Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bifrontal Versus Bitemporal Electroconvulsive Therapy in Severe Manic Patients

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of moderate-dose bifrontal (BF) with low-dose bitemporal (BT) electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of patients with severe mania. Methods: In a parallel, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 28 patients with severe mania admitted to a university hospital were assigned randomly to moderate-dose BF (n = 14) and low-dose BT (n= 14) ECT. The primary outcome measures included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Results: All patients received at least 6 sessions of ECT. The 2 groups did not show any difference in their baseline MMSE or YMRS scores (P > 0.05). There was a significant difference between the MMSE scores of the BF compared with the BT group after both the sixth ECT (P < 0.05) and final ECT treatments (P < 0.05). Young Mania Rating Scale scores did not differ between the 2 groups after either the sixth or the last ECT sessions (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Moderate-dose BF ECT was as effective as BT ECT but was associated with fewer cognitive side effects in the treatment of patients with severe mania.
A Phase I Study of Weekly Gemcitabine and Docetaxel in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Hoosier Oncology Group Study

Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of weekly gemcitabine plus docetaxel, a dose escalation trial of both drugs was developed with each administered weekly for 3 weeks out of 4. Patients and Methods: Dose levels for gemcitabine (mg/m2) and docetaxel (mg/m2) were as follows: level 1: 600/25; level 2: 600/35; level 3: 750/35; and level 4: 900/35. Sixteen patients with adequate renal, hepatic, and hematologic function and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2 were treated. Primary sites included pancreas (12) and others (4). Results: Three patients were treated at each dose level from level 1 through level 4. The dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was neutropenia, the maximum tolerated dose being 750 mg/m2 of gemcitabine and 35 mg/m2 of docetaxel. No grade 4 nonhematologic toxicity was seen. Three patients had grade 4 neutropenia. Of the 12 patients with pancreatic cancer, 1 had a partial remission and 7 had stable disease with a median duration of 8 weeks. Conclusions: Gemcitabine and docetaxel can be safely administered weekly at a dose of 750 and 35 mg/m2, respectively. The DLT was neutropenia. Disease stabilization suggests that this may be an active regimen in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Intended effects and actual outcome of the Forensic Mental Care Act of 1992: A study of 367 cases of forensic psychiatric investigation in Sweden

The legislation regulating sanctions for offenders with mental disorders has been under parliamentary review in Sweden, and major changes have been discussed. In the present study, we have explored the expectations and effects of the previous change in legislation, introduced in 1992 and aimed at reducing coercive psychiatric treatment. Two cohorts of male subjects, admitted for forensic psychiatric investigation before (1988–90, n=187) and after (1993–95, n=180) 1992, were compared regarding sanctions, diagnoses and background data with a possible impact on the study populations. Contrary to expectations, the 1993–95 cohort was characterized by increased proportions of psychotic disorders and sentences to forensic psychiatric treatment. In both cohorts, few cases had an adequate outpatient treatment. A tendency to shorter compulsory inpatient treatment periods during the last year before the index crimes was found for those with psychotic disorders in the 1993–95 cohort. The frequency of immigrants with psychotic disorders was markedly increased in the later cohort. The intention of the new legislation to minimize forensic psychiatric treatment was thus counteracted by an unexpected increase in number of offenders with psychotic disorders. To what extent these findings are ascribable to factors other than the new legislation, such as reduced inpatient treatment facilities and generally decreased economic growth rate that coincided with the observation period, cannot be estimated in a limited study population such as ours.
Si-BEARING MOLECULES TOWARD IRC+10216: ALMA UNVEILS THE MOLECULAR ENVELOPE OF CWLeo

We report the detection of SiS rotational lines in high-vibrational states as well as SiO and SiC2 lines in their ground vibrational state toward IRC+10216 during the Atacama Large Millimeter Array Cycle 0. The spatial distribution of these molecules shows compact emission for SiS and a more extended emission for SiO and SiC2 and also proves the existence of an increase in the SiC2 emission at the outer shells of the circumstellar envelope (CSE). We analyze the excitation conditions of the vibrationally excited SiS using the population diagram technique, and we use a large velocity gradient model to compare with the observations. We found moderate discrepancies between the observations and the models that could be explained if SiS lines detected are optically thick. Additionally, the line profiles of the detected rotational lines in the high-energy vibrational states show a decreasing linewidth with increasing energy levels. This may be evidence that these lines could be excited only in the inner shells, i.e., the densest and hottest, of the CSE of IRC+10216.
Regular ingestion of opuntia robusta lowers oxidation injury.

The influence of opuntia robusta (prickly pear), a traditionally used dietary nutrient against diabetes mellitus among the American Indian population, was examined in 15 young patients suffering from familial heterozygous isolated hypercholesterolemia. Oxidation injury was determined via 8-epi-PGF(2 alpha)in plasma, serum and urine. Daily consumption of 250 g broiled edible pulp of prickly pear had no influence on body weight and body fat composition. Total cholesterol was lowered (P<0.01) as was LDL-cholesterol (P<0.04). No significant changes were observed either in triglycerides or in HDL. Prickly pear induced a significant decrease in plasma (27.9+/-3.3-->25.6+/-3.2;P<0.03), serum (302.0+/-11.4-->283.2+/-14.5;P<0.0003) and urinary (355.9+/-18.4-->323.9+/-16;P<0.00002) 8-epi-PGF(2alpha)values. The findings on a decrease of 8-epi-PGF(2alpha)were more pronounced in females than in males, the highest significance being found in urine, while, in contrast, the effects on total- and LDL-cholesterol were more pronounced in males. A prerunning 4 weeks period of dietary counseling had no significant effect on either of the parameters examined. These findings indicate that the regular ingestion of opuntia robusta is able to significantly reduce in-vivo oxidation injury in a group of patients suffering from familial hypercholesterolemia. This traditional food of the American Indians thus may have a significant cardiovascular benefit.
Comparison of onboard low-field magnetic resonance imaging versus onboard computed tomography for anatomy visualization in radiotherapy

ABSTRACT Background. Onboard magnetic resonance imaging (OB-MRI) for daily localization and adaptive radiotherapy has been under development by several groups. However, no clinical studies have evaluated whether OB-MRI improves visualization of the target and organs at risk (OARs) compared to standard onboard computed tomography (OB-CT). This study compared visualization of patient anatomy on images acquired on the MRI-60Co ViewRay system to those acquired with OB-CT. Material and methods. Fourteen patients enrolled on a protocol approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and undergoing image-guided radiotherapy for cancer in the thorax (n = 2), pelvis (n = 6), abdomen (n = 3) or head and neck (n = 3) were imaged with OB-MRI and OB-CT. For each of the 14 patients, the OB-MRI and OB-CT datasets were displayed side-by-side and independently reviewed by three radiation oncologists. Each physician was asked to evaluate which dataset offered better visualization of the target and OARs. A quantitative contouring study was performed on two abdominal patients to assess if OB-MRI could offer improved inter-observer segmentation agreement for adaptive planning. Results. In total 221 OARs and 10 targets were compared for visualization on OB-MRI and OB-CT by each of the three physicians. The majority of physicians (two or more) evaluated visualization on MRI as better for 71% of structures, worse for 10% of structures, and equivalent for 14% of structures. 5% of structures were not visible on either. Physicians agreed unanimously for 74% and in majority for > 99% of structures. Targets were better visualized on MRI in 4/10 cases, and never on OB-CT. Conclusion. Low-field MR provides better anatomic visualization of many radiotherapy targets and most OARs as compared to OB-CT. Further studies with OB-MRI should be pursued.
Lemierre-like syndrome caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus complicated by hemorrhagic pericarditis

Objective: To describe an infant with Lemierre-like syndrome caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus whose course was complicated by hemorrhagic pericarditis. Design: Case report. Setting: A 30-bed, pediatric intensive care unit at a tertiary care children’s hospital. Patient: A 7-month-old infant presented with fever and torticollis attributable to a retropharyngeal abscess and left internal jugular venous thrombosis. He was treated with antibiotics and anticoagulation, and his course was complicated by hemorrhagic pericarditis and cardiac tamponade. Interventions: Resuscitation of shock; video-assisted thoracoscopic drainage of bilateral empyema with pleural decortication; vancomycin and clindamycin treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; incision and drainage of retropharyngeal abscess; treatment of internal jugular venous thrombus with anticoagulation; and treatment of pericardial tamponade by insertion of pericardial drain. Measurements and Main Results: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from blood and pleural fluid peel cultures were multi-locus sequence type 8, Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive, and contained SCCmec IV, findings consistent with USA300 pulsotype. There was complete recovery from this life-threatening infection. Conclusions: Septic jugular venous thrombophlebitis complicating upper airway infections is a rare but serious acute medical condition. We present an infant with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection and clinical features that overlapped those described by Lemierre, in whom hemorrhagic pericarditis developed while receiving anticoagulation therapy. Anticoagulation, if used, should be closely monitored in this population.
A UWB Pulse Transmission Scheme - Switched Resonant Antenna

An efficient UWB monocycle pulse transmission scheme is presented in this paper. By integrating RF switches at particular positions on a resonant antenna such as a patch antenna, the modulating signal can turn on and off the antenna's radiation by open- or short-circuiting the radiation slots directly, resulting in the transmission of short pulses with high instantaneous radiated power. An in-house FDTD code that can incorporate time-varying lumped circuit elements into the simulations is applied to validate the pulse transmission performance of the proposed scheme through a full-wave simulation. Both the radiation gain and radiation efficiency of the scheme are discussed based on FDTD simulations and the equivalent circuit model
A Review of Genome-Wide Association Studies of Stimulant and Opioid Use Disorders

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a major contributor to disability and disease burden worldwide. Risk for developing SUDs is influenced by variation in the genome. Identifying the genetic variants that influence SUD risk may help us to understand the biological mechanisms for the disorders and improve treatments. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been successful in identifying many regions of the genome associated with common human disorders. Here, findings from recent GWAS of SUDs that involve illicit substances will be reviewed. Several GWAS have been reported, including studies on opioid and stimulant use disorder (cocaine and methamphetamine). Several of these GWAS report associations that are biologically interesting and statistically robust. Replication of the associations in independent samples and functional studies to understand the basis for the statistical associations will be important next steps.
Comparison of Women’s Situation in the Labour Market in the Former GDR and Poland

Abstract Twenty-five years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of transition in the former socialist countries. The aim of this research is to find out how women in East Germany and Poland, which followed completely different transformation patterns, have been affected by the introduction of market reforms. As a result of the investigation we found that the situation of women in both countries has been changed after the collapse of the communist system in Europe. However, women in former German Democratic Republic, following a significant decrease in their participation in the labour market in the early transition period, went on to become even more active than their counterparts in the Western lands. At the same time, in Poland the economic activity rate of women is lower than was observed before the transformation.
Tunable SEU-Tolerant Latch

This paper presents a single event upset (SEU) hardened latch that can mitigate SEU pulses having a width less than T, where T is the longest anticipated duration of SEUs. The propose latch includes a controllable inertial delay inverter. In order to mitigate SEUs with pulse widths less than T, a global controller uses delay locked loops to control the rise and fall times of the controllable inertial delay inverter in each latch to be equal to T. This allows T to be adjustable for different applications and environmental conditions. This technique introduces little area penalty and does not adversely affect propagation delay.
FML-based decision support system for solar energy supply and demand analysis

Because of the coming of high oil price and the trend of curbing the greenhouse gas emission, promoting the establishment of renewable energy is regarded as one of the main strategies in the world. Electricity supply in Taiwan is highly dependent on overseas imports. As a result, promotion of development and use of renewable energy not only increases the diversification of energy sources but also achieves a win-win-win situation for energy safety, environmental protection, and economic development. In Taiwan, wind power, solar energy, and bio-fuel are the three mainly promoted renewable energies, while in this paper we focus on the solar energy. This paper proposes a fuzzy markup language (FML)-based decision support system for the supply-demand analysis of the solar energy to discuss if the photovoltaic (PV)-generated electricity can supply enough one for the PV-installed household. First, the domain experts construct the ontology for solar energy supply and demand analysis (SESDA). Then, according to the power generation level from the installed PV system, appliances power consumption level from the housing loads, daily rainy probability, and today temperature forecast, the proposed system infers the power purchase possibility and then stores the results in the SESDA repository. The household could retrieve the results to try to improve his habit of electricity utilization to save electricity.
prickle modulates microtubule polarity and axonal transport to ameliorate seizures in flies

Significance Mutations in prickle genes from flies to humans cause epilepsy, a disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population. Although Prickle has been studied for many years, its molecular function is unknown. We now show that Prickle modulates transport of vesicles in fruit fly neurons. Additionally, we show that prickle mutants have electrophysiological defects consistent with epilepsy, and merely altering the balance of Prickle isoforms causes seizures. Finally, we demonstrate that reducing the level of vesicle transport motor proteins can suppress prickle-mediated seizures, revealing a previously unidentified pathway in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. Recent analyses in flies, mice, zebrafish, and humans showed that mutations in prickle orthologs result in epileptic phenotypes, although the mechanism responsible for generating the seizures was unknown. Here, we show that Prickle organizes microtubule polarity and affects their growth dynamics in axons of Drosophila neurons, which in turn influences both anterograde and retrograde vesicle transport. We also show that enhancement of the anterograde transport mechanism is the cause of the seizure phenotype in flies, which can be suppressed by reducing the level of either of two Kinesin motor proteins responsible for anterograde vesicle transport. Additionally, we show that seizure-prone prickle mutant flies have electrophysiological defects similar to other fly mutants used to study seizures, and that merely altering the balance of the two adult prickle isoforms in neurons can predispose flies to seizures. These data reveal a previously unidentified pathway in the pathophysiology of seizure disorders and provide evidence for a more generalized cellular mechanism whereby Prickle mediates polarity by influencing microtubule-mediated transport.
Fatal hemorrhagic pneumonia caused by human metapneumovirus in an immunocompetent child

© 2008 Japan Pediatric Society Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was recently discovered in 2001 in Holland. This agent causes acute respiratory tract infections in children and adults. 1 The range of clinical manifestations varies from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia and acute respiratory failure. 1 – 3 When this agent coexists with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in bronchiolitis, symptoms are more severe. 4 Williams et al. found, in more than 25 years of investigation, that 12% of lower respiratory tract infections in children was caused by hMPV. 2
Identification of Contaminant Type in Surface Electromyography (EMG) Signals

The ability to recognize various forms of contaminants in surface electromyography (EMG) signals and to ascertain the overall quality of such signals is important in many EMG-enabled rehabilitation systems. In this paper, new methods for the automatic identification of commonly occurring contaminant types in surface EMG signals are presented. Such methods are advantageous because the contaminant type is typically not known in advance. The presented approach uses support vector machines as the main classification system. Both simulated and real EMG signals are used to assess the performance of the methods. The contaminants considered include: 1) electrocardiogram interference; 2) motion artifact; 3) power line interference; 4) amplifier saturation; and 5) additive white Gaussian noise. Results show that the contaminants can readily be distinguished at lower signal to noise ratios, with a growing degree of confusion at higher signal to noise ratios, where their effects on signal quality are less significant.
Smart Surface: RFID-Based Gesture Recognition Using k-Means Algorithm

Elder adults may have some dependence on performing common activities like zapping on the television through a remote control (i.e. due to possible hand mobility problems). The Internet of Things (IoT), including the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), interconnects devices to provide a higher variety of services. Together, and by applying intelligence through Machine Learning (ML) techniques, advanced applications can be implemented improving people's life. We present the Smart Surface system, relying on state of the art RFID equipment. It uses the unsupervised machine learning technique K-means clustering to detect and trigger actions by means of simple gestures, in real time and in a non-intrusive way. We implemented and evaluated a prototype of the Smart Surface system achieving an accuracy of 100% gesture recognition.
Alveolar ridge regeneration with equine spongy bone: a clinical, histological, and immunohistochemical case series.

BACKGROUND In the case of localized ridge atrophy, a ridge augmentation procedure, with the use of bone substitutes and barrier membranes, may then be necessary. PURPOSE The aim of the present study was a clinical, histological, and immunohistochemical evaluation of an equine spongy bone in alveolar ridge augmentation procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five patients showing horizontal mandibular ridge defects participated in this study. A ridge augmentation was performed through an onlay apposition of equine bone covered by a titanium-reinforced membrane. After 6 months of healing, five bone cores from nonaugmented sites (control) and five from augmented sites (test) were retrieved. RESULTS In test sites, no postoperative complications occurred. Horizontal bone width increased from 24 to 37 mm. In control sites, the newly formed bone represented 33%, and in test sites, 35% of the total area. The mean value of the microvessel density was 25.6 +/- 3.425 per mm(2) in controls, while 33.3 +/- 2.5 vessels per mm(2) in the test sites were found (p < .05). Both groups showed a high intensity (++) of vascular endothelial growth factor expression in the newly formed bone, while a low intensity (+) was found in the mature bone. CONCLUSION Equine bone appeared to be biocompatible and to be associated with new vessel ingrowth. Within the limits of the small sample size, the present study indicated that equine bone could be used in mandibular ridge augmentations.
Glycoproteins as Biological Antifreeze Agents in Antarctic Fishes

The blood serums of Antarctic fishes freeze at -2�C, which is approximately 1�C below the melting points of their serums. This thermal hysteresis is due to the influence of serum glycoproteins. The temperatures of freezing and melting of aqueous solutions of the purified glycoproteins suggest that this thermal hysteresis results from the adsorption of the glycoprotein molecule onto the surface of ice crystals.
FLsched: A Lockless and Lightweight Approach to OS Scheduler for Xeon Phi

Processor manufacturers have increased the number of cores in a chip, and the latest manycore processor has up to 76 physical cores and 304 hardware threads. On the other hand, the revolution of OS schedulers to manage processes in systems is slow to follow up emerging manycore processors. In this paper, we show how much CFS, the default Linux scheduler, can break the performance of parallel applications on manycore processors (e.g., Intel Xeon Phi). Then, we propose a novel scheduler named FLsched, which is designed for lockless implementation with less context switches and more efficient scheduling decisions. In our evaluations on Xeon Phi, FLsched shows better performance than CFS up to 1.73× for HPC applications and 3.12x for micro-benchmarks.