Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
META-ANALYSIS Statins and glycaemic control in individuals with diabetes : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims/hypotheses Current evidence indicates that statins increase the risk of incident diabetes; however, the relationship between statins and glycaemic control in people with established diabetes has not been well characterised. To address this question, we conducted a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of statins in patients with diabetes for whom there was available data on glycaemic control. Methods We identified studies published between January 1970 and November 2013 by searching electronic databases and reference lists. We included RCTs in which the intervention group received statins and the control group received placebo or standard treatment, with >200 participants enrolled, with the intervention lasting >12 weeks and with preand post-intervention HbA1c reported. We combined studyspecific estimates using random-effects model meta-analysis. Results In a pooled analysis of nine trials involving 9,696 participants (4,980 statin, 4,716 control) and an average follow-up of 3.6 years, the mean HbA1c of participants randomised to statins was higher than those randomised to the control group: mean difference (95%CI) was 0.12% (0.04, 0.20) or 1.3 mmol/mol (0.4, 2.2); p=0.003. There was moderate heterogeneity across the studies (I=54%, p=0.014) not explained by available study-level characteristics. This review was limited by the small number of studies, available data on only three statins and sparse reporting on changes in use of glucose-lowering medications. Conclusions/interpretation Statin treatment is associated with a modest increase in HbA1c in patients with diabetes.
Current Status of Metal Stents for Malignant Gastro-Duodenal Obstruction

Metal stent insertion to relieve malignant gastroduodenal obstruction is an effective alternative to surgery, but there are some problems associated with existing metal stents for malignant gastroduodenal obstruction. Common complications of covered and uncovered stents are migration and obstruction, respectively. To date, there are several practice-improved stents, such as partially covered, double-layer, three-layer, and individualized stents designed according to the shape and size of the Gastric Outlet Obstruction (GOO). Choosing the most appropriate type of stent is arduous and should be done mainly in relation to the morphological aspects of the stricture. In general, the stent is implanted by a Through-The-Endoscope (TTS) method, but certain types of stent can only be implanted by a peroral route. After adequate training, endoscopic gastroduodenal stent insertion is a reproducible, simple, safe, and costeffective procedure, with high technical and clinical success rates.
Increase in Myopia Prevalence in Clinic-Based Populations Across a Century

Purpose The study’s aim was to report prevalence estimates and age-related trends in refractive error in a clinic-based series and compare them to results from studies of a similar nature conducted since 1892. Methods Refractive error, patient age, and sex were collected from the files of all patients seen at the University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science clinic between January 2007 and January 2008. Patients were categorized as having myopia (<−0.5D mean ocular refraction [MOR]), hyperopia (>0.5D MOR), emmetropia, astigmatism (<−0.5D), and/or anisometropia (>1.0D difference between eyes). The prevalence of all refractive components was determined overall and in 1- and 5-year age groups, and then compared to data from older clinic-based studies. Refractive trends over time were noted. The prevalence of myopia and hyperopia were compared to older studies. Results The lowest prevalence of myopia was 5% at 0 to 5 years of age, after which it increased to 72% at 20 to 30 years of age and then decreased to 22% in patients older than 70 years. A myopic peak occurred at 24 years of age. The prevalence of hyperopia followed opposite trends with a minimum prevalence of 6% at 25 to 30 years of age. Peaks in emmetropia prevalence were 55% at 5 to 10 years of age and 37% at 45 to 50 years of age. The prevalence of astigmatism and anisometropia increased with age. The Waterloo Eye Study showed a higher prevalence of myopia across all ages compared to the older studies with a peak prevalence of 72% compared to 21% in the oldest (Herrnheiser) study from 1892. Conclusions In the last 100 years, there appears to have been a myopic shift in clinic-based populations and myopia prevalence appears to follow a predictable pattern with age.
Catheter-related upper extremity deep venous thrombosis in cancer patients: a prospective study based on Doppler US.

PURPOSE This prospective study extending for more than 3 years had two objectives: (a) to use Doppler ultrasonography (US) to estimate the incidence of asymptomatic catheter-related upper extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in a large population and (b) to study the effect of the catheter position as an individual risk factor for catheter-related DVT. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between October 1995 and June 1998, a total of 145 patients who had oropharyngeal tract cancer and who were fitted with the same totally implantable central venous catheters (CVCs) were included in the study. Follow-up included (a) estimation of the position of each catheter tip on a chest radiograph obtained immediately after surgery and (b) regular monthly Doppler US screening for catheter-related DVT. RESULTS Seventeen patients developed catheter-related DVT; 13 of them were asymptomatic. The mean interval between CVC implantation and detection of thrombosis was 42.2 days. Correct positioning of the distal catheter tip was associated with a significantly lower rate of catheter-related DVT. Only five of 87 patients with a correctly positioned distal catheter tip (ie, either in the superior vena cava or at the junction between the right atrium and the superior vena cava) developed thrombosis, compared with 12 of 26 patients with a misplaced catheter (P <.001). The side on which the CVC was implanted did not influence the catheter-related DVT rate. CONCLUSION The rate of asymptomatic catheter-related DVT is high and could be lowered with correct initial CVC positioning.
Evolution of allometries in the worker caste of Dorylus army ants

The worker caste of polymorphic ant species consists of individuals of strikingly different morphologies. Most studies of polymorphic species have focused on intracolonial allometries and their association with division of labour and task performance of workers of different physical subcastes. However, the factors driving the evolution of these allometries are poorly understood. Here, we analyse the importance of life-style (hypogaeic vs intermediate vs epigaeic) as a factor in the evolution of allometries of functionally important body traits in Dorylus army ants in the context of an evolutionary scenario according to which a hypogaeic life-style is the ancestral state in this group. To this end, we conducted a detailed comparative analysis of the allometries of nine characters for ten species belonging to all six currently recognized subgenera and showing different life-styles. Eight of the nine traits under consideration show a clear increase in relative size from hypogaeic to intermediate to epigaeic life-style. These results strongly suggest that shifts in ecological niche are linked with adaptations in these traits. The degree of overall differentiation among species is more pronounced in larger than in smaller workers. The pattern of division of labour in the epigaeic D. molestus indicates that two factors that may have caused this phenomenon are new food habits and an increased need for colony defence.
Linear and nonlinear optical properties of nano-porous gold film

We investigate optical response of nano-porous gold (NPG) in the visible frequencies. NPG film is obtained from 50:50 alloy of gold and silver by applying concentrated nitric acid. Reflectivity reduces significantly in the red range of the spectrum, which allows localized surface plasmon excitation without electronic interband transition. Possibility of photorectification upon surface plasmon excitation is discussed.
Automated Image Captioning Using Nearest-Neighbors Approach Driven by Top-Object Detections

The significant performance gains in deep learning coupled with the exponential growth of image and video data on the Internet have resulted in the recent emergence of automated image captioning systems. Two broad paradigms have emerged in automated image captioning, i.e., generative model-based approaches and retrieval-based approaches. Although generative model-based approaches that use the recurrent neural network (RNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) have seen tremendous success in recent years, there are situations in automated image captioning for which generative model-based approaches may not be suitable and retrieval-based approaches may be more appropriate. However, retrieval-based approaches are known to suffer from a computational bottleneck with increasing size of the image/video database. With an aim to address the computational bottleneck and speed up the retrieval process, we propose an automated image captioning scheme that is driven by top-object detections. We surmise that by detecting the top objects in an image, we can prune the search space significantly and thereby greatly reduce the time for caption retrieval. Our experimental results show that the time for image caption retrieval can be reduced without suffering any loss in accuracy.
Preliminary design of wideband microwave amplifier using SMT package SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor

Microwave and RP transistors are used as amplifiers, oscillators, switches, mixers and active filters. Most of this applications use either Si BJT or GaAs FET. In today's high frequency application (> 10 GHz), most amplifiers use GaAs FET as it can go well beyond 10 GHz. However GaAs FET cost is higher compared to Si BJT. New Si BJT using compound material, SiGe HBT extends the frequency range of normal Si based BJT to higher frequency. In this work, surface mount device (SMD) SiGe HBT from Infineon is used in the design of wideband microwave amplifier (WMA). The amplifier is expected to exhibit wide bandwidth and up to 10 GHz. ADS simulator is used to simulate the preliminary design and optimize layout. Electrical results in the form of gain, isolation and input and output impedance match are discussed. An optimized layout of WMA is proposed
Four-port optical switch for photonic network-on-chip

We demonstrate a four-port optical switch for the photonic network-on-chip architecture, which contains four silicon Mach-Zehnder optical switch elements tuned by the plasma dispersion effect. The optical signal-to-noise ratio of the device is over 10.0 dB in the wavelength range from 1525 nm to 1565 nm. Its 10%–90% rise time and fall time are 2 ns.
Data protection and data security concept for medical applications in a grid computing environment

This thesis is addressing the authorization problem in healthgrid environments, which is still an obstacle in front of using grid computing for medical applications. Current grid authorization systems depend on the traditional access control approaches, in which users are granted static rights. These approaches were designed for closed systems, i.e. the computing system itself enforces the security policy. Grid computing is characterized as open computing system, which means there exist different authorities and multiple agents participating in the authorization process. Therefore, the adoption of classical access control models in a grid computing environment is not adequate. In this work, access control in grid computing is tackled from a new perspective. The authorization process is handled as a multi-player game and a new authorization model the Grid Usage Control (G-UCON) is developed as a solution outline for a suitable access control model for grid computing environments. G-UCON utilizes the notions of game theory, multi-agent systems, and open systems in the design of a new access control model. These are the minimal requirements for a basis access/usage control model for a grid computing environment. The Alternating-time Temporal Logic is used to write the G-UCON specifications because it is more suitable to capture the specifications of games over open systems. Various examples at the end of this work demonstrate how G-UCON can capture different complex situations which appear in healthgrid environments. Using G-UCON, special authorization requirements in the health applications can be modeled. Examples are: disclosure risk control and maintaining k-anonymity. Currently, there is no tool available which can validate the special grid delegation mechanism. Therefore, a formal validation of G-UCON is left for future work. Nevertheless, it is a common practice to supply new authorization models with examples until a formal validation and/or an implementation appears which normally happens some years later.
Choroid Plexus Tumors in Children: Significance of Stromal Invasion

OBJECTIVEA group of choroid plexus tumors fit the cellular criteria for choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) except for invasion into the adjacent parenchyma, with associated loss of the normal villus architecture at the site of invasion. These tumors retain a benign cellular appearance. In the existing literature, it is unclear whether these tumors are classified as choroid plexus carcinomas or as CPPs. In our experience, although evidence of invasion is present, these tumors tend to exhibit benign behavior. We suggest that stromal invasion of this type remains consistent with a benign clinical course, although surgical results may demonstrate higher morbidity rates, given the invasive nature of the tumors. The failure to classify these tumors as CPPs may explain some of the variability in outcomes reported for various studies. METHODSTo study this question, clinical and histological data for children diagnosed with CPPs (either with or without stromal invasion) between 1985 and 1995 were examined. Only cases with pre- and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging data were included in the series. RESULTSA total of 12 patients with CPPs were identified, with 4 tumors being notable for stromal invasion. After gross total tumor removal, none of the eight children with CPPs received adjuvant therapy at our institution; all are alive without evidence of tumor recurrence after surgical excision (mean, 108 mo). Of the four patients with stromal invasion, three underwent gross total resection. The one patient who underwent subtotal resection received chemotherapy at another facility. All four of these patients are alive, after a mean of 100 months of follow-up monitoring. CONCLUSIONIt is recommended that CPPs with a benign cellular appearance but with evidence of local parenchymal invasion and loss of the normal villus architecture at the site of invasion be classified as CPPs. Patients with these tumors respond to surgical therapy alone, without the need for adjuvant treatment.
The nucleocapsid of the lipid-containing double-stranded RNA bacteriophage phi 6 contains a protein skeleton consisting of a single polypeptide species

The nucleocapsid of the enveloped double-stranded RNA bacteriophage phi 6 was isolated by extraction with the nonionic detergent Triton X-114 and subjected to disruption analysis with chelating and protein-denaturing agents. The subnucleocapsid particles were separated in rate-zonal sucrose gradients, and their ultrastructure and protein composition were analyzed. The role of divalent cations in the nucleocapsid structure was studied by using a precipitation assay of the isolated nucleocapsid proteins. The phi 6 nucleocapsid had a cagelike skeleton consisting of a single polypeptide species (P1). Two other proteins (P2 and P4) were associated with the P1 cage. These three early proteins were previously known to be involved in the RNA synthesis machinery of the virus. The stability of the nucleocapsid surface lattice consisting of protein P8 was dependent on Ca2+ ions.
Thyroidal uptake and turnover of the pertechnetate ion in normal and hyperthyroid subjects.

ABSTRACT The thyroid uptake and plasma activity of 99mTc have been followed for times up to 6 hr after intravenous administration of 1 me of 99mTc. The 20-min thyroid uptake of pertechnetate was found to discriminate between euthyroid and hyperthyroid subjects. When the plasma clearance of pertechnetate was calculated in the same way as the plasma clearance of radioiodide, this clearance was found to decrease rapidly with time due to return of pertechnetate from the intrathyroidal pool. An attempt to analyze the kinetic data on the basis of a 2-compartment model was successful, suggesting that no significant quantities of pertechnetate are organically bound in the thyroid. From this analysis the unidirectional clearance, the intrathyroidal turnover rate and the intrathyroidal space were calculated. Both the unidirectional clearance and the intrathyroidal space were markedly different in euthyroid and hyperthyroid subjects. The intrathyroidal turnover rate, however, was similar in euthyroid and hyperthyroi.
Tapered Undercut-Etching-Active-Region for Integrating Spot-Size Converter and Electroabsorption Modulator

A new structure integrating traveling-wave electroabsorption modulator (TWEAM) with optical spot-size converter (SSC) was proposed. The active waveguide was formed by using selectively undercut-wet-etching-active-region (UEAR) method, which can avoid the submicron photolithography of tapered active waveguide in the SSC region. About 5 dB improvement in optical insertion loss is measured, resulting from small 5.7deg (horizontal)x 8.8deg (vertical) beam divergence angles and large plusmn 2.9 mum (horizontal) x plusmn2.2 mum (vertical) 1 dB alignment tolerances from the SSC facet. 18 GHz of -3 dB bandwidth and modulation efficiency of 20 dB/V can be obtained in this device.
Entry length requirements for direct simulations of turbulent boundary layers

This report describes the results of a relatively large-scale direct simulation of a turbulent boundary layer using a new simulation code, with emphasis on the extent of the contamination of the flowfield due to the inflow boundary conditions. The assumption is that the goal of the simulation is to explore the physics of the flow, about which it is desirable to make as few assumptions as possible. Conclusions for cases in which turbulence itself is not the primary concern may differ from the present ones. The flow geometry is kept simple; a parallelepiped over a flat wall, with an upper boundary far enough into the freestream to model flow at infinity. Transpiration velocities over that boundary can be manipulated to create arbitrary pressure distributions, and they are chosen to keep the pressure gradient as low as possible. Turbulent boundary layers have been subjects of interest from the first days of fluid mechanics, especially the canonical case with zero pressure gradient. As a consequence, they were some of the first flows to be simulated (Spalart 1988; Spalart & Watmuff 1993), but the Reynolds numbers of those simulations have increased more slowly than for streamwise-homogeneous flows, such as in the channels (Kim et al. 1987; Hoyas & Jiménez 2006). Part of the reason is that boundary layers are harder to compute because they are inhomogeneous in at least two directions, but equally important is that they require inflow boundary conditions. In transitional cases this is relatively straightforward because the inflow is laminar, but even there the question of how to seed the perturbations has to be considered. Transition in boundary layers is typically subcritical, and its details depend on the level and character of the upstream perturbations. That is why experiments are usually tripped, and why some equivalent mechanism is needed in simulations. If the problem of transition is to be completely avoided, some way has to be devised to generate a turbulent inflow, and this non-trivial question has been the subject of a lot of work. Although the boundary layer is a spatially developing flow, attempts have often been made to reintroduce periodicity in the numerical problem, in some cases to retain spectral methods, and in others to use the outflow as a convenient source of realistic fluctuations to synthesize a turbulent inflow. The strategies that use spectral methods further subdivide into those in which the flow is expanded in terms of a slow growth plus periodic smallscale fluctuations (Spalart 1988, 1986), and those in which the outflow is damped to minimize the spectral errors due to edge discontinuities, and reintroduced at the inflow after some manipulation (Spalart & Watmuff 1993). Although Nordström et al. (1999) have shown that those “fringe” methods are accurate, and although they have been used to simulate boundary layers at relatively high Reynolds numbers (Alam & Sandham 2000; Skote & Henningson 2002; Khurajadze & Oberlack 2004), one of the effects of the damping is that the incoming flow is typically almost laminar, and that increasing the
MRI diagnosis of carpal boss and comparison with radiography

Background A carpal boss is a potentially painful bony mass in the region of the second or third carpometacarpal joint. The combination of clinical examination and radiography is usually sufficient for the diagnosis. Purpose To determine whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination of the quadrangular joint can assist the diagnosis of persistent pain near a carpal boss. Material and Methods Fifty-seven patients with a carpal boss were retrospectively reviewed using MRI and conventional radiographs and compared to an asymptomatic control group. Results MRI demonstrated a variable morphology and a variety of bone and soft tissue abnormalities associated with carpal boss. Bone marrow edema around the quadrangular joint shows a significant correlation (Fisher's exact test: P < 0.001) and a positive correlation (Pearson's test r = 0.632, significant at the 0.01 level [two-tailed]) with a painful carpal boss. Conclusion MRI offers detailed examination of bone and soft tissue abnormalities associated with a carpal boss. Local bone marrow edema strongly correlates with a painful carpal boss.
Fast Algorithms and Efficient GPU Implementations for the Radon Transform and the Back-Projection Operator Represented as Convolution Operators

The Radon transform and its adjoint, the back-projection operator, can both be expressed as convolutions in log-polar coordinates. Hence, fast algorithms for the application of these operators can be constructed by using the FFT, if data is resampled at log-polar coordinates. Radon data is typically measured on an equally spaced grid in polar coordinates, and reconstructions are represented (as images) in Cartesian coordinates. Therefore, in addition to FFT, several steps of interpolation have to be conducted in order to apply the Radon transform and the back-projection operator by means of convolutions. However, in comparison to the interpolation conducted in Fourier-based gridding methods, the interpolation performed in the Radon and image domains will typically deal with functions that are substantially less oscillatory. Reasonable reconstruction results can thus be expected using interpolation schemes of moderate order. The approach also provides better control over the artifacts that can appear due t.