Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perioperative Pulmonary Outcomes in Patients with Sleep Apnea After Noncardiac Surgery

BACKGROUND:Although patients with sleep apnea (SA) are considered to be at increased risk for postoperative complications, evidence supporting increased risk of perioperative pulmonary morbidity is limited. The objective of this study, therefore, was to analyze perioperative demographics and pulmonary outcomes of patients with SA after orthopedic and general surgical procedures using a population-based sample. We hypothesized that SA is an independent risk factor for perioperative pulmonary complications, thus providing a basis for an increase in the utilization of resources, including intensive monitoring and development of strategies to prevent and treat these events. METHODS:National Inpatient Sample data for each year between 1998 and 2007 were accessed. Orthopedic and general surgical procedures were included and discharges with a diagnosis code for SA were identified. Patients with the diagnosis of SA were matched to those without the disease based on demographic variables using the propensity scoring method. Aspiration pneumonia, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pulmonary embolism (PE), and the need for intubation and mechanical ventilation were the primary outcomes. Odds ratio (OR) and absolute risk reduction along with 95% confidence interval were reported. RESULTS:We identified 2,610,441 entries for orthopedic and 3,441,262 for general surgical procedures performed between 1998 and 2007. Of those, 2.52% and 1.40%, respectively, carried a diagnosis of SA. Patients with SA developed pulmonary complications more frequently than their matched controls after both orthopedic and general surgical procedures, respectively (i.e., aspiration pneumonia: 1.18% vs 0.84% and 2.79% vs 2.05%; ARDS: 1.06% vs 0.45% and 3.79% vs 2.44%; intubation/mechanical ventilation: 3.99% vs 0.79% and 10.8% vs 5.94%, all P values <0.0001). Comparatively, PE was more frequent in SA patients after orthopedic procedures (0.51% vs 0.42%, P = 0.0038) but not after general surgical procedures (0.45% vs 0.49%, P = 0.22). SA was associated with a significantly higher adjusted OR of developing pulmonary complications after both orthopedic and general surgical procedures, respectively, with the exception of PE (OR for aspiration pneumonia: 1.41 [1.35, 1.47] and 1.37 [1.33, 1.41]; for ARDS: 2.39 [2.28, 2.51] and 1.58 [1.54, 1.62]; for PE: OR 1.22 [1.15, 1.29] and 0.90 [0.84, 0.97]; for intubation/mechanical ventilation: 5.20 [5.05, 5.37] and 1.95 [1.91, 1.98]). CONCLUSION:SA is an independent risk factor for perioperative pulmonary complications. Our results may be used for hypothesis generation for clinical studies targeted to improve perioperative outcomes in this patient population.
Learning scheme of multiple-patterns in quadruped locomotion using CPG model

Quadrupeds show several locomotion motion patterns adapting to environmental conditions. An immediate transition among walk, trot, and gallop implies an existence of the memory for locomotion patterns. In this paper, we postulate that the motor patter learning necessitates the repetitive presentation of the same environmental conditions, and aim at constructing a mathematical model for new pattern learning. The model construction deals with a decerebrate cat experiment where only the left forelimb is driven at the higher speed by the belt on the treadmill. A CPG model that adaptively generates locomotion pattern and qualitatively describes the decerebrate cat behavior has already proposed. Developing this model, we introduce a memory to retain locomotion patterns. Here, the memory is represented as the minimal point of the potential function whose gradient system describes recollecting process, and new minimal point is generated by the bifurcation from already-existed minimal point. The process where two minimal points are generated based on the repetitive presentation of the same environmental condition is described.
A note on inverse limits of continuous images of arcs

The main purpose of this paper is to prove some theorems concerning inverse systems and limits of continuous images of arcs. In particular, we shall prove that if ${\mathbf X} = \{ X_{a}, p_{ab}, A\}$ is an inverse system of continuous images of arcs with monotone bonding mappings such that $\operatorname{cf} (\operatorname{card}(A))\neq \omega _{1}$, then $X = \lim {\mathbf X}$ is a continuous image of an arc if and only if each proper subsystem $\{X_{a},p_{ab},B\}$ of ${\mathbf X}$ with $\operatorname{cf}(\operatorname{card}(B)) = \omega _{1}$ has the limit which is a continuous image of an arc (Theorem 18). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Influence of Architecture-Controlled GaN Rod Arrays on the Output Power of GaN LEDs

We report the influence of controlled lengths and densities of GaN rod arrays on the output power of GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The morphology-controlled GaN rod arrays are fabricated via using ZnO rod arrays as a dry etching mask. Our investigation indicates that the output power of GaN LEDs has a strong dependence on the lengths and densities of GaN rod arrays. The variation of output power of GaN LEDs with GaN rod arrays is caused by the Fabry-Pérot resonance of the film composed by GaN rod arrays. The theoretical analysis also shows a good agreement with the measurement results.
Rendering a Rigid Virtual World through an Impulsive Haptic Interface

This paper deals with the haptic rendering of collisions between a human operator and rigid objects in a virtual environment. The focus being on high-velocity impacts on a rigid wall. After discussing the importance of velocity measurements in contrast to force measurements, a new haptic device is introduced. The new device is capable of applying directly an 'impulse' to the operator, similar to collisions occurring in the real world. Based on a Poisson-model of the rigid virtual object, the necessary change of momentum of the operator's hand is being estimated online. A momentum wheel, under velocity-control, is engaged through an electromagnetic toothed clutch, at the estimated instant of impact. The resulting immediate change in momentum is thought to be essential for giving interactions with rigid virtual objects a realistic feel. Rather than generating so-called 'impulsive forces' with big motors, this approach relies only on small motors and is thus intrinsically safer. Experiments are performed on a one-degree of freedom setup. Conclusions are drawn and future directions of this research are sketched
Etching of fission tracks in monazite: An experimental study

This study reports a range of etching and annealing experiments to establish the optimum conditions for the etching of fission tracks in monazite. The previously reported concentrated (12 M) HCl etchant at 90°C was found to cause grain loss from epoxy mounts and high degrees of grain corrosion, as did much longer etching times at lower temperatures. Using implanted 252Cf semi‐tracks, a series of experiments were performed on internal prismatic faces of monazite‐(Ce) crystals from the Palaeozoic Harcourt Granodiorite (Victoria, Australia) using an alternative 6 M HCl etchant, also at 90°C. Step‐etch results show optimal etching at 60–90 min. Further, an isothermal annealing experiment illustrated that the degree of annealing that can be expected during etching at 90°C under laboratory time scales is negligible. The etching rate between grains is not uniform, with a correlation demonstrated between over‐etched grains and high U and Th concentrations.
Numerical analysis of nano schottky junctions for developing novel sub-20 nm electronic devices

Nano metal-semiconductor contacts in sub-20 nm range have showed unusual electrical characteristics compared to conventional diodes. New devices based on nano Schottky junction have been proposed to overcome the limitations of CMOS devices. Here we introduce a new theoretical approach for studying the enhancement of the electric field at the interface, and then the net current along the junction. The results revealed a dominant tunneling current at the reverse bias for low n-dope semiconductor substrates. Whereas for high n-dope substrates, the thermionic current is dominant at the forward bias. We have used a finite element simulation software (COMSOL) to analyze the electrical characteristics of nano Schottky diodes, and compare the theoretical results with experimental data.
VISUALIZATION OF GOLGI APPARATUS IN METHACRYLATE EMBEDDED CONIFER EMBRYO TISSUE USING THE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY JIM 84

Methacrylate embedding followed by resin removal has been used for the first time to visualize a membrane‐associated antigen at the tissue level. Monoclonal antibody JIM 84 was used to stain the Golgi apparatus of gymnosperm (conifer) embryos by light microscope immunocytochemistry. Specificity of labelling was confirmed by electron microscope immunocytochemistry using LR‐white resin. GA staining was evident in all stages of white spruce somatic embryo development from immature to mature. Some regions of the somatic embryos (e.g. root cap/suspensor region) stained more vigorously than other regions (hypocotyl/cotyledon end). GA also stained in roots of Monterey pine and Douglas fir. Unlike the situation in most angiosperms, JIM 84 antigen appears to be absent from the conifer plasma membrane. However, it appears to be present in representatives of both major classes of higher plants.
Performance Comparison of Three Spectrum Admission Control Policies in Coordinated Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Systems

When spectrum is shared among multiple radio systems, spectrum admission control (SAC) can be performed via a centralized spectrum manager to meet their respective traffic demands. The adopted policy will determine the admission of service requests and, in turn, affect the overall spectrum utilization efficiency. The design of SAC policies becomes more challenging when each radio system provides a grade of service (GoS) in the form of a blocked service guarantee to its users. Given such constraints, we study the admission region, which indicates the maximum amount of supported traffic for the given resources. We first study the performance based on a simple first-come-first-serve (FCFS) policy. Our studies show that the admission region is, in general, limited by the radio system that first violates its prescribed GoS guarantee (i.e., the performance-limiting radio). We propose three SAC policies to enhance the total offered traffic and compare them against the FCFS policy. The first is a random discard (RD) policy, where requests from other systems are discarded with some predetermined probabilities so that a larger portion of the spectrum is made available to the performance-limiting radio. The second SAC uses a reservation (RES) policy, where a suitable amount of spectrum is reserved for the performance-limiting radio. In the third policy, SAC is formulated as a discrete-time constrained Markov decision process (MDP). We analyzed the performance of each policy at low and high request rates and show how the additional design parameters in each policy can be optimized to enhance the offered traffic. As admission decisions are jointly made with traffic predictions, the MDP admission policy shows superior performance over the other policies due to its flexibility to operate both radios at the bound of the respective GoS constraint.
Some highlights of research on aging with invertebrates, 2010

This annual review focuses on invertebrate model organisms, which continue to yield fundamental new insights into mechanisms of aging. This year, the budding yeast has been used to understand how asymmetrical partitioning of cellular constituents at cell division can produce a rejuvenated offspring from an aging parent. Blocking of sensation of carbon dioxide is shown to extend fly lifespan and to mediate the lifespan‐shortening effect of sensory exposure to fermenting yeast. A new study of daf‐16, the key forkhead transcription factor that mediates extension of lifespan by mutants in the insulin‐signalling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans, demonstrates that expression of tissue‐specific isoforms with different patterns of response to upstream signalling mediates the highly pleiotropic effects of the pathway on lifespan and other traits. A new approach to manipulating mitochondrial activity in Drosophila, by introducing the yeast NADH‐ubiquinone oxidoreductase, shows promise for understanding the role of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in aging. An exciting new study of yeast and mammalian cells implicates deterioration of the nuclear pore, and consequent leakage of cytoplasmic components into the nucleus, as an important cause of aging in postmitotic tissues. Loss of, or damage to, chromosome‐associated histones is also implicated in the determination of lifespan in yeast, worms and fruit flies. The relationship between functional aging, susceptibility to aging‐related disease and lifespan itself are explored in two studies in C. elegans, the first examining the role of dietary restriction and reduced insulin signalling in cognitive decline and the second profiling aggregation of the proteome during aging. The invertebrates continue to be a power house of discovery for future work in mammals.
A model for online learner support based on selecting appropriate peer tutors

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com Please cite this as: Van Rosmalen, P., Sloep, P.B, Brouns, F. , Kester, L. , Berlanga, A. , Bitter, M. , Koper, R. (2008). A model for online learner support based on selecting appropriate peer tutors. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 24, 483–493. Available online at doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2008. 00283.x
Incremental Topic-Based Translation Model Adaptation for Conversational Spoken Language Translation

We describe a translation model adaptation approach for conversational spoken language translation (CSLT), which encourages the use of contextually appropriate translation options from relevant training conversations. Our approach employs a monolingual LDA topic model to derive a similarity measure between the test conversation and the set of training conversations, which is used to bias translation choices towards the current context. A significant novelty of our adaptation technique is its incremental nature; we continuously update the topic distribution on the evolving test conversation as new utterances become available. Thus, our approach is well-suited to the causal constraint of spoken conversations. On an English-to-Iraqi CSLT task, the proposed approach gives significant improvements over a baseline system as measured by BLEU, TER, and NIST. Interestingly, the incremental approach outperforms a non-incremental oracle that has up-front knowledge of the whole conversation.
40Ar/39Ar geochronology, fluid inclusions, and ore‐grade distribution of the Jiawula Ag–Pb–Zn deposit, NE China: Implications for deposit genesis and exploration

The Jiawula Ag–Pb–Zn deposit is located in the northern part of the Great Xing'an Range metallogenic belt within the eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Here, we report results from muscovite 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and fluid inclusion study and formulate a vertical projection map of the ore grade in this deposit. The muscovite from the Jiawula deposit yields a plateau age of 133.27 ± 0.66 Ma and a 40Ar/39Ar isochron age of 131.88 ± 0.83 Ma. The muscovite 40Ar/39Ar data indicate a discrete second hydrothermal event postdating the mineralization, which we correlate with post‐collisional extension after the subduction direction of the Palaeo‐Pacific Plate changed. Low‐salinity aqueous fluid inclusions in quartz from the Jiawula deposit represent meteoric water or groundwater. Based on the fluid inclusion study, the fluids were trapped during cooling and decompression, which may have resulted in metal precipitation. We envisage that the copper precipitated from a high‐temperature fluid in the southern domain whereas lead, zinc, and silver precipitated at a lower temperature in the north. The spatial distribution of the ore‐forming elements, therefore, reflects the ore fluid migration‐cooling path from the south to north.
Use of Heart Rate Variability to Estimate LT and VT

The purpose of this study was to determine if changes in heart rate variability during incremental exercise could be used to estimate lactate threshold and ventilatory threshold in healthy adults. Twenty-four adults performed graded maximal cycle ergometry to volitional fatigue. Blood lactate, heart rate, RR interval, and respiratory gas exchange were monitored. Heart rate variability was analyzed using time domain indices (standard deviation and mean successive difference). A marked RR interval deflection point was found in the region of lactate threshold and ventilatory threshold, and was identified as the heart rate variability threshold. Mean differences between heart rate variability threshold, ventilatory threshold, and lactate threshold ranged from 0.06 +/- 0.3 to 0.12 +/- 0.2 L.min (-1). Correlations between the different measures ranged from 0.82 - 0.89. A small but significant difference was found between ventilatory threshold and lactate threshold (p < 0.05). There was not a significant difference between heart rate variability threshold and lactate threshold (p > 0.05), nor between heart rate variability threshold and ventilatory threshold (p > 0.05). The data suggest the heart rate variability threshold coincides with lactate threshold and ventilatory threshold during graded exercise and can be used for the detection of lactate threshold in healthy adults.
A Network Flow Approach For Hierarchical Tree Partitioning

Network flow approaches have been used for partitioning with successin the past. However, most of them can not deal with size constraintsdirectly in partitioning. Instead, they incorporate the sizeconstraints implicitly in the objective function. This paper presentsa new network flow approach for partitioning circuits into treehierarchies. We formulate a linear program for the hierarchicaltree partitioning problem by spreading metrics proposed in [Divide-and-conquer approximation algorithms via spreading metrics, Fast approximate graph partitioning algorithms]. The size constraints in partitioning can be formulated directly aslinear constraints. Motivated by the duality between the linear programsfor partitioning and network flow problems, we devise aheuristic algorithm based on network flow and spreading metriccomputations. Experimental results demonstrate that the new algorithmcan generate better solutions for MCNC benchmarks.
Should first-line empiric treatment strategies cover coagulase-negative staphylococcal infections in severely malnourished or HIV-infected children in Kenya?

Background Bloodstream infection is a common cause of morbidity in children aged <5 years in developing countries. In studies reporting bacteremia in Africa, coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are commonly isolated. However, it is currently unclear whether children who are highly susceptible to infection because of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) or HIV should be treated with antimicrobials specifically to cover CoNS. We aimed to determine the clinical significance of CoNS amongst children admitted to a rural hospital in Kenya in relation to nutritional and HIV status. Methods Systematically collected clinical and microbiological surveillance data from children aged 6–59 months admitted to Kilifi County Hospital (2007–2013) were analysed. Multivariable regression was used to test associations between CoNS isolation from blood cultures and SAM (MUAC <11.5cm or nutritional oedema (kwashiorkor)), and HIV serostatus; and among children with SAM or HIV, associations between CoNS isolation and mortality, duration of hospitalization and clinical features. Results CoNS were isolated from blood culture in 906/13,315 (6.8%) children, of whom 135/906 (14.9%) had SAM and 54/906 (6.0%) were HIV antibody positive. CoNS isolation was not associated with SAM (MUAC<11.5cm (aOR 1.11, 95% CI 0.88–1.40) or kwashiorkor (aOR 0.84, 95% CI 0.48–1.49)), or a positive HIV antibody test (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 0.92–1.71). Among children with SAM or a positive HIV antibody test, CoNS isolation was not associated with mortality or prolonged hospitalization. Conclusion In a large, systematic study, there was no evidence that antimicrobial therapy should specifically target CoNS amongst children with SAM or HIV-infection or exposure.
Construction of Porcine Growth Hormone Eukaryotic Expression Vector and Its Transfection Mediated by Cationic Liposome in Mice

The present study was designed to construct the eukaryotic expression vector for pGH mature peptide (mpGH) and to investigate its transfection mediated by cationic liposome (CLs) in COS-7 cells and mice. The cDNA of mpGH ORF was successfully cloned by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) using the adult pig pituitary gland RNA. The recombinant eukaryotic expression vector, VmpGH, was constructed by ligating the cDNA fragment to the vector VR1020. The successful construction was confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion, and the expression of mpGH was confirmed by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence analyses (IFA), and ELISA in COS-7 cells. The VmpGH and VR1020 plasmids were entrapped with CLs, and four experimental groups of male Kunming mice were administrated with VmpGH / lipoplex or naked VmpGH plasmids at two dosages (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg), while the mice injected with VR1020-lipoplex at the dosage of 0.5 mg/kg body weight (BW) were used as control. The BWs of the mice administrated with VmpGH-lipoplex at both dosages were significantly higher than not only those of the control (P < 0.01) but also those of mice injected with naked plasmids (P < 0.01), from 30 to 60 days post-transfection. The transcription of VmpGH was detected by RT-PCR in six tissues, including the liver, kidney, spleen, heart, muscle, and blood, of the mice injected with VmpGH-lipoplex, but not in the same tissues of control mice. Furthermore, the mice injected with VmpGH-lipoplex showed higher plasma GH contents than the control mice (P < 0.05), although their IgG contents did not show much difference. Our study demonstrates that the VmpGH plasmids' transfection mediated by CLs can significantly promote the growth of mice, which may be used to improve the livestock production.