Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Periodontal disease and recurrent cardiovascular events in survivors of myocardial infarction (MI): the Western New York Acute MI Study.

BACKGROUND Periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been the focus of much research, but little is known about their roles in the recurrent event risk in patients with CVD. This study investigates whether periodontal disease is related to recurrent CVD events and mortality in survivors of incident myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS Participants (668 males and 216 females; mean age: 54 + or - 8.5 years) were recruited (1997 through 2004) from two western New York county hospitals and completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire regarding lifestyle habits, clinical measurements, and a comprehensive dental examination. The periodontal disease status was measured by the mean clinical attachment loss (AL). Follow-up surveys assessed hospitalizations or medical procedures; cardiovascular events were validated by medical records. A National Death Index (NDI) Plus search was conducted. The outcome was recurrent fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events (International Classification of Diseases codes 390 to 450). RESULTS After an average follow-up of 2.9 years, 154 events were reported. Among never-smokers, the adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for the mean clinical AL (millimeters) was 1.43 (1.09 to 1.89). No associations were found in ever-smokers (clinical AL by smoking interaction: P <0.05). CONCLUSION These findings indicate that periodontal disease may be an important factor in determining recurrent cardiovascular events in MI patients and not merely a marker for the effects of cigarette smoking.
DNN and CNN with Weighted and Multi-task Loss Functions for Audio Event Detection

This report presents our audio event detection system submitted for Task 2, "Detection of rare sound events", of DCASE 2017 challenge. The proposed system is based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and deep neural networks (DNNs) coupled with novel weighted and multi-task loss functions and state-of-the-art phase-aware signal enhancement. The loss functions are tailored for audio event detection in audio streams. The weighted loss is designed to tackle the common issue of imbalanced data in background/foreground classification while the multi-task loss enables the networks to simultaneously model the class distribution and the temporal structures of the target events for recognition. Our proposed systems significantly outperform the challenge baseline, improving F-score from 72.7% to 90.0% and reducing detection error rate from 0.53 to 0.18 on average on the development data. On the evaluation data, our submission obtains an average F1-score of 88.3% and an error rate of 0.22 which are significantly better than those obtained by the DCASE baseline (i.e. an F1-score of 64.1% and an error rate of 0.64).
Verification of the isotopic composition of precipitation simulated by a regional isotope circulation model over Japan*

ABSTRACT The isotopic composition (δ18O and δ2H) of precipitation simulated by a regional isotope circulation model with a horizontal resolution of 10, 30 and 50 km was compared with observations at 56 sites over Japan in 2013. All simulations produced reasonable spatio-temporal variations in δ18O in precipitation over Japan, except in January. In January, simulated δ18O values in precipitation were higher than observed values on the Pacific side of Japan, especially during an explosively developing extratropical cyclone event. This caused a parameterisation of precipitation formulation about the large fraction of precipitated water to liquid detrained water in the lower troposphere. As a result, most water vapour that transported from the Sea of Japan precipitated on the Sea of Japan side. The isotopic composition of precipitation was a useful verification tool for the parameterisation of precipitation formulation as well as large-scale moisture transport processes in the regional isotope circulation model.
Endocrine therapy for prostate cancer

Endocrine therapy of prostate cancer has mostly been reserved to patients with advanced stages of the disease. The principle for endocrine treatment of prostate cancer is elimination of stimulatory effects of testicular androgens on the prostate tumour cells. This can be achieved by surgical removal of the testes, by inhibition of pituitary gonadotrohin secretion by GnRH-angonsists or antagonists, by oestrogens or by non-steroidal antiandrogens. Since non-steroidal antiandrogens have fewer side-effects than castrational therapies, there is an increased interest for using endocrine treatment as adjuvant therapy after localized treatment. At least in certain stages of the disease, early hormonal treatment may have survival benefits. The timing of endocrine therapy, the usage of combined androgen blockade and intermittent endocrine therapy will be discussed in this overview.
The use of APACHE II prognostic system in difficult-to-wean patients after long-term mechanical ventilation

Background and objective: To examine the calibration of the prognostic system Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Score (APACHE II) regarding hospital mortality and predicting weaning outcome after long-term mechanical ventilation of the lungs. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study performed in a respiratory intensive care unit including 246 patients whose lungs were ventilated for 42.1 ± 37.8 (median 30) days in the referring hospital. APACHE II (24 h after admission to our respiratory intensive care unit) and the cause of respiratory failure, underlying disease, prior duration of mechanical ventilation and gender were recorded. The predictive power was evaluated with sensitivity and specificity for different cut-off points and summarized in a receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: No difference was found between survivors (APACHE II 16.0 ± 4.3) and non-survivors (APACHE II 16.9 ± 5.1). In a mean time of 8.0 ± 10.3 days, 146 patients (59.3%) were successfully weaned (APACHE II 15.2 ± 3.5). One-hundred patients (40.7%) were considered unweanable (APACHE II 17.7 ± 5.3). Recalibration of APACHE II to predict weaning failure was possible, resulting in an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.638. Furthermore the AUC improved to 0.723 by changing the weights of selected APACHE items and introducing external factors. Diagnostic accuracy fell from group with mechanical ventilation ⩽25 days (AUC 0.770) to group with mechanical ventilation >50 days (AUC 0.517). Conclusions: APACHE II did not predict hospital mortality after long-term mechanical ventilation of the lungs. Not the original APACHE II but a recalibrated and adapted APACHE II can be useful to predict weaning outcome in patients with less than 25 days of prior lung ventilation.
Calcium Signalling During RVD of Kidney Cells

The balance of a high extracellular osmolarity in the kidney medulla is mainly based on an accumulation of organic osmolytes in the cells. The regulation of cell volume during hypotonic conditions results in a release of organic osmolytes – a process that is partly calcium-dependent. Using calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we have investigated calcium signalling during regulatory volume decrease (RVD) in kidney cells. In rat inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) cells in primary culture, hypotonic stress induced a calcium release from intracellular stores that preceded calcium entry from the extracellular milieu. Hyposmotic stress had no effect on the cellular IP3 content. Preincubation with 100 μmol/l ETYA (a non-metabolizible derivative of arachidonic acid), however, reduced the calcium response to hypotonic stress as well as the RVD. Blocker of voltage-dependent calcium channels (verapamil, diltiazem, and nifedipine) in the concentration of 40 μmol/l reduced partly the calcium response. SKF-96365, an inhibitor of receptor-mediated calcium channels, also attenuated the calcium influx. In conclusion, swelling of IMCD cells increases intracellular calcium by release from intracellular stores and entry across the cell membranes. The signalling involves arachidonic acid metabolism.
Prevalence Estimates and Health-Related Correlates of Cognitive Impairment From a Probability Sample of Community-Residing Latino Elders

Objective: Prevalence estimates of cognitive impairment are provided from a probability sample of Latino elders, mostly Puerto Ricans. A profile of those with cognitive impairment is provided. Predictors of cognitive impairment and the association between depressive symptomatology and cognitive impairment are examined. Method: A prevalence survey was conducted among a community sample of 205 Latino elders in New York City, drawn from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare beneficiary tape files. Results: The prevalence ratio for cognitive impairment using scale-cut scores was 12%; the latent class estimate was . 15 (SE = .025; 95% CI = .10—.21). Individuals with cognitive impairment were older; had lower levels of education, income, and acculturation; and reported higher levels of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depressive symptomatology. Discussion: This study resulted in the identification of a cluster of socioeconomic, health, and mental health factors that may influence the functional ability of older Puerto Ricans.
Avoiding Atrial Undersensing by Assessment of P Wave Amplitude Histogram Data

Reliable sensing of the P wave is an essential requirement for the appropriate functioning of any device that uses atrial tracking to provide AV synchrony. However, a single measurement of the P wave amplitude, either at implantation or during follow‐up, may not be a reliable reflection of the P wave amplitudes that occur during daily life. The P wave amplitude histogram is a new feature that automatically measures the P wave amplitude at regular intervals and provides the distribution of these measurements. This enables the assessment of the smallest P wave amplitudes that occur. Two populations were studied: 104 patients with a fixed atrial lead and a DDDR pacemaker and 100 patients with a single pass VDD lead and a VDD pacemaker. Both pacemakers incorporate the P wave amplitude histogram feature. Data in the P wave amplitude histogram were compared with a single measurement of the P wave amplitude at each follow‐up. Programming of a 100% safety margin based on a single measurement of the P wave amplitude provided reliable atrial sensing in only 72% and 43% of the patients of both populations, respectively. Data continued in the P wave amplitude histogram may be a useful adjunct for the optimal programming of atrial sensitivity.
Macrophage heterogeneity.

Macrophages perform a large number of diverse and on occasion mutually antagonistic functions. It seems unlikely given the magnitude of the task, that any one cell could carry out all these different demands. This raises the possibility that distinct subsets of macrophages exist each capable of performing only certain functions. It is indeed the case that although all macrophages have many features in common they are by no means uniform. Two major types of macrophage heterogeneity have been described. The first is termed "Interpopulation" heterogeneity and refers to differences between populations of macrophages obtained from different tissue sites. The second is termed "Intrapopulation" heterogeneity and refers to differences between subpopulations of macrophages obtained from within a particular site. We propose that such macrophage heterogeneity could be generated by 2 main mechanisms--"Differentiation and Modulation". It is assumed that as macrophages differentiate from bone marrow precursor cells they sequentially express a series of functionally distinct phenotypes. Such phenotypes are however relatively dynamic and may be readily altered by exposure to various microenvironmental and nonmicroenvironmental modulating signals. The responsiveness of cells to modulating signals is likely to depend both on their differentiation stage and previous exposure to other such signals. Assuming that the cells entering different tissue sites are essentially identical, then "Interpopulation" heterogeneity may be generated as a direct result of different microenvironmental modulating signals acting on the cells. "Intrapopulation" heterogeneity on the other hand may be generated by both differentiation and modulation. Macrophages at various differentiation stages are found within a tissue. Some cells will have recently arrived from the blood stream while others may have resided in the tissue for some time. In addition, the cells within a tissue may have been exposed to a different spectrum of modulating signals, or exposed to the same signals for various periods of time. The suggested existence of distinct macrophage sublineages adds an additional level of complexity to the subject of macrophage heterogeneity. It has been shown in a relatively small number of experiments that colonies of macrophages, clonogenically derived from individual bone marrow precursor cells in vitro, may express different phenotypes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Comparative study of dendritic cells matured by using IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and prostaglandins E2 for different time span

Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and prostaglandins E2 is considered as the standard cocktail for maturing dendritic cells (DCs). However, the appropriate time span for DC maturation with the standard cocktail remains unclear. The present study aimed to compare the differences between DCs matured with the standard cocktail for 24 and 48 h, respectively, and determine whether 24-h stimulation was sufficient for DC maturation. The findings demonstrated that, compared with DCs matured for 48 h, the levels of cluster of differentiation (CD)80, CD83, CD86 and programmed death-ligand 1 expression in DCs matured for 24 h were relatively lower. However, with the exception of CD80 whose mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) was higher in DCs matured for 48 h, the MFI values of other surface markers were comparable. Notably, the MFI of CD40 was higher in DCs matured for 24 h. In addition, the viability, T cell stimulatory capacity in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction and cytokine production, including IL-12p40, IL-12p70 and IL-10, were all comparable between DCs matured for 24 and 48 h, respectively. These results indicated that 24-h stimulation may be sufficient for DC maturation when using the standard cocktail.
A Carrier-Based Approach for Compact Modeling of the Long-Channel Undoped Symmetric Double-Gate MOSFETs

This paper presents a carrier-based approach to develop a compact model for long-channel undoped symmetric double-gate MOSFETs. The formulation starts from a solution of the Poisson's equation that is coupled to the Pao-Sah current formulation to obtain an analytic drain-current model in terms of the carrier concentration. The model provides an analytical expression to describe the dependence of the surface potential, silicon-film centric potential, inversion charge, and the current on the silicon-body thickness and the gate-oxide thickness. The model calculation is verified by comparing results to the 2D numerical simulations, and good agreement is observed
Course of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome in 19 Intact Twin Pregnancies After Assisted Reproduction Techniques, With a Case Report of Severe Thromboembolism

Abstract Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a serious complication of assisted reproduction techniques using in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). Its etiology has still not yet been fully resolved. Human chorionic gonadotrophin, administered exogenously as well as produced endogenously during pregnancy, is responsible for the onset of OHSS, and high levels of estradiol appear to worsen the condition. In this case series, the course of mild to severe OHSS was evaluated in 19 intact twin pregnancies after IVF/ICSI. Another serious complication associated with OHSS is thromboembolic events. In these cases, the pregnancy can be protected through anticoagulation treatment, but there may be exceptions to this. This series includes a case of bilateral thrombosis of the internal and external jugular veins in the 7th gestational week in a twin pregnancy after OHSS and ICSI, with termination of the pregnancy in the 9th gestational week due to progressive thrombosis during anticoagulation therapy.
Improved asynchronous parallel optimization analysis for stochastic incremental methods

As datasets continue to increase in size and multi-core computer architectures are developed, asynchronous parallel optimization algorithms become more and more essential to the field of Machine Learning. Unfortunately, conducting the theoretical analysis asynchronous methods is difficult, notably due to the introduction of delay and inconsistency in inherently sequential algorithms. Handling these issues often requires resorting to simplifying but unrealistic assumptions. Through a novel perspective, we revisit and clarify a subtle but important technical issue present in a large fraction of the recent convergence rate proofs for asynchronous parallel optimization algorithms, and propose a simplification of the recently introduced "perturbed iterate" framework that resolves it. We demonstrate the usefulness of our new framework by analyzing three distinct asynchronous parallel incremental optimization algorithms: Hogwild (asynchronous SGD), KROMAGNON (asynchronous SVRG) and ASAGA, a novel asynchronous parallel version of the incremental gradient algorithm SAGA that enjoys fast linear convergence rates. We are able to both remove problematic assumptions and obtain better theoretical results. Notably, we prove that ASAGA and KROMAGNON can obtain a theoretical linear speedup on multi-core systems even without sparsity assumptions. We present results of an implementation on a 40-core architecture illustrating the practical speedups as well as the hardware overhead. Finally, we investigate the overlap constant, an ill-understood but central quantity for the theoretical analysis of asynchronous parallel algorithms. We find that it encompasses much more complexity than suggested in previous work, and often is order-of-magnitude bigger than traditionally thought.
Extent and Determinants of Intellectual Capital Disclosures by Top Listed Companies in Malaysia

The purpose of this paper was to examine the extent of intellectual capital disclosures and the determinants of such disclosures by the Malaysian companies. A disclosure index for the intellectual capital information consisting of 20 items, using the annual reports of top 100 companies listed in Bursa Malaysia as on December 31, 2013, was developed. Multiple regression was used to test 12 hypotheses, using the data collected from the same annual reports. The results revealed that the intellectual capital disclosure level had increased as compared to the prior studies in Malaysia that suggests increased corporate awareness regarding intellectual capital disclosures, though the disclosure level was lower as compared to the other advanced countries. The results provided evidence that company size, leverage, and industry type significantly affected the intellectual capital disclosure levels. However, the intellectual capital disclosure levels did not have a significant relationship with return on total assets, board independence, audit committee independence, company age, complexity, foreign shareholding, institutional shareholding, and auditor size. The adjusted R square, an explanatory power of the model, was 52%. We also discussed the implications for the standard-setters and regulators. This study makes an incremental contribution to the literature on the intellectual capital disclosures in the Malaysian context.
Use of interferon gamma release assays in clinical practice: Review of QuantiFERON-TB prescription in a French university hospital

Abstract Background: In recent years, the clinical use of interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) has increased exponentially, while their indications remain controversial given difficulties in interpretation. Four indications were recommended by the French National Authority for Health (HAS) in 2006. We evaluated the utilization of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) test over a 1-y period in a French university hospital and the impact of IGRA results in particular. Methods: The QFT-IT tests requested in 2009 were analysed retrospectively, excluding those from the Occupational Health Department, the Regional Tuberculosis Centre, and rheumatology consultations for which the indications were clearly defined. Results: Three hundred and sixty QFT-IT tests were analysed. The interpretation was frequently problematic given the inclusion of a significant proportion of patients over 80 y of age (11%), immunocompromised patients (43%), and patients with a known history of tuberculosis (6%). The indications failed to comply with HAS recommendations in 42% of cases (151/360), i.e. 14% of all QFT-IT tests in 2009. Thirty-seven percent of request forms were related to suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. In the case of a positive QFT-IT test, the clinical decision-making was changed in 58% of cases when the indications met the HAS recommendations, compared with only 16% if they did not (p < 0.005). Conclusion: When the indications do not meet the health authority recommendations, the diagnostic value of the IGRA remains limited.
Functional organization of the yeast proteome by a yeast interactome map

It is hoped that comprehensive mapping of protein physical interactions will facilitate insights regarding both fundamental cell biology processes and the pathology of diseases. To fulfill this hope, good solutions to 2 issues will be essential: (i) how to obtain reliable interaction data in a high-throughput setting and (ii) how to structure interaction data in a meaningful form, amenable to and valuable for further biological research. In this article, we structure an interactome in terms of predicted permanent protein complexes and predicted transient, nongeneric interactions between these complexes. The interactome is generated by means of an associated computational algorithm, from raw high-throughput affinity purification/mass spectrometric interaction data. We apply our technique to the construction of an interactome for Saccharomyces cerevisiae, showing that it yields reliability typical of low-throughput experiments from high-throughput data. We discuss biological insights raised by this interactome including, via homology, a few related to human disease.
Does College Focus Matter? Explaining Differences in Performance among Community Colleges in North Carolina: A CAPSEE Working Paper.

The evolution of community colleges from their origins as junior colleges to institutions with dual missions to provide both academic and workforce preparation raises questions about the impact of a college’s mission focus on its students’ labor market success. We examine this question using data from the 58 colleges in the North Carolina Community College System. We find that students from community colleges that focus on career or workforce preparation had higher labor market earnings than did students from comprehensive community colleges or colleges with an academic focus; about one fifth of the variation in students’ earnings across community colleges was due to the college’s mission focus. A number of other community college variables enhanced students’ earnings, such as larger institution size, serving a single county, and having low proportions of remedial students.