Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Return to the emergency department among elders: patterns and predictors.

OBJECTIVES 1) To describe the pattern of return visits to the emergency department (ED) among elders over the six months following an index visit; 2) to identify the predictors of early return (within 30 days) and frequent return (three or more return visits in six months); and 3) to evaluate a newly developed screening tool for functional decline, Identification of Seniors At Risk (ISAR), with regard to its ability to predict return visits. METHODS Subjects were patients aged 65 years or more who visited the EDs of four Canadian hospitals during the weekday shift over a three-month recruitment period. Excluded were patients who: could not be interviewed, due either to their medical conditions or to cognitive impairment, and no other informant was available; refused linkage of study data; or were admitted to hospital at the initial (index) visit. Measures made at the index ED visit included: 27 self-report screening questions on social, physical, and mental risk factors, medical history, use of hospital services, medications, and alcohol. Six of these questions comprised the ISAR scale. Return visits and diagnoses during the six months after the index visit were abstracted from the utilization database. RESULTS Among 1,122 patients released from the ED, 492 (43.9%) made one or more return visits; 216 (19.3%) returned early and 84 (7.5%) returned frequently. Earlier returns were more likely than later returns to be for the same diagnosis (p = 0.003). Using logistic regression, hospitalization during the previous six months, feeling depressed, and certain diagnoses predicted both early and frequent returns. Also, a history of heart disease, having ever been married, and not drinking alcohol daily predicted early return; a history of diabetes, a recent ED visit, and lack of support predicted frequent use. CONCLUSIONS In the first month after an ED visit, return rates are highest and are more likely to be for the same diagnosis. Both medical and social factors predict early and frequent returns to the ED; patients at increased risk of return can be quickly identified with a short, self-report questionnaire. The ISAR screening tool, developed to identify patients at increased risk of functional decline, can also identify patients who are more likely to return to the ED.
Tranexamic acid, given at the end of the operation, does not reduce postoperative blood loss in hip arthroplasty

We performed a randomized double-blind study on the effect of tranexamic acid on postoperative blood loss and blood transfusions in 39 primary THR operations. Tranexamic acid was given at the end of the operation and 3 hours later. Ultrasound examination 1 week later was performed to measure the occurrence of deep hematomas. In contrast to previous findings in knee arthroplasty, the administration of tranexamic acid failed to give a significant reduction in the postoperative blood loss. This lack of effect was possibly related to the fact that the drug was administered too late. In 11 of the 20 patients receiving tranexamic acid, blood transfusion was not necessary, this being the case in 4/19 in the placebo group (p = 0.05). The occurrence of postoperative deep venous thromboses was similar in the tranexamic acid and placebo groups.
Low heart rate variability in unemployed men: The possible mediating effects of life satisfaction

Unemployment has consistently been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality, and impaired autonomic modulation of the heart might be one mechanism partly explaining this. This study examined whether the possible effect of unemployment on cardiac autonomic modulation is in part mediated by lower psychological well-being. The sample comprised of 15 job-seeking men aged 30–49 years matched with 15 employed men on age, type of job, smoking habits, alcohol intake, frequency of physical activity, and body mass index. Heart rate variability (HRV) during a modified orthostatic test was the measure of cardiac autonomic modulation, and life satisfaction was the measure of psychological well-being. Unemployed men had significantly lower overall HRV (p = .040) than controls. This association was partially mediated through lower general life satisfaction, and in particular, by low financial satisfaction, independently of demographic and/or behavioral factors that influence HRV. These findings suggest that seeking a job is a potential stressor that may reduce overall HRV and contribute towards disturbance of cardiac autonomic modulation in men. Financial difficulties could be one mechanism through which the effects of unemployment are translated into impaired autonomic modulation.
cloudalicious: folksonomy over time

Cloudalicious is an online visualization tool that has been designed to give insight into how tag clouds, or folksonomies, develop over time. A folksonomy is an organic system of text labels attributed to an object by the users of that object. The most common object so far to be the subject of this tagging has been the online bookmark. Stabilization of a URL's tag cloud over time is the clearest result of this type of visualization. Any diagonal movement on the graphs, indicative of a change in the tags being used to describe a URL, should garner further discussion
Transcription of Bacteriophage PM2 Involves Phage-Encoded Regulators of Heterologous Origin

ABSTRACT Bacteriophage PM2 is the only described member of the Corticoviridae family. It is an icosahedral dsDNA virus with a membrane residing underneath the protein coat. PM2 infects some gram-negative Pseudoalteromonas spp. In the present study, we mapped the viral promoters and showed that the PM2 genome consists of three operons. Four new virus genes were assigned based on their function in transcription. Proteins P15 and P16 are shown to repress early transcription, and proteins P13 and P14 are shown to activate late transcription events. The early regulatory region, containing genes for proteins P15 and P16, as well as the newly identified early promoter region in PM2, has significant sequence similarity with the Pseudoalteromonas pAS28 plasmid. P14, the transcription activator for the structural genes, has a zinc finger motif homologous to archaeal and eukaryotic TFIIS-type regulatory factors.
An Interval Set Classification Based on Support Vector Machines

The input vector of standard support vector machine (SVM) is n-array attributes. Before new patterns are classified by trained SVM, the measurement of all attribute values is always necessary. In order to make incomplete information patterns can be classified correctly by trained SVM, we extend the inputs vector of SVM to interval input vectors where each unmeasured attribute of input is represented by an interval which includes its possible value, and the operation in classification function was extended to interval operation correspondingly. For the incomplete information input, the value of classification function is the interval operation result. When the output of classification function satisfies the classification condition, the incomplete information input pattern can be classified correctly. Meanwhile the attribute value prior knowledge about interval representation can be utilized fully in the proposed algorithm. Both theory analyze and experiments result all show the present algorithm is practical and effective, and the input attribute measurement cost can also be reduced
Assessments of Low-Temperature Aging Test Method for the Dielectric Materials Immersed in Liquid Nitrogen

Among the various factors influencing the service life of the electric equipment, the performance of dielectric insulation materials has an important role to determine their whole service life. Degradation of insulating materials is fatal to insulation breakdown and finally lead to stop their operations. So the evaluation methods for the degree of degradation and aging for solid, oil and gas insulation have been developed and utilized very effectively to determine their performances. In order to determine the degradation of insulating materials immersed in extremely low temperature media such as liquid nitrogen, the abrupt temperature change from cryogenic to normal room temperature should be considered. But the assessments of low-temperature aging test method for the dielectric materials immersed in liquid nitrogen considering these conditions were not fully reported. Therefore, for the fundamental step to establish the suitable degradation test methods for cryogenic dielectric materials, we focused on the evaluation of aging test methods for dielectric materials exposed to low temperature environments considering thermal shock by cool-down and warm up test, thermal stress test and electric field stress test. In order to verify the effect of various degradation methods on cryogenic dielectric materials, Kraft, Kapton(polyimide) and Nomax type 410 sheets have been prepared and degradation experiments have been conducted. Then dielectric breakdown tests were performed. According to the test results, it was found that thermal shock degradation could be effective factor determining the degradation of cryogenic dielectric materials.
The Instrumented Sit-to-Stand Test (iSTS) Has Greater Clinical Relevance than the Manually Recorded Sit-to-Stand Test in Older Adults

Background The ability to rise from sitting to standing is critical to an individual’s quality of life, as it is a prerequisite for functional independence. The purpose of the current study was to examine the hypothesis that test durations as assessed with the instrumented repeated Sit-To-Stand (STS) show stronger associations with health status, functional status and daily physical activity of older adults than manually recorded test durations. Methods In 63 older participants (mean age 83 ±6.9 years, 51 female), health status was assessed using the European Quality of Life questionnaire and functional status was assessed using the physical function index of the of the RAND-36. Physical performance was measured using a wearable sensor-based STS test. From this test, durations, sub-durations and kinematics of the STS movements were estimated and analysed. In addition, physical activity was measured for one week using an activity monitor and episodes of lying, sitting, standing and locomotion were identified. Associations between STS parameters with health status, functional status and daily physical activity were assessed. Results The manually recorded STS times were not significantly associated with health status (p = 0.457) and functional status (p = 0.055), whereas the instrumented STS times were (both p = 0.009). The manually recorded STS durations showed a significant association to daily physical activity for mean sitting durations (p = 0.042), but not for mean standing durations (p = 0.230) and mean number of locomotion periods (p = 0.218). Furthermore, durations of the dynamic sit-to-stand phase of the instrumented STS showed more significant associations with health status, functional status and daily physical activity (all p = 0.001) than the static phases standing and sitting (p = 0.043–0.422). Conclusions As hypothesized, instrumented STS durations were more strongly associated with participant health status, functional status and physical activity than manually recorded STS durations in older adults. Furthermore, instrumented STS allowed assessment of the dynamic phases of the test, which were likely more informative than the static sitting and standing phases.
Data fusion for robust head tracking by particles

The paper presents a data fusion panicle filter for robust head tracking in video surveillance applications. With head detection based on moving region contour analysis, we propose a data fusion particle filter to fuse head detection results with colour and edge cues for robust head tracking. Connections of the proposed particle filter with previous work are also discussed where proposal distributions of M. Isard and A. Blake (1998) and P.Perez et al., (2004) are shown to be an approximation with fixed ratio of importance and prior samples. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness of head tracking using proposed data fusion particle filter.
Restoration of Signal Polarity in a Set of Inversion Recovery NMR Images

A method is described which enables unambiguous retrieval of sign information in a set of magnetic resonance magnitude images of the inversion recovery type. The proposed method starts from the observation that the inversion recovery curve S is a monotonically increasing function of the inversion time TI, and comes down to finding the zero-crossing time TI0 of this curve for each pixel within the image. ¿S¿ and S are then related by S(TI) = -¿S(TI)¿ for TI ¿ TI0 and S(TI) = + ¿S(TI)¿ for TI ¿ TI0. The method, which does not require additional knowledge with respect to any of the NMR parameters involved, is shown to be effective when at least four inversion recovery images with different inversion times of a particular object slice are available. The efficacy of sign retrieval is demonstrated by imaging experiments on phantoms and human subjects. The validity of the polarity restoration method is established by viewing its results against the results of conventional methods, i.e., NMR spectroscopy.
Combined Effects of Cognitive Impairment and Hypertension on Total Mortality in Elderly People: The Kangwha Cohort Study

Background: Previous studies have shown links between cognitive impairment and hypertension as well as mortality. However, combined effects of these two conditions on mortality have not been fully explored. Objective: To assess the combined effect of cognitive impairment and hypertension on all-cause mortality among the elderly people. Methods: We followed a cohort of 2,496 residents in Kangwha County, ranging in age from 64 to 101 years as of March 1994, for all-cause mortality for 11.8 years up to December 31, 2005. We calculated hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality by cognitive status and blood pressure using the Cox proportional hazards model after having controlled for confounding factors. Results: 1,189 people (47.6%) died during the 11.8 years of follow-up. The HR associated with severe cognitive impairment increased from 2.15 (95% CI: 1.30, 3.54) for prehypertension over 2.68 (95% CI: 1.60, 4.48) for stage 1 hypertension to 3.60 (95% CI: 1.99, 6.49) for stage 2 hypertension in women. A mortality risk of 3.67 (95% CI: 2.05, 6.57) was observed among men who had both mild cognitive impairment and stage 2 hypertension. Conclusion: Individuals with coexisting cognitive impairment and hypertension are at an increased risk of all-cause mortality compared with those with cognitive impairment or hypertension alone.
Elimination of Liposomes by Different Separation Principles Used in Low‐density Lipoprotein Apheresis

Abstract: Clinical success of many therapies is impaired by dose limiting toxicities. Nanoscale particle‐based drug delivery systems such as liposomes show unique pharmacokinetic properties and improved toxicity profiles. Liposomes accumulate in tumor tissue, but only a small fraction of a total dose reaches the target site. The overwhelming amount of a given dose is needed only to build up a diffusion gradient for effective accumulation at the target site. In order to find a way to detoxify this predominant fraction after accumulation is completed, the different separation principles used for the apheresis of lipoproteins were evaluated for the extracorporeal elimination of liposomes. Appropriate radiolabeled model liposomes were prepared by extrusion. Separation efficacy, leakage of liposomal content and influence of plasma contact were measured. Membranes with pore sizes between 25 and 400 nm were used to investigate filtration properties of liposomes. Liposomes were precipitated by adding heparin and Ca2+. Adsorption chromatography was investigated using dextran sulfate, heparin sepharose and functionalized polyacrylamide beads. Membrane filtration allowed the elimination of various liposomes, while precipitation and adsorption were only useful for positively charged liposomes. Leakage of liposomal content was not induced by adsorption, but precipitation induced leakage. Leakage during filtration was dependent on liposomal membrane lipids. Plasma contact reduced precipitation and adsorption efficacy of positively charged liposomes, while filtration properties of liposomes remained unchanged. For extracorporeal elimination of liposomal drug delivery systems, filtration‐based techniques are presumably more convenient and versatile than precipitation‐ or adsorption‐based apheresis technologies.
Detection of bovine herpesvirus 1 and 5 in trigeminal ganglia of beef cattle in Uruguay

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo detectar la presencia de BoHV-1 y BoHV-5 en infecciones latentes de ganado vacuno en el Uruguay. Se analizaron 62 muestras de ganglios trigeminos (TG) de cabezas de bovinos colectados en un frigorifico. Utilizando un tipo diferencial de PCR (nPCR) focalizando en el gen UL44 de BoHV-1 y BoHV-5 se detectaron los diferentes genomas virales. ADN viral fue detectado en 64,5% (40/62) de los animales. Treinta muestras (48,4%) contenian solo el ADN de BoHV-1, mientras que nueve (14,5%) contenian ADN de ambos BoHV-1 y BoHV-5. Una sola muestra (1,6%) contenia apenas ADN de BoHV-5. La deteccion de anticuerpos neutralizantes se realizo en los sueros mediante la tecnica de seroneutralizacion in vitro . Anticuerpos neutralizantes fueron encontrados en 16 de los animales portadores de ADN viral, lo que corresponde a 40% de las muestras con genoma viral identificado. La prevalencia genomica especifica del tipo viral fue sustancialmente diferente de la que se informo en un estudio similar llevado a cabo en Brasil y puede estar asociada con el tipo de razas europeas predominante criadas en Uruguay, en contrapartida a los bovinos brasilenos que son cruzados ( Bos taurus x Bos indicus ). Sin embargo, y a pesar de que tanto BoHV-1 y BoHV-5 pueden ser causas de co- infecciones ocasionales en Uruguay, BoHV-5 mostro una significativa menor prevalencia comparado con BoHV-1
Access Strategy for Hybrid Underlay-Overlay Cognitive Radios With Energy Harvesting

In this paper, we consider a hybrid underlay-overlay cognitive radio with energy harvesting. In the considered system, secondary user can harvest energy from the primary user's signal as well as from the other ambient sources, such as solar, wind, vibration and so on. Energy is harvested from the primary user's signal when the primary channel is found in busy state. The secondary user either operates in one of the two transmission modes; overlay and underlay in order to maximize the throughput, remains in the sleep mode in order to conserve energy, or harvests energy from the primary channel in order to maximize the remaining energy. To maximize long-term throughput of the system, we propose an access strategy in which the partially observable Markov decision process framework is used to determine action of the secondary user, and energy threshold is used to determine the transmission mode (overlay or underlay) of secondary user. Simulations show that for certain values of the system parameters, the considered system provides 60% improved throughput than overlay-only cognitive radio and 43% enhanced throughput than a hybrid cognitive radio system harvesting energy only from the ambient sources. However, increasing the throughput also increases computational burden on the secondary user, which may increase latency and energy requirements of the system.
Active Modulation of Electrical Coupling between Cardiac Cells of the Dog: A Mechanism For Transient and Steady State Variations in Conduction Velocity

Propagation velocities of action potentials were measured simultaneously along the longitudinal and transverse axes of cardiac fibers in ventricular muscle. The anisotropic distribution of propagation velocities was found to be altered transiently and in the steady state by the rate and pattern of stimulation and by ouabain. The relative amount of velocity change varied with the direction of propagation and was greatest in the direction perpendicular to the long fiber axis. None of the variables usually associated with the membrane ionic mechanism of depolarization—resting potential, Vmax, and Tfoot—showed enough variation to account for the observed changes in velocity. A simplified anisotropic propagation model representing the internal current pathway as an alternating sequence of cytoplasmic and junctional resistance is presented, taking into account the larger contribution to the internal resistance made by the cell couplings in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal direction. On the basis of this model, it was concluded that the observed changes in velocity were due to changes in cell coupling. Both transient and steady state velocity changes were found to correspond to changes in the action potential duration, suggesting that there is a common factor, such as the internal calcium and/or sodium concentrations, linking the control of the action potential duration and the coupling resistance between cardiac cells.
Evaluation of Competency: Ethical Considerations for Neuropsychologists

The assessment of decision-making capacity is an essential element of competency determinations. As experts in the assessment of human cognitive abilities, neuropsychologists may be the best adjudicators of competency. However, to maximize the contribution of neuropsychology to the courts in the determination of competency, clinicians must be aware of the professional controversies and ethical challenges inherent in the assessment of decision-making capacity and the determination of competence. Professional controversies include the lack of established methodological and procedural guidelines for capacity evaluations and the application of variable criteria to establish impairment. Ethical challenges include balancing the need to respect the individual's freedom of choice and self-determination with the need to promote the individual's safety; attaining professional competence; and selecting, using, and interpreting assessment methods appropriately. The purpose of this article is to examine these issues in the context of neuropsychological practice.
Construct validity of knowledge-based economy indicators

Abstract Some research institutes and countries have proposed knowledge-based economy (KBE) indicators in recent years, but these indicators often differ from one another. Notably, it is not clear whether the construct validities of these indicators are acceptable. This work hypothesized that different indicators are not independent of one another. To examine this hypothesis, this work used the multitrait-multimethod and structure equation modeling approaches to assess the construct validity of the KBE indicators on three principal methods of APEC, OECD and WB. Overall, the results support these hypotheses and find that three indicators were closely related to one another. Thus, this work suggests that applying the multiple-trait and multiple-method measurement help evaluate the KBE competitiveness of a country because the various KBE indicators excel in different fields.