Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body Perfusion during Adult Cardiopulmonary Bypass is Improved by Pulsatile flow with Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump

Purpose To evaluate if the use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) during cardioplegic arrest improves body perfusion. Methods 158 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients were randomized to linear cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (n=71, Group A) or automatic 80 bpm intra-aortic ballon pump (IABP) induced pulsatile CPB (n=87, Group B). We evaluated hemodynamic response by Swan-Ganz catheter, inflammation by cytokines, coagulation and fibrinolysis, transaminase, bilirubin, amylase, lactate and renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), creatinine, and incidence of renal insufficiency and failure). Results IABP induced Surplus Hemodynamic Energy was 15.8±4.9 mmHg, with higher mean arterial pressure during cross-clamping (p=0.001), and lower indexed systemic vascular resistances during cross-clamping (p=0.001) and CPB discontinuation (p=0.034). IL-2 and IL-6 were lower, while IL-10 proved higher in Group B (p<0.05). Group B showed lower chest drainage (p<0.05), transfusions (p<0.05), INR (p<0.05), and AT-III (p=0.001), together with higher platelets, aPTT (p<0.05), fibrinogen (p<0.05) and D-dimer (p<0.05). Transaminases, bilirubin, amylase, lactate were lower in Group B (p<0.05); eGFR was better in Group B from ITU-arrival to 48 hours, both in preoperative kidney disease Stages 1–2 (p<0.03) and Stage 3 (p<0.05), resulting in lower creatinine from ITU-arrival to 48 hours (p<0.03). Incidence of renal insufficiency (p=0.004) and need for renal replacement therapy (p=0.044) was lower in Group B Stage 3. Group B PaO2/FiO2 and lung compliance improved from aortic declamping to the first day (p<0.003) with shorter intubation time (p=0.01). Conclusion Pulsatile flow by IABP improves whole-body perfusion during CPB.
The impact of rheumatoid arthritis on quality-of-life assessed using the SF-36: A systematic review and meta-analysis Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism

Objective: The assessment of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is becoming increasingly common in both research and clinical practice. One of the most widely used tools for measuring HRQoL is the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). We conducted a systematic review examining the impact of RA on HRQoL, measured through the SF-36. Methods: MEDLINE and Embase were searched for observational studies reporting mean and standard deviation scores for each domain of the SF-36 in adult RA patients. Studies were reviewed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, and a random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Results: In total, 31 studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis, including 22,335 patients. Meta-analyses found that pooled mean HRQoL score for the SF-36 physical component summary was 34.1 (95% CI: 22.0 – 46.1) and mental component summary was 45.6 (95% CI: 30.3 – 60.8). Increased age was associated with reduced physical function and physical component summary (PCS) scores but improved mental health and mental component summary (MCS) scores. Female gender was associated with improved scores on role physical, bodily pain and PCS but reduced mental health and MCS scores. Longer disease duration was associated with improved MCS. Patients with RA have a substantially reduced HRQoL in comparison to both other physical illnesses and in comparison to normative datasets from UK and USA populations. Conclusions: RA has a substantial impact on HRQoL. This supports recent NICE guidelines stipulating that RA patients should be regularly assessed for the impact their disease has on HRQoL and appropriate management provided. & 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
Estudo da viabilidade de fabricação de placas de compositos a base de cimento e casca de arroz

No processo de beneficiamento do arroz origina-se um importante residuo - casca de arroz - que acaba sendo queimado ou despejado em aterros, causando serios prejuizos ao meio ambiente. O presente trabalho foi desenvolvido com o objetivo de estudar a possibilidade de utilizacao deste residuo, na producao de placas prensadas, para uso em construcoes. O material casca de arroz sofreu um processo de fracionamento obtendo-se desta forma tres granulometrias (10 mm, 5 mm e 3 mm), que foram estudadas de forma isolada. A incompatibilidade quimica entre a casca de arroz e o cimento (CP V-ARI e CP II-E-32) foi avaliada atraves de curvas de hidratacao, que evidenciaram o efeito inibitorio do material casca de arroz, bem como a influencia de sua granulometria sobre a incompatibilidade quimica. Atraves de ensaios de compressao simples de corpos-de-prova cilindricos determinou-se a influencia da combinacao do cimento CP V-ARI, das granulometrias 10 mm, 5 mm e 3 mm, da lavagem das particulas em solucao de cal e do uso do acelerador de pega cloreto de calcio, na obtencao de compositos de maior resistencia a compressao. Atraves da combinacao destes fatores foi possivel a producao de placas prensadas, ensaiadas e comparadas com materiais convencionais (aglomerados e um tipo de compensado), tendo-se evidenciado a grande estabilidade dimensional do composito. Abstract
Persistent pancreatocutaneous fistula after percutaneous drainage of pancreatic fluid collections: role of cause and severity of pancreatitis.

PURPOSE To assess the relationship between the cause and severity of pancreatitis and the development of persistent pancreatocutaneous fistula (PPCF) after percutaneous drainage of pancreatic fluid collections. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty patients (44 male, 16 female; age range, 10-74 years) were included in the study. The cause of pancreatitis was postoperative in 29 patients, alcoholism in 20 patients, biliary in six patients, hyperlipidemia in two patients, unknown in two patients, and trauma in one patient. Patients requiring intensive care unit treatment for their condition at the time of drainage were considered to have severe pancreatitis. Thirty-seven patients had mild pancreatitis, and 23 had severe pancreatitis. PPCF was defined as catheter drainage of pancreatic fluid of more than 10 mL/d for more than 4 weeks after catheter placement. RESULTS PPCF developed in 27 of the 60 patients. It occurred in five of the six patients with biliary pancreatitis, 10 of the 20 with alcohol-related pancreatitis, and 10 of the 29 with postoperative pancreatitis (P > .2). The prevalence of PPCF was higher in patients with severe pancreatitis (n = 16 [70%]) than in those with mild pancreatitis (n = 11 [30%]). This difference was statistically significant (P < .002). CONCLUSION Development of PPCF correlated with severity of pancreatitis, regardless of the cause of pancreatitis.
Always On: A Framework for Understanding Personal Mobile Web Motivations, Behaviors, and Contexts of Use

Mobile data services offer a growing alternative means of accessing the Web and have drawn significant attention from the mobile industry. However, design efforts are hampered peopleâ€™s motivations, behaviors, and contexts of use when they access the Web on their phones. To help address this need, we conducted a study to explore the following questions for U.S. mobile phone users: 1) What motivations lead people to access the Web on their mobile phones? ; 2) What do they do? ; and 3) Where do they do it? Based on the findings from Part One of the study, we constructed a taxonomy of behaviors, motivations, and contexts associated with mobile Web usage. In Parts Two and Three, we validated the taxonomy as well as compared iPhone versus non-iPhone user behaviors. We conclude this report by considering the design implications of our findings and future research directions.
The influence of eyelid morphology on normal corneal shape.

PURPOSE To investigate associations between the topography of the cornea and the morphology of the eyelids in a population of young adult subjects with a range of refractive errors. METHODS Corneal topography data and digital images of the anterior eye were acquired for 100 young adult subjects. The corneal topography data and palpebral fissure images were analyzed to determine a range of parameters describing the shape of the cornea and the morphology of the palpebral fissure. Correlation analysis was carried out to investigate for significant associations between the parameters describing the topography of the cornea and the parameters describing the morphology of the palpebral fissure. RESULTS A number of highly significant correlations were found between the best-fitting corneal spherocylinder and the eyelid morphology parameters. The corneal best-fit sphere (M) was significantly correlated with the horizontal palpebral fissure width (r = -0.428; P < 0.001). Corneal astigmatism power vector J45 was significantly correlated with the angle of the palpebral fissure (r = 0.392; P < 0.001). The axis of corneal astigmatism was also found to be significantly correlated with the angle of the palpebral fissure (r = 0.317; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS A number of significant associations exist between the corneal spherocylinder and the morphology of the eyelids in a normal adult population.
Proteome analysis of Corynebacterium glutamicum

By the use of different Corynebacterium glutamicum strains more than 1.4 million tons of amino acids, mainly L‐glutamate and L‐lysine, are produced per year. A project was started recently to elucidate the complete DNA sequence of this bacterium. In this communication we describe an approach to analyze the C. glutamicum proteome, based on this genetic information, by a combination of two‐dimensional (2‐D) gel electrophoresis and protein identification via microsequencing or mass spectrometry. We used these techniques to resolve proteins of C. glutamicum with the aim to establish 2‐D protein maps as a tool for basic microbiology and for strain improvement. In order to analyze the C. glutamicum proteome, methods were established to fractionate the C. glutamicum proteins according to functional entities, i.e., cytoplasm, membranes, and cell wall. Protein spots of the cytoplasmic and membrane fraction were identified by N‐terminal sequencing, immunodetection, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS) and electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS). Additionally, a protocol to analyze proteins secreted by C. glutamicum was established. Approximately 40 protein spots were observed on silver‐stained 2‐D gels, 12 of which were identified.
Mnemonics in education: Current research and applications.

Mnemonic techniques are a powerful way to learn large amounts of information, but are not used widely in education today. Why is this? One reason is that the practical demands of the classroom may not be conducive to the use of mnemonics. This review explores how students actually use mnemonics and examines 4 questions about using mnemonics in education: (a) Do mnemonics contribute to more than just rote memory? (b) Do mnemonics work with educationally relevant materials? (c) How much time is required to learn and prepare a mnemonic? (d) Do mnemonics promote long-term learning? With these considerations, the usefulness of mnemonics in the classroom may be limited to certain contexts. However, I provide a few alternative approaches for considering the use of mnemonics in educational settings, such as combining them with other learning techniques and treating mnemonics as a retrieval aid rather than a core learning strategy.
Ingestion of Angel's Trumpet: An increasingly Common Source of Toxicity

Angel's trumpet is a hallucinogenic plant commonly cultivated as an ornamental in the southeastern United States. Consumption of any part of the plant may result in severe anticholinergic toxicity. In past years, toxicity has largely resulted from accidental ingestion, but in 1994 there was a ten-fold increase in the number of reported ingestions throughout the state of Florida, largely by persons experimenting with the plant for its hallucinogenic effects. We report three such cases and review the literature on diagnosis, treatment, and sequelae of angel's trumpet intoxication.
New insights into landslide processes around volcanic islands from Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) observations offshore Montserrat

Submarine landslide deposits have been mapped around many volcanic islands, but interpretations of their structure, composition, and emplacement are hindered by the challenges of investigating deposits directly. Here we report on detailed observations of four landslide deposits around Montserrat collected by Remotely Operated Vehicles, integrating direct imagery and sampling with sediment core and geophysical data. These complementary approaches enable a more comprehensive view of large‐scale mass‐wasting processes around island‐arc volcanoes than has been achievable previously. The most recent landslide occurred at 11.5–14 ka (Deposit 1; 1.7 km3) and formed a radially spreading hummocky deposit that is morphologically similar to many subaerial debris‐avalanche deposits. Hummocks comprise angular lava and hydrothermally altered fragments, implying a deep‐seated, central subaerial collapse, inferred to have removed a major proportion of lavas from an eruptive period that now has little representation in the subaerial volcanic record. A larger landslide (Deposit 2; 10 km3) occurred at ∼130 ka and transported intact fragments of the volcanic edifice, up to 900 m across and over 100 m high. These fragments were rafted within the landslide, and are best exposed near the margins of the deposit. The largest block preserves a primary stratigraphy of subaerial volcanic breccias, of which the lower parts are encased in hemipelagic mud eroded from the seafloor. Landslide deposits south of Montserrat (Deposits 3 and 5) indicate the wide variety of debris‐avalanche source lithologies around volcanic islands. Deposit 5 originated on the shallow submerged shelf, rather than the terrestrial volcanic edifice, and is dominated by carbonate debris.
Congestion Management Considering Optimal Placement of Distributed Generator in Deregulated Power System Networks

Abstract This article presents an effective methodology for congestion management in deregulated power system networks considering optimal placement of a distributed generator. The novelty of this method is that the optimal placement of a distributed generator in a deregulated power system is decided on the basis of bus impedance matrix (Zbus ) based contribution factors. The Zbus -based contribution factors are independent of slack bus location, which complies with the prevailing competitive environment. The congestion management problem formulation comprises the maximization of social welfare function subject to power balance and transmission congestion constraints. The maximization of the social welfare function causes maximization of consumer benefits and minimization of supplier generation cost and distributed generators. The proposed methodology has been simulated on an IEEE 30-bus system, and comparisons of results are presented with and without distributed generators. The results show that the proposed approach gives significant improvement in social welfare and decreases congestion rent with distributed generator placement.
Universal Lossless Compression With Unknown Alphabets&#8212;The Average Case

Universal compression of patterns of sequences generated by independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) sources with unknown, possibly large, alphabets is investigated. A pattern is a sequence of indices that contains all consecutive indices in increasing order of first occurrence. If the alphabet of a source that generated a sequence is unknown, the inevitable cost of coding the unknown alphabet symbols can be exploited to create the pattern of the sequence. This pattern can in turn be compressed by itself. It is shown that if the alphabet size k is essentially small, then the average minimax and maximin redundancies as well as the redundancy of every code for almost every source, when compressing a pattern, consist of at least 0.5log(n/k3) bits per each unknown probability parameter, and if all alphabet letters are likely to occur, there exist codes whose redundancy is at most 0.5log(n/k2) bits per each unknown probability parameter, where n is the length of the data sequences. Otherwise, if the alphabet is large, these redundancies are essentially at least Theta(n-2/3 ) bits per symbol, and there exist codes that achieve redundancy of O(n-1/2) bits per symbol. Two suboptimal low-complexity sequential algorithms for compression of patterns are presented and their description lengths analyzed, also pointing out that the pattern average universal description length can decrease below the underlying i.i. d. entropy for large enough alphabets
Resolution of Experimental Lung Injury by Monocyte-Derived Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase

Although early events in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury (ALI) have been defined, little is known about the mechanisms mediating resolution. To search for determinants of resolution, we exposed wild type (WT) mice to intratracheal LPS and assessed the response at intervals to day 10, when injury had resolved. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) was significantly upregulated in the lung at day 4 after LPS. When iNOS−/− mice were exposed to intratracheal LPS, early lung injury was attenuated; however, recovery was markedly impaired compared with WT mice. iNOS−/− mice had increased mortality and sustained increases in markers of lung injury. Adoptive transfer of WT (iNOS+/+) bone marrow-derived monocytes or direct adenoviral gene delivery of iNOS into injured iNOS−/− mice restored resolution of ALI. Irradiated bone marrow chimeras confirmed the protective effects of myeloid-derived iNOS but not of epithelial iNOS. Alveolar macrophages exhibited sustained expression of cosignaling molecule CD86 in iNOS−/− mice compared with WT mice. Ab-mediated blockade of CD86 in iNOS−/− mice improved survival and enhanced resolution of lung inflammation. Our findings show that monocyte-derived iNOS plays a pivotal role in mediating resolution of ALI by modulating lung immune responses, thus facilitating clearance of alveolar inflammation and promoting lung repair.
Design of a Switchable Microstrip Dual-Band Lowpass-Bandpass Filter

This study proposes a filter with four switching modes (dual-band lowpass-bandpass filter mode, lowpass filter (LPF) mode, bandpass filter (BPF) mode, and both-bands-turned-off mode). In the dual-band lowpass-bandpass mode, the measured lowpass channel in-band insertion loss and cutoff frequency were less than 0.37 dB, and approximately 1.5 GHz, respectively; the measured center frequency, measured minimal insertion loss, and 3 dB fractional bandwidth of the bandpass response were approximately 2.4 GHz, 3.3 dB, and 9%, respectively. The measured suppression levels of the turned-off lowpass band and bandpass band responses were better than 26 and 33 dB, respectively.
PGF2alpha facilitates the training of sexually active boars for semen collection.

The objective was to determine the effects of PGF2alpha on the training of sexually active boars (i.e., boars experienced with natural mating) to mount an artificial sow for semen collection. Boars were moved to a semen collection pen twice weekly for 4 wk. After entering the pen, boars received im treatment with 10 mg PGF2alpha (n = 7) or 2 mL deionized water (n = 7). Boars were classified as trained when after a successful collection, the animals mounted the artificial sow and allowed semen collection on the next scheduled day without first receiving an injection of PGF2alpha or deionized water. The semen from 6 of 7 PGF2alpha-treated boars and 2 of 7 control boars was collected during the first exposure to the artificial sow (P < .03). After 4 training sessions, 7 of 7 PGF2alpha-treated boars and 4 of 7 controls were successfully trained (P < .05). The number of false mounts (mounting artificial sow but not allowing semen collection) per session was lower (P < .07) for PGF2alpha-treated boars (.6 +/- 1.0), compared to boars receiving deionized water (3.9 +/- 1.0) or trained boars receiving no treatment (3.4 +/- .7). Reaction time (elapsed time after entering collection pen until the start of ejaculation) was lower (P < .04) for PGF2alpha-treated boars (267.4 +/- 63.4 sec), compared to boars treated with deionized water (628.4 +/- 98.3 sec) or boars receiving no treatment (440.4 +/- 46.4 sec). In summary, use of PGF2alpha facilitated the training of sexually active boars to mount an artificial sow for semen collection.
Medical student attitudes towards HIV

The aim of the study was to determine medical student attitudes towards HIV-related issues, to examine if the following student factors can affect attitudes: gender, perception of HIV infectivity, exposure to an HIV+ individual, career intent and attending a clinical attachment. A self-administered questionnaire was given to students at the beginning and end of a clinical attachment. Of the 240 questionnaires handed out at the beginning of the attachment, 183 (76%) were completed. Students generally expressed positive attitudes towards people with HIV. Female students and individuals who had considered working in a related specialty or had met an HIV+ person expressed more patient-centred attitudes in some of their responses. Following the course, 72 questionnaires were returned. Responses to several of the attitudinal statements had changed significantly. Medical students generally have enlightened attitudes towards HIV-related issues, which may be affected by student factors and attending a clinical attachment.