Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Simplified Clinical Procedure for Measurement of Glomerular Filtration Rate and Renal Plasma Flow.∗

The measurement of discrete renal functions by means of “clearance” technics has been of great value in the study of both normal and abnormal kidney physiology. However, the technics 1 required for the accurate measurement of glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow and tubular function have several disadvantages, especially when applied to human subjects. Since inaccurate collection of urine constitutes the main source of error, an indwelling catheter, bladder washouts, and 3 or more serial collections of urine are required to yield reasonable accuracy. The amount of time devoted to the collection of blood and urine samples and to the chemical analyses prevents the standard method of measurement of the discrete renal functions from being a simple routine clinical procedure. Several investigators 2 - 3 have devised technics which make the collection of urine unnecessary. These methods depend upon the rate of disappearance of inulin (or mannitol) and diodrast (or p-amino hippuric acid) from the blood after intravenous injection. These technics require serial blood samples to insure accuracy, and are not suitable for repeated observations at intervals of less than one day. A simple procedure for the measurement. A of glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow has been devised that requires only a blankw plasma sample and a single plasma sample for each estimation of the renal functions. This procedure is based on the assumption that, at equilibrium, the amount of a non-metabolized substance injected intravenously per minuteshould equal the amount excreted by the kidney per minute; i.e. providing this is the only excretory route.
[Postpartum blues - a Czech adaptation of the Maternity Blues Questionnaire].

OBJECTIVE To validate the Kennerley and Gaths Maternity Blues Questionnaire (MBQ) for the Czech postpartum population, to present the psychometric properties of the Czech version of that screening method, and to assess its predictive power for the risk of postpartum depression. DESIGN Original study. SETTING Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Charles University, Prague. METHODS The Czech version of the MBQ was validated on a sample of 1093 women. The data were collected from October 2013 to September 2014 at all maternity hospitals in Vysočina region. The MBQ was administered on a one-time basis during womens postpartal stay at maternity hospital. After six weeks post partum, a screening for postpartum depression was performed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The cut-off point was set at 10/11 for MBQ and 12/13 for EPDS as such were the respective levels achieved by the 90th percentile in the MBQ and EPDS scores. The sociodemografic data were collected at the time of completing the MBQ. A logistic regression was performed to identify the predictors of severe blues. Cronbachs alpha was calculated to assess the internal consistency of the MBQ as a whole and its component scales. In order to assess the validity of the MBQ, a logistic regression was used to analyze the association between the MBQ and EPDS scores. The norms for the Czech version of MBQ are presented as percentiles. RESULTS The MBQ scores showed a gradual rise over the days following the delivery (day 0 to day 4). The percentage of women with severe blues (MBQ score > 10) increased from 7.3% to 14.55% between day 0 and day 4. The most frequent feelings and mood states experienced by women in the first postpartum days included tiredness (61%), decreased self-confidence (30%), over-sensitivity (26%) and tension (19%), while 6,5% of women felt low spirited and 7% felt depressed. The women suffering from severe blues reported most frequently the same states of mood as did the women in the whole sample, but the rates of those states were higher: 83% for tiredness, 81% for decreased self-confidence, 79% for over-sensitivity, 71% for tension, while 46% of women with severe blues felt low spirited and 51% felt depressed. The significant risk factors for severe blues included parity (multipara, OR = 0.42; p < 0,001), mode of delivery (reference category unassisted vaginal delivery: emergency sectio caesarea, OR = 2.188, p = 0.004; planned sectio caesarea, OR = 1.843, p = 0.03; assisted vaginal delivery, OR = 6.136; p < 0.001), and previous depression (OR = 4.71, p = 0.003). Cronbachs alpha of the individual scales ranged from 0.34 to 0.76, Cronbachs alpha for the MBQ as a whole was 0.88. The severe blues were found to be a predictive factor for postpartum depression as assessed with EPDS (OR = 5.90; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION With its high reliability and validity, the MBQ appears to be a useful tool for clinical practice and research. The MBQ can be used to identify the women with severe blues and with an increased risk of postpartum depression.
[Reoperations after surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis].

UNLABELLED PURPOSE THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to determine the causes of failure following surgical treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis, indications for redo surgery and factors influencing the final result. MATERIAL AND METHODS Between 1975 and 1992, 38 patients were reoperated after a surgical treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. The mean follow-up was 34 months. All of these patients had had at least one previous lumbar spinal operation. Second operation was performed 35 months on average following the previous surgery. CLINICAL EVALUATION: The grading scale used in this review assessed walking ability, radicular pain at rest and at exersion, back pain, motor deficit and sphincter dysfunction. Patients were evaluated before and after the 2 surgeries and at last follow-up. Radiological study was done from CT-scan, MRI, myelograms, static and dynamic standard X-rays before the first surgery and following the revision surgery. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION According to our grading scale the final result was very good for 36 per cent of the patients, good for 24 per cent, fair for 24 per cent and poor for 16 per cent. The main causes of failure were post-operative destabilization and incomplete neurological decompression. In 56 per cent of our cases initial nerve roots decompression was incomplete: disc excision without bone resection in case of lumbar stenosis associated with disc herniation, incomplete lateral release, decompression of the symptomatic nerve roots only and not of all of them that were compressed. In these cases revision surgery was comprised by a new decompression. In 25 per cent of our cases post-operative destabilization was the cause of failure. During the previous surgery bone resection had been extensive: total bilateral facetectomy without fusion, wide laminectomy extended into the pars inter-articularis, resulting in isthmic fracture. Revision surgery was a posterolateral fusion with or without instrumentation generally associated with a new decompression. Two patients were reoperated on without evidence of inadequate decompression or destabilization. Result was poor in both. Final results were statistically better when the cause of revision surgery was a post-operative destabilization and when redo surgery was performed on surgically untouched levels. CONCLUSION Final results were disappointed since only 60 per cent were good or very good results. Revision surgery should be avoided, by using pre-operative planning of the neural decompression, and by adding a fusion if a wide bone resection is necessary.
Association between HLA-A, HLA-C and HLA-B Genes and Ankylosing Spondylitis in Macedonian Population

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the association of HLA-A, -C and -B genes with ankylosing spondylitis in patients from the Republic of Macedonia. Material and Methods: This study included 307 subjects (250 healthy individuals and 57 patients with ankylosing spondylitis who were diagnosed at the University Clinic of Rheumatology in Skopje). The HLA typing of class 1 (HLA-A, HLA-C and HLA-B) genes was performed using the method of Reverse Line Strip, after isolation of DNK from the blood leucocytes with the standard phenol-chloroforme method. The HLA sub typing of HLA-B*27 was performed with high resolution single-strand polymorphism. Results: We found negative association between HLA-A*03, HLA-A*24, HLA-C*04, and HLA-B*18, as well as positive association between HLA-C*01, HLA-C*02, and HLA-B*27 group specific alleles and patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Both HLA-B*27:02 and HLA-B*27:05 alleles have shown positive association with ankylosing spondylitis. Conclusion: Group specific alleles HLA-A*03, HLA-A*24, HLA-C*04, and HLA-B*18 are significantly more frequent in healthy individuals than in patients with ankylosing spondylitis which suggests their protective role. HLA-C*01, HLA-C*02, and HLA-B*27 group specific alleles (HLA-B*27:02 and HLAB* 27:05) have strong positive or susceptible association with ankylosing spondylitis.
Airway fire due to diathermy during tracheostomy in an intensive care patient

We describe a case of airway fire in an 83‐year‐old, critically ill patient. The fire occurred during a surgical tracheostomy under general anaesthesia, following ignition of the tracheal tube by diathermy. After debridement of the burnt tissue and treatment with intravenous antibiotics and glucocorticoids, the patient's respiratory function worsened initially. The patient eventually recovered without long‐term sequelae and was discharged from the intensive care unit. The circumstances of this and other similar incidents are reviewed, as are the suggested methods for preventing this frightening occurrence.
Design of ON-Line Tuned Idle Speed Controller for an Automotive Engine By Using NCD

This paper attempts to tune any controller without the knowledge of mathematical model for the system to be controlled. For that purpose, the optimization algorithm of MATLAB / Nonlinear Control Design Blockset (NCD) is adapted for On-line tuning for controller parameters. To present the methodology, a PID controller is verified with the physical plant using the engine speed control System where the problem of maintaining the engine idle speed at a reference value with the applied load is studied. A Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) Controller is used to solve this problem, but to get the best controller parameters the (NCD) Blockset is used for tuning the PID parameters. Simulation shows promising results in the idle speed response by comparing NCD tuning results with the trial and error results. The analytical results are carried out MATLAB / SIMULINK.
A Proactive Time-frame Convolution Vector ( TFCV ) Technique to Detect Frauds Attempts in e-Commerce Transactions

Any business that operates on the Internet and accepts payments through debit or credit cards, also implicitly accepts that some transaction may be fraudulent. The design of effective strategies to face this problem is challenging, due to factors such as the heterogeneity and the non stationary distribution of the data, as well as the presence of an imbalanced class distribution, and the scarcity of public datasets. Differently from the state-of-the-art strategies, instead of producing a unique model based on the past transactions of the users, our approach generates a set of models (behavioral patterns) to evaluate a new transaction, by considering the behavior of the user in different temporal frames of her/his history. By using only the legitimate past transactions of a user, we can operate in a proactive manner, by detecting the fraudulent ones that have never occurred. This also overcomes the data imbalance that afflicts the state-of-the-art approaches. We evaluate our proposal by comparing it with one of the most performing approaches at the state of the art (i.e., Random Forests), using a real-world credit card dataset.
Oncogenic Purine Derivatives: Evidence for a Possible Proximate Oncogen

Two additional urinary metabolites of the chemical oncogen 3-hydroxyxanthine are now identified as 8-chloroxanthine and 8-methylmercaptoxanthine. Such products are thought to be derived from a reactive intermediate which can be tentatively considered to be a proximate oncogen. Since each of these 8-substituted xanthines has also been obtained in vitro by reactions of 3-acetoxyxanthine with chloride ion or methionine, their production in vivo can be explained as resulting through the metabolic formation of an activated ester with a reactivity similar to that of the chemical model.
A Methodology for Design and Analysis of Sensor Fusion with Real Data in UAV Platforms

This paper presents a methodology to design sensor fusion parameters using real performance indicators of navigation in UAVs based on PixHawk flight controller and peripherals. This methodology and the selected performance indicators allows to find the best parameters for the fusion system of a determined configuration of sensors and a predefined real mission. The selected real platform is described with stress on available sensors and data processing software, and the experimental methodology is proposed to characterize sensor data fusion output and determine the best choice of parameters using quality measurements of tracking output with performance metrics not requiring ground truth. Keywords— UAVs sensor fusion, EKF, Real Data Analysis, System Design
A survey of ethnic foods for microbial quality and content aflatoxin

A range of ethnic foods was examined for their microbiological content in relation to total viable counts (TVC) of aerobic bacteria, counts of presumptive coliforms, yeast and mould counts; presence of Salmonella spp. , Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Campylobacter spp. ; total enumeration of Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus spp. ; identification of moulds and the presence of total aflatoxins. Samples, which included cereals, nuts, dried fruits, herbs and spices, were obtained from local retail outlets and distributors. It was established that three samples of pistachio nuts contained significant levels of aflatoxins. The concentration of total aflatoxins in these three nut samples ranged from 15 to 259 µg/kg of sample. Only two other samples contained trace amounts of aflatoxins, all other samples analysed were found to be free of any detectable level of aflatoxins. TVCs, coliform counts and yeast and mould counts varied widely depending on the matrix tested. Generally, rice, wheat and peanuts produced low counts whereas other nuts, gram flour and spices produced much higher counts. Cl. perfringens, Staph. aureus, and Bacillus spp. were common in spices, nuts and gram flour, however, Listeria monocytogenes was only detected in four samples and in no sample could Salmonella spp, E. coli 0157:H7 or Campylobacter spp. be detected.
Future Thinking: The Scarce Management Skill

We are all expert strategists for the now. But what about the future? Seeing that the future lies beyond strategy, it is of great concern that so few leaders have the ability to do future thinking. Future thinking is the ability to mind-time travel into the future, experience that imagined future and back-cast to develop strategies in the present to realise the preferred future. Several futurists have expressed concern about the lack of future thinking skills and an interest in the future among business leaders on a global scale. This applies to corporate boards, executive management, policy makers and academics alike. This research is based on interviews, supported by learnings from executive training and consulting in future thinking. We look at future thinking in terms of recognising emerging and disruptive technology in time, the ability to integrate the understanding of human behaviour inside the workspace and in the marketplace and the ability to make sense of the impact of major events. This paper presents a thought model outlining critical reasons for lack of interest in the future and recommendations to instate future thinking among leadership.
Protecting complex infrastructures against multiple strategic attackers

Infrastructures are analysed subject to defence by a strategic defender and attack by multiple strategic attackers. A framework is developed where each agent determines how much to invest in defending versus attacking each of multiple targets. A target can have economic, human and symbolic values, which generally vary across agents. Investment expenditure functions for each agent can be linear in the investment effort, concave, convex, logistic, can increase incrementally, or can be subject to budget constraints. Contest success functions (e.g., ratio and difference forms) determine the probability of a successful attack on each target, dependent on the relative investments of the defender and attackers on each target, and on characteristics of the contest. Targets can be in parallel, in series, interlinked, interdependent or independent. The defender minimises the expected damage plus the defence expenditures. Each attacker maximises the expected damage minus the attack expenditures. The number of free choice variables equals the number of agents times the number of targets, or lower if there are budget constraints. Each agent is interested in how his investments vary across the targets, and the impact on his utilities. Alternative optimisation programmes are discussed, together with repeated games, dynamic games and incomplete information. An example is provided for illustration.
Expression cloning of Xenopus Os4, an evolutionarily conserved gene, which induces mesoderm and dorsal axis.

Multiple factors, including members of the FGF, TGF beta, and Wnt family of proteins, are important mediators in the regulation of dorsal-ventral pattern formation during vertebrate development. By using an expression cloning approach to identify novel factors that could regulate dorsal-ventral patterning in the Xenopus embryo, we isolated the Xenopus homologue of the human Os4 gene by virtue of its ability to induce a secondary dorsal axis. While Os4 homologues have been identified in a variety of species, and human Os4 is overexpressed in human tumors, the biological function of Os4 is unknown. To explore the mechanism by which Xenopus Os4 (XOs4) induces a secondary dorsal axis, we used Xenopus explant and whole-embryo assays. The secondary axis induced by XOs4 is distinct from that induced by activation of Wnt or FGF pathways but similar to that induced by inhibition of BMP signaling or activation of an Activin pathway. However, XOs4 did not inhibit BMP signaling in dissociated animal cap explants, indicating that XOs4 does not inhibit BMP signaling. Similar to activation of an Activin-like pathway, expression of XOs4 induces molecular markers for mesoderm in animal cap explants, although expression of gastrula-stage mesodermal markers was very weak and substantially delayed. Yet, XOs4 does not require activity of the Activin signal-transduction pathway for mesoderm induction as dominant-negative components of the Activin/Nodal/Vg1 pathway did not prevent XOs4-mediated induction of mesodermal derivatives. Finally, like Activin/Nodal/Vg1 pathways, XOs4 requires FGF signaling for expression of mesoderm markers. Results presented in this study demonstrate that XOs4 can induce mesoderm and dorsalize ventral mesoderm resulting in ectopic dorsal axis formation, suggesting a role for this large evolutionarily conserved gene family in early development.
Applications of MaxSAT in Data Analysis

We highlight important real-world optimization problems arising from data analysis and machine learning, representing somewhat atypical applications of SAT-based solver technology, to which the SAT community could focus more attention on. To address the problem of current lack of heterogeneity in benchmark sets available for evaluating MaxSAT solvers, we provide a benchmark library of MaxSAT instances encoding different data analysis and machine learning problems. By doing so, we also advocate extending MaxSAT solvers to support real-valued weights for soft clauses via the presented problem domains in which the costs are naturally real-valued.
A Similarity-Based Approach for Audiovisual Document Classification Using Temporal Relation Analysis

We propose a novel approach for video classification that bases on the analysis of the temporal relationships between the basic events in audiovisual documents. Starting from basic segmentation results, we define a new representation method that is called Temporal Relation Matrix (TRM). Each document is then described by a set of TRMs, the analysis of which makes events of a higher level stand out. This representation has been first designed to analyze any audiovisual document in order to find events that may well characterize its content and its structure. The aim of this work is to use this representation to compute a similarity measure between two documents. Approaches for audiovisual documents classification are presented and discussed. Experimentations are done on a set of 242 video documents and the results show the efficiency of our proposals.
Dileucine and YXXL Motifs in the Cytoplasmic Tail of the Bovine Leukemia Virus Transmembrane Envelope Protein Affect Protein Expression on the Cell Surface

ABSTRACT Several retroviruses downmodulate the cell surface expression of envelope (Env) proteins through peptide sequences located in the cytoplasmic tail of the transmembrane (TM) subunit. We investigated whether cell surface expression of a chimeric protein containing the cytoplasmic domain of the TM protein (CTM) of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) was regulated by two membrane-proximal dileucine motifs or by tyrosine Y487 or Y498 in YXXL motifs. A chimeric protein composed of the extracellular and membrane-spanning portions of human CD8-α plus a wild-type (wt) BLV CTM was detectable on the surface of only 40% of the cells in which it was transiently expressed. Replacement of either dileucine pair with alanines increased the level of surface display of chimeric proteins. Nearly all cells became surface positive when both dileucine motifs were altered simultaneously and when either an N-terminal segment containing both dileucine motifs or a C-terminal segment containing all YXXL motifs was deleted. In contrast, replacement of Y487 or Y498 with alanine or phenylalanine enabled only small increases in surface display compared with wt levels. Chimeric proteins had similar stabilities but were downmodulated from the cell surface at three different rates. Point mutants segregated into each of the three groups of proteins categorized according to these different rates. Interestingly, Y487 mutants were downmodulated less efficiently than Y498 mutants, which behaved like wt. CD8-CTM chimeric proteins were phosphorylated on serine residues, but the native BLV Env protein was not phosphorylated either in transfected cells or in a lymphoid cell line constitutively producing BLV. Thus, both dileucine and YXXL motifs within the BLV CTM contribute to downmodulation of a protein containing this domain. Interactions with other proteins may influence surface exposure of Env protein complexes in virus-infected cells, assisting in viral evasion of adaptive immunity.