Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of finite arrays of axially directed printed dipoles on electrically large circular cylinders

Various arrays consisting of finite number of printed dipoles on electrically large dielectric coated circular cylinders are investigated using a hybrid method of moments/Green's function technique in the spatial domain. This is basically an "element by element" approach in which the mutual coupling between dipoles through space as well as surface waves is incorporated. The efficiency of the method comes from the computation of the Green's function, where three types of spatial domain Green's function representations are used interchangeably, based on their computational efficiency and regions where they remain accurate. Numerical results are presented in the form of array current distributions, active reflection coefficient and far-field pattern to indicate the efficiency and accuracy of the method. Furthermore, these results are compared with similar results obtained from finite arrays of printed dipoles on grounded planar dielectric slabs. It is shown that planar approximations, except for small separations, can not be used due to the mutual coupling between the array elements. Consequently, basic performance metrics of printed dipole arrays on coated cylinders show significant discrepancies when compared to their planar counterparts.
Pathophysiologic, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Aspects of the Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome, characterized by increases in waist circumference, blood pressure, and triglyceride concentrations combined with reduced high‐density lipoprotein and evidence of glucose intolerance, results from the interaction of visceral or central obesity with insulin resistance. This syndrome presents a clinical situation of systemic inflammation and increased cardiovascular risk. Blood pressure, even if only in the “prehypertensive” range, plays an important role in increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Recognition and treatment of each individual component of the metabolic syndrome is critical in reducing cardiovascular risk. Treatment should begin with lifestyle changes, including diet, exercise, and weight reduction. Antihypertensive therapy should be directed toward reduction of blood pressure to levels as close to optimal (<120/80 mm Hg) as feasible, and treatment protocols that do not cause worsening of glucose intolerance should be selected. Therapy for dyslipidemia should be directed at reducing triglycerides and increasing high‐density lipoprotein. Glucose‐lowering agents may be indicated, and drugs such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, which reduce insulin resistance, should form the basis of therapy. Carefully chosen therapy will effectively improve cardiovascular outcomes.
Model selection for merger and acquisition analysis in Asian emerging markets

We extract a dataset of mergers and acquisitions from Asian emerging markets and examine the distribution of the stock returns for the acquiring firm and the corresponding market portfolio in each deal. Non-normal distribution of the returns appears in the test of most deals. We use two robust regressions and a nonparametric statistic test to examine the efficacy of the standard OLS market model. The traditional methods of measuring abnormal returns (ARs) around event windows may be flawed. The robust regressions, Huber regression M-estimator and bootstrapping quantile regression, provide better and higher estimation of abnormal returns.
Lower Mother-to-Child HIV-1 Transmission in Boys Is Independent of Type of Delivery and Antiretroviral Prophylaxis: The Italian Register for HIV Infection in Children

The relationship between infant's gender and rate of HIV-1 mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) was evaluated in a prospective cohort of 4151 children (2166 boys and 1985 girls) born to HIV-1-infected mothers enrolled in the Italian Register for HIV Infection in Children. Logistic regression models were performed to estimate crude odds ratios (ORs) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% CIs for factors potentially influencing MTCT separately for the period 1985-1995 and the period 1996-2001. To evaluate rates of MTCT by gender in specific subgroups, separate logistic regression models by mode of delivery and antiretroviral prophylaxis were performed. Among children born in 1985-1995, 15.5% boys (95% CI: 13.6-17.7) and 17.9% girls (95% CI: 15.7-20.3) were infected (P = 0.1181). After 1995, a lower proportion of boys (3.1% [95% CI: 2.0-4.4]; AOR: 0.43 [95% CI: 0.26-0.71], P = 0.0008) than girls (AOR: 6.3%, 95% CI: 4.8-8.1) was infected. Lower AORs for boys persisted independently of elective cesarean delivery (AOR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.14-0.71); other than elective cesarean (AOR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.19-0.78) and antiretroviral prophylaxis (zidovudine monotherapy (AOR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.03-0.38); none (AOR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.21-0.90). No difference was observed when combined therapy in the mother was administered (AOR: 1.14, 95% CI: 0.30-4.32), but results were likely to be biased by the very low rate of infected children in this group. A lower proportion of HIV-1-infected boys in children born after 1995 was found. Factor(s) intrinsic to gender (rather than type of delivery or maternal antiretroviral prophylaxis) may be involved, because the risk of infection in boys was lower independent of interventions. A possible explanation is that, among infected fetuses, more girls survive up to the end of pregnancy and may take advantage of the benefits of preventive strategies.
Alcohol consumption as a risk factor for atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Alcohol exposure is one of the major risk factors for global burden of disease, but atrial fibrillation (AF) had not yet been included in these estimates. The purpose of this contribution was to examine the dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and AF and to explore potential causal pathways. Design and methods Systematic literature review and meta-analyses. Results Overall, a consistent dose-response relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed daily and the probability of the onset of AF was found. Women consuming 24, 60 and 120 g of alcohol daily had relative risks of 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04–1.10], 1.42 (95% CI: 1.23–1.64) and 2.02 (95% CI: 1.60–2.97), respectively, relative to nondrinkers. Among men, the corresponding relative risks were 1.08 (95% CI: 1.04–1.11), 1.44 (95% CI: 1.23–1.69) and 2.09 (95% CI: 1.52–2.86). Based on the categorical analyses, we could not exclude the existence of a threshold (three drinks a day for men and two drinks a day for women). Several pathogenic mechanisms for the development of AF in alcohol users were identified. Conclusion Epidemiological criteria for causality were met to conclude a causal impact of alcohol consumption on the onset of AF with a monotonic dose-response relationship. However, the impact of light drinking is not clear.
The nature of neck pain in a private pain clinic in the United States.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of different causes of neck pain in a private practice clinic. DESIGN A retrospective audit of records. SETTING A private spine pain clinic in the state of Washington, USA. PATIENTS All consecutive patients, seen between January 2003 and January 2005, in whom a diagnosis of neck pain was made. Interventions. The records of all patients were examined to determine the prevalence of various diagnostic entities determined by history, examination, and invasive test such as controlled diagnostic blocks and provocation discography. OUTCOME MEASURES Using different denominators, the prevalence of various conditions was determined in all patients who presented with neck pain, in patients in whom investigations were undertaken, and in patients who completed investigations. RESULTS A large proportion of patients (36%) did not pursue investigations, which diluted the crude prevalence of various conditions. A further 17% deferred completing investigations. Among the 46% of patients who completed investigations, the prevalence of zygapophysial joint pain was 55%, discogenic pain was 16%, and lateral atlanto-axial joint pain was 9%. A diagnosis remained elusive in only 32% of those patients who completed investigations. CONCLUSIONS In a private practice setting, a patho-anatomic diagnosis for chronic neck pain can be established in over 80% of patients, provided that appropriate investigations are undertaken. The prevalence of cervical zygapophysial joint pain encountered in the present study corroborates the prevalence rates established in academic studies. Cervical discogenic pain does not appear to be common among patients with chronic neck pain.
Decision Factors on Effective Liver Patient Data Prediction

Various types of stress and irregular eating habits, as well as inhalation of alcohol and ongoing toxic gas, ingestion of contaminated food, excessive consumption of pickled food and drug intake, enables liver disease patients to grow up year by year. To this end, variety of data mining algorithms can help medical doctors in diagnostics of patients at the hospital. This paper treats an evaluation of the analyzed results of classification algorithms selected for better prediction based on the characteristics of data from the data set with liver disease. We investigated and analyzed the classification algorithms such as Naive Bayes, Decision Tree, Multi-Layer Perceptron and k-NN used in a previous study, which developed our data set, and additionally Random forest, Logistic which proposed by us. Those algorithms were compared in several kinds of evaluating criteria like precision, recall, sensitivity, specificity, and so on. Through the experiments, we could know that in view of precision, Naive Bayes is preferable than others, but in other criteria such as Recall and Sensitivity, Logistic and Random Forest took precedence over other algorithms in the performance of prediction test as considering the algorithmic characteristics to liver patient data set.
Identification of Nuclear Export Signals in Antizyme-1*

Antizyme-1 (AZ1) is a protein that negatively regulates polyamine synthesis by inhibiting the key synthetic enzyme ornithine decarboxylase and targeting it for degradation by the 26 S proteasome. Recent work shows that antizyme protein translocates to the nucleus during mouse development (Gritli-Linde, A., Nilssom, J., Bohlooly, Y. M., Heby, O., and Linde, A. (2001) Dev. Dyn. 220, 259-275). However, the significance and mechanism of this phenomenon remain unclear. In this study, we expressed AZ1 fused with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to study its localization in a living cell. We found that EGFP-AZ1 was predominantly localized in the cytoplasm and that treatment with leptomycin B, a specific inhibitor of chromosomal region maintenance 1 (CRM1) induced nuclear accumulation of EGFP-AZ1 in Chinese hamster ovary and NIH3T3 cells. Two independent nuclear export signal (NES) sequences, each containing essential hydrophobic residues, were identified in the 50 N-terminal amino acid residues and in the central part of AZ1. The activity of the second NES was inhibited by an N-terminal adjacent region and was only revealed in N-terminal truncated constructs. Both NESs were active when fused to an artificial nuclear protein SV40-NLS-EGFP-EGFP. The ability of AZ1 to shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm suggests that it has a novel function in the nucleus.
Evaluating the impact of a national pilot screening programme for type 2 diabetes in deprived areas of England.

BACKGROUND A pilot programme designed to systematically screen for type 2 diabetes was introduced in 24 general practices in England selected for their high levels of socio-economic deprivation and multi-ethnic populations. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of screening on the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. METHODS A prospective audit of screening activity in pilot practices and comparison of the change in prevalence of diabetes in pilot and comparison practices were conducted. RESULTS Of 41,400 individuals invited for screening from a population of 165,828 in pilot practices, 25,356 (61%) were screened. Three hundred and fifty-eight (0.22%) new cases of diabetes were detected among those screened. Only 69% of those with a positive screening test had diagnostic testing recorded and only 19% had a record of an oral glucose tolerance test. The absolute increase in the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was 0.53% in pilot practices and 0.42% in comparison practices. CONCLUSIONS The 'real world' nature of the programme and dependence on routine data collection systems makes results more difficult to interpret but also enabled problems with implementation, not evident from previous research, to be identified. It is likely that the low diagnostic yield was largely due to a high level of ad hoc screening activity outside the pilot protocol and inadequate access to diagnostic testing after a positive screening test. In particular, implementation of screening for diabetes in primary care should not be undertaken without robust assessment of the resources required for diagnostic testing and follow-up and adequate clinical audit.
No risk of metal toxicity in combined spinal-epidural anesthesia.

UNLABELLED Using the single level needle-through-needle technique for combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSE) may introduce very fine metal particles abraded by the spinal needle from the inner ground edge of the Tuohy needle into the patient. Either the local anesthetic administered epidurally or the peridural catheter may also pass intrathecally through the hole in the dura made by the spinal needle. To examine these concerns, the needle-through-needle technique was simulated in an in vitro model (18-gauge Tuohy needle; 27- or 29-gauge Quincke needle). The presence of abraded metal particles was identified by atomic absorption spectrography (AAS). The needles were then examined under an electron microscope. Metal particles could not be identified by using AAS in the needle-through-needle technique after normal clinical use, nor could traces of use be revealed by using an electron microscope to examine the Tuohy needle. With intentionally rough handling and caudal orientation of the spinal needle tip, minimal scratches could be seen by using an electron microscope, but there were no metal particles detected by AAS. In an anatomical preparation, the possible passage of the epidural catheter anesthetic through the dural puncture hole into the cerebrospinal fluid compartment was investigated endoscopically. Neither passage of dyed epidural local anesthetic nor penetration of the epidural catheter into the cerebrospinal fluid compartment could be demonstrated by endoscopy. We conclude that the needle-through-needle-technique is an acceptable way of performing CSE anesthesia. Endangering the patient by an unintentionally intrathecal misplacement of the epidural catheter seems to be very unlikely based on our in vitro model if small spinal needles (27- or 29-gauge) are used. IMPLICATIONS Atomic absorption spectrography shows no contamination of the intrathecal compartment by abraded metal particles from the Tuohy needle by combined spinal-epidural anesthesia with the needle-through-needle technique. In vitro, neither passage of dyed epidural local anesthetic nor penetration of the epidural catheter into the cerebrospinal fluid compartment could be demonstrated by endoscopy.
Hepatitis C infection and the risk of non-liver-related morbidity and mortality in HIV-positive persons in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND HCV infection has been associated with increased non-liver-related morbidity and mortality. However, studies have yielded inconsistent results. METHODS The incidence of clinical events in HIV-infected HCV-seropositive and incidence-density-matched HCV-seronegative participants of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study from 08/1994 to 12/2014 was studied. We compared firstly, HCV-seropositive with HCV-seronegative participants, and secondly, HCV-viremic with successfully treated nonviremic patients. Poisson regression was used to assess differences between these groups. RESULTS We included 2503 HCV-seropositive participants, 540 with spontaneous HCV-clearance, 1294 untreated HCV-RNA-positive, 345 treated with SVR, 281 treated without SVR, and 2503 HCV-seronegative controls. After a mean follow-up of 8.2 years, we observed 107/18 (HCV-seropositive/HCV-seronegative) liver events, 41/14 kidney events, 230/121 osteoporosis/fractures, 82/94 diabetes mellitus, 114/129 cardiovascular events, 119/147 non-AIDS malignancies, 162/126 HIVCDC B/C events, 106/10 liver-related deaths, and 227/218 non-liver-related deaths. Compared to HCV-negative controls, HCV-seropositive participants had an increased risk of liver events (IRR 6.29[95% CI 3.52-11.22]), liver-related death (8.24[3.61-18.83]), kidney events (2.43[1.11-5.33]), and osteoporosis/fracture (1.43[1.03-2.01]). Among HCV-seropositive individuals, treated participants without SVR versus those with SVR had a higher risk of liver events (6.79[2.33-19.81]), liver-related death (3.29[1.35-8.05]), and diabetes mellitus (4.62[1.53-13.96]). Similar but not statistically significant differences were found between untreated HCV-RNA positive patients and those with SVR. CONCLUSIONS While HCV-exposure was associated with an increased risk of kidney disease and osteoporosis/fracture, this risk did not seem to be dependent of persistent HCV-RNA. Successful HCV treatment was associated with a lower incidence of liver disease, liver-related death and diabetes mellitus while the other conditions studied were less affected.
Recombinant albumins containing additional peptide sequences smaller than barbourin retain the ability of barbourin-albumin to inhibit platelet aggregation

Summary The previously described fusion protein BLAH6 (Marques JA et al., Thromb Haemost 2001; 86: 902–8) is a recombinant protein that combines the small disintegrin barbourin with hexahisti-dine-tagged rabbit serum albumin (RSA) produced in Pichia pastoris yeast. We sought to determine: (1) if BLAH6 was immunogenic; and (2) if its barbourin domain could be productively replaced with smaller peptides. Purified BLAH6 was injected into rabbits, and anti-barbourin antibodies were universally detected in plasma 28 days later; BLAH6 was, however, equally effective in reducing platelet aggregation in both naïve and pre-treated rabbits. Thrombocytopenia was not observed, and complexing BLAH6 to αIIbβ3 had no effect on antibody detection. The bar-bourin moiety of BLAH6 was replaced with each of four sequences: Pep I (VCKGDWPC); Pep II (VCRGDWPC); Pep III (barbourin 41–54); and Pep IV (LPSPGDWR). The corresponding fusion proteins were tested for their ability to inhibit ADP-induced platelet aggregation. Pep III-LAH6 inhibited neither rabbit nor human platelets. Pep I-LAH6 and Pep IV-LAH6 inhibited rabbit platelet aggregation as effectively as BLAH6, but Pep IV-LAH6 did not inhibit human platelet aggregation. Pep I-LAH6 and Pep II LAH6 inhibited human platelet aggregation with IC50s 10– and 20-fold higher than BLAH6. Cross-immunoprecipitation assays with human platelet lysates confirmed that all proteins and peptides interacted with the platelet integrin αIIbβ3, but with greatly varying affinities. Our results suggest that the antiplatelet activity of BLAH6 can be retained in albumin fusion proteins in which smaller peptides replace the barbourin domain; these proteins may be less immunogenic than BLAH6.
Neural Interaction between Spatial Domain and Spatial Reference Frame in Parietal–Occipital Junction

On the basis of double dissociations in clinical symptoms of patients with unilateral visuospatial neglect, neuropsychological research distinguishes between different spatial domains (near vs. far) and different spatial reference frames (egocentric vs. allocentric). In this fMRI study, we investigated the neural interaction between spatial domains and spatial reference frames by constructing a virtual three-dimensional world and asking participants to perform either allocentric or egocentric judgments on an object located in either near or far space. Our results suggest that the parietal–occipital junction (POJ) not only shows a preference for near-space processing but is also involved in the neural interaction between spatial domains and spatial reference frames. Two dissociable streams of visual processing exist in the human brain: a ventral perception-related stream and a dorsal action-related stream. Consistent with the perception–action model, both far-space processing and allocentric judgments draw upon the ventral stream whereas both near-space processing and egocentric judgments draw upon the dorsal stream. POJ showed higher neural activity during allocentric judgments (ventral) in near space (dorsal) and egocentric judgments (dorsal) in far space (ventral) as compared with egocentric judgments (dorsal) in near space (dorsal) and allocentric judgments (ventral) in far space (ventral). Because representations in the dorsal and ventral streams need to interact during allocentric judgments (ventral) in near space (dorsal) and egocentric judgments (dorsal) in far space (ventral), our results imply that POJ is involved in the neural interaction between the two streams. Further evidence for the suggested role of POJ as a neural interface between the dorsal and ventral streams is provided by functional connectivity analysis.
Diagnosis of periodontal diseases using different classification algorithms: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the proposed study was to develop an identification unit for classifying periodontal diseases using support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), and artificial neural networks (ANNs). MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 150 patients was divided into two groups such as training (100) and testing (50). The codes created for risk factors, periodontal data, and radiographically bone loss were formed as a matrix structure and regarded as inputs for the classification unit. A total of six periodontal conditions was the outputs of the classification unit. The accuracy of the suggested methods was compared according to their resolution and working time. RESULTS DT and SVM were best to classify the periodontal diseases with a high accuracy according to the clinical research based on 150 patients. The performances of SVM and DT were found 98% with total computational time of 19.91 and 7.00 s, respectively. ANN had the worst correlation between input and output variable, and its performance was calculated as 46%. CONCLUSIONS SVM and DT appeared to be sufficiently complex to reflect all the factors associated with the periodontal status, simple enough to be understandable and practical as a decision-making aid for prediction of periodontal disease.
Inhibition of human experimental prostate cancers by a targeted cytotoxic luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone analog AN‐207

Receptors for luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone (LHRH) on human prostate cancers can be used for targeted chemotherapy with cytotoxic analogs of LHRH, such as AN‐207, which consists of superactive doxorubicin derivative 2‐pyrrolino doxorubicin (AN‐201) linked to carrier [d‐Lys6] LHRH.