Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distinct Patterns of Brain Metabolism in Patients at Risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy

Objective: To characterize regional brain metabolic differences in patients at high risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), using fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18FDG-PET). Methods: We studied patients with refractory focal epilepsy at high (n = 56) and low (n = 69) risk of SUDEP who underwent interictal 18FDG-PET as part of their pre-surgical evaluation. Binary SUDEP risk was ascertained by thresholding frequency of focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (FBTCS). A whole brain analysis was employed to explore regional differences in interictal metabolic patterns. We contrasted these findings with regional brain metabolism more directly related to frequency of FBTCS. Results: Regions associated with cardiorespiratory and somatomotor regulation differed in interictal metabolism. In patients at relatively high risk of SUDEP, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake was increased in the basal ganglia, ventral diencephalon, midbrain, pons, and deep cerebellar nuclei; uptake was decreased in the left planum temporale. These patterns were distinct from the effect of FBTCS frequency, where increasing frequency was associated with decreased uptake in bilateral medial superior frontal gyri, extending into the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Significance: Regions critical to cardiorespiratory and somatomotor regulation and to recovery from vital challenges show altered interictal metabolic activity in patients with frequent FBTCS considered to be at relatively high-risk of SUDEP, and shed light on the processes that may predispose patients to SUDEP.
Adjustment to longer working lives among older workers in the Netherlands

Concerns regarding the long term sustainability of the welfare state have urged national governments to reform their pension systems. The pace in which reforms have been implemented in the Netherlands took many employees by surprise. Cohorts born in 1950 and later had to adjust their perspectives on retirement several times in succession. This paper addressed the question how working adults age 60+ adjust to the changing prospects of a longer working life. We argued that feelings of anger about the reforms and worries about one’s capability to survive in the job reflect poor adjustment. We theorized about predictors of difficult adjustment based on the resource based dynamic perspective, generally used to study adjustment to retirement. We used a large scale sample survey among 6,800 older workers in the Netherlands, aged 60-65 at time of interview in 2015. Testing our hypotheses revealed that adjustment is more difficult for certain subgroups than for others. Poor health conditions, manual work and long working careers are the strongest predictors of difficult adjustment. This research suggests that the policy makers - mostly higher level professionals who are much less exposed to the challenges of working longer- have underestimated the psychological and social impact of the reforms on vulnerable groups of older workers and, in particular, less educated older workers with lower social status. With a further increase of retirement age to be expected, organizations and governments are challenged to design policies that facilitate more flexibility in the workplace and a in the transition into retirement.
Characteristics of participants who stop smoking and sustain abstinence for 1 and 5 years in the Lung Health Study.

BACKGROUND This study describes baseline and Year 1 predictors of abstinence from smoking for the 3,523 intervention participants who had complete annual 5-year follow-up data in the Lung Health Study (LHS). METHODS The LHS enrolled 5,887 smokers, aged 35 to 60 years, of whom 3,923 were offered a cessation intervention. Of these, 22% achieved biochemically verified abstinence for 5 years. Logistic regressions were performed. The first outcome variable was abstinence from smoking at 1 year. Then for those who were quit at 1 year, the outcome variable was 5 years of sustained abstinence. RESULTS All participants who were not using nicotine gum after 1 year in the study were more likely to sustain cessation over 5 years than were gum users at year 1 (OR ranged from 0.31 to 0.44 for four age- and sex-specific groups). Baseline number of previous quit attempts was negatively associated with 5-year quitting success among younger and older men (OR = 0.82 and 0.83). Older participants who were less likely to associate smoking with emotional coping had higher abstinence rates at 5 years of follow-up (OR = 0.89 and 0.84). CONCLUSIONS Different mechanisms may be responsible for achieving cessation in age/gender groups. These results have implications for planning successful interventions.
1kW Solid State Power Amplifier for L-band radar system

A 1kW Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA) is proposed for achieving high power and high efficiency using Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology for L-band radar applications. Measured results showed more than 1 kW within a 200 MHz bandwidth with 53 dB gain and a typical 50% drain efficiency. The SSPA realizes a negative voltage supply, sequential bias circuit, temperature sensor circuit, and external switching circuit including. Its compact and lightweight design is suitable for various radar systems. This paper presents a high power SSPA using GaN HEMT device that appears high power and high efficiency.
Toward office-based measurement of gastric emptying in symptomatic diabetics using [13C]octanoic acid breath test

OBJECTIVE:Current methods for measuring gastric emptying by breath test require sampling over several hours and are too inaccurate for clinical use. The aim of this study was to develop an office-based method for measuring gastric emptying of solids in patients with diabetes using a [13C]octanoic acid breath test.METHODS:In 22 symptomatic diabetic patients (17 insulin-dependent diabetes, 5 non–insulin-dependent diabetes) and 6 controls, we simultaneously measured gastric emptying of an egg meal (420 kcal) by scintigraphy and [13C]octanoic acid breath test. Conventional (nonlinear) methods for scintigraphic and [13C]octanoic acid breath test emptying and generalized linear regression method to predict scintigraphic half-life (t1/2) using four breath samples obtained during the first 3 h.RESULTS:Despite 8 h of breath sampling, the t1/2 estimate using the conventional method was markedly different from the scintigraphic value (Δt1/2: median, 113 min; range, 19–282 min). The generalized linear model (using samples at baseline, 30, and 120 or 150 min) yielded predicted scintigraphic tLAG and t1/2 that were more accurate than the conventional method; mean standard deviations of differences were 16 and 27 min, respectively. Breath test correctly assessed normal or prolonged emptying in 21 of 22 patients.CONCLUSIONS:The [13C]octanoic acid breath test can be simplified to measure gastric tLAG and t1/2 and can be expected to correctly identify normal t1/2 in symptomatic diabetics. Further refinement of the model will need to include studies of patients with markedly delayed t1/2.
Methods of the Assessment of Economic Losses Caused by the Mortality of the Population Employed in Regional Economy

The purpose of the study is to determine the most appropriate method to estimate the society losses from premature mortality. The authors compared the variants of the quantitative assessment of the economic losses caused by the mortality of the workingage population. The hypothesis of the research is the assumption that the researchers face the problem of choosing indicators for the analysis of various social and demographic groups of population, external factors and aims of calculation that can result in radically different results. On the grounds of domestic and foreign publications, the authors have analyzed preferable methodological tools to assess the economic losses and have defined the crucial factors affecting the estimated parameters. Using the example of the Sverdlovsk region and Ekaterinburg, we have evaluated the dynamics of the level and structure of working-age population mortality and estimated the economic losses from the mortality of working-age population for 2015 and 2016. The research uses two different methods to calculate the economic losses from the premature mortality of the working-age population. It has allowed to receive different evaluations of working people losses and to discuss the modification of socio-economic damage from the premature mortality taking into account regional characteristics. Thereby, we have defined gender and territorial differences of economic losses. Thus, the methodological tools allow estimating the economic losses of society caused by the premature mortality of working population both on the regional and municipal levels depending on the research purpose. The obtained results may be used to develop preventive measures for reducing mortality of the working population, increasing life expectancy and formulating the regional social policy.
Hypertension in Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Update

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancies remain a central public health concern throughout the world, and are a major cause of maternal mortality in the developing world. Although treatment options have not significantly changed in recent years, insight on the pathogenesis of preeclampsia/eclampsia has been remarkable. With improved animal models of preeclampsia and large-scale human trials, we have embarked upon a new era where angiogenic biomarkers based on mechanism of disease can be designed to assist in early diagnosis and treatment. There is also a growing recognition of how elusive the diagnosis of eclampsia can be, especially in the postpartum period. Proper treatment of these patients depends heavily on the correct diagnosis, especially by the emergency physician. Finally, large epidemiologic studies have revealed that preeclampsia, once thought to be a self-limited entity, now appears to portend real damage to the cardiovascular and other organ systems in the long term. This review will present the latest update on our understanding of the various hypertensive disorders of pregnancies and their treatment options.
The Dysexecutive Questionnaire Advanced: Item and Test Score Characteristics, 4-Factor Solution, and Severity Classification

The Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX, Wilson et al., Behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome, 1996) is a standardized instrument to measure possible behavioral changes as a result of the dysexecutive syndrome. Although initially intended only as a qualitative instrument, the DEX has also been used increasingly to address quantitative problems. Until now there have not been more fundamental statistical analyses of the questionnaire's testing quality. The present study is based on an unselected sample of 191 patients with acquired brain injury and reports on the data relating to the quality of the items, the reliability and the factorial structure of the DEX. Item 3 displayed too great an item difficulty, whereas item 11 was not sufficiently discriminating. The DEX's reliability in self-rating is r = 0.85. In addition to presenting the statistical values of the tests, a clinical severity classification of the overall scores of the 4 found factors and of the questionnaire as a whole is carried out on the basis of quartile standards.
Probabilistic Somatotopy of the Spinothalamic Pathway at the Ventroposterolateral Nucleus of the Thalamus in the Human Brain

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The STP has been regarded as the most plausible neural tract responsible for pathogenesis of central poststroke pain. The VPL nucleus has been a target for neurosurgical procedures for control of central poststroke pain. However, to our knowledge, no DTI studies have been conducted to investigate the somatotopic location of the STP at the VPL nucleus of the thalamus. In the current study, we attempted to investigate this location in the human brain by using a probabilistic tractography technique of DTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DTI was performed at 1.5T by using a Synergy-L SENSE head coil. STPs for both the hand and leg were obtained by selection of fibers passing through 2 regions of interest (the area of the spinothalamic tract in the posterolateral medulla and the postcentral gyrus) for 41 healthy volunteers. Somatotopic mapping was obtained from the highest probabilistic location at the ACPC level. RESULTS: The highest probabilistic locations for the hand and leg were an average of 16.86 and 16.37 mm lateral to the ACPC line and 7.53 and 8.71 mm posterior to the midpoint of the ACPC line, respectively. Somatotopic locations for the hand and leg were different in the anteroposterior direction (P < .05); however, no difference was observed in the mediolateral direction (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: We found the somatotopic locations for hand and leg of the STP at the VPL nucleus; these somatotopies were arranged in the anteroposterior direction.
Neurodynamic interface circuits for a multichannel, wireless sensor IC operating in saltwater

This paper presents the amplifier and stimulator circuits, as well as 50-Omega antenna driver, that augment a multichannel, wireless sensor interface platform IC for use in neurodynamic studies of a sea animal, Aplysia Californica. The prototype chip, including the platform and 2-channel neurodynamic interface circuits, has been fabricated in a 0.5-mum CMOS process, occupies an active area of just 0.7 mm2 and consumes 3.56 mW. This would allow 120 hours of recording using 160mAh lithium ion battery. Test results of the interface circuits are presented and exhibit the desired performance
Answering Top-k Exemplar Trajectory Queries

We study a new type of spatial-textual trajectory search: the Exemplar Trajectory Query (ETQ), which specifies one or more places to visit, and descriptions of activities at each place. Our goal is to efficiently find the top-k trajectories by computing spatial and textual similarity at each point. The computational cost for pointwise matching is significantly higher than previous approaches. Therefore, we introduce an incremental pruning baseline and explore how to adaptively tune our approach, introducing a gap-based optimization and a novel twolevel threshold algorithm to improve efficiency. Our proposed methods support order-sensitive ETQ with a minor extension. Experiments on two datasets verify the efficiency and scalability of our proposed solution.
Duodenal juxtapyloric retroperistalsis in the interdigestive state in humans.

BACKGROUND The last part of phase III of the migrating motor complex (MMC) is characterized by retroperistalsis in the descending duodenum. This study focused on MMC-related juxtapyloric peristalsis. METHODS Antroduodenal manometry was performed in 10 healthy subjects. Pressure was recorded in the distal antrum and in four consecutive subsegments (DS1-DS4), 15 mm each, in the juxtapyloric duodenum. RESULTS In the period with ongoing antral phase-III activity (early duodenal phase III) the antral pressure waves were antegrade, but in the juxtapyloric duodenum (DS1) retrograde waves predominated (median, 66%; interquartile range (IQR), 33-83%); that is, most duodenal pressure waves were directed against the antral ones. More distally, in DS3 and DS4, only 17% and 25% (IQR, 0-17, 0-33%, respectively) of the pressure waves were retrograde in this period. After the end of antral phase III--that is, in late duodenal phase III--the proportion of retrograde pressure waves increased successively to 91.5% (IQR, 66-100%) in DS2, 74.5% (IQR, 50-100%) in DS3, and 66% (IQR, 8.2-95.8%) in DS4, respectively, before the onset of duodenal motor quiescence. In phase II antegrade pressure waves predominated (63-76%, medians) in all four duodenal subsegments examined. CONCLUSIONS During the interdigestive phase III the antral perstalsis is antegrade, but most juxtapyloric duodenal pressure waves are retrograde; that is, antral and duodenal contractions are on a collision course. In the proximal part of the descending duodenum the end of duodenal phase III shows retroperistalsis after the onset of phase I in the gastric antrum. These motor patterns may be important for regulation of the chemical milieu in the juxtapyloric area.
Improving early management of bloodstream infection: a quality improvement project

Problem Bloodstream infection is a common but serious illness with high mortality and morbidity, which is seen in many clinical specialties. Errors such as delay in diagnosis and lack of effective treatment often occur. Design Initial observational study followed by prospective study before and after intervention in a high risk clinical area. Setting 1400 bed teaching hospital in the United Kingdom where the initial management of all inpatients with bloodstream infections was surveyed over six weeks. This showed 55 major errors in 46 (30%) of 157 episodes of bloodstream infection. Most (44) were in general areas of the hospital without a specific protocol for managing sepsis. 29 of the 55 errors were caused by delay in giving effective antibiotics to critically ill patients. In 19 cases, effective antibiotics were still not given despite advice from infection services based on blood culture results. A diagnosis of bloodstream infection had not been considered in 7 patients already in hospital despite clear signs of sepsis for more than 48 hours. Strategy for improvement Development of guidelines for recognition and initial management of patients with severe sepsis and bloodstream infection, implementation of an education programme on clinical standards for managing sepsis, and introduction of a bacteraemia service that included feedback. Key measure of improvement Reduction in incidence of major errors in early management of bloodstream infection. Effects of change In the second part of the study, major errors were found in 11 of 37 episodes (30%) immediately before the intervention in the main high risk area (medical wards), whereas such errors were found in 6 of 79 episodes (8%) after the intervention. Lessons learnt The early management of patients with bloodstream infection was often suboptimal. The underlying factors included failure to recognise patients with serious infection; delays in giving antibiotics as a result of poor communication between medical, nursing, and pharmacy teams; and lack of understanding of empirical antimicrobial selection. Introduction of improvement measures was associated with considerable improvement in the early management of severe sepsis caused by bloodstream infection.
Genome‐wide screen for prostate cancer susceptibility genes in men with clinically significant disease

One of the difficulties confronting genetic studies of prostate cancer is the complex and heterogeneous etiology. Given the high population frequency of lesions meeting the histological definition of prostate cancer, a significant portion of men with a positive family history may be diagnosed due to increased surveillance and associated higher likelihood of biopsy. Over diagnosis decreases power to detect genes that increase susceptibility to a clinically significant prostate cancer.
Allocating TCSC for Transmission Congestion Management in Deregulated Environment

Congestion management is an essential aspect in the restructured power market. The key objective is to alleviate or reduce the congestion from the lines for the consistent and economic operation of the system. There are different ways to manage congestion such as cost-free approach and noncost free approach. In this dissertation, cost-free approach i.e., use of FACTS devices has been employed to overcome the congestion problem. Two methods, namely LMP difference method and congestion rent contribution method have been used for installing the series FACTS device in the most optimal place. These methods depend on nodal prices which are obtained from the optimal power flow solution. Hence, these have been obtained from DC optimal power flow in the presented work. The techniques used for this purpose arelinear programming (LP) and genetic algorithm (GA). The comparison has been made between both the techniques on the basis of generation cost and LMP values. It has been found that generation re-dispatch with GA leads to savings in the generation cost. Hence, GA technique has been used to find the most optimum location to allocate TCSC which gives the minimum congestion rent value. In order to show the efficacy of the employed methods, they have been applied on two IEEE test systems.
Extra-curricular activity participation and psychological school engagement in ethnically diverse middle school students

Students of diverse populations have the highest risk of becoming disengaged from school and dropping out. This study investigated the relationship between extracurricular activity participation and psychological school engagement among a group of fifty-three diverse middle school students. The sample studied mostly lived in the United States their entire lives, participated in extra-curricular activities, and reported being psychologically “engaged” in school. Among the students studied, no correlation between participation in extra-curricular activities was observed. Students of all ethnicities reported similar levels of psychological school engagement. However, a difference was found in Hispanic/Latino students, in that those who had spent less than their entire life in the United States were involved less in extra-curricular activities than other ethnic
The complete mitochondrial genome of the rocky reef fish Cheilodactylus variegatus Valenciennes, 1833 (Teleostei: Cheilodactylidae)

Abstract Cheilodactylus variegatus is a common benthivorous marine fish inhabiting in rocky subtidal habitats in the eastern south Pacific coast of Chile and Peru. However, its biology and ecology are relatively understudied and its taxonomic assignment has been debated recently. The complete mitochondrial genome was assembled de novo and mapped to a reference using 5.97 million of reads obtained through Ion Torrent next generation sequencing, resulting in a circular sequence of 16,652 bp in length. Gene composition and arrangement comprised to that reported for most fishes and contained the typical structure of 2 rRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and 1 non-coding region. This mitogenome provides a valuable resource for studies of fish molecular systematics, phylogeography and population genetics.
Joint Modelling of Power Price, Temperature, and Hydrological Balance with a View Towards Scenario Analysis

This study presents a model for the joint dynamics of power price, temperature, and hydrological balance, with a view towards scenario analysis. Temperature is a major demand-side factor affecting power prices, while hydrobalance is a major supply-side factor in power markets dominated by hydrological generation, such as the Nordic market. Our time series modelling approach coupled with the skew-Student distribution allows for interrelations in both mean and volatility, and accommodates most of the discovered empirical features, such as periodic patterns and long memory. We find that in the Nordic market, the relationship between temperature and power price is driven by the demand for heating, while the cooling effect during summer months does not exist. Hydrobalance, on the other hand, negatively affects power prices throughout the year. We demonstrate how the proposed model can be used to generate a variety of joint temperature/hydrobalance scenarios and analyse the implications for power price.