Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comorbidity as a Predictor of Stage of Illness for Patients With Breast Cancer

Objective:The purpose of this research was to determine whether comorbidity affects the stage at which breast cancer is diagnosed. Methods:Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was merged with Medicare claims for 17,468 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1993 to 1995. Results:Women with cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal disease, and nonmalignant benign breast disease had a 13%, 7%, 14%, and 24% lower odds, respectively, of being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Women with diabetes, other endocrine disorders, psychiatric disorders, or hematologic disorders increased the odds of a late-stage diagnosis by 19%, 11%, 20%, and 19% respectively. Mammography screening and contact with the medical care system decreased the odds of late-stage diagnosis. Discussion:Four hypotheses are suggested to explain this link between comorbid illness and stage at diagnosis: (1) the “surveillance” hypothesis, (2) the “physiological” hypothesis, (3) the “competing demand” hypothesis, and (4) the “death from other causes” hypothesis. Conclusions:Comorbidity may complicate the diagnostic decision-making process for breast cancer. The results suggest that contact with the medical care system improves the odds of early-stage diagnosis. Thus, barriers to access for people with chronic conditions may exacerbate those chronic conditions and increase the odds of late-stage breast cancer.
Family satisfaction with critical care: measurements and messages

Purpose of reviewFamily satisfaction in the ICU reflects the extent to which perceived needs and expectations of family members of critically ill patients are met by healthcare professionals. Here, we present recently developed tools to assess family satisfaction, with a special focus on their psychometric properties. Assessing family satisfaction, however, is not of much use if it is not followed by interpretation of the results and, if needed, consecutive measures to improve care of the patients and their families, or improvement in communication and decision-making. Accordingly, this review will outline recent findings in this field. Finally, possible areas of future research are addressed. Recent findingsTo assess family satisfaction in the ICU, several domains deserve attention. They include, among others, care of the patient, counseling and emotional support of family members, information and decision-making. Overall, communication between physicians or nurses and members of the family remains a key topic, and there are many opportunities to improve. They include not only communication style, timing and appropriate wording but also, for example, assessments to see if information was adequately received and also understood. Whether unfulfilled needs of individual members of the family or of the family as a social system result in negative long-term sequels remains an open question. SummaryAssessing and analyzing family satisfaction in the ICU ultimately will support healthcare professionals in their continuing effort to improve care of critically ill patients and their families.
Thermal insulation in malnourished Jamaican children.

Brooke, 0. G. (1973). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 48, 901. Thermal insulation in malnourished Jamaican children. The mean summed skinfold at 6 sites in 20 malnourished Jamaican children was 24 5 mm on admission to hospital and 49 8 mm on discharge. Marasmic children initially had thinner skinfolds than children with oedematous malnutrition, and they had a highly significant reduction in total specific thermal insulation. Children with oedema had no such reduction in insulation. During their first week in hospital there was a significant positive correlation between nocturnal mean rectal temperature in the malnourished children and their skinfold thickness and specific thermal insulation. Similar correlations for daytime rectal temperature were not statistically significant. We conclude that loss of thermal insulation may be of importance in the genesis of hypothermia in the sleeping malnourished child, whose posture and inactivity favour a negative heat balance.
A Combinatorial Limit to the Computing Power of VLSI Circuits

We introduce a property of Boolean functions, called transitivity which consists of integer, polynomial, and matrix products as well as of many interesting related computational problems. We show that the area of any circuit computing a transitive function grows quadratically with the circuit's maximum data rate, expressed in bits/S. This result provides a precise analytic expression of an area-time tradeoff for a wide class of VLSI circuits. Furthermore (as shown elsewhere), this tradeoff is achievable. We have thus matching (to within a constant multiplicative factor) upper and lower complexity bounds for the three above products, in the VLSI circuits computational model.
Aural rehabilitation programs for hearing aid users

Many hearing aid users experience substantial communication difficulties that may affect their participation in daily life situations negatively. This experience can be addressed using follow-up rehabilitation programs, yet the overall availability of such programs in general clinical practice (GCP) is low. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate, explore, and clinically apply aural rehabilitation (AR) programs administered from a remote location using randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In Papers I and II, each RCT evaluated programs for hearing aid users that were supported via telephone and/or the internet and professionally guided by an audiologist. The effectiveness of the programs was evaluated using a variety of outcome measures, and the results in an intervention group were compared with the results in a control group in each paper. Both RCTs were clinically applied. The process of implementing one of these RCTs in GCP is discussed in Paper III. Additionally, participants’ views of participating in an internetbased AR program for hearing aid users were explored in Paper IV using a qualitative
Use of Topical Bevacizumab for Conjunctival Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Purpose: To report our experience in the treatment of intraepithelial neoplasia of the conjunctiva using topical bevacizumab. Methods: Ten eyes of 10 patients with conjunctival neoplasia received 25 mg/mL bevacizumab topically. Changes in the lesions were documented weekly using digital photography. After topical treatment, excisional biopsy was performed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 60.5 ± 12 (33–77) years. The mean duration of topical treatment was 7.8 ± 1.3 (5–14) weeks. The size and vascularity of the tumors reduced weekly. All patients underwent excisional biopsy, cryotherapy, and amnion membrane transplantation. The histopathologic diagnosis of the lesions was carcinoma in situ. No recurrence was observed during the follow-up of patients for 6 months. Conclusions: Topical bevacizumab is an effective treatment to reduce the tumor size before surgery and may be a good alternative for adjuvant therapy of conjunctival neoplasms.
A novel logic locking technique for hardware security

Due to globalization of IC, hardware is defenseless to new sorts of assaults, for example, counterfeiting, figuring out and IP piracy. Logic locking technique is used for the hardware security. Logic locking conceals the functionality and implementation of a design by inserting additional gates into the original design. The gates inserted for the locking are called key-gates. To display its correct functionality (i.e. produces correct outputs), valid key has to be provided to the locked design. Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG) is utilized to randomly generate the sequence of key values. The PRNG is also connected with the input to randomly generate the input values for automatic testing (BIST testing). This approach increases security level and hence applied in a cryptographic algorithm. Montgomery algorithm is the cryptographic algorithm which will be tested by the logic locking technique.
Effect of Propranolol on Naming in Chronic Broca's Aphasia with Anomia

Previous research suggests that the noradrenergic system modulates flexibility of access to the lexical-semantic network, with propranolol benefiting normal subjects in lexical-semantic problem solving tasks. Patients with Broca's aphasia with anomia have impaired ability to access appropriate verbal output for a given visual stimulus in a naming task. Therefore, we tested naming in a pilot study of chronic Broca's aphasia patients with anomia after propranolol and after placebo in a double-blinded crossover manner. Naming was better after propranolol than after placebo, suggesting a potential benefit from propranolol in chronic Broca's aphasia with anomia. Larger follow-up studies are necessary to further investigate this effect.
Direct and Non-Direct Measurement Techniques for Analysis of Skin Surface Topography

Estimation of skin smoothness is of ever-increasing interest especially in the field of cosmetic research. There are some established methods for assessing skin smoothness, e.g. optical and mechanical profilometry, but the presentation of recently developed new methods reflects the demand for alternatives which are more precise and practical. For fundamental research on ultrastructure of the stratum corneum surface scanning electron microscopy is a suitable method. A direct method is the surface evaluation of living skin, which is based on an optical system in a CCD camera measuring four parameters of roughness, scaling, smoothing and wrinkling. A similar but non-direct method is optical profilometry using skin replicas. Laser profilometry produces a variety of data which can be analysed using complex mathematical functions. A promising new method is transparency profilometry (skin visiometer) using a very thin skin print which allows parallel light to pass through and is analysed immediately after production. The different methods can be used for characterization of the skin microrelief in dermatoses or for dynamic measurements of time-dependent changes in skin surface topography after application of cosmetic or medical products.
Usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with dynamic flow imaging to evaluate therapeutic effects for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS To examine the usefulness of dynamic flow imaging in identifying the therapeutic effects for hepatocellular carcinoma, we performed contrast-enhanced ultrasonography with Levovist. METHODOLOGY Tumor vascularity of 48 hepatocellular carcinoma nodules in 27 patients infected with hepatitis C virus was assessed before and after radiofrequency ablation therapy by dynamic flow imaging with a wide-band power Doppler technology. RESULTS All patients showed hypervascular enhancement of hepatocellular carcinoma on contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and/or dynamic computed tomography. The dynamic flow was obtained as vascular and perfusion images of hepatic tumors. The diameters of tumors were 1.1-2.0 cm in 12 nodules, 2.1-3.0 cm in 28, and 3.1-5.0 cm in 8, respectively. We were able to assess the tumor vascularities in 45 of 48 nodules before radiofrequency ablation by the dynamic flow. Three nodules showed insufficient dynamic flow which was located approximately 9 cm in depth from the body surface. The dynamic flow study for the therapeutic efficacy indicated that the tumor vessels disappeared in 43 of the 45 visible nodules. The tumor vascularities were noted in the remaining 2 nodules, and they were successfully retreated by radiofrequency ablation. The frequencies detecting positive enhancement in pretreatment and post-treatment were almost equivalent between vascular phase of dynamic flow on ultrasonography and early phase on helical dynamic computed tomography, although 5 nodules gave different findings; 2 were positive only on ultrasonography, and 3 were positive only on computed tomography. A major complication of radiofrequency ablation procedure was noted in only one case associated with intestinal edema, but it was cured by medical treatment. CONCLUSIONS The results indicated that contrast-enhanced dynamic flow imaging on ultrasonography is a reliable tool to evaluate intratumoral vascularity both before and after radiofrequency ablation treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Toll-Like Receptor Polymorphisms Are Associated With Increased Neurosyphilis Risk

Background Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in toll-like receptors (TLR) 1, 2, and 6 impair cell signaling in response to spirochetal lipoproteins. We investigated whether common SNPs in TLR1, TLR2, or TLR6 were associated with laboratory- or clinically-defined neurosyphilis. Methods Polymorphisms in the genes for TLR1 (a T→G mutation at position 1805), TLR2 (a G→A mutation at position 2258), and TLR6 (a C→T mutation at position 745) were sought in 456 white patients with syphilis. Laboratory-defined neurosyphilis included a reactive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)–Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test. Clinically-defined neurosyphilis included new vision or hearing loss. Controls had CSF white blood cells of 5/&mgr;L or less, nonreactive CSF–Venereal Disease Research Laboratory, and no vision or hearing loss. Results Overall, 26.2% of patients had laboratory-defined and 36.2% had clinically-defined neurosyphilis. Compared with controls, patients with any of the 3 SNPs were more likely to have laboratory-defined neurosyphilis. Those with TLR2 or TLR6 SNPs were more likely to have clinically-defined neurosyphilis. These associations were independent of serum rapid plasma reagin titer. Conclusions A common TLR1 polymorphism is associated with an increased risk of laboratory-defined neurosyphilis, and common TLR2 and TLR6 polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of both laboratory- and clinically-defined neurosyphilis. These data suggest that host factors impact the natural history of syphilis.
A Multisection Phase Correcting Network for Broadband Quadrature Power Splitter Design

This letter proposes a design of a multisection phase correcting network to reduce the phase error of broadband differential phase shifters. The phase correcting network is constructed by a pair of parallel multisection coupled lines. With the use of the phase correcting network, the experimental result of the phase deviation is reduced from 6.4 ° to 2.29 ° for a broadband phase shifter operating from 2.3 to 5.5 GHz (82%). The resultant phase shifter configuration is useful for the construction of quadrature power splitter which has also been designed and fabricated in this letter.
Cyclic AMP induces morphological changes of vascular smooth muscle cells by inhibiting a rac‐dependent signaling pathway

Cyclic AMP (cAMP) is a pleiotropic second messenger that regulates numerous cellular processes. In vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), these include cell proliferation, migration, and contractility. Here we show that cAMP‐elevating agents induce dramatic morphological changes in VSMCs, characterized by cell rounding and formation of long branching processes. The stellate morphology is associated with disassembly of actin stress fibers and lamellipodia, loss of focal adhesions, and the formation of small F‐actin rings. Because of the importance of Rho family GTPases in regulating actin dynamics, we analyzed their individual roles in the cAMP phenotype. We found that pharmacological or genetic inhibition of Rac mimics cAMP effect in inducing a stellate morphology of VSMCs. Expression of activated Rac1 prevents forskolin‐induced cAMP stellation, suggesting that cAMP affects cell morphology by inhibiting Rac function. Consistent with this, treatment with forskolin inhibits agonist‐stimulated Rac activation in VSMCs. We further show that activated Rac1 containing the F37A effector loop substitution fails to rescue the cAMP phenotype. Our results suggest that cAMP modulates the morphology of VSMCs by inhibiting a Rac‐dependent signaling pathway. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A fast algorithm for improved intelligibility of speech-in-noise based on frequency and time domain energy reallocation

This paper presents a fast and effective algorithm for enhancing speech intelligibility in additive noise conditions under the constraint of equal signal power before and after enhancement. Speech energy is reallocated in time, using dynamic range compression, and in frequency by boosting the signal to noise ratio in high frequencies, increasing the contrast between consecutive spectral peaks and valleys for the mid-frequencies, while maintaining the spectral energy in low frequencies. The al-gorithm has 90% lower computational load than similar and recently suggested state-of-the art approaches, while in large formal speech-in-noise intelligibility tests, the algorithm has shown to perform equally well to these methods in terms of intelligibility gains.
Synchronization of Globally Coupled Nonlinear Oscillators: the Rich Behavior of the Kuramoto Model

Global synchronization of oscillators is found abundantly in nature, emerging in fields from physics to biology. The Kuramoto model describes the synchronization behavior of a generalized system of interacting oscillators. With a large number of oscillators with different natural frequencies, the Kuramoto model predicts that, if they are allowed to interact strongly enough, they will all start oscillating at the same rate. The model provides a mathematical basis for studying the conditions under which synchronization can occur. For example, it is possible to solve for the critical amount of coupling needed among the oscillators to have synchronization. My research involved studying the basics of Kuramoto’s analysis and then investigating how the synchronization behavior is affected by random noise. Numerical simulations were run with and without noise to supplement and verify the analytical results.
UTAUT2 based predictions of factors influencing the acceptance of optical translation measurement devices based on the lead user theory

The Optical Translation Measurement Device (OTMD) is a novel technology which allows the pen to capture handwriting on any surface that it can see, and transmit it to any Bluetooth-enabled device. The OTMD allows users to see what they are drawing or writing in real time on your phone, tablet, or PC screen. An understanding of the factors influencing the acceptance of OTMDs will be very helpful for new-product development strategy definitions. Therefore, exploring and understanding the factors which can influence the acceptance of the novel OTMD technology have become the essential task for the vendors and distributors of such devices. However, the users who are familiar with such novel OTMDs are very limited. Therefore, based on the Lead User Theory, the opinions of the lead users will serve as the basis for deriving the factors. The second generation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) is introduced as a theoretic basis. The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) based Network Process (DNP) will be used to construct the analytic framework. In light of the analytic results, the causal relationships being derived by the DEMATEL demonstrate the direct influence of the habit on other dimensions. Also, based on the influence weights being derived, the use intention, hedonic motivation, and performance expectancy are the most important dimensions. The analytic results can serve as a basis for concept developments, marketing strategy definitions, and new-product designs of the future OTMDs. The proposed analytic framework can also be used for predicting and analyzing consumers' preferences toward future OTMDs.
Design of Low-Noise High-Gain CMOS Transimpedance Amplifier for Intelligent Sensing of Secondary Electrons

This paper presents a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) which was optimized for detecting very weak signals generated for microscopy imaging in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). This high-performance TIA was designed using a nomograph approach. The TIA was constructed and fabricated in an Austriamicrosystems 0.35-μm CMOS technology. The circuit, connected to an integrated photodiode with a junction capacitance of 10 pF, exhibited a transimpedance gain of 107.3 dBQ, a bandwidth of 12.5 MHz, an input-referred noise of 3.54 × 10-12 A/√Hz, and an SNR of 8, which manifested that the design is suitable for integration into a multipixel CMOS photon detector to perform intelligent sensing of secondary electrons in the SEM.
Embedded high-precision frequency-based capacitor measurement system

This paper presents a direct way to measure the electrical value of capacitors embedded in a circuit using a ring-oscillator. A calibration system ensures robustness towards temperature, power supply and process variations. The measurement is largely automated to minimize the use of external instrumentation and to speed-up the measurement process while giving a digital signature of the capacitor value. Design-Of-Experiment (DOE) methodology has been conducted in order to validate the ability of the system to measure robustly a large range of small capacitors.
Expression of the antimicrobial peptide &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins in intestinal crypts decreases at the initial phase of intestinal inflammation in a model of inflammatory bowel disease, IL‐10‐deficient mice

Background: The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with an altered microflora due to a failure of the immune system. This study investigated the expression of the intestinal antimicrobial peptide &agr;‐defensin, which plays a pivotal role in the regulation of the intestinal microflora in a representative model of IBD, interleukin (IL)‐10‐deficient mice. Methods: The expression of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins in IL‐10‐deficient mice was assessed by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and acid/urea polyacrylamide gel (AU‐PAGE). The alteration of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins expression was compared with the inflammatory grade of mice intestine at various weeks from birth. Results: The weight, length, and inflammation grade of the mouse intestines were assessed at 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 weeks from birth. While the weight of the large intestine was heavier at 15 weeks after birth in the IL‐10‐deficient mice than in the control mice, histological inflammation began from 7 weeks after birth. Real‐time PCR and AU‐PAGE identified a significant decrease in the expression of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins at 7 weeks after birth in the IL‐10 knockout mice, thus illustrating the involvement of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins in the etiology of the intestinal inflammation in IBD. This study also identified the expression of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins to be inversely proportional to age until 11 weeks, suggesting a relationship between the formation of the intestinal microflora and a reduction in the expression of &agr;‐defensin/cryptdins. Conclusions: The altered expression of antimicrobial peptide &agr;‐defensin may cause the onset of intestinal inflammation due to a failure to regulate intestinal microflora. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010)