Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations between Socioeconomic Status and Race with Complications after Tonsillectomy in Children

Objective To determine if disparities exist for revisits and complications after pediatric tonsillectomy. Study Design Cross-sectional analysis of multistate databases. Setting Ambulatory surgery. Methods Cases of pediatric tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy were extracted from state ambulatory surgery databases and linked to state emergency department databases and inpatient databases for California, Iowa, Florida, and New York for 2010 and 2011. Revisit rates and diagnoses within 14 days were analyzed for potential associations of these complications with sex, race, and median household income quartile. Results There were 79,520 cases of pediatric tonsillectomy that were extracted (50.3% male; mean age, 7.5 years). Overall, 6419 patients (8.1%) incurred a revisit after the procedure. Revisit rates for posttonsillectomy bleeding, acute pain, and fever/dehydration were 2.1%, 1.5%, and 2.2%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, increasing household income quartile was significantly associated with a decreasing rate of all complications: revisits (odds ratio [OR], 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.84-0.89), posttonsillectomy bleeding (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.96), acute pain (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.74-0.84), and fever/dehydration (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.89-0.98). Female sex was associated with a decreased rate of posttonsillectomy hemorrhaging (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.91). Black and Hispanic children had an increased risk for a revisit after tonsillectomy (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01-1.22; and OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.09-1.26, respectively) and increased odds for acute pain at the revisit (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.10-1.67; and OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.14-1.57, respectively) relative to white children. Race was not associated with the rate of hemorrhage posttonsillectomy. Conclusion Significant disparities, particularly with respect to household income, exist in the incidence of revisits and complications after pediatric tonsillectomy. The disparate burden of increased revisits and acute pain diagnoses after tonsillectomy deserve further attention.
RFID: a technical overview and its application to the enterprise

Radio frequency identification (RFID) offers tantalizing benefits for supply chain management, inventory control, and many other applications. Only recently, however, has the convergence of lower cost and increased capabilities made businesses take a hard look at what RFID can do for them. This article offers an RFID tutorial that answers the following questions: i) what is RFID, and how does it work? ii) What are some applications of RFID? iii) What are some challenges and problems in RFID technology and implementation? iv) How have some organizations implemented RFID?
A Single Midnight Serum Cortisol Measurement Distinguishes Cushing’s Syndrome from Pseudo-Cushing States

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) may be difficult to distinguish from pseudo-Cushing states (PCS) based on physical findings or urinary glucocorticoid excretion. As the lack of diurnal variation in serum cortisol is characteristic of CS, we studied whether diurnal cortisol determinations could discriminate CS from PCS. Two hundred and sixty-three patients were evaluated: 240 had CS, and 23 had PCS. Urine was collected for 24 h for measurement of cortisol and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17OHCS). Blood was drawn at 2300, 2330, 0000, 0030, and 0100 h and at 0600, 0630, 0700, 0730, and 0800 h the next morning for serum cortisol determination. The main outcome measure was the sensitivity of these parameters for the diagnosis of CS at 100% specificity. A midnight cortisol value greater than 7.5 μg/dL correctly identified 225 of 234 patients with CS and all PCS patients. This sensitivity (96%) was superior to that obtained for any other measure, including urinary cortisol (45%), 17OHCS (22%), any other individual cortisol.
Transcriptional Activity of HPV in Inverted Papilloma Demonstrated by In Situ Hybridization for E6/E7 mRNA

Objective Assess human papilloma virus (HPV) transcriptional activity in inverted Schneiderian papillomas (IPs). Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Academic tertiary care center. Subjects and Methods Retrospective clinicopathologic review of 19 cases of IP in patients undergoing surgical excision from 1995 to 2013 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Surgical pathology archival material was histopathologically reviewed using hematoxylin and eosin–stained slides. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material from each case was evaluated for p16 expression using immunohistochemistry as well as HPV DNA and E6/E7 messenger RNA (mRNA) transcription using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization (via RNAscope technology), respectively. Results Eight patients were female (42%), with an average age of 53 years (range, 23-82 years). Three demonstrated malignancy, and 5 subsequently recurred. Average follow-up was 49 months (range, 0-200 months), and 1 patient died from squamous cell carcinoma arising from the IP. RNAscope detected HPV mRNA transcripts exclusively within IP in 100% of cases; however, in 11 patients (58%), less than 1% of cells exhibited transcriptional activity. Only 2 of 19 cases (11%) demonstrated mRNA activity in 50% or more cells. HPV DNA was detected in only 2 specimens by PCR. Conclusions This study reveals wide prevalence but limited transcriptional activity of HPV in IP. No correlation between HPV transcriptional activity and progression, recurrence, or malignant transformation was identified. These data suggest that transcription of HPV may contribute to the pathogenesis of IP, but prospective data are needed to definitively demonstrate this connection. These results also suggest that RNAscope may be more sensitive than PCR in detecting HPV activity in IP.
Reconstruction of the Naso-orbital-ethmoid (NOE) Complex Using the Osteocutaneous Radial Forearm Flap (OCRFF)

Objectives Describe the utility of osteocutaneous forearm flaps in reconstruction of naso-orbito-ethmoid (NOE) defects. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Tertiary medical centers. Subjects and Methods The study was conducted on patients treated between the years 2000 and 2014 undergoing NOE resection with reconstruction using the radial forearm flap. Decision making, technical feasibility, need for revisions, and patient disease outcomes were included to assess the durability of reconstruction over remaining survival period. Results Fifteen patients underwent NOE reconstruction in the timeframe studied. Five recent patients reported poor nasal airway but no diplopia or immediately clinically evident enopthalmus after NOE reconstruction in mean follow-up of 17.3 months. One-third of patients succumbed to disease in the study period, 3 without revision, and all but 2 surviving patients required revisions. Conclusion Osteocutaneous radial forearm flap (OCRFF) is a cosmetically acceptable method of reconstructing NOE defects. Though a 1-step reconstruction can be serviceable without multiple additional procedures, longer surviving patients frequently receive revision surgery as with more traditional planned staged procedures.
Ibuprofen with Acetaminophen for Tonsillectomy Pain

different conclusions regarding ICU length of stay highlights the need and advantage of a meta-analysis. The evidence produced by a single study is not necessarily generalizable across different patient and hospital settings. A meta-analysis allows for the synthesis of data across different studies, as well as the juxtaposition of the findings of one study with the findings of others. As a result, it allows for an improved understanding of the clinical issue of interest. There is a need for ongoing research in the area of early versus late tracheostomy. Our systematic review and metaanalysis is a conservative synthesis of the evidence to date. Having reflected on and discussed the concerns raised, we believe that the current evidence supports our conclusion of early tracheostomy leading to decreased ICU length of stay.
New approaches to robust minimum variance filter design

This paper is concerned with the design of robust filters that ensure minimum filtering error variance bounds for discrete-time systems with parametric uncertainty residing in a polytope. Two efficient methods for robust Kalman filter design are introduced. The first utilizes a recently introduced relaxation of the quadratic stability requirement of the stationary filter design. The second applies the new method of recursively solving a semidefinite program (SDP) subject to linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) constraints to obtain a robust finite horizon time-varying filter. The proposed design techniques are compared with other existing methods. It is shown, via two examples, that the results obtained by the new methods outperform all of the other designs.
Social Networking in the Enterprise

Advances in social computing can help firms enhance and leverage internal capabilities, such as knowledge work and collaboration, and seamlessly integrate the vast information resources available on the Internet. Many firms, however, are still developing the practices that will enable them to leverage social networking in the enterprise. The articles in this special issue speak to this need.
Best wavelet packet bases in a rate-distortion sense

A fast rate-distortion (R-D) optimal scheme for coding adaptive trees whose individual nodes spawn descendents forming a disjoint and complete basis cover for the space spanned by their parent nodes is presented. The scheme guarantees operation on the convex hull of the operational R-D curve and uses a fast dynamic programing pruning algorithm to markedly reduce computational complexity. Applications for this coding technique include R. Coefman et al.'s (Yale Univ., 1990) generalized multiresolution wavelet packet decomposition, iterative subband coders, and quadtree structures. Applications to image processing involving wavelet packets as well as discrete cosine transform (DCT) quadtrees are presented.
População de Aedes aegypti (l.) em área endêmica de dengue, Sudeste do Brasil

OBJETIVO: Estudar a populacao de Aedes aegypti em area de transmissao de dengue sob o ponto de vista de frequencia, distribuicao espacial, paridade, desenvolvimento ovariano e conteudo do intestino medio. METODOS: O estudo foi realizado na cidade de Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP. Foram selecionados dois setores, um com nivel socioeconomico baixo e outro com nivel medio. As observacoes foram realizadas entre 1996 e 1997. Foram feitas capturas no intra e peridomicilios com capturadores eletricos manuais. Sao dados detalhes das disseccoes para estudo do estado fisiologico das femeas e da classificacao utilizada. RESULTADOS: Capturaram-se 188 machos e 189 femeas. Obteve-se um indice de 0,46 femeas por casa. Dos machos e das femeas capturados, estavam no intradomicilio, respectivamente, 82,4% e 87,3%. Encontrou-se maior proporcao de femeas no setor de nivel socioeconomico mais baixo e com maior concentracao populacional. Foram analisadas 148 femeas, sendo 27,0% nuliparas e 10,1% oniparas. As demais foram classificadas nas fases III a V de Christophers e Mer (C & M) com 28,0% destas contendo sangue de coloracao vermelha no intestino medio. Das femeas, 87,9% ja haviam praticado a hematofagia. CONCLUSOES: A especie revelou grande tendencia a endofilia. A proporcao de nuliparas foi superior a de oniparas, apesar da maioria das femeas ser classificada nas fases III a V de C & M. Chama atencao o elevado percentual das femeas que praticaram a hematofagia e a ocorrencia de nao concordância gonotrofica.
Sino-Nasal Outcome Test–22

Objective To perform the translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test–22 (SNOT-22) questionnaire to the Hebrew language. Study Design and Setting A single-center prospective cross-sectional study. Subjects and Methods Seventy-three chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients and 73 patients without sinonasal disease filled the Hebrew version of the SNOT-22 questionnaire. Fifty-one CRS patients underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, out of which 28 filled a postoperative questionnaire. Seventy-three healthy volunteers without sinonasal disease also answered the questionnaire. Internal consistency, test-retest reproducibility, validity, and responsiveness of the questionnaire were evaluated. Results Questionnaire reliability was excellent, with a high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, 0.91-0.936) and test-retest reproducibility (Spearman’s coefficient, 0.962). Mean scores for the preoperative, postoperative, and control groups were 50.44, 29.64, and 13.15, respectively (P < .0001 for CRS vs controls, P < .001 for preoperative vs postoperative), showing validity and responsiveness of the questionnaire. Conclusion The Hebrew version of SNOT-22 questionnaire is a valid outcome measure for patients with CRS with or without nasal polyps.
Assessment of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Service Quality in Terms of Client Satisfaction; a Comparative Study between Public and Private Health Institutions in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Although Quality of the service is key principle for effectiveness of the program, very little work has been done to assess the quality of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services in most countries including Ethiopian. Objectives: To assess quality of VCT services in terms of client satisfaction in both private and public VCT sites. Methods: cross-sectional comparative health institution based study was employed in public and private VCT sites in Addis Ababa from January 1 to February 30, 2009. By modifying the UNAIDS VCT Quality Evaluation Tools and quality assurance and quality improvement guide developed by Family Health International (FHI), data were collected using interviewer administered questionnaires for both qualitative and quantitative methods. Results: A total of 160 clients, of which 80 from private and 80 from public as well as 20 counselors of which seven from private and 13 from public sites were included in the study. Clients from public sites were more satisfied than private sites with the VCT service they took; 90% versus 76%. Motivation of seeking the service, estimated time spent waiting the test result and waiting to see the counselor, service fee, the presence of comfortable and private counseling room, service given individually, issue of confidentiality, discussion with counselors on different risks and meaning of the test result had significant difference in public and private institutions. Educational status of grade 9-12 in private sites OR=. 22(.05-.92), p=. 038, time spent on waiting the test result within 30-60 minutes in public sites OR=8.4(1.5-41.9), p=. 024, information on HIV/AIDS and Sexual transmitted Infections (STIs) given to protect themselves and others in private sites OR=62.3(17.7-123), p=. 025, counselor comfortable on taking sensitive issue in private sites (OR= 54.5(2.3-90.1), p=. 014 ) were found to be significantly associated with client satisfaction. All, but one, counselor took training in formal institutions, all counselors from public and only some in private were given fulltime counseling, no regular supportive supervision by governmental officials or partners, all had not taken any refreshment training. Conclusions and recommendations: generally, rate of client satisfaction was low in private VCT sites so that effort should be made to maintain the quality. In addition, regular and supportive supervision by regional health bureau and its partners were minimal so that strong and coordinated supervision in both sites need to be done.
Hexagonal VS2 Anchored MWCNTs: First Approach to Design Flexible Solid-State Symmetric Supercapacitor Device.

Transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) embedded with a carbon network are gaining much attention because of their high power capability, which can be easily integrated to portable electronic devices. Facile chemical route has been explored to synthesize hexagonal structured VS2 nanoparticles onto multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) matrix. Such surface-modified VS2/MWCNTs electrode has boosted the electrochemical performance to reach high capacitance to 830 F/g and excellent stability to 95.9% over 10 000 cycles. Designed flexible solid-state symmetric supercapacitor device (FSSD) with a wide voltage window of 1.6 V exhibited maximum gain in specific capacitance value of 182 F/g at scan rate of 2 mV/s along with specific energy of 42 Wh/kg and a superb stability of 93.2% over 5000 cycles. As a practical approach, FSSD has lightened up "VNIT" panel consisting of 21 red LEDs.
Object-Oriented Bayesian Networks for Detection of Lane Change Maneuvers

This article introduces a novel approach towards the recognition of typical driving maneuvers in structured highway scenarios and shows some key benefits of traffic scene modeling with object-oriented Bayesian networks (OOBNs). The approach exploits the advantages of an introduced lane-related coordinate system together with individual occupancy schedule grids for all modeled vehicles. This combination allows an efficient classification of the existing vehicle-lane and vehicle- vehicle relations in traffic scenes and thus substantially improves the understanding of complex traffic scenes. Probabilities and variances within the network are propagated systematically which results in probabilistic sets of the modeled driving maneuvers. Using this generic approach, the network is able to classify a total of 27 driving maneuvers including merging and object following.
A new efficient approach for the removal of impulse noise from highly corrupted images

A new framework for removing impulse noise from images is presented in which the nature of the filtering operation is conditioned on a state variable defined as the output of a classifier that operates on the differences between the input pixel and the remaining rank-ordered pixels in a sliding window. As part of this framework, several algorithms are examined, each of which is applicable to fixed and random-valued impulse noise models. First, a simple two-state approach is described in which the algorithm switches between the output of an identity filter and a rank-ordered mean (ROM) filter. The technique achieves an excellent tradeoff between noise suppression and detail preservation with little increase in computational complexity over the simple median filter. For a small additional cost in memory, this simple strategy is easily generalized into a multistate approach using weighted combinations of the identity and ROM filter in which the weighting coefficients can be optimized using image training data. Extensive simulations indicate that these methods perform significantly better in terms of noise suppression and detail preservation than a number of existing nonlinear techniques with as much as 40% impulse noise corruption. Moreover, the method can effectively restore images corrupted with Gaussian noise and mixed Gaussian and impulse noise. Finally, the method is shown to be extremely robust with respect to the training data and the percentage of impulse noise.
Handedness and directional asymmetry in the long bones of the human upper limb

The long bones of the human upper limb usually show lateral asymmetries of length. This pattern can be attributed either to the mechanical consequences of handedness bias or to genetic or hormonal factors acting directly on longitudinal bone growth. Length data was obtained from the long bones of the upper limbs of a large skeletal assemblage from Wharram Percy, Yorkshire (England), predominantly deriving from the 11th-16th centuries A.D. The Wharram Percy adult skeletons had a population distribution of lateral asymmetries of length in the humerus and in the humerus-plus-radius (a proxy arm length index) which closely parallels the pattern of behavioural handedness found in modern populations. This pattern was developing in the skeletons from the infant and juvenile age ranges, but was absent in the neonates (of whom 12 out of 14 had longer left humeri). We argue that this supports the environmental hypothesis that the ontogeny of long bone length asymmetry is consequent to the earlier development of lateral bias in mechanical loading of the upper limbs.
ß-Tricalcium Phosphate Implants in the Surgical Treatment of Empty Nose Syndrome

The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and morbidity of a β-tricalcium phosphate implant in the treatment of empty nose syndrome after turbinectomy. Only patients with a history of inferior turbinectomy and a complaint of permanent paradoxical nasal obstruction were included. β-Tricalcium phosphate ceramic implants were implanted under the mucoperiosteal plane of the lateral nasal wall to replace the head of the inferior turbinate. Symptoms and quality of life were assessed by 2 questionnaires: the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation and Rhinosinusitis Quality of Life. Fourteen patients were included. The mean follow-up was 19.4 ± 13.4 months. Scores for the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation and Rhinosinusitis Quality of Life (frequency, bothersomeness, and impact) significantly improved after surgery (respectively, 73.9 ± 21.8 to 34.6 ± 28.6, 44.6 ± 17.1 to 34.8 ± 20.3, 43.6 ± 22.4 to 70.7 ± 21.5, and 59.9 ± 21.1 to 27.2 ± 25.3; P < .05). The use of ß-tricalcium phosphate seems efficient to repair empty nose syndrome by endonasal microplasty and shows a low complication rate.
Aterosclerose carotídea avaliada pelo eco-Doppler: associação com fatores de risco e doenças arteriais sistêmicas

Background: A high prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in the population and its frequent association with several risk factors contribute to high morbidity and mortality rates. Objective: To investigate frequency and association of extracranial carotid atherosclerosis with age, sex, hypertension, ischemic coronary disease, smoking, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, peripheral arterial disease, stroke, carotid occlusion, intima-media thickness and kinking. Methods: The carotid and bilateral extracranial arteries of 367 individuals (132 males and 235 females), with a mean of 63 years of age (35-91 years) were evaluated via anamnesis, clinical semiology and ultrasonography. The possible association between carotid atherosclerosis, represented by unspecific atheromatous plaques with stenosis > 10% or discrete and diffuse atheromatosis with stenosis < 10% and the risk factors listed above was statistically analyzed by the odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95%. Results: The frequency of carotid atherosclerosis and intima-media thickness was, respectively, 52 and 30.2%. There was an association between atherosclerosis types and age (≥ 64 years), stroke, obesity and smoking. When only carotid stenosis ≥ 60% was considered, there was an association with age (≥ 64 years), carotid occlusion and coronary disease. Intima-media thickness was associated with age (≥ 64 years), kinking, carotid occlusion, hypertension and ankle-brachial index < 0.9. Conclusion: Carotid atherosclerosis is highly prevalent in the population (52%) and is associated with age, obesity, stroke, coronary disease, and smoking.