Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional MRI as a tool for assessing chiasmal visual defect in a patient with neuromyelitis optica

Bitemporal haemianopsia is the classic visual field defect of disorders that involve the optic chiasm, caused by the involvement of the crossing nasal–retinal fibres of each optic nerve. Chiasmal visual field defects are usually categorised as extrinsic because of mechanical compression from adjacent structures, although lesions involving the substance of the chiasm itself also exist.1 We describe a unique case of chiasmal neuritis, a woman with serologically proven neuromyelitis optica (NMO). 2 Our study addresses the cortical consequences of this acquired bitemporal haemianopsia. Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to evaluate the cortical activation patterns and its correspondence with visual field representation during the attack and subsequent recovery. A 36-year-old woman presented with acute bilateral visual loss progressing during several days before her admission. Her history included serologically positive myasthenia gravis at the age of 10 years, which required immunosuppressive treatment that led to clinical remission and cessation of all drug treatment at age 13 years. She was asymptomatic until age 26 years, when she presented with an episode of transverse myelitis. Since then, she has had another three severe myelitic episodes, without optic nerve involvement and was, therefore, under maintained treatment of prednisone and cyclophosphamide. Six months before her current admission, she was tested positive for NMO–immunoglobulin.2 To note is that her daily cyclophosphamide dosage was reduced just before her current admission. Her clinical examination revealed a parapyramidal syndrome with sensory level at T5 and mild left optic disc temporal pallor. No relative afferent pupillary defect was detected. Snellen visual acuity measurements were 6/60 …
A122: Metabolomic Analysis of Breath Volatile Organic Compounds Reveals Unique Breathprints in Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by synovial inflammation and is the most common rheumatic complaint in children. Breath testing is becoming an important diagnostic method to evaluate many disease states. The aim of this study was to analyze exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to evaluate for the presence of a unique breath pattern to differentiate pediatric patients with JIA from healthy controls.
A randomised comparison of lidocaine 2% gel and proparacaine 0.5% eye drops in paediatric squint surgery

We conducted a randomised trial comparing lidocaine 2% gel with proparacaine 0.5% eye drops in children having elective squint surgery. One hundred and forty children aged between 3 and 14 years were recruited. The requirement for intra‐operative fentanyl and postoperative ibuprofen was significantly less in the lidocaine group compared with the proparacaine group (1 (1.7%) vs 12 (18.5%), p = 0.002 and 16 (27.6%) 38 (58.5%), p = 0.001, respectively). The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting was significantly less in the lidocaine group compared with the proparacaine group (6 (10.3%) vs 16 (24.6%), p = 0.04). There were no differences between the groups in terms of incidence and severity of the oculocardiac reflex. We conclude that, compared with proparacaine 0.5% eye drops, a single application of lidocaine 2% gel improves peri‐operative analgesia and reduces the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in elective paediatric squint surgery.
Pre-layout estimation of performance and design of basic analog circuits in stress enabled technologies

In stress enabled technologies the drive strength of multi-fingered (MF) transistors varies with the number of fingers (NF) because of Layout Dependent Effect (LDE). This is an important issue because MF transistors are widely used in integrated circuits. In this paper, we investigate performance variability issues in basic analog building blocks, such as current mirrors, common source amplifiers, and single ended differential amplifiers, designed using MF transistors. We observe that, due to the layout dependent channel mechanical stress, the analog performance parameters of these building blocks vary significantly. When the NF in MF transistors varies from one to seven, we observe that the copy current in cascode current mirrors vary by ~15%. For similar change in the NF there is ~22% and ~24% change in the bandwidth (BW) and the output resistance (Rout) respectively of an nMOS common source amplifier with pMOS current source load. We observe variations of ~32% in slew rate (SR), ~28% in BW, and ~12.4% in Rout with the change in NF in a single ended differential amplifier. We model these variations as a function of NF in MF transistors since performance predictability in analog circuits is important. Finally, we designed a common source amplifier considering the impact of channel length on channel stress.
A constructive heuristic for application mapping onto an express channel based Network-on-Chip

Traditional Mesh based Networks-on-Chips, are inherently slow due to hop-by-hop packet forwarding. The addition of Express Channels has emerged as a viable solution to reduce packet latency. However, there is a lack of application mapping methods, which can take into account the nature of the Express Channels. In this paper a constructive heuristic based approach has been proposed for application mapping onto an Express Channel based Network-on-Chip. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method significantly reduces the average packet delay compared to the existing methods even in the presence of high network load.
Peripheral oxygen extraction in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice

Malignant obstructive jaundice is associated with poor aerobic capacity. We measured oxygen consumption and oxygen extraction (arterial‐venous oxygen content) in the legs of nine patients during cardiopulmonary exercise testing before pancreaticoduodenectomy. The median (IQR [range]) peak oxygen consumption was 67 (49–77 [32–84])% of predicted. Normal patterns of oxygen extraction were seen with increasing power towards lactate threshold. Near maximal oxygen extraction occurred at peak exercise. Femoral venous oxygen pressure and saturation exceeded baseline values whilst recovering from exercise. These findings suggest that peripheral oxygen extraction is normal during exercise in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice. The primary limitation in oxygen consumption is reduced oxygen delivery.
HIV, vascular surgery and cardiovascular outcomes: a South African cohort study

Risk factors for peri‐operative cardiac morbidity are poorly described in HIV‐positive patients. This prospective observational study describes cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of vascular surgical patients of known HIV status. We recruited 225 patients with 73 (32%) being HIV‐positive. When compared with HIV‐negative patients, the HIV‐positive patients were younger (mean (SD) 56.4 (13.3) vs 40.5 (10.4) years, respectively, p < 0.01). They had fewer Revised Cardiac Risk Index cardiovascular risk factors (median (range [IQR]) 1 (0–5 [0–2]) vs 0 (0–2 [0–0]), respectively, p < 0.001), with the exception of congestive cardiac failure (p = 0.23) and renal dysfunction (p = 0.32), and so were of a significantly lower Revised Cardiac Risk Index risk category (p < 0.01). HIV‐positive and ‐negative patients had similar outcomes in: 30‐day mortality (p = 0.78); three‐day postoperative troponin leak (p = 0.66); and a composite outcome of mortality and troponin release (p = 0.69). We conclude that although HIV‐positive patients have fewer cardiovascular risk factors, they have similar peri‐operative major adverse cardiac events to HIV‐negative patients. Research should focus on why this is the case, and if alternative clinical risk predictors can be developed for HIV patients.
Configurable Architecture for Double/Two-Parallel Single Precision Floating Point Division

This paper presents a dynamically configurable and area-efficient multi-precision architecture for Floating Point (FP) division. FP division is a core arithmetic in scientific and engineering domain. We propose an architecture for double precision (DP) division which is also capable of processing dual (two-parallel) single precision (SP) computation, named as DPdSP FP divider. The architecture is based on series expansion methodology ofcomputing division. Key components involved in the floatingpoint division architecture are re-designed in order to efficiently enable the resource sharing and tune the data-path for processing both precision operands with minimum hardware overhead. We have targeted the proposed architecture using "OSUcells Cell Library" 0.18&mu;m technology ASIC implementation. Compared to a standalone double precision divider, the proposed dual modeunified architecture needs &asymp; 7% extra hardware, with &asymp; 5% delay overhead. When compared to the previous work in literature, the proposed dual mode architecture out-perform them in terms of required area, throughput, and area &times; delay, has smaller area & delay overhead over only DP divider, and has more computational support.
Accurus: A Fast Convergence Technique for Accuracy Configurable Approximate Adder Circuits

Approximate computing techniques have paved new paths to get substantial improvement in speed and power efficiency by making a trade-off with the accuracy of computations in inherently error tolerant applications, like from image and video processing domains. The accuracy requirements of various applications can differ from each other. Even within a same application different computation scan have different accuracy requirements which can vary over time and upon user requirements. Accuracy configurable arithmetic circuits are essential for these reasons. Such techniques proposed earlier in the literature (ACA) work by improving the accuracy over several pipeline stages. However, those techniques suffer from the drawback that the corrections being made in the initial pipeline stagesare small in magnitude as they are performed from the least significant bit position. In this paper, we propose a new correction technique - Accurus wherein we start from the most significant bit resulting in fast convergence of the result towards the accurate one. We used our approximate adder circuit in a Gaussian Blur filter which is then applied to an image. After one stage of correction, we achieved a peak signal to noise ratio of 40.90 dB when compared with 25.59 dB obtained using the previous well-known technique (ACA).
A wearable computer for quality assurance inspectors in a food processing plant

We were asked to try to improve the performance of quality assurance inspectors in a food processing plant. These workers walk around a very large, very loud, football field-sized plant and take food samples at various processing points. The workers pick up a sample, make a measurement (for example, temperature), wipe their hands on a paper towel, then use a pen and clipboard to write the measurement on a paper inspection form. At the end of the shift, the quality assurance inspectors give their paper forms to the quality assurance manager. For other members of the management team (such as the plant manager) to see the inspection data, the forms must be photocopied or the data must be typed into a networked computer. We faced several challenges in our effort to improve the performance of the quality assurance inspectors. The inspectors need a data collection system that is portable and allows inspectors to enter data without using their hands. The system must also provide the data to the plant management team as the inspectors actually gather the data. Finally, the use of sound to enter or receive information is a major challenge in the plant's noisy environment.
Tracking of user position and orientation by stereo measurement of infrared markers and orientation sensing

A real-time three-dimensional position and orientation tracking system is proposed for use with wearable augmented reality systems. The system combines infrared markers with a head-mounted stereo camera to detect the user's position, and an orientation sensor to measure the orientation of the user's head. An extended Kalman filter is employed to reduce triangulation and orientation error by integrating the signals acquired by multiple sensors. The system is evaluated through a series of experiments, and a navigation system implemented using the proposed scheme is presented. The accuracy of the system is shown to be sufficient to allow annotations and virtual objects to be overlaid on real scenes via a head-mounted display without confusion.
Staff experiences and perceptions of working with in-patients who are suicidal: qualitative analysis

Background Suicidal behaviour is frequent in psychiatric in-patients and much staff time and resources are devoted to assessing and managing suicide risk. However, little is known about staff experiences of working with in-patients who are suicidal. Aims To investigate staff experiences of working with in-patients who are suicidal. Method Qualitative study guided by thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with mental health staff with experience of psychiatric in-patient care. Results Twenty Staff participated. All had encountered in-patient suicide deaths or attempts. Three key themes were identified: (a) experiences of suicidality, (b) conceptualising suicidality and (c) talking about suicide. Conclusions Suicidal behaviour in psychiatric wards has a large impact on staff feelings, practice and behaviour. Staff felt inadequately equipped to deal with such behaviours, with detrimental consequences for patients and themselves. Organisational support is lacking. Training and support should extend beyond risk assessment to improving staff skills in developing therapeutic interactions with in-patients who are suicidal.
Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation outcome in young onset Parkinson's disease: a role for age at disease onset?

Background Patients with young onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD) are often candidates for subthalamic nucleus–deep brain stimulation (STN–DBS). Nevertheless, few data have been reported on the long term STN–DBS clinical outcome of YOPD versus non-young onset Parkinson's disease (n-YOPD) patients. Aim In this study, the issue of whether YOPD might represent a long term positive predictive factor for STN–DBS was addressed, comparing follow-up data for 20 YOPD and 40 n-YOPD patients (20 treated after <15 years of disease duration and 20 treated after ≥15 years of disease duration). Materials and methods Mean scores for the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) sections were compared 1 year, 5 years and, for 34 patients (12 YOPD and 22 n-YOPD), ≥7 years after surgery. Furthermore, a Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to determine the influence of age at PD onset, clinical phenotype, disease duration and duration of motor complications on the development of stimulation and medication resistant symptoms. Results YOPD patients showed a lower incidence of stimulation and medication resistant symptoms and a lower mortality rate; also, the tremor dominant clinical phenotype was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, hallucinations and constipation. No significant differences in UPDRS scores were observed between n-YOPD patients treated after <15 years of PD and those treated after ≥15 years of PD. Conclusion In this series of STN–DBS treated patients, YOPD was associated with a medium to long term lower incidence of stimulation and medication resistant symptoms.
New adaptive algorithms for identification of sparse impulse responses — Analysis and comparisons

The convergence of the classical adaptive filtering algorithms becomes slow when the number of coefficients is very large. However, in many applications, such as digital network and acoustical echo cancelers, the system being modeled presents sparse impulse response, that is, most of its coefficients have small magnitudes. In order to improve the convergence for these applications, several algorithms have been proposed recently, which employ individual step-sizes for the updating of the different coefficients. The adaptation step-sizes are made larger for the coefficients with larger magnitudes, resulting in a faster convergence for the most significant coefficients. In this paper, we give an overview of the most important adaptive algorithms developed for the fast identification of systems with sparse impulse responses. Their convergence rates are compared through computer simulations for the identification of the channel impulse responses in a digital network echo cancellation application. A theoretical analysis of an improved version of the PNLMS algorithm is presented.
A systematic review and meta‐regression analysis of mivacurium for tracheal intubation

We systematically reviewed factors associated with intubation conditions in randomised controlled trials of mivacurium, using random‐effects meta‐regression analysis. We included 29 studies of 1050 healthy participants. Four factors explained 72.9% of the variation in the probability of excellent intubation conditions: mivacurium dose, 24.4%; opioid use, 29.9%; time to intubation and age together, 18.6%. The odds ratio (95% CI) for excellent intubation was 3.14 (1.65–5.73) for doubling the mivacurium dose, 5.99 (2.14–15.18) for adding opioids to the intubation sequence, and 6.55 (6.01–7.74) for increasing the delay between mivacurium injection and airway insertion from 1 to 2 min in subjects aged 25 years and 2.17 (2.01–2.69) for subjects aged 70 years, p < 0.001 for all. We conclude that good conditions for tracheal intubation are more likely by delaying laryngoscopy after injecting a higher dose of mivacurium with an opioid, particularly in older people.
High-throughput analysis of fatty acid composition of plasma glycerophospholipids[S]

Plasma FA composition, a marker of FA status and dietary intake, is associated with health outcomes on a short- and long-term basis. Detailed investigation of the relationships between plasma FA composition and health requires the analysis of large numbers of samples, but manual sample preparation is very cumbersome and time consuming. We developed a high-throughput method for the analysis of FAs in plasma glycerophospholipids (GPs) with increased sensitivity. Sample preparation requires two simple steps: protein precipitation and subsequent base catalyzed methyl ester synthesis. Analysis of GP FAs is performed by gas chromatography. Coefficients of variation for FAs contributing more than 1% to total FAs are below 4%. Compared with the established reference method, results of the new method show good agreement and very good correlations (r > 0.9). The new method reduces the manual workload to about 10% of the reference method. Only 100 µl plasma volume is needed, which allows for the analysis of samples from infants. The method is well suitable for application in large clinical trials and epidemiological studies.
When to Refer Patients to Palliative Care: Triggers, Traps, and Timely Referrals

This article examines the issue of late referral or nonreferral to palliative care for people with a life-limiting disease/illness. The primary purpose of the study was to examine barriers to timely referral to palliative care. The secondary purpose was to explore the impact of late referral on quality of life for palliative care patients and families (reported separately). The authors used a phenomenological research design. Current literature provides clear evidence that the needs of dying people are unique and require specialized care. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 palliative care health professionals. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed. In this article, findings are reported from healthcare providers' perspectives and include medical practitioners and nurses from several sites in Perth, Western Australia. Lack of knowledge about palliative care services and its benefits was the overarching theme among all three groups (healthcare providers, patients, and families).
Artificial Intelligence-based 5G network capacity planning and operation

The highly demanding requirements envisaged for future 5G networks together with the required support of new customers from vertical industries (e.g. e-health, automotive, energy) pose a big challenge for operators in 5G on how to balance investments, user experience and profitability. There will be the need to revisit the actual methodologies of network planning and operation, fully exploiting cognitive capabilities that embrace knowledge and intelligence to achieve a proper understanding of the network usage in multiple dimensions. In this respect, this paper presents a vision on how these planning and operation processes can rely on the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concepts that will allow devising models to characterize the impact of many correlated inputs on specific operator objectives and to drive decisions for different processes.
Radio resource allocation for full-duplex multicarrier wireless systems

Full-duplex technology has the potential to double the wireless system spectral efficiency by enabling simultaneous transmission and reception at the same time on the same frequency. In this paper, we address the subcarrier and power allocation problem for full-duplex system. The problem is coupled between uplink and downlink channels due to the self-interference and inter-user interference. As the problem is non-convex, a suboptimal algorithm is proposed based on the Frank-Wolfe approach. To this end, a subcarrier and power allocation is first performed for the downlink channel, and then the uplink resource allocation is represented as a D.C. (difference of two convex functions) problem. An approximation is used to convert the D.C. problem into two convex sub-problems, which are solved iteratively to produce a lower bound approximation for the non-convex objective. Simulation results show that the algorithm achieves fast convergence regardless of different initialization points, and can significantly improve the full-duplex performance comparing to the equal resource allocation approach. Furthermore, the full-duplex system with the proposed algorithm can achieve significant gains in spectral efficiency, that reach up to 48%, comparing to half-duplex system.
Improvements in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis using principle components analysis (PCA) in combination with Raman spectroscopy

The significant achievements of medical science over the last century are evident in the increasing age of the global population, however this now brings new problems, the most prominent being the growth in the number of people suffering from dementia. Over half the people with dementia in the UK are sufferers of Alzheimer's disease, a condition in which intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles and extraneuronal senile tangles take over neurons prompting their death. A definitive diagnosis is still only currently available post-mortem, whilst current symptom based processes of elimination are far from perfect, especially when the only treatments available are symptom inhibiting drugs. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the Raman spectra taken from brain tissue has proved to be a potential tool in the diagnosis. However, this work now has to be refined in order to progress to tissue less associated with the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The first step of this has already been taken in progressing from frontal tissue to occipital tissue point spectra taken at random positions from bulk tissue. Now we present initial work into acquiring Raman spectral maps from across a tissue area, in pursuit of identifying unique plaque and tangle spectra. These spectra are presented alongside synthetic β-Amyloid spectra, in a study of the role that the peptide plays in the biomarker spectra, and how this information can aid the PCA of bulk tissue, and point towards a Raman spectroscopic test on less sensitive tissue, such as blood.