Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data-Driven Identification of Risk Factors of Patient Satisfaction at a Large Urban Academic Medical Center

Background The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey is the first publicly reported nationwide survey to evaluate and compare hospitals. Increasing patient satisfaction is an important goal as it aims to achieve a more effective and efficient healthcare delivery system. In this study, we develop and apply an integrative, data-driven approach to identify clinical risk factors that associate with patient satisfaction outcomes. Methods We included 1,771 unique adult patients who completed the HCAHPS survey and were discharged from the inpatient Medicine service from 2010 to 2012. We collected 266 clinical features including patient demographics, lab measurements, medications, disease categories, and procedures. We developed and applied a data-driven approach to identify risk factors that associate with patient satisfaction outcomes. Findings We identify 102 significant risk factors associating with 18 surveyed questions. The most significantly recurrent clinical risk factors were: self-evaluation of health, education level, Asian, White, treatment in BMT oncology division, being prescribed a new medication. Patients who were prescribed pregabalin were less satisfied particularly in relation to communication with nurses and pain management. Explanation of medication usage was associated with communication with nurses (q = 0.001); however, explanation of medication side effects was associated with communication with doctors (q = 0.003). Overall hospital rating was associated with hospital environment, communication with doctors, and communication about medicines. However, patient likelihood to recommend hospital was associated with hospital environment, communication about medicines, pain management, and communication with nurse. Conclusions Our study identified a number of putatively novel clinical risk factors for patient satisfaction that suggest new opportunities to better understand and manage patient satisfaction. Hospitals can use a data-driven approach to identify clinical risk factors for poor patient satisfaction to support development of specific interventions to improve patients’ experience of care.
Applications of Ear Decomposition to Efficient Heterogeneous Algorithms for Shortest Path/Cycle Problems

Graph algorithms play an important role in several fields of sciences and engineering. Prominent among them are the All-Pairs-Shortest-Paths (APSP) and related problems. Indeed there are several efficient implementations for such problems on a variety of modern multi- and many-core architectures. It can be noticed that for several graph problems, parallelism offers only a limited success as current parallel architectures have severe short-comings when deployed for most graph algorithms. At the same time, some of these graphs exhibit clear structural properties due to their sparsity. This calls for particular solution strategies aimed at scalable processing of large, sparse graphs on modern parallel architectures. In this paper, we study the applicability of an ear decomposition of graphs to problems such as all-pairs-shortestpaths and minimum cost cycle basis. Through experimentation, we show that the resulting solutions are scalable in terms of both memory usage and also their speedup over best known current implementations. We believe that our techniques have the potential to be relevant for designing scalable solutions for other computations on large sparse graphs.
Lyra2: Efficient Password Hashing with High Security against Time-Memory Trade-Offs

We present Lyra2, a password hashing scheme (PHS) based on cryptographic sponges. Lyra2 was designed to be strictly sequential for a given number of cores (i.e., not easily parallelizable beyond that number), providing strong security even against attackers using custom hardware or GPUs. At the same time, it is very simple to implement in software and allows legitimate users to fine tune its memory and processing costs according to the desired level of security against brute force password-guessing. Lyra2 is an improvement of the recently proposed Lyra algorithm, providing an even higher security level against different attack venues and overcoming some limitations of this and other existing schemes.
Revision of the national guideline for first-line comprehensive management and control of sexually transmitted infections: what's new and why?

A revised national guideline for the management and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has recently been published by the National Department of Health according to the Essential Drugs List. Since 2004, there has been a marked rise in resistance to ciprofloxacin among Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates in several South African cities, requiring a change from quinolones to cephalosporins to treat presumptive gonorrhoea. In keeping with WHO recommendations, acyclovir has been added as part of first-line therapy for the management of genital ulceration. The national guideline has been revised accordingly in order to improve management of several key STI syndromes.
Domain descriptions

Ideas about the meaning of descriptions, aimed at clarifying the relationship between a formal specification and the domain of the system to be specified, are introduced. Understanding of specifications must rest on explicit statements of what they are about and what they assert. The authors argue that current formal specification techniques are inadequate in this respect, and therefore cannot offer a satisfactory foundation for automated support of software development. An approach that offers a possible basis for effective reuse of descriptions generally, and of partial specifications in particular, is discussed. <<ETX>>
An 8W GaN-based H-bridge class-D PA for the 900 MHz band enabling ternary coding

This paper presents an H-bridge class-D power amplifier (PA) for the 900 MHz band based on GaN MMICs. For a classical BPDS modulated signal, a maximum output power of 34.5 dBm with a drain efficiency of 22% is obtained. Using a periodic square-wave input signal, the PA achieves a peak output power of 39 dBm and maximum drain efficiency of 48%. Investigating different binary and a ternary coding schemes, up to 30% drain efficiency at 6 dB power back-off is achieved.
ERGOSTEROL BIOSYNTHESIS: A FUNGAL PATHWAY FOR LIFE ON LAND?

Sterols, essential lipids of most eukaryotic cells, ensure important structural and signaling functions. The selection pressure that has led to different dominant sterols in the three eukaryotic kingdoms remains unknown. Here, we investigated the influence of the progression in the different steps of the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway (EBP) on the yeast resistance to transitions from aqueous to aerial media, typical perturbations of the higher fungi habitats. Five mutants of the EBP (ergΔ), accumulating different sterol intermediates in the EBP, and the wild‐type (WT) strain were exposed to drying under atmospheric air or nitrogen and wetting. Results show that the progression in the EBP parallels an increase in the yeast resistance to air‐drying with a maximal survival rate for the WT strain. When drying/wetting was performed under nitrogen, yeast survival was higher, particularly for the earlier mutants of the EBP. Thus, ergosterol, through its protective role against mechanical and oxidative stress, might have been selected by the pressure induced by drying/wetting cycles occurring in the fungi habitats. These results support the Bloch hypothesis, which postulates that the properties of sterols are gradually optimized for function along the biosynthetic pathway and provide a response to the enduring question “why ergosterol in fungi? ”.
Parity is associated with a longer time to reach irreversible disability milestones in women with multiple sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently affects women of childbearing age. While short-term effects of pregnancy on MS course are well-known, whether pregnancy may influence long-term disability progression is debated. Methods: A two-centre retrospective study to investigate long-term effect of pregnancy on disability was performed in a population of MS women. Survival analyses and multivariate Cox proportional regression models (including early predictors of MS severity and exposure to disease-modifying treatments) were performed to compare time to reach well-established disability milestones in nulliparous women and in those with pregnancies after MS onset (‘parous’). Women with pregnancies before MS onset were excluded from analyses as they represent a heterogeneous group. Results: Data about 445 women (261 nulliparous, 184 ‘parous’) were analysed. A longer time to reach Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 4.0 and 6.0 was observed in parous women; Cox regression models revealed a lower risk for ‘parous’ than nulliparous women in reaching EDSS 4.0 and 6.0 (HR = 0.552, p = 0.008 and HR = 0.422, p = 0.012 respectively). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that pregnancy after MS onset is associated with a slower long-term disability progression. Whether this represents a biological/immunological effect, or reflects a higher propensity toward childbearing in women with milder disease, it remains uncertain deserving further investigations.
Distributed Voltage and Frequency Control of Offshore Wind Farms Connected With a Diode-Based HVdc Link

This paper introduces a new technique for the distributed voltage and frequency control of the local ac-grid in offshore wind farms based on synchronous generators. The proposed control technique allows the connection of the offshore wind farm using a diode based HVdc rectifier. The use of microgrid control techniques allowed the system comprising the wind farm and the diode HVdc rectifier to be operated in current or voltage control mode. Fault response to on-shore voltage sags of up to 80% has been shown to be comparable to that of thyristor rectifiers. The proposed control technique has been shown to be robust against load changes in islanded operation, capacitor bank switching, diode-rectifier ac-breaker tripping and wind turbine power limitation due to slow wind speeds. PSCAD simulations are used to prove the technical feasibility of the proposed control techniques both in steady state and during transients.
Understanding the Historical Diversification of Valerianacea

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists have long recognized that species diversity is unequally distributed among angiosperm lineages. For example, various plant clades found in the Andes have been proposed as examples of rapid radiations, and the Andes are recognized as one of the Earth’s biodiversity “hotspots”. Species within Valerianaceae, found in the South American Andes, appear to be an example of such a rapid radiation. Although much attention has been paid to the phylogeny of the South American species of Valerianaceae, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding species relationships. Several subgroups within the Andean Valerians have, either not been included, or poorly sampled in previous phylogenetic analyses. One example of such a group is section Porteria. Knowing the phylogenetic placement of this group would go a long way in our understanding of Andean biogeography, as well as morphological and floral evolution in Valerianaceae. In this study, I increase the sample size of section Porteria beyond what has been previously done. A number of genomic regions were amplified and sequenced for 6 species belonging to the section. Sequences were then aligned to previously published sequence data for homologous regions for other species in Valerianaceae. A “supermatrix” of 146 species was then analyzed using maximum parsimony. Resulting trees recovered a monophyletic section Porteria, however statistical support was weak for this conclusion. Although “supertrees” resulting from the analysis of “supermatrices” may be powerful tools for testing hypotheses concerning the evolution of species, there is still much work to be done on Valerianaceae.
Choosing Upper Limb Muscles for Focal Intervention After Traumatic Brain Injury

The upper motoneuron syndrome (UMNS) resulting from lesions of corticospinal pathways is an important source of disability after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Classic expressions of motor behavior in UMNS are of 2 kinds: (1) manifestation of muscle underactivity, termed negative signs, and (2) manifestation of a variety of forms of muscle overactivity, termed positive signs. Combinations of negative and positive signs give rise to clinical patterns of movement dysfunction such as the flexed elbow, the clenched fist, and the thumb-in-palm deformity. These clinical patterns can be viewed as reflecting a net balance of muscle forces acting across the joints of a limb. Individual muscles are amenable to a variety of focal interventions such as neurolysis, chemodenervation, or surgery. Since more than one muscle acts across most joints, choices among muscles for focal intervention are many. This article will focus on focal interventions of upper limb muscles of patients with TBI who have UMNS and will explore the theme of choosing upper limb muscles for focal interventions after TBI.
A comparative nuclear localization study of galectin-1 with other splicing components.

Using both conventional and laser confocal fluorescence microscopy, the intracellular distribution of galectin-1 in HeLa cells was analyzed and compared with the localization of previously documented markers of the nucleus and cytoplasm. The Sm epitopes of the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes (snRNPs) and the non-snRNP splicing factor SC35 yielded only nuclear staining. On the other hand, the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase was cytoplasmic. In contrast to these patterns in which nuclear versus cytoplasmic localizations appeared to be mutually exclusive, galectin-1, as well as galectin-3, yielded simultaneous nuclear and cytoplasmic staining. Confocal microscopy showed galectin-1 fluorescence throughout most of the sections from the top of the cell to the bottom. Through the middle sections, as the plane of focus cuts through the nucleus, there was definite fluorescence staining in the nuclear compartment. This nuclear localization was critically dependent on the type of detergent used to permeabilize the cell: cells treated with saponin or digitonin yielded exclusively cytoplasmic staining while Triton X-100-treated cells showed nuclear as well as cytoplasmic labeling. Finally, double-immunofluorescence analysis showed that, within the nucleoplasm, the following pairs of nuclear antigens could be colocalized in certain speckled structures: (a) SC35 versus Sm; (b) galectin-1 versus Sm; (c) galectin-3 versus Sm; and (d) galectin-1 versus galectin-3. These results establish the presence of galectin-1 in the nuclei of HeLa cells, a conclusion consistent with the identification of the protein in nuclear extracts of the same cells and with its documentation as a factor in pre-mRNA splicing.
Transcripts of Vp-1 homeologues are misspliced in modern wheat and ancestral species

The maize (Zea mays) Viviparous 1 (Vp1) transcription factor has been shown previously to be a major regulator of seed development, simultaneously activating embryo maturation and repressing germination. Hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) caryopses are characterized by relatively weak embryo dormancy and are susceptible to preharvest sprouting (PHS), a phenomenon that is phenotypically similar to the maize vp1 mutation. Analysis of Vp-1 transcript structure in wheat embryos during grain development showed that each homeologue produces cytoplasmic mRNAs of different sizes. The majority of transcripts are spliced incorrectly, contain insertions of intron sequences or deletions of coding region, and do not have the capacity to encode full-length proteins. Several VP-1-related lower molecular weight protein species were present in wheat embryo nuclei. Embryos of a closely related tetraploid species (Triticum turgidum) and ancestral diploids also contained misspliced Vp-1 transcripts that were structurally similar or identical to those found in modern hexaploid wheat, which suggests that compromised structure and expression of Vp-1 transcripts in modern wheat are inherited from ancestral species. Developing embryos from transgenic wheat grains expressing the Avena fatua Vp1 gene showed enhanced responsiveness to applied abscisic acid compared with the control. In addition, ripening ears of transgenic plants were less susceptible to PHS. Our results suggest that missplicing of wheat Vp-1 genes contributes to susceptibility to PHS in modern hexaploid wheat varieties and identifies a possible route to increase resistance to this environmentally triggered disorder.
Hippocampal‐dependent memory is impaired in heterozygous GAP‐43 knockout mice

Cajal proposed that the rearrangement and growth of neurites and synaptic terminals is a substrate for the formation and storage of long‐term memories. Proteins that regulate this learning‐dependent growth are therefore likely to be “core determinants” (Sanes and Lichtman, Nat Neurosci 1999; 2:597–604) of such information storage processes. Although the growth‐associated, protein kinase C (PKC) substrate GAP‐43 has been oft‐implicated in synaptic plasticity and memory, it has never been demonstrated that a reduction in the level of this protein has a deleterious effect on memory, because most homozygotes die perinatally. In this report, we observe significant memory impairments in heterozygous GAP‐43 knockout mice with GAP‐43 levels reduced by one‐half. Impaired memory for a context was demonstrated in contextual fear conditioning. Importantly, no significant impairments in cued conditioning or on tests of nociceptive or auditory perception were observed in the heterozygous knockout, indicating that the observed impairments were unlikely related to performance or acquisition factors and are the result of reduced GAP‐43 levels in the hippocampus. The present results, taken together with the prior demonstration of enhanced memory in transgenic mice overexpressing GAP‐43, provide strong evidence for a pivotal role of hippocampal GAP‐43 in the bidirectional regulation of mnemonic processing. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mineralogy of the MSL Curiosity landing site in Gale crater as observed by MRO/CRISM

Orbital data acquired by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide a synoptic view of compositional stratigraphy on the floor of Gale crater surrounding the area where the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity landed. Fractured, light‐toned material exhibits a 2.2 µm absorption consistent with enrichment in hydroxylated silica. This material may be distal sediment from the Peace Vallis fan, with cement and fracture fill containing the silica. This unit is overlain by more basaltic material, which has 1 µm and 2 µm absorptions due to pyroxene that are typical of Martian basaltic materials. Both materials are partially obscured by aeolian dust and basaltic sand. Dunes to the southeast exhibit differences in mafic mineral signatures, with barchan dunes enhanced in olivine relative to pyroxene‐containing longitudinal dunes. This compositional difference may be related to aeolian grain sorting.
AERASCIS: An efficient and robust approach for satellite color image segmentation

Satellite color images carry a vast amount of information which needs an efficient image segmentation method to analyze. Because of its simplicity and low complexity, K-Means algorithm is frequently adopted for color image segmentation. But, usually the results of K-Means algorithm suffers from noises and hence over segmentation. This is due to the reasons that K-Means works on the basis of random K initialization and “Euclidean Distance Metric” as default. Also, in the case of satellite color image segmentation local contrast management is an important issue which is not paid attention in the traditional K-Means algorithm. So, in this paper, these problems are taken into consideration and a robust method has been proposed to tackle the same. First of all, HSV color space is chosen for color based transformation and calculations. Here, a Binary Search Based CLAHE is introduced for local contrast management. An entropy based technique is developed for determining the total number clusters and detection of initial centers of the clusters. “Cosine Distance Metric” is employed for distance based calculations involved in K-Means algorithm. The performance of the proposed approach is found robust with respect to noise and over-segmentation is removed up to a satisfactory level.
Brain connectivity and neurological disorders after stroke.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW An important challenge in neurology is identifying the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral deficits after brain injury. Here, we review recent advances in understanding the effects of focal brain lesions on brain networks and behavior. RECENT FINDINGS Neuroimaging studies indicate that the human brain is organized in large-scale resting state networks (RSNs) defined via functional connectivity, that is the temporal correlation of spontaneous activity between different areas. Prior studies showed that focal brain lesion induced behaviorally relevant changes of functional connectivity beyond the site of damage. Recent work indicates that across domains, functional connectivity changes largely conform to two patterns: a reduction in interhemispheric functional connectivity and an increase in intrahemispheric functional connectivity between networks that are normally anticorrelated, for example dorsal attention and default networks. Abnormal functional connectivity can exhibit a high degree of behavioral specificity such that deficits in a given behavioral domain are selectively related to functional connectivity of the corresponding RSN, but some functional connectivity changes allow prediction across domains. Finally, as behavioral recovery proceeds, the prestroke pattern of functional connectivity is restored. SUMMARY Investigating changes in RSNs may shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying brain dysfunction after stroke. Therefore, resting state functional connectivity may represent an important tool for clinical diagnosis, tracking recovery and rehabilitation.
Current developments in Loran-C

A survey is provided of the many new developments in the Loran-C radio navigation system in recent years; in system coverage, capabilities, and applications. These have come about as a result of new station installations and modern electronics. System techniques are reviewed and uqpdated, information on radio propagation is summarized, and micropcocessor-based receiver developments and solid-state ground transmitters are described. This has resulted in new applications of Loran-C to harbor navigation, civil aviation, and terrestrial uses, as well as extension of long-range capabilities, Extensive references are provided.
Compensation for Distortion of Basic Satellite Images Based on Rational Function Model

The rational function model (RFM) along with basic images has been offered as the basic geometric model for further geometric processing. However, it has errors, especially nonlinear distortion errors, caused by inappropriate in-orbit geometric calibration or unreasonable geometric calibration parameters. To eliminate these errors, various RFM compensation methods have been proposed, but their application is restricted by rigorous conditions such as narrow camera field and small attitude errors. This paper proposes a generic method to eliminate nonlinear distortions of the basic satellite images. This method recovers rigorous sensor model (RSM) from RFM, then uses a traditional RSM geometric calibration method to compensate for the nonlinear distortions, and generates a new RFM from the compensated RSM. Experiments using the Gaofen-1 (GF-1) wide-field view-1 (WFV-1) sensor show that the method can raise the orientation accuracy level from several pixels to 1 pixel with ground control points (GCPs), thereby almost eliminating nonlinear distortion.