Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and Safety of Sugammadex for the Reversal of Rocuronium-Induced Neuromuscular Blockade in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives: Sugammadex is widely used in anesthesia to reverse rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade (NMB). In patients with compromised kidney function, most drugs show alteration of their pharmacokinetic profile with reduced clearance. The purpose of this article is to examine the efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and safety of sugammadex in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients receiving general anesthesia, using a systematic review. Materials and Methods: The databases of PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, KoreaMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for studies comparing the efficacy or safety outcomes of sugammadex administration for the reversal of rocuronium-induced NMB, in ESRD patients (group R) or in those with normal renal function (group N) undergoing surgery under general anesthesia. Results: We identified nine studies with 655 patients—six prospective, case-control studies with 179 patients (89 and 90 in groups R and N) and three retrospective observational studies with 476 ESRD patients. In the six prospective studies, the times taken to reach a train-of-four ratio ≥0.9, 0.8, and 0.7 were significantly longer in group R than in group N (weighted mean difference [95% confidence interval] [min]: 1.14 [0.29 to 2.00], 0.9 [0.24 to 1.57], 0.89 [0.20 to 1.57], respectively). The total plasma clearance of sugammadex was significantly lower in group R than in group N. There was no significant difference in the incidence of NMB recurrence and prolonged time to recovery between the groups. In the three retrospective studies, the possibility of sugammadex-related adverse events appears to be insignificant. Conclusions: Sugammadex may effectively and safely reverse rocuronium-induced NMB in patients with ESRD, although the recovery to a TOF ratio of 0.9 may be prolonged compared to patients with normal renal function. Further studies are needed, considering the small number of studies included and the high heterogeneity of some of the results.
An Introduction to the 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures

The 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures (NEHRP Provisions) serves as the consensus resource document for US seismic codes and standards. The NEHRP Provisions are developed by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) through a five-year project sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Provisions are developed for the BSSC by its Provisions Update Committee (PUC). The PUC is supported by a group of Issue Teams, which develop technical proposals in the form of either seismic provisions with commentary or resource papers. The proposals are in the form changes to ASCE 7-10 and Commentary (ASCE 7-10), which are adopted as the basis for the Provisions. This paper provides a summary the key topics included in the 2015 NEHRP Provisions. The authors served as Chair and Assistant to the Chair of the PUC in the 2015 cycle and present this work as part of FEMA and BSSC’s commitment to ongoing outreach to the engineering community.
Creating spectrally pure signals for adc-testing

Abslracl For accurate testing of analog-to-digital converters (ADC), the spectral purity of the input signal is utterly important. This paper describes a method to create very pure signals, such as sine waves, dual-tones or multi-tones, using only power measurements. The signals are generated with an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). Any unwanted spectral line is removed, independent of its exact origin. This allows to apply the correct signal to the ADC under test, even if the signal source is not perfect or is followed by filters or amplifiers with a small non-linear distortion. Measurements are used to demonstrate the capabilities of the method.
Immediate Implant in Management of Anterior Missing Tooth

Narketpally, Immediate implant placement after extraction has become a favored treatment protocol with many clinicians worldwide. There are many advantages to this protocol, amongst them; shortened treatment time, placement of the implant in sound bone that constitutes the socket wall, placement trajectory guidance by the socket and preservation of bone volume. This case report describes the management of an anterior missing tooth using immediate implant. The result was good, which further validate the use of this technique for suitable patient management.
POLRMT as a Novel Susceptibility Gene for Cardiotoxicity in Epirubicin Treatment of Breast Cancer Patients

Anthracyclines are among the most used chemotherapeutic agents in breast cancer (BC). However their use is hampered by anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity (AIC). The currently known clinical and genetic risk factors do not fully explain the observed inter-individual variability and only have a limited ability to predict which patients are more likely to develop this severe toxicity. To identify novel predictive genes, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study in epirubicin-treated BC patients. In the discovery phase, we genotyped over 700,000 single nucleotide variants in a cohort of 227 patients. The most interesting finding was rs62134260, located 4kb upstream of POLRMT (OR = 5.76, P = 2.23 × 10−5). We replicated this association in a validation cohort of 123 patients (P = 0.021). This variant regulates the expression of POLRMT, a gene that encodes a mitochondrial DNA-directed RNA polymerase, responsible for mitochondrial gene expression. Individuals harbouring the risk allele had a decreased expression of POLRMT in heart tissue that may cause an impaired capacity to maintain a healthy mitochondrial population in cardiomyocytes under stressful conditions, as is treatment with epirubicin. This finding suggests a novel molecular mechanism involved in the development of AIC and may improve our ability to predict patients who are at risk.
Study on mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiNx high entropy alloy films based on nanoindentation

ABSTRACT CoCrFeNiNx films were prepared by magnetron sputtering under different nitrogen flow ratios (R N). The mechanical properties were measured by nanoindentation. The results show that with the increase of R N, the content of N in the films increases, and the contents of Cr, Co, Fe and Ni decrease with basically unchanged composition ratio. The films have very dense structure with uniformly distributed elements. With increasing R N the film changes from metal solid solution phase with weak FCC (111) preference to nitrogenous solid solution phase with FCC (200) strong preference, then to FCC (200) weak preference, finally to near amorphous. The hardness and elastic modulus increase with R N, but are almost independent of the strain rate. The CoCrFeNiNx films with R N = 20% and R N = 60% have lower creep deformations and demonstrate better creep properties, probably related to their composition, structure (oriented growth, crystallinity, defects, etc.) and residual stress.
Biomedical signal filtering for noisy environments

Luke's work addresses issue of robustly attenuating multi-source noise from surface EEG signals using a novel Adaptive-Multiple-Reference Least-Means-Squares filter (AMR-LMS). In practice, the filter successfully removes electrical interference and muscle noise generated during movement which contaminates EEG, allowing subjects to maintain maximum mobility throughout signal acquisition and during the use of a Brain Computer Interface.
Multilevel Inverters: A survey of limitations and recommended problem-solving techniques

In this paper, voltage and current imbalance problems that arise during steady-state operation of multilevel inverters are investigated. Especially, Cascaded H-Bridge, Diode Clamped and Flying Capacitor multilevel inverters are studied. To overcome these limitations, some problem-handling techniques are proposed to consolidate the use of these topologies in modern day applications. To further validate some proposed problem-solving techniques through experimental probing, a laboratory prototype of a five-level CHBMLI is implemented.
Compétences d’adaptation à la maladie du patient : une proposition

Introduction : Les recommandations 2007 de la HAS-INPES (Haute Autorite de Sante-Institut National de Prevention et d’Education pour la Sante) sur l’education therapeutique differencient deux registres de competences du patient : competences d’auto-soins et competences d’adaptation a la maladie, ces dernieres etant inspirees de l’OMS. Devant le constat que leur formulation est de nature tres generale, un groupe de travail de l’IPCEM (association pour le developpement de l’ETP) a propose la formalisation de huit nouvelles competences d’adaptation a la maladie que nous explicitons dans cet article. Description : ces competences sont caracteristiques des situations de vie le plus frequemment rencontrees par les patients. En ce sens, leur utilisation permet de rendre les programmes d’education therapeutique plus proches de la realite des personnes. Elles font appel a certaines methodes pedagogiques du domaine du savoir-etre et justifient d’imaginer de nouvelles techniques d’evaluation. Conclusions : L’interet de formuler ces competences d’adaptation a la maladie est d’offrir aux soignants et a leurs partenaires la possibilite de concevoir les futurs programmes educatifs et de s’en repartir les champs d’intervention. Les changements conceptuels qu’apportent ces nouvelles competences dans la prise en charge des maladies chroniques sont discutes.
L. L. Bean Improves Call-Center Forecasting

We developed and implemented two forecasting models for use at L. L. Bean, Inc., a widely known retailer of high-quality outdoor goods and apparel. The models forecast calls incoming to L. L. Bean’s call center so that efficient staffing schedules for telephone agents can be produced two weeks in advance. We used the ARIMA/transfer function methodology to model these time series data since they exhibit seasonal patterns but are strongly influenced by independent variables, including holiday and advertising interventions. The improved precision of our models is estimated to save $300,000 annually through enhanced scheduling efficiency.
Saliency torque and V-curve of permanent-magnet-excited synchronous motor

The permanent-magnet-excited synchronous motor is expanding its usage considerably. It has strong and peculiar saliency of magnetic poles, which causes peculiar torque characteristics. The conventional theories, such as the two reaction theory and the two axis theory are based on the d, q axis method. Although they have been resorted to for a long time, their derivation of the circuit equation is not logical and it seems that they involve approximation and even errors. The author applied the spiral vector method (SV method) to analysis of PMSM and derived the new circuit equations of PMSM, whose solutions revealed new aspect of performances of PMSM.1)-7) This paper reports further developments of SV theory of PMSM; one of them is a new V-curve of PMSM. It is quite different from the V-curve of the conventional theories, and is much more useful.
Mode-Dependent Selective Detection of Humidity and Helium Using Electromagnetically Actuated Clamped Guided MEMS Resonators

In this work, we demonstrate a selective gas sensor based on monitoring two different detection mechanisms; absorption and thermal conductivity. To illustrate the concept, we utilize a resonator composed of a clamped-guided arch beam connected to flexural beams and a T-shaped moveable mass. The resonator has two distinct out-of-plane modes in which the mass motion dominates the first mode while the motion of the flexural beam dominates the second mode. A highly disperse graphene oxide (GO) solution is prepared and drop-casted over the moveable mass structure using the inkjet printer for humidity sensing. On the other hand, the He is detected using the hot flexural beams. The results show no significant effect of humidity on the flexural mode (FM) nor for He on the mass mode (MM). This indicates a new technique for selectivity and identification. The device shows good sensitivity (50.1% to 50% RH @ MM and 39.2% to 50% He @ FM: (Vac = 1.5V)), linearity, and repeatability with excellent selectivity. It is demonstrated that the FM has great potential for detecting and categorizing different gases according to their thermal conductivity. The demonstrated multimode MEMS resonator can be a promising approach for the development of smart, highly selective, and sensitive gas/chemical sensors.
Crystallising Commitment to Transformation in a South African Higher Education Institute

This paper emerges out of an ethnographic study conducted at the University of Cape Town that explored the dynamics of an intervention providing a ‘safe space’ for university staff to engage in alternative ways with South Africa’s apartheid past, the university’ s institutional culture and with each other. This paper focuses on the social politics that arose between the intervention, its participants and imagined non-participants in relation to the university’s ‘transformatio n’ vision. The interventionist intention was reworked by participants at a ground level into key symbols by which participants shaped the patterns of their behaviours and gave meaning to their experiences. Utilising Ortner ’s (1973) model for recognising and using key symbols, I argue that ‘transformation’ and ‘safe space’ are elaborating symbols in that they have conceptual and action elaborating power. These elaborating symbols operate in relay with a kind of logic that ‘crystallises commitment’ from participants to the intervention in an emotionally powerful and relatively undifferentiated manner. In so doing, they render the intervention a ‘summarising’ symbol capable of expressing what their experience means to them as an imagined community in relation to others.
Exploring the resistance change trends associated with integrated piezoresistive sensing elements

Compliant piezoresistive MEMS sensors exhibit great promise for improved on-chip sensing. As compliant sensors may experience complex loads, their design and implementation require a greater understanding of the piezoresistive effect of polysilicon in bending and combined loads. This paper presents experimental results showing the piezoresistive effect for these complex loads. Several n-type polysilicon test structures were tested. Results show that, while tensile stresses cause a linear decrease in resistance, bending stresses induce a nonlinear rise in resistance contrary to the effect predicted by available models. The experimental data illustrate the inability of published piezoresistance models to predict the piezoresistive trends of polysilicon in bending and combined loads, indicating the need for more complete models appropriate for these loading conditions and more complete understanding of the piezoresistive effect.
Lysozyme activity as an indicator of innate immunity of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) when challenged with LPS and Streptococcus agalactiae

The objective of this study was to fully describe the protocol with standardized modifications and evaluate the lysozyme activity, an indicator of innate immunity in tilapia, to compare lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with Streptococcus agalactiae injections. Lysozyme was determined in serum using the turbidimetric method, in which lysozyme activity was evaluated by Micrococcus lysodeikticus lysis, with modifications for microplate assay. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design. Juvenile tilapia was divided in the following six treatments: challenged with phosphate buffer PBS (control) and 100, 250, 500, and 600 μg kg−1 LPS and S. agalactiae. All treatments were challenged for 72 h and seven days and then sampled to determine lysozyme activity. After 72 h or seven days, concentrations of LPS promoted changes in lysozyme production, either lesser or equal, depending on concentration when compared with fish injected with S. agalactiae. It was possible to standardize the analysis and determine that the treatment with LPS promotes immunomodulation at a concentration of 250 μg kg−1 LPS, this response being similar to challenge with S. agalactiae.
Analysis and Implementation of a New ZVS DC Converter for Medium Power Application

This paper presents a new zero voltage switching (ZVS) converter for medium power and high input voltage applications. Three three-level pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuits with the same power switches are adopted to clamp the voltage stress of MOSFETs at Vin/2 and to achieve load current sharing. Thus, the current stresses and power ratings of transformers and power semiconductors at the secondary side are reduced. The resonant inductance and resonant capacitance are resonant at the transition interval such that active switches are turned on at ZVS within a wide range of input voltage and load condition. The series-connected transformers are adopted in each three- level circuit. Each transformer can work as an inductor to smooth the output current or a transformer to achieve the electric isolation and power transfer. Thus, no output inductor is needed at the secondary side. Three center-tapped rectifiers connected in parallel are used at the secondary side to achieve load current sharing. Compared with the conventional parallel three-level converters, the proposed converter has less switch counts. Finally, experiments based on a 1.44kW prototype are provided to verify the operation principle of proposed converter.
Relationship between Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Brain at Rest and Self-Reported Spontaneous Thoughts: An EEG Microstate Approach

Rationale: The resting-state paradigm is frequently applied in electroencephalography (EEG) research; however, it is associated with the inability to control participants’ thoughts. To quantify subjects’ subjective experiences at rest, the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire (ARSQ) was introduced covering ten dimensions of mind wandering. We aimed to estimate associations between subjective experiences and resting-state microstates of EEG. Methods: 5 min resting-state EEG data of 197 subjects was used to evaluate temporal properties of seven microstate classes. Bayesian correlation approach was implemented to assess associations between ARSQ domains assessed after resting and parameters of microstates. Results: Several associations between Comfort, Self and Somatic Awareness domains and temporal properties of neuroelectric microstates were revealed. The positive correlation between Comfort and duration of microstates E showed the strongest evidence (BF10 > 10); remaining correlations showed substantial evidence (10 > BF10 > 3). Conclusion: Our study indicates the relevance of assessments of spontaneous thought occurring during the resting-state for the understanding of the intrinsic brain activity reflected in microstates.
Assessing Quality of Progression with Cyclic Coordination Functions

Quality of progression plays an important role in assessing the performance of urban streets with signalized intersections. The Highway Capacity Manual uses progression adjustment factors that modulate control delay at a signalized intersection approach in accordance with the quality of coordination. These factors correspond to six discrete arrival types that need to be estimated from given or observed flow data. However, this procedure is inaccurate and may lead to incorrect determination of level of service. This paper introduces an improved procedure for the determination of quality of progression that is sensitive to different traffic conditions, that can be easily calibrated, and that produces more accurate results. A periodic, continuously variable cyclic coordination function and associated coordination adjustment factors are developed to measure delay or travel time as a function of offsets along an urban street segment. Those measures depend on a variety of factors, including traffic flow characteristics, link physical characteristics, and traffic signal controls. Because quality of progression is periodic with the cycle time it can be modeled as a Fourier series consisting of a sum of harmonics. A few harmonics provide good approximations to the original functions. The study shows how to obtain the principal harmonics from the underlying traffic, link, and signal data, which result in a simple and more accurate procedure for quality of progression estimation.
Semi-Active Magnetorheological Helicopter Crew Seat Suspension for Vibration Isolation

This study explores the use of magnetorheological dampers in a semi-active seat suspension system for helicopter crew seats to enhance occupant comfort. Key concepts in designing a magnetorheological seat suspension system to isolate the occupant from rotorcraft vibration are identified. Using these design concepts, a magnetorheological damper is designed, fabricated, and retrofitted into a tactical SH-60 Seahawk crew seat. This magnetorheological damper is implemented in series with the existing fixed load energy absorbers such that the crashworthiness capability of the seat is not impaired. Semi-active control is implemented and performance is evaluated both analytically and experimentally. Experimental test results have shown that this system reduced the dominant rotor-induced vertical vibration (4 per rev) transmitted to a 50th percentile male aviator by 76%, which is a 61-70% improvement over the unmodified SH-60 crew seat depending upon whether a soft seat cushion is used. Furthermore, these experimental tests also show that this system significantly reduces vertically induced seat rocking that occurs as a result of an offset center of gravity in the crew seat design.
Silicon Three-axial Tactile Sensor

A novel three-axial tactile sensor based on the differential capacitive principle is presented. The sensor is fabricated using IC processing and bulk micromachining technology. Normal and shear forces are detected by capacitor arrays under force mesas. Experimental devices show sensitivities of 0.13 pF/grarn to normal forces, and 0.32 pF/gram to shear forces in a force range of 0-1 gram. The spatial resolution is 2.2 mm, and the maximum dynamic response frequency is 162 Hz. The force range and sensitivity can be adjusted by changing the membrane thickness. A dynamic load range of more than 100 can be obtained using a detection circuit with a resolution of 10 fF.
Impedance Modeling and Stability Analysis of Grid-tied Universal Droop Control Inverter

This paper presents an impedance modeling and small-signal stability analysis of the grid-tied Universal Droop Control (UDC) inverter. The dç-impedance model of the UDC inverter is derived analytically, which is verified by simulation. The impedance model is used to determine the stability of the grid-tied UDC inverter. Simulation and experimental results are provided to further verify the theoretical analysis.