Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prospective randomized study of a new method of providing postoperative pain relief following femoropopliteal bypass

The extensive incision required for femoropopliteal bypass using saphenous vein causes significant postoperative pain, principally within the distribution of the cutaneous branches of the femoral nerve. This prospective randomized study investigated the efficacy of continuous postoperative femoral nerve block in reducing both pain (visual analogue pain score) and the requirement for opiate analgesia. Ten patients received a femoral nerve block by infusion of 0.5 per cent bupivacaine (5 ml/h for 48 h) via an epidural catheter together with a patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) device containing morphine; a further ten patients used a PCA device alone. The median postoperative intravenous morphine requirement was significantly reduced in patients with a nerve block at 24 h (4 versus 33 mg, P< 0.01) and at 48 h (5 versus 37 mg, P< 0.01) compared with controls. Postoperative pain was effectively abolished in the former group. The addition of a nerve block to PCA provides superior pain control after femoropopliteal bypass.
Digitally-Controlled Electrical Balance Duplexer for Transmitter-Receiver Isolation in Full-Duplex Radio

This paper presents a novel digitally-controlled electrical balance duplexer (EBD) prototype capable of inband full-duplex radio communications. The developed EBD prototype works in the ISM-Band, at 2.4-2.48 GHz, and can achieve TX to RX isolation of 53 dB across an 80 MHz instantaneous bandwidth. The prototype is composed of three parts, namely coupled line hybrid junction, triple-Pi balancing impedance and antenna tuning unit (ATU) which are all realized with commercial off-the-shelf components and implemented over a two layer FR4 board. The EBD contains also a self-adaptive or self-healing digital control system enabling automatic tracking of time-varying antenna impedance characteristics, providing robustness against fast changes in the surrounding environment and against user interactions. In addition to the architecture and operating principle descriptions, we also provide actual RF measurements at 2.4 GHz ISM band with real antenna connected, demonstrating the achievable isolation levels with different bandwidths and when operating in different environmental conditions. Furthermore, isolation performance is measured when operating with different antennas and under a low-cost highly nonlinear power amplifier.
An African Growth Miracle?

Africa's recent growth performance has raised expectations of a bright economic future for the continent after decades of decline. Yet there is a genuine question about whether Africa's growth can be sustained, and if so, at what level. The balance of the evidence suggests caution on the prospects for high growth. While the region's fundamentals have improved, the payoffs to macroeconomic stability and improved governance are mainly to foster resilience and lay the groundwork for growth, rather than to generate productivity growth on their own. The traditional engines behind rapid growth, structural change and industrialization, seem to be operating at less than full power. If African countries do achieve growth rates substantially higher, they will have to do so pursuing a growth model that is different from earlier miracles based on industrialization. This might be agriculture-led or services-led growth, but it will look quite different than what we have seen before.
Event Multiple Influence Calculation and Relationship of Multiple Influence Discovery

Due to the development of web technology, the research on Internet big data become more and more popular. However, information presents polymorphism and complexity under the status of the rapid development of Internet big data. Most of the traditional methods of event influence calculation use observable data to evaluate and ignore the decay influence of event. In fact, event influence growths from the moment of event happening to the end, meanwhile, it accompanis with a certain decay. What’s more, event influence presents observable influence and decay influence on different network media. This paper proposes a new method to calculate event influence on different network media and find the relationships between observable influence and decay influence on different stages of event. Experiments show that better influence calculation will be achieved by decay algorithm based on Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and information fusion by considering interaction between observable influence and decay influence. Keywords—Internet big data; event influence; relationship; decay curve; forgetting curve
Polyploidy Enhances F1 Pollen Sterility Loci Interactions That Increase Meiosis Abnormalities and Pollen Sterility in Autotetraploid Rice1[OPEN]

Polyploidy increases the epistatic effect of F1 pollen sterility loci, leading to differential gene expression profiles and increased pollen sterility in autotetraploid rice. Intersubspecific autotetraploid rice (Oryza sativa ssp. indica × japonica) hybrids have greater biological and yield potentials than diploid rice. However, the low fertility of intersubspecific autotetraploid hybrids, which is largely caused by high pollen abortion rates, limits their commercial utility. To decipher the cytological and molecular mechanisms underlying allelic interactions in autotetraploid rice, we developed an autotetraploid rice hybrid that was heterozygous (SiSj) at F1 pollen sterility loci (Sa, Sb, and Sc) using near-isogenic lines. Cytological studies showed that the autotetraploid had higher percentages (>30%) of abnormal chromosome behavior and aberrant meiocytes (>50%) during meiosis than did the diploid rice hybrid control. Analysis of gene expression profiles revealed 1,888 genes that were differentially expressed between the autotetraploid and diploid hybrid lines at the meiotic stage, among which 889 and 999 were up- and down-regulated, respectively. Of the 999 down-regulated genes, 940 were associated with the combined effect of polyploidy and pollen sterility loci interactions (IPE). Gene Ontology enrichment analysis identified a prominent functional gene class consisting of seven genes related to photosystem I (Gene Ontology 0009522). Moreover, 55 meiosis-related or meiosis stage-specific genes were associated with IPE in autotetraploid rice, including Os02g0497500, which encodes a DNA repair-recombination protein, and Os02g0490000, which encodes a component of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. These results suggest that polyploidy enhances epistatic interactions between alleles of pollen sterility loci, thereby altering the expression profiles of important meiosis-related or meiosis stage-specific genes and resulting in high pollen sterility.
Substrate Binding Protein DppA1 of ABC Transporter DppBCDF Increases Biofilm Formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Inhibiting Pf5 Prophage Lysis

Filamentous phage impact biofilm development, stress tolerance, virulence, biofilm dispersal, and colony variants. Previously, we identified 137 Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 mutants with more than threefold enhanced and 88 mutants with more than 10-fold reduced biofilm formation by screening 5850 transposon mutants (PLoS Pathogens 5: e1000483, 2009). Here, we characterized the function of one of these 225 mutations, dppA1 (PA14_58350), in regard to biofilm formation. DppA1 is a substrate-binding protein (SBP) involved in peptide utilization via the DppBCDF ABC transporter system. We show that compared to the wild-type strain, inactivating dppA1 led to 68-fold less biofilm formation in a static model and abolished biofilm formation in flow cells. Moreover, the dppA1 mutant had a delay in swarming and produced 20-fold less small-colony variants, and both biofilm formation and swarming were complemented by producing DppA1. A whole-transcriptome analysis showed that only 10 bacteriophage Pf5 genes were significantly induced in the biofilm cells of the dppA1 mutant compared to the wild-type strain, and inactivation of dppA1 resulted in a 600-fold increase in Pf5 excision and a million-fold increase in phage production. As expected, inactivating Pf5 genes PA0720 and PA0723 increased biofilm formation substantially. Inactivation of DppA1 also reduced growth (due to cell lysis). Hence, DppA1 increases biofilm formation by repressing Pf5 prophage.
Asynchronism for iterative algorithms in a global computing environment

The subject of this paper is to show the very high power of asynchronism for iterative algorithms in the context of global computing, that is to say, with machines scattered all around the world. The question is whether or not asynchronism helps to reduce the communication penalty and the overall computation time of a given parallel algorithm. The asynchronous programming model is applied to a given problem implemented with a multi-threaded environment and tested over two kinds of clusters of workstations; a homogeneous local cluster and a heterogeneous non-local one. The main features of this programming model are exhibited and the high efficiency and interest of such algorithms is pointed out.
Development of a new microparticle‐enhanced turbidimetric assay for C‐reactive protein with superior features in analytical sensitivity and dynamic range

Novel assay techniques were applied to a newly developed microparticle‐based assay for C‐reactive protein (CRP). By using two different sized microparticles covalently coated with two monoclonal antibodies of different reactivity, high analytical sensitivity and a high upper measuring limit could be simultaneously attained, resulting in a remarkably wide dynamic range. This range was further increased by calculating the signal (reaction rate) optimally with a new software capability of COBAS® INTEGRA, a clinical chemistry analyzer. The assay showed high precision between 2 mg/l and 160 mg/l with use of only 2.5 μl specimen. The detection limit was estimated as 0.3 mg/l CRP. The assay was four to eight times more sensitive and precise than existing turbidimetric or nephelometric assays with comparable upper measuring limits. The assay also showed good linearity and correlated well with commercial assays. This new microparticle‐based CRP assay provides the accuracy and precision that are required to determine CRP at low concentrations where new clinical implications such as prognosis of cardiovascular diseases are envisaged. The assay's wide dynamic range will additionally lead to a reduction in the number of repeated analyses, thus improving the efficiency of CRP determinations in clinical laboratories. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 12:137–144, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The optimization of phased array ultrasonic probes for inspecting assembled axle

The interference fit in process of assembling, the interaction between wheel and axle in process of running and the fretting damage make the press-fit part of axle generate fatigue flaw more easily than other parts of axle. When inspecting the press-fit part of assembled axle, the received echoes are very complex, which easily leading to low SNR value and wrong judgment or missing. In view of this universal phenomenon, this paper introduces two kinds of phased array probes for improving inspection result of press-fit part of axle, comparing with the probes used in workshop at present, these two probes has higher performance in inspecting press-fit part and long acoustic path part of axle.
Dynamic marketing capabilities and radical innovation commercialisation

Innovation research tends to deem marketing management does not occupy salient place of strategic significance in innovation policy formulation. More recently, strategic marketing scholars have begun to highlight marketing capabilities as an integral part to general dynamic capabilities to facilitate radical innovation commercialisation. However, comprehensive frameworks are still required in substantiating the strategic conduciveness of specific dynamic marketing capabilities to radical innovation commercialisation in the international technology–intensive sector. The current study develops and validates the radical innovation commercialisation model that reconfigures relevant theoretical conceptualisations and empirical verifications to narrow this gap. As the model reveals, innovative corporate culture drives radical innovation commercialisation of international technology–intensive firms directly as well as through the mediation of dynamic marketing capabilities. Most noteworthy, the mediated impact is proven almost equivalent to the direct impact, illustrative of the strategic role of dynamic marketing capabilities in facilitating radical innovation commercialisation for international technology–intensive firms.
Variation in Public Reporting of Central Line–Associated Bloodstream Infections by State

Central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are common, costly, and largely preventable. Consumers who want high-quality care should have access to CLABSI rates to make health care decisions. The authors searched state health department Web sites for publicly available CLABSI data. Fourteen states, all with mandatory CLABSI monitoring laws, had publicly available data. The authors identified significant variation in the presentation of infection rates, methods of risk adjustment, locations and care settings reported, time span of data collection, and time lag to reporting. The wide variation in availability and content of information illustrates the need for standardized CLABSI monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
Olfactory and amygdalar structures of the chicken ventral pallium based on the combinatorial expression patterns of LIM and other developmental regulatory genes

We compared the combinatorial expression patterns of several LIM domain‐containing regulatory genes in the ventrolateral pallium of mouse and chicken, in order to identify the homologues of the ventral pallial amygdala and other olfactory structures in birds. Lmo3, Lmo4, Lhx2, and Lhx9 showed comparable expression patterns in the telencephalon of mouse and chicken, which allowed distinction of the ventrolateral pallium and, particularly, the ventral pallial amygdala and entorhinal cortex. Lmo3 was expressed in most of the ventrolateral pallium in both species, including, in chicken, the piriform cortex and dorsal ventricular ridge (mesopallium, nidopallium, and arcopallium) and, in mouse, the piriform cortex, most of the claustral complex, and the pallial amygdala. Lhx9 was differentially expressed in the ventral pallium, where it was restricted to its rostral (olfactory bulb) and caudal (amygdalar and entorhinal) poles. In the caudal pole, expression of Lhx9 overlapped that of its paralog Lhx2. According to these expression patterns, the chicken ventral pallial amygdala appears to include the caudal dorsolateral pallium, the caudal nidopallium, and the whole arcopallium, and each one relates to a distinct ventricular sector. Finally, the combinatorial expression patterns of Lmo3, Lhx9, and Lmo4 distinguished four distinct subdivisions in the superficial, olfactorecipient area of the chicken ventral pallium, which appear comparable to the piriform, entorhinal, amygdalopiriform, and amygdalar cortices of mammals. The results are discussed in the context of the two existing, opposite views on the homology of the dorsal ventricular ridge of sauropsids and in terms of the evolution of pallial derivatives. J. Comp. Neurol. 516:166–186, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mid-IR fiber lasers based on molecular gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Lasing from HCN gas contained in HC-PCF is observed for the first time. Mid-IR pulses (3.15 and 3.09 μm) were generated by optically pumping at 1.54 μm. A <sup>12</sup>C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>-filled gas laser is also studied quantitatively.
Building autonomic systems using collaborative reinforcement learning

This paper presents Collaborative Reinforcement Learning (CRL), a coordination model for online system optimization in decentralized multi-agent systems. In CRL system optimization problems are represented as a set of discrete optimization problems, each of whose solution cost is minimized by model-based reinforcement learning agents collaborating on their solution. CRL systems can be built to provide autonomic behaviours such as optimizing system performance in an unpredictable environment and adaptation to partial failures. We evaluate CRL using an ad hoc routing protocol that optimizes system routing performance in an unpredictable network environment.
Decisions to treat critically ill patients: a comparison of social versus medical considerations.

A questionnaire survey shows that physicians in four medical specialties evaluate chronically and terminally ill patients not only in terms of the physiological aspects of illness but also in terms of the extent to which they are capable of interacting with others. A patient's potential capacity to perform his social roles depends upon his 'salvageability,'' i.e., the likelihood that he will be able to resume his roles and the degree of irreversible physical or mental damage which indicates his capacity for resuming them. The priorities in terms of treatment are the following: (I) salvageable patients with physical damage; (2) salvageable patients with mental damage and unsalvageable patients with physical damage; (3) unsalvageable patients with mental damage. Within these categories variables such as patient attitude, family attitude, age, and social class, which define the social environment of the patient, also influence the physician's decision to treat him. Studies of hospital records of cases in two of the specialties were consistent with the survey findings. The findings suggest that there is a disparity between the traditional ethic concerning the treatment of such patients and the actual behavior of many physicians. As a solution to the inconsistencies between ideal and actual behavior, the development of medical guidelines for the withdrawal of treatment with respect to certain specifically defined conditions is recommended. In recent years, the subject of death and dying has become increasingly popular in the mass media. It appears that death is no longer, as it was once described (Lester, 1967), a matter of indifference to the average person. Numerous popular articles describe the plight of families facing the dilemmas posed by hospitalization of dying relatives. The number of courses on dying and death offered to college students has multiplied. At the same time, there has been an increase in interest in this subject among physicians and social scientists who have produced a steady stream of articles and books. What are the reasons for the surge of interest in this topic? One
A Comparison of the Influences of Verbal-Successive and Spatial-Simultaneous Factors on Achieving Readers in Fourth and Fifth Grade

The concepts of spatial-simultaneous and verbal-successive processing are explored, and their relevance to reading quantified. In simultaneous processing, perceived stimuli are totally surveyable or globally available at one point in time, whereas in successive processing information is presented consecutively in serial order as in speech. Comparison of the two systems of processing makes it possible to distinguish the reader with the ability to convert the consecutive presentation of elements of incoming information into a new quality of simultaneous perceptibility from one who may have a good understanding of the meaning of individual words but not grasp the meaning of the thought as a whole. The results of this investigation confirm previous studies that in grades 4 and 5 both forms of processing, spatial and verbal, are important in normally achieving children. The relative influence of the two systems at different ages and achievement levels, as well as implications for training, is discussed.
Dynamic Asset Allocation and Consumption Choice in Incomplete Markets

We study the optimal investment and consumption problem of a CRRA investor when the drift and volatility of the stock are driven by a correlated factor. The myopic and non-myopic components of the optimal portfolio process are characterised in terms of the market price of traded and non-traded risk of the minimax martingale measure. We find that the optimal policies depend crucially on the nature of the agent, aggressive versus conservative, and the market incompleteness, improving versus deteriorating investment opportunities. Furthermore, we show that the original problem cannot be decomposed into a pure consumption and a pure terminal wealth problem, unless the market is complete.
Barriers to palliative care research for emergency department patients with advanced cancer.

BACKGROUND Patients with advanced cancer often visit the emergency department (ED). Little is known about their willingness or ability to engage in palliative care research, although enrollment in clinical trials of other seriously ill ED patientsthose with stroke, for examplehas been shown to be feasible. OBJECTIVE To identify barriers to the enrollment of ED patients with advanced cancer in palliative care research. METHODS We prospectively tracked factors that affected patient accrual into a trial of palliative care for adults with metastatic solid tumors at an urban, academic ED. Research staff screened the electronic medical records for patients admitted to the hospital with metastatic solid tumors 8-12 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The ED attending of record and the patient's medical oncologist had to agree before research staff invited the patient to participate. Informed consent was obtained at the bedside in the ED, and patients were offered a $20 incentive to participate. RESULTS Attempts were made to enroll 150 eligible patients in the study, and 73 were enrolled (49% enrollment rate). Barriers to enrollment for the 77 patients who did not participate were deduced from the field notes and placed into the following categories: patient refusal (n = 38, 49%), diagnostic uncertainty regarding cancer stage (n = 11, 14%), symptom burden (n = 9, 12%), family refusal (n = 7, 9%), physician refusal (n = 7, 9%), and/or patient unaware of illness or stage (n = 5, 7%). LIMITATIONS The findings are descriptive and do not test predetermined hypotheses. CONCLUSION Patient refusal, symptom burden, and diagnostic disparities are common barriers encountered when recruiting ED patients with advanced cancer. Despite the barriers, recruitment was feasible for such ED patients. FUNDING/SPONSOR This study was funded by a Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society (Dr Grudzen), a Medical Student Training in Aging Research Grant from the American Federation on Aging (Mr Kandarian), and by a Mid- Career Investigator Award in Patient Oriented Research (K24 AG022345) from the National Institute on Aging (Dr Morrison).
Orthogonal wave propagation of epileptiform activity in the planar mouse hippocampus in vitro

Purpose: In vitro brain preparations have been used extensively to study the generation and propagation of epileptiform activity. Transverse and longitudinal slices of the rodent hippocampus have revealed various patterns of propagation. Yet intact connections between the transverse and longitudinal pathways should generate orthogonal (both transverse and longitudinal) propagation of seizures involving the entire hippocampus. This study utilizes the planar unfolded mouse hippocampus preparation to reveal simultaneous orthogonal epileptiform propagation and to test a method of arresting propagation.