played a significant role in the dental wear of these people. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
CT enterography in obscure gastrointestinal bleeding: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

The objective of this article is to provide a comprehensive and update overview of clinical application of CT enterography (CTE) in the evaluation of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). We performed a systematic review of relevant literatures in PubMed, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library and pooled the yield of CTE and the incremental yield (IY) of CTE over an alternate modality. A total of 18 studies (n = 660) reported the yield of CTE in evaluating OGIB and the pooled yield was 40% (95% confidence interval (CI): 33–49%). Seven studies (n = 279) compared the yield of CTE with capsule endoscopy (CE). The yield for CTE and CE for all findings was 34% and 53%, respectively (IY = −19%, 95% CI = −34% to −4%). When considering the types of identified lesions, the yield was significantly different for vascular and inflammatory lesions but not significantly different for neoplastic or other lesions. Two studies (n = 63) compared the yield of CTE with double‐balloon enteroscopy (DBE). The yield for CTE and DBE was 38% and 78%, respectively (IY = −40%, 95% CI = −55% to −25%). Three studies (n = 49) compared the yield of CTE with digital subtraction angiography. The yield for CTE and digital subtraction angiography was 64% and 60%, respectively (IY = 4%, 95% CI = −40% to 47%). CTE is an excellent diagnostic tool in patients with OGIB. It may play a complementary role to CE and can be used as a triage tool prior to DBE in evaluating OGIB.
Estimation of contact forces and floating base kinematics of a humanoid robot using only Inertial Measurement Units

A humanoid robot is underactuated and only relies on contacts with environment to move in the space. The ability to measure contact forces and torques enables then to predict the robot dynamics including balance. In classical cases, a humanoid robot is considered as a multi-body system with rigid limbs and joints and interactions with the environment are modeled as stiff contacts. Forces and torques at contacts are generally estimated with sensors which are expensive and sensitive to calibration errors. However, a robot is not perfectly rigid and contacts may have flexibilities. Therefore, external forces create geometric deformations of the body or its environment. These deformations may modify the robot dynamics and produce unwanted and unbalanced motions. Nonetheless, if we have a model of contact stiffness and are able to reconstruct reliably the geometric deformation, we can reconstruct forces and torques at contact. This study aims at estimating contact forces and torques and to observe the body kinematics of the robot with only an Inertial Measurements Unit (IMU). We show that we are able to reconstruct efficiently the position of the Center of Pressure (CoP) of the robot with only the IMU and proprioceptive data from the robot.
In vivo diagnosis of collagenous colitis by confocal endomicroscopy

Collagenous colitis is a form of microscopic colitis which has recently been recognised as an entity of its own, characterised by chronic watery diarrhoea of unknown aetiology. The diagnosis of collagenous colitis relies on histopathological examination of biopsy specimens from colorectal mucosa, which is usually of normal macroscopic appearance. The typical histological feature is diffuse thickening of the subepithelial collagen layer beneath the basement membrane and an unspecific chronic inflammatory infiltrate of the lamina propria.1–3 Recently, a confocal laser endomicroscope has been developed that is integrated into the distal tip of a conventional video endoscope. This confocal laser microscope (EC-3870CIFK; Pentax, Tokyo, Japan) was designed to enable subsurface imaging of living tissue during ongoing endoscopy and allows confocal microscopy in addition to standard video endoscopy. Images are generated by intravenously administered fluorescein sodium as the fluorescent contrast agent and an argon ion laser integrated into the system that generates an excitation wavelength of 488 nm.4,5 For the first time, we used …
Alterations in intestinal permeability

The goal of this review is to describe barrier function of the intestine, the structure of the tight junction, methods to evaluate intestinal permeability, and most importantly the relevance of abnormal permeability to disease. In this context, we will also present an emerging paradigm regarding the genesis of autoimmune diseases and describe the data that supports this from the perspective of both human disease and animal models. While this is a complicated area there are several points worth remembering: From the lower oesophageal sphincter to the anus, the gastrointestinal tract has a single contiguous layer of cells that separates the inside of the body from the external environment. Separation is important as there are a wide variety of environmental agents in the lumen of the bowel that can initiate or perpetuate mucosal inflammation if they cross the epithelial barrier. While the epithelial lining of the intestine plays a critical role in preventing access of these agents, it is not the only component of what is termed barrier function. Also important are secreted products such as immunoglobulin, mucous, defensins, and other antimicrobial products. The importance of epithelial barrier function in normal homeostasis can be appreciated from experiments performed in the early 1990s where cell wall extracts from luminal bacteria were injected into the colonic wall of rats.1 This simple manoeuvre of bypassing the epithelial barrier and placing luminal compounds directly into the colonic wall initiated an …
Time management of the training process and its relationship to the quality of decision-making to coaches of some individual and team sports

This research aims to establishing a scale of managing the training process time and determine the scale's dimensions and statements. In addition, trying to find the relationship between the coach's competence in managing the training time and his quality in making decisions in situations associated to training and competitions on a sample of 320 coaches of individual and team sports from both genders (n = 278). Moreover, aims to attempting to identify the differences between some individual and team sports coaches in their efficiency of managing the training process time and its relationship to their quality in decision-making, depending on the indictors of sport activity, years of experience and educational qualifications. The sample included local and international Egyptian club's coaches ranging from 1 to 42 years in training experience. Applied on coaches from different sport activities, the results of the research indicated the following: The presence of a statistical significant correlation between the total sum of time management scale and decision-making scale with a direct correlation factor (0.489). There are no differences between the coaches of individual and team sports in the dimensions of the scale of time management, except for the mandate dimension the difference was in favour of team sports coaches, with no differences between the two categories in total sum of time management and decision making scale. No differences existed between coaches according to educational qualifications in the scale of management time, except for the organisation dimension the difference was in favour of medium qualification rather than higher qualifications. There are differences between coaches according to years of experience in the scale of management time, except for organisation and delay, differences were in favour of coaches with more than 10 years experience in the dimension of planning with an average of (16.97–). The existence of differences between coaches with experience more than 10 years than the coaches from (1–5 years) and (6–10 years) in favour of coaches (above 10 years) in mandate dimension with an average of (11.66). There are statistical significant differences between coaches according to the three experience categories, in the pressure dimension in favour of coaches with experience from (6–10 years) with an average of (11.85). The existence of significant differences in favour of coaches over 10 years experience category in total sum of the time management scale with an average of (88.13) as well as the existence of significant differences in favour of coaches over 10 years experience in total sum of decision-making scale with an average of (105.62), and Finally, the results indicated that the most related dimension to the total sum of time management scale was planning dimension with a coefficient correlation of (0.786), followed by the coach philosophy with a coefficient correlation of (0.656).
Real-time and scalable incremental segmentation on dense SLAM

This work proposes a real-time segmentation method for 3D point clouds obtained via Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM). The proposed method incrementally merges segments obtained from each input depth image in a unified global model using a SLAM framework. Differently from all other approaches, our method is able to yield segmentation of scenes reconstructed from multiple views in real-time, with a complexity that does not depend on the size of the global model. At the same time, it is also general, as it can be deployed with any frame-wise segmentation approach as well as any SLAM algorithm. We validate our proposal by a comparison with the state of the art in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy on a benchmark dataset, as well as by showing how our method can enable real-time segmentation from reconstructions of diverse real indoor environments.
Colorectal cancer: a model for epigenetic tumorigenesis

Recent advances in basic and clinical science have driven epigenetics to the forefront of cancer research. Together with genetic changes, the disruption of epigenetic mechanisms is now established as a hallmark of cancer in humans. Colorectal cancer, long a classic model for the genetic basis of cancer, is now providing researchers with the opportunity to view epigenetic events in the context of neoplasia in humans. Knowledge of the heritable changes in gene expression that result from epigenetic events is of increasing relevance to clinical practice, particularly in terms of diagnostic and prognostic molecular markers, as well as novel therapeutic targets.
Daclizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody to the interleukin 2 receptor (CD25), for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled, dose ranging trial

Background: An uncontrolled pilot study demonstrated that daclizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody to the interleukin 2 receptor (CD25), might be effective for the treatment of active ulcerative colitis. Methods: A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of daclizumab induction therapy in patients with active ulcerative colitis. A total of 159 patients with moderate ulcerative colitis were randomised to receive induction therapy with daclizumab 1 mg/kg intravenously at weeks 0 and 4, or 2 mg/kg intravenously at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 6, or placebo. The primary end point was induction of remission at week 8. Remission was defined as a Mayo score of 0 on both endoscopy and rectal bleeding components and a score of 0 or 1 on stool frequency and physician’s global assessment components. Response was defined as a decrease from baseline in the Mayo score of at least 3 points. Results: Two per cent of patients receiving daclizumab 1 mg/kg (p = 0.11 v placebo) and 7% of patients receiving 2 mg/kg (p = 0.73) were in remission at week 8, compared with 10% of those who received placebo. Response occurred at week 8 in 25% of patients receiving daclizumab 1 mg/kg (p = 0.04) and in 33% of patients receiving 2 mg/kg (p = 0.30) versus 44% of those receiving placebo. Daclizumab was well tolerated. The most frequently reported adverse events in daclizumab treated patients compared with placebo treated patients were nasopharyngitis (14.6%) and pyrexia (10.7%). Conclusion: Patients with moderate ulcerative colitis who are treated with daclizumab are not more likely to be in remission or response at eight weeks than patients treated with placebo.