Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neutrophil Gelatinase–Associated Lipocalin Combined With Delta Serum Creatinine Provides Early Risk Stratification for Adverse Outcomes After Cardiac Surgery: A Prospective Observational Study

Objectives: Novel biomarkers of renal injury appear inconsistent in identifying a creatinine-based diagnosis of acute kidney injury. To be clinically useful, novel acute kidney injury biomarkers should identify patients at increased risk for adverse outcomes that are a consequence of acute kidney injury earlier and with greater utility than conventional creatinine-based metrics. We sought to determine the prognostic utility of both urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin and varying creatinine-based metrics of renal injury at multiple time points associated with cardiac surgery. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Academic medical center. Patients: Six hundred three adults undergoing cardiac surgery. Interventions: Nil. Measurements and Main Results: Urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin was measured at baseline and again less than 1 hour, 3 hours, and 18–24 hours after separation from cardiopulmonary bypass. Creatinine-based metrics included a Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes definition of acute kidney injury through 7 days postoperatively as well as &Dgr;SCr-initial, defined as the incremental change in SCr from baseline to first postoperative measure. Multivariable regression determined the prognostic utility of neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin and creatinine, alone and in combination, for the primary composite outcome of hospital mortality or renal replacement therapy. The primary outcome occurred in 25 patients. Adjusted for covariates &Dgr;SCr-initial greater than or equal to 0.0 mg/dL provided early prognostic utility for the primary outcome (odds ratio, 8.9; 95% CI, 3.0–26.6), the odds ratio comparable to a creatinine-based Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes definition of acute kidney injury applied over 7 days postoperatively. The upper quartile of urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin best predicted the primary outcome when measured 18–24 hours post–cardiopulmonary bypass (odds ratio, 18.6; 95% CI, 5.1–68.4; p = 0.001) with earlier post–cardiopulmonary bypass measures of uncertain utility. Combining both &Dgr;SCr-initial and neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin measured 3 hours after cardiopulmonary bypass provided excellent early risk stratification for the primary outcome (odds ratio, 18.3; 95% CI, 4.5–75.0). Conclusions: Combining urinary neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin with a novel creatinine-based metric, both available soon after completion of surgery, may provide previously unavailable early and effective risk stratification for serious adverse outcomes after cardiac surgery.
Modeling of Novel Zigbee/IEEE802.15.4 MAC Protocol for SCADA Low Voltage Smart Grid Distribution Systems

The loss of the integrity and/or availability of data has the potential to diversely affect power utility core operations. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is a computer system for collecting and analyzing data in almost real-time fashion for monitoring purposes. SCADA refers to the combination of telemetry and data acquisition. Communication plays, thus, a core role in SCADA systems. The use of wireless sensor network (WSN) can, however, lead to a more flexible and powerful protection scenarios than the current used wired sensor. Merit to Zigbee/IEEE802.15. 4 as one of the promising WSN standards due to its low cost of deployment, low power, low data rate, short range, simplicity and free licensed spectrum. While a beacon-enabled mode is adopted for energy efficiency operations with a multi-hop mesh network built up for large coverage, IEEE802.15. 4 standard does not provide any mechanisms for a beacon-enabled mode in multi-hop mesh networks. Hence, in order to provide a real-time data exchange and thus, predict a real-time system control, a Novel Zigbee/IEEE802.15. 4 MAC Protocol for SCADA system is modeled in this paper. The protocol performance is evaluated using NS-2 Simulation and the preliminary results are encouraging.
Estimating just-noticeable distortion for images/videos in pixel domain

Existing pixel-based just noticeable distortion (JND) models only take into account luminance adaptation and texture masking (TM). Similarly, existing discrete cosine transform (DCT) based models do not take into account foveal vision effects and do not estimate TM efficiently. As human visual system (HVS) is not sensitive to distortion below the JND threshold, estimation of the perceptual visibility threshold is widely used in digital and video processing applications. The authors propose a comprehensive and efficient pixel-based JND model incorporating all major factors which contribute to the JND estimation. The evaluation of contrast masking (CM) is done by distinguishing the edge and TM with respect to the entropy masking properties of the HVS. Similarly, the foveal vision effects are also taken into account for the comprehensive estimation of contrast sensitivity function (CSF). Hence, the proposed pixel-based JND model incorporates the spatio-temporal CSF, foveal vision effects, influence of eye-movement, luminance adaptation and CM to be more consistent with human perception. The incorporation of these important factors makes the proposed model the most comprehensive and efficient in the current literature. Psychophysical experiments were performed to test the proposed model. The results show the proposed model comprehensively outperforms other existing models proving its efficiency.
[Evaluation of effectiveness of the micrographia's therapy in Parkinson's disease patients].

UNLABELLED Micrographia is one of the characteristic symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Its cause is hypokinesia (reduced movement's amplitude). The methods of management of micrographia are founded on the assumption that the important cause of prolonged hypokinesia in Parkinson's disease patients is impairment of attention. The aim of the work was to analyse relationship between an occurrence and intensity of micrographia and others clinical features of Parkinson's disease. The another aim was to assessment of effectiveness of micrographia's management. MATERIAL AND METHODS 40 Parkinson's disease patients (19 women and 21 men) aged from 49 to 82 years (mean--65.5) were examined. In the analysis age, duration of disease, predominance of right- or left - side symptoms, impairments of concentration of attention, dosage of levodopa, UPDRS score, and the level on the Hoehn and Yahr's scale were taken into account. In therapy of micrographia three methods were managed: writing between lines determining desired height of letters, writing with a big dot as a guide for letter's size and regular reminding the patient of the need to write at bigger size. RESULTS micrographia was occurred in 30 of 40 Parkinson's disease patients (75%). The better writing magnitude was obtained in all patients, but in 16 patients the effect was much better and maintained to 6 hours, whereas in 14 patients the effect was worse and maintained only short time. No relationship was found between an applied method of therapy and its effect. A significant statistical relationship was established between impairments of concentration of attention and a worse effect micrographia's therapy. CONCLUSIONS Micrographia occurs in 75% Parkinson's disease patients. The therapy is successful in more than 50% of patients. Impairments of concentration of attention exert an adverse effect on micrographia's therapy.
Phase II drugs under clinical investigation for the treatment of chronic constipation

Introduction: Chronic constipation (CC) is a common gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorder that significantly impairs the quality of life in affected subjects. As almost half of the patients suffering from CC are not satisfied with currently available medicines, there is a need to develop new molecules with better effectiveness and tolerability. Areas covered: The authors include all experimental and clinical trials (up to Phase II) about new investigational drugs for the treatment of CC. The article identifies nine new agents: mitemcinal, TD-8954, YKP10811, itopride, RM-131, KWA-0711, elobixibat, velusetrag, and naronapride. All nine agents have shown prokinetic effects in different stages of the development. The mechanisms of new developing drugs include: the activation of 5-hydroxytryptamine type-4 (5-HT4), ghrelin and motilin receptors, antagonizing dopamine type-2 (D2) receptors, inhibition of ileal bile acid reabsorption and acetylcholine esterase, as well as water absorption from the GI tract. Expert opinion: At this current point in time, new generations of 5-HT4 receptor agonists (velusetrag, noranopride and YKP10811) are hoped to progress, further in the future, due to better efficiency and safety. However, it is not possible to make a concise conclusion at this current time due to a lack of evidence. Further clinical trials with a longer duration and a larger sample size are warranted.
Distinct molecular mechanisms lead to diminished myelin basic protein and 2′,3′‐cyclic nucleotide 3′‐phosphodiesterase in qkv dysmyelination

The genetic lesion of quakingviable (qkv) causes diminished expression of the QKI RNA‐binding protein in myelin producing cells. Consequently, several structural myelin proteins are severely reduced. Among these affected proteins, the reduction of the myelin basic protein (MBP) results from post‐transcriptional abnormalities of the MBP mRNA, presumably due to the lack of interactions with QKI. However, whether this is the common mechanism for reduced expression of other myelin proteins in qkv dysmyelination remains unclear. Here we report that distinct molecular mechanisms underlie the reduction of MBP and the 2′,3′‐cyclic nucleotide 3′‐phosphodiesterase (CNP) in qkv dysmyelination. MBP transcripts bind QKI strongly and are markedly reduced in the qkv/qkv oligodendrocytes in which QKI is almost completely lost. In contrast, CNP transcripts bind QKI weakly and are only slightly affected by the lack of QKI. None the less, CNP proteins are severely reduced in the qkv/qkv brain. Since CNP transcripts are predominantly associated with translating polyribosomes, diminished CNP expression in qkv dysmyelination is unlikely to be due to translational failures, but more likely results from accelerated protein degradation.
Immigrant and Native Saving Behaviour in Australia

This paper examines whether the differences in the observed savings of immigrant and native households in Australia are related to underlying differences in observable characteristics of the two groups of households or to environmental factors. We use quantile regression and semi-parametric decomposition methods to identify the savings differential, and to isolate the factors that contribute to it. The basic finding is that while income can fully account for the observed difference in immigrant and native savings there are fundamental differences in the saving behaviour of the respective groups. Decomposition analysis suggests that the different characteristics of migrants and natives are responsible for the observed difference in savings. The results also indicate that immigrants have a tendency to save more than natives when compared to Australian-born households of similar characteristics. These findings are consistent with the observed disparities in the wealth holdings of immigrant and native-born households in Australia.
Revealing Fake Profiles in Social Networks by Longitudinal Data Analysis

The goal of the current research is to detect fake identities among newly registered users of vk.com. Ego networks in vk.com for about 200.000 most recently registered profiles were gathered and analyzed longitudinally. The reason is that a certain percentage of new user accounts are faked, and the faked accounts and normal accounts have different behavioural patterns. Thus, the former can be detected already in a few first days. Social graph metrics were calculated and analysis was performed that allowed to reveal outlying suspicious profiles, some of which turned out to be legitimate celebrities, but some were fake profiles involved in social media marketing and other malicious activities, as participation in friend farms.
Predictors for atrial fibrillation detection after cryptogenic stroke

Objective: We assessed predictors of atrial fibrillation (AF) in cryptogenic stroke (CS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients who received an insertable cardiac monitor (ICM). Methods: We studied patients with CS/TIA who were randomized to ICM within the CRYSTAL AF study. We assessed whether age, sex, race, body mass index, type and severity of index ischemic event, CHADS2 score, PR interval, and presence of diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, or patent foramen ovale and premature atrial contractions predicted AF development within the initial 12 and 36 months of follow-up using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: Among 221 patients randomized to ICM (age 61.6 ± 11.4 years, 64% male), AF episodes were detected in 29 patients within 12 months and 42 patients at 36 months. Significant univariate predictors of AF at 12 months included age (hazard ratio [HR] per decade 2.0 [95% confidence interval 1.4–2.8], p = 0.002), CHADS2 score (HR 1.9 per one point [1.3–2.8], p = 0.008), PR interval (HR 1.3 per 10 milliseconds [1.2–1.4], p < 0.0001), premature atrial contractions (HR 3.9 for >123 vs 0 [1.3–12.0], p = 0.009 across quartiles), and diabetes (HR 2.3 [1.0–5.2], p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, age (HR per decade 1.9 [1.3–2.8], p = 0.0009) and PR interval (HR 1.3 [1.2–1.4], p < 0.0001) remained significant and together yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 (0.70–0.85). The same predictors were found at 36 months. Conclusion: Increasing age and a prolonged PR interval at enrollment were independently associated with an increased AF incidence in CS patients. However, they offered only moderate predictive ability in determining which CS patients had AF detected by the ICM.
Interaction of dopamine transporter (DAT1) genotype and maltreatment for ADHD: a latent class analysis.

BACKGROUND Although the association of the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been widely studied, far less is known about its potential interaction with environmental risk factors. Given that maltreatment is a replicated risk factor for ADHD, we explored the interaction between DAT1 and maltreatment with ADHD symptoms defined dimensionally and using latent class analysis (LCA). METHOD We tested the association of the 40 base-pair variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in DAT1, maltreatment, and their interaction in 2,488 boys and girls from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. RESULTS In boys, ADHD symptoms were optimally defined by four classes (Combined, Hyperactive/Impulsive, Inattentive, and Normal), whereas in girls, ADHD symptoms were defined by three classes (Combined, Combined-Mild, Normal). A significant DAT1 × maltreatment interaction revealed that maltreated girls homozygous for the 10-repeat allele had more symptoms of ADHD, and were also 2.5 times more likely to be classified in the Combined ADHD group than in the Normal Group. CONCLUSIONS The underlying structure of ADHD symptoms differed between boys and girls and DAT1 interacted with maltreatment to predict ADHD symptoms and ADHD status derived from LCA. Interactive exchanges between maltreatment and DAT1 for ADHD symptoms, and their implications for intervention, are discussed.
A Proposal for Reducing Handover Latency and Improving Route Optimization in Proxy Mobile IPv6

To reduce cost and complexity of mobile subscriber devices, it is desirable that mobility may be handled by network systems only. PMIPv6 relies on MIPv6 signaling and the reuse of the home agent functionality through a proxy mobility management agent in the network to transparently provide mobility services to mobile subscriber devices. Handover latency resulting from standard MIPv6 procedures remains unacceptable to real time traffic and its reduction can also be beneficial to non real-time throughput-sensitive applications as well. This paper proposes an optimized PMIPv6 that relies on a rich set of informational resources to reduce handover delays; and then a more efficient intra mobile access gateway routing scheme.
Innovative application development for ubiquitous and wearable computing

This thesis presents a new method to develop and introduce ubiquitous and wearable computing applications in real-world settings. In particular, this thesis lists and discusses a set of requirements in order to overcome the tension between user-center methods and the introduction of radically new concepts and technology. Based upon these requirements, a detailed review is presented over established devel¬ opment processes in the fields of software engineering, software design, user-centered design, and participatory design. One major finding is that cooperation with users during the development is necessary. But too close cooperation with users and, more generally, with stakeholders involved may also hinder radically new developments: Stakeholders are trapped into their daily routines, which may sometimes suppress the ability to envision concepts that radically depart from today. Two case studies are presented that followed a technology-driven approach (proactive furniture as¬ sembly) and a classical user-centered design approach (for doctors). It is reflected on why these projects failed, what could be learned from the experience, and how these findings inspired the design of the proposed X'treme Prototyping approach. The proposed notion of X'trerne Prototyping aims at creating serious and, most importantly innovative ubiquitous and wearable computing applications in cooper¬ ation with users and stakeholders. A deliberate use of prototypes, referred to as X'trerne Prototypes, is proposed and evaluated as a valid method to achieve this goal. In addition to that, two approaches, referred to as sensor-opportunities-based and artifact-based approach, are presented that provide technical aid for rapid de¬ velopments of ubiquitous and wearable computing applications. Furthermore, two case studies of introducing wearable sensing technology to avalanche rescue and professional downhill skiing arc described. Both studies discuss the ex¬ periences we gained by applying X'trerne Prototyping in practice. Both studies show and discuss the feasibility of the presented approach.
Testing Methodology for Fibre Channel Protocol in Avionics Applications

Layer or level testing is an integral part of any data communication protocol to check the integrity of data at each level. As every data communication protocol follows some sort of level architecture, it is important to have the methodology to test the integrity of the data at each level. In military avionics applications, where the requirement is to have high data transmission between various sensors and core computers, checking integrity of the data becomes very important. This paper details the testing methodologies that have been adopted for fibre channel protocol, which can be considered fornext generation military applications. It details the various tests that need to be evaluated before considering the FC-AE network achieves required BER of 10–12.
Exploiting instruction-level resource parallelism for transparent, integrated control-flow monitoring

Available resource-driven control-flow monitoring (ARC), a method for detecting transient errors by using idle resources in processor architectures that use increased degrees of instruction-level parallelism to achieve performance goals, is presented. The focus is on concurrent detection of control-flow errors (CFEs) in VLIW processors. Previous work is reviewed, and ARC monitoring is described as a monitoring computation (MC) that executes concurrently with and continuously monitors the execution of the application computation (AC). The algorithm that integrates the MC into the AC is presented. An analytical derivation of ARC's error coverage is given, and results of applying ARC to four benchmark programs on an actual VLIW processor are reported. Results show that for all the benchmarks, all of the additional operations required by ARC can make use of idle resources, achieving a detection coverage of >99% in all cases. The performance overhead of ARC is found to be negligible, even for programs with relatively few idle resources available. <<ETX>>
Chemotactic Peptide N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe Activation of p38 Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) and MAPK-activated Protein Kinase-2 in Human Neutrophils*

Activation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) by chemotactic peptides initiates a series of functional responses that serve to eliminate pathogens. The intermediate steps that link engagement of the chemoattractant receptor to the microbicidal responses involve protein kinases that have yet to be identified. In this study we detected in human PMN the presence of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which became rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated and activated in response to the chemotactic peptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). Pretreatment of PMN with wortmannin, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor, or bis-indolylmaleimide, a protein kinase C antagonist, resulted in partial inhibition of p38 phosphorylation upon fMLP stimulation. Similarly, phosphorylation of p38 was only partially inhibited when the fMLP-induced cytosolic calcium transient was prevented. Stimulation of PMN by the chemoattractant also resulted in the rapid phosphorylation and activation of MAPK-activated protein kinase-2 (MAPKAPK-2), which was completely inhibited by the specific p38 inhibitor, SB203580. The physical interaction of p38 with MAPKAPK-2 was studied by coimmunoprecipitation. These two kinases were found to be associated in unstimulated PMN but dissociated upon activation of the cells by fMLP. Together these findings demonstrate the activation of p38 by chemotactic peptides in human PMN by a process involving phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, protein kinase C, and calcium. p38, in turn, is an upstream activator of MAPKAPK-2.
Cyanophycin granule polypeptide formation and degradation in the cyanobacterium Aphanocapsa 6308

The effect of a number of conditions on the amount of cyanophycin granule polypeptide [multi-L-arginyl poly(L-aspartic acid)] formed in the unicellular cyanobacterium Aphanocapsa 6308 was determined. Light, CO2, sulfur, and phosphorus starvation as well as the addition of arginine to culture media increased the amount of cyanophycin granule polypeptide in cells when compared with that in cells grown under conditions optimal for growth. Nitrogen limitation and reduction of growth temperature to 30 degrees C decreased the amount of cyanophycin granule polypeptide on a dry-weight basis. Shift-up and shift-down experiments suggest cyanophycin granule polypeptide may be a reserve nitrogen polymer in Aphanocapsa 6308.
A control technique for a bidirectional series resonant DC-DC converter

The following paperwork considers a bidirectional series resonant DC-DC converter operating above the resonant frequency with the usual phase-shift control. Its features are discussed. Some of the converter disadvantages are proposed to be compensated by means of a control technique. For this purpose, simultaneous phase-shift and frequency control is applied. The advantages of the proposed solution are verified by computer simulations.