Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling time to death or discharge in neonatal care: an application of competing risks.

BACKGROUND Understanding length of stay for babies in neonatal care is vital for planning services and for counselling parents. While previous work has focused on the length of stay of babies who survive to discharge, when investigating resource use within neonatal care, it is important to also incorporate information on those babies who die while in care. We present an analysis using competing risks methodology which allows the simultaneous modelling of babies who die in neonatal care and those who survive to discharge. METHODS Data were obtained on 2723 babies born at 24-28 weeks gestational age in 2006-10 and admitted to neonatal care. Death and discharge alive are two mutually exclusive events and can be treated as competing risks. A flexible parametric modelling approach was used to analyse these two competing events and obtain estimates of the absolute probabilities of death or discharge. RESULTS The absolute probabilities of death or discharge are presented in graphical form showing the cause-specific cumulative incidence over time by gender, gestational age and birthweight. The discharge of babies alive generally occurred over a longer time period for babies of lower gestational age and smaller birthweight than for bigger babies. CONCLUSION This study has presented a useful statistical method for modelling the length of stay where there are significant rates of in-unit mortality. In health care systems that are increasingly focusing on costs and resource planning, it is essential to consider not only length of stay of survivors but also for those patients who die before discharge.
The simulation, fitting, and testing of a stochastic cellular proliferation model.

A stochastic model for the growth of a cell population is proposed, and is studied by means of simulations on a digital computer. In order to fit this model to experimental data, repeated computer simulations are performed and the 'distance' between the data and the simulated trials is studied. By viewing the expectation of this 'distance' as a response surface over the parameter space of the model, standard response surface methods may be used to optimize the fit. This technique is used to fit several competing models to some data of Kubitscheck [1962] on the growth of colonies of E. coli cells. Monte Carlo procedures for testing the 'goodness of fit' of these models are proposed and carried out. Although these methods are unrefined, they permit the experimenter to consider his data in the light of stochastic models for which mathematical results are not available.
Potentiation of photoinactivation of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria mediated by six phenothiazinium dyes by addition of azide ion

Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (APDI) using phenothiazinium dyes is mediated by reactive oxygen species consisting of a combination of singlet oxygen (quenched by azide), hydroxyl radicals and other reactive oxygen species. We recently showed that addition of sodium azide paradoxically potentiated APDI of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using methylene blue as the photosensitizer, and this was due to electron transfer to the dye triplet state from azide anion, producing azidyl radical. Here we compare this effect using six different homologous phenothiazinium dyes: methylene blue, toluidine blue O, new methylene blue, dimethylmethylene blue, azure A, and azure B. We found both significant potentiation (up to 2 logs) and also significant inhibition (>3 logs) of killing by adding 10 mM azide depending on Gram classification, washing the dye from the cells, and dye structure. Killing of E. coti was potentiated with all 6 dyes after a wash, while S. aureus killing was only potentiated by MB and TBO with a wash and DMMB with no wash. More lipophilic dyes (higher log P value, such as DMMB) were more likely to show potentiation. We conclude that the Type I photochemical mechanism (potentiation with azide) likely depends on the microenvironment, i.e. higher binding of dye to bacteria. Bacterial dye-binding is thought to be higher with Gram-negative compared to Gram-positive bacteria, when unbound dye has been washed away, and with more lipophilic dyes.
Evaluation of invertebrate infection models for pathogenic corynebacteria.

For several pathogenic bacteria, model systems for host-pathogen interactions were developed, which provide the possibility of quick and cost-effective high throughput screening of mutant bacteria for genes involved in pathogenesis. A number of different model systems, including amoeba, nematodes, insects, and fish, have been introduced, and it was observed that different bacteria respond in different ways to putative surrogate hosts, and distinct model systems might be more or less suitable for a certain pathogen. The aim of this study was to develop a suitable invertebrate model for the human and animal pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, and Corynebacterium ulcerans. The results obtained in this study indicate that Acanthamoeba polyphaga is not optimal as surrogate host, while both Caenorhabtitis elegans and Galleria larvae seem to offer tractable models for rapid assessment of virulence between strains. Caenorhabtitis elegans gives more differentiated results and might be the best model system for pathogenic corynebacteria, given the tractability of bacteria and the range of mutant nematodes available to investigate the host response in combination with bacterial virulence. Nevertheless, Galleria will also be useful in respect to innate immune responses to pathogens because insects offer a more complex cell-based innate immune system compared with the simple innate immune system of C. elegans.
The Ser+r83k mutation is a second site mutation of SerD affecting the N‐terminus of serrate

The Serrate gene encodes an essential ligand for Notch signaling used during development of the adult wing and other systems in Drosophila melanogaster. Animals heterozygous or homozygous for the SerD allele of this gene display characteristic defects in wing margin formation. We have characterized a spontaneously arising intragenic suppressor of SerD named Ser+r83k. Homozygous double mutant Ser+r83k, SerD animals are viable, with normal wing margin formation, but display an aberrant outspread wing posture. The two mutations can be separated by meiotic recombination which restores the SerD mutant phenotype and demonstrates that in the absence of SerD the Ser+r83k mutation is homozygous lethal. These two mutations therefore display allelic compensation. Molecular analysis reveals a single C‐T transition mutation within the 5′ (protein encoding region) of the Ser+r83k transcript. This mutation is predicted to change Arginine176 to Cysteine, possibly leading to altered interactions with the Notch receptor. genesis 39:42–51, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evaluation of PCR for detection of Campylobacter in a national broiler surveillance programme in Denmark.

AIMS To develop and evaluate a rapid and sensitive PCR method for detection of Campylobacter spp. directly from chicken faeces. METHODS AND RESULTS DNA was isolated from faecal swabs using magnetic beads followed by PCR using a prealiquoted PCR mixture, which had been stored in the freezer. The result could be obtained in <6 h. The method was evaluated on 1282 samples from the Danish surveillance programme for Campylobacter in broilers by comparing with conventional culture. The diagnostic specificity was calculated to be 0.99. The detection limits of the PCR method and of the conventional culture were compared using spiked control material. For both methods the detection limit was 36 CFU ml-1. CONCLUSIONS It was concluded that the PCR proved useful for detection of Campylobacter in pooled cloacal swabs from broilers. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY By taking cloacal samples in the broiler flocks the technique can be used as an important tool for planning and directing the broiler slaughtering process. This will be a great help in minimizing the risk of contaminating Campylobacter-free flocks at the abattoir.
Developmental effects of oral exposure to diethylstilbestrol on mouse placenta

Placental growth and function are of biological significance in that placental tissue promotes prenatal life and the maintenance of pregnancy. Exposure to synthetic estrogens causes embryonic mortality and placental growth restriction in mice. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on placenta in mice. DES at 1, 5, 10 or 15 µg kg–1 day–1, or 17β‐estradiol (E2) at 50 µg kg–1 day–1, was administered orally to ICR mice on days 4 through to 8 of gestation. Expression of ERα, ERβ, ERRβ or ERRγ mRNA in the junctional or labyrinth zone of the placentas on day 13 was assessed using RT‐PCR, as well as the embrynic mortality, embryonic and placental weight, histological changes of labyrinth and ultrastructural changes of the trophoblast giant cells (TGCs). Embryo mortalities in the DES 10 and 15 µg kg–1 day–1 groups were markedly increased. No significant changes in embryonic and placental weight were observed in any DES‐ or E2‐exposed groups. Expression of ERα mRNA in the junctional zone with male embryos in the 5 µg kg–1 day–1 group was significantly higher than that in the control, whereas expression was not determined in the 15 µg kg–1 day–1 group. Histological observation revealed that the placentas exposed to DES at 10 µg kg–1 day–1 lacked the developing labyrinth. Ultrastructural observation of the TGCs showed poor rough‐surfaced endoplasmic reticulum in the DES 10 µg kg–1 day–1 group. The present data suggest that developmental changes induced by DES may be related to interference with the nutrition and oxygen exchange between mother and embryo or decreased protein synthesis, resulting in a high frequency of embryo mortality. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diagnosis of Unsuspected Gamma Hydroxy-butyrate Poisoning by Proton NMR

Gamma hydroxy-butyrate (GHB) is a recent and popular illicit drug considered as an alternative to Ecstasy and amphetamines that has been implicated as a ‘‘date rape’’ drug. Its adverse effects include coma and respiratory depression but it is not detected by routine drug screening (1). In the present case, unsuspected GHB poisoning was detected by proton NMR. A 55-year-old woman with a long psychiatric history was found unconscious. She was intubated without sedatives and mechanical ventilation was initiated. On arrival at the intensive care unit, she was still comatose with no reaction to pain; pupils were intermediate and reactive. Her blood pressure was normal and heart rate was 98 bpm. Flumazenil intravenous (IV) had no evident effect. Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed no abnormality. Arterial blood gases while the patient was mechanically ventilated with 80% FiO2 showed pH 7.20, Paco2 4.7 kPa, and Pao2 31.1 kPa. Additional laboratory data included serum potassium 3.9 mmol/L, bicarbonate 13 mmol/L, creatinine 87 μmol/L, and anion gap 30 mmol/L. Urine ketones were undetected and plasma lactate was normal. Qualitative urine drug assay was negative for benzodiazepine, barbiturates, and tricyclic antidepressants. Blood and urinary samples were set for proton NMR. Spectra were acquired at 400 MHz on a ‘‘Bruker AM400’’ spectrometer (Bruker, Fällanden, Germany). In urine, the 3 peaks for GHB were identified corresponding to concentrations of 1.28 g/L (Fig. 1). The same peaks were shown on the plasma sample corresponding to concentrations of
Sequencing Analysis of a 36·8 kb Fragment of Yeast Chromosome XV Reveals 26 Open Reading Frames Including SEC63, CDC31, SUG2, GCD1, RBL2, PNT1, PAC1 and VPH1

The complete sequence of a 36 775 bp DNA segment located on the right arm of chromosome XV of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been determined and analysed. The sequence encodes 26 open reading frames of at least 100 amino acids. Eight of these correspond to known genes, whereas 18 correspond to new genes. The sequence has been deposited in the EMBL databank under Accession Numbers: Z75154, Z75155, Z75156, Z75157, Z75158, Z75159, Z75160, Z75161, Z75162, Z75163, Z75164, Z75165, Z75166, Z75167, Z75168, Z75169, Z75170, Z75171, Z75172, Z75173, Z75174, Z75175, Z75176, Z75177, Z75178, Z75179. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A NMOS bulk voltage trimming offset calibration technique for a 6-bit 5GS/s Flash ADC

In this work a new high-resolution offset cancellation technique based on bulk-voltage trimming is presented, which can be applied to Flash analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). The offset calibration is achieved by digitally adjusting the bulk voltages of the differential pairs of the preamplifier consisting of NMOS transistors in a triple well technology. Furthermore this technique minimizes the power consumption using only one power supply. A 6-bit, 5GS/s Flash ADC is implemented in 1.2V 90nm CMOS process. Using proposed calibration technique, an input-referred sigma offset of 0.09 LSB compared to 1.8 LSB without the calibration is achieved.
Enzymes of the mandelate pathway in Bacterium N.C.I.B. 8250.

1. Bacterium N.C. I.B. 8250 was grown on dl-mandelate, benzyl alcohol, benzoyl-formate, benzaldehyde and benzoate and also on 2-hydroxy, 4-hydroxy, 3,4-dihydroxy and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy analogues of these compounds. The enzymic complements of the cells were determined and the specificities of some of the enzymes examined. 2. Growth on mandelate or benzoylformate induces l-mandelate dehydrogenase, benzoylformate decarboxylase, benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase and a heat-stable as well as a heat-labile benzaldehyde dehydrogenase. Growth on benzyl alcohol or benzaldehyde induces benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase and the heat-labile benzaldehyde dehydrogenase. 3. The enzymes of the mandelate-to-benzoate pathway are non-specifically active on, and induced by, all the substituted analogues that support growth. 4. Benzoate oxidase is induced by growth on benzoate or on 2-hydroxybenzoate. 2-Hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoate O-demethylase are induced only by growth on homologous substrates. 5. The results of the investigation are discussed with regard to the possible regulation of the enzyme systems.
A Study of Three-Level Neutral Point Clamped Inverter Topology

The three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter has become matured and widely used topology in high-power medium-voltage applications due to several advantages associated with it as compared to other available multilevel topologies. This paper presents a brief review on operation of three-level NPC inverter. Different modulation strategies used in NPC inverter is also discussed. The problem of neutral point voltage balancing with its solution is presented. Finally, the simulation and experimental results for three-level NPC inverter are given which validates the proper operation of this topology.
Integrated photonic platform based on semipolar InGaN/GaN multiple section laser diodes

The challenges to realizing Ill-nitride photonic integrated circuit (PIC) are discussed. Utilizing InGaN-based multi-section laser diode (LD) on semipolar GaN substrate, the seamless on-chip integration of III-nitride waveguide photodetector (WPD) in the visible regime has been demonstrated.
Publication and Proposed Revision of ANSI/IEEE Standard 176-1987 "ANSI/IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity"

HE IEEE Standards Board has established a policy to T have every IEEE Standard reviewed by the appropriate committee and technical community every five years. The result of this review is a request to reaffirm (renew unchanged), revise (make minor or major changes), or withdraw (remove support and recognition). Since more than five years have elapsed since the last revision in 1987, we have had to obtain extensions from the IEEE Standards Board. The appropriate committee for the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society is the Standards Activities Standing Committee of the Society Administrative Committee. This committee is currently chaired by Arthur Ballato. IEEE Standards are advisory in nature and are never requirements. This wholly voluntary use of IEEE Standards is described in the second page of ANSVIEEE Standard 176-1987 and in the second page of ANSMEEE Standard 180-1986, which was printed in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ULTRASONICS,
Recognizing surreal compositions in digitized paintings

This paper addresses the problem of recognizing illogical object juxtaposing in the specific form of classifying digitized paintings in art movements. More precisely we distinguish between realism and surrealism movements. We propose a system based on feature extraction and machine learning that is able to understand the scene in the digitized paintings and to classify the art works from the two movements. We will show that global GIST features being able to access the image content, complemented by random forest classifier, give good accuracy for this task.
Managing Semantic Content for the Web

By associating meaning with content, the Semantic Web will facilitate search, interoperability, and the composition of complex applications. The paper discusses the Semantic Content Organization and Retrieval Engine (SCORE, see vvww.voquette.com), which is based on research transferred from the University of Georgia's Large Scale Distributed Information Systems. SCORE belongs to a new generation of technologies for the emerging Semantic Web. It provides facilities to define ontological components that software agents can maintain. These agents use regular expression based rules in conjunction with various semantic techniques to extract ontology-driven metadata from structured and semistructured content. Automatic classification and information-extraction techniques augment these results and also let the system deal with unstructured text.
Impedance modeling and analysis of AC-DC modular cascade system

With the extensive development of hybrid AC-DC micro-grid, stability issues in hybrid AC-DC micro-grid are the major concern. As the core module of AC-DC micro-grid, the stability analysis of AC-DC modular cascade system also has drawn more attention. This paper presents the stability analysis of AC-DC modular cascade system based on the impedance analysis method, which has been proved to be an effective tool for the stability assessment of power systems. In this paper, AC-DC cascade system is modeled as Z + Y type system and the impedance ratio type criterion is applied to analyse the system stability. Experiment on a real time digital simulator (RT-LAB) verifies the impedance-based stability criterion for cascade system.
A quantitative analysis of adverse radiation effects following Gamma Knife radiosurgery for arteriovenous malformations.

OBJECT The authors review outcomes following Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and their correlation to postradiosurgery adverse radiation effects (AREs). METHODS From a prospective institutional review board-approved database, the authors identified patients with a minimum of 2 years of follow-up and thin-slice T2-weighted MRI sequences for volumetric analysis. A total of 105 AVM patients were included. The authors analyzed the incidence and quantitative changes in AREs as a function of time after GKRS. Statistical analysis was performed to identify factors related to ARE development and changes in the ARE index. RESULTS The median clinical follow-up was 53.8 months (range 24-212.4 months), and the median MRI follow-up was 36.8 months (range 24-212.4 months). 47.6% of patients had an AVM with a Spetzler-Martin grade ≥ III. The median administered margin and maximum doses were 22 and 40 Gy, respectively. The overall obliteration rate was 70.5%. Of patients who showed complete obliteration, 74.4% developed AREs within 4-6 months after GKRS. Late-onset AREs (i.e., > 12 months) correlated to a failure to obliterate the nidus. 58.1% of patients who developed appreciable AREs (defined as ARE index > 8) proceeded to have a complete nidus obliteration. Appreciable AREs were found to be influenced by AVM nidus volume > 3 ml, lobar location, number of draining veins and feeding arteries, prior embolization, and higher margin dose. On the other hand, a minimum ARE index > 8 predicted obliteration (p = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS ARE development after radiosurgery follows a temporal pattern peaking at 7-12 months after stereotactic radiosurgery. The ARE index serves as an important adjunct tool in patient follow-up and outcome prediction.
Quality of plasma sampled by different methods for multiple blood sampling in mice

For oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in mice, multiple blood samples need to be taken within a few hours from conscious mice. Today, a number of essential parameters may be analysed on very small amounts of plasma, thus reducing the number of animals to be used. It is, however, crucial to obtain high-quality plasma or serum in order to avoid increased data variation and thereby increased group sizes. The aim of this study was to find the most valid and reproducible method for withdrawal of blood samples when performing OGTT. Four methods, i.e. amputation of the tail tip, lateral tail incision, puncture of the tail tip and periorbital puncture, were selected for testing at 21°C and 30°C after a pilot study. For each method, four blood samples were drawn from C57BL/6 mice at 30 min intervals. The presence of clots was registered, haemolysis was monitored spectrophotometrically at 430 nm, and it was noted whether it was possible to achieve 30–50 μL blood. Furthermore, a small amount of extra blood was sampled before and after the four samplings for testing of whether the sampling induced a blood glucose change over the 90 min test period. All methods resulted in acceptable amounts of plasma. Clots were observed in a sparse number of samples with no significant differences between the methods. Periorbital puncture did not lead to any haemolysed samples at all, and lateral tail incision resulted in only a few haemolysed samples, while puncture or amputation of the tail tip induced haemolysis in a significant number of samples. All methods, except for puncture of the tail tip, influenced blood glucose. Periorbital puncture resulted in a dramatic increase in blood glucose of up to 3.5 mmol/L indicating that it is stressful. Although lateral tail incision also had some impact on blood glucose, it seems to be the method of choice for OGTT, as it is likely to produce a clot-free non-haemolysed sample, while periorbital sampling, although producing a high quality of sample, induces such a dramatic change in blood glucose that it should not be applied for OGTT in mice.
FIRST PART OF THE FILTER WITH FUZZY RULES

Processing of images plays a vital role in any field such as medical and satellite applications. While capturing or transmission of images, effect of noise plays a predominant role. A filter is presented with fuzzy rules for additive noise removal from color images. The filter consists of two parts. The first part computes the distances among the color components of the center pixel and its neighboring pixels. The second part of the filter calculates the color components differences to retain the fine details of the image. One distance measure as the Minkowski’s distance and other as the Absolute distance is selected and compared their performances using Peak Signal to Noise Ratio ( ) PSNR and Mean Square Error ( ) MSE . In this paper the performance of the fuzzy noise filter with two distance measures is compared by changing the noise ratio. The performance of these filters is compared with traditional filters.