Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bringing Top-End Endoscopy to Regional Australia: Hurdles and Benefits

This paper focuses on recent experience in setting up an endoscopy unit in a large regional hospital. The mix of endoscopy in three smaller hospitals, draining into the large hospital endoscopy unit, has enabled the authors to comment on practical and achievable steps towards creating best practice endoscopy in the regional setting. The challenges of using what is available from an infrastructural equipment and personnel setting are discussed. In a fast moving field such as endoscopy, new techniques have an important role to play, and some are indeed cost effective and have been shown to improve patient care. Some of the new techniques and technologies are easily applicable to smaller endoscopy units and can be easily integrated into the practice of working endoscopists. Cost effectiveness and patient care should always be the final arbiter of what is essential, as opposed to what is nice to have. Close cooperation between referral and peripheral centers should also guide these decisions.
Neuropathic Pain in the Perioperative Period

The presence of neuropathic pain in the postoperative period may be associated with unnecessary suffering, particularly if the diagnosis is not made and treatment modalities chosen are ineffective. It is likely that inadequate management of acute pain may set the scene for progression to a chronic pain state. The underlying neurobiological mechanisms whereby short-term stimuli may lead to long-term plasticity and structural changes in the nociceptive pathways are now being unraveled. The possibility arises that acute, intensive intervention may avoid or significantly reduce the development of these changes and subsequent chronic pain. Early diagnosis and treatment becomes a priority. There is a need for further research in this area to determine whether or not such theoretical potential can be turned to therapeutic advantage.
Nucleotide Release Provides a Mechanism for Airway Surface Liquid Homeostasis*

Nucleotides within the airway surface liquid (ASL) regulate airway epithelial ion transport rates by Ca2+ -and protein kinase C-dependent mechanisms via activation of specific P2Y receptors. Extracellular adenine nucleotides also serve as precursors for adenosine, which promotes cyclic AMP-mediated activation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator chloride channel via A2b adenosine receptors. A biological role for extracellular ATP in ASL volume homeostasis has been suggested by the demonstration of regulated ATP release from airway epithelia. However, nucleotide hydrolysis at the airway surface makes it difficult to assess the magnitude of ATP release and the relative abundance of adenyl purines and, hence, to define their biological functions. We have combined ASL microsampling and high performance liquid chromatography analysis of fluorescent 1,N6-ethenoadenine derivatives to measure adenyl purines in ASL. We found that adenosine, AMP, and ADP accumulated in high concentrations relative to ATP within the ASL covering polarized primary human normal or cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells. By using immortalized epithelial cell monolndogenayers that eously express a luminal A2b adenosine receptor, we found that basal as well asforskolin-promoted cyclic AMP production was reduced by exogenous adenosine deaminase, suggesting that A2b receptors sense endogenous adenosine within the ASL. The physiological role of adenosine was further established by illustrating that adenosine removal or inhibition of adenosine receptors in primary cultures impaired ASL volume regulation. Our data reveal a complex pattern of nucleotides/nucleosides in ASL under resting conditions and suggest that adenosine may play a key role in regulating ASL volume homeostasis.
Autophagy Gene Variant IRGM −261T Contributes to Protection from Tuberculosis Caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis but Not by M. africanum Strains

The human immunity-related GTPase M (IRGM) has been shown to be critically involved in regulating autophagy as a means of disposing cytosolic cellular structures and of reducing the growth of intracellular pathogens in vitro. This includes Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is in agreement with findings indicating that M. tuberculosis translocates from the phagolysosome into the cytosol of infected cells, where it becomes exposed to autophagy. To test whether IRGM plays a role in human infection, we studied IRGM gene variants in 2010 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and 2346 unaffected controls. Mycobacterial clades were classified by spoligotyping, IS6110 fingerprinting and genotyping of the pks1/15 deletion. The IRGM genotype −261TT was negatively associated with TB caused by M. tuberculosis (OR 0.66, CI 0.52–0.84, Pnominal 0.0009, Pcorrected 0.0045) and not with TB caused by M. africanum or M. bovis (OR 0.95, CI 0.70–1.30. P 0.8). Further stratification for mycobacterial clades revealed that the protective effect applied only to M. tuberculosis strains with a damaged pks1/15 gene which is characteristic for the Euro-American (EUAM) subgroup of M. tuberculosis (OR 0.63, CI 0.49–0.81, Pnominal 0.0004, Pcorrected 0.0019). Our results, including those of luciferase reporter gene assays with the IRGM variants −261C and −261T, suggest a role for IRGM and autophagy in protection of humans against natural infection with M. tuberculosis EUAM clades. Moreover, they support in vitro findings indicating that TB lineages capable of producing a distinct mycobacterial phenolic glycolipid that occurs exclusively in strains with an intact pks1/15 gene inhibit innate immune responses in which IRGM contributes to the control of autophagy. Finally, they raise the possibility that the increased frequency of the IRGM −261TT genotype may have contributed to the establishment of M. africanum as a pathogen in the West African population.
Tunable Bandpass Filter with Varactors Based on the CRLH-TL Metamaterial Structure

This paper presents a tunable bandpass filter based on the varactor-loaded composite right- and left-handed transmission line (CRLH-TL). The proposed filter is composed of one CRLH-TL unit cell, which corresponds to the third-order bandpass filter. The tunable bandpass filter is designed using only lumped-elements. The use of lumped elements saves space and lowers the fabrication cost. The size of the proposed tunable bandpass filter is 17 mm × 5 mm, neglecting the feed lines and DC lines. All of the varactors are controlled by one DC bias. The center frequency of the bandpass filter can be controlled by varying the value of the varactors. The tunable range of the center frequency is from 412.5 to 670 MHz. The insertion loss is less than 3 dB, the return loss is more than 10 dB in the passband.
Modelling the effects of environmental stressors on pig performance

The performance o f pigs reared commercially is often considerably below that of their potential as seen under good experimental conditions. At least some o f this decrease in performance can be attributed to environmental stressors. The aims and corresponding chapters of this thesis were to; (1) Choose a suitable predictor o f potential pig growth. (2) Develop a deterministic dynamic model to predict the effects of genotype and the nutritional and thermal environments on the voluntary feed intake, growth and body composition of growing pigs. (3) Test and evaluate the model developed in chapter 2 against experimental data from the literature. (4) Quantify the effects o f social stressors on the performance of growing pigs and incorporate these into the previously developed model, including variation in ability to cope with encountered social stressors. (5) Extend the model to deal with individual pig variation. (6) Compare the variation predicted by the population model with that observed under experimental conditions. The Gompertz function was chosen as a predictor of potential pig growth and as the starting point for model simulation, i.e., to provide an upper limit to growth. It uses few parameters, holds over a wide degree of maturity and the values o f its parameters can be estimated simply. Unconstrained voluntary feed intake, predicted from the current state o f the pig and composition o f the feed, is that required to achieve potential growth. Actual food intake and the consequent gain were predicted taking into account the capacity o f the animal to consume bulk and its ability to maintain thermoneutrality. The physical environment, described by the ambient temperature, wind speed, floor type and humidity, sets the maximum and minimum heat the pig is able to lose and determines whether the environment is hot, cold or thermoneutral. Model predictions were generally in good quantitative agreement with the observed data over the wide range of treatments tested and give support to the models value and accuracy. The social environment was described by group size, space allowance, feeder space allowance and the occurrence or not o f mixing. All o f these factors may act as stressors and it is assumed in the model that they decrease performance by lowering the capacity of the animal to attain its potential. The parameter EX accounts
Detection of persistent Plasmodium spp. infections in Ugandan children after artemether-lumefantrine treatment

SUMMARY During a longitudinal study investigating the dynamics of malaria in Ugandan lakeshore communities, a consistently high malaria prevalence was observed in young children despite regular treatment. To explore the short-term performance of artemether-lumefantrine (AL), a pilot investigation into parasite carriage after treatment(s) was conducted in Bukoba village. A total of 163 children (aged 2–7 years) with a positive blood film and rapid antigen test were treated with AL; only 8·7% of these had elevated axillary temperatures. On day 7 and then on day 17, 40 children (26·3%) and 33 (22·3%) were positive by microscopy, respectively. Real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that multi-species Plasmodium infections were common at baseline, with 41·1% of children positive for Plasmodium falciparum/Plasmodium malariae, 9·2% for P. falciparum/ Plasmodium ovale spp. and 8·0% for all three species. Moreover, on day 17, 39·9% of children infected with falciparum malaria at baseline were again positive for the same species, and 9·2% of those infected with P. malariae at baseline were positive for P. malariae. Here, chronic multi-species malaria infections persisted in children after AL treatment(s). Better point-of-care diagnostics for non-falciparum infections are needed, as well as further investigation of AL performance in asymptomatic individuals.
Norovirus infection in immunocompromised hosts.

Acute gastroenteritis caused by noroviruses often has a duration of 2-3 days and is characteristically self-limiting. In contrast, chronic infection caused by noroviruses in immunocompromised individuals can last from weeks to years, making clinical management difficult. The mechanisms by which noroviruses establish persistent infection, and the role of immunocompromised hosts as a reservoir for noroviruses in the general human population, are not known. However, study of this patient cohort may lead to new insights into norovirus biology and approaches to treatment.
Propagation-based social-aware replication for social video contents

Online social network has reshaped the way how video contents are generated, distributed and consumed on today's Internet. Given the massive number of videos generated and shared in online social networks, it has been popular for users to directly access video contents in their preferred social network services. It is intriguing to study the service provision of social video contents for global users with satisfactory quality-of-experience. In this paper, we conduct large-scale measurement of a real-world online social network system to study the propagation of the social video contents. We have summarized important characteristics from the video propagation patterns, including social locality, geographical locality and temporal locality. Motivated by the measurement insights, we propose a propagation-based social-aware replication framework using a hybrid edge-cloud and peer-assisted architecture, namely PSAR, to serve the social video contents. Our replication strategies in PSAR are based on the design of three propagation-based replication indices, including a geographic influence index and a content propagation index to guide how the edge-cloud servers backup the videos, and a social influence index to guide how peers cache the videos for their friends. By incorporating these replication indices into our system design, PSAR has significantly improved the replication performance and the video service quality. Our trace-driven experiments further demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of PSAR, which improves the local download ratio in the edge-cloud replication by 30%, and the local cache hit ratio in the peer-assisted replication by 40%, against traditional approaches.
Treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells with Imatinib (STI571) Impairs p53 Accumulation in Response to DNA Damage

Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is induced by the Bcr-Abl fusion protein. Inhibition of Bcr-Abl by STI571 is widely used to treat CML patients. Unlike in most cancer types, the frequency of p53 mutations in CML is low. Here, we investigated the effect of STI571 treatment of CML cells on p53 regulation. Exposure of CML cells, including established cell lines and freshly isolated cells from patients, to STI571 reduced p53 protein levels, and severely impaired its accumulation in response to DNA damage. This may be explained by the status of p53 serine 20 phosphorylation. In non-stressed CML cells, serine 20 of p53 is constitutively phosphorylated by Chk1, and is inhibited by STI571. In response to DNA damage, however, this phosphorylation is mediated by Chk1 and Chk2, and is only partially inhibited by STI571. CML cells expressing wild-type p53 are more resistant to treatment with STI571, but moderately more sensitive to DNA damage, than CML cells lacking p53. An enhanced induction of apoptosis by STI571 and DNA damage is observed in CML cells bearing wild-type p53, but not in cells lacking functional p53. This implies that the status of p53 may affect the response of CML cells to this combined treatment.
Asynchronous distributed optimization using a randomized alternating direction method of multipliers

Consider a set of networked agents endowed with private cost functions and seeking to find a consensus on the minimizer of the aggregate cost. A new class of random asynchronous distributed optimization methods is introduced. The methods generalize the standard Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) to an asynchronous setting where isolated components of the network are activated in an uncoordinated fashion. The algorithms rely on the introduction of randomized Gauss-Seidel iterations of Douglas-Rachford splitting leading to an asynchronous algorithm based on the ADMM. Convergence to the sought minimizers is provided under mild connectivity conditions.
Shape-based similarity K nearest neighbor query for trajectory of moving objects

Trajectory data are widely used in location-dependent systems (e.g., traffic control systems, meteorology monitoring systems, mobile computing systems, etc.) For these application systems, to find similar trajectories of moving objects is an important and interesting issue. In this paper, a data model of trajectories based discrete grid cells is given, and the similarity between trajectories is defined as a new distance function. Furthermore, we propose an efficient algorithm for shape-based similarity k nearest neighbor query. Simulation experiments show the proposed query processing method has better performance than that of existent methods.
Characterization of $Cdv/dt$ Induced Power Loss in Synchronous Buck DC–DC Converters

Good understanding of power loss in a high frequency synchronous buck converter is important for design optimization of both discrete and system level. Most of the power losses are relatively easy to quantify. The exception is the power loss associated with Cdv/dt induced turn on of the low-side metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (synchronous rectifier). This paper characterizes the Cdv/dt induced power loss in two ways. First, detailed device characterization, in-circuit testing, and modeling are used for a comparative loss calculation. This method offers detailed loss breakdown but requires specialized test equipment and is rather complicated and time consuming. A simple method is then introduced to accurately quantify the Cdv/dt loss. With this method, the Cdv/dt induced power loss on synchronous buck converters at different operation conditions can be readily assessed. The impacts of Cdv/dt induced loss on different applications are addressed. Finally, the design tradeoffs at both discrete and system levels are discussed.
ALCAM/CD166 is overexpressed in colorectal carcinoma and correlates with shortened patient survival

Background: Activated leucocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) has been implicated in tumorigenesis and tumour progression of malignant melanoma and prostate cancer. Aims: To clarify the expression patterns of ALCAM in colon cancer and to correlate these with clinicopathological parameters, including patient survival. Methods: One hundred and eleven colorectal carcinomas were immunostained for ALCAM (clone MOG/07) using a standard detection system. Cytoplasmic and membranous immunoreactivity were scored semiquantitatively. Fisher’s exact test, χ2 test for trends, Kaplan–Meier analysis, and Cox’s regression were applied. Results: In colorectal cancer, 58.6% and 30.6% of cases showed strong cytoplasmic and membranous expression of ALCAM, respectively. No significant correlation with patient age, tumour grade, stage, or nodal status was apparent. In survival analyses, membranous ALCAM expression correlated significantly (Cox’s regression, p = 0.028; relative risk, 2.3) with shortened patient survival. Conclusions: ALCAM is frequently upregulated in colorectal cancer and is a new independent prognostic marker, underscoring the importance of ALCAM in tumour progression in this disease.
Contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded duplexsonography in stroke patients with limited bone windows.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Thickening of the temporal bone in stroke-age patients may obviate sonographic evaluation of the circle of Willis in 20% to 30% of patients. We assessed the diagnostic efficacy of contrast-enhanced transcranial color-coded duplexsonography (TCCD) for noninvasive evaluation of the circle of Willis in stroke patients with limited bone windows. METHODS Of 171 consecutive patients who presented with ischemic symptoms in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory, 49 patients (32 female, 17 male; age range, 70.5+/-10.6 years) had no detectable colorflow signals from the circle of Willis by TCCD because of limited acoustic windows. These 49 patients received an IV injection of a sonographic contrast-enhancing agent, Levovist (Schering; Berlin, Germany), and were re-examined. Correlative imaging studies of the circle of Willis were obtained in 42 of 49 of these patients. RESULTS In 38 of 49 patients, contrast-enhanced TCCD enabled full visualization of the circle of Willis bilaterally; in an additional five patients, contrast-enhanced TCCD revealed only the portion of the circle of Willis ipsilateral to the probe through one temporal bone. In six of these 43 patients, contrast-enhanced TCCD showed MCA stenosis and MCA occlusion in three; three of the six cases of MCA stenosis and all three cases of the MCA occlusion were found on the symptomatic side. In six of 49 patients, no colorflow signals were obtained after contrast enhancement. All contrast-enhanced TCCD findings were confirmed by CT angiography, transfemoral digital subtraction angiography, MR angiography, or a combination of all three correlative studies. Levovist produced no serious adverse events. CONCLUSION In stroke-age patients with limited acoustic windows, contrast-enhancement with Levovist can markedly increase the sensitivity of TCCD and increase the detection of clinically relevant intracranial arterial disease.
Trajectory tracking of a self-balancing two-wheeled robot using backstepping sliding-mode control and fuzzy basis function networks

This paper presents an adaptive backstepping sliding-mode motion controller using fuzzy basis function networks (FBFN) method for trajectory tracking of a self-balancing two-wheeled robot (SBTWR) with parameter variations. A decoupling method is proposed to decouple the robot's dynamic model such that the tracking controller can be synthesized using backstepping and sliding-mode control in both kinematic and dynamic levels. The FBFN is employed to on-line learn the uncertain parts of the tracking controller, thus achieving adaptive capability. Simulations results indicate that the proposed adaptive tracking controller is capable of providing satisfactory trajectory tracking performance.
WSN Message Authentication Code Based on Chaos and XOR-Encryption

Wireless sensor network (WSN) is a kind of energy-constrained network. If any fake communication request is not recognized, that will lead to network security problems and additional energy consumption of the nodes. A good message authentication code (MAC) will help to solve this problem effectively. In this paper, we improve the MAC algorithm by using the technology of chaos and XOR-encryption. The advanced MAC generator can be divided into the sub-key generator and the MAC structure. The advanced MAC algorithm provides not only high data confidentiality but also message authentication functions. The sub-key generator provides excellent random performance and solves the periodicity defects of RC4. That extends the lifetime of “Seed-Key” and to further reduce the energy consumption. The structure is designed for the advanced MAC specially to meet the needs of WSN applications. It can avoid “Replay Attack” effectively when compared with CBC-MAC. The improved MAC algorithm provides simpler calculation and sufficiently reliable security performance. We have also tested the advanced MAC generator by using “Pearson’s Chi-squared goodness-offit test”. The test results reveal that the MAC sequences generated by the advanced MAC can provide enough security performance. Copyright © 2013 IFSA.
A Meta-Analysis of Soccer Injuries on Artificial Turf and Natural Grass

The goal of this investigation was to determine if playing or training on third-generation artificial turf (AT) surfaces increases the incidence rate of injuries compared to natural grass (NG) surfaces. This was accomplished by a meta-analysis performed on previously published research. Eight studies met the criteria of competitive soccer players, participation on both surfaces, and presentation of both exposure time and injury occurrence. Exposure time and injury incidence values were used to generate injury rate ratios (IRRs, AT/NG) for all injuries as well as specific injuries. Subgroup analyses were also performed by condition (match or training), gender, and age (youth or adult). The overall IRR was 0.86 (P < 0.05) suggesting a lower injury risk on AT than NG. However, there was considerable heterogeneity between studies. Analyses of individual injuries and subgroups found that in many cases IRR values were significantly less than 1.0. In no case was the IRR significantly greater than 1.0. Based on this, it appears that the risk of sustaining an injury on AT under some conditions might be lowered compared to NG. However, until more is known about how issues such as altered playing styles affect injury incidence, it is difficult to make firm conclusions regarding the influence of AT on player safety.