Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mortality after admission in the pediatric emergency department: A prospective study from a referral children’s hospital in southern India

Objective Data on outcomes after admission in pediatric emergency departments are sparse in India. Our objectives were to determine the clinical and epidemiologic profile of acutely ill children and to identify risk factors for mortality. Design Prospective, longitudinal study, conducted in 1999. Setting Pediatric emergency department at the Institute of Child Health, a multiple specialty, children’s referral, public hospital in Madras, India. Patients Children of <12 yrs of age who required acute care in the pediatric emergency department (excluding minor illnesses) recruited consecutively during a 2-mo period. Measurements and Main Results Data included demographic variables, clinical profile, diagnoses, therapy, and in-hospital mortality after admission (outcome). In a cohort of 1155 children, there were 141 deaths (12.2%). Mortality was highest in the neonatal group (17.8%), which accounted for 67% of all deaths. Among neonates, breathlessness, poor feeding, birth asphyxia, and prematurity were the most common presenting problems. Among the postneonates, breathlessness, fever, and fits ranked high. Multivariate analyses to determine risk factors were done separately for neonates, postneonates, and those aged 1–12 yrs. Among neonates, age of ≤7 days, prematurity, low birth weight, chest retractions, central-peripheral temperature gap, and respiratory failure requiring ventilation were significant risk factors for mortality. Among the postneonatal group, poor pulse volume and respiratory failure were strong risk factors. In those aged >1 yr, central-peripheral temperature gap and respiratory failure were major risk factors. Conclusions The incidence of mortality is high in our setting and further research is needed to identify causes of preventable deaths. Children presenting with signs of hypoperfusion and respiratory failure had poor outcomes. This raises the concern that children may be presenting late, with advanced, severe illness to our pediatric emergency department. The data also suggest that identification of serious illness in children is possible with simple clinical signs and symptoms.
Gamified Technology-Mediated Learning: the Role of Individual differences

Researchers and practitioners see significant potential in using gamified technology-mediated learning (TML) systems to engage users and help them to learn. Yet, existing studies on gamified TML indicate inconsistent findings on the value of these systems. Some studies show higher learning outcomes and engagement while others do not; some demonstrate higher learning outcomes but not higher engagement. Therefore, researchers have called for more nuanced analysis including how individual differences interact with game elements. Specifically, we identify and study two individual differences - gender and achievement goals - in competitive gamified TML designs. We find that gender plays an important moderating role – males engage more and learn better in a competitive learning context than females. Achievement goals help explain differences in users’ benefits from gamified TML and how users react to competitive contexts. Our findings indicate that gender and achievement goals are important individual differences to consider in designing gamified TML and explaining its outcomes.
Presurgical psychiatric evaluations of candidates for bariatric surgery, part 1: reliability and reasons for and frequency of exclusion.

OBJECTIVE Many bariatric surgery programs include psychiatric evaluations as part of the pre-operative screening procedure. Surveys of surgeons and mental health professionals have found variability in opinion regarding what psychosocial problems warrant denial of clearance for surgery. Few studies have reported the number of patients who are not cleared for surgery due to psychiatric reasons, and no study has reported the reliability of decision making. The goals of the present study were to examine the reliability of decisions to clear candidates for surgery, determine the percentage of candidates who were not cleared for surgery, and detail the reasons candidates were not cleared for surgery. METHOD Five hundred candidates for bariatric surgery were evaluated from July 2004 until July 2006 with semistructured diagnostic interviews for DSM-IV Axis I and Axis II disorders supplemented by a module specific to this population. Reliability for determining clearance was evaluated in 73 patients. Reasons for not clearing patients were recorded on the Surgery Clearance Form. RESULTS Eighteen percent (N = 92) of the patients were not cleared for surgery. The kappa coefficient of reliability of determining surgical clearance was 0.83. The most common reasons for the negative recommendation were overeating to cope with stress or emotional distress, current eating disorder, uncontrolled psychopathology, and the presence of significant life stressors. Only 1 patient was excluded for a lack of understanding of the potential risks of surgery. CONCLUSIONS The decision whether to clear candidates for bariatric surgery can be made reliably. Approximately 1 in 5 surgical candidates did not pass the initial psychiatric screening, usually because of current eating pathology, other forms of uncontrolled psychopathology, or difficulty coping with current life stressors.
A Taxonomy for Locality Algorithms on Peer-to-Peer Networks

The continuous growth of peer-to-peer networks has made them responsible for a considerable portion of the current Internet traffic. For this reason, improvements in P2P network resources usage are of central importance. One effective approach for addressing this issue is the deployment of locality algorithms, which allow the system to optimize the peers selection policy for different network situations and, thus, maximize performance. To date, several locality algorithms have been proposed for use in P2P networks. However, they usually adopt heterogeneous criteria for measuring the proximity between peers, which hinders a coherent comparison between the different solutions. In this paper, we develop a thoroughly review of popular locality algorithms, based on three main characteristics: the adopted network architecture, distance metric, and resulting peer selection algorithm. As result of this study, we propose a novel and generic taxonomy for locality algorithms in peer-to-peer networks, aiming to enable a better and more coherent evaluation of any individual locality algorithm.
Voltage—current relations in nerve cell membrane of Onchidium verruculatum

The voltage clamp technique, introduced by Hodgkin, Huxley & Katz (1952) was first used to analyse the membrane conductance changes during activity in the squid giant axon (Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952a-d). Tasaki & Bak (1958), and Dodge & Frankenhaeuser (1958), using a similar technique, examined voltage-current relations in the membrane of a myelinated nerve fibre. However, these investigations were all concerned with nerve fibres. Recently we have applied a similar technique to nerve cell bodies in the supramedullary ganglion of a puffer fish (Hagiwara & Saito, 1957, 1959). The present work was planned to elucidate further the properties of the nerve cell body membrane by use of the voltage clamp technique. The relation between the membrane potential and membrane current was analysed under normal conditions, as well as in the presence of urethane and tetraethyl ammonium ions (TEA). In this work we used a marine pulmonate mollusc, Onchidium verruculatum, which has a number of large nerve cells (100-300 in diameter) in its central nervous system.
The ubiquitous transcription factor Oct-1 and the liver-specific factor HNF-1 are both required to activate transcription of a hepatitis B virus promoter

The liver-specific transcription factor HNF-1 activates transcription of several mammalian hepatocyte-specific genes. The hepatitis B virus preS1 promoter shows hepatocyte specificity, which has been ascribed to binding of HNF-1 to a cognate DNA sequence upstream of the TATA box. We show here that there is an adjacent site that binds the ubiquitous transcription factor Oct-1. Both the Oct-1 and HNF-1 sites are necessary for liver-specific transcription of the preS1 promoter, but neither site alone activates transcription. The Oct-1 site is also necessary for activation of the preS1 promoter in HeLa cells, expressing transfected HNF-1. Our results show that while Oct-1 is not restricted to hepatocytes, it nevertheless can play a critical role in the expression of a liver-specific gene.
Bacterial succession within a biofilm in water supply lines of dental air-water syringes.

Biofilms have been implicated as reservoirs for bacterial contamination of water delivered by dental air-water syringes. A 6-month study was done of bacterial colonization and biofilm formation in plastic water supply lines connected to dental air-water syringes. Changes in biofilm flora were observed by both scanning electron microscopy and bacteriologic culture. By day 7, many rod- and spiral-shaped bacteria had colonized the ridged surface of the luminal wall of the tubing, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. By day 30, individual microcolonies were embedded in extracellular polymeric material. By day 120, these microcolonies had begun to coalesce, and by day 180 the biofilm had developed into a multilayered, heterogeneous mixture of microcolonies. The mean aerobic plate counts of colony-forming units of planktonic and biofilm populations were, in log10 values, 5.9 +/- 0.54/mL and 4.2 +/- 0.82/cm2, respectively. Early colonizers were predominantly Pseudomonas spp. , but included Pasteurella, Moraxella, Ochrobactrum, and Aeromonas spp. Flavobacterium and Acinetobacter spp. were observed later. Many of these organisms are opportunistic pathogens. These results demonstrate the longitudinal dynamics of biofilm formation.
Designing Real-Time Software Advisors for 3D Spatial Operations

The ability to reason about polyhedral forms is arguably an important element of spatial (and more broadly mathematical) visualization. This paper describes our progress toward creating real-time software "advisors" whose goal is to enhance this type of spatial reasoning. Our advisors are procedures built to augment a program named HyperGami (an educational application for the creation of paper polyhedral models and sculptures). The advisors can, in certain cases, suggest interesting spatial operations to perform on HyperGami solids; when performed, these operations will create new polyhedral variants. This paper briefly describes the HyperGami system; discusses what, in our view, it might mean to think creatively or powerfully about solid shapes; and presents our current set of advisors.
Validation of the Simplified Chinese Version of the Oswestry Disability Index

Study Design. Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation were performed on the Chinese version of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Objective. The objective of this study was to translate and adapt the ODI into simplified Chinese and to then validate its use in Chinese patients with low back pain. Summary of Background Data. A traditional Chinese version of the ODI (TCODI) has been developed and used in Hong Kong. However, there is no simplified Chinese version of the ODI (SCODI). Methods. Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the latest version of the ODI (2.1a) were performed following instructions from the published international guidelines. The translation procedure included forward translation, back translation, and a discussion among experts. The prefinal version was tested in 40 outpatients with LBP. Then, 179 patients with LBP, including 140 outpatients and 39 inpatients, participated in the final test. They finished the SCODI, the Short-Form 36, and the Visual Analog Scale. Those 39 inpatients also finished a second ODI questionnaire within 24 hours. Last, the SCODI and TCODI were tested in another 25 inpatients for comparison. Results. All of the patients in the prefinal test understood the simplified Chinese version correctly. In the final test, Cronbach’s &agr; for internal consistency was 0.93. A very high intraclass correlation coefficient was observed (ICC = 0.99) in the test-retest group. The SCODI showed a significant correlation with the 8 subscales of the Short-Form 36, especially in physical functioning (r = 0.78, P < 0.001). There was a moderate correlation between the ODI scores and the Visual Analog Scale (r = 0.69, P < 0.001). A significant difference in the mean score was demonstrated between the SCODI and the TCODI. Patients who participated in the comparison test all agreed that the SCODI was easier to understand than the TCODI. Conclusion. The results showed that the translation and adaptation were successful. The SCODI has proven to be valid and reliable when used in the simplified Chinese speaking population.
Invariant weak simulation and analysis of parameterized networks

Communicating multi-process networks appear in many real-life applications. Parameterized discrete event systems provide a convenient way of modeling these networks. Unfortunately, some key problems such as checking solvability of the nonblocking synthesis problem and checking satisfaction of a temporal property in parameterized networks are undecidable. In this paper, we consider parameterized ring networks and introduce a new framework for blocking analysis of such networks. To render the blocking analysis tractable, we restrict the interactions between processes. The structural assumptions are formulated in terms of a new mathematical relation: invariant weak simulation of one process by another. Our assumptions serve to ensure that while both immediate neighbors may prevent a process from executing shared events, only one neighbor can permanently prevent an event from occurring; in that sense, control only flows around the ring in one direction. We prove that our assumptions have this desired result. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated by analysis of a version of the dining philosophers problem.
Focused Life Stories of Women with Cardiac Pacemakers

Biotechnical devices such as cardiac pacemakers are implanted into people to manage a range of disorders, yet comparatively little is known about the emotional impact of this experience. Women may have a unique response to implanted devices due to cultural messages about the masculinity of technology. In this qualitative study using Hall’s focused life stories design, 11 women from teenagers to elders with permanent cardiac pacemakers were asked to describe their experiences using semistructured interviews. The themes that emerged are relinquishing care, owning the device, experiencing fears and/or resistance, imaging the body, normalizing, positioning as caretaker, finding resilience, and sensing omnipotence. Understanding what it means for women to live with an implanted biotechnical device may facilitate planning interventions to support their psychological and physiological health. Effective pacemaker function may depend, in part, on recipients’ successful emotional attachment to the device.
Interchromosomal recombination is suppressed in mammalian somatic cells.

Homologous recombination occurs intrachromosomally as well as interchromosomally, both in mitotic (somatic) cells as well as meiotically in the germline. These different processes can serve very different purposes in maintaining the integrity of the organism and in enhancing diversity in the species. As shown here, comparison of the frequencies of intra‐ and interchromosomal recombination in meiotic and mitotic cells of both mouse and yeast argues that interchromosomal recombination is particularly low in mitotic cells of metazoan organisms. This result in turn suggests that the recombination machinery of metazoa might be organized to avoid the deleterious effects of homozygotization in somatic cells while still deriving the benefits of species diversification and of DNA repair.
Interrelationships Among Flow‐Mediated Vasodilation, Nitroglycerine‐Induced Vasodilation, Baseline Brachial Artery Diameter, Hyperemic Shear Stress, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

Background Flow‐mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery has been used for the assessment of endothelial function. Considering the mechanism underlying the vasodilatory response of the brachial artery to reactive hyperemia, hyperemic shear stress (HSS), a stimulus for FMD; nitroglycerine‐induced vasodilation (NID), an index of endothelium‐independent vasodilation; and baseline brachial artery diameter (BAD) are also involved in vasodilatory response. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationships among FMD, HSS, NID, baseline BAD, and cardiovascular risk factors. Methods and Results We measured FMD, HSS, NID, and baseline BAD simultaneously in 1033 participants (633 men and 400 women; mean age: 58.6±17.0 years). Framingham risk score was negatively correlated with FMD, HSS, and NID and was positively correlated with baseline BAD. HSS and NID were positively correlated with FMD, and baseline BAD was negatively correlated with FMD. In participants with normal NID, FMD was correlated with HSS, NID, and baseline BAD, all of which were independent variables of FMD in multivariate analysis. In participants with impaired NID, FMD was correlated with NID and baseline BAD, both of which were independent variables of FMD in multivariate analysis, but there was no association between FMD and HSS. Conclusions NID and baseline BAD were independent variables of FMD regardless of the status of endothelium‐independent vasodilation, whereas there was a significant association between FMD and HSS in participants with normal NID but not in those with impaired NID. The influence of HSS on FMD seems to be dependent on the status of endothelium‐independent vasodilation.
Score stabilization for speaker recognition trained on a small development set

Nowadays state-of-the-art speaker recognition systems obtain quite accurate results for both text-independent and text-dependent tasks as long as they are trained on a fair amount of development data from the target domain (assuming clean speech). In this work, we address the challenge of building a speaker recognition system with a small development dataset from the target domain without using out-of-domain data whatsoever. When development data is limited, the Nuisance Attribute Projector (NAP) algorithm is (in general) superior to the i-vector approach. We have investigated the relative degradation observed from the different components of the NAP system trained on a small dataset and conclude that score normalization is a major source of degradation. We introduce a novel method for stabilizing the normalized scores. We explicitly estimate a low dimensional subspace in supervector space which accounts for high variability in score normalization parameters. We then compensate the estimated subspace. We report experiments on both text-dependent and text-independent tasks which validate our method and show large error reductions.
Surface Waveguides Supporting Both TM Mode and TE Mode With the Same Phase Velocity

Two kinds of surface-wave waveguide (SWG) topologies are proposed in this paper with the objective to achieve the property of supporting both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes with the same phase velocity. The first type is composed of two frequency-selective surfaces (FSSs) as layers whose dominant modes are TM mode and TE mode, respectively. For illustration'C the combination of loop-type FSS and wire-grid-type FSS is analyzed and its dispersion characteristics are examined as well. The second class also consists of two layers. For the top layer, there are gaps in one direction and continuous conducting strips in the orthogonal direction. The bottom layer is created from a 90° rotation of the top layer. As a particular illustration, a modified bow-tie-like SWG structure is investigated. The simulated results show that the two proposed SWG structures exhibit the property of supporting both TM mode and TE mode with the same phase velocity over a broad bandwidth. In addition, the effects of lattice types on dispersion diagrams are discussed in this paper. Near field measurements are also carried out to validate the simulations and good agreements are achieved.
Injectable cartilage: using alginate and human chondrocytes.

OBJECTIVE To create engineered cartilage through an injectable medium that could be used as a minimally invasive implant material. METHODS Human nasal septal chondrocytes, carried in an alginate polymer, were injected and molded percutaneously into nude mice and developed in vivo. The cartilage was harvested from 14 to 38 weeks and analyzed through gross, histological, immunohistochemical, and biochemical analysis. RESULTS Of the 15 explants, 14 (93%) resembled native cartilage on gross analysis. The injections maintained their overall appearance with some loss of definition. On histological analysis, 6 of the explants (40%) appeared similar to native cartilage throughout the sample. Eight of the explants (53%) resembled native cartilage; however, there were some areas of fibrous tissue differentiation. The neocartilage stained positive for type II collagen. Explants harvested at week 26 or later and the samples that histologically resembled native cartilage had similar hydroxyproline content to native septal cartilage. CONCLUSIONS Injectable, autologous cartilage may be the answer to the long search for the ideal implant in facial plastic surgery. Alginate and human chondrocytes can be used to create an injection that may be molded and maintains its overall size and shape, with some loss of definition, for at least 38 weeks after injection.
Nuptial gifts and female fecundity in the neotropical katydid Conocephalus ictus (Orthoptera: Tettigonidae)

In general, female fitness is greatly increased in gift‐giving insects. In katydids, this nuptial gift consists of a gelatinous mass produced by accessory glands: the spermatophylax, which is attached to the ampulla. During mating, males of the neotropical katydid Conocephalus ictus transfer a spermatophylax that is ingested by the females. Fecundity, egg‐laying rate and longevity were higher in females that consumed the spermatophylax than in those that did not. Also, female receptivity turned off after mating. Females actively rejected other males by hitting them with their forelegs and moving away. Their refractory period lasted as long as 17 d. Only a few females accepted a 2nd mating and died a few days later. In C. ictus, spermatophylax consumption can be beneficial for both males and females. On one hand, the compounds in the spermatophylax or the ejaculate could prevent or delay females from copulating with rivals, thus avoiding sperm competition. On the other hand, such compounds can improve the females’ opportunity to increase their lifespan and fecundity. Moreover, a rise in egg‐laying rate may lower the risk of female prereproductive death caused by rapid oviposition. In any case, the boost in female egg laying might also be beneficial for males because their number of offspring increases.
VB20B7, a Novel 5‐HT‐ergic Agent with Gastrokinetic Activity. II. Evaluation of the Gastroprokinetic Activity in Rats and Dogs*

The gastrokinetic activity of 2[l‐(4‐piperonyl)piperazinyl]benzothiazole (VB20B7), a new compound with 5‐HT4 receptor agonist and weak 5‐HT3 receptor antagonist properties has been studied in rats and dogs.