Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New ways to synthesize lead sulfide nanosheets—substituted alkanes direct the growth of 2D nanostructures

Two-dimensional colloidal nanosheets represent very attractive optoelectronic materials. They combine good lateral conductivity with solution-processability and geometry-tunable electronic properties. In the case of PbS nanosheets, so far synthesis has been driven by the addition of chloroalkanes as coligands. Here, we demonstrate how to synthesize two-dimensional lead sulfide nanostructures using other halogen alkanes and primary amines. Further, we show that at a reaction temperature of 170 °C a coligand is not even necessary and the only ligand, oleic acid, controls the anisotropic growth of the two-dimensional structures. Also, using thiourea as a sulfide source, nanosheets with lateral dimensions of over 10 μm are possible.
Quantification of holmium‐166 loaded microspheres: Estimating high local concentrations using a conventional multiple gradient echo sequence with S0‐fitting

To provide a best estimate of the R 2* value and hence of the local concentration of highly paramagnetic holmium‐166 loaded microspheres (HoMS) in voxels for which R 2* cannot be characterized by conventional fitting of multigradient echo (MGE) data because of fast signal decay due to high local concentrations.
Laparoscopic re-exploration in mechanical bowel obstruction after laparoscopic gastric bypass for morbid obesità.

AIM This study reports a series of 7 patients who experienced small-bowel obstruction (SBO) after laparoscopic gastric bypass (LGBP). METHODS Between July 2001 and June 2004, 211 patients underwent surgery for morbid obesity in 2 different institutions and 7 of them required reoperative laparoscopic surgery or laparotomy for mechanical SBO. RESULTS Seven patients in the series (3%) developed a postoperative bowel obstruction requiring operative management. Their mean body mass index was 49 (range: 38-65) and the average age was 48 years (range 29-60). Six (86%) had undergone an initial LGBP. One (14%) had been converted to open surgery because of the presence of thick adhesions. One percent of the patients (14%) had undergone abdominal surgery prior to gastric bypass. The most common cause of SBO was internal hernia through a mesenteric defect (57%), followed by adhesions (14%), obstruction at the entero-enterostomy (14%) and Petersen hernia (14%). The obstruction was managed laparoscopically. Small-bowel resection was required in 14% with no death encountered after the second revision of the entero-enterostomy. Recovery time was less than 72 h after laparoscopic approach and more than 92 h following the open procedure. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic surgical correction of SBO following LGBP in morbidly obese patients is feasible. Reoperation of morbidly obese patients after LGBP can be achieved successfully through laparoscopic techniques.
CUDA Accelerated Visual Egomotion Estimation for Robotic Navigation

Egomotion estimation is a fundamental issue in structure fr om motion and autonomous navigation for mobile robots. Several camera motion estimation methods from a set of variable number of image correspondances have been proposed. Five-point methods represent the minim al umber of required correspondences to estimate the essential matrix, raised special interest for th eir application in a hypothesize-and-test framework. This algorithm allows relative pose recovery at the expense of a much higher computational time when dealing with higher ratios of outliers. To solve this problem wit h a certain amount of speedup, we propose in this work, a CUDA-based solution for the essential matrix estima tion performed using the Gröbner basis version of 5-point algorithm, complemented with robust estimation . The description of the hardware-specific implementation considerations as well as the parallelization me thods employed are given in detail. Performance analysis against existing CPU implementation is also given , showing a speedup 4 times faster than the CPU for an outlier ratioε = 0.5, common for the essential matrix estimation from automati cally computed point correspondences. More speedup was shown when dealing with h igher outlier ratios.
Integrative Complementary Medicine for Treatment of Bariatric Perioperative Symptoms: Patients' Experiences and Staff Evaluations.

BACKGROUND A unique integrative complementary medicine (CM) pilot program was launched in a general surgery department at a public teaching hospital in Israel. In addition to standard supportive care, CM treatments are used to support patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in coping with perioperative distresses. We examined the experiences of patients and how the nursing staff evaluate these treatments. METHODS Qualitative semi-structured open-ended interviews were used. RESULTS Most patients reported that the treatments helped them to cope better with preoperative anxiety, and facilitated postoperative breathing and pain relief. Nurses reported that CM treatments enabled them to reduce doses of analgesics. Both patients and nurses suggested that preoperative CM treatment facilitated a better postoperative CM-associated outcome. CONCLUSIONS Integrative perioperative CM treatments improved pain and anxiety care in patients undergoing LSG. More research is needed to examine CM efficacy in improving standard LSG perioperative supportive care and to evaluate cost effectiveness.
Benzene Determination in Soft Drinks

Objectives: Benzene is a known human carcinogen. We are exposed to benzene mainly through inhalation and a lesser extent through the ingestion of food and water. Benzene is formed in beverages when ascorbic acid coexists with benzoate salts. Certain additional conditions (heat, UV light, metallic ions) are required for detectable levels of benzene to be formed. The aim of this study was to investigate soft drinks for the presence of benzene. Methods: A GC method was developed to identify and quantify benzene in beverages. Fifteen samples containing benzoate sodium and ascorbic acid were analyzed. Results: The benzene concentration ranged between the limit of quantification and 8.81 μg/l. The EU guideline limits the benzene concentration at 1 μg/l in drinking water; 6 of the products tested were above this admitted level. Conclusion: Based on the presented data, the safety of benzene as a preservative agent should be reconsidered.
Dual-wideband and dual-polarized shared aperture antenna

In this paper, a wideband dual polarization L/X-band shared aperture antenna is presented. As the frequency ratio is about 8, the configuration of perforated patch and patch antenna is selected. To increase the bandwidth, stacked patch antennas are used for both Land Xbands. The antenna consists of one antenna element for L-band and an 8x8 planar array for X-band. To obtain good patterns over the whole frequency band, corporate feed network is used in the X-band array. The element with high isolation and low cross polarization characteristics introduced in [6] was used in the X-band array.
Practices and Beliefs o f the Traditional D i n k a Healer in Relation to Provision o f-Modern Medica 1 and Veterinary Services A for the Southern Sudan

N ADVISORY GROUP on development of primary A health care programs for the southern Sudan (Lolik et al. 1976) recommended that "understanding between traditional healers and [official] health personnel [should be achieved] through regular discussions" and suggested that traditional healers might be enlisted as grassroots cooperators in community health programs. This suggestion is consistent with the growing interest of the World Health Organization, as well as of Third World governments in Africa and elsewhere, in increased communications and cooperation between traditional healers and practitioners of "Western" medicine. To these ends, a WHO Regional Expert Committee on Traditional Medicine in Africa was convened in 1976 (WHO 1976), alternative approaches to African traditional medicine have been advocated by individual scholars (Dunlop 1975; Nchinda 1976) and at least one training program for traditional healers has been organized in Ghana preliminary to their incorporation within primary health care ef-
Translocation of lipocortin (annexin) 1 to the membrane of U937 cells induced by phorbol ester, but not by dexamethasone

1 Induction of lipocortin 1 secretion by dexamethasone has been demonstrated, although the secretory mechanism is still unknown. We have studied the effects of 12‐tetradecanoyl phorbol 13‐acetate (TPA) and/or dexamethasone on the expression, translocation, and secretion of lipocortin 1 in U937 cells. 2 The expression of lipocortin 1 and its mRNA increased during TPA‐induced differentiation of U937 cells to a maximum of 1.9 fold and 8.2 fold, respectively, after 48 h. Both the protein and the mRNA levels decreased after 48 h. 3 TPA caused the translocation of lipocortin 1 from the cytosol to the membrane of U937 cells in a time‐dependent manner, as determined by Western blot analysis. The translocation was concurrent with the differentiation of the cells. After 48 h of TPA treatment, 82.6 ± 6.5% of lipocortin 1 was present in the membrane fraction compared to 41.6 ± 1.7% in untreated cells. 4 The amount of lipocortin 1 that was externally bound (associated) with the membrane increased to 3.2 fold as the cytosol to membrane translocation of lipocortin 1 increased. 5 Dexamethasone decreased the externally bound lipocortin 1, but had no effect on the cytosol to membrane translocation. 6 This offers a model system with which the function and the secretion mechanism of lipocortin 1 can be studied. Our data is consistent with the hypothesis that the secretory mechanism is through an unknown pathway, involving the translocation of lipocortin 1 from the cytosol to the internal membranes, and then, its secretion to the external membrane.
Design of block backstepping based nonlinear state feedback controller for pendubot

Design of a novel block-backstepping based nonlinear stabilizing control law of a pendubot is presented in this paper. It is a 2-DOF underactuated with unactuated shape variable and second order nonholonomic constraint. At the onset of the design, state model of the pendubot has been transformed into the block-strict feedback form. Thereafter, a systematic approach has been utilized to devise a backstepping control law for the pendubot system, which eventually yields a control law that is more conducive to practical applications. Lyapunov stability criteria has been used to analyze the stability of the overall system. Furthermore, stability of the zero dynamics has also been investigated to ensure the global asymptotic stability of the entire nonlinear system at its desired equilibrium point. Finally, performance of the proposed control law has been studied in simulation environment. Indeed, main novelty of the proposed approach lies in the fact that a systematic block backstepping control approach has been proposed to yield a solution for the control problem of pendubot.
Wireless Interface Bonding Supporting In-Order Delivery and Automatic Load Balancing

Wireless interface bonding is an important technique in multiradio systems, where multiple radios can be combined to establish a fast link between nodes. However, existing interface bonding modules are not well-suited for wireless interfaces due to lack of functionalities to cope with varying channel capacity. Variance in throughput and delay of the individual radios can cause significant degradation of transmission control protocol throughput due to suboptimal scheduling and out-of-order delivery. Since condition of wireless channels is dynamic, capacity of each channel cannot be predicted offline which makes the packet scheduling challenging. Naive queue management for in-order delivery could also be hazardous to the throughput due to long dwell time of packets at the receiver queue. This paper presents an extension to Linux bonding driver called the new load balancing (NLB) mode, which is designed to combine multiple WLAN interfaces into a single virtual interface. The NLB mode supports automatic load balancing and in-order delivery, and together, they make a multichannel link that behaves like a single link with aggregated bandwidth. Automatic load balancing is done using receiver measurements on interarrival time of consecutive packets. In-order delivery is implemented using a receive queue and a fast loss detection scheme which prevents long dwell time of packets at the queue. The NLB mode does not require modifications to physical network device drivers which makes it usable with devices from any vendor. Performance evaluations using OpenWrt-based wireless devices show that the NLB mode can efficiently aggregate bandwidths of channels under various conditions.
Extracellular Hsp90 mediates an NF‐κB dependent inflammatory stromal program: Implications for the prostate tumor microenvironment

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an essential role in supporting and promoting tumor growth and progression. An inflammatory stroma is a widespread hallmark of the prostate TME, and prostate tumors are known to co‐evolve with their reactive stroma. Cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) within the reactive stroma play a salient role in secreting cytokines that contribute to this inflammatory TME. Although a number of inflammatory mediators have been identified, a clear understanding of key factors initiating the formation of reactive stroma is lacking.
The structure and stability of the proposed international classification

The data presented in this chapter had a direct impact on the content and structure of the ICIDH-2 classification, and the development of assessment instruments. The methods were chosen to help to identify the correct placement of items in the classification, and to present clear information on the cross-cultural stability of the structure of ICIDH-2 as a whole. Methodologically, the data are at the other end of the spectrum from the data produced to investigate the more global issues concerning disability reported in the previous chapter (key informant, focus group and centre description data). While the data have significant qualitative components, the methods used are designed to provide a qualitative-quantitative bridge in the continuum of cross-cultural applicability methods. The primary question the methods were asked to answer was whether the concepts and items in the draft classification and assessment instruments could be constructed to include only items that met both the cultural and the psychometric requirements for the development of the classification and associated disability instruments.
Managerial Entrenchment and Earnings Smoothing

This paper investigates the association between earnings smoothing and managerial entrenchment. We primarily test the predictions of Fudenberg and Tirole (1995), who develop a model where managers smooth earnings because of job security concerns. Our findings support their predictions. Using the correlation between the change in accruals and cash flows, we find that firms whose managers are more entrenched exhibit less smooth earnings, ceteris paribus. Extensions provide additional insight into the role of discretionary accruals as well as investor clientele in the relation between smoothing and entrenchment.
Can Utility-Weighted Health-Related Quality-of-Life Estimates Capture Health Effects of Quality Improvement for Depression?

Background.Utility methods that are responsive to changes in desirable outcomes are needed for cost-effectiveness (CE) analyses and to help in decisions about resource allocation. Objectives.Evaluated is the responsiveness of different methods that assign utility weights to subsets of SF-36 items to average improvements in health resulting from quality improvement (QI) interventions for depression. Design.A group level, randomized, control trial in 46 primary care clinics in six managed care organizations. Clinics were randomized to one of two QI interventions or usual care. Subjects.One thousand one hundred thirty-six patients with current depressive symptoms and either 12-month, lifetime, or no depressive disorder identified through screening 27,332 consecutive patients. Measures.Utility weighted SF-12 or SF-36 measures, probable depression, and physical and mental health-related quality of life scores. Results.Several utility-weighted measures showed increases in utility values for patients in one of the interventions, relative to usual care, that paralleled the improved health effects for depression and emotional well being. However, QALY gains were small. Directly elicited utility values showed a paradoxical result of lower utility during the first year of the study for intervention patients relative to controls. Conclusions.The results raise concerns about the use of direct single-item utility measures or utility measures derived from generic health status measures in effectiveness studies for depression. Choice of measure may lead to different conclusions about the benefit and CE of treatment. Utility measures that capture the mental health and non-health outcomes associated with treatment for depression are needed.
Not all roads lead to Rome—a review of quality of life measurement in adults with diabetes

Aims Quality of life (QoL) is recognized widely as an important health outcome in diabetes, where the burden of self‐management places great demands on the individual. However, the concept of QoL remains ambiguous and poorly defined. The aim of our review is to clarify the measurement of QoL in terms of conceptualization, terminology and psychometric properties, to review the instruments that have been used most frequently to assess QoL in diabetes research and make recommendations for how to select measures appropriately.
Study of ESD evaluation methods for charged device model

Through the investigation of several evaluation methods for CDM ESD, the following results have been found. 1. Although the waveforms of SCM (Small Capacitance Method: 10 pF, 0 /spl Omega/) and three commercial CDM equipments are different, the destructive voltage for dielectric failure is equivalent. SCM is an efficient and easy test method for high speed ESD evaluation. 2. It is necessary to apply a different ESD protection strategy and circuit for CDM and SCM than for HBM. 3. The destructive voltage for memory devices on the market ranges from 350 to 4000 V. Although CDM and SCM are efficient test methods for scaled semiconductor devices, there are several problems at present (for example the measurement method of the waveform and the specification of the destructive voltage).
Optimization of channel distribution over nodes in networks with fractal traffic

The problem of improving the quality of information service in telecommunication networks with fractal traffic is considered. The research aims to develop techniques providing a low probability of message loss. The problem of optimal configuration of networks with fractal traffic is formulated and solved in terms of queueing theory. To solve this problem the necessary theoretical analysis is conducted and the simulation experiments are carried out. In the article, we have stated the radically higher efficiency of a strategy of increasing the number of channels in network nodes by reference to strategies of a buffer capacity and/or channels performance increasing. The methods for determining the number of channels in nodes guarantying a given low loss probability, are developed. The telecommunication networks designers can directly use these methods. The effective method of optimal channel distribution over network nodes is provided. The application example of the developed method is given.
Prognostic significance of perioperative blood transfusions in resectable thoracic esophageal cancer

OBJECTIVE:The perioperative blood transfusions have been associated with tumor recurrence and decreased survival in various types of alimentary tract cancer. There exist, however, contradictory studies showing no relationship between blood transfusions and survival. For patients with esophageal cancer, only one report suggested that blood transfusions did not by itself decrease the chance of cure after esophagectomy.METHODS:Among 235 patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus between December 1979 and March 1998, 143 patients (60.9%) underwent esophagectomy with curative intent (RO). To exclude the effects of surgery-related postoperative complications, 14 patients who died within 90 days during the hospital stay were excluded. Thus, clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors were retrospectively investigated between patients with no or few transfusions (≤2 units) (n = 58), and much transfused patients (≥3 units) (n = 71). RESULTS:Sixty-three patients are alive and free of cancer, and 66 patients are dead. A total of 98 patients (76%) received blood transfusions, whereas 31 patients (24%) had no transfusion. The amount of blood transfused was 1 or 2 units in 27 patients (27.6%), 3 or 4 units in 33 (33.7%), 5 or 6 units in 20 (20.4%), and ≥7 units in 18 (18.4%). The 5-yr survival rate for patients with no or few transfusions was 69%, whereas that for much transfused patients was 31.7% (p < 0.0001). The much transfused patients had more prominent ulcerative tumor, longer time of operation, more estimated blood loss, and more marked blood vessel invasion than the group with no or few transfusions. The factors influencing survival rate were tumor location, Borrmann classification, size of tumor, depth of invasion, number of lymph node metastases, time of operation, amount of blood transfusions, lymph vessel invasion, and blood vessel invasion. Among those nine significant variables verified by univariate analysis, independent prognostic factors for survival determined by multivariate analysis were number of lymph node metastasis (0 or 1 vs≥2, p < 0.0001), amount of blood transfusions (≤2 units vs≥3 units, p < 0.0001), and blood vessel invasion (marked vs non-marked, p= 0.0207). CONCLUSIONS:There is an association between high amount of blood transfusions and decreased survival for patients with resectable esophageal cancer. To improve the prognosis, surgeons must be careful to reduce blood loss during esophagectomy with extensive lymph node dissection and subsequently must minimize blood transfusions.
Prevalence and co-prevalence of comorbidities in Belgian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a transversal, descriptive study

Abstract Objectives: Most patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have at least one comorbid chronic disease. These comorbidities increase disease burden and costs and may impact the selection of glucose-lowering therapies. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence and co-prevalence of comorbidities in patients with T2DM in Belgium. Methods: This was a single centre, transversal, descriptive study performed at Saint-Luc University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. T2DM patients aged >18 years presenting to the outpatient diabetes clinic and regularly followed (≥1 year) between July 2011 and 2016 were included in the database. Information on descriptive characteristics was collected and several comorbidities were assessed. Results: Overall, 778 patients were included. The median age was 68 years. The most frequently observed comorbidities were hypertension (85.5%), metabolic syndrome (MetS; 84.6%) and non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis (71.7%). 78.5% of the T2DM patients had ≥4 comorbidities. The highest co-prevalence of comorbidities was the combination of MetS and hypertension (75.8%), MetS and overweight (60.5%), and hypertension and overweight (56.6%). Conclusion: The observed prevalence and co-prevalence of comorbidities in T2DM Belgian patients was high, with 95.0% patients having at least two comorbid conditions.