Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stimulation strength and focality of electroconvulsive therapy and magnetic seizure therapy in a realistic head model

This study examines the characteristics of the electric field (E-field) induced in the brain by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and magnetic seizure therapy (MST). The electric field induced by five ECT electrode configurations (bilateral, bifrontal, right unilateral, focal electrically administered seizure therapy, and frontomedial) as well as an MST coil configuration (circular) was computed in an anatomically realistic finite element model of the human head. We computed the maps of the electric field strength relative to an estimated neural activation threshold, and used them to evaluate the stimulation strength and focality of the various ECT and MST paradigms. The results show that the median ECT stimulation strength in the brain is 3-11 times higher than that for MST, and that the stimulated brain volume is substantially higher with ECT (47-100%) than with MST (21%). Our study provides insight into the observed reduction of cognitive side effects in MST compared to ECT, and supports arguments for lowering ECT current amplitude as a means of curbing its side effects.
Pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and non-preeclampsia-related nephrotic range proteinuria

Objective To examine the impact of nephrotic range proteinuria during pregnancy on renal, maternal and fetal outcomes. Methods A retrospective study of pregnant women with proteinuria greater than 3 g/24 h. Outcome measures included: gestation and mode of delivery, maternal high dependency unit admission, birth weight, maternal blood pressure and proteinuria at time of last follow-up, renal biopsy. Results Two hundred and sixty four pregnancies in 262 women were reviewed. Postnatal data were available in 180; of these 104 (57%) had urinary protein quantified postnatally. Sixty three (60%) were pure preeclampsia and nine (9%) super-imposed preeclampsia. Biopsy-proven renal disease was newly diagnosed in nine (9%). Sixty three per cent required caesarean section and 34% required high dependency unit admission. There were no maternal deaths. Birth weight corrected for gestation was below the fifth centile in 33%. Conclusions The incidence of underlying renal pathology in this cohort is significant and highlights the importance of careful follow-up.
Acute coronary syndromes in the GUSTO-IIb trial: prognostic insights and impact of recurrent ischemia. The GUSTO-IIb Investigators.

BACKGROUND Recurrent ischemia after an acute coronary syndrome portends an unfavorable outcome and has major resource-use implications. This issue has not been studied systematically among the spectrum of patients with acute coronary presentations, encompassing those with and without ST-segment elevation. METHODS AND RESULTS We assessed the 1-year prognosis of the 12 142 patients enrolled in the GUSTO-IIb trial by the presence (n=4125) or absence (n=8001) of ST-segment elevation. This latter group was further categorized into those with baseline myocardial infarction (n=3513) or unstable angina (n=4488). We also assessed the incidence of recurrent ischemia and its impact on outcomes. Recurrent ischemia was significantly rarer in those with ST-segment elevation (23%) than in those without (35%; P<0.001). Mortality at 30 days was greater among patients with ST-segment elevation (6.1% versus 3.8%; P<0.001) but less so at 6 months; by 1 year, mortality did not differ significantly (9.6% versus 8.8%). Patients with non-ST-segment-elevation infarction had higher rates of reinfarction at 6 months (9.8% versus 6.2%) and higher 6-month (8.8% versus 5.0%) and 1-year mortality rates (11.1% versus 7.0%) than such patients who had unstable angina. CONCLUSIONS Refractory ischemia was associated with an approximate doubling of mortality among patients with ST-segment elevation and a near tripling of risk among those without ST elevation. This study highlights not only the substantial increase in late mortality and reinfarction with non-ST-segment-elevation infarction but also the opportunities for better triage and application of therapeutic strategies for patients with recurrent ischemia.
Health status of children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy

The aim of the study was to evaluate the health of children with cerebral palsy (CP) using a global assessment of quality of life, condition‐specific measures, and assessments of health care use. A multicenter population‐based cross‐sectional survey of 235 children, aged 2 to 18 years, with moderate to severe impairment, was carried out using Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels III (n= 56), IV (n=55), and V (n=122). This study group scored significantly below the mean on the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) for Pain, General Health, Physical Functioning, and Impact on Parents. These children used more medications than children without CP from a national sample. Fifty‐nine children used feeding tubes. Children in GMFCS level V who used a feeding tube had the lowest estimate of mental age, required the most health care resources, used the most medications, had the most respiratory problems, and had the lowest Global Health scores. Children with the most severe motor disability who have feeding tubes are an especially frail group who require numerous health‐related resources and treatments. Also, there is a relationship among measures of health status such as the CHQ, functional abilities, use of resources, and mental age, but each appears to measure different aspects of health and well‐being and should be used in combination to reflect children's overall health status.
Decomposition of the Czech government bond yield curve

The term structure of yields is an important source of information on market expectations about future macroeconomic developments and investors' risk perceptions and preferences. This article presents the methodology used by the CNB to obtain such information. It describes the decomposition of the Czech government bond yield curve into its components. The evolution of those components is interpreted in relation to the macro-financial environment. The practical use of the method in the financial sector stress tests conducted by the CNB is then presented.
Critical gap estimation at two-way stop-controlled intersections based on occupancy time data

ABSTRACT Critical gap estimated at four Indian intersections using six popular techniques revealed a wide variation and many of these values are found to be unrealistically low. It indicates that all these methods are not adequate to address the complex traffic behaviour that exists in heterogeneous and non-lane-based traffic environment. A new method based on the occupancy time (OT) of a vehicle in the intersection area is proposed for the estimation of critical gap under mixed traffic conditions. The method is demonstrated to provide reasonably good results when applied to the data collected at one intersection in the US also. The correctness of the proposed method is further demonstrated by comparing the field capacity of a non-priority movement at one of the intersections with the theoretical capacity. It is found that the proposed method gives the capacity which is closer to field capacity than those estimated by the maximum likelihood method or modified Raff method.
The Consumer Expenditure Survey: Quality Control by Comparative Analysis

Postsurvey evaluation is an integral part of a program of quality assurance for the ongoing Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) . Comparisons with data from independent sources serve to monitor consistency of results from the survey and help identify areas where survey performance can be improved . This article highlights some of the findings obtained by comparing aggregate consumer expenditures from the CE with data from alternative sources.
Sun protection practices, knowledge and attitudes to tans among New Zealand adolescents, 1991-1997.

AIMS To examine change in the self-reported sun protection, knowledge and attitudes to tans amongst fourth form students from 1991 to 1997. METHODS Questionnaires were mailed to 20 New Zealand secondary schools, where 20 students were randomly selected to participate in each school. RESULTS The proportions of adolescents who reported getting sunburnt over summer, and sunbathing for the purpose of tanning increased significantly from 1991 to 1997, while there were decreases in the proportions who reported getting a suntan, wearing clothing for sun protection and having heard of melanoma. There was also some evidence of a decrease in the attribution of positive qualities to a tan. CONCLUSIONS Some positive changes in attitudes to tanning among New Zealand adolescents were present over the 1991-1997 period. Although these changes are promising there was little change in utilisation of sun protection measures, in fact, there was evidence that this had worsened.
Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.15.6 MAC Protocol under Non-Ideal Channel Conditions and Saturated Traffic Regime

Recently, the IEEE 802.15. 6 Task Group introduced a new wireless communication standard that provides a suitable framework specifically to support the requirements of wireless body area networks (WBANs). The standardization dictates the physical (PHY) layer and medium access control (MAC) layer protocols for WBAN-based communications. Unlike the pre-existing wireless communication standards, IEEE 802.15. 6 standardization supports short-range, extremely low power wireless communication with high quality of service and support for high data rates upto 10 Mbps in the vicinity of living tissues. In this work, we construct a discrete-time Markov chain (DTMC) that efficiently depicts the states of an IEEE 802.15. 6 CSMA/CA-based WBAN. Following this, we put forward a thorough analysis of the standard in terms of reliability, throughput, average delay, and power consumption. The work concerns non-ideal channel characteristics and a saturated network traffic regime. The major shortcoming of the existing literature on Markov chain-based analysis of IEEE 802.15. 6 is that the authors did not take into consideration the time spent by a node awaiting the acknowledgement frame after transmission of a packet, until time-out occurs. Also, most of the work assume that ideal channel characteristics persist for the network which is hardly the case in practice. This work remains distinctive as we take into account the waiting time of a node after it transmits a packet while constructing the DTMC. Based on the DTMC, we perform a user priority (UP)-wise analysis, and justify the importance of the standard from a medical perspective.
Primary maternal cytomegalovirus infections during pregnancy: association of CMV hyperimmune globulin with gestational age at birth and birth weight

Abstract Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) hyperimmune globulin (HIG) may be helpful after a primary maternal CMV infection during pregnancy as a therapy for infected fetuses or to prevent maternal-to-fetus transmission of CMV. Although immunoglobulins administered during pregnancy appear safe, previous studies have not monitored HIG for a possible effect on duration of gestation and birth weight. Methods: We used clinical data on 358 women with a primary CMV infection during pregnancy, 164 of whom received one or more infusions of HIG. Results: The average birth weight of the 358 infants was 3076 g and the average gestational age at delivery for 351 women was 38.2 weeks. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, the only factor associated with low birth weight and the duration of gestation was the presence of symptoms at birth. The receipt of HIG was not associated with either a diminished birth weight or a reduced duration of pregnancy. The receipt of multiple doses of HIG (range 1–8) was significantly correlated with an increase in birth weight (p = 0.006) and gestational age at delivery (p = 0.014). This correlation was also significant for all asymptomatic infants and for infants whose mothers received multiple doses of HIG to prevent fetal infection. Conclusion: HIG administration during pregnancy is not associated with either diminished gestation or decreased birth weight and may enhance these parameters among women who receive multiple doses starting in early gestation.
Screening of differentially expressed genes among various TNM stages of lung adenocarcinoma by genomewide gene expression profile analysis.

BACKGROUND To further investigate the molecular basis of lung cancer development, we utilize a microarray to identify differentially expressed genes associated with various TNM stages of adenocarcinoma, a subtype with increasing incidence in recent years in China. METHODS A 35K oligo gene array, covering about 25,100 genes, was used to screen differentially expressed genes among 90 tumor samples of lung adenocarcinoma in various TNM stages. To verify the gene array data, three genes (Zimp7, GINS2 and NAG-1) were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR in a different set of samples from the gene array. RESULTS First, we obtained 640 differentially expressed genes in lung adenocarcinomas compared to the surrounding normal lung tissues. Then, from the 640 candidates we identified 10 differentially expressed genes among different TNM stages (Stage I, II and IIIA), of which Zimp7, GINS2 and NAG-1 genes were first reported to be present at a high level in lung adenocarcinoma. The results of qRT-PCR for the three genes were consistent with those from the gene array. CONCLUSIONS We identified 10 candidate genes associated with different TNM stages in lung adenocarcinoma in the Chinese population, which should provide new insights into the molecular basis underlying the development of lung adenocarcinoma and may offer new targets for the diagnosis, therapy and prognosis prediction.
Personalized ECG signal classification using block-based neural-network and particle swarm optimization

The purpose of this paper is the classification of ECG heartbeats of a specific patient in five heartbeat types according to AAMI recommendation, using an implementable neural network such as Block-based Neural Network (BBNN). A BBNN is created from 2-D array of blocks that are connected to each other and easily can be expanded. Each block is a neural network. Because of flexibility in structure and internal configurations of BBNN, we can implement that with a reconfigurable digital hardware such as field programmable gate array (FPGA). The internal structure of each block depends on number of incoming and outgoing signals. Therefore, the overall construction of network is determined by the moving of signal through the network blocks. Network structure and the weights are optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Input of the BBNN is a vector that the elements of this vector are the features that extracted from ECG signal. In this paper wavelet transform based features and temporal features that extracted from ECG signals create the input vector of BBNN. ECG signals are time varying and also for different people are unique. The BBNN parameters have been optimized by PSO algorithm witch can overcome the possible changes of ECG signals. The performance evaluation using the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database shows a high classification accuracy of 97 %.
Risk of hepatitis B infection among young injection drug users in San Francisco: opportunities for intervention.

OBJECTIVE To compare the demographic characteristics and risk behaviors for hepatitis B infection among injection drug users younger than 30 years with those aged 30 or older and to evaluate participants' knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of infection, screening, and vaccination against hepatitis B virus. DESIGN A systematic sample of injection drug users not currently in a treatment program were recruited and interviewed at needle exchange programs and community sites. PARTICIPANTS 135 injection drug users younger than 30 years and 96 injection drug users aged 30 or older. RESULTS Injection drug users younger than 30 were twice as likely as drug users aged 30 or older to report having shared needles in the past 30 days (36/135 [27%] vs 12/96 [13%]). Injection drug users younger than 30 were also twice as likely to report having had more than two sexual partners in the past 6 months (80/135 [59%] vs 29/96 [30%]). Although 88 of 135 (68%) young injection drug users reported having had contact with medical providers within the past 6 months only 13 of 135 (10%) had completed the hepatitis B vaccine series and only 16 of (13%) perceived themselves as being at high risk of becoming infected with the virus. CONCLUSION Few young injection drug users have been immunized even though they have more frequent contact with medical providers and are at a higher risk for new hepatitis B infection than older drug users. Clinicians caring for young injection drug users and others at high risk of infection should provide education, screening, and vaccination to reduce an important source of hepatitis B infection.
Sertraline response in adults with mental retardation and autistic disorder.

BACKGROUND Self-injury and aggression are common reasons for urgent psychiatric referral of persons with mental retardation and autistic spectrum disorders. Although the treatment prescribed for these problems has traditionally been neuroleptic medication, serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as sertraline may result in significant clinical improvement as well as fewer side effects. METHOD The authors administered sertraline in an open trial to nine consecutively admitted adult mentally retarded outpatients presenting with target behaviors of self-injury and/or aggression. Most patients (N = 6) were mildly or moderately mentally retarded by DSM-III-R criteria; five had comorbid autistic disorder. Prescribed dosages ranged from 25 mg to 150 mg daily, based on observed clinical responses. Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) ratings were made at baseline and again after sertraline treatment for at least 28 days. RESULTS Sertraline led to improvement in CGI ratings of overall clinical severity in eight of nine subjects; mean +/- SD improvement in CGI ratings was 2.44 points +/- 1.67. Discontinuation of the treatment was necessary in only one patient, after 18 weeks of sertraline treatment, because of agitation and worsening of self-picking. Side effects were otherwise minimal. CONCLUSION These findings from a clinical sample suggest that sertraline is promising in the treatment of self-injury and aggression. Double-blind controlled studies of sertraline and other serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of self-injury and aggression in patients with mental retardation and with autistic disorder are warranted.
Fractional anisotropy values of calf muscles in normative state after exercise: preliminary results.

PURPOSE We measured fractional anisotropy (FA) of calf muscles from diffusion tensor (DT) images from simultaneous scanning of bilateral calves and determined changes in values after unilateral exercise loading. METHOD We obtained DT images of both calves of 10 healthy male volunteers and measured FA of the anterior tibialis, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles. Two of the ten were subjected to loaded exercise in their right calves; we recorded FA values immediately after exercise and 24 hours, 72 hours, and 1 week later. RESULTS At rest, the mean FA values of the 20 calves were 0.63+/-0.02 in the anterior tibialis, 0.56+/-0.05 in the gastrocnemius, and 0.57+/-0.04 in the soleus muscles. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.001) by analysis of variance (ANOVA), and differences between anterior tibialis and gastrocnemius (corrected P<0.01) and anterior tibialis and soleus (corrected P<0.01) muscles were significant by Bonferroni post hoc test. The FA values of the exercise-loaded soleus and gastrocnemius muscles of the 2 volunteers decreased just after exercise but gradually recovered to the baseline after one week. CONCLUSION Our method may be useful for assessing minimal muscle damage related to muscle fatigue.
Imputation-Based Fine-Mapping Suggests That Most QTL in an Outbred Chicken Advanced Intercross Body Weight Line Are Due to Multiple, Linked Loci

The Virginia chicken lines have been divergently selected for juvenile body weight for more than 50 generations. Today, the high- and low-weight lines show a >12-fold difference for the selected trait, 56-d body weight. These lines provide unique opportunities to study the genetic architecture of long-term, single-trait selection. Previously, several quantitative trait loci (QTL) contributing to weight differences between the lines were mapped in an F2-cross between them, and these were later replicated and fine-mapped in a nine-generation advanced intercross of them. Here, we explore the possibility to further increase the fine-mapping resolution of these QTL via a pedigree-based imputation strategy that aims to better capture the genetic diversity in the divergently selected, but outbred, founder lines. The founders of the intercross were high-density genotyped, and then pedigree-based imputation was used to assign genotypes throughout the pedigree. Imputation increased the marker density 20-fold in the selected QTL, providing 6911 markers for the subsequent analysis. Both single-marker association and multi-marker backward-elimination analyses were used to explore regions associated with 56-d body weight. The approach revealed several statistically and population structure independent associations and increased the mapping resolution. Further, most QTL were also found to contain multiple independent associations to markers that were not fixed in the founder populations, implying a complex underlying architecture due to the combined effects of multiple, linked loci perhaps located on independent haplotypes that still segregate in the selected lines.
Day-to-day variability of blood glucose concentration curves generated at home in cats with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate day-to-day variability in blood glucose curves (BGCs) generated at home and at the clinic for cats with diabetes mellitus. DESIGN Prospective study. ANIMALS 7 cats with diabetes mellitus. Procedures-BGCs generated at home on 2 consecutive days and within 1 week at the clinic were obtained twice. On each occasion, insulin dose, amount of food, and type of food were consistent for all 3 BGCs. Results of curves generated at home were compared with each other and with the corresponding clinic curve. RESULTS Differences between blood glucose concentration determined after food was withheld (fasting), nadir concentration, time to nadir concentration, maximum concentration, and mean concentration during 12 hours had high coefficients of variation, as did the difference between fasting blood glucose and nadir concentrations and area under the curve of home curves. Differences between home curve variables were not smaller than those between home and clinic curves, indicating large day-to-day variability in both home and clinic curves. Evaluation of the paired home curves led to the same theoretical recommendation for adjustment of insulin dose on 6 of 14 occasions, and evaluation of home and clinic curves resulted in the same recommendation on 14 of 28 occasions. Four of the 6 paired home curves in cats with good glycemic control and 2 of the 8 paired home curves in cats with poor glycemic control led to the same recommendation. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Considerable day-to-day variability was detected in BGCs generated at home. Cats with good glycemic control may have more reproducible curves generated during blood collection at home than cats with poorer control.