Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of MARSSIM at the Big Rock Point Restoration Project

Big Rock Point was Michigan’s first commercial power reactor and operated for 35 years. It was permanently shut down in August of 1997, and the site is currently being returned to its natural state. Guidance contained in the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) is being applied in preparation for the final status survey. Unlike other commercial power reactors currently undergoing decommissioning, all Big Rock Point structures will be removed prior to the final status survey. A historical site assessment along with characterization surveys formed the basis to designate 1.6 square kilometers (395.9 acres) of the site as non-impacted and the remaining 0.7 square kilometers (184.5 acres) as impacted as defined by MARSSIM. Also, a source term abstraction has been performed using historical waste stream data to identify radionuclides potentially present in site soils, hard-to-detect (HTD) radionuclides and surrogate radionuclides for the HTD radionuclides.
Closed-loop feedback cancellation utilizing two microphones and transform domain processing

In this paper we are studying the use of two microphones for acoustic feedback cancellation in hearing aids. With the two microphones approach, an additional microphone is employed to provide added information about the signals which is then utilized to obtain an incoming signal estimate. This estimate is removed from the error signal prior to adapting the canceler, thus removing the undesired signal correlation. In this paper, we propose to use orthogonal transforms with the two microphones approach. The discrete Fourier transform and the discrete cosine transform are implemented to transform the adaptive filter signals. Also, a bank of adaptive filters is employed, each adapting to different portions of the spectrum for a finer control of the adaptation process. Simulation results based on real measured feedback paths and speech signals show improved convergence rates and stable solutions.
Change in model for end-stage liver disease score at two weeks, as an indicator of mortality or liver transplantation at 60 days in acute-on-chronic liver failure

Background: Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterised by a sudden deterioration of underlying chronic liver disease, resulting in increased rates of mortality and liver transplantation. Early prognostication can benefit optimal allocation of resources. Methods: ACLF was defined as per the disease criteria of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver. Inpatient discharge summaries from between January 2001 and April 2013 were reviewed. The primary outcome was mortality or liver transplantation within 60 days from onset of ACLF. Absolute ‘model for end-stage liver disease' (MELD) score and change in MELD at Weeks 1, 2 and 4 were reviewed in order to identify the earliest point for prediction of mortality or liver transplantation. Results: Clinical data were collected on 53 subjects who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. At 60 days from presentation, 20 patients (37.7%) died and 4 (7.5%) underwent liver transplantation. Increased MELD of ≥2 after 2 weeks was 75.0% sensitive and 75.9% specific for predicting mortality or liver transplantation. If the MELD score did not increase at 2 weeks, predictive chance of survival was 93.8% over the next 60 days. MELD change at 1 week showed poor sensitivity and specificity. Change at 4 weeks was too late for intervention. Conclusion: Change in MELD score at 2 weeks provides an early opportunity for prognostication in ACLF. A MELD score that does not deteriorate by Week 2 would predict 93.8% chance of survival for the next 60 days. This finding warrants further validation in larger cohort studies.
The experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties: a qualitative systematic review

Abstract Aims Despite an increasing awareness of the importance of spirituality in mental health contexts, a ‘religiosity gap’ exists in the difference in the value placed on spirituality and religion by professionals compared with service users. This may be due to a lack of understanding about the complex ways people connect with spirituality within contemporary society and mental health contexts, and can result in people's spiritual needs being neglected, dismissed or pathologised within clinical practice. The aim of this qualitative systematic review is to characterise the experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties in published qualitative research. Methods An electronic search of seven databases was conducted along with forward and backward citation searching, expert consultation and hand-searching of journals. Thirty-eight studies were included from 4944 reviewed papers. The review protocol was pre-registered (PROSPERO:CRD42017080566). Results A thematic synthesis identified six key themes: Meaning-making (sub-themes: Multiple explanations; Developmental journey; Destiny v. autonomy), Identity, Service-provision, Talk about it, Interaction with symptoms (sub-themes: Interactive meaning-making; Spiritual disruption) and Coping (sub-themes: Spiritual practices; Spiritual relationship; Spiritual struggles; Preventing suicide), giving the acronym MISTIC. Conclusions This qualitative systematic review provides evidence of the significant role spirituality plays in the lives of many people who experience mental health difficulties. It indicates the importance of mental health professionals being aware of and prepared to support the spiritual dimension of people using services. The production of a theory-based framework can inform efforts by health providers to understand and address people's spiritual needs as part of an integrated holistic approach towards care.
Comparative Effectiveness of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators for Primary Prevention in Women

Background—Clinical trials of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) for primary prevention enrolled a limited number of women. We sought to examine clinical practice data to compare survival rates among women with heart failure with or without a primary prevention ICD. Methods and Results—We linked data from 264 US hospitals included in the Get With The Guidelines for Heart Failure registry with data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. From these sources, we propensity score matched 430 women with heart failure who received a primary prevention ICD to 430 women who did not; we further adjusted using a Cox proportional hazards model. Median follow-up was 3.4 and 3.0 years. For comparison, we matched 859 men receiving an ICD with 859 who did not; median follow-up was 3.9 versus 2.9 years. In the matched cohorts, an ICD was associated with similarly better survival in women (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.66–0.92; P=0.003) and men (hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.67–0.87 P<0.001). There was no interaction between sex and presence of an ICD with respect to survival (P=0.79). Conclusions—Among patients with heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, a primary prevention ICD was associated with a significant survival advantage among women and among men. These findings support guideline-directed use of primary prevention ICDs in eligible patients.
ESGO consensus conference recommendations on ovarian cancer : pathology and molecular biology , early and advanced stages , borderline tumours and recurrent disease

The development of guidelines recommendations is one of the core activities of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and European Society of Gynaecologial Oncology (ESGO), as part of the mission of both societies to improve the quality of care for patients with cancer across Europe. ESMO and ESGO jointly developed clinically relevant and evidence-based recommendations in several selected areas in order to improve the quality of care for women with ovarian cancer. The ESMO–ESGO consensus conference on ovarian cancer was held on April 12–14, 2018 in Milan, Italy, and comprised a multidisciplinary panel of 40 leading experts in the management of ovarian cancer. Before the conference, the expert panel worked on five clinically relevant questions regarding ovarian cancer relating to each of the following four areas: pathology and molecular biology, early-stage and borderline tumours, advanced stage disease and recurrent disease. Relevant scientific literature, as identified using a systematic search, was reviewed in advance. During the consensus conference, the panel developed recommendations for each specific question and a consensus was reached. The recommendations presented here are thus based on the best available evidence and expert agreement. This article presents the recommendations of this ESMO–ESGO consensus conference, together with a summary of evidence supporting each recommendation.
gStreams: A New Technique for Fast Recovery with Capacity Efficient Protection in WDM Mesh Networks

In a recent paper, Kim and Lumetta [6] proposed a capacity efficient protection scheme that provides fast recovery in WDM mesh networks. They introduced the notion of a stream that is utilized for this purpose. In this paper, we introduce the concept of gStream, which is a more generalized form of stream and develop efficient algorithms for maximizing capacity utilization without sacrificing the benefit of fast recovery. We show that the problem of finding the set of gStreams that maximizes capacity utilization is NP-complete. We present (i) an optimal solution for formation of streams and gStreams and (ii) a heuristic solution. The results of our experimental evaluation show that our heuristic provides near optimal solution to almost all instances of the problem in a fraction of the time needed for finding the optimal solution.
A method to diagnose faults in linear analog circuits using an adaptive tester

This work presents a new diagnosis method for use in an adaptive analog tester. The tester is able to detect faults in any linear circuit by learning a reference behaviour in a first step, and comparing this behaviour against the output of the circuit under test in a second step. Considering the same basic structure, the diagnosis method consists on injecting probable faults in a mathematical model of the circuit and later comparing its output with the output of the real faulty circuit. This method has been successfully applied to a case study, a biquad filter. Component soft, large, and hard deviations, and faults in operational amplifiers were considered. The results obtained from practical experiments with this analog circuit are discussed in the paper.
The “protected” glucose transport through the astrocytic endoplasmic reticulum is too slow to serve as a quantitatively‐important highway for nutrient delivery

A novel mechanism involving “protected glucose trafficking” through the lumen of the astrocytic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was proposed by Müller et al. (Current Biology 28:3481, 2018) and highlighted by Pellerin (Current Biology 28:R1258, 2018) as a potential route for astrocyte‐neuron lactate shuttling. In their model, glucose is taken up from blood into astrocytic endfeet, phosphorylated, and some glucose‐6‐phosphate (Glc‐6‐P) is transported into the ER lumen where it is hydrolyzed by glucose‐6‐phosphatase‐β to produce glucose. The glucose then diffuses within the ER lumen through peripheral astrocytic processes (PAPs) to regions in close proximity to synapses where it is released to cytoplasm and metabolized to lactate and neurotransmitter precursors that can be shuttled to neurons. Experimental evidence supports aspects of this model, but essential components were not established. This commentary critically evaluates the Müller et al. study and discusses its weaknesses and intriguing aspects. Most important, the rate‐limiting step of the ER “protected highway,” transport of Glc‐6‐P into the ER, is extremely slow, on the order of 550‐3,700 times lower than glucose consumption by differentiated cultured astrocytes. Glucose diffusion through extracellular space to fuel neurons was not ruled out as an alternative mechanism. The ER glucose probes were not calibrated, and the ER luminal glucose reservoir size and flux of glucose through the ER are unknown. Effects of phosphatase knockdown are quite interesting and require further study. Glucose transport through a “protected intracellular highway” in the ER lumen is not quantitatively relevant to astrocytic glucose metabolism and is not energetically important.
Enhancing SDP-generated localization solutions by the removal of anchorless connected components

This paper makes the claim that in an ad-hoc wireless sensor network, the node localization obtained using semi-definite programming methods is significantly improved by removing from the problem formulation those nodes that do not have a path to any anchor node. An algorithm is presented to identify and remove these components. Experiments conducted in this study strongly support our claim.
Association of Self-Reported Sleep and Circadian Measures With Glycemia in Adults With Prediabetes or Recently Diagnosed Untreated Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Sleep disturbances and circadian misalignment (social jet lag, late chronotype, or shift work) have been associated with worse glycemic control in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether these findings apply to adults with prediabetes is yet unexplored. We hypothesized that self-reported short sleep, poor sleep quality, and/or circadian misalignment are associated with higher glycemia, BMI, and blood pressure (BP) in adults with prediabetes or recently diagnosed, untreated T2D. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Our cohort included 962 overweight/obese adults ages 20–65 years with prediabetes or recently diagnosed, untreated T2D who completed a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test and validated sleep questionnaires. Independent associations of sleep and circadian variables with glycemia, BMI, and BP were evaluated with regression models. RESULTS The multiethnic cohort was 55% men, with mean ± SD age 52.2 ± 9.5 years and BMI 34.7 ± 5.5 kg/m2. Mean sleep duration was 6.6 ± 1.3 h. Poor sleep quality was reported by 54% and high risk for obstructive sleep apnea by 64%. HbA1c was significantly higher in those reporting <5 or >8 h sleep per night. Sleep duration >8 h was also associated with higher fasting glucose and <6 h with higher BMI. Shift work was also associated with higher BMI. Social jet lag and delayed chronotype were associated with higher BP. CONCLUSIONS In our cohort, self-reported short and long sleep were both associated with adverse measures of glycemia, and short sleep and shift work were associated with higher BMI. Further research using objective measures of sleep is needed to better delineate the relationship between sleep and glycemia in adults with prediabetes or T2D.
A multigene assay determines risk of recurrence in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Approximately 40% of patients with stage I-III triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) recur after standard treatment, while the remaining 60% experience long-term disease-free survival (DFS). There are currently no clinical tests to assess the risk of recurrence in TNBC patients. We previously determined that TNBC patients with major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) pathway expression in their tumors experienced significantly longer DFS. To translate this discovery into a clinical test, we developed an MHCII Immune Activation assay, which measures expression of 36 genes using NanoString technology. Preanalytical testing confirmed that the assay is accurate and reproducible in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor specimens. The assay measurements were concordant with RNA-seq, MHCII protein expression, and tumor infiltrating lymphocyte counts. In a training set of 44 primary TNBC tumors, the MHCII Immune Activation Score was significantly associated with longer DFS (HR = 0.17, P = 0.015). In an independent validation cohort of 56 primary FFPE TNBC tumors, the Immune Activation Score was significantly associated with longer DFS (HR = 0.19; P = 0.011) independent of clinical stage. An Immune Activation Score threshold for identifying patients with very low risk of relapse in the training set provided 100% specificity in the validation cohort. The assay format enables adoption of a standardized clinical prognostic test for identifying TNBC patients with a low risk of recurrence. Correlative data support future studies to determine if the assay can identify patients in whom chemotherapy can be safely de-escalated and patients likely to respond to immunotherapy.
A restart univariate estimation of distribution algorithm: sampling under mixed Gaussian and Lévy probability distribution

A univariate EDA denoted as ldquoLSEDA-glrdquo for large scale global optimization (LSGO) problems is proposed in this paper. Three efficient strategies: sampling under mixed Gaussian and Levy probability distribution, standard deviation control strategy and restart strategy are adopted to improve the performance of classical univariate EDA on LSGO problems. The motivation of such work is to extend EDAs to LSGO domain reasonably. Comparison among LSEDA-gl, EDA with standard deviation control strategy only (EDA-STDC) and similar EDA version ldquocontinuous univariate marginal distribution algorithmrdquo UMDAc is carried out on classical test functions. Based on the general comparison standard, the strengths and weaknesses of the algorithms are discussed. Besides, LSEDA-gl is tested on 7 functions with 100, 500, 1000 dimensions provided in the CECpsila2008 Special Session on LSGO. This work is also expected to provide a comparison result for the CECpsila2008 special session.
Purification and characterization of a propanol-tolerant neutral protease from Bacillus sp. ZG20

Abstract A propanol-tolerant neutral protease was purified and characterized from Bacillus sp. ZG20 in this study. This protease was purified to homogeneity with a specific activity of 26,655 U/mg. The recovery rate and purification fold of the protease were 13.7% and 31.5, respectively. The SDS-PAGE results showed that the molecular weight of the protease was about 29 kDa. The optimal temperature and pH of the protease were 45 °C and 7.0, respectively. The protease exhibited a good thermal- and pH stability, and was tolerant to 50% propanol. Mg2+, Zn2+, K+, Na+ and Tween-80 could improve its activity. The calculated Km and Vmax values of the protease towards α-casein were 12.74 mg/mL and 28.57 µg/(min mL), respectively. This study lays a good foundation for the future use of the neutral protease from Bacillus sp. ZG20.
QoSOnt: a QoS ontology for service-centric systems

This paper reports on the development of QoSOnt: an ontology for quality of service (QoS). Particular focus is given to its application in the field of service-centric systems. QoSOnt is being developed to promote consensus on QoS concepts, by providing a model which is generic enough for reuse across multiple domains. As well as the structure of the ontology itself an example application currently in development - SQRM (service QoS requirements matcher) - is discussed. This application is used to highlight some of the advantages of the ontology including standardisation and the level of machine understanding of QoS specifications which can be achieved.
Finding Similar Failures Using Callstack Similarity

We develop a machine-learned similarity metric for Windows failure reports using telemetry data gathered from clients describing the failures. The key feature is a tuned callstack edit distance with learned costs for seven fundamental edits based on callstack frames. We present results of a failure similarity classifier based on this and other features. We also describe how the model can be deployed to conduct a global search for similar failures across a failure database.
The effect of water on morning bad breath: a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of water on the parameters of 'morning bad breath' (MBB) and to evaluate whether there is a difference between rinsing with water and drinking a glass of water. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 50 participants were recruited and were randomly divided into two equal groups. One group rinsed with 15 ml of water for 30 s, and another group drank 200 ml of water within 30 s. Clinical assessments were carried out during one visit between 7:30 am and 12:00 pm. Pre- and post-intervention measures were assessed organoleptically as primary outcome parameters, and a secondary outcome parameter was assessed using both the Halimeter(®) and OralChroma(™) apparatuses to evaluate volatile sulphur compounds (VSCs), hydrogen sulphide (H2 S), methyl mercaptan (CH3 SH) and dimethyl sulphide ((CH3 )2 S). In addition, the presence of tongue coating (discoloration/thickness) and tongue fissures was assessed. RESULTS All 50 participants completed the study. In both groups, a significant reduction in the organoleptic score and the OralChroma(™) H2 S and CH3 SH readings was obtained after the intervention. Both regimens resulted in a CH3 SH reduction of approximately 60%, whereas the reduction in H2 S was between 30% and 50%. The acceptable change between pre- and post-assessments of the clinical parameters was not significantly different between the drinking and rinsing groups. CONCLUSION Rinsing with water or drinking a glass of water had a statistically significant effect on the MBB parameters. No significant difference was obtained between the two regimens.
Compliance with 6 h-Sepsis Resuscitation Bundle of Surviving Sepsis Campaign before and after Resident Physicians' Training: A Quality Improvement Interventional Study among Indian Patients

Background: Surviving sepsis campaign (SSC) recommends 6 h-sepsis resuscitation bundle for severe sepsis (now termed “sepsis” after the Sepsis-3 definition) or septic shock. The study was done to assess the guideline compliance in Indian patients before and after the resident physicians' training and their impact on the survival. Subjects and Methods: Prospective interventional study (time series design) was conducted. Resident physicians, who were regularly managing the patients of severe sepsis/septic shock, were trained by providing the education and feedback on the guideline compliance at 6-month intervals for three quality improvement (QI) phases. Case details of preintervention and QI phases' patients were reviewed as per the quality indicators, defined by SSC guideline, and compared. Results: The baseline compliance of composite six components of 6 h-sepsis resuscitation bundle was low and significantly increased on postintervention (baseline 0% to 18% at QI 3 (P for trend = 0.01). The compliance of individual components was improved too: serum lactate measurement (26%, P = 0.002), obtaining blood culture (28%, P = 0.003), antibiotic administration (2%, P = 0.56), provision of fluid bolus (60%, P = 0.02), attainment of target central venous pressure (50%, P = 0.03), and optimization of central venous oxygen saturation (20%, P = 0.21). The hospital mortality showed a decreasing trend (18%, P = 0.06). Patients compliant to composite bundle got the mortality benefit (odds ratios = 0.25, 95% [confidence interval, 0.07–0.9]). The study, however, did not show any benefits of mean hospital/Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length of stay. Conclusions: The study establishes lack of acceptance to the prevailing guideline; however, it has shown a significant improvement in adaptation and mortality benefit without reducing mean hospital/ICU length of stay after physicians' repeated educational programs. The barriers to implementation of the prevalent guideline should be searched out in further trials.