Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short‐term hypoxia does not promote arrhythmia during voluntary apnea

The presence of bradycardic arrhythmias during volitional apnea at altitude may be caused by chemoreflex activation/sensitization. We investigated whether bradyarrhythmic episodes became prevalent in apnea following short‐term hypoxia exposure. Electrocardiograms (ECG; lead II) were collected from 22 low‐altitude residents (F = 12; age=25 ± 5 years) at 671 m. Participants were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (SpO2 ~79 ± 3%) over a 5‐h period. ECG rhythms were assessed during both free‐breathing and maximal volitional end‐expiratory and end‐inspiratory apnea at baseline during normoxia and hypoxia exposure (20 min [AHX]; 5 h [HX5]). Free‐breathing HR became elevated at AHX (78 ± 10 bpm; p < 0.0001) and HX5 (80 ± 12 bpm; p < 0.0001) compared to normoxia (68 ± 10 bpm), whereas apnea caused significant bradycardia at AHX (nadir end‐expiratory −17 ± 14 bpm; p < 0.001) and HX5 (nadir end‐expiratory −19 ± 15 bpm; p < 0.001), but not during normoxia (nadir end‐expiratory −4 ± 13 bpm), with no difference in bradycardia responses between apneas at AHX and HX5. Conduction abnormalities were noted in five participants during normoxia (Premature Ventricular Contraction, Sinus Pause, Junctional Rhythm, Atrial Foci), which remained unchanged during apnea at AHX and HX5 (Premature Ventricular Contraction, Premature Atrial Contraction, Sinus Pause). End‐inspiratory apneas were overall longer across conditions (normoxia p < 0.05; AHX p < 0.01; HX5 p < 0.001), with comparable HR responses to end‐expiratory and fewer occurrences of arrhythmia. While short‐term hypoxia is sufficient to elicit bradycardia during apnea, the occurrence of arrhythmias in response to apnea was not affected. These findings indicate that previously observed bradyarrhythmic events in untrained individuals at altitude only become prevalent following chronic hypoxia specificlly.
Cost Savings Associated With Palliative Care Among Older Adults With Advanced Cancer

Background: There is inconsistent evidence that palliative care intervention decreases total healthcare expenditure at end-of-life for oncology patients. This inconsistent evidence may result from small sample sizes at single institution studies and disparate characterization of costs across studies. Comprehensive studies in population-based datasets are needed to fully understand the impact of palliative care on total healthcare costs. This study analyzed the impact of palliative care on total healthcare costs in a nationally representative sample of advanced cancer patients. Methods: We conducted a matched cohort study among Medicare patients with metastatic lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers. We matched patients who received a palliative care consultation to similar patients who did not receive a palliative care consultation on factors related to both the receipt of palliative care and end of life costs. We compared direct costs between matched patients to determine the per-patient economic impact of a palliative care consultation. Results: Patients who received a palliative care consultation experienced an average per patient cost of $5,834 compared to $7,784 for usual care patients (25% decrease; p < 0.0001). Palliative care consultation within 7 days of death decreased healthcare costs by $451, while palliative care consultation more than 4 weeks from death decreased costs by $4,643. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that palliative care has the capacity to substantially reduce healthcare expenditure among advanced cancer patients. Earlier palliative care consultation results in greater cost reductions than consultation in the last week of life.
Stimulated cycle versus artificial cycle for frozen embryo transfer in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: a Meta-analysis

Abstract Purpose Our aim is to conduct a meta-analysis comparing clinical outcomes between the mild ovarian stimulation cycle versus an artificial cycle (AC) for frozen embryo transfer (FET) in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods We systematically searched the databases of PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library from inception to January 2020. The outcomes were live birth rate (LBR), ongoing pregnancy rate (OPR), clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), embryo implantation rate (IR) and miscarriage rate (MR). The mild ovarian stimulation cycle and AC were compared according to risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals using a fixed or random effects model. Results Four retrospective studies describing the clinical outcomes were included. We found no significant difference in LBR, OPR, CPR, IR or MR between the mild ovarian stimulation cycle and AC protocols, whereas a lower MR was found for the letrozole-stimulated cycle than the AC. Conclusions The letrozole-stimulated cycle for endometrial preparation in PCOS patients undergoing FET may lower the MR more than the AC. PCOS patients using the mild ovarian stimulation cycle for endometrial preparation undergoing FET had similar LBR, OPR, CPR and IR compared with the AC. The letrozole-stimulated protocol may be a reasonable choice for endometrial preparation before FET for women with PCOS.
Experimental evaluation of the GE NM/CT 870 CZT clinical SPECT system equipped with WEHR and MEHRS collimator

Abstract Purpose A high‐energy‐resolution whole‐body SPECT‐CT device (NM/CT 870 CZT; C‐SPECT) equipped with a CZT detector has been developed and is being used clinically. A MEHRS collimator has also been developed recently, with an expected improvement in imaging accuracy using medium‐energy radionuclides. The objective of this study was to compare and analyze the accuracies of the following devices: a WEHR collimator and the MEHRS collimator installed on a C‐SPECT, and a NaI scintillation detector‐equipped Anger‐type SPECT (A‐SPECT) scanner, with a LEHR and LMEGP. Methods A line phantom was used to measure the energy resolutions including collimator characteristics in the planar acquisition of each device using 99mTc and 123I. We also measured the system's sensitivity and high‐contrast resolution using a lead bar phantom. We evaluated SPECT spatial resolution, high‐contrast resolution, radioactivity concentration linearity, and homogeneity, using a basic performance evaluation phantom. In addition, the effect of scatter correction was evaluated by varying the sub window (SW) employed for scattering correction. Results The energy resolution with 99mTc was 5.6% in C‐SPECT with WEHR and 9.9% in A‐SPECT with LEHR. Using 123I, the results were 9.1% in C‐SPECT with WEHR, 5.5% in C‐SPECT with MEHRS, and 10.4% in A‐SPECT with LMEGP. The planar spatial resolution was similar under all conditions, but C‐SPECT performed better in SPECT acquisition. High‐contrast resolution was improved in C‐SPECT under planar condition and SPECT. The sensitivity and homogeneity were improved by setting the SW for scattering correction to 3% of the main peak in C‐SPECT. Conclusion C‐SPECT demonstrates excellent energy resolution and improved high‐contrast resolution for each radionuclide. In addition, when using 123I, careful attention should be paid to SW for scatter correction. By setting the appropriate SW, C‐SPECT with MEHRS has an excellent scattered ray removal effect, and highly homogenous imaging is possible while maintaining the high‐contrast resolution.
Antithrombotic Regimens in Low-Risk Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Trials Evaluating Patient-Centered Outcomes Needed.

Choice of antithrombotic therapy following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been evaluated in several recent clinical trials. Initially, consensus guidelines recommended dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin plus clopidogrel based on expert opinion. Responding to concerns regarding subclinical leaflet thrombosis raised in observational studies, GALILEO (Global Study Comparing a Rivaroxaban-Based Antithrombotic Strategy to an Antiplatelet-Based Strategy After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement to Optimize Clinical Outcomes) studied the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban 10 mg daily compared with dual antiplatelet therapy. Although rivaroxaban reduced the incidence of subclinical leaflet thrombosis as compared with dual antiplatelet therapy, it increased major bleeding and all-cause mortality, and the study was stopped prematurely.1,2 Subsequently, the POPular-TAVI trial (Antiplatelet Therapy for Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic-Valve Implantation), confirming results from a smaller trial, demonstrated that aspirin monotherapy caused fewer major bleeding events than dual antiplatelet therapy, with a similar number of ischemic events, in patients without a formal indication for oral anticoagulation.3 Overall, the current state of the evidence suggests that aspirin alone is the optimal antithrombotic regimen in the population of patients undergoing TAVR.
Modeling the phase equilibria of a H2O–CO2 mixture with PC-SAFT and tPC-PSAFT equations of state

Water–carbon dioxide binary mixtures are important for a number of industrial and environmental applications. Accurate modeling of the thermodynamic properties is a challenging task due to the highly non-ideal intermolecular interactions. In this work, two models based on the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT) are used to correlate reliable experimental vapor–liquid equilibria (VLE) and liquid–liquid equilibria (LLE) data in the temperature range 298–533 K. CO2 is modeled as a non-associating or associating component within the Perturbed Chain-SAFT (PC-SAFT) and as a quadrupolar component within the truncated PC-Polar SAFT (tPC-PSAFT). It is shown that PC-SAFT with explicit account of H2O–CO2 cross-association and tPC-PSAFT with explicit account of CO2 quadrupolar interactions are the most accurate of the models examined. Saturated liquid mixture density data are accurately predicted by the two models.
An ab initio study on compressibility of Al-containing MAX-phase carbides

The compressibility of Al-containing MAX carbides was investigated in details using first-principle calculations based on density functional theory. The bond stiffness and bond angle as a function of pressure were examined. The M-Al bond stiffness is about 1/3–1/2 of M-C bond stiffness. The M-C bond close to Al atoms has the highest bond stiffness in M{sub 3}AlC{sub 2} and M{sub 4}AlC{sub 3} phases, with the similar bond stiffness of the other two bonds in the latter. Generally, the bond stiffness of the strongest M-C bond increases with increasing VEC (Valence Electron Concentration), which also affects the bond stiffness of other bonds. Of most importance, the bulk moduli are 0.256 of the mean bond stiffness for three series. With increasing pressure, M-Al bond angle increases, but M-C bond angles decreases, which indicates that M-Al and M-C bonds shift towards basal plane and along c-axis, respectively. As a result, the compressibility becomes more difficult along c-axis than a-axis. Some abnormal phenomena in the compressibility of Al-containing M{sub n+1}AlX{sub n} phases with VEC = 6 are attributed to the thermodynamical instability of these compounds.
Nano Composite PVA-TiO2 Thin Films for OTFTs

Pure PVA and composite thin films of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA)/Titanium dioxide (TiO2) were prepared on pre-cleaned glass substrates by Dip Coating Technique (DCT) and Metal Organic Deposition Technique (MODT). EDS and FTIR spectrum were used to identify the composition of the prepared films. The vibrational peaks observed at 1260 cm-1 and 851 cm-1 are assigned to C–C stretching and CH rocking of PVA. The characteristic band appearing at 1432 cm-1 is assigned to C–H bend of CH2 of PVA. The bands observed around 847 cm-1 and 601cm-1 belong to the asymmetric stretching of Ti–O–Ti groups. The last band at 460 cm-1 is due to the bending mode of Ti–O–Ti. The bands covered by Ti-O were located at 540, 700 and 950 cm-1. From the FTIR spectra, it is observed that some of the peaks of composite films were shifted and some of them were disappeared with respect to the pure compounds. This results manifested the conclusion about the specific interactions in composite polymer matrices and hence the complexation. Thus, complex formation in the composite polymer matrices has been confirmed from this analysis. The thickness of the coated films were measured by using an electronic thickness measuring instrument (Tesatronic-TTD-20), gravimetric method and cross checked by optical spectrophotometer. XRD spectra indicated the amorphous nature of the films. Surface morphology of the coated films was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The surface revealed no pits and pin holes on the surface. Both as grown and annealed films showed predominantly amorphous nature. The observed surface morphology and thermal stability indicated that these films could be used as dielectric layer in organic thin film transistors.
NEONATE HEALTH AND CALF MORTALITY IN A DECLINING POPULATION OF NORTH AMERICAN MOOSE (ALCES ALCES AMERICANUS)

Abstract: Moose (Alces alces americanus) populations in many areas along the southern extent of the North American moose range, including Minnesota, have experienced decline. Ascertaining neonate health and cause-specific mortality is critical where calf survival is low and understanding underlying causes of population dynamics is important. To investigate moose neonate health and causes of mortality, we studied 43 calves shortly after parturition during 2013–15 and 2018. The observed natural calf mortality rate was 84% by the following January of each calving season. Most natural calf mortalities were caused by black bear (Ursus americanus) or wolf (Canis lupus) predation or associated injuries (71%) but also included stillbirth (16%), orphaning (7%), generalized bacterial infection (3%), and hunter harvest (3%). Neonate health was evaluated in 27 calves by hematology, serum biochemistry profile, and maternally derived immunoglobulin. General health parameters were mostly within an expected range for normal health and adequate maternal immunoglobulin transfer. Importantly, these data contribute to a growing body of literature on moose neonate health and is the first report, to our knowledge, of maternally derived immunity in moose neonates.
Ultrathin Body InGaAs-on-Insulator Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors with InP Passivation Layers on Si Substrates Fabricated by Direct Wafer Bonding

We demonstrated the formation of ultrathin-body (UTB) III–V-semiconductor-on-insulator (III–V-OI) n-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (nMOSFETs) on Si by low-damage direct wafer bonding, where channel thickness was been reduced to 7 nm. However, we found a significant reduction of the effective mobility of the InGaAs-OI nMOSFETs upon thinning InGaAs channels without surface passivation layers. Instead, we demonstrated the high electron mobility of 1004 cm2·V-1·s-1 in a 9-nm-thick InGaAs-OI nMOSFET with an InP surface passivation layer. This finding indicates that the proper surface passivation is important in realizing the high-performance UTB III–V-OI nMOSFETs.
A 20 y Analysis of Weather and Management Effects on a Small White Lady's-slipper (Cypripedium candidum) Population in Manitoba

Abstract. The small white lady's-slipper, Cypripedium candidum, is a rare perennial orchid with a limited distribution in Canada, occurring as isolated populations in remnant tallgrass prairie in southern Manitoba and Ontario. The species is listed as endangered in both provinces and as threatened federally. Despite its status, information on how environmental conditions and land management affect population size and persistence of this species is limited. We used 20 y of monitoring data collected for a subset of the largest population in Canada to evaluate the response of small white lady's-slipper to land management and weather. Long-term monitoring suggests the population is in decline and may not persist under the current climate and management regime. Temperature appears to regulate vegetative growth and flowering proximately. Warm temperatures early in the spring, when shoots are emerging, appear favored, but high temperatures during anthesis appear detrimental, reducing both vegetative growth and flowering. In contrast, precipitation appears to have a lag effect on growth and flowering. However, snow depth was identified as a positive influence on vegetative growth, suggesting precipitation in early spring, when shoots are emerging, is also important for above-ground growth. Some grazing appears to benefit the species presumably by reducing competition and shading, but frequent grazing may increase the risk of direct damage to individuals from cattle consumption and trampling and does not provide sufficient time for individuals to recover following grazing events. Our findings add to the knowledge of orchid conservation and management, highlighting the importance of long-term monitoring in detecting population trends in species with erratic life cycles and fluctuating populations, such as the small white lady's-slipper.
Is Carriage of Leptospira interrogans by Rats Influenced by the Urban Environment or Population Density?

Abstract: Leptospira interrogans is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens globally. In urban settings, Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are important reservoirs of L. interrogans, but it is unclear how this bacterium is transmitted among rats. Both environmental features and rat population density may determine the prevalence of this pathogen in rat populations as well as the spillover risk to people. While these factors could play an important role in transmission between rats, it is unknown whether such factors influence prevalence among rats at a fine scale. Our objective was to determine if carriage of L. interrogans by rats could be explained by variation in the environment or in rat population density. Rats were live-trapped in a single neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada during two study periods (2011–12; 2016–17) and were tested for L. interrogans. The physical environment of each city block was recorded using a comprehensive, in-person environmental survey. Using generalized linear mixed modelling, we found no evidence of an association between carriage of L. interrogans and environmental features or rat population density, suggesting that these were not the primary drivers of its distribution among rats within this neighborhood. Understanding factors that promote L. interrogans transmission can be used to inform management approaches to minimize public health risks.
Compressibility effects on energy exchange mechanisms in a spatially developing plane free shear layer

Abstract The compressibility effects on energy exchange mechanisms in a three-dimensional, spatially developing plane free shear layer are investigated via data produced by direct numerical simulation. The compressible shear layer is simulated using a high-order discontinuous spectral element method for convective Mach numbers $M_c = 0.3$, 0.5 and 0.7. The energy exchange mechanisms in the flow are examined by analysing the budget terms of mean kinetic, internal and turbulent kinetic energy transport equations, in both transition and turbulent regions. The results show that turbulent production, turbulent viscous dissipation, mean viscous dissipation, pressure dilatation and enthalpic production are the main mechanisms responsible for energy exchange among different forms of energy. The effects of compressibility on energy transfer mechanisms are studied based on the analyses of those five budget terms. The primary budget terms evolve differently in the transition and turbulent regions and change significantly for varying compressibility. In the transition region, a double-peak variation becomes a single peak in the streamwise profile of the turbulent production as $M_c$ increases from 0.3 to 0.7, due to significant changes in the vortex pairing structures. The shear layer centre slightly shifts to the high-speed side due to the appearance of the velocity deficit. The velocity deficit presence distance (VDPD) becomes longer as compressibility increases. However, in the turbulent region, the cross-stream profiles of the main budget terms significantly shift to the low-speed side because of the asymmetric mass entrainment and shift even further as $M_c$ increases.
Access, Equity, and Neutral Space: Telehealth Beyond the Pandemic

As I begin my 4th year of medical school amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, telehealth has allowed me to connect with many patients who previously struggled to access consistent primary care. In this essay, I describe 2 of my most formative experiences with telehealth: participating in my medical school’s new “tele-hotspotting” elective, and providing virtual gender-affirming care through our student-run free clinic. These experiences demonstrate not only telehealth’s utility during a viral pandemic, but also its potential as a powerful tool for expanding access to care and promoting health equity over the coming years. With this said, telehealth is not without limitations. Patients and clinicians alike have expressed concerns regarding the challenge of performing a physical exam and maintaining emotional connection across physical distance. A sustained expansion of telehealth is further challenged by inconsistent availability of broadband Internet, as well as a lack of standardized reimbursement procedures for telehealth visits. Strategies are available to help meet these challenges while maximizing health equity.
Latent Melanoma Skin Cancer Image Classification by using Depthwise Separable CNN

Problems with medical computer visons solutions, do not just circulates around the solution's accuracy only, but also around limited training data, and the solution's latency. Our work mainly tries to minimize those latter two problems while also keeping accuracy at a very possible considerable level. We worked on finding a depthwise separable convolution neural network architecture, trained it with 3290 Melanoma skin cancer images, develop a mobile application based on the architecture output model, and we then linked it with an online SQL Server via a PHP API for results storage. Our CNN design obtained an accuracy level of 81.3% which is considerably good, giving the type of technique and amount of data we used for training, since it is a known concept that the bigger the dataset, the greater the possibility of obtaining good model accuracy. We obtained F1 Score of 0.82, sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 79%. The output model weight of our algorithm was 15MB which is relatively small, making it very convenient for a mobile environment. We also find out it is possible to reduce the problem of having limited medical training data by online storage of results obtained from a mobile solution such that we have created as a real-life example of our work.
Deepstitch: Deep Learning for Cross-Layer Stitching in Microservices

While distributed application-layer tracing is widely used for performance diagnosis in microservices, its coarse granularity at the service level limits its applicability towards detecting more fine-grained system level issues. To address this problem, cross-layer stitching of tracing information has been proposed. However, all existing cross-layer stitching approaches either require modification of the kernel or need updates in the application-layer tracing library to propagate stitching information, both of which add further complex modifications to existing tracing tools. This paper introduces Deepstitch, a deep learning based approach to stitch cross-layer tracing information without requiring any changes to existing application layer tracing tools. Deepstitch leverages a global view of a distributed application composed of multiple services and learns the global system call sequences across all services involved. This knowledge is then used to stitch system call sequences with service-level traces obtained from a deployed application. Our proof of concept experiments show that the proposed approach successfully maps application-level interaction into the system call sequences and can identify thread-level interactions.