Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy Outcomes in Chinese Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE): A Retrospective Study of 109 Pregnancies

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that primarily affects women during their reproductive years. The interaction between SLE and pregnancy remains debated. The objective of this study was to analyze the fetal and maternal outcomes of Chinese women with SLE. A total of 109 pregnancies in 83 SLE patients from June 2004 to June 2014 at a tertiary university hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Patients’ characteristics, clinical and laboratory data during pregnancy were obtained from electronic medical records. After exclusion of elective abortions, the live birth rate was 61.5%. Significantly, APS (antiphospholipid syndrome), disease activity, hypertension, hypocomplementemia, thrombocytopenia, and anemia during pregnancy were more commonly observed in fetal loss pregnancies than in live birth pregnancies. Compared to the 64 women with a history of SLE, 19 women with new-onset lupus during pregnancy had worse pregnancy outcome. Furthermore, the 64 patients with a history of SLE were divided into lupus nephritis group and SLE group (non-renal involvement). We found that the lupus nephritis group had worse maternal outcome than the SLE group. We conclude that new-onset lupus during pregnancy predicts both adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, while a history of lupus nephritis predicts adverse maternal outcomes. It is essential to provide SLE women with progestational counseling and regular multispecialty care during pregnancy.
β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyrate free acid alters cortisol responses, but not myofibrillar proteolysis, during a 24-h fast

Abstract This study was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial examining the effects of β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate free acid (HMB-FA) supplementation on muscle protein breakdown, cortisol, testosterone and resting energy expenditure (REE) during acute fasting. Conditions consisted of supplementation with 3 g/d HMB-FA or placebo during a 3-d meat-free diet followed by a 24-h fast. Urine was collected before and during the 24-h fast for analysis of 3-methylhistidine:creatinine ratio (3MH:CR). Salivary cortisol, testosterone, their ratio (T:C), and the cortisol awakening response were assessed. ANOVA was used to analyse all dependent variables, and linear mixed models were used to confirm the absence of carryover effects. Eleven participants (six females, five males) completed the study. Urinary HMB concentrations confirmed compliance with supplementation. 3MH:CR was unaffected by fasting and supplementation, but the cortisol awakening response differed between conditions. In both conditions, cortisol increased from awakening to 30 min post-awakening (P=0·01). Cortisol was reduced from 30 to 45 min post-awakening with HMB-FA (−32 %, d=−1·0, P=0·04), but not placebo (PL) (−6 %, d=−0·2, P=0·14). In males, T:C increased from 0 to 24 h of fasting with HMB-FA (+162 %, d=3·0, P=0·001), but not placebo (+13 %, d=0·4, P=0·60), due to reductions in cortisol. REE was higher at 24 h of fasting than 16 h of fasting independent of supplementation (+4·0 %, d=0·3, P=0·04). In conclusion, HMB-FA may affect cortisol responses, but not myofibrillar proteolysis, during acute 24-h fasting.
Tracking Top-K Influential Vertices in Dynamic Networks

Influence propagation in networks has enjoyed fruitful applications and has been extensively studied in literature. However, only very limited preliminary studies tackled the challenges in handling highly dynamic changes in real networks. In this paper, we tackle the problem of tracking top-$k$ influential vertices in dynamic networks, where the dynamic changes are modeled as a stream of edge weight updates. Under the popularly adopted linear threshold (LT) model and the independent cascade (IC) model, we address two essential versions of the problem: tracking the top-$k$ influential individuals and finding the best $k$-seed set to maximize the influence spread (Influence Maximization). We adopt the polling-based method and maintain a sample of random RR sets so that we can approximate the influence of vertices with provable quality guarantees. It is known that updating RR sets over dynamic changes of a network can be easily done by a reservoir sampling method, so the key challenge is to efficiently decide how many RR sets are needed to achieve good quality guarantees. We use two simple signals, which both can be accessed in $O(1)$ time, to decide a proper number of RR sets. We prove the effectiveness of our methods. For both tasks the error incurred in our method is only a multiplicative factor to the ground truth. For influence maximization, we also propose an efficient query algorithm for finding the $k$ seeds, which is one order of magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art query algorithm in practice. In addition to the thorough theoretical results, our experimental results on large real networks clearly demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithms.
Classifying Lung Adenocarcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma using RNA-Seq Data

Background: Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) are two primary subtypes of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Currently, the most widely used method to discriminate between LUAD and LUSC is hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. However, this method sometimes is unable to make the precise diagnosis on LUAD or LUSC. More accurate diagnostic approaches are highly desired. Methods: We propose to use gene expression profile to discriminate NSCLC patient’s subtype. We leveraged RNA-Seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and randomly split the data into training and testing subsets. To construct classifiers based on the training data, we considered three methods: logistic regression on principal components (PCR), logistic regression with LASSO shrinkage (LASSO), and kth nearest neighbors (KNN). Performances of classifiers were evaluated and compared based on the testing data. Results: All gene expression-based classifiers show high accuracy in discriminating LUSC and LUAD. The classifier obtained by LASSO has the smallest overall misclassification rate of 3.42% (95% CI: 3.25%-3.60%) when using 0.5 as the cutoff value for the predicted probability of belonging to a subtype, followed by classifiers obtained by PCR (4.36%, 95% CI: 4.23%4.49%) and KNN (8.70%, 95% CI: 8.57%-8.83%). The LASSO classifier also has the highest average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.993, compared to PCR (0.987) and KNN (0.965). Conclusions: Our results suggest that mRNA expressions are highly informative for classifying NSCLC subtypes and may potentially be used to assist clinical diagnosis.
Proton Radiation Effects on Dark Signal Distribution of PPD CMOS Image Sensors: Both TID and DDD Effects

Four-transistor (T) pinned photodiode (PPD) CMOS image sensors (CISs) with four-megapixel resolution using 11µm pitch high dynamic range pixel were radiated with 3 MeV and 10MeV protons. The dark signal was measured pre- and post-radiation, with the dark signal post irradiation showing a remarkable increase. A theoretical method of dark signal distribution pre- and post-radiation is used to analyze the degradation mechanisms of the dark signal distribution. The theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental results. This research would provide a good understanding of the proton radiation effects on the CIS and make it possible to predict the dark signal distribution of the CIS under the complex proton radiation environments.
Influence of temperature and humidity on carbon based printed flexible sensors

This paper presents the response of two different types of novel printed sensors towards the change in temperature and humidity. The electrodes of all the sensors were based on carbon materials. Followed by the design and fabrication of the sensors, the responses of the sensors were analyzed for different temperature and humidity conditions in an incubator. These results provide a podium to enhance the alternation of the fabrication procedure of carbon-based printed sensors.
Inter-Club Kidney Exchange

A kidney exchange is a centrally-administered barter market where patients swap their willing yet incompatible donors. Modern kidney exchanges use 2-cycles, 3-cycles, and chains initiated by non-directed donors (altruists who are willing to give a kidney to anyone) as the means for swapping. We propose signiﬁcant generalizations to kidney exchange. We allow more than one donor to donate in exchange for their desired patient receiving a kidney. We also allow for the possibility of a donor willing to donate if any of a number of patients receive kidneys. Furthermore, we combine these notions and generalize them. The generalization is to exchange among organ clubs , where a club is willing to donate organs outside the club if and only if the club receives organs from outside the club according to given speciﬁcations. Forms of organ clubs already exist—under an arrangement where one gets to be in the club as a potential recipient if one is willing to donate one’s organs to the club upon death. Our approach can be used as an inter-club exchange mechanism that increases systemwide good (and can also be applied to live donation). In this paper we introduce these ideas, present the notion of operation frames that can be used to sequence the operations across batches, and present integer programming formulations for the market clearing problems for these new types of organ exchanges.
Rates of Compliance With First Aid Recommendations in Burn Patients

Several techniques (such as cooling and covering) are recommended in the first aid management of burn injured patients, both for lay persons and for EMS. Few studies have examined the rates of compliance with these recommendations. This study is a burn registry query performed in a suburban academic medical center with a regional burn unit. Patients seen by the burn service between January 2008 and February 2009 were included. Demographics, injury characteristics, rates of implementation of first aid, and method of transport to medical care (self vs ambulance) were recorded. Rates of implementation are reported as proportions with confidence intervals (CIs) and rates of implementation in those transported by self vs ambulance and work-related vs nonwork-related burns are compared using &khgr;2 tests. Two hundred eleven burn patients were entered in the registry during the study period. Mean age was 27.0 (SD, 22.1) years, 44.3% were female, 95.2% were thermal burns, and 29.9% were transported by ambulance; 72.7% (95% CI, 66–78%) reported cooling their burn before presentation for medical care. Of those, 39.9% reported using tap water to cool their burn (95% CI, 33.4–46.8%), whereas 25.2% used ice (95% CI, 18.4–33.5%), and 8.9% used a cooling blanket (95% CI, 5–15%). Only 22.2% reported having applied a dressing before arrival in the hospital (95% CI, 16.9–28.5%). There were no significant differences between the groups who transported themselves to care in comparison with those who were brought in by ambulance in terms of cooling with water (P = .516), cooling with ice (P = .063), or application of dressing (P = .506). Further, no differences existed between those reporting cooling of the burn and those who did not in terms of patient characteristics. Rates of first aid administered for burn injury by lay persons before arrival at a burn center are high. A substantial percentage of people continue to use ice to cool their burns despite evidence of its potential detrimental nature. There is no difference in the rates of first aid implementation in those who did and did not contact EMS. The initial call to EMS might be used to instruct lay persons in appropriate burn first aid while awaiting the ambulance.
The Inter-rater Reliability of the Functional Movement Screen Within an Athletic Population Using Untrained Raters

Abstract Elias JE. The inter-rater reliability of the functional movement screen within an athletic population using untrained raters. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2591–2599, 2016—The functional movement screen (FMS) is a commonly used screening tool designed to identify restrictions to movement patterns and increased injury risk using 7 predesigned tests. The purpose of this study was to analyze the inter-rater reliability of scoring of the FMS using a group of “untrained” subjects. Additionally, the study also examined if clinical experience level had any effect on reliability. Twenty fully qualified Physiotherapists working at the English Institute of Sport, with elite athletes, volunteered to participate in the study. The group comprised both level 2 and level 3 physiotherapists based on clinical experience levels. Five elite athletes, free from injury, were recruited and videoed completing 6 of the 7 FMS tests using a 3 camera system. The videos were scored by each Physiotherapist using the standardized scoring sheet, as developed by Cook et al. Each practitioner marked each athlete completing the 6 tests. The total scores were calculated for each athlete (maximum score of 18). The inter-rater reliability of the test was shown to be high, intraclass coefficient 0.906. An independent t test showed no significant differences between the level 2 and level 3 practitioners in the total scores (p = 0.502). The results of the test indicate that the FMS is a reliable screening tool when used by untrained practitioners in determining faulty movement patterns and that clinical experience level does not affect the reliability, therefore it may be a useful tool in the screening of athletic populations.
Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Radar With Undersampling for Terahertz 2-D Near-Field Imaging

To avoid the difficult transceiver-isolation problem of a monostatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for terahertz (THz) near-field azimuth-range imaging, a compact bistatic SAR geometry is demonstrated in this paper. The system consists of one fixed transmitter, one moving echo receiver and one fixed direct-wave receiver. The transmitter emits wideband signals for range resolution, and the echo receiver moves along a designed trajectory for the cross-range resolution, and the direct-wave receiver is taken as a reference for synchronization. Since the wavelength of THz is in the order of millimeter or submillimeter, the requirement on subwavelength interval of spatial sampling by the Nyquist theory aggravates the measurement difficulty. To break this limitation, a compressed sensing-based imaging algorithm is presented. Allowing the undersampling both in spatial domain and frequency domain, the proposed algorithm can provide high-resolution performance with few measurements. Thus, the balance between the resolution and the amount of measurements can be made. The system geometry and imaging performance are then demonstrated by both the simulations and the experiments in the 0.178–0.188 THz band.
Modeling subsurface deformation induced by machining of Inconel 718

ABSTRACT Traditionally, the development and optimization of the machining process with regards to the subsurface deformation are done through experimental method which is often expensive and time consuming. This article presents the development of a finite element model based on an updated Lagrangian formulation. The numerical model is able to predict the depth of subsurface deformation induced in the high- speed machining of Inconel 718 by use of a whisker-reinforced ceramic tool. The effect that the different cutting parameters and tool microgeometries has on subsurface deformation will be investigated both numerically and experimentally. This research article also addresses the temperature distribution in the workpiece and the connection it could have on the wear of the cutting tool. The correlation of the numerical and experimental investigations for the subsurface deformation has been measured by the use of the coefficient of determination, R2. This confirms that the finite element model developed here is able to simulate this type of machining process with sufficient accuracy.
Mixed-mode fracture & non-planar fatigue analyses of cracked I-beams , using a 3 D SGBEM – FEM Alternating

In the present paper, computations of mixed mode stress intensity factor (SIF) variations along the crack front, and fatigue-crack-growth simulations, in cracked I-beams, considering different load cases and initial crack configurations, are carried out by employing the three-dimensional SGBEM (Symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Method)–FEM (Finite Element Method) Alternating Method. For mode-I cracks in the I-beam, the computed SIFs by using the SGBEM–FEM Alternating Method are in very good agreement with available empirical solutions. The predicted fatigue life of cracked I-beams agrees well with experimental observations in the open literature. For mixed-mode cracks in the web or in the flange of the I-beams, no analytical or empirical solutions are available in the literature. Thus mixed-mode SIFs for mixed-mode web and flange cracks are presented, and non-planar fatigue growth simulations are given, as benchmark examples for future studies. Moreover, because very minimal efforts of preprocessing and very small computational burden are needed, the current SGBEM–FEM Alternating Method is very suitable for fracture and fatigue analyses of 3D structures such as I-beams. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A telephone-delivered coping improvement group intervention for middle-aged and older adults living with HIV/AIDS

Background: By 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that 50% of all cases of HIV/AIDS in the United States will be in persons 50 years of age or older.Purpose: This pilot research tested whether a 12-session, coping improvement group intervention delivered via teleconference technology could improve life quality in 90 middle-age and older adults living with HIV/AIDS.Method: This research used a lagged-treatment control group design. Forty-four HIV-infected persons 50-plus years of age participated in a coping improvement group intervention immediately after study enrollment, whereas 46 individuals received the intervention after their time-matched immediate treatment participants completed the intervention. Participants completed self-administered surveys that assessed depressive and psychological symptoms, life-stressor burden, ways of coping, coping self-efficacy, and loneliness.Results: Outcome analyses indicated that, compared to their delayed treatment counterparts, immediate treatment participants reported fewer psychological symptoms, lower levels of life-stressor burden, increased coping self-efficacy, and less frequent use of avoidance coping. After receiving the intervention, delayed treatment participants reported greater coping self-efficacy and less psychological symptomatology, lifestressor burden, and loneliness. However, the intervention demonstrated little ability to reduce depressive symptoms in this sample of HIV-infected older adults diagnosed with depression.Conclusions: Although findings from this research suggest that telephone-delivered, coping improvement group interventions have potential to facilitate the adjustment efforts of HIV-infected older adults, more rigorous evaluations of this intervention modality for this group are needed.
What is the clinical significance of esophagogastric junction outflow obstruction? evaluation of 60 patients at a tertiary referral center

Esophagogastric junction (EGJ) outflow obstruction (EGJOO) is characterized by impaired EGJ relaxation with intact or weak peristalsis. Our aims were to evaluate: (i) prevalence, (ii) yield of fluoroscopy, endoscopy, and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), (iii) outcomes, and (iv) whether this data differed based on quantitative EGJ relaxation.
Wealth and antenatal care utilization in Nigeria: Policy implications

ABSTRACT Antenatal care (ANC) utilization is lower in Nigeria than the African average. We investigated the relationship between wealth and utilization of ANC and also assessed other determinants associated with ANC utilization in Nigeria. Using data of the most recent births within 5 years prior to a 2012 nationally representative survey, we modeled predictors of ANC utilization. Respondents in the wealthiest quintile were over five times (aOR = 5.5 (95% CI: 4.2–7.2) more likely to adequately use ANC. The odds of ANC use were generally lower among the poor and the least educated women living in rural areas who need ANC the most.
Parisar: Patch-Based Estimation and Regularized Inversion for Multibaseline SAR Interferometry

Reconstruction of elevation maps from a collection of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images obtained in interferometric configuration is a challenging task. Reconstruction methods must overcome two difficulties: the strong interferometric noise that contaminates the data and the $2\pi $ phase ambiguities. Interferometric noise requires some form of smoothing among pixels of identical height. Phase ambiguities can be solved, up to a point, by combining linkage to the neighbors and a global optimization strategy to prevent from being trapped in local minima. This paper introduces a reconstruction method, Parisar, that achieves both a resolution-preserving denoising and a robust phase unwrapping (PhU) by combining nonlocal denoising methods based on patch similarities and total-variation regularization. The optimization algorithm, based on graph cuts, identifies the global optimum. Combining patch-based speckle reduction methods and regularization-based PhU requires solving several issues: 1) computational complexity, the inclusion of nonlocal neighborhoods strongly increasing the number of terms involved during the regularization, and 2) adaptation to varying neighborhoods, patch comparison leading to large neighborhoods in homogeneous regions and much sparser neighborhoods in some geometrical structures. Parisar solves both issues. We compare Parisar with other reconstruction methods both on numerical simulations and satellite images and show a qualitative and quantitative improvement over state-of-the-art reconstruction methods for multibaseline SAR interferometry.
Functional domain analysis of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae co‐chaperone TopJ

Colonization of conducting airways of humans by the prokaryote Mycoplasma pneumoniae is mediated by a differentiated terminal organelle important in cytadherence, gliding motility and cell division. TopJ is a predicted J‐domain co‐chaperone also having domains unique to mycoplasma terminal organelle proteins and is essential for terminal organelle function, as well as stabilization of protein P24, which is required for normal initiation of terminal organelle formation. J‐domains activate the ATPase of DnaK chaperones, facilitating peptide binding and proper protein folding. We performed mutational analysis of the predicted J‐domain, central acidic and proline‐rich (APR) domain, and C‐terminal domain of TopJ and assessed the phenotypic consequences when introduced into an M. pneumoniae topJ mutant. A TopJ derivative with amino acid substitutions in the canonical J‐domain histidine–proline–aspartic acid motif restored P24 levels but not normal motility, morphology or cytadherence, consistent with a J‐domain co‐chaperone function. In contrast, TopJ derivatives having APR or C‐terminal domain deletions were less stable and failed to restore P24, but resulted in normal morphology, intermediate gliding motility and cytadherence levels exceeding that of wild‐type cells. Results from immunofluorescence microscopy suggest that both the APR and C‐terminal domains, but not the histidine–proline–aspartic acid motif, are critical for TopJ localization to the terminal organelle.