Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Which fluid to give?

Crystalloids are generally accepted, as the initial fluid of choice during trauma patient resuscitation but the pragmatic approach is to give a combination of both crystalloid and colloid. Plasmalyte 148 has advantages over both saline and lactated Ringer’s. Medium-or low-molecular weight hydroxyethyl starch may be the colloid of choice. In the future, haemoglobin-based oxygen carriers are likely to play a prominent role in trauma resuscitation.
Science education. Studies suggest two-way street for science majors.

Conventional wisdom holds that few U.S. college students ever transfer into a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field because they lack the necessary academic preparation. Given uniquely high attrition rates, the result is a dearth of tech-savvy workers. But two new studies raise questions about the accuracy of both those assumptions and suggest that the flow into STEM fields is more of a two-way street than a leaky pipeline.
Antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy: a systematic review of the literature

Background Antimalarials (AMs) are widely used in the treatment of connective tissue diseases. Their main side effect is retinal damage, while heart disease has been described in isolated cases. The aim of this study is to systematically review the existing literature on AM-induced cardiomyopathy (AMIC). Methods The PubMed database was searched for heart biopsy-confirmed AMIC cases. Information on demographics, clinical presentation, concomitant AM-related toxicity, cardiological investigations, treatment and outcome were collected. Descriptive statistics were used. Results Forty-seven cases (42 females) were identified with a mean age at diagnosis 56.4 ± 12.6 and mean AM treatment duration 12.7 ± 8.2 years. Systemic lupus erythematosus (n = 19) and rheumatoid arthritis (n = 18) were the most common primary diseases. Clinical presentation was that of congestive heart failure in 77%, while eight patients presented with syncope (17%). Complete atrioventricular block was reported in 17 patients; 24 received a permanent pacemaker (51%). Impaired systolic function was detected in 52.8%, bi-ventricular hypertrophy in 51.4% and restrictive filling pattern of the left ventricle in 18 patients. Cardiac magnetic resonance showed late gadolinium enhancement in seven cases, with a non-vascular pattern in the interventricular septum. Cardiomyocyte vacuolation was reported in all cases; intravacuolar lamellar and curvilinear bodies were observed in 46 (98%) and 42 (89.4%) respectively. Mortality rate was 45% (18/40). Conclusion AMIC is a rare, probably under-recognized, complication of prolonged AM treatment. It presents as a hypertrophic, restrictive cardiomyopathy with or without conduction abnormalities. Early recognition and drug withdrawal are critical with a survival rate of almost 55%.
The Effects of Inbreeding on Japanese Children

This volume constitutes probably the most comprehensive report on inbreeding effects in man. The study first began to take shape in 1955, so this report covers the work of approximately ten years. Schull and Neel have collaborated with many Japanese medical scientists and statisticians. The material is organized into 15 chapters. The first gives the general background. The second describes the situation of consanguineous marriages in Japan. The third outlines the statistical methods employed in the analysis. This is then followed by ten "data chapters" on the characteristics of the consanguinity group, mortality of the inbred infants and children, medical histories, physical disease, anthropometrics, growth and development, dental characteristics, laboratory studies, neuromuscular and mental status, and performance in elementary school. The 14th chapter summarizes the differences between an average inbred and an outbred child. The final chapter discusses the relationship of the inbreeding results with the so-called "genetic load. " Two
Canonical pipelining of lattice filters

A variant of the lattice form is proposed in which delay elements are placed on both the upper (feedforward) path and the lower (feedback) path alternately. Although this new form preserves the fundamental characteristics of the usual lattice form having all the delay elements on the lower (feedback) path, it has some practical advantages. First, it represents a completely pipelined systolic-type array processor. The pipelining is canonical in the sense that no extra delay is introduced, Second, the finite word length performance is shown to be superior to that of the usual lattice form when it is used to implement digital filters of general transfer functions. The theoretical reasoning for this improvement is discussed based on the state-space representation. It is also shown that the new lattice form is topologically equivalent to the wave digital filter composed of the unit elements, which gives the physical ground of this new form.
Rate control of MPEG video for consistent picture quality

We propose a rate control scheme using a rate-distortion (R-D) estimation model, which produces a consistent picture quality between consecutive frames. Our R-D estimation method offers a closed-form mathematical model that enables us to predict the bits and the distortion generated from a frame encoded at a given quantization parameter (QP) and vice versa. Its most attractive feature is its low computational complexity. Furthermore, it is accurate enough to be applied to practical video coding. In our simulation, the estimation errors for rate and distortion are less than 2.5% and 1.5%, respectively. Therefore, the proposed rate control scheme is appropriate for applications requiring low delay, low complexity, and the ability to control output bit-rate and quality accurately. Our scheme ensures that the video buffers do not underflow or overflow by satisfying the buffer constraint, and it also prevents quality difference between consecutive frames from exceeding a certain demanded level by adopting a distortion constraint. In addition, a consistent picture quality is maintained within a frame, and error propagation, caused by quality degradation of anchor frames, is reduced by differentiating the control procedure for anchor frames from that for nonanchor frames. Simulation results show that our control scheme achieves 0.52-1.84 dB peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) gain over MPEG-2 Test Model 5 (TM5) rate control and maintains very consistent quality within a frame as well as between frames.
Estimating the prevalence of ex-injecting drug use in the population

Injecting drug use is the main route of transmission for the hepatitis C virus in the developed world. Knowledge about the characteristics of the past and current injecting drug user (IDU) population is therefore vital in order to understand the epidemiology of hepatitis C. The IDU population is `hard to reach' and hence most epidemiological studies have concentrated on estimating current IDU prevalence, whilst little is known about the potentially large pool of ex-injectors. We demonstrate a method for estimating the proportion of ex-users in the population, by considering injecting drug use as a time-to-event process. We show how unbiased estimates of injecting duration and historical patterns in injecting initiation can be derived from a sample of ex-IDUs obtained from a population survey, and how such data lead to estimates of the proportion of ex-IDUs in the population. Finally, we show how to obtain estimates of the prevalence of ex-IDUs by using additional information on the prevalence of current IDUs.
Bacterial Contamination of Anaesthetists Hands, Personal Mobile Phones and Wrist Watches used during Theatre Sessions

Background: Personal items such as mobile phones and wrist watches are commonly used by doctors working in the operation theatre. The hands and personal use items of anaesthetic doctors working in the operation theatre may serve as vectors for transmission of nosocomial pathogens among surgical patients. Our aim was to determine the hand contamination among anaesthetists working in the operation theatre and contamination of mobile phones and wrist watches of anaesthetic doctors. Method: Forty five anaesthetic doctors working in the operation theatres at Colombo South Teaching Hospital and Ratnapura General Hospital were enrolled in the study. Swabs from fingertips, keypads of mobile phones and wrist watches were taken using moist sterile swabs and plated on Mac Conkey and Blood agar plates. The bacteria isolated were identified by biochemical tests. Results: Hand washing was performed by 60% (n=27/45) doctors entering the theatre. 95% (n=43/45) brought their mobile phone to the theatre and 78.5% used it at least once during the theatre session. A wrist watch was worn by 71% (n=32/45) of the anaesthetic doctors working in the theatre. Bacterial growth was detected from 84% wrist watch swabs, 71% fingertip swabs and 70% mobile phone swabs. Staphylococci were predominantly cultured from all three specimens tested. MRSA was isolated from 22% of swabs taken from fingertips, 15% mobile phones and 25% wrist watches respectively. Methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) was isolated from 33%, 46.5% and 37.5% swabs from fingertips, mobile phones and wrist watches respectively. Coagulase negative Staphylococci was isolated from wrist watches (15%) and fingertip specimens (2%). 29% fingertip swabs and 30% mobile phone swabs did not show bacterial growth. Conclusion: Personal use items of doctors such as mobile phones and wrist watches show a high percentage of bacterial contamination. Hand washing compliance was moderate among the study population. Thus personal use items and hands may act as an important source of nosocomial pathogens in the Sri Lankan operation theatre settings. Therefore it is important to encourage higher compliance to hand washing practices and routine surface disinfection of personal use items brought to the operation theatre. Key words: bacterial contamination, nosocomial infections doi: 10.4038/slja.v17i1. 409 Sri Lankan Journal of Anaesthesiology 17(1) : 11-15 (2009)
Temporal compensated motion estimation with simple block-based prediction

Motion compensated video format conversion (MC-VFC) needs true motion vectors, which have such features as spatial consistency and temporal extension. Based on these features, a temporally compensated motion estimation algorithm with simple block-based prediction (TC-SBP) is presented. Making use of the spatial-temporal correlation, the simple block-based prediction needs only three neighboring candidate vectors for each block, so that its computational complexity is highly reduced. At the same time, three temporally compensated updating candidates are used to accelerate the convergence of the algorithm efficiently for the global motion field. Measured using criteria relevant to MC-VFC and video processing applications, the new TC-SBP algorithm is shown to have a superior performance over alternative ones.
Time series methods for obtaining excess mortality attributable to influenza epidemics

The occurrence of influenza epidemics during winters, in the northern hemisphere countries, is known to be associated with observed excess mortality for all causes. A large variety of methods have been developed in order to estimate, from weekly or monthly mortality time series, the number of influenza-associated deaths in each season. The present work focus on the group of methods characterised by fitting statistical models to interrupted mortality time series. The study objective is to find a common ground between these methods in order to describe and compare them. They are unified in a single class, being categorised according to three main parameters: the model used to fit the interrupted time series and obtain a baseline, the a priori chosen type of periods used to estimate the influenza epidemic periods and the procedure used to fit the model to the time series (iterative or non-iterative). This generalisation led quite naturally to the construction of a set of user friendly R-routines, package flubase, implementing all these models. These routines were applied to data on about 20 years of weekly Portuguese number of deaths by pneumonia and influenza showing that, in this case, the parameter that had the highest impact on influenza-associated deaths estimates was the a priori chosen type of period used.
On the power of the Cochran–Armitage test for trend in the presence of misclassification

The Cochran–Armitage (CA) test is commonly used in both epidemiology and genetics to test for linear trend in two-way tables with a binary outcome. There has been increasing interest in the power and size of the test and in determination of sample size, especially when there is potential misclassification in the ‘exposure’ category. This article provides a unified approach to determination of the power function over different sampling strategies (fixed overall sample size or fixed marginal sample sizes) and allowing for misclassification in one or both variables. The misclassification may be either differential or non-differential. In addition to the standard CA test, results are also given which provide some insight into the performance of the modified CA test, which utilizes a standard error obtained without invoking the null hypothesis. Even without misclassification, some new expressions are also obtained for determining power with a fixed overall sample size. Numerical illustrations are presented with an emphasis on the more commonly occurring problem of misclassification in the exposure category.
CHOROIDORETINAL DEGENERATION: A SEX-LINKED FORM IN WHICH HETEROZYGOUS WOMEN EXHIBIT A TAPETAL-LIKE RETINAL REFLEX

THE TAPETUM lucidum, an iridescent cellular or noncellular layer of the choroid, which is responsible for the metallic reflex seen at night in the eyes of many mammals, is not present in the human eye. However, in rare instances a ta[etal-like retinal luster has been observed ophthalmoscopically. In the 2 cases described by Mann 1 the abnormality occurred in women and was unaccompanied with any impairment of vision. Concerning one of these women, it was said that in childhood "her eyes used to glow in the dark like an animal's. '' Dr. Mann's patients were not known to be related, and their families were not investigated. 2 To our knowledge, only 1 other instance of a tapetal reflex has been mentioned in the ophthalmologic literature, this being the case of a woman described by Niccol. 3 During the course of a genetic study which originated with a 30 year old man
The “language filter” hypothesis: A feasibility study of language separation in infancy using unsupervised clustering of I-vectors

In order to avoid mixing up languages, infants immersed in a multilingual environment have to sort speech into language-homogeneous sets. To study the feasibility of this task, we use speech technology tools (Universal Background Models and i-vectors) in combination with unsupervised clustering to test language separation using speech from several speakers of two languages. We investigate the outcome of the clustering as a function of the variability of language experience (monolingual versus mixed background), and the availability of side information (speaker identity). Our findings show that in the absence of side information, language separation is relatively easier if the system has been pre-exposed to a single language (monolingual background), than it is for a system pre-exposed to both languages (mixed background). However, this initial disadvantage can be overcome by restricting the representation to the dimensions that most distinguish speakers using Linear Discriminant Analysis, suggesting that speaker identity side information may enhance language separation in a multilingual environment. The implications for language acquisition and computational modeling are discussed.
Modeling fecundity in the presence of a sterile fraction using a semi-parametric transformation model for grouped survival data

The analysis of fecundity data is challenging and requires consideration of both highly timed and interrelated biologic processes in the context of essential behaviors such as sexual intercourse during the fertile window. Understanding human fecundity is further complicated by presence of a sterile population, i.e. couples unable to achieve pregnancy. Modeling techniques conducted to date have largely relied upon discrete time-to-pregnancy survival or day-specific probability models to estimate the determinants of time-to-pregnancy or acute effects, respectively. We developed a class of semi-parametric grouped transformation cure models that capture day-level variates purported to affect the cycle-level hazards of conception and, possibly, sterility. Our model's performance is assessed using simulation and longitudinal data from one of the few prospective cohort studies with preconception enrollment of women followed for 12 menstrual cycles at risk for pregnancy.
Cases of Brought in Dead Patients in the Accident and Emergency Unit of a Referral Hospital in the Western Region of Ghana

The objective of this study was to evaluate cases of brought in dead (BID) patients in the accident and emergency unit of Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital through a retrospective study of a period of 3 years. A retrospective descriptive study of BID cases from the death register and patients’ records of the accident and emergency unit of the hospital was carried out from January 2011 to December 2013. 31% (180/574) of BID cases were recorded over the study period with the age range from below 1 year to over 70 years. They were 58.5% male and 41.5% female with a ratio of 1.4:1. The majority of the BID cases (20.7%) were patients above 70 years and most cases (40.8%) have no known clinical condition associated with the death. The majority of the unexplained deaths were highest among young adults between the ages 30 and 40 years (22.6%). The highest cases of BID (20%) were seen in the month of December and majority of the cases (72.5%) lived within the metropolis. This study showed a concerning trend of BID cases in the hospital with a high prevalence among the elderly and unexplained death among the young adults. Hence there is an urgent need to upgrade hospitals in the area with the hope of relieving the burden off Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital and also a need to increase health promotion strategies among the people of the area so as to instill health seeking behavior in order to prevent avoidable deaths.
Analysis of Poisson frequency data under a simple crossover trial

When the frequency of occurrence for an event of interest follows a Poisson distribution, we develop asymptotic and exact procedures for testing non-equality, non-inferiority and equivalence, as well as asymptotic and exact interval estimators for the ratio of mean frequencies between two treatments under a simple crossover design. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we evaluate the performance of these test procedures and interval estimators in a variety of situations. We note that all asymptotic test procedures developed here can generally perform well with respect to Type I error and can be preferable to the exact test procedure with respect to power if the number of patients per group is moderate or large. We further find that in these cases the asymptotic interval estimator with the logarithmic transformation can be more precise than the exact interval estimator without sacrificing the accuracy with respect to the coverage probability. However, the exact test procedure and exact interval estimator can be of use when the number of patients per group is small. We use a double-blind randomized crossover trial comparing salmeterol with a placebo in exacerbations of asthma to illustrate the practical use of these estimators.
Father Involvement in Botswana: How Adolescents Perceive Father Presence and Support

How children perceive parental involvement has implications for their development and well-being, as well as the father-child relationship. Emerging research suggests that father involvement is a multifaceted concept, often driven by evolving cultural mandates. In this study, survey data were collected from 704 adolescents aged 14–16 in Botswana, where the rates of female-headed households and adult HIV infection are among the highest in the world. Fathers who provided both coresidence and financial support were perceived at the highest level of involvement. When considered separately, financial support rather than coresidence was associated with higher levels of perceived involvement. Maternal gatekeeping was also found to be a significant influence on perceived levels of father involvement. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.
Estimating the average treatment effects of nutritional label use using subclassification with regression adjustment

Propensity score methods are common for estimating a binary treatment effect when treatment assignment is not randomized. When exposure is measured on an ordinal scale (i.e. low–medium–high), however, propensity score inference requires extensions which have received limited attention. Estimands of possible interest with an ordinal exposure are the average treatment effects between each pair of exposure levels. Using these estimands, it is possible to determine an optimal exposure level. Traditional methods, including dichotomization of the exposure or a series of binary propensity score comparisons across exposure pairs, are generally inadequate for identification of optimal levels. We combine subclassification with regression adjustment to estimate transitive, unbiased average causal effects across an ordered exposure, and apply our method on the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to estimate the effects of nutritional label use on body mass index.
Raptor-Like Rate Compatible LDPC Codes and Their Puncturing Performance for the Cloud Transmission System

This paper proposes a class of raptor-like rate compatible low-density parity check (LDPC) codes for the cloud transmission (CTxN) system. The proposed LDPC codes have lengths of 16,200 and 64,800 which are the same as those of DVB T2/S2 LDPC codes so that the CTxn system can easily be combined with the DVB-T2/S2 system for a second layer service. As the proposed LDPC codes are optimized at low coding rate range (R <;1/2), their performance is not only close to the Shannon limit, but also better than the DVB-T2/S2 LDPC codes. Moreover, the proposed LDPC codes have raptor code's property so that they can be decoded with a punctured codeword at the receiver for power saving and less latency under high signal-to-noise ratio regions.
THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAMS OF PSYCHOTIC PATIENTS

Electroencephalograms of 232 patients in mental hospitals, including 180 unselected cases at McLean Hospital and 52 chronic schizophrenics at Metropolitan State Hospital, have been studied since October, 1936. The fundamental patterns of these patients cannot be distinguished from those of our control series of 500 " normals. " There is, however, a large proportion of patients whose records show variations outside of the normal range of variability (see Figs. 3 and 10). The abnormalities which break into the pattern, rather than the type of pattern itself, constitute the significant difference between the electroencephalograms of these patients and of normal individuals. The quality of the atypical variations resembles that of the changes which occur in the electroencephalograms of persons known to have brain lesions, or who suffer from the various forms of epilepsy (Fig. 9), or of normal persons during sleep (Fig. 5), or when breathing an inadequate supply of oxygen (Fig. 4). All the patients clinically d.