Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Features Suggestive of Meningitis in Children: A Systematic Review of Prospective Data

CONTEXT: Clinical diagnosis of pediatric meningitis is fundamental; therefore, familiarity with evidence underscoring clinical features suggestive of meningitis is important. OBJECTIVE: To seek evidence supporting accuracy of clinical features of pediatric bacterial meningitis. METHODS: A review of Medline, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, and PubMed was conducted for all articles of relevance. Articles contained prospective data of clinical features in children with laboratory-confirmed bacterial meningitis and in comparison groups of those without it. Two authors independently assessed quality and extracted data to calculate accuracy data of clinical features. RESULTS: Of 14 145 references initially identified, 10 met our inclusion criteria. On history, a report of bulging fontanel (likelihood ratio [LR]: 8.00 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.4–26]), neck stiffness (7.70 [3.2–19]), seizures (outside febrile-convulsion age range) (4.40 [3.0–6.4]), or reduced feeds (2.00 [1.2–3.4]) raised concern about the presence of meningitis. On examination, jaundice (LR: 5.90 [95% CI: 1.8–19]), being toxic or moribund (5.80 [3.0–11]), meningeal signs (4.50 [2.4–8.3]), neck stiffness (4.00 [2.6–6.3]), bulging fontanel (3.50 [2.0–6.0]), Kernig sign (3.50 [2.1–5.7]), tone up (3.20 [2.2–4.5]), fever of >40°C (2.90 [1.6–5.5]), and Brudzinski sign (2.50 [1.8–3.6]) independently raised the likelihood of meningitis. The absence of meningeal signs (LR: 0.41 [95% CI: 0.30–0.57]) and an abnormal cry (0.30 [0.16–0.57]) independently lowered the likelihood of meningitis. The absence of fever did not rule out meningitis (LR: 0.70 [95% CI: 0.53–0.92]). CONCLUSIONS: Evidence for several useful clinical features that influence the likelihood of pediatric meningitis exists. No isolated clinical feature is diagnostic, and the most accurate diagnostic combination is unclear.
The validity of peak nasal inspiratory flow as a screening tool for nasal obstruction.

BACKGROUND The peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) is used as an outcome measure in post-treatment clinical and research evaluation. It is simple and cost effective. The validity of the use as a screening tool has never been assessed OBJECTIVE To assess its validity and to define the cut-off point of determining the nasal obstruction MATERIAL AND METHOD The nasal patency of 141 ambulatory subjects with or without sino-nasal diseases was measured by the PNIF and active anterior rhinomanometry. Inclusion criteria was all subjects aged 18 to 75-years-old, sinonasal diseases/ symptoms(nasal congestion, nasal discharge, nasal polyp, deviated nasal septum, nasal tumor inferior turbinate hypertrophy, sinusitis, and allergic rhinitis), instant sensation of nasal obstruction, and nasal endoscopy finding were recorded. All subjects signed written consent. Compared with the active anterior rhinomanometry as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratio, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the PNIF was analyzed. The cut-off point of nasal obstruction was defined from the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis. The agreement between the PNIF and the stuffiness and between the PNIF and the presence of sino-nasal diseases were assessed by using Kappa. RESULTS With the cut-off point of 90 L/min, the sensitivity of the peak nasal inspiratory flow was 0.87 (0.753-0.989). The specificity was 0.52 (0.429-0.617). The negative predictive value was 0.93 (0.872-0.997). The positive predictive value was 0.34 (0.237-0.446). The likelihood ratio was 1.81 (1.438-2.318). The mean of the PNIF in normal subjects was 97.11 +/- 31.15. The agreement between the PNIF and the instant sensation of nasal blockage was 0.14 (-0.024-0.321) and the agreement between the PNIF and the sino-nasal diseases was 0.09 (-0.083-0.265). CONCLUSION The PNIF regarding the cut-off point of 90 L/min, revealed good sensitivity and high negative predictive value but it had low specificity and low positive predictive value. The nasal peak flow did not agree well with the subjects' symptoms of blockage and sino-nasal diseases.
Wind turbine loads reduction using feedforward feedback collective pitch control based on the estimated effective wind speed

Wind being the primary energy resource has a huge influence on the dynamic behavior of wind turbines. Therefore, the control algorithms can be further improved if the wind speed is known by the controller. Unfortunately, either no accurate direct online measurement of the effective wind speed is available or the measurement system is too expensive, which means that it should be estimated in order to make such improvement applicable on the control algorithm in practice. In this paper a new feedforward feedback collective pitch control algorithm based on the estimated effective wind speed and wind speed extrapolation is presented for improving the traditional collective pitch controller. The simulation results show that with the presented controller both fatigue loads and extreme loads can be reduced for the turbulent wind field and extreme operating gust respectively.
Finite Element Modelling of Impact-induced Axonal Injury in Sheep

This paper describes a numerical study of axonal injury caused by an impact to the head of the anaesthetised sheep. In the model, described in Anderson et al. (2003), injury is closely related to the peak impact force and to kinematic measurements, particularly the peak change in linear and angular velocity. A three-dimensional finite element model of the sheep skull and brain was constructed to simulate the dynamics of the brain and skull during the impact. Model validation was attempted by comparing pressure measurements in the experiment with those calculated by the model. The distribution of axonal injury was then compared with the output of the finite element model. The finite element model could account for approximately thirty per cent of the variation in the distribution and extent of axonal injury.
Cell‐free DNA in the Peritoneal Effluent of Peritoneal Dialysis Solutions

The beneficial effects of novel peritoneal dialysis solutions low in glucose degradation products regarding peritoneal cell apoptosis and necrosis are well established in vitro, however in vivo data is lacking. Cell‐free DNA quantification is a possible method to determine cell damage through apoptosis and necrosis in vivo. We performed a prospective, cross‐over study on 26 stable continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients, treating each patient for 3 months in a randomized order with a conventional, lactate‐buffered, acidic solution (solution D) and a novel, bicarbonate/lactate‐buffered neutral solution (solution P). The timed overnight peritoneal effluent was sampled for cell‐free DNA quantification using a fluorometric assay. The effluent samples of eighteen patients were finally available for DNA quantification. The concentration range of cell‐free DNA in the peritoneal effluents was 1.8–9.5 µg/L. The coefficient of intrapatient variation in overnight effluent cell‐free DNA appearance was 15.6 ± 12.4%. Cell‐free DNA peritoneal appearance using solutions D and P was 14.9 ± 6.8 µg and 11.8 ± 3.4 µg, respectively (P = 0.02), with the average difference of 3.1 µg (95% CI, 0.7–5.6 µg). Our results show that cell‐free DNA is present in the overnight peritoneal effluent of stable CAPD patients. A significant decrease in the cell‐free DNA appearance with solution P was found; however, before accepting this as an indicator of a more biocompatible profile causing less peritoneal membrane cell necrosis and apoptosis, confirmatory data on larger patient samples are needed. Our results indicate the potential future role of cell‐free DNA in the diagnosis and prognosis of therapy‐related peritoneal membrane degeneration.
Heterologous antisera to Lyt-1+, 2- -derived antigen-binding factor detect a subfactor of an antigen-specific suppressor factor and cell surface proteins on Lyt-1+, 2- and Lyt-1-, 2+ T cells.

Rabbits were immunized with TNP-specific Lyt-1+, 2- T cell-derived, antigen-binding proteins (PCI-F) released by T cells sensitized by skin painting with picrylchloride. The resulting antiserum (anti-PCI-F) bound to PCI-F and TNP-specific factors that suppressed delayed hypersensitivity (TSF) known to be comprised of PCI-F and Lyt-2+ -derived polypeptides released by cells sensitized by injection of trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBSF). Anti-PCI-F bound to T lymphocytes and 68,000 to 72,000 m.w. T cell surface proteins but not B cells on their surface proteins. Anti-PCI-F bound to both Lyt-1+ and Lyt-2+ T cells and surface proteins. A comparison of anti-PCI-F with anti-TSF indicates that anti-TSF contains specificity for Ly-2+ T cell-derived components of TSF and T cells not present in anti-PCI-F. The possibility of multiple isotypes of T cell receptors and antigen-binding molecules is discussed.
Stabilization of a mobile robot climbing stairs

Remotec's Andros VI mobile robot is physically capable of ascending and descending stairs. However, the teleoperated control of the robot climbing stairs is difficult, as the operator's feedback is limited to visual and audio cues only. Our analysis and experiments show that this tracked mobile robot is inherently unstable in open-loop stair climbing, and the robot under telemanipulation is prone to falling. We describe the design and validation of a feedback system for automatic heading control for stabilization of stair climbing. The design incorporates solid-state attitude sensors as inputs to an on-board multiprocessor system. We have experimentally demonstrated stability of the robot in stair climbing, even in the presence of large disturbances and noise. With the addition of the on-board computing, control of the robot is elevated from teleoperation to supervisory control. <<ETX>>
A Quality of Life Index of Mexican cities: An equalizing-difference approach

El presente analisis aplica un Indice de Calidad de Vida para la mayoria de las ciudades medianas y grandes de Mexico mediante el metodo de igualacion de diferencia. Se construyeron precios implicitos usando dos canastas de amenidades que incluyen factores geograficos, ambientales y sociales, tales como clima, cercania a la costa, areas metropolitanas, seguridad publica, calidad educativa, acceso a servicios de salud, asi como otro tipo de bienes publicos. El ranking incluye 92 ciudades con datos de la Encuesta de Ingreso y Gasto de los Hogares (ENIGH). Los resultados muestran que la temperatura y la criminalidad impactan negativamente en los precios implicitos. Otras variables como distancia a hospitales o impuestos locales tambien afectan negativamente dichos precios. En cambio otras variables como la calidad educativa, areas metropolitanas, acceso a la costa y transferencias federales impactan de manera positiva en la utilidad de los hogares. Para efectos de consistencia, se construyeron dos rankings basados en diferentes canastas de amenidades. La estimacion de los precios implicitos muestran que la seguridad publica y la calidad de la educacion basica son los factores externos mas valorados por los hogares mexicanos, seguidos por la educacion media superior.
Die Rolle sozialer Netzwerke für den Erfolg von Einheimischen und Migranten im deutschen (Aus-)Bildungssystem

Die Annahme, wonach Akteure durch ihr soziales Umfeld in ihrem Handeln beeinflusst werden, stellt einen der Grundgedanken der Soziologie dar. Hinsichtlich des Bildungs- und Arbeitsmarkterfolgs wird haufig davon ausgegangen, dass neben individuellen Eigenschaften wie Intelligenz auch die sozialen Netzwerke einer Person einen wichtigen Einfluss haben. Gleichzeitig bestehen diesbezuglich aber deutliche Lucken in der empirischen Forschung. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird in diesem Buch der Frage nachgegangen, inwiefern soziale Kontakte den Bildungserfolg und die Lehrstellensuche von Schulern mit und Schulern ohne Migrationshintergrund beeinflussen. Hierbei werden einschlagige Theorien besprochen, der empirische Forschungsstand dargestellt und detaillierte eigene Analysen durchgefuhrt. Insgesamt gibt die vorliegende Arbeit einen umfassenden Uberblick daruber, welche Auswirkungen verschiedene Eigenschaften von Schuler- und von Mutternetzwerken auf unterschiedliche Determinanten des Bildungserfolgs und beim Ubergang in das Berufsausbildungssystem haben.
The Tale of Two Localization Technologies: Enabling Accurate Low-Overhead WiFi-based Localization for Low-end Phones

WiFi fingerprinting is one of the mainstream technologies for indoor localization. However, it requires an initial calibration phase during which the fingerprint database is built manually by site surveyors. This process is labour intensive, tedious, and needs to be repeated with any change in the environment. While a number of recent systems have been introduced to reduce the calibration effort through RF propagation models and/or crowdsourcing, these still have some limitations. Other approaches use the recently developed iBeacon technology as an alternative to WiFi for indoor localization. However, these beacon-based solutions are limited to a small subset of high-end phones. In this paper, we present HybridLoc: an accurate low-overhead indoor localization system. The basic idea HybridLoc builds on is to leverage the sensors of high-end phones to enable localization of lower-end phones. Specifically, the WiFi fingerprint is crowdsourced by opportunistically collecting WiFi-scans labeled with location data obtained from BLE-enabled high-end smart phones. These scans are used to automatically construct the WiFi-fingerprint, that is used later to localize any lower-end cell phone with the ubiquitous WiFi technology. HybridLoc also has provisions for handling the inherent error in the estimated BLE locations used in constructing the fingerprint as well as to handle practical deployment issues including the noisy wireless environment, heterogeneous devices, among others. Evaluation of HybridLoc using Android phones shows that it can provide accurate localization in the same range as manual fingerprinting techniques under the same deployment conditions. Moreover, the localization accuracy on low-end phones supporting only WiFi is comparable to that achieved with high-end phones supporting BLE. This accuracy is achieved with no training overhead, is robust to the different user devices, and is consistent under environment changes.
Potential impact of introduction of foot-and-mouth disease from wild pigs into commercial livestock premises in California.

OBJECTIVE To estimate potential spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) if introduced from wild pigs in California and to evaluate efficacies of various control strategies. SAMPLE POPULATION Data for California livestock and from hunter surveys on wild pigs in California. PROCEDURES A spatial, stochastic simulation model was used to simulate FMD epidemics that might occur if a dairy or beef herd were infected from contact with a wild pig. Index herd location and type were examined, in addition to different statewide movement ban (SWMB) durations, to determine their effect on extent of the epidemic. RESULTS Duration, number of infected premises, size of simulated outbreak, number of culled animals, and spatial distribution of infected herds resulting from the simulated outbreaks varied considerably among geographic regions, depending on index case type and location. Outbreaks beginning in the southern region of California were consistently longest, whereas those beginning in the northern region were shortest. The largest outbreaks resulted from index cases located in the southern and valley regions, whereas outbreaks were smallest when originating in the Sonoma or northern regions. For all regions, when the index herd was a dairy herd, size and duration of the outbreak were consistently reduced with implementation of an SWMB >or= 3 days. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Introduction of FMDV from wild pigs into a dairy or beef herd could result in a large and rapidly spreading outbreak, potentially affecting large numbers of herds. Size and duration of the outbreak might be reduced with an SWMB; however, the impact is highly dependent on the index herd type and location.
A Novel Convergence Accelerator for the LMS Adaptive Algorithm

Abstract—The least mean square (LMS) algorithm is one of the most well-known algorithms for mobile communication systems due to its implementation simplicity. However, the main limitation is its relatively slow convergence rate. In this paper, a booster using the concept of Markov chains is proposed to speed up the convergence rate of LMS algorithms. The nature of Markov chains makes it possible to exploit the past information in the updating process. Moreover, since the transition matrix has a smaller variance than that of the weight itself by the central limit theorem, the weight transition matrix converges faster than the weight itself. Accordingly, the proposed Markov-chain based booster thus has the ability to track variations in signal characteristics, and meanwhile, it can accelerate the rate of convergence for LMS algorithms. Simulation results show that the LMS algorithm can effectively increase the convergence rate and meantime further approach the Wiener solution, if the Markov-chain based booster is applied. The mean square error is also remarkably reduced, while the convergence rate is improved.
Assessment of the Extent of the Necessary Clinical Testing of New Biotechnological Products Based on the Analysis of Scientific Publications and Clinical Trials Reports

To estimate patients risks and make clinical decisions, evidence based medicine (EBM) relies upon the results of reproducible trials and experiments supported by accurate mathematical methods. Experimental and clinical evidence is crucial, but laboratory testing and especially clinical trials are expensive and time-consuming. On the other hand, a new medical product to be evaluated may be similar to one or many already tested. Results of the studies hitherto performed with similar products may be a useful tool to determine the extent of further pre-clinical and clinical testing. This paper suggests a workflow design aimed to support such an approach including methods for information collection, assessment of research reliability, extraction of structured information about trials and meta-analysis. Additionally, the paper contains a discussion of the issues emering during development of an integrated software system that implements the proposed workflow.
Identification of stock components using morphological markers.

This study investigated the development of a quantitative method for distinguishing stock components of Icelandic cod Gadus morhua based on visual examination of morphology. The stock is known to be structured into genetically distinct geographic components (north and south of Iceland) and behavioural types that spawn sympatrically. Differences in morphology were tested between locations, genotypes (a proxy for behaviour) and sexes. Results show morphological markers on the head, fins and body of G. morhua that are correlated with the sex, genotype of the fish at the pantophysin (pan-I) locus and the location at which the fish were caught. Females were found to have relatively deep bodies, and the pan-I(BB) genotype (associated with deep-water feeding behaviour) have greater gaps between their fins. Overall, morphology is more useful for distinguishing sympatric genotypes but less powerful at identifying genetically distinct geographic sub-populations, perhaps because counter-gradient evolution reduces phenotypic differences even with an underlying genetic cause.
Quality of care for Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction. A four-state pilot study from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project.

OBJECTIVE To develop and test indicators of the quality of care for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). DESIGN Retrospective medical record review. SETTING All acute care hospitals in Alabama, Connecticut, Iowa, and Wisconsin. PATIENTS All hospitalizations for Medicare patients discharged with a principal diagnosis of AMI between June 1, 1992, and February 28, 1993, were identified (N = 16,869). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Percentage of patients receiving appropriate interventions as defined by 11 quality-of-care indicators derived from clinical practice guidelines that were modified and updated in consultation with a national group of physicians and other health care professionals. RESULTS We abstracted data from 16,124 (96%) of the hospitalizations, representing 14,108 primary hospitalizations and 2016 hospitalizations resulting from transfers. Potential exclusions to the use of standard treatments in AMI care were common with 90% and 70% of patients having potential exclusions for thrombolytics and beta-blockers, respectively. In cohorts of "ideal candidates" for specific interventions, 83% received aspirin, 69% received thrombolytics, and 70% received heparin during the initial hospitalization; 77% received aspirin and 45% received beta-blockers at discharge. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that many Medicare patients may not be ideal candidates for standard AMI therapies, but these treatments are underused, even in the absence of discernible contraindications. Hospitals and physicians who apply these quality indicators to their practices are likely to find opportunities for improvement.
Polar Bodies in Assisted Reproductive Technology: Current Progress and Future Perspectives1

ABSTRACT During meiotic cell-cycle progression, unequal divisions take place, resulting in a large oocyte and two diminutive polar bodies. The first polar body contains a subset of bivalent chromosomes, whereas the second polar body contains a haploid set of chromatids. One unique feature of the female gamete is that the polar bodies can provide beneficial information about the genetic background of the oocyte without potentially destroying it. Therefore, polar body biopsies have been applied in preimplantation genetic diagnosis to detect chromosomal or genetic abnormalities that might be inherited by the offspring. Besides the traditional use in preimplantation diagnosis, recent findings suggest additional important roles for polar bodies in assisted reproductive technology. In this paper, we review the new roles of polar bodies in assisted reproductive technology, mainly focusing on single-cell sequencing of the polar body genome to deduce the genomic information of its sibling oocyte and on polar body transfer to prevent the transmission of mtDNA-associated diseases. We also discuss additional potential roles for polar bodies and related key questions in human reproductive health. We believe that further exploration of new roles for polar bodies will contribute to a better understanding of reproductive health and that polar body manipulation and diagnosis will allow production of a greater number of healthy babies.
Adaptive Transmission of QoS-Guaranteed Traffic over MIMO Wireless Links

In this paper, we consider the problem of transmission of a bursty data-packet traffic over MIMO space-time diversity fading channels. Aiming at minimizing the packet loss probability due to buffer overflow at the data link layer, we propose a cross-layer analytical framework for transmission policy design which directly satisfies a packet error rate (PER) constraint at the physical layer. Particularly, we present a power and rate adaptation policy for coded M-QAM modulation schemes that are implemented in conjunction with a MIMO diversity system. To enable the transmission policy design, we use a statistical model to characterize the buffer overflow derived from a large deviations result. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed adaptation policy significantly improves the packet-loss performance for bursty data traffic over MIMO fading channels, when compared to others adaptive solutions.