Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Failed Laser Extraction of a Fractured Right Ventricle Defibrillator Lead in a Patient with Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava

Sohal et al (2) have previously reported a successful laser extraction of a 5–year-old Sprint Fidelis® ICD lead (Medtronic) through a PLSVC. The interest of our report lies in the description of the failure to extract a fractured RV-ICD lead, 6 years after the ICD implantation through a PLSVC, the placement of a new ICD RV lead, and postoperative PLSVC thrombosis. We cannot exclude that the venous occlusion might have occurred even if the defective lead was abandoned and a new lead inserted. It is however highly suspicious that the extraction caused the thrombus, because of the long sheath time manipulation and laser utilization. Venous occlusion after lead extraction is rarely described, but not properly looked for when asymptomatic (3). We used a 12-French sheath DOI: 10.5301/jva.5000475
A report on the XP workshop on agile product line engineering

Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) promises to lower the costs of developing individual applications as they heavily reuse existing artifacts. Besides decreasing costs, software reuse achieves faster development and higher quality. Traditionally, SPLE favors big design upfront and employs traditional, heavy weight processes. On the other hand, agile methods have been proposed to rapidly develop high quality software by focusing on producing working code while reducing upfront analysis and design. Combining both paradigms, although is challenging, can yield significant improvements. In this workshop, we discussed the challenges, the research questions and the tradeoffs that need to be addressed for such an integration to enjoy success.
Glycine metabolism. II. Kinetic and optical studies on the glycine decarboxylase system from Peptococcus glycinophilus.

Abstract Kinetic and optical properties of the pyridoxal phosphate-containing enzyme and the heat-stable, low molecular weight protein required for the exchange of bicarbonate with the glycine carboxyl group have been described. Saturation curves were determined for glycine, bicarbonate, pyridoxal phosphate, and the heat-stable protein P2; and Michaelis constants of 0.032 m, 0.031 m, 4.6 µm, and 1.3 mg per ml, respectively, were obtained. Treatment of the enzyme with cysteine removed the coenzyme and resulted in greatly decreased activity, but the activity was fully restored by incubation of the apoenzyme with pyridoxal phosphate. The ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the holoenzyme showed a maximum at 430 mµ which was reduced 85% by treatment with cysteine, but which was restored by incubation with pyridoxal phosphate. Fluorescence maxima at 390 and 500 mµ were observed when the holoenzyme was subjected to activating light at 330 and 430 mµ, respectively. The 500 mµ peak was associated with the azomethine linkage between the coenzyme and the enzyme since it was decreased by removal of pyridoxal phosphate, but the 390 mµ peak appeared to be associated only with the protein since it was not significantly altered by the above treatment.
Higher latitude and lower solar radiation influence on anaphylaxis in Chilean children

Recent studies suggest an association between higher latitude, a proxy of vitamin D (VD) status, and allergic diseases. Chile provides an ideal setting to study this association due to its latitude span and high rates of VD deficiency in southern regions. The aim of this study is to explore the associations of latitude and solar radiation with anaphylaxis admission rates.
OBSERVACIONES SOBRE LA COSECHA DE FOLLAJE DE COCOITE PARA ALIMENTAR CORDEROS EN PASTOREO

Se describe la eficiencia de la mano de obra durante la cosecha del follaje de cocoite (FC) de forma individual y en pareja. El estudio se realizo en una plantacion establecida de Gliricidia sepium ubicada en Huimanguillo Tabasco. Participaron cinco cosechadores. Se midio la eficiencia de cosecha de forma individual en cuatro de ellos y la eficiencia de cosecha en pareja. Las variables estudiadas fueron kg de follaje cosechado por hora en forma individual y por parejas en base humeda (BH) y base seca (BS). En las variables estudiadas se procedio a determinar estadisticos de tipo descriptivo. La media general ± DE para eficiencia de cosecha de FC por hora y ajustado por persona fue 7.0 ± 2.7 kg por hora en BH y 2.3 ± 0.9 por hora en BS. Se concluye que la eficiencia de cosecha de FC se ve afectada por el numero de participantes en la cosecha y por el cosechador.
Early Behavioral Development in Autistic Children: The First 2 Years of Life through Home Movies

Objective: The main aim of the research is to study the early behavioral development in autistic children through home movies. Methods: fifteen home movies, regarding the first 2 years of life of autistic children are compared with the home movies of 15 normal children. The films of the two groups were mixed and rated by blind ratings with the Grid for the Assessment of Normal Behavior in Infants and Toddlers. The grid is composed of 17 items grouped into three developmental areas: social competence, intersubjectivity and symbolic activity. For every area, we have identified specific children’s behaviors. Results: Significant differences between the two groups are found both in the range of age 0–6 for intersubjectivity, and in the ranges of age 6–12 and 18–24 for symbolic activity. Conclusions: The authors pose some hypotheses about an early-appearing impairment of intersubjectivity, the ability to represent other’s state of mind, in subjects with autistic disorder.
Unusual Structural Organization of the Endocytic Proteins AP180 and Epsin 1*

Epsin and AP180/CALM are important endocytic accessory proteins that are believed to be involved in the formation of clathrin coats. Both proteins associate with phosphorylated membrane inositol lipids through their epsin N-terminal homology domains and with other components of the endocytic machinery through short peptide motifs in their carboxyl-terminal segments. Using hydrodynamic and spectroscopic methods, we demonstrate that the parts of epsin 1 and AP180 that are involved in protein-protein interactions behave as poorly structured flexible polypeptide chains with little or no conventional secondary structure. The predominant cytosolic forms of both proteins are monomers. Furthermore, we show that recombinant epsin 1, like AP180, drives in vitro assembly of clathrin cages. We conclude that the epsin N-terminal homology domain-containing proteins AP180/CALM and epsin 1 have a very similar molecular architecture that is designed for the rapid and efficient recruitment of the principal coat components clathrin and AP-2 at the sites of coated pit assembly.
The effect of educational intervention on girl's behavior regarding nutrition: Applying the beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, and enabling factors

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an educational program based on the Belief, Attitude, Subjective Norm, and Enabling Factors (BASNEF) Model on the nutritional behavior among second-grade, middle school, female students in Isfahan city. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 72 students. The samples were randomly divided in two groups (36 in the intervention group and 36 in the control group). The data collection tools were validated and had reliable questionnaires. For the intervention group, a 75-minute educational session was held thrice. The control group had no education. The BASNEF model constructs guided the development of the questionnaires and content of the educational sessions. The independent t-test and paired t-test were used to analyze the data. A two-tailed P value lower than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Result: According to the results, the mean scores of knowledge and model variables (Belief, Attitude, Subjective Norm, and Enabling Factors) had a significant difference in the two groups after intervention (P < 0.001). On the basis of the findings, after educational intervention, 36.1% of the students had unfavorable nutritional behavior. In the control group, 88.9% of the students had unfavorable nutritional behavior, before and one month after intervention. Conclusion: The present study showed that nutrition education intervention based on the BASNEF model could promote the nutritional behavior in girl students.
Mast cells and tumor angiogenesis

Tumor angiogenesis factor (TAF) elicits a strong vasoproliferative response when implanted upon the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of the chick embryo. This response is first observed stereomicroscopically 2–3 days after implantation. A 40‐fold increase in mast cell density is observed within the vicinity of this implant by 24 h. Mast cells that have been isolated from retired breeder Sprague‐Dawley rats fail to evoke a vascular reaction when implanted on the CAM. An intermediate role for the mast cell in tumor angiogenesis is suggested.
Data-Driven ECG Denoising Techniques for Characterising Bipolar Lead Sets along the Left Arm in Wearable Long-Term Heart Rhythm Monitoring

Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are a major cause of cardiovascular disease and death in Europe. Sudden cardiac death accounts for 50% of cardiac mortality in developed countries; ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation is the most common underlying arrhythmia. In the ambulatory population, atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with an increased risk of stroke and heart failure, particularly in an aging population. Early detection of arrhythmias allows appropriate intervention, reducing disability and death. However, in the early stages of disease arrhythmias may be transient, lasting only a few seconds, and are thus difficult to detect. This work addresses the problem of extracting the far-field heart electrogram signal from noise components, as recorded in bipolar leads along the left arm, using a data driven ECG (electrocardiogram) denoising algorithm based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) methods to enable continuous non-invasive monitoring of heart rhythm for long periods of time using a wrist or arm wearable device with advanced biopotential sensors. Performance assessment against a control denoising method of signal averaging (SA) was implemented in a pilot study with 34 clinical cases. EEMD was found to be a reliable, low latency, data-driven denoising technique with respect to the control SA method, achieving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement to a standard closer to the SA control method, particularly on the upper arm-ECG bipolar leads. Furthermore, the SNR performance of the EEMD was improved when assisted with an FFT (fast Fourier transform ) thresholding algorithm (EEMD-fft).
Arm–Trunk Coordination for Beyond-the-Reach Movements in Adults With Stroke

Background. By involving additional degrees of freedom, the nervous system may preserve hand trajectories when making pointing movements with or without trunk displacement. Previous studies indicate that the potential contribution of trunk movement to hand displacement for movements made within arm reach is neutralized by appropriate compensatory shoulder and elbow rotations. For beyond-the-reach movements, compensatory coordination is attenuated after the hand peak velocity, allowing trunk movement to contribute to hand displacement. Objective. To investigate if the timing and spatial coordination of arm and trunk movements during beyond-the-reach movements is preserved in stroke. Methods. Eleven healthy control subjects and 11 individuals with mild-to-moderate chronic unilateral hemiparesis participated. Arm and trunk kinematics during 60 target reaches to an ipsilaterally placed target were recorded. In 30% of randomly chosen trials, trunk movement was unexpectedly prevented (blocked-trunk trials) by an electromagnetic device, resulting in divergence of the hand trajectory from that in free-trunk trials. Hand trajectories and elbow–shoulder interjoint coordination were compared between trials. Results. In stroke participants, hand trajectory divergence occurred at a shorter movement extent and interjoint coordination patterns diverged at a relatively greater distance compared to controls. Thus, arm movements in stroke participants only partially compensated trunk displacement resulting in the trunk movement contributing to arm movement earlier and to a larger extent during reaching. Conclusion. Individuals with mild-to-moderate stroke have deficits in timing and spatial coordination of arm and trunk movements during different parts of a reaching movement. This deficit may be targeted in therapy to improve upper limb function.
Adaptogenic activity of Withania somnifera : an experimental study using a rat model of chronic stress

Withania somnifera (WS) Dunal is classified in Ayurveda, the ancient Hindu system of medicine, as a rasayana, a group of plant-derived drugs reputed to promote physical and mental health, augment resistance of the body against disease and diverse adverse environmental factors, revitalise the body in debilitated conditions and increase longevity. These attributes are remarkably similar to the properties ascribed to adaptogens like Panax ginseng (PG) in contemporary medicine. As such, the adaptogenic activity of a standardised extract of WS roots was investigated against a rat model of chronic stress (CS). The stress procedure was mild, unpredictable footshock, administered once daily for 21 days to adult male Wistar rats. CS induced significant hyperglycaemia, glucose intolerance, increase in plasma corticosterone levels, gastric ulcerations, male sexual dysfunction, cognitive deficits, immunosuppression and mental depression. These CS induced perturbations were attenuated by WS (25 and 50 mg/kg po) and by PG (100 mg/kg po), administered 1 h before footshock for 21 days. The results indicate that WS, like PG, has significant antistress adaptogenic activity, confirming the clinical use of the plant in Ayurveda. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Testing the Interaction between NOD-2 Status and Serological Response to Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in Cases of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

ABSTRACT In a population-based case-control study we have previously shown that 14% of healthy Manitobans carry one or two mutations in the NOD-2 locus, a gene highly associated with Crohn's disease (CD). The NOD-2 protein is the receptor responsible for recognition of bacterial peptidoglycans, and it is plausible that NOD-2 is involved in the recognition of mycobacteria. Thirty-seven percent of Manitobans with CD had ≥1 NOD-2 mutation, leading to a threefold increased risk of CD for single-mutant carriers and a 30-fold increased risk for double-mutant carriers. In the same population groups, we assessed the seroprevalence for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and found it to be 35%, with no differences between CD, ulcerative colitis (UC), and controls. Because of high rates of CD and UC in Manitoba, we assessed whether there was an interaction between carrying a NOD-2 mutation and M. paratuberculosis seropositivity. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for serum antibodies to M. paratuberculosis in cattle was adapted for human use. DNA was purified from whole blood. Subjects were genotyped for three NOD-2 variants, G908R, Cins1007fs, and R702W. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NOD-2 gene mutations significantly associated with CD, but M. paratuberculosis serology did not. Furthermore, there was no interaction between NOD-2 mutation status and M. paratuberculosis serology status. For those with the NOD-2 mutation, the likelihood of CD subjects having positive M. paratuberculosis serology was similar to that of controls (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 0.55-3.11). No interaction could be proven for UC or by combining CD and UC compared to controls. In conclusion, we could not find an interaction between the NOD-2 genotype and M. paratuberculosis serology in relationship to CD or UC.
Biodiversity and Evolution in the Vanilla Genus

Since the publication of the first vanilla book by Bouriquet (1954c) and the more recent review on vanilla biodiversity (Bory et al., 2008b), there has been a world regain of interest for this genus, as witnessed by the recently published vanilla books (Cameron, 2011a; Havkin-Frenkel & Belanger, 2011; Odoux & Grisoni, 2010). A large amount of new data regarding the genus biodiversity and its evolution has also been obtained. These will be reviewed in the present paper and new data will also be presented. (Resume d'auteur)
Inhibition of methylphenidate-induced behaviors in rats: differences among neuroleptics.

Methylphenidate (MPD) increased in rats the incidence of sniffing, rearing and locomotion, and this along dose-response curves that had an inverted U-shape; at 40 mg/kg, MPD exclusively induced stereotyped gnawing, which was inhibited by neuroleptics. However, as gnawing induced by 40 mg/kg MPD was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner, other responses (i.e., sniffing, rearing and locomotion) appeared. Higher doses of neuroleptics also inhibited these latter responses, so that the behavior of the MPD-treated animals became similar to that of normal controls. Only some nonsedative neuroleptics appeared able to normalize the behavior of MPD-treated rats at doses that induced neither complete behavioral suppression nor adverse effects. The neuroleptics differed markedly, however, in terms of the relative doses at which they 1) inhibited gnawing, 2) inhibited the other effects of MPD and 3) induced complete behavioral suppression and/or adverse effects. This variation among neuroleptics, which appears to represent a novel aspect of their ability to antagonize behavioral effects of central nervous system stimulants, may be based on differences in the extent to which they exert agonist activity at dopamine receptors. Assuming that MPD-induced behaviors model the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, it may be hypothesized that the differences among the neuroleptics observed here provide an indication of their efficacy to reduce positive symptoms in schizophrenics.
Pneumothorax: experience with 1,199 patients.

OBJECTIVE To study the outcome of pneumothorax managed in a university-affiliated metropolitan medical center. DESIGN A retrospective review. SETTING Busy metropolitan medical center. PATIENTS AND METHODS Records of 1,199 patients with pneumothorax were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS Primary spontaneous pneumothorax occurred in 218 patients, secondary spontaneous pneumothorax occurred in 505, traumatic in 403, and iatrogenic in 73. Ninety-six patients with small pneumothorax (8%) were managed by observation, and 1,103 patients (92%) were managed by tube thoracostomy. Drainage of the pleural cavity was continued for 1 to 7 days in 893 patients (81%), 8 to 10 days in 176 patients (16%), and > 10 days in 34 patients (3%). Drainage for > 10 days was classified as persistent pneumothorax. In these 34 patients and in 132 others with a second ipsilateral recurrence (a total of 166 patients), direct pleuroscopy was performed. The pleuroscopy findings and further management are outlined in the algorithm. CONCLUSIONS Pneumothorax is a common condition affecting all age groups. If the volume of the pneumothorax is > 20% of the pleural space, pleural drainage is indicated. For management of persistent or recurrent pneumothorax, the use of pleuroscopy (direct or video-assisted) is of great value and should be part of routine management.
Protective factor against progression from atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer—data from a cohort study in Japan

To investigate the association between atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer and to identify the risk and protective factors for the progression of atrophic gastritis to cancer, we conducted a prospective study on 5,373 subjects with neither cancer nor resected stomach who underwent gastroscopic examination and completed a life‐style questionnaire. After an average of 6 years of follow‐up, 69 gastric‐cancer cases were identified, 65 from the subjects with atrophic gastritis and 4 from the subjects without atrophic gastritis. The presence of atrophic gastritis increased the risk of gastric cancer 2.19‐fold, the risk trend increasing with the degree and the extension of atrophy [relative risk (RR) 1.60 for mild atrophy and 2.85 for moderate and severe atrophy]. Among the subjects with atrophic gastritis, family history of gastric cancer (RR 2.27) and a preference for spicy food (RR 1.84) increased the risk, and self‐administered meal controls, such as portion reduction (RR 0.44) reduction of salty food (RR 0.56), and the change to the consumption of easily digested food (RR 0.57) decreased the risk of gastric cancer. The results of this study suggest that atrophic gastritis increases the risk of gastric cancer but that dietary modification prevents the progression from atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer, regardless of pre‐cancerous lesions. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A Performance Analysis of the XACML Decision Process and the Impact of Caching

Whenever multiple service providers and high demanding service customers communicate with each other, the need of compliance to legal regulations and enterprise guidelines increases the expectations on technologies and systems used to ensure security and data privacy. Regarding the challenge of managing access rules and enforcing authorization to data and resources, OASIS' XACML standard provides a flexible and distributed approach. We provide an XACML-based authorization in the TRESOR Cloud Ecosystem "as a service" for SaaS providers and consumers. In this ecosystem the complexity and amount of access policies and rules raises scalability concerns. This paper explores the possibilities for caching and performance optimization in XACML, primarily focusing on XACML version 3 (XACMLv3) and its Policy Decision Point (PDP). We provide an overview of existing approaches to caching and performance optimization and conclude that most current approaches are concerned with the policy evaluation itself but not with finding applicable policies or loading and storing policies, rather attempting to increase performance through policy reconfiguration, translation, normalization or clustering. Furthermore, we explore the use of caching at specific points during the evaluation process, namely loading policies, finding policies and evaluation, for better performance along with other more general improvements.
Resistance to Millettia molluscicide in Biomphalaria glabrata: a quantitative genetical approach

Summary This paper demonstrates the use of a quantitative genetical technique to assess genetic variance in molluscicide resistance in a Millettia thonningii-Biomphalaria glabrata system. Results indicated that there were significant genetic variances in both snail size and survival time in 10 p.p.m. molluscicide suspension. The possibility of wider applications of this technique in examining the genetic basis of molluscicide or pesticide resistance in target species is discussed.
Variational Inference via χ Upper Bound Minimization

Variational inference (VI) is widely used as an efficient alternative to Markov chain Monte Carlo. It posits a family of approximating distributions q and finds the closest member to the exact posterior p. Closeness is usually measured via a divergence D(q||p) from q to p. While successful, this approach also has problems. Notably, it typically leads to underestimation of the posterior variance. In this paper we propose CHIVI, a black-box variational inference algorithm that minimizes Dχ(p||q), the χ-divergence from p to q. CHIVI minimizes an upper bound of the model evidence, which we term the χ upper bound (CUBO). Minimizing the CUBO leads to improved posterior uncertainty, and it can also be used with the classical VI lower bound (ELBO) to provide a sandwich estimate of the model evidence. We study CHIVI on three models: probit regression, Gaussian process classification, and a Cox process model of basketball plays. When compared to expectation propagation and classical VI, CHIVI produces better error rates and more accurate estimates of posterior variance.