Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of glomerular filtration rate in healthy subjects and normoalbuminuric diabetic patients: validity of a new (MDRD) prediction equation.

BACKGROUND Based on the data derived from the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) study, a new equation was developed for the estimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This equation, which takes into account body weight, age, sex, serum creatinine, race, serum urea, and serum albumin, provided a more accurate estimation of GFR in patients with renal insufficiency. However, this prediction equation has not been validated in subjects with normal or supra-normal GFR. METHODS In a cross-sectional study, we measured GFR by inulin clearance in 46 healthy controls and 46 non-complicated type 1 diabetic patients. In this study population, GFR was predicted by measured creatinine clearance, the Cockcroft-Gault formula, and the MDRD equation. RESULTS In the healthy subjects, mean GFR (+/-SD) was 107+/-11 as compared to 122+/-18 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) in the diabetic patients. This difference in GFR was reflected by a lower serum creatinine (76+/-8 vs 71+/-8 micro mol/l) in the diabetic patients. In the healthy controls, median absolute differences (and the 50th-75th-90th percentile of percentage absolute differences) between predicted and measured GFR were 5.2 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (4.9-9.8-18.5%) for creatinine clearance, 9.0 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (8.6-14.3-24.6%) for the Cockcroft-Gault formula, and 10.7 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (10.9-16.3-25.5%) for the MDRD equation. In the diabetic patients, these differences were 8.3 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (7.6-9.3-13.0%) for creatinine clearance; 11.8 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (10.1-16.0-22.5%) for the Cockcroft-Gault formula, and 18.8 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) (16.0-24.2-31.9%) for the MDRD equation. CONCLUSIONS In subjects with a normal or increased GFR, the new MDRD-prediction equation of GFR is less accurate than creatinine clearance or the Cockcroft-Gault formula, and offers no advantage.
Optimal Methionine-Free Diet Duration for Nitrourea Treatment: A Phase I Clinical Trial

In animal models, methionine (MET) restriction in association with chloroethylnitrosoureas led to a substantial improvement. On this basis, we initiated a Phase I clinical trial of dietary MET restriction in association with chloroethylnitrosourea (cystemustine) treatment for patients with recurrent glioma or metastatic melanoma. Our purpose was 1) to determine the optimal MET-free diet duration for a maximum depletion of plasma MET and 2) to evaluate the feasibility of this association. A total of 10 patients received 4 cycles of 2 wk of an association of a MET-free diet of 1, 2, 3, or 4 consecutive days and cystemustine (60 mg/m2). For each cycle, plasma MET concentrations, nutritional status (weight, albumin, prealbumin) and toxicity were measured. Conversely, fed-state concentrations of plasma MET (12 AM) were reduced by dietary MET restriction, with an optimal depletion of 41% at the 1st day of MET-free diet without effect of the extending MET-free diet period. Indeed, we demonstrated the feasibility, that is, good diet acceptability and good tolerance (nutritional status and toxicity), of the association of a MET-free diet and cystemustine treatment. Based on these results, a Phase II clinical trial has been initiated to test the activity of the association of a 1-day MET-free diet with cystemustine treatment.
Corona resistance of epoxy nanocomposites: experimental results and modeling

Epoxy composites with micro, nano and micro + nano silica fillers have been evaluated for their resistance to corona using point plane electrodes. The experiments were conducted for 500 h and the surface erosion was measured after every 100 h using a surface profilometer. The results show significant improvement in corona resistance of micro+nanofilled samples and nanofilled samples when compared with the microfilled samples and unfilled materials respectively. The results emphasize the importance of good filler dispersion. A model to map the degradation path in the filled and unfilled samples was developed using Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. Reasonable agreement between the length of degradation path and the corona resistance in samples containing both micro + nanofillers has been demonstrated.
Current management of spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage

Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is the most devastating and disabling type of stroke. Uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) is the most common cause of spontaneous ICH. Recent advances in neuroimaging, organised stroke care, dedicated Neuro-ICUs, medical and surgical management have improved the management of ICH. Early airway protection, control of malignant HTN, urgent reversal of coagulopathy and surgical intervention may increase the chance of survival for patients with severe ICH. Intensive lowering of systolic blood pressure to <140 mm Hg is proven safe by two recent randomised trials. Transfusion of platelets in patients on antiplatelet therapy is not indicated unless the patient is scheduled for surgical evacuation of haematoma. In patients with small haematoma without significant mass effect, there is no indication for routine use of mannitol or hypertonic saline (HTS). However, for patients with large ICH (volume > 30 cbic centmetre) or symptomatic perihaematoma oedema, it may be beneficial to keep serum sodium level at 140–150 mEq/L for 7–10 days to minimise oedema expansion and mass effect. Mannitol and HTS can be used emergently for worsening cerebral oedema, elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) or pending herniation. HTS should be administered via central line as continuous infusion (3%) or bolus (23.4%). Ventriculostomy is indicated for patients with severe intraventricular haemorrhage, hydrocephalus or elevated ICP. Patients with large cerebellar or temporal ICH may benefit from emergent haematoma evacuation. It is important to start intermittent pneumatic compression devices at the time of admission and subcutaneous unfractionated heparin in stable patients within 48 hours of admission for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism. There is no benefit for seizure prophylaxis or aggressive management of fever or hyperglycaemia. Early aggressive comprehensive care may improve survival and functional recovery.
Comparison of Bandpass  $\Sigma\Delta$ Modulator Coding Efficiency With a Periodic Signal Model

Maximizing coding efficiency is important in applications where bandpass SigmaDelta modulation is used as a source encoder to synthesize a two-level pulse train in RF class-D amplifiers. A periodic pulse-train model is developed to MIMIC the encoding of a bandpass SigmaDelta modulator for sinusoidal source signals, and it is shown that the coding efficiency of both the model and the modulator vary similarly with changes in carrier oversample ratio. The relationship between coding efficiency and carrier oversample ratio is not monotonic and has significant dips at certain ratios. The predictions of the model are compared with simulation results for a fourth-order bandpass modulator. The results show that coding efficiency is low in a modulator design where the input frequency is one-fourth the sample rate (fs) and can be increased by as much as 15% by selecting a slightly lower oversample ratio such as (3/10)fs.
Comparative Evaluation of Shear Bond Strength of Orthodontic Brackets on Pretreatment with CPPACP, Fluor Protector and Phosflur: An In-vitro Study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to evaluate bond strength, bracket tooth interface of Orthodontic brackets that are bonded for fixed Orthodontic treatment procedure on pretreatment with CPPACP, Fluor Protector and Phosflur. The goal is to assess the adhesive remnants following application of these remineralizing agents using Adhesive Remnant Index. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred freshly extracted premolar teeth each divided into Control, CPP-ACP, Fluor Protector and Phosflur. Teeth were pretreated with these agents prior to bonding procedure. Shear Bond Strength was tested using a Universal Testing Machine. A jig was attached to upper jaw of the machine. The acrylic block containing the embedded teeth was secured in the lower jaw of the machine such that the bracket base of the teeth parallel the direction of the shear force at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/minute until bracket failure. The force required to dislodge the bracket was recorded. RESULTS Mean Shear bond strength value is highest for Phosflur (15.3658 ± 2.4546 ) followed by Fluor Protector , CPP-ACP and lowest for Control (7.0462 ± 0.8838 MPa). CONCLUSION Phosflur, Fluor protector,CPP-ACP have comparable Shear bond strength values in comparison to control.
Three dimensional electrochemical system for neurobiological studies

In this work we report a novel three dimensional electrode array for electrochemical measurements in neuronal studies. The main advantage of working with these out-of-plane structures is the enhanced sensitivity of the system in terms of measuring electrochemical changes in the environment of a cell culture in real time. In addition, the system is devised to offer a compact solution that helps to obtain a homogeneous distribution of current density among the active electrodes.
Misexpression of a Chloroplast Aspartyl Protease Leads to Severe Growth Defects and Alters Carbohydrate Metabolism in Arabidopsis1[C][W]

The crucial role of carbohydrate in plant growth and morphogenesis is widely recognized. In this study, we describe the characterization of nana, a dwarf Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutant impaired in carbohydrate metabolism. We show that the nana dwarf phenotype was accompanied by altered leaf morphology and a delayed flowering time. Our genetic and molecular data indicate that the mutation in nana is due to a transfer DNA insertion in the promoter region of a gene encoding a chloroplast-located aspartyl protease that alters its pattern of expression. Overexpression of the gene (oxNANA) phenocopies the mutation. Both nana and oxNANA display alterations in carbohydrate content, and the extent of these changes varies depending on growth light intensity. In particular, in low light, soluble sugar levels are lower and do not show the daily fluctuations observed in wild-type plants. Moreover, nana and oxNANA are defective in the expression of some genes implicated in sugar metabolism and photosynthetic light harvesting. Interestingly, some chloroplast-encoded genes as well as genes whose products seem to be involved in retrograde signaling appear to be down-regulated. These findings suggest that the NANA aspartic protease has an important regulatory function in chloroplasts that not only influences photosynthetic carbon metabolism but also plastid and nuclear gene expression.
Mirrlees Meets Modigliani-Miller: Double Taxation and Capital Structure

This paper presents a rationale of why and under what economic environment the corporate income tax should exist, in particular, as a form of double taxation. In this sense, we suggest the tax code similar to those in the real world, however, ours turns out to be informationally much more efficient. The novelty of the paper is that a sophisticated tax system including the corporate income tax and differential asset taxes is designed so as to influence the individual agent's portfolio choice of debt and equity, which subsequently endogenizes the leverage ratio. In addition the Modigliani-Miller theorem still holds in the presence of the information asymmetry. The optimum tax system is indeterminate when there are more than two types of agents, but a minimal level for a corporate tax is necessary.
Recombinant mussel adhesive protein as a gene delivery material

Efficient target gene delivery into eukaryotic cells is important for biotechnological research and gene therapy. Gene delivery based on proteins, including histones, has recently emerged as a powerful non‐viral DNA transfer technique. Here, we investigated the potential use of a recombinant mussel adhesive protein, hybrid fp‐151, as a gene delivery material, in view of its similar basic amino acid composition to histone proteins, and cost‐effective and high‐level production in Escherichia coli. After confirming DNA binding affinity, we transfected mammalian cells (human 293T and mouse NIH/3T3) with foreign genes using hybrid fp‐151 as the gene delivery carrier. Hybrid fp‐151 displayed comparable transfection efficiency in both mammalian cell lines, compared to the widely used transfection agent, Lipofectamine™ 2000. Our results indicate that this mussel adhesive protein may be used as a potential protein‐based gene‐transfer mediator. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 616–623. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Characterization of autoantibodies to endothelial cells in systemic sclerosis (SSc): association with pulmonary fibrosis

To determine the prevalence and the characterization of antibodies to endothelial cells in patients with SSc, serum samples from 80 patients with SSc, 20 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and 20 healthy control subjects were examined by ELISA using cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), indirect immunofluorescence analysis (IIF), and immunoblotting using cytoplasmic extract of HUVEC. IgG and/or IgM isotype anti‐endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) were demonstrated by ELISA in 43 of 80 patients with SSc (54%), in 15 of 20 patients with SLE (75%), and in none of 20 healthy control subjects. Immunofluorescence analysis on HUVEC substrate showed homogeneous cytoplasmic staining. Immunoblotting demonstrated that these patients had antibodies directed to one or several antigens of approximately 60, 90, 110 and 140 kD, and the most common responses were to the 90‐kD antigen. By the immunofluorescence method using HUVEC, affinity‐purified anti‐90‐kD antibodies showed identical cytoplasmic staining to that produced by sera positive for AECA. Furthermore, AECA were closely correlated with pulmonary fibrosis in patients with SSc. These findings suggest that patients with SSc have abnormal antibodies to endothelial cell antigens, and support the hypothesis that endothelial dysfunction is involved in the development of this disease.
Extremely Short Length and High Extinction Ratio Plasmonic TE Mode Pass Polarizer

Extremely short length and ultrahigh extinction ratio TE pass polarizer is proposed for wavelength <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.55\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The polarizer section consists of an optical dielectric waveguide separated from the thin metal film plasmonic guide by a low index buffer layer. The thin film metal layer supports only Short Range Surface Plasmon Polariton (SRSPP) because effective indices below and above the metal film are different. Periodic coupling between the SRSPP mode and the optical waveguide mode takes place and varies with the length of the polarizer. It is shown that for a properly optimized metal and the buffer layer thicknesses, an extinction ratio of 223 dB can be achieved for a polarizer of length <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4.6~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Dependence of polarizer length on the optimized buffer and metal layers is also discussed.
Preimplantation diagnosis of the aneuploidies most commonly found in spontaneous abortions and live births: XY, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22

The present preimplantation diagnosis test is able to screen for the most common aneuploidies from single blastomeres in about five hours with a 15 per cent misdiagnosis. This means that the risk of spontaneous abortion and trisomic offspring for women of advanced maternal age could be reduced to the same level as younger women for whom prenatal diagnosis is usually not necessary. Better probes and more fluorochromes could improve the success rate of the test. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome in scrub typhus.

Scrub typhus is a mite-borne infectious disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi. Acute respiratory dis- tress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious complication of scrub typhus. This study retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 72 patients diagnosed with scrub typhus from January 1998 to August 2006 in Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. Eight of 72 scrub typhus patients with ARDS were included in the study; the other patients without ARDS were used as controls. The mortality rate for the scrub typhus patients with ARDS was 25%. The eight patients seldom had underlying diseases. Initial presentations of dyspnea and cough, white blood cell count, hematocrit, total bilirubin, and delayed used of appropriate antibiotics use were significant predictors of ARDS. Mul- tivariate analysis showed that albumin, prothrombin time, and delayed use of appropriate antibiotics were independent predictors of ARDS. Identification of these relative risk factors may help clinicians evaluate clinical cases of scrub typhus with ARDS.
A behaviour model for power amplifiers based on sum of products between one-dimensional polynomials and finite impulse response filters

Power amplifier (PA) behaviour modelling is a crucial technique for the improvement of telecommunication systems because it constitutes the core of a linearisation circuit that allows for the amplifier to develop high efficiencies at the same time that it delivers a linear output signal to the load. Polynomial filters can be used in order to represent both the non-linearities of the PA and the memory effects caused by passive elements of the circuit. This work proposes a different structure for a PA polynomial behaviour model, using finite impulse response (FIR) filters and one-dimensional polynomials. The memory polynomial (MP) and the envelope memory polynomial (EMP) models were used not only as a foundation for the proposed model but also as references points for performance validation. All models were applied to a class AB GaN PA driven by a WCDMA envelope signal. Results shown an enhancement on performance for the proposed model when its accuracy was compared with the one obtained by the MP and EMP models. In contrast with the first one, the proposed model had an improvement of 4.1 dB in its normalized mean square error (NMSE), with the second one, the improvement was of 5.9 dB.
Estimations et projections d’indicateurs de santé pour maladies chroniques et prise en compte de l’impact d’interventions

De nos jours, la Sante Publique porte de plus en plus d’interets aux maladies chroniques neuro-degeneratives liees au vieillissement telles que la demence ou la maladie de Parkinson. Ces pathologies ne peuvent ni etre evitees ni gueries et occasionnent une deterioration progressive de la sante des malades requerant donc des soins specifiques. Le contexte demographique actuel laisse entrevoir un vieillissement de la population et un allongement de l’esperance de vie continus, ce qui aura pour consequence majeure d’aggraver le fardeau economique, social et demographique de ces maladies dans les annees a venir. C’est pourquoi, dans l’optique d’anticiper les problemes a venir, il est important de developper des modeles statistiques permettant de faire des projections et d’evaluer le fardeau futur de ces maladies via divers indicateurs de sante. De plus, il est interessant de pouvoir donner des projections,en fonction de scenarios potentiels, qui pourraient etre mis en place (e.g. un nouveau traitement), afin d’evaluer l’impact qu’aurait une telle intervention de Sante Publique, mais aussi de prendre en compte une variation de l’incidence due, par exemple, a des changements de comportement. Une approche utilisant le modele illness-death sous une hypothese Markovienne a ete proposee par Joly et al. 2013 pour repondre a cet objectif. Cette approche est particulierement adaptee dans ce contexte, car elle permet, notamment, de prendre en compte le risque competitif qui existe entre devenir malade ou deceder (pour un individu non-malade). L’utilisation de ce modele pour faire des projections a l’avantage, d’une part, de faire intervenir des projections demographiques nationales pour mieux capter l’evolution de la mortalite au cours du temps, et d’autre part, de proposer une modelisation adaptee de la mortalite (en distinguant la mortalite des malades, des non-malades et generale). C’est sur la base de ce modele que decoule tout le travail de cette these. Dans une premiere partie, les hypotheses du modele existant ont ete ameliorees ou modifiees dans le but de considerer l’evolution de l’incidence de la maladie au cours du temps,puis de passer d’un modele Markovien a un modele semi-Markovien afin de modeliser la mortalite des malades en fonction de la duree passee avec la maladie. Dans une deuxieme partie, la methode initiale, permettant de considerer l’impact d’une intervention mais avec des hypotheses restrictives, a ete developpee et generalisee pour prendre en compte des interventions plus flexibles. Puis, les expressions mathematiques/statistiques d’indicateurs de sante pertinents ont ete developpees dans ce contexte dans le but d’avoir un panel de projections permettant une meilleure evaluation du fardeau futur de la maladie. L’application principale de ce travail a porte sur des projections concernant la demence. Cependant, en appliquant ces modeles a la maladie de Parkinson, nous avons propose des methodes permettant d’adapter notre approche a d’autres types de donnees.
Migraine in adolescents

Objective: The influence of socioeconomic status on the prevalence of migraine is unknown in adolescents. Accordingly, we investigated the prevalence of migraine in a large sample of adolescents by sociodemographic features. Methods: A validated headache questionnaire was mailed to 120,000 households representative of the US population. All individuals in the household were interviewed (probands and their parents). We calculated sex-specific prevalence estimates of migraine in adolescents derived by age, race, urban vs rural residence, household income, region of the country, and parental status of migraine, using log-linear models. Results: A total of 32,015 adolescents were identified. Surveys were returned by 18,714 of them (58.4% response rate). The 1-year prevalence of migraine was 6.3% (5.0% in boys and 7.7% in girls). The prevalence was higher in girls than in boys older than 12 and in whites than African Americans. In families with an annual income lower than $22,500, the adjusted prevalence of migraine in adolescents without a parental history of migraine was 4.4%; in families earning $90,000 or more, it was 2.9% (OR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.63). In adolescents with a parental history of migraine, the prevalence in the lower vs the higher income group was 8.6% vs 8.4% (OR = 0.97, 0.81 to 1.15). Conclusions: In adolescents with family history of migraine, household income does not have a significant effect, probably because of the higher biologic predisposition. In those without a strong predisposition, household income is associated with prevalence. This suggests social causation rather than social selection, highlighting the need for exploration of environmental risk factors related to low income and migraine and the search for specific comorbidities and stressors in this group.
Understanding the nature of change: how institutional perspectives can inform contemporary studies of development cooperation

This article argues that core lines of sociological institutionalist thought provide a set of valuable conceptual and theoretical vocabularies for exploring and explaining contemporary concerns of development cooperation. It identifies four broad categories of issues of central attention in the current study of development cooperation, and couples these with four avenues of sociological institutional research that may provide us with theoretical and conceptual frameworks for further empirically exploring and theoretically extrapolating these. Increasing attention to these theoretical concerns not only helps us progress the study of development cooperation, it may also allow us to inform contemporary institutional thinking.