Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simplifying the Configuration of 802.11 Wireless Networks with Effective SNR

Advances in the price, performance, and power consumption of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) technology have led to the adoption of wireless functionality in diverse consumer electronics. These trends have enabled an exciting vision of rich wireless applications that combine the unique features of different devices for a better user experience. To meet the needs of these applications, a wireless network must be configured well to provide good performance at the physical layer. But because of wireless technology and usage trends, finding these configurations is an increasingly challenging problem. Wireless configuration objectives range from simply choosing the fastest way to encode data on a single wireless link to the global optimization of many interacting parameters over multiple sets of communicating devices. As more links are involved, as technology advances (e.g., the adoption of OFDM and MIMO techniques in Wi-Fi), and as devices are used in changing wireless channels, the size of the configuration space grows. Thus algorithms must find good operating points among a growing number of options. The heart of every configuration algorithm is evaluating of the performance of a wireless link in a particular operating point. For example, if we know the performance of all three links between a source, a destination, and a potential relay, we can easily determine whether or not using the relay will improve aggregate throughput. Unfortunately, the two standard approaches to this task fall short. One approach uses aggregate signal strength statistics to estimate performance, but these do not yield accurate predictions of performance. Instead, the approach used in practice measures performance by actually trying the possible configurations. This procedure takes a long time to converge and hence is ill-suited to large configuration spaces, multiple devices, or changing channels, all of which are trends today. As a result, the complexity of practical configuration algorithms is dominated by optimizing this performance estimation step. In this thesis, I develop a comprehensive way to rapidly and accurately predict the performance of every operating point in a large configuration space. I devise a simple but powerful model that uses a single low-level channel measurement and extrapolates over a wide configuration space. My work makes the most complex step of today's configuration algorithms—estimating the effectiveness of a particular configuration—trivial, achieving better performance in practice and enabling the practical solution of larger problems.
Fluid volume and albumin kinetics occurring with major surgery.

Studies investigating fluid volume dynamics and albumin kinetics in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery indicate that during the operation, marked deficits develop in the total red blood cell volume, plasma volume, extracellular fluid volume, and the total exchangeable albumin pool. A disproportionate deficit in the plasma volume occurring in the course of the operation is believed to be secondary to a functional extracellular fluid volume deficit and abnormal losses of albumin from the intravascular compartment. Deficits in these compartments occurred during the operation in every patient studied. In some patients the plasma volume deficit immediately postoperatively amounted to close to 50% of the volume present when the patient went into the operating room. In the course of a regional node dissection in nine patients studied, a 29% deficit developed in the total body albumin pool.
Relationship between testosterone deficiency and cardiovascular risk and mortality in adult men

Classic male hypogonadism is associated with known adverse effects including decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, osteoporosis, and changes in body composition. Recently, we have come to appreciate that reduction in serum testosterone (T) levels resulting from aging or chronic disease or androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) have consequences similar to those seen in classic male hypogonadism which include increased fat mass, decreased lean body mass, decreased muscle strength, and sexual dysfunction. These data suggest that low T levels may represent a newly recognized cardiometabolic risk factor. Therefore, we carried out a careful review of the literature, focusing on major turning points of research and studies which gave more important and controversial contribution to the cardiovascular role of T. Observational studies and clinical trials investigating the relationship between T levels and cardiovascular disease and mortality were identified by Medline search. The results were synthesized, tabulated, and interpreted. The aim of this review is to discuss the association between low T levels and adverse metabolic profile such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. We will also investigate the potential mechanisms by which male hypogonadism, especially age related or induced by ADT, may increase cardio-metabolic risk. Finally we will detail the emerging relationship between low T and mortality in men addressing also the reverse hypothesis that low T has a protective role by turning off T-dependent functions.
Endometrial changes associated with myomata of the uterus

The endometrium of 30 uteruses with myomata was studied at four standard sites. Glandular atrophy over a myoma or opposite a myoma was the most constant finding. At the margin of a myoma hyperplastic glands were frequently found, and distorted, elongated, or dilated glands were present at this site in half of all specimens. Other changes included adenomyosis and the separation of glands by muscle fibres from the basal layer of the endometrium. The coexistence of many of these findings in endometrial curettings can lead to the histological diagnosis of uterine myomata. Two factors, mechanical and hormonal, may be responsible and their mechanisms are discussed.
Home-Based Exercise Training as Maintenance after Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation is successful in improving exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, training effects diminish over time. Objectives:We evaluated the effects of simple, daily, structured, self-monitored, home-based exercise training for patients with moderate COPD after a 3-week outpatient rehabilitation. Methods: We conducted a randomized, controlled, observer-blind trial. Twenty patients were recruited. Ten patients performed home-based exercise training (mean age 67 years, 95% confidence interval [CI] 63–72; FEV1 58.6%, 95% CI 53.8–63.4), and 10 patients served as controls (mean age 72 years, 95% CI 69–77; FEV1 62.5%, 95% CI 57.7–67.3). At baseline, and after 3 and 6 months, we assessed exercise capacity (6-min walk test, 6MWT, primary endpoint), health-related quality of life (Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire, CRQ) and lung function. An intention-to-treat analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA models for comparison of time trends between random groups. Results: The training group had better results than the control group in 6MWT (p = 0.033), in CRQ total (p = 0.027), CRQ dyspnea (p = 0.014) and CRQ fatigue (p = 0.016). Improvement in FEV1 was also better in the intervention group than in the control group (p = 0.007). Conclusions: We demonstrated that training effects obtained from an outpatient rehabilitation program can be maintained by home-based exercise training in patients with moderate COPD.
Studies on the acid mucopolysaccharide coat of viruses and transformed cells

Ruthenium red staining method was applied to study the properties of acid mucopolysaccharides (AMPS) in cells of cultures of normal, RNA virus‐transformed, and RNA virus‐producing tumor cells. The AMPS layer of plasma membranes of virus‐transformed cells was found to be thicker than that of the plasma membrane of normal cells and more resistant to ovine hyaluronidase digestion than that of control normal cells. Hyaluronidase digestion of the AMPS layer of virus‐producing tumor cells followed by several centrifugation runs resulted in a considerable concentration of RNA virus particles. This procedure may therefore prove helpful in virus concentration studies. Ruthenium red staining revealed three distinct layers within the unit membrane of the plasma membrane of virus‐producing tumor cells as well as in the envelopes of type C and type BRNA virus particles. Study of a mouse mammary tumor (D‐W) cell line producing both type B and type C RNA virus particles after labeling by conjugated ferritin with appropriate anti‐sera and staining by ruthenium red revealed the presence of ferritin granules in the AMPS layer of these particles. As demonstrated by ruthenium red staining, the functional and immunologic properties of the AMPS layer on virus particles are as follows: it plays at least a part in the adherance of RNA virus particles to the plasma membrane of cells; acts as a protective layer of virus particles against enzymatic damage, and it is a site of viral antigen‐antibody reactions. This study has also demonstrated similarities in the ultrastructure of plasma membrane of RNA virus‐transformed and virus‐producing tumor cells and of the envelope of RNA type B and type C virus particles.
Generation of Effective Serious Games with Static and Dynamic Content

With video games being a huge market, attracting and engaging millions of players, it is tempting to use these motivational aspects not just for entertainment. After all, play as the basis of games has inherent learning aspects, for example seen at the way how children play and learn. The serious games movement that took off at the beginning of the 21st century wants to achieve exactly that: provide playful learning environments and utilize the motivational aspects of games to transport serious content to players. Getting from such an idea to an actual game, however, is far from trivial. A fundamental problem is how to integrate serious content and game parts. Finding ways how to improve the game creation process to produce applications that are both fun to play and effective in delivering a serious content is the main focus of this thesis. Therefore, the problem is approached in two ways: by providing best practice tips for the creators of serious games and by presenting results of different practical game implementations and studies. Two sets of serious games — seven in total — have been developed within the course of this thesis. The first set comprises games with static serious content. These games depict the regular development approach. Here, a static game concept is created and implemented by professional game developers. This approach allows for a high degree of freedom in the game creation process. Nevertheless, emphasis has to be put on combining serious content in the right way to produce effective and fun serious games. Best practice tips are given along with presenting results from user studies that are based on the implemented game prototypes. The second set of games features dynamic learning content. In contrast to static variants, these games support changing the learning content at runtime. This allows for more accessible creation methods: Once created, any domain expert can create own custom games without the need for expertise in game development. On the other hand, special emphasis has to be put on designing the frameworks in a manner that game scenario and learning content are well integrated, despite not having a thematic connection. Different approaches are examined by developing games with dynamic content. The games are evaluated in terms of their usefulness. Different user studies look at the motivational aspects as well as at the learning outcome. Furthermore, the effect of not having a connection between game scenario and learning content is examined to compare the effectiveness of static and dynamic variants.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumours: outcomes of surgical management and analysis of prognostic variables.

BACKGROUND We sought to review the clinical presentation and outcomes of surgical management of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). METHODS We reviewed clinical and pathological records of 41 patients (23 men and 18 women) with GISTs. We performed survival analyses using the Kaplan- Meier method and evaluated long-term survival and the independent prognostic factors that affect survival using univariate analyses. We used the Cox proportional hazards regression model to estimate the simultaneous effect on overall survival. RESULTS The stomach was the most common tissue of origin (n = 20, 48.8%). The mean tumour diameter was 8.3 cm. We detected advanced-stage tumours in 22 (53.7%) patients. We performed complete resection in 31 (75.6%) patients. Mitotic count was greater than 5/50 high-power field [HPF] in 22 (53.6%) patients. Immunohistochemical staining for CD117 was positive in 40 (97.6%) patients. Five patients (12.2%) died in the early postoperative period. The mean follow-up period was 38.7 months. The median length of survival was 53 months and the 5-year survival rate was 49.4%. Univariate analyses revealed significantly enhanced survival for the following variables: patient age less than 60 years (p = 0.011), male sex (p = 0.048), tumour diameter less than 5 cm (p = 0.029), low-risk tumour according to Fletcher classification (p = 0.022), complete resection (p < 0.001), and lack of local recurrence (p < 0.001) and/or metastasis (p < 0.001). Our Cox proportional hazards model revealed that complete tumour resection was the only factor to increase survival. CONCLUSION Overall survival is significantly affected by positive margins. A complete surgical resection with negative margins is the best method for definitive treatment of GISTs.
Separation of lytic and transforming functions of the simian virus 40 A region: two mutants which are temperature sensitive for lytic functions have opposite effects on transformation

Thirty-six of 40 rat cell clones transformed to anchorage independence at low multiplicity of infection by simian virus 40 tsA58 were heat sensitive for continued expression of the transformed phenotype. tsA1499 is an 81-base-pair deletion at 21 map units which is like tsA58 in that it is also heat sensitive for lytic growth, belongs to the A complementation group, and produces rat cell transformants which contain a thermolabile T antigen. Unlike tsA58, however, tsA1499 generated rat cell transformants efficiently at the temperature at which it was lytically defective, and 10 of 17 clones transformed by tsA1499 were cold rather than heat sensitive for the continued maintenance of the transformed phenotype. The lytic and transforming activities of the A region thus appeared to function independently in mutant tsA1499.
Selection and body size in Drosophila pseudoobscura at different temperatures.

M U C H of our present knowledge about selection comes from experiments carried out in environments as constant and optimal as possible. (For general reviews, see ROBERTSON 1956; LERNER 1958; FALCONER 1960a.) Since an individual or a population must be able to cope with a range of environments, data about the extent to which selection gains for an adaptive character under one set of environmental conditions are retained when the population is transferred to other environments can add to our understanding of the genetic mechanisms of selection and adaptation. Such experiments are described below and deal with selection for wing length (a convenient index of body size) in Drosophila pseudoobscura at different temperatures. Body size is probably closely related to fitness of the flies in their natural habitats, and temperature affects size considerably in Drosophila.
Clinical application of the OneDose™ Patient Dosimetry System for total body irradiation

The OneDose™ Patient Dosimetry System (Sicel Technologies) is a new dosimeter based on metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor technology and designed for the in vivo measurement of patient dose during radiotherapy. In vivo dosimetry for total body irradiation (TBI) is challenging due to the extended treatment distance, low dose rates and beam spoilers. Phantom results confirm the suitability of the dosimeter for TBI in terms of inherent build-up, post-irradiation fading, accuracy, reproducibility, linearity and temperature dependence. Directional dependence is significant and should be taken into account. The OneDose™ dosimeters were also trialed in vivo for two TBI patients and the dose measured compared to conventional dosimeter measurements using an ionization chamber and thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD), with agreement to within 2.2% and 3.9%, respectively. Phantom and patient results confirm that the OneDose™ patient dosimetry system is a practical and convenient alternative to TLDs for TBI in vivo dosimetry. For increased confidence in results with this dosimeter, we recommend that two dosimeters be used for each site of interest.
Prostatic disorders in acromegalic patients experience of a Brazilian center.

INTRODUCTION Published data suggest that patients with acromegaly have an increased prevalence of prostate disorders. OBJECTIVE To evaluate prostatic disorders in acromegalic patients comparing these results after one year of treatment of acromegaly and with a group of healthy men. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was composed of two parts: sectional study comparing patients with healthy controls (baseline) and prospective, longitudinal study (at baseline and after one year of treatment). Forty acromegalic patients were enrolled and evaluated at baseline and after one year with the application of international prostatic symptoms score (IPSS), digital rectal examination, measurements of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), total testosterone, total and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and prostate ultrasonography (US). Thirty healthy men were selected as control group. RESULTS We stratified patients and controls according to age, considering 40 years-old as cut off. Healthy controls under 40 had IPSS values lower than acromegalic patients. When considering only older patients and controls prostate hyperplasia and structural abnormalities were more frequent in acromegalics. After one year of treatment there was significant decrease in GH, IGF-I and prostate volume in acromegalics over 40 years-old. CONCLUSIONS Acromegalics under 40 have more urinary symptoms according to IPSS and above 40 years-old higher frequency of structural changes and increased prostate volume than healthy men. Significant reduction of GH and IGF-I levels during treatment of acromegaly leads to decrease in the prostate volume.
Characterization of susceptibility to audiogenic seizures in ethanol-dependent rats after microinjection of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonists into the inferior colliculus, substantia nigra or medial septum.

The relative anticonvulsant potential of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist, muscimol, was compared after microinjection into either the inferior colliculus, substantia nigra or medial septum of ethanol-dependent rats. Bilateral microinjection of muscimol (10-30 ng) into the inferior colliculus 15 to 60 min before testing suppressed all sound-induced seizure components (wild running, clonus and tonus) in rats withdrawn from ethanol for 6.5 to 8.5 hr. However, forelimb tremors were not altered. Audiogenic seizures were suppressed for at least 3 hr after muscimol (30 ng). In the medial septum and substantia nigra, microinjection of muscimol (30-100 ng) only partially reduced the tonic component of audiogenic seizures and exerted no effect on the frequency of wild running or clonus. GABA (10 micrograms) and two other GABA agonists [4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5, 40c]pyridin-3-ol (THIP), 300 ng and chlordiazepoxide, 10-30 micrograms], microinjected into the inferior colliculus, also reduced audiogenic seizure susceptibility. However, 1, 3-butanediol, which suppresses ethanol withdrawal seizures after peripheral administration in rats, was inactive. The relative proconvulsant potential of the GABA antagonist, bicuculline methiodide, also was compared after microinjection into either the inferior colliculus, substantia nigra or medial septum of ethanol naive rats. In each animal, audiogenic seizure-like wild running, clonus and tonus were evoked by microinjecting bicuculline methiodide into the inferior colliculus at the rate of 6.0 ng/6 min. However, these reactions did not occur when bicuculline methiodide was applied at a slower rate (1.8 ng/6 min). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
OXYGEN THERAPY AND BASIC RESPIRATORY CARE

Oxygen in air exists in a diatomic molecular form (O2, molecular weight [MW] 16 g/mol) that, at standard temperature and pressure, is a colorless, odorless gas. The diatomic molecular state is the form that we administer to our patients as a respiratory gas, either pure oxygen or in mixtures with air or helium (heliox), and is that form most commonly referred to as oxygen. While the gaseous state of oxygen is most clinically relevant, it can be found in a liquid and solid state as well under appropriate conditions. However, molecular oxygen has additional chemical states that expand its impact on human physiology. The diatomic form (“oxygen”) is essential for aerobic metabolism in animals but is toxic to obligate anaerobic organisms (a fact exploited in hyperbaric oxygen therapy). The triatomic form, ozone, is produced continuously by ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the upper layers of the atmosphere, and serves to shield the earth’s surface from UV radiation. However, ozone is also produced by the immune system as an antimicrobial defense. Finally, singlet oxygen (several different forms exist) is a high-energy state of molecular oxygen in which all the electron spins are paired, resulting in extreme instability and exceptional reactivity toward common organic molecules. Such oxygen-free radicals, as they are collectively termed, have varied and increasingly important physiologic roles; therefore, their role in both normal and pathologic processes must be recognized and understood to allow the correct application of oxygen therapy. In this chapter, we will discuss the various modalities for oxygen delivery in the critical care setting. In addition, we will address oxygen’s diverse physiologic and possible pathologic effects, but in our discussion of oxygen-free radicals, we will confine it to their role in oxidative lung injury, while being cognizant of their potential impact on all tissues.