Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Massive hemorrhage management–a best evidence topic report

Introduction Massive hemorrhage remains a major cause of potentially preventable deaths. Better control of bleeding could improve survival rates by 10%–20%. Transfusion intervention concepts have been formulated in order to minimize acute traumatic coagulopathy. These interventions still have not been standardized and vary among medical centers. Materials and Methods Based on a literature search using free term keywords and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) index, we analyzed published articles addressing massive hemorrhage, component therapy, fresh whole blood, and fibrinogen from the year 2000 onward, in journals with impact factor >1.000, in Medline, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The evidence was grouped into topics including laboratory testing and transfusion interventions/viscoelastic assays vs standard laboratory tests, the effect of component therapy on patient outcome, the effect of warm fresh whole blood on patient outcome, and the effects of fibrinogen in severe bleeding. The obtained information was compared, evaluated, confronted, and was focused on to present an adequate and individual-based massive hemorrhage management approach. Results Viscoelastic whole-blood assays are superior to standard coagulation blood tests for the identification of coagulopathy and for guiding decisions on appropriate therapy in patients with severe bleeding. Replacement of plasma, red blood cells, platelets, and fibrinogen in a ratio of 1:1:1:1 has appeared to be the best substitution for lost whole blood. There is no evidence that cryoprecipitate improves the outcome of patients with severe hemorrhage. Current literature promotes the transfusion of warm fresh whole blood, which seems to be superior to the component therapy in certain clinical situations. Some authors recommend that fibrinogen and other coagulation factors be administered according to the viscoelastic attributes of the blood clot. Conclusion This best-evidence topic report brings comprehensive information about massive hemorrhage management.
GLP-1 receptor stimulation preserves primary cortical and dopaminergic neurons in cellular and rodent models of stroke and Parkinsonism

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an endogenous insulinotropic peptide secreted from the gastrointestinal tract in response to food intake. It enhances pancreatic islet β-cell proliferation and glucose-dependent insulin secretion, and lowers blood glucose and food intake in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A long-acting GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist, exendin-4 (Ex-4), is the first of this new class of antihyperglycemia drugs approved to treat T2DM. GLP-1Rs are coupled to the cAMP second messenger pathway and, along with pancreatic cells, are expressed within the nervous system of rodents and humans, where receptor activation elicits neurotrophic actions. We detected GLP-1R mRNA expression in both cultured embryonic primary cerebral cortical and ventral mesencephalic (dopaminergic) neurons. These cells are vulnerable to hypoxia- and 6-hydroxydopamine–induced cell death, respectively. We found that GLP-1 and Ex-4 conferred protection in these cells, but not in cells from Glp1r knockout (-/-) mice. Administration of Ex-4 reduced brain damage and improved functional outcome in a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion stroke model. Ex-4 treatment also protected dopaminergic neurons against degeneration, preserved dopamine levels, and improved motor function in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) mouse model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Our findings demonstrate that Ex-4 can protect neurons against metabolic and oxidative insults, and they provide preclinical support for the therapeutic potential for Ex-4 in the treatment of stroke and PD.
Generation and Characterization of Smac/DIABLO-Deficient Mice

ABSTRACT The mitochondrial proapoptotic protein Smac/DIABLO has recently been shown to potentiate apoptosis by counteracting the antiapoptotic function of the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). In response to apoptotic stimuli, Smac is released into the cytosol and promotes caspase activation by binding to IAPs, thereby blocking their function. These observations have suggested that Smac is a new regulator of apoptosis. To better understand the physiological function of Smac in normal cells, we generated Smac-deficient (Smac−/− ) mice by using homologous recombination in embryonic stem (ES) cells. Smac−/− mice were viable, grew, and matured normally and did not show any histological abnormalities. Although the cleavage in vitro of procaspase-3 was inhibited in lysates of Smac−/− cells, all types of cultured Smac−/− cells tested responded normally to all apoptotic stimuli applied. There were also no detectable differences in Fas-mediated apoptosis in the liver in vivo. Our data strongly suggest the existence of a redundant molecule or molecules capable of compensating for a loss of Smac function.
Schreibstörungen bei Morbus Parkinson

Zusammenfassung Die Beeinträchtigung der Handschrift stellt ein häufig auftretendes Symptom im Krankheitsverlauf von Parkinson-Syndromen dar. Aufgrund der Basalgangliendegeneration sind automatische Schreibbewegungen erschwert, oftmals sind Mikrografie, Veränderungen der Schreibgeschwindigkeit und -beschleunigung sowie der Schreibflüssigkeit erkennbar. Zu den Einflussfaktoren auf schreibmotorische Leistungen zählen das Alter, gleichzeitige Dual-Task-Aufgaben sowie feinmotorische Leistungen. Einen alltagsrelevanten Effekt auf die Fähigkeit zu schreiben zeigen dopaminerge Medikamente sowie neurostimulative Verfahren wie die tiefe Hirnstimulation und repetitive transkranielle Magnetstimulation. Speziell auf eine Verbesserung schreibmotorischer Leistungen im klinischen Alltag zielt ergotherapeutisches Schreibtraining anhand Erprobung individueller Strategien. Computergestützte Bewegungsanalysen wie mit der Software CSWin ermöglichen dabei eine detaillierte Analyse von Schreibstörungen und deren gezielte Therapie. Ein positiver Effekt auf schreibmotorische Leistungen von Parkinson-Patienten konnte durch den Einsatz visueller Hinweisreize (Cues) sowie externen Feedbacks aufgezeigt werden.
ORAL VACCINATION AGAINST RACCOON RABIES: LANDSCAPE HETEROGENEITY AND TIMING OF DISTRIBUTION INFLUENCE WILDLIFE CONTACT RATES WITH THE ONRAB VACCINE BAIT

Aerial distribution of oral vaccine baits is one of the available strategies for controlling the spread of infectious wildlife diseases. This technique has commonly been used to control rabies in wild carnivores and, together with other techniques, was used to immunize wild populations of raccoons (Procyon lotor) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) after the detection of the first rabid raccoon in the province of Quebec, Canada, in 2006. Vaccine bait distribution was conducted over large areas where agricultural land is dominant but interspersed with residual forest patches. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of habitat (forest vs. agricultural crops) in space and time on the contact rate between wildlife and the ONRAB® vaccine bait, a recent alternative to the V-RG®. Four transects of eight vaccine baits each were installed parallel to, and at different distances from, the forest's edge (under forest cover, at field-forest edge, and at 50 and 200 m from forest edge in agricultural crops) at three sites composed of various crop types interspersed with forest patches. This experiment was conducted during three periods (late spring, 1–7 June; summer, 27 July–2 August; and fall, 24–30 October) in 2009. Contact rates with vaccine baits were monitored for 7 days in each period to evaluate the potential temporal variations generated within the habitat types. Contact rates with ONRAB vaccine baits were highest under forest cover and in the fall. Of 13 species observed in proximity to the vaccine baits, raccoons were the most frequent (49.5%, n=55 visits). Our study underlines the importance of taking into account landscape heterogeneity and timing of distribution when planning the distribution of vaccine baits to control rabies in raccoons.
Treatment for Krabbe's disease: Finding the combination

Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase (GALC). GALC is responsible for catabolism of certain glycolipids, including the toxic compound galactosylsphingosine (psychosine). Histological signs of disease include the widespread loss of myelin in the central and peripheral nervous systems, profound neruroinflammation, and axonal degeneration. Patients suffering from GLD also display neurological deterioration. Many different individual therapies have been investigated in the murine model of the GLD, the Twitcher mouse, with minimal success. The current standard of care for GLD patients, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, serves only to delay disease progression and is not an effective cure. However, combination therapies that target different pathogenic mechanisms/pathways have been more effective at reducing histological signs of disease, delaying disease onset, prolonging life span, and improving behavioral/cognitive functions in rodent models of Krabbe's disease. In some cases, dramatic synergy between the various therapies has been observed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Preliminary sex differences in human cortical BOLD fMRI activity during the preparation of increasingly complex visually guided movements

In the past it has often been assumed that the cortical networks for visually guided movement are the same for males and females. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to show significant sex‐related differences in human brain activity during visual‐to‐motor transformation tasks. Although the behavioural performance of the male and female groups did not differ, sex‐related differences in levels of blood oxygen level‐dependent fMRI activity are apparent in several cortical areas that have previously been demonstrated to be important for visually guided movements. These areas include the primary sensorimotor, dorsal premotor, superior parietal and lateral sulcus regions. Furthermore, the data indicate that the nature of these sex differences depends on the spatial mapping between a visual cue and the motor response that it guides.
Channel-Aware Resource Allocation for Energy-Efficient Cloud Radio Access Networks Under Outage Specifications

This paper investigates a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) architecture for future wireless network, which focuses on centralized processing for spatially distributed remote radio heads (RRHs). Our main goal is to promote an energy efficient C-RAN under the consideration of multiple access interference (MAI) and imperfect channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) via outage-aware resource allocation. The closed-form expression of fading-induced outage probability for each transceiver pair will be established by analyzing the statistical property of signal-to-interference-plus-noise. In the course of finding feasible solutions to enhance energy efficiency, the optimization procedures named C-RAN-based energy efficient power allocation (CEEPA) and low-complexity CEEPA are proposed. As the number of RRHs grows to infinity, the deterministic equivalents of performance metrics can be derived by applying recent results from random matrix theorem, which lead to an efficient way to obtain the asymptotic-optimal resource allocation policy. Also, the regularized zero-forcing precoding technique is adopted to mitigate MAI and can tackle the impact of imperfect CSIT thanks to the derivation of deterministic equivalents. Numerical simulations show that the proposed resource allocation schemes can provide better energy efficiency and the accuracy of asymptotic expressions is also verified. Furthermore, the merit of a distributed antenna system is demonstrated through the comparison with centralized antenna system.
Fuel Cell Distributed Generation Systems Using Fuzzy Logic Control

The operation of Fuel Cell Distributed Generation (FCDG) systems in distribution systems is introduced by modeling, controller design, and simulation study of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) distributed generation (DG) system. The physical model of the fuel cell stack and dynamic models of power conditioning units are described. Then, suitable control architecture based on fuzzy logic control for the overall system is presented in order to active power control and power quality improvement. A MATLAB/Simulink simulation model is developed for the SOFC DG system by combining the individual component models and the controllers designed for the power conditioning units. Simulation results are given to show the overall system performance including active power control and voltage regulation capability of the distribution system.
A probabilistic framework for space carving

This paper introduces a new probabilistic framework for Space Carving. In this framework each voxel is assigned a probability, which is computed by comparing the likelihoods for the voxel existing and not existing. This new framework avoids many of the difficulties associated with the original Space Carving algorithm. Specifically, it does not need a global threshold parameter, and it guarantees that no holes will be carved in the model. This paper also proposes that a voxel-based thick texture is a realistic and efficient representation for scenes which contain dominant planes. The algorithm is tested using both real and synthetic data, and both qualitative and quantitative results are presented.
Learning Navigational Behaviors using a Predictive Sparse Distributed Memory

We describe a general framework for the acquisition of perception-based navigational behaviors in autonomous mobile robots. A self-organizing sparse distributed memory equivalent to a three-layered neural network is used to learn the desired transfer function mapping sensory input into motor commands. The memory is initially trained by teleoperating the robot on a small number of paths within a given domain of interest. During training, the vectors in the sensory space as well as the motor space are continually adapted using a form of competitive learning to yield basis vectors aimed at efficiently spanning the sensorimotor space. After training, the robot navigates from arbitrary locations to a desired goal location using motor output vectors computed by a saliency-based weighted averaging scheme. The pervasive problem of perceptual aliasing in non-Markov environments is handled by allowing both current as well as the set of immediately preceding perceptual inputs to predict the motor output vector for the current time instant. Simulation results obtained for a mobile robot, equipped with simple photoreceptors and infrared receivers, navigating within an enclosed obstacle-ridden arena indicate that the method performs successfully in a variety of navigational tasks, some of which exhibit substantial perceptual aliasing.
Pentagon drawing and neuropsychological performance in Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease with dementia

Early and accurate diagnosis of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) to allow the appropriate clinical treatment is a priority, given reports of severe neuroleptic sensitivity and a preferential response to cholinesterase inhibitors in these patients. There have been suggestions that constructional apraxia is prevalent in DLB, and may provide a sensitive marker of the disease.
Optimisation in the design of underground mine access

Efficient methods to model and optimise the design of open cut mines have been known for many years. The design of the infrastructure of underground mines has a similar potential for optimisation and strategic planning. Over the last five years our group has developed two pieces of software to tackle this problem – UNO (Underground Network Optimiser) and DOT (Decline Optimisation Tool). The idea is to connect up a system of declines, ramps, drives and possibly shafts, to minimise capital development and haulage costs over the lifetime of a mine. Constraints that can be handled by the software include: gradient bounds (typically 1:7), turning circle restrictions for navigability, and obstacle avoidance. The latter constraint keeps development at stand off distances from orebodies and ensures it avoids regions that involve high cost, such as faults, voids and other geological features. The software is not limited to only interconnecting fixed points. It has the useful feature that a group of points can be specified such that the development is required to connect to one member of the group. So for example, if an existing ventilation rise must be accessed at some level, then a group of points along the rise can be selected. Similarly, this gives the opportunity to use variable length cross-cuts from a decline to an orebody. The latter gives important flexibility and can significantly reduce the development and haulage cost of a design. Finally, the goals for the next phase of development for this project will be discussed, including speeding up the algorithms and allowing for heterogeneous materials, such as aquifers and faults, as additional costs rather than obstacles.
Statistical Anaphora Resolution in Biomedical Texts

This paper presents a probabilistic model for resolution of non-pronominal anaphora in biomedical texts. The model seeks to find the antecedents of anaphoric expressions, both coreferent and associative ones, and also to identify discourse-new expressions. We consider only the noun phrases referring to biomedical entities. The model reaches state-of-the art performance: 56--69% precision and 54--67% recall on coreferent cases, and reasonable performance on different classes of associative cases.
Performance evaluation of a secure MAC protocol for vehicular networks

The main benefit of vehicular communication is seen in active safety systems that increase passenger safety by exchanging warning messages between vehicles. Other applications and private services are also permitted in order to lower the cost and to encourage vehicular network deployment and adoption. The allocation of 75 MHz in the 5.9 GHz frequency band licensed for dedicated short range communications (DSRC), which supports seven separate channels, may also enable the future delivery of rich multimedia contents to vehicles at short- to medium-range via vehicular communications. There are many challenges that must be addressed before vehicular networks can be successfully deployed. Among these challenges is designing of security mechanisms to secure vehicular networks against abuse, and designing of efficient medium access control (MAC) protocols so that safety related and other application messages can be timely and reliably disseminated through vehicular networks. In this paper, we give an overview on a priority based secure MAC protocol for vehicular networks and present detailed security and performance analysis. We show that the MAC protocol can achieve both QoS and security requirements for vehicular network safety applications.
Diagnostic accuracy of digital versus film mammography: exploratory analysis of selected population subgroups in DMIST.

PURPOSE To retrospectively compare the accuracy of digital versus film mammography in population subgroups of the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST) defined by combinations of age, menopausal status, and breast density, by using either biopsy results or follow-up information as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS DMIST included women who underwent both digital and film screening mammography. Institutional review board approval at all participating sites and informed consent from all participating women in compliance with HIPAA was obtained for DMIST and this retrospective analysis. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) for each modality were compared within each subgroup evaluated (age < 50 vs 50-64 vs >or= 65 years, dense vs nondense breasts at mammography, and pre- or perimenopausal vs postmenopausal status for the two younger age cohorts [10 new subgroups in toto]) while controlling for multiple comparisons (P < .002 indicated a significant difference). All DMIST cancers were evaluated with respect to mammographic detection method (digital vs film vs both vs neither), mammographic lesion type (mass, calcifications, or other), digital machine type, mammographic and pathologic size and diagnosis, existence of prior mammographic study at time of interpretation, months since prior mammographic study, and compressed breast thickness. RESULTS Thirty-three centers enrolled 49 528 women. Breast cancer status was determined for 42,760 women, the group included in this study. Pre- or perimenopausal women younger than 50 years who had dense breasts at film mammography comprised the only subgroup for which digital mammography was significantly better than film (AUCs, 0.79 vs 0.54; P = .0015). Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System-based sensitivity in this subgroup was 0.59 for digital and 0.27 for film mammography. AUCs were not significantly different in any of the other subgroups. For women aged 65 years or older with fatty breasts, the AUC showed a nonsignificant tendency toward film being better than digital mammography (AUCs, 0.88 vs 0.70; P = .0025). CONCLUSION Digital mammography performed significantly better than film for pre- and perimenopausal women younger than 50 years with dense breasts, but film tended nonsignificantly to perform better for women aged 65 years or older with fatty breasts.
Efficacy of herbal ectoparasiticides in captive rat snakes (Ptyas mucosus) reared in India.

The efficacy of herbal extracts from the plants Vitex negundo and Acorus calamus against tick infestation in rat snakes (Ptyas mucosus) maintained under captivity was studied and compared to that of Ivermectin. A total of 6 rat snakes affected with heavy tick infestation were taken for the study. Investigation of ectoparasites in snakes under captivity showed abundance of Aponomma sp. ticks. The anti-parasitic treatments were conducted with ivermectin at the dose rate of 200 μg/kg body weight, applied subcutaneously (n=2) and with herbal preparation from Vitex negundo (n=2) and Acorus calamus (n=2) at the dose of 0.05% aqueous solution applied on the body. Number of ticks was counted on day 0, day 3, day 5 and day 7, respectively for comparison of drug efficacy in a 10×5 cm area in four quadrants of the snake body (the fore quarter, the right and left abdomen and the tail part). It was concluded that in tick-infested rat snakes, herbal preparations from Vitex negundo (56.7%) and Acorus calamus (68.3%) showed no side effects but their efficacy did not reach that of Ivermectin (94.5%).
A 5.3 µW contact monitoring sensor with BCC electrode and MICS antenna for energy efficient unified WBAN transceiver

A low power contact monitoring sensor for an energy efficient implantable and wearable wireless body-area-network (WBAN) transceiver is implemented in 0.18 µm CMOS process. The transceiver utilizes 30 – 70 MHz for the body channel communication (BCC) and 402 – 405 MHz for the medical implant communication service (MICS) with a pattern-printed electrode interface for operating as both BCC electrode and MICS antenna. The contact monitoring sensor adopts the reflection wave detection technique to compensate for the channel quality degradation due to the variation of the contact distance between the electrode and the human body. The reflection wave detection is achieved by an energy efficient envelope detector and a 2-bit ADC with a programmable reference voltage. It leads to mitigate both the linearity and sensitivity requirements of the receiver front-end by more than 10 dB. As a result, with the power consumption of 5.3 µW, the proposed contact monitoring sensor reduces the power consumption of the LNA more than 70 %.