Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amino-terminal pro-B-type brain natriuretic peptide: screening for cardiovascular disease in the setting of alcoholism.

AIMS N-terminal pro-BNP (NtBNP) has attracted attention as a biomarker for heart failure. The aims of our study are (a) to characterize the role of NtBNP as a biological marker in the setting of alcoholism; (b) to describe potential gender differences with respect to NtBNP; (c) to correlate NtBNP with other clinical and haemodynamic variables. METHODS We examined 83 alcohol-dependent patients according to International Classification of Disease 10th Revision (ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; 59 males and 24 females, age: 50 ± 10.5 years) referred to the department of psychiatry for alcohol withdrawal therapy. In these patients, we determined NtBNP, markers of alcohol abuse and transthoracic echocardiography to determine systolic left ventricular ejection fraction (EF). These measurements were repeated after alcohol withdrawal. RESULTS At Day 1 of alcohol withdrawal, 43 patients (52%; 27 males and 16 females) had elevated NtBNP levels (394.4 ± 438.7 pg/ml) despite normal EF (64.7 ± 6.2%). After withdrawal therapy (16.6 ± 7.8 days), NtBNP decreased significantly (228.6 ± 251.2 pg/ml; P < 0.01), despite unchanged EF (65.0 ± 5.8%; P = ns). This was the case in both males and females (328.9 ± 235.5 to 216.7 ± 194.3 pg/ml; P < 0.05 vs. 492.7 ± 635.7 to 246.6 ± 327.7 pg/ml; P < 0.05). Elevated NtBNP levels were related significantly to the history of arterial hypertension (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION This study highlights the fact that NtBNP can be elevated in the setting of alcoholism. The elevation in NtBNP is unrelated to EF and is reversible after alcohol withdrawal. We suggest a subclinical detrimental effect of alcohol abuse on cardiac function.
Incidence of lung cancer among patients with tuberculosis: a nationwide cohort study in Lithuania.

SETTING Although studies have found a relationship between tuberculosis (TB) and lung cancer, results for the long-term risk and the role of confounding factors remain inconclusive. OBJECTIVE To examine the risk of lung cancer in a Lithuanian cohort of 21 986 TB patients. DESIGN During follow-up (1998-2012), 477 patients developed lung cancer. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to compare the incidence of lung cancer among cohort participants with the general population. Cox regression was used to estimate the effect of risk factors on lung cancer risk among TB patients. RESULTS Lung cancer SIRs were 3.55 (95%CI 3.24-3.89) among all cohort participants, 4.48 (95%CI 4.04-4.96) among smokers and 1.93 (95%CI 1.56-2.36) among non-smokers. SIRs declined substantially >3 years after TB diagnosis in non-smokers, although they remained significantly elevated for ⩾10 years among smokers. In the multivariable analysis, smoking, male sex and older age substantially increased the risk of lung cancer. A statistically significant association with education, employment, site of TB and alcohol consumption did not persist in the lag-time analysis. CONCLUSION Most of the observed excess risk of lung cancer in the TB cohort possibly reflects the confounding effects of reverse causation, closer medical surveillance and shared risk factors, particularly smoking.
Convergent Adaptive Finite Element Method Based on Centroidal Voronoi Tessellations and Superconvergence

We present a novel adaptive ﬁnite element method (AFEM) for elliptic equations which is based upon the Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation (CVT) and supercon-vergent gradient recovery. The constructions of CVT and its dual Centroidal Voronoi Delaunay Triangulation (CVDT) are facilitated by a localized Lloyd iteration to produce almost equilateral two dimensional meshes. Working with ﬁnite element solutions on such high quality triangulations, superconvergent recovery methods become particularly effective so that asymptotically exact a posteriori error estimations can be obtained. Through a seamless integration of these techniques, a convergent adaptive procedure is developed. As demonstrated by the numerical examples, the new AFEM is capable of solving a variety of model problems and has great potential in practical applications.
The impact of increased weekend physiotherapy service provision in critical care: a mixed methods study

Abstract Background: At the hospital studied, weekend physiotherapy (WEPT) is routinely provided and in 2013 WEPT was increased from one (PRE) to three (POST) physiotherapists (PTs) to cover intensive care and ward patients. Aims: (1) To evaluate the impact of increased WEPT on patient volumes, treatments provided and conditions treated in critical care and wards; and (2) to understand the PTs’ perspectives on the new coverage model. Methods: A mixed methods design was utilized. The quantitative component consisted of retrospective document reviews of all weekend patients treated January 1–May 5 (PRE) and May 11–December 31 (POST). The qualitative component used a questionnaire to collect staff feedback. PRE–POST comparisons were conducted using χ2 or Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: Significant (p = 0.00) increases POST were seen in number of patients treated, number of mobility treatments provided and number of post-surgical patients seen in both clinical areas. The majority of survey respondents reported feeling adequately trained, but had concerns regarding the impact of increased WEPT on work-life balance. Conclusion: PTs perceived enhanced service was beneficial for continuity of weekday care and improved patient function. Future studies need to focus on measuring the effect of increased weekend provision on outcomes, preventing complications and length of stay.
An application of noise-robust speech translation using asynchronous smart devices

In this paper, we introduce an application of noise- robust speech translation for general purpose smart devices. In the proposed speech translation system, two users have a conversation with their own smart devices installing speech translation applications. The recorded speech signals are sent to a server performing speech signal processing, speech recognition and translation, and translation results are returned to users' smart devices. In the speech signal processing part, a virtual microphone array is constructed from the microphones on users' smart devices, and a microphone-array-based noise reduction is performed. Then, because each smart device has different beginning time of recording and different sampling rate, we apply a cross-correlation-based compensation of beginning time and a signal separation method based on the difference of sound energy that is robust against the mismatch of sampling rate. We carried out a speech recognition experiment using two smart devices at a noisy environment in which noise level is 70dB, and as a result, the noise reduction process improved the word error rate of a speech recognition system without noise reduction by 21.2%.
Modulation effect of low-frequency electric and magnetic fields on CO2 production and rates of acetate and pyruvate formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell culture

Abstract We studied action of one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional low-frequency oscillating electric and magnetic fields on sugar metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell culture. S. cerevisiae cells were grown on a minimal medium containing glucose (10%) as a carbon source and salts (0.3–0.5%) that supplied nitrogen, phosphorus and trace metals. We found that appropriate three-dimensional field patterns can either accelerate or inhibit sugar metabolism in yeast cells, as compared to control experiments. We also studied aerobic sugar metabolism, with similar results. Sugar metabolism was monitored by formation of pyruvate, acetate and CO2. We found that for the P1 parameter set the cell metabolism accelerates as evaluated by all of the monitored chemical products, and the cell density growth rate also accelerates, with opposite effects observed for the P2 parameter set. These parameter sets are introduced using D, ω, ϕ, B, ω′, and ϕ′ – vectors defining amplitudes, frequencies and phases of periodic electric and magnetic fields, respectively. Thus, the P1 parameter set: D = (2.6, 3.1, 2.2) V/cm; ω = (0.8, 1.6, 0.2) kHz; ϕ = (1.31, 0.9, 1.0) rad; B = (3.1, 7.2, 7.2) × 10−4 T; ω′ = (2.1, 1.3, 3.1) kHz; ϕ′ = (0.4, 2.1, 2.8) rad; and the P2 parameter set: D = (4.3, 1.6, 3.8) V/cm; ω = (3.3, 1.8, 2.8) kHz; ϕ = (0.86, 1.1, 0.4) rad; B = (5.4, 1.3, 1.3) × 10-4 T; ω′ = (1.3, 1.7, 0.9) kHz; ϕ′ = (2.6, 1.7, 1.7) rad. The effects obtained for the less complex field combinations that used one-dimensional or two-dimensional configurations, or omitted either the electric or the magnetic contribution, were significantly weaker than those obtained for the complete P1 and P2 parameter sets.
Degree distributions of bipartite networks and their projections

Bipartite (two-mode) networks are important in the analysis of social and economic systems as they explicitly show conceptual links between different types of entities. However, applications of such networks often work with a projected (one-mode) version of the original bipartite network. The topology of the projected network, and the dynamics that take place on it, are highly dependent on the degree distributions of the two different node types from the original bipartite structure. To date, the interaction between the degree distributions of bipartite networks and their one-mode projections is well understood for only a few cases, or for networks that satisfy a restrictive set of assumptions. Here we show a broader analysis in order to fill the gap left by previous studies. We use the formalism of generating functions to prove that the degree distributions of both node types in the original bipartite network affect the degree distribution in the projected version. To support our analysis, we simulate several types of synthetic bipartite networks using a configuration model where node degrees are assigned from specific probability distributions, ranging from peaked to heavy-tailed distributions. Our findings show that when projecting a bipartite network onto a particular set of nodes, the degree distribution for the resulting one-mode network follows the distribution of the nodes being projected on to, but only so long as the degree distribution for the opposite set of nodes does not have a heavier tail. Furthermore, we show that bipartite degree distributions are not the only feature driving topology formation of projected networks, in contrast to what is commonly described in the literature.
Replication Studies Considered Harmful

Context: There is growing interest in establishing software engineering as an evidence-based discipline. To that end, replication is often used to gain confidence in empirical findings, as opposed to reproduction where the goal is showing the correctness, or validity of the published results. Objective: To consider what is required for a replication study to confirm the original experiment and apply this understanding in software engineering. Method: Simulation is used to demonstrate why the prediction interval for confirmation can be surprisingly wide. This analysis is applied to three recent replications. Results: It is shown that because the prediction intervals are wide, almost all replications are confirmatory, so in that sense there is no 'replication crisis', however, the contributions to knowledge are negligible. Conclusion: Replicating empirical software engineering experiments, particularly if they are under-powered or under-reported, is a waste of scientific resources. By contrast, meta-analysis is strongly advocated so that all relevant experiments are combined to estimate the population effect.
DEVELOPMENT OF A MICRO-EXTRUDER WITH VIBRATIONAL MODE FOR MICROENCAPSULATION OF CELLS

Microencapsulation techniques have been developed for various applications such as bioengineering, pharmaceutical, drug delivery, cosmetics and food technology. Some of these techniques involve with complex process and harsh chemicals and may not be suitable for the microencapsulation of cells. Micro-extrusion is a simple yet efficient technique to produce large number of microcapsules. However the simple extrusion only enables the production of microcapsules in a few millimeters that limits the transportation of oxygen and nutrients. In this paper, a micro-extruder with an inclusion of vibration mode was developed to reduce the size of the microcapsules. Smaller size of microcapsule provides better transportation of nutrients and oxygen. The effects of adding a vibrator motor to the customised micro-extruder were studied and characterized. The experimental results showed that the size of the microcapsules can be controlled and reduced to approximately 800-1000 μm using vibrational frequency ranging from 10 to 60 Hz at flow rate of 0.6 ml/min. A lower flow rate of the micro-extruder and a high frequency of vibration can produce smaller size of microcapsules. The technique developed is potentially easy and safe for microencapsulation of cells.
REAL‐TIME LOW FREQUENCY IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENTS FOR DETERMINATION OF HYDROGEN CONTENT IN PIPELINE STEEL

The assessment of hydrogen content in pipeline steel is an essential requirement to monitor loss of pipe integrity with time and to prevent failures. The use of pipeline steels of increasing strength significantly reduces the threshold hydrogen concentration for hydrogen cracking. Cathodic protection and corrosion processes both contribute to accumulation of hydrogen as a function of time, which may eventually meet the cracking criteria. New and unique methodologies based on electronic property measurements offer the pipeline industry advanced non‐destructive tools to provide quantified in‐situ hydrogen content measurements in real‐time. The use of low frequency impedance measurements as a non‐contact sensor has been demonstrated for real‐time determination of hydrogen content in coated pipeline steel specimens in the laboratory. Scale‐up to field measurements is in progress, and the development and use of a field sensor are discussed.
Wnt repertoire and developmental expression patterns in the crustacean Thamnocephalus platyurus

Wnt genes are a family of conserved glycoprotein ligands that play a role in a wide variety of cell and developmental processes, from cell proliferation to axis elongation. There are 13 Wnt subfamilies found among metazoans. Eleven of these appear conserved in arthropods with a pattern of loss during evolution of as many as six subfamilies among hexapods. Here we report on Wnt genes in the branchiopod crustacean, Thamnocephalus platyurus, including the first documentation of the expression of the complete Wnt gene family in a crustacean. Our results suggest fewer Wnt genes were retained in Thamnocephalus than in the related crustacean, Daphnia, although the Thamnocephalus Wnt repertoire is larger than that found in insects. We also find an intriguing pattern of staggered expression of Wnts—an anterior‐posterior stagger within the posterior growth zone and a dorsal‐ventral stagger in the developing segments—suggesting a potential for subfunctionalization of Wnts in these regions.
High-Risk Premenopausal Luminal A Breast Cancer Patients Derive no Benefit from Adjuvant Cyclophosphamide-based Chemotherapy: Results from the DBCG77B Clinical Trial

Purpose: Luminal A breast cancers have better prognosis than other molecular subtypes. Luminal A cancers may also be insensitive to adjuvant chemotherapy, although there is little high-level evidence to confirm this concept. The primary hypothesis in this formal prospective–retrospective analysis was to assess interaction between subtype (Luminal A vs. other) and treatment (chemotherapy vs. not) for the primary endpoint (10-year invasive disease-free survival) of a breast cancer trial randomizing women to adjuvant chemotherapy, analyzed in multivariate Cox proportional hazards models using the Wald interaction test. Experimental Design: The Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group 77B clinical trial randomized 1,072 premenopausal women to no systematic treatment (control), levamisole, cyclophosphamide, or cyclophosphamide–methotrexate–fluorouracil arms. All arms included radiotherapy but no endocrine therapy. Researchers with no access to clinical data performed intrinsic subtype analysis on tissue microarrays using published immunohistochemical methods based on estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2, Ki67, and basal markers. Results: Patients (n = 709) had tissue available; chemotherapy benefit in these patients was similar to the original trial (HR, 0.56). Immunohistochemistry classified 165 as Luminal A, 319 Luminal B, 58 HER2-enriched, and 82 core basal (among 91 triple-negative). Patients with Luminal A breast tumors did not benefit from chemotherapy [HR, 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.53–2.14; P = 0.86], whereas patients with non–luminal A subtypes did (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.38-0.66; P < 0.001; Pinteraction = 0.048). Conclusions: In a prospective–retrospective analysis of a randomized trial, patients with Luminal A breast cancers did not benefit from adjuvant cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy. Clin Cancer Res; 23(4); 946–53. ©2016 AACR.
Exploring the Relationship of Inspiration Duration to Utterance Duration

Abstract Previous work has indicated that there may be a positive relationship between the duration and extent of inspiration and the length of an upcoming utterance. However, none of that work has uniquely implied a role of planning. We attempted to avoid some of the alternative explanations by forcing subjects to utter single sentences ranging in length from 5 to 82 syllables (mean of 27), after inspiring fully and then expiring down to a set level before uttering the sentence. For all 3 subjects, there was a significant positive relationship between utterance length and inspiration duration, regardless of whether inspiration was measured physiologically or acoustically. The 2 subjects with the higher correlations in the articulatory measures also expended air more quickly during the shorter sentences than longer ones, while the other subject had no correlation with exhalation rate. Complexity of the sentence, calculated as the number of clauses in the sentence, did not affect inspiration duration. The individual differences need further investigation, but there is a positive correlation between the duration of the sentence to be said and the inspiration before it when the speaker is required to read sentences while using only one breath.
Ecological Shifts of Supragingival Microbiota in Association with Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a physiological process with pronounced hormonal fluctuations in females, and relatively little is known regarding how pregnancy influences the ecological shifts of supragingival microbiota. In this study, supragingival plaques and salivary hormones were collected from 11 pregnant women during pregnancy (P1, ≤14 weeks; P2, 20–25 weeks; P3, 33–37 weeks) and the postpartum period (P4, 6 weeks after childbirth). Seven non-pregnant volunteers were sampled at the same time intervals. The microbial genetic repertoire was obtained by 16S rDNA sequencing. Our results indicated that the Shannon diversity in P3 was significantly higher than in the non-pregnant group. The principal coordinates analysis showed distinct clustering according to gestational status, and the partial least squares discriminant analysis identified 33 genera that may contribute to this difference. There were differentially distributed genera, among which Neisseria, Porphyromonas, and Treponema were over-represented in the pregnant group, while Streptococcus and Veillonella were more abundant in the non-pregnant group. In addition, 53 operational taxonomic units were observed to have positive correlations with sex hormones in a redundancy analysis, with Prevotella spp. and Treponema spp. being most abundant. The ecological events suggest that pregnancy has a role in shaping an at-risk-for-harm microbiota and provide a basis for etiological studies of pregnancy-associated oral dysbiosis.
Evaluation of elastic properties of interpenetrating phase composites by mesh-free method

Interpenetrating phase composites can be defined as multiphase materials in which each phase is three-dimensionally interconnected throughout the structure. The unique geometry of the reinforcement offers improved combination of mechanical and physical properties. Over the years, a lot of efforts have been put to study these composites experimentally. However, due to the complexity in microstructure and randomness in behaviour of interpenetrating phase composite, the modelling of these composites has not been sufficiently studied so far. Therefore, in this study, two models, namely, unit cell and self-consistent models have been presented to find the elastic properties of interpenetrating phase composites. All influencing parameters such as volume fraction and random geometry are duly incorporated in these models. These models are analysed by a mesh-free method known as element-free Galerkin method. The effective properties of these composites are calculated by an effective medium approximation approach. The real microstructure of interpenetrating phase composites is partially interpenetrating and partially particulate in nature; hence, a control parameter has been included in the model to simulate this behaviour. The main feature of the proposed unit cell model is that it is easy to implement and less time consuming as compared to three-dimensional existing model and characterises all the governing features of interpenetrating phase composite microstructure.
Spiral artery remodeling and maternal cardiovascular risk: the spiral artery remodeling (SPAR) study

Background: Women with a history of placental bed disorders, including preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction have an increased long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Further, similarities exist between atherosclerosis and abnormalities observed in placental bed spiral arteries in pregnancies affected by preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, such as acute atherosis and defective remodeling. This suggests a common pathophysiological pathway underlying both disorders. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate vascular and inflammatory lesions in the placental bed of women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy using a systematic approach to characterize lesions of the placental bed, and relate spiral artery pathology to postpartum CVD risk assessment. Methods: Placental bed punch biopsies were performed following caesarean section and systematically studied to assess vascular pathology, arterial remodeling, and the presence of CD3+, CD56+, and CD68+ cells. In addition, levels of modifiable CVD risk factors were assessed immediately postpartum. Results: We found fewer spiral arteries with complete remodeling in women with preeclampsia than in the control group (21 vs. 68%; P = 0.008). Further, women with preeclampsia showed less presence of CD3+ cells in both the decidua and the myometrium. Preliminary findings of CVD risk factor assessment postpartum suggest a correlation between acute atherosis and higher triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Conclusion: Systematic study of vascular pathology in uterine spiral artery biopsy samples in relation to CVD risk factors provides valuable insight into the link between cardiovascular health and placental bed disorders.