Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Institutional Cost of Acquiring 100 mL of Human Milk for Very Low Birth Weight Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Human milk from the biologic mother (HM) reduces disease burden and associated costs of care during and after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization for very low birth weight (VLBW; birth weight < 1500 g) infants, when compared to feedings of donor human milk (DHM) or commercial formula (CF). However, compared to DHM and CF, little is known about the institutional cost to acquire HM from the biologic mother. Objective: This study aimed to determine the institutional cost of acquiring HM for VLBW infant feedings during the NICU hospitalization. Methods: This analysis examined 157 maternal pumping records from a prospective cohort study evaluating health outcomes and cost of HM feedings for VLBW infants. The costs for the breast pump rental fee, 1-time pump kit purchase, and disposable food-grade containers for storing expressed HM were evaluated using standard cost analysis techniques. Results: The median cost of acquiring 100 mL of HM varied from $0.51 when mothers pumped ≥ 700 mL daily to $7.93 for those who pumped < 100 mL daily. Mothers who pumped ≥ 100 mL daily had lower acquisition cost compared to both DHM ($14.84/100 mL) and CF ($3.18/100 mL). For mothers who pumped > 100 mL daily, the exact day of pumping where the cost of HM was less expensive than DHM or CF was 4 to 7 days and 6 to 19 days, respectively. Conclusion: Human milk from the biologic mother has lower acquisition cost than DHM and CF when mothers provided ≥ 100 mL daily and pumped for a sufficient number of days (range, 4-19). Neonatal intensive care units should prioritize resources to ensure that mothers achieve this daily milk volume.
Prevention of wound sepsis in gastro‐intestinal surgery

After gastro‐intestinal operations wound infection is usually caused by the inoculation of bacteria present within the intestinal tract into the incision during the surgical procedure. In theory, wound sepsis may be minimized by the following methods: (a) avoiding intestinal contamination of the incision; (b) altering the normal flora of the intestinal tract by adding oral antimicrobials to bowel preparation; (c) using topical or systemic prophylactic antibiotic administration for certain high‐risk patients. The relative importance of these methods of prophylaxis is described.
Implementing a modified team-based learning strategy in the first phase of an outcome-based curriculum – Challenges and prospects

Background: Team-based learning (TBL) is an innovative form of collaborative learning. The aim of TBL is to create a motivational context in which students become accountable for their learning. Aim: Student attendance at didactic lecture sessions in our school is usually poor. A modified TBL approach in lieu of lectures was undertaken for the first time in a large class (150 students). This communication reports on the challenges of its implementation in our setting and preliminary data on its effects on student performance. Method: Using computer-based evaluation followed by an in-class activity, a modified TBL approach was implemented over two semesters during an introductory basic science course. Data on student performance, student motivation and faculty reflection were collected and analysed. Results: This strategy had significantly enhanced students’ class attendance. They performed better on the built-in TBL assessment (IRAT) compared to standard in-course tests. Besides content mastery, TBL approach could also instill useful attitudinal outcomes such as self-directed learning. Conclusions: The TBL strategy is a viable and refreshing alternative to the usual didactic faculty engagement with the teaching process. Students appear to do better in tests built-in within TBL as compared to stand-alone in-course tests.
Changing epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease in Canada, 1998-2007: update from the Calgary-area Streptococcus pneumoniae research (CASPER) study.

BACKGROUND Routine infant vaccination with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) began in the Calgary Health Region (Alberta, Canada) in 2002. We measured the impact of this vaccine program on invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). METHODS Prospective, population-based surveillance of all cases of IPD (with culture specimens obtained from sterile sites) was conducted from January 1998 through December 2007. Demographic and clinical data were collected. All viable isolates were saved and serotyped. RESULTS There were 1182 IPD cases over the 10-year period. Comparison of the vaccine period (2003-2007) with the prevaccine period (1998-2001) revealed that the incidence of IPD due to PCV7 serotypes decreased significantly by 86%, 59%, 38%, and 78% in the 6-23-month, 2-4-year, 16-64-year, and 65-84-year age groups, respectively. The total number of IPD cases decreased by 77%, 45%, and 34% in the 6-23-month, 2-4-year, and 65-84-year age groups, respectively. The incidence of IPD due to non-PCV7 serotypes increased by 183%, and the total incidence of IPD increased by 73% among adults aged 16-64 years; however, this increase was primarily attributed to a large outbreak of serotype 5 IPD among homeless adults during the period 2005-2007. There were 5 cases of IPD due to PCV7 serotypes among vaccinated children in the vaccine period. CONCLUSIONS Since the introduction of PCV7 vaccine, there has been a profound decrease in the total number of cases of IPD among children and in cases due to PCV7 serotypes among subjects of all ages in Calgary, indicating a strong direct effect and herd effect of the vaccine. The serotypes that now cause IPD have changed significantly. The magnitude and impact of replacement IPD caused by non-PCV7 serotypes is not yet known.
Factors Affecting E-Learning Adoption in Developing Countries–Empirical Evidence From Pakistan’s Higher Education Sector

E-learning has reshaped traditional education into more flexible and efficient learning in developed nations. However, e-learning remains underutilized and in the rudimentary stages of development in developing countries. Therefore, understanding the critical factors behind the adoption and acceptance of technology is a prime concern in developing countries like Pakistan. This paper provides and examines the adoption and acceptance baseline for e-learning systems by incorporating critical external factors in the technology acceptance model. A conceptual model—the Pakistan E-Learning Adoption Model—is proposed in the context of higher education. Data were collected from 354 learners at the Virtual University of Pakistan and structural equation modeling was employed to test the research hypotheses. The empirical investigation indicates that computer self-efficacy, Internet experience, enjoyment, and system characteristics are significant predictors of perceived ease of use, while system characteristics are a strong predictor of perceived usefulness. Moreover, the subjective norm is not found to be significant for perceived usefulness. The findings provide practical implications for policy makers, practitioners, and developers in successful e-learning systems implementation.
Response to bosentan in children with pulmonary hypertension

Objective: To describe an early experience of treating 40 children with the dual endothelin receptor antagonist bosentan, which is known to be safe and effective in adults with pulmonary hypertension (PH). Design: In this retrospective, observational study the UK Service for Pulmonary Hypertension for children treated 40 children with bosentan, 20 with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) (mean age 8.03 years, range 1.2–17) and 20 with PH associated with other conditions (congenital heart disease, parenchymal lung or connective tissue disease, or HIV). Their mean age was 8.3 years (range 0.6–16 years). Patients: 39 patients were in World Health Organization (WHO) class III and IV, and all had shown recent deterioration. In IPAH the mean pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was 21.7 units⋅m2 (range 5.6–42.8). In secondary PH the mean PVR was 18 units⋅m2 (range 4.9–49). No child had a positive response to vasodilator testing with nitric oxide. Interventions: Bosentan was given as first line treatment to 25. Nine were given intravenous epoprostenol. Children were treated for a mean of 12.7 months (range 2–24 months). Main outcome measures: Response to treatment was judged by WHO functional class, six minute walk test, weight, ECG and echocardiographic findings, and need to add additional treatment. Results: Bosentan was well tolerated. In the IPAH group 19 (95%) stabilised with bosentan treatment but 12 (60%) patients needed combined treatment with epoprostenol. In secondary PH, WHO class, six minute walk test, and weight gain improved significantly. Conclusion: Bosentan helped stabilise children with IPAH but intravenous epoprostenol was also needed by 60%. Children with secondary PH improved.
Modeling direction selective visual neural network with ON and OFF pathways for extracting motion cues from cluttered background

The nature endows animals robust vision systems for extracting and recognizing different motion cues, detecting predators, chasing preys/mates in dynamic and cluttered environments. Direction selective neurons (DSNs), with preference to certain orientation visual stimulus, have been found in both vertebrates and invertebrates for decades. In this paper, with respect to recent biological research progress in motion-detecting circuitry, we propose a novel way to model DSNs for recognizing movements on four cardinal directions. It is based on an architecture of ON and OFF visual pathways underlies a theory of splitting motion signals into parallel channels, encoding brightness increments and decrements separately. To enhance the edge selectivity and speed response to moving objects, we put forth a bio-plausible spatial-temporal network structure with multiple connections of same polarity ON/OFF cells. Each pair-wised combination is filtered with dynamic delay depending on sampling distance. The proposed vision system was challenged against image streams from both synthetic and cluttered real physical scenarios. The results demonstrated three major contributions: first, the neural network fulfilled the characteristics of a postulated physiological map of conveying visual information through different neuropile layers; second, the DSNs model can extract useful directional motion cues from cluttered background robustly and timely, which hits at potential of quick implementation in vision-based micro mobile robots; moreover, it also represents better speed response compared to a state-of-the-art elementary motion detector.
Symmetry of healthy adult feet: role of orthostatic footprint at computerized baropodometry and of digital formula.

Morphological aspects of orthostatic footprints (anterior heel, isthmus, posterior heel), using computerized baropodometry and of the digital formula were studied in 97 subjects (37 males, 60 females; median age: 20.9+/-1.56) at the Medical School of Palermo, Italy. The aim of this study was to contribute to our knowledge of the bilateral symmetry and asymmetry of the human feet in ethnically similar groups. We evaluated the length of the footprints (FL) and the widths of the anterior heel (AHW), isthmus (IW), and the posterior heel (PHW). Values were compared in the left and right feet of each subjects. The general morphology of the footprints was considered to determine bilateral correspondence or divergence. We also evaluated the digital formula to verify any bilateral correspondence. The linear measurements of the footprints did not show any particular bilateral conformity. The general morphology of the footprint showed bilateral correspondence in 76 subjects (78%): in 21 subjects (22%) it did not show any. Typological results of the bilateral orthostatic footprints showed normalfootprints in 54 subjects (55.5%): the isthmus included 1/3 to 2/3 of the AHW. Hollow footprints were found in 20 subjects (20.5%): the isthmus was less than 1/3 of the AHW. At clinical examination, using the digital formula, we found that Egyptian foot (1 degree > 2 degrees) was the most frequent (68%). The standard foot (1 degree = 2 degrees) and the Greek foot (1 degree < 2 degrees) were both present in 16% of the feet examined. Seventy-nine subjects (82%) presented bilaterally correspondent digital formulas: 1 degree > 2 degrees in 59 subjects (62%), 1 degree = 2 degrees in 9 subjects (9%), and 1 degree < 2 degrees in 11 (11%). While comparison of the bilateral linear measurements studied showed that there was primarily no bilateral correspondence, the morphological aspects of the footprints and of the digital formulas showed that bilateral correspondence was prevalent.
Detection of Low-Level Cardinium and Wolbachia Infections in Culicoides

ABSTRACT Bacterial endosymbionts have been identified as potentially useful biological control agents for a range of invertebrate vectors of disease. Previous studies of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species using conventional PCR assays have provided evidence of Wolbachia (1/33) and Cardinium (8/33) infections. Here, we screened 20 species of Culicoides for Wolbachia and Cardinium, utilizing a combination of conventional PCR and more sensitive quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays. Low levels of Cardinium DNA were detected in females of all but one of the Culicoides species screened, and low levels of Wolbachia were detected in females of 9 of the 20 Culicoides species. Sequence analysis based on partial 16S rRNA gene and gyrB sequences identified “Candidatus Cardinium hertigii” from group C, which has previously been identified in Culicoides from Japan, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Wolbachia strains detected in this study showed 98 to 99% sequence identity to Wolbachia previously detected from Culicoides based on the 16S rRNA gene, whereas a strain with a novel wsp sequence was identified in Culicoides narrabeenensis. Cardinium isolates grouped to geographical regions independent of the host Culicoides species, suggesting possible geographical barriers to Cardinium movement. Screening also identified Asaia bacteria in Culicoides. These findings point to a diversity of low-level endosymbiont infections in Culicoides, providing candidates for further characterization and highlighting the widespread occurrence of these endosymbionts in this insect group.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Morphometry of the Midbrain in Patients With Wilson Disease

In this study, the focus is on midbrain magnetic resonance imaging morphometric measures (transverse diameter of the midbrain peduncle [Tp], transverse diameter of the tegmentum, anteroposterior diameter of the midbrain, interpeduncular distance [IPD], and interpeduncular angle [IPA]) in a group of 47 consecutive patients with neurologic (37 patients) and hepatic (10 patients) forms of Wilson disease (WD). Morphometric measures were significantly different between the group of patients with WD and healthy controls (51 subjects) as well as patients with Parkinson disease (15 patients) and multiple sclerosis (15 patients). Among the studied variables, IPA, Tp, and IPD were particularly useful in differentiating patients from healthy subjects (probability reaching 93%).
3D imaging of passive objects using dual-sided phase conjugating sequentially switched lens

In this paper we introduce a new concept of a dual sided phase conjugating lens operating as an imaging sensor for continuous wave or pulsed signals for passive target 3D localization. We describe the principle of operation and demonstrate the core resolution properties for single and multiple objects by the way of numerical simulation. Particularly it is shown that the characteristic resolution of a single target by the lens operating under Gaussian pulse excitation is approximately the same as that obtained using UWB synthetic aperture radar techniques [1]. The present concept offers major advantages with respect to existing time reversal techniques which involve computationally expensive high speed digital signal processing of the scattered field [2], [3]. The lens only requires hardware to collect the field scattered from the target(s) and to refocus it onto these target(s). This property should be of high potential for imaging applications where refocusing has to be accomplished in a real time i.e. when high speed target acquisition is necessary. Alternatively the lens can be operated in conjunction with a conventional imaging regime, i.e. to collect the scattered field data, send it to a post processing unit for mathematical image localization.
A Qualitative Study of Methamphetamine Users’ Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators of Drug Abstinence

Abstract To better understand methamphetamine (MA) use patterns and the process of recovery, qualitative interviews were conducted with adult MA users (n = 20), comparing a sample that received substance abuse treatment with those who had not received treatment. Respondents provided detailed information on why and how they changed from use to abstinence and factors they considered to be barriers to abstinence. Audio recordings and transcripts were reviewed for common themes. Participants reported a range of mild/moderate to intensely destructive problems, including loss of important relationships and profound changes to who they felt they were at their core; e.g., “I didn’t realize how dark and mean I was … I was like a different person. ” Initial abstinence was often facilitated by multiple external forces (e.g., drug testing, child custody issues, prison, relocation), but sustained abstinence was attributed to shifts in thinking and salient realizations about using. The treatment group reported using more and different resources to maintain their abstinence than the no-treatment group. Findings indicate individualized interventions and multiple, simultaneous approaches and resources were essential in reaching stable abstinence. Understanding long-term users’ experiences with MA use, addiction, and abstinence can inform strategies for engaging and sustaining MA users in treatment and recovery.
Optimization of a magnetically saturable interior permanent-magnet synchronous machine drive

Interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous machines are attractive because they can achieve constant-power operation over a wide speed range with limited magnet strength requirements and reduced power electronics cost. These characteristics provide the IPM machine with advantages over alternative machine types in applications such as spindle and traction drives. An important challenge for high-performance IPM machine design is to model the magnetic saturation of the core in a manner that is accurate, flexible, and computationally fast for design optimization. A magnetically-saturable lumped parameter model (LPM) is developed for the optimized design of high-performance IPM synchronous machine drives. Using equivalent magnetic circuit analyses, the dq-frame inductances and magnet flux linkage are calculated for transversely-laminated IPM machines. The lumped parameters are employed to predict machine drive system performance for both rated-torque and constant-power operation. The results of saturable model calculations and finite element analysis (FEA) match very closely for the machine inductances, magnet flux linkage, and converted torque. Further validation is presented by comparing measurements of existing experimental machines to predictions from the saturable lumped parameter model. Agreement of measurements and predictions for the highly nonlinear saturable q-axis inductance is within 5% in the saturated excitation range. The utility of the saturable LPM is then demonstrated by developing a cost-optimized design for an automotive integrated starter/generator (ISG) that is rated at 4 to 6 kW during generating operation. This ISG machine is mounted in a direct-drive mechanical configuration on the engine crankshaft. Agreement between the saturable LPM and FEA calculations for q- and d- axis inductances and PM flux linkage are all within 5% for the entire excitation range. Results of this model have been combined with structural FEA and demagnetization studies to produce a machine design that is predicted to meet all key ISG performance requirements. For this application and the chosen cost model, it is shown that optimizing the combined machine and drive system versus optimizing only the machine reduces the overall cost prediction by 12%.
Binding of cellular proteins to the regulatory region of BK virus DNA

The human papovavirus BK has a noncoding regulatory region located between the divergently transcribed early and late coding regions. Many strains of BK virus (BKV) have direct DNA sequence repeats in the regulatory region, although the number and extent of these repeats varies widely between independent isolates. Until recently, little was known about the individual functional elements within the BKV regulatory region, and the biological significance of the variable repeat structure has been unclear. To characterize the interaction between sequences in the BKV regulatory region and host cell transcription factors, we have carried out DNase I footprinting and competitive binding experiments on three strains of BKV, including one strain that does not contain direct sequence repeats. We have used relatively crude fractions from HeLa cell nuclear extracts, as well as DNA affinity-purified preparations of proteins. Our results demonstrate that BK(Dunlop), BK(WW), and BK(MM) each contain multiple binding sites for a factor, NF-BK, that is a member of the nuclear factor 1 family of transcription factors. We predict the presence of three to eight binding sites for NF-BK in the other strains of BKV for which a DNA sequence is available. This suggests that the binding of this protein is likely to be required for biological activity of the virus. In addition to NF-BK sites, BK(WW) and BK(MM) each contain a single binding site for transcription factor Sp1, and BK(Dunlop) contains two binding sites for transcription factor AP-1. The AP-1 sites in BK(Dunlop) span the junction of adjacent direct repeats, suggesting that repeat formation may be an important mechanism for de novo formation of binding sites not present in a parental strain.
Hurricanes and Global Warming: Results from Downscaling IPCC AR4 Simulations

Changes in tropical cyclone activity are among the more potentially consequential results of global climate change, and it is therefore of considerable interest to understand how anthropogenic climate change may affect such storms. Global climate models are currently used to estimate future climate change, but the current generation of models lacks the horizontal resolution necessary to resolve the intense inner core of tropical cyclones. Here we review a new technique for inferring tropical cyclone climatology from the output of global models, extend it to predict genesis climatologies (rather than relying on historical climatology), and apply it to current and future climate states simulated by a suite of global models developed in support of the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. This new technique attacks the horizontal resolution problem by using a specialized, coupled ocean-atmosphere hurricane model phrased in angular momentum coordinates, which provide a high resolution .