Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Training surgeon status is not associated with an increased risk of early or late mortality after isolated aortic valve replacement surgery.

BACKGROUND Few studies have addressed the effect of "trainee surgeon" status on outcomes after isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR). METHODS AND RESULTS A retrospective analysis of data, collected by the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Cardiac Surgery Database Program between June 2001 and December 2009 was performed. Patient demographics, intra-operative characteristics and early morbidity were compared between trainee and staff cases. Multivariate analyses were used to determine the independent association of training status with 30-day and late mortality. Isolated AVR was performed in 2747 patients; of these, 369 (13.4%) were by trainees. Compared to staff cases, trainee cases were less likely to present with renal failure (1.1% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.010) or in a critical preoperative state (1.4% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.020). The mean EuroSCORE was lower in trainee patients, compared to staff patients (8.11 ± 2.80 vs. 8.81 ± 3.09, p < 0.001). Trainee cases had longer mean perfusion (117.9 min vs. 98.9 min, p < 0.001) and cross-clamp (88.8 min vs. 73.2 min, p < 0.001) times. The incidence of early complications was similar between the two groups, except for post-operative myocardial infarction (1.1% vs. 0.3%, p = 0.008) and red blood cell transfusion (43.9 vs. 40.0%, p = 0.006). On multivariate analysis, trainee status was not associated with an increased risk of 30-day mortality (2.2% vs. 2.4%, p = 0.823). Moreover, there was no significant difference in long-term outcomes and 5-year survival was comparable in both groups (89.9% vs. 84.8%, p = 0.274). CONCLUSIONS Isolated AVR can be safely and effectively performed by trainee surgeons who are strictly supervised in the operating theatre especially during the technically complex parts of the procedure.
Security-Reliability Analysis for Cloud Radio Networks with Channel Estimation Error

In this paper, we introduce a three-phase transmission scheme for cloud radio networks against eavesdropper. We study the security and reliability performance of this scheme in the form of intercept probability and outage probability, respectively. Channel estimation error is considered in our study instead of assumption of perfect channel state information. It is found that the security-reliability performance improves as the number of relay increases. Moreover, the length of training symbol considerably influences the performance. Simulation results are provided to corroborate our studies.
Multiple-risk behaviour in adolescents and young adults.

OBJECTIVES This article examines the prevalence of four risk behaviours among teenagers and young adults: smoking, binge drinking, sex with multiple partners, and sex without a condom. DATA SOURCE The data are from a Health Canada-sponsored supplement to the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey. The analysis is based on 905 respondents aged 15 to 19 and 1,055 respondents aged 20 to 24. ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Prevalence estimates of the four risk behaviours were calculated for males and females in each age group. An index of multiple-risk behaviour was derived by summing the four risk behaviours. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine how sets of variables are related to multiple-risk behaviour. MAIN RESULTS Multiple-risk behaviour was higher among young people who had never married, who were not students, and who did not live with a parent. Feeling distressed was positively linked with multiple-risk behaviour, while regular attendance at religious services was negatively linked with such conduct.
A Distributed Taxi Hailing Protocol in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

In this paper, a distributed taxi hailing protocol in vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANET) is suggested. Our protocol consists of two parts: taxi booking and taxi de- blocking. Taxi booking part ensures that a vacant taxi with shortest driving distance to passenger under real traffic regulations is booked. Taxi de-blocking part aims to de-block blocked vacant taxis as soon as possible. Simulation results show that compared with previous results, at least 40% of booking time, 50% of waiting time of passengers and 50% of driving distance from booked taxi to passenger, is reduced in our protocol.
Data mining approach in seizure detection

Extracting the meaningful patterns from time series dataset is one of the interesting and challenging task of data mining especially from time series brain dataset. A seizure can be detected either by EEG or ECoG signal. The applied ECoG dataset is of sample size 400Hz and it has two class values one is ictal (seizure) another is pre-ictal (before seizure). The previous study is not much sufficient to classify the state of seizures on the ground of classifier decision forest. In this paper, we classify the seizure states and motivates the importance of electrodes which are placed on the brain surface. Our analysis suggests through the systematic forest (SysFor) a type of decision forest that some electrodes are more fruitful to detect the seizure and found two features ‘min’ and ‘max’ are the best features. The pattern also reveals three trees detect seizure if the root attribute values are less than the value of selected attribute, and seven trees detect the seizure if root attribute values are greater than the selected value of root attribute.
Alcohol ignition interlock programmes for reducing drink driving recidivism.

BACKGROUND An ignition interlock device is part of a multi-dimensional programme aimed at reducing recidivism in convicted drink drivers. To operate a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device, the driver must first provide a breath specimen. If the breath alcohol concentration of the specimen exceeds the predetermined level, the vehicle will not start. As a measure to reduce circumvention of the device (i.e. someone else blows into the mouthpiece), random retests are required while the vehicle is running. Other components of the drink driving programme include information seminars for the driver and downloading data from the device's data logger, which logs all test attempts and records all passes, warnings and failures. OBJECTIVES To systematically assess the effectiveness of ignition interlock programmes on recidivism rates of drink drivers, by examining rates of recidivism while the ignition interlock device was installed in the vehicle and after removal of the device. SEARCH STRATEGY The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register was searched, in addition to relevant electronic databases and the Internet. SELECTION CRITERIA Controlled trials in which offenders have been charged with drink driving and have either been sentenced to participate in an ignition interlock programme or the usual punishment (either licence suspension or some form of treatment programme). This study was not restricted by language or status of publication. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS One randomised controlled trial (RCT) and ten controlled trials were identified, and also three ongoing trials. Data regarding recidivism while the interlock is installed in the vehicle; after the interlock has been removed from the vehicle and total recidivism during the study were extracted and entered into analyses using RevMan. MAIN RESULTS The RCT showed that the interlock programme was effective while the device was installed in the vehicle; relative risk 0.36 (95% confidence interval 0.21 to 0.63). Controlled trials support this conclusion, with a general trend - in both first-time and repeat offenders - towards lower recidivism rates when the interlock device is installed. Neither the RCT nor the controlled trials provide evidence for any effectiveness of the programmes continuing once the device has been removed. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS In order to eliminate potential selection bias, more RCTs need to be conducted in this area so that effectiveness, as well as efficacy, can be ascertained. The interlock programme appears to be effective while the device is installed in the vehicle of the offender. Studies need to address ways of improving recidivism rates in the long term, as the major challenges are participation rates, compliance and durability.
Inactivation of the Radiation-Resistant Spoilage Bacterium Micrococcus radiodurans

A simplified technique permitting the pipetting of raw puréed meats for quantitative bacteriological study is described for use in determining survival of these non-sporing bacteria, which are exceptionally resistant to radiation. Survival curves, using gamma radiation as the sterilizing agent, were determined in raw beef with four strains of Micrococcus radiodurans. Survival curves of the R1 strain in other meat substrates showed that survival was significantly greater in raw beef and raw chicken than in raw fish or in cooked beef. Resistance was lowest in the buffer. Cells grown in broth (an artificial growth medium) and resuspended in beef did not differ in resistance from cells that had been grown and irradiated in beef. Survival rate was statistically independent of the initial cell concentration, even though there appeared to be a correlation between lower death rate and lower initial cell concentrations. The initial viable count of this culture of the domesticated R1 strain in beef was reduced by a factor of about 10-5 by 3.0 megarad, and 4.0 megarad reduced the initial count by a factor of more than 10-9. Data suggest that M. radiodurans R1 is more resistant to radiation than spore-forming spoilage bacteria for which inactivation rates have been published.
HLA Class I Depleted hESC as a Source of Hypoimmunogenic Cells for Tissue Engineering Applications.

BACKGROUND Rapidly improving protocols for the derivation of autologous cells from stem cell sources is a welcome development. However, there are many circumstances when off-the-shelf universally immunocompatible cells may be needed. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) provide a unique opportunity to modify the original source of differentiated cells to minimize their rejection by nonautologous hosts. HYPOTHESIS Immune rejection of nonautologous human embryonic stem cell (hESC) derivatives can be reduced by downregulating human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules, without affecting the ability of these cells to differentiate into specific lineages. METHODS AND RESULTS Beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) expression was decreased by lentiviral transduction using human anti-HLA class I light-chain B2M short hairpin RNA. mRNA levels of B2M were decreased by 90% in a RUES2-modified hESC line, as determined by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction analysis. The transduced cells were selected under puromycin pressure and maintained in an undifferentiated state. The latter was confirmed by Oct4 and Nanog expression, and by the formation of characteristic round-shaped colonies. B2M downregulation led to diminished HLA-I expression on the cell surface, as determined by flow cytometry. When used as target cells in a mixed lymphocyte reaction assay, transduced hESCs and their differentiated derivatives did not stimulate allogeneic T-cell proliferation. Using a cardiac differentiation protocol, transduced hESCs formed a confluent layer of cardiac myocytes and maintained a low level of B2M expression. Transduced hESCs were also successfully differentiated into a hepatic lineage, validating their capacity to differentiate into multiple lineages. CONCLUSIONS HLA-I depletion does not preclude hESC differentiation into cardiac or hepatic lineages. This methodology can be used to engineer tissue from nonautologous hESC sources with improved immunocompatibility.
Towards Unconventional Computing through Simulated Evolution: Control of Nonlinear Media by a Learning Classifier System

We propose that the behavior of nonlinear media can be controlled automatically through evolutionary learning. By extension, forms of unconventional computing (viz., massively parallel nonlinear computers) can be realized by such an approach. In this initial study a light-sensitive subexcitable Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in which a checkerboard image, composed of cells of varying light intensity projected onto the surface of a thin silica gel impregnated with a catalyst and indicator, is controlled using a learning classifier system. Pulses of wave fragments are injected into the checkerboard grid, resulting in rich spatiotemporal behavior, and a learning classifier system is shown to be able to direct the fragments to an arbitrary position through dynamic control of the light intensity within each cell in both simulated and real chemical systems. Similarly, a learning classifier system is shown to be able to control the electrical stimulation of cultured neuronal networks so that they display elementary learning. Results indicate that the learned stimulation protocols identify seemingly fundamental properties of in vitro neuronal networks. Use of another learning scheme presented in the literature confirms that such fundamental behavioral characteristics of a given network must be considered in training experiments.
Bilingual Dictionaries Using Comparable and Quasi Comparable Corpora

Cross-lingual term associations are very important for many interlingual applications. Machine Translation system is a sub-field of computational linguistics which aims at translating text from one language to other. All MT systems at the core depend on bilingual dictionaries. The bilingual dictionaries are important resources for such NLP applications as statistical machine translation and cross-language information extraction systems. The bilingual dictionary is one such important resource where entries are word translations. They also can serve to enhance existing dictionaries, for second language teaching and learning. Manually created resources are usually more accurate and do not contain noisy information, in contrast, to automatically learned dictionaries. In this book, we try to address the problem of generating bilingual dictionaries automatically. We propose two different approaches to generating bilingual dictionaries for English-Hindi pair. Both the approaches proposed in this book are language independent and hence can be used to build dictionaries for other language pairs which are phonetically rich.
A software based approach to achieving optimal performance for signature control flow checking

The authors present a software-based approach that uses run-time program behavior to minimize the performance overhead in signature control flow checking. In general, for both RISC (reduced-instruction-set-computer) and CISC (complex-instruction-set-computer) architectures, it is found that using run-time information can reduce the performance overhead by 50%. For the MC68000, the performance overhead for adding justifying and reference signatures to the program code is approximately 2.8%. In addition to optimizing the performance, the authors' approach does not increase the hardware complexity of the monitor. Furthermore, an O(N/sup 2/) algorithm which inserts justifying signatures on the arcs of the program control flow graph with N nodes is presented. It is shown that the algorithm complexity of previous schemes which insert justifying signatures in the program nodes is exponential. <<ETX>>
Regulation of the CREB signaling cascade in the visual cortex by visual experience and neuronal activity

The cAMP‐responsive element (CRE) regulatory pathway has been studied as a model of signal‐regulated transcription and is critical for some forms of learning and adaptation. In cell culture systems, the extracellular‐regulated kinase (ERK) and ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) couple synaptic signals to CRE‐mediated gene expression by modulating CRE‐binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation. However, it is not known whether sensory experience regulates gene expression in the brain by this mechanism. In this study, we ask: Are activated forms of ERK, RSK, and CREB colocalized in the cortex and are they coordinately regulated by synaptic signals? We find that these three signaling components are regulated in distinct ways. First, cells that show CRE‐lacZ reporter expression, primarily excitatory neurons, do not colocalize with cells containing phospho‐ERK. Second, while phosphorylation of ERK and RSK are modulated by visual experience, phosphorylation of CREB at serines 133, 142, or 143 is detected constitutively and is unaffected by experience. This finding suggests that neural activity might not regulate CREB phosphorylation in vivo. To test this hypothesis, we blocked action potentials by injection of tetrodotoxin and found no effect on CREB phosphorylation. These in vivo data show that, in contrast to cell culture systems, cortical synaptic activity controls CRE‐mediated gene expression without affecting CREB phosphorylation, possibly by modification of RSK and CREB‐associated coregulators. J. Comp. Neurol. 479:70–83, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A PCA-based hybrid approach for built-up area extraction from Landsat 5, 7 and 8 datasets

Urban expansion monitoring and organization can be performed through space-based observation thanks to the revisit time and level of details guaranteed by satellite remote sensing. In particular, the Landsat mission products are the most used thanks to the long time coverage and open access policy. This paper proposed a hybrid method - combination of pixel- and object-based analysis - in order to automatically extract built-up areas from Landsat imagery. Segments are delineated from spectral indices computed in order to increase the spectral distance among the different land cover classes. The principal component analysis is applied to the original bands and constitutes the pixel-based side of the method. Segments and PCA are then combined and classified using an unsupervised approach. Results of the method were quite satisfying with an average Kappa value over 0.5 in both case studies.
Endovascular Treatment of Very Small Unruptured Aneurysms: Rate of Procedural Complications, Clinical Outcome, and Anatomical Results

Background and Purpose— The strategy of treatment of small unruptured intracranial aneurysms is complex because of their presumably low risk of rupture. A precise knowledge of the perioperative complications in this specific subgroup is mandatory. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of the endovascular treatment of aneurysms ≤3 mm and aneurysms >3 mm included in the Analysis of Treatment by Endovascular Approach of Nonruptured Aneurysms study. Methods— The study included 626 patients harboring 682 unruptured aneurysms. Perioperative adverse events and clinical outcome were analyzed in patients treated for aneurysms ≤3 mm (51 patients, 51 aneurysms) and in patients treated for aneurysms >3 mm (575 patients, 631 aneurysms). Results— Endovascular treatment failed more often in aneurysms ≤3 mm (13.7%) compared to aneurysms >3 mm (3.3%; P=0.003). The rate of intraoperative rupture for aneurysms ≤3 mm (3.9%; 95% CI, 0.5–13.5) did not significantly differ compared to aneurysms >3 mm (2.4%; 95% CI, 1.2–3.6; P=0.37). Thromboembolic events were not significantly different in both groups (3.9%; 95% CI, 0.5–13.5 in very small aneurysms and 7.1%; 95% CI, 5.1–9.1 in larger aneurysms; P=0.57). One month morbidity/mortality was not significantly different for patients with very small aneurysms (2.0%; 95% CI, 0.05–10.45) and for patients with larger aneurysms (3.3%; 95% CI, 1.8–4.8; P=0.60). Conclusions— The risks of endovascular treatment are similar in patients with very small or with larger aneurysms. Because the risk of spontaneous rupture is lower in very small aneurysms, their management will include follow-up MRI and active treatment in case of morphological modification.
Uncertainty and information: Foundations of generalized information theory: Book Reviews

Herdan's law in linguistics and Heaps' law in information retrieval are different formulations of the same phenomenon. Stated briefly and in linguistic terms they state that vocabularies' sizes are concave increasing power laws of texts' sizes. This study investigates these laws from a purely mathematical and informetric point of view. A general informetric argument shows that the problem of proving these laws is, in fact, ill-posed. Using the more general terminology of sources and items, the author shows by presenting exact formulas from Lotkaian informetrics that the total number T of sources is not only a function of the total number A of items, but is also a function of several parameters (e.g., the parameters occurring in Lotka's law). Consequently, it is shown that a fixed T (or A) value can lead to different possible A (respectively, T) values. Limiting the T(A)-variability to increasing samples (e.g., in a text as done in linguistics) the author then shows, in a purely mathematical way, that for large sample sizes TaLAt, where t is a constant, t6<1 but close to 1, hence roughly, Heaps' or Herdan's law can be proved without using any linguistic or informetric argument. The author also shows that for smaller samples, u is not a constant but essentially decreases as confirmed by practical examples. Finally, an exact informetric argument on random sampling in the items shows that, in most cases, T = T(A) is a concavely increasing function, in accordance with practical examples. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Child sexual abuse and schizophrenia

The authors of a recent study concluded that it ‘gave no support to child sexual abuse being associated with schizophrenic disorders later in life’ (Spataro et al, 2004). Despite numerous acknowledged limitations that ‘reduce the probability of finding a positive association between [child sexual abuse] and mental disorders’, males who had suffered child sexual abuse were 1.3 times, and abused females 1.5 times, more likely to have been subsequently treated for schizophrenic disorders than the general population. However, the researchers missed a crucial additional limitation. Because the abused subjects were drawn from police and court records many will have been removed from the abusive situation and received early support. The researchers warned, specifically in relation to schizophrenia: ‘Care must be taken in interpreting this and other negative findings’; we agree. The researchers also claimed ‘the findings to date do not support an association between child sexual abuse and schizophrenia’, adding that this hypothesis ‘has claimed considerable public, if not professional, attention’. It seems professional attention has been somewhat selective. There are many studies demonstrating the powerful relationship between child abuse (sexual and otherwise) and schizophrenia (reviewed by Read et al, 2004). Studies of specific psychotic symptoms reveal that the relationship is particularly strong with hallucinations (Hammersley et al, 2003; Read et al, 2003, 2004). When mediating variables are controlled for, the relationship, with both clinician-rated symptoms (e.g. Read et al, 2003) and research measures of psychosis (e.g. Janssen et al, 2004), remains significant. One of the most robust of these studies was a prospective general population study (n1⁄44045), controlling for age, gender, education, unemployment, urbanicity, ethnicity, discrimination, marital status, drug use, and psychotic symptoms or psychiatric care in first-degree relatives. On the three measures of psychosis, people who had suffered child abuse were 2.5, 7.3 and 9.3 times more likely to have psychosis. As in previous studies (e.g. Read et al, 2003), there was a ‘dose–response’ relationship. Those who had experienced severe child abuse were 48 times more likely than the general population to have ‘pathology level’ psychosis (Janssen et al, 2004).