Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
N-acetylcysteine for the prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study.

I read with great interest the article by Ozaydin et al. recently published in European Heart Journal. They briefly compared N-acetylcysteine (NAC) therapy for prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) by a randomized, placebo-controlled study and showed that NAC significantly decreased the incidence of postoperative AF. Only three patients in the NAC group, as opposed to 12 patients in the control group, developed AF (P 1⁄4 0.01). Table 3 shows the follow-up findings and the median duration as well as the range of AF episodes of both groups. The range of AF duration in the NAC group was between 10 and 96 min, whereas it was between 1 and 240 min for control patients. Although the authors accepted an AF episode lasting longer than 5 min as endpoint, it seems that patients with AF episodes ,5 min duration were also included in the control group, according to Table 3. If it is so, we may then conclude that the number of control patients with AF episodes was overestimated, indicating a selection bias because some of them had AF episodes ,5 min duration. However, this is not the case in NAC patients because all of them had AF episodes of . 5 min duration (range, 10–96 min). This means that some of the patients with AF duration ,5 min were included in the control group to increase the number of patients with AF and cause statistical significance. Additionally, the technique by which the patients were observed or monitored in intensive care unit was not clearly described. Whether the rhythm was continuously recorded by telemetry and Holter as well as rhythm strips were retrospectively evaluated at a later date by blinded investigators should be clearly described within the text, because short episodes of AF with 1 or 2 min even . 5 min duration might certainly be overlooked just by watching the monitor and taking ECGs. Reference 1. Ozaydin M, Peker O, Erdogan D, Kapan S, Turker Y, Varol E, Ozguner F, Dogan A, Ibrisim E. N-acetylcysteine for the prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study. Eur Heart J 2008;29:625–331.
Personality Traits Identification Using Rough Sets Based Machine Learning

Prediction of human behavior from his/her traits has long been sought by cognitive scientists. Human traits are often embedded in one's writings. Although some work has been done on identification of traits from essays, very little work can be found on extracting personality traits from written texts. Psychological studies suggest that extraction and prediction of rules from a data has been long pursued, and several methods have been proposed. In the present work we used Rough sets to extract the rules for prediction of personality traits. Rough Set is a comparatively recent method that has been effective in various fields such as medical, geological and other fields where intelligent decision making is required. Our experiments with rough sets in predicting personality traits produced encouraging results.
Transcriptomic Biomarkers for Individual Risk Assessment in New-Onset Heart Failure

Background— Prediction of prognosis remains a major unmet need in new-onset heart failure (HF). Although several clinical tests are in use, none accurately distinguish between patients with poor versus excellent survival. We hypothesized that a transcriptomic signature, generated from a single endomyocardial biopsy, could serve as a novel prognostic biomarker in HF. Methods and Results— Endomyocardial biopsy samples and clinical data were collected from all patients presenting with new-onset HF from 1997 to 2006. Among a total of 350 endomyocardial biopsy samples, 180 were identified as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Patients with phenotypic extremes in survival were selected: good prognosis (event-free survival for at least 5 years; n=25) and poor prognosis (events [death, requirement for left ventricular assist device, or cardiac transplant] within the first 2 years of presentation with HF symptoms; n=18). We used human U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays (Affymetrix) and analyzed the data with significance analysis of microarrays and prediction analysis of microarrays. We identified 46 overexpressed genes in patients with good versus poor prognosis, of which 45 genes were selected by prediction analysis of microarrays for prediction of prognosis in a train set (n=29) with subsequent validation in test sets (n=14 each). The biomarker performed with 74% sensitivity (95% CI 69% to 79%) and 90% specificity (95% CI 87% to 93%) after 50 random partitions. Conclusions— These findings suggest the potential of transcriptomic biomarkers to predict prognosis in patients with new-onset HF from a single endomyocardial biopsy sample. In addition, our findings offer potential novel therapeutic targets for HF and cardiomyopathy.
Prognosis of Epilepsy in a Rural African Community: A 30‐Year Follow‐Up of 164 Patients in an Outpatient Clinic in Rural Tanzania

Summary: While working as a physician in Tanzania in the early 1960s, Dr. Louise Jilek‐Aall founded an outpatient clinic for epilepsy among the Pogoro people of Mahenge mountains where epilepsy (locally termed Kifafa) had brought misery and death to an unusually high percentage of the population. With local assistance and overseas donations of phenobarbital (PB), this clinic treated ∼200 patients for 10 years. The area was revisited 30 years later to trace these patients. Of the 164 patients who had started treatment, 86 (52.4%) achieved complete seizure suppression, 59 (36.0%) experienced reduction in seizure frequency, 13 (7.9%) experienced no change, and in 1 (0.6%) seizures were worse. The effect of treatment could not be assessed in 5 (3.0%) patients. After 30 years, only 36 (21.9%) of the 164 patients were known to be alive. Of the patients, 110 (67.1%) had died, and the whereabouts of 18 (11%) could not be traced. The causes of death were epilepsy related (status epilepticus, drowning, burns, dying in or after a seizure) in <50% of the patients. Epilepsy‐related deaths were proportionately higher after drug supply was stopped and among patients who were receiving drugs irregularly or who had only partial seizure control. Patients with epilepsy showed an increased mortality rate, which was twice that of the general rural Tanzanian population of similar age. Management of epilepsy in rural Africans should also emphasize methods to prevent epilepsy‐related causes of death among patients with epilepsy.
Mechanical, thermal and processing properties of oil palm empty fruit bunch-filled impact modified unplasticised poly (vinyl chloride) composites

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of EFB filler and two types of impact modifiers on mechanical and thermal properties, and processability of PVC-U composites. Two methods were used to prepare the samples, i.e., compression moulding and single screw extrusion. A torque rheometer was used to determine the fusion characteristics of PVC. EFB increased the flexural modulus of 22 % but decreased the impact strength and flexural strength of 20 % and 18 % of PVC, respectively, as the filler contents increased. Increasing the impact modifiers contents, on the other hand, improved the impact strength but slightly decreased the flexural modulus and flexural strength. Acrylic impact modifier performed better than CPE in producing composites with balanced properties of toughness and stiffness. The use of Prosil 9234 coupling agent for filler surface treatment proved to be more reliable compared to NZ 44 in providing better filler-matrix interaction. The TGA study showed that both the EFB filler and acrylic impact modifier decreased the PVC thermal stability. Oil residues in the EFB did not influence the mechanical properties of PVC-U composites. The fusion time also decreased significantly with the addition of acrylic. Both the temperature and screw speed significantly influenced the fusion level of PVC, hence the mechanical properties of the extrudates. Overall, the study showed that EFB has the potential to be used as filler for PVC-U composites
Area Efficient Layout Design of CMOS Comparator using PTL Logic

is a very useful combinational logic circuit. In this paper performance analysis of CMOS Comparator and PTL logic design has been shown. In the design of integrated circuits, several logic families is being used which is described by Pass Transistor Logic (PTL). It reduces the count of transistors used to make different logic gates, by eliminating redundant transistors. The layout of 2-bit comparator is developed using automatic and semi-custom techniques. Both the layouts are compared and analyzed in terms of their area consumption. Automatic layout is generated from its equivalent schematic whereas semi-custom layout is optimized manually. The result shows that semi- custom layout of PTL logic consumes 35% less area as compared to CMOS logic design to provide area efficient solution. Keywordstechnology, Layout, Performance analysis, logic circuits, PTL
Repeat abortion in the United States.

Among women having abortions in the United States about one-half have already had a prior abortion. This indicator--the level of repeat abortion--has attracted attention sometimes negative: Women having a repeat abortion may be perceived as having difficulty practicing contraception as lacking motivation to prevent unintended pregnancy as using abortion as a method of family planning or as being different from other women in more fundamental ways such as ability to become pregnant and exposure to risk of pregnancy. In truth however little is known about U.S. women who have repeat abortions. This report provides an overview of the issue with an emphasis on comparing first-time and repeat abortion patients. In studying this issue our intent is not to draw negative attention to repeat abortion or women who obtain them. Rather we hope to generate productive discussions of the issue and help reframe the topic and change the language used to discuss it. The goal of the report is to document what is known about repeat abortion put it in the context of repeat unintended pregnancy more broadly and provide recommendations for programs and policies that might help women obtaining abortions avoid subsequent unintended pregnancies. (excerpt)
Acquisition of mitogenic responsiveness by nonresponding lymphocytes upon insertion of appropriate membrane components

The effect of insertion of plasma membrane components from lymphocytes responding to mitogens into the membranes of nonresponding cells using Sendai virus envelopes as vehicles was examined. T cells modified by B membranes were stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to proliferate as well as to produce interleukin-2 activity. B cells modified by T membranes were stimulated by concanavalin A to proliferate and to produce interleukin-2 activity. B cells derived from C3H/HeJ LPS- nonresponder strain of mice, when modified by B membranes derived from the LPS-responder C3H/eb strain, acquired LPS responsiveness. These findings indicate that the inability of either T or B cells to respond to specific mitogens is due to the lack of suitable plasma membrane constituents and that by changing the membrane composition the lymphocytes can be endowed with new functions.
Intelligibility of Erdös-Rényi random graphs and time varying social network modeling

The concept of social networks has been widely studied for different classic (socio-economic problems, trade networks, etc) and contemporary (World Wide Web, cell phone networks, smart city networks, IoT, etc.) settings. People, organizations, intelligent vehicles, mobile robots, wearable and embedded devices, all can be connected by means of appropriate information and communication technologies. In recent years, the area of social networks became very popular mainly through the development of social media and Internet social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and many others. Graph theory offers suitable mathematical representations for social networking models. We describe in this paper some enumerative, stochastic and statistical tools allowing the analysis of time-varying social networks. Indeed, the study of social networks through the theory of random graphs and dynamic network analysis has enabled us to develop probabilistic and statistical approaches to calculate some indices and measures that characterize the dynamic behavior of such the networks through time.
Comparing Thermal and Haptic Feedback Mechanisms for Game Controllers

We investigate the use of thermal feedback, i.e. the feeling of warmth and cold, as an output mechanism for hand-held device user interfaces (UIs). In a prototype implementation, we enhanced a console game controller with thermal elements, positioned under the user's fingertips. The prototype was evaluated using a simple video game, where the user was required to locate targets based on output cues. In a user study (n = 21) the performance and user experience of using visual, vibrotactile and thermal forms of feedback in the game were compared. Our salient findings suggest that thermal UI feedback is suited for presenting ambient information cues or creating an atmosphere.
Electric Elves: Applying Agent Technology to Support Human Organizations

The operation of a human organization requires dozens of everyday tasks to ensure coherence in organizational activities, to monitor the status of such activities, to gather information relevant to the organization, to keep everyone in the organization informed, etc. Teams of software agents can aid humans in accomplishing these tasks, facilitating the organization’s coherent functioning and rapid response to crises, while reducing the burden on humans. Based on this vision, this paper reports on Electric Elves, a system that has been operational, 24/7, at our research institute since June 1, 2000. Tied to individual user workstations, fax machines, voice, mobile devices such as cell phones and palm pilots, Electric Elves has assisted us in routine tasks, such as rescheduling meetings, selecting presenters for research meetings, tracking people’s locations, organizing lunch meetings, etc. We discuss the underlying AI technologies that led to the success of Electric Elves, including technologies devoted to agenthuman interactions, agent coordination, accessing multiple heterogeneous information sources, dynamic assignment of organizational tasks, and deriving information about organization members. We also report the results of deploying Electric Elves in our own research organization.
Measuring cast iron graphite size by ultrasonic attenuation

Precipitated graphite geometry is one of the main microstructural parameters that contribute to cast iron mechanical properties. In this paper we address the measurement of the graphite size by ultrasonic attenuation. Samples of different cast iron microstructures were characterized by quantitative metallographic techniques and further correlated with ultrasonic parameters. Longitudinal ultrasonic waves were generated and detected by commercial broadband piezoelectric transducers on direct contact and the signals were processed in order remove system effects. For surface acoustic waves, a large aperture lens-less focalized piezoelectric transducer was used. The experimental attenuation spectra were fitted with simple scattering models and both longitudinal and surface wave techniques showed very good quantitative correlations with graphite size, independent of its geometry.
The Tissue Factor Pathway: How It Has Become a “Prima Ballerina”

In a historic monograph published in 1905 (1) (and translated into English in 1958 (2)), Paul Morawitz summarized the experiments of the 19th century that led to a theory of blood coagulation that involved the interaction of four factors. Three were present in plasma prothrombin, calcium ions and fibrinogen but the fourth, thrombokinase (today referred to as thromboplastin or, more commonly, as tissue factor (TF)), was believed to be contained within the platelets and leukocytes. When blood came into contact with wettable foreign matter like tissues or other surfaces, platelets and leukocytes were thought to agglutinate and liberate TF. The released TF then reacted with prothrombin in the presence of calcium ions to generate thrombin, which converted fibrinogen into the fibrin strands of the blood clot. Destroyed tissue cells were postulated to provide a second source of TF, which caused the blood to clot more rapidly at a wound site. By the middle years of the century as, one after another, new clotting factors were discovered, it became clear that blood coagulation could be initiated in at least two ways. The first was, as Morawitz had stated, the exposure of blood to TF, which has now been identified as a glycoprotein constitutively expressed on the surface of fibroblasts within and around blood vessels and on a variety o f other stromal and tissue cells strategically located throughout the body to protect against hemorrhage after tissue injury (3-5). The second was exposure of blood in vitro to a negatively charged surface such as glass, which triggers coagulation not by releasing TF but by activating the plasma protein, factor XII (Hageman factor) (6). By 1955 investigators at Oxford had advanced the concept of separate pathways an “extrinsic” pathway dependent upon TF and an “intrinsic” pathway independent o fT F -to the generation of thrombin (Bergsagel, quoted by Waaler (7)). This concept stemmed from an analysis of two observations. The first, as reported in the paper describing the one-stage prothrombin time test (8), was that patients with hemophilia had a normal prothrombin time. Adding a high concentration of TF to plasma bypassed not only the clotting defect of hemophilia A, factor VIII deficiency, but also the clotting defect of the then newly recognized hemophilia B, factor IX deficiency. The second observation was that patients with a much rarer hereditary disorder, factor VII deficiency, had a markedly prolonged prothrombin time yet their
Sulfate reduction controlled by organic matter availability in deep sediment cores from the saline, alkaline Lake Van (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey)

As part of the International Continental Drilling Program deep lake drilling project PaleoVan, we investigated sulfate reduction (SR) in deep sediment cores of the saline, alkaline (salinity 21.4‰, alkalinity 155 m mEq-1, pH 9.81) Lake Van, Turkey. The cores were retrieved in the Northern Basin (NB) and at Ahlat Ridge (AR) and reached a maximum depth of 220 m. Additionally, 65–75 cm long gravity cores were taken at both sites. SR rates (SRR) were low (≤22 nmol cm-3 day-1) compared to lakes with higher salinity and alkalinity, indicating that salinity and alkalinity are not limiting SR in Lake Van. Both sites differ significantly in rates and depth distribution of SR. In NB, SRR are up to 10 times higher than at AR. SR could be detected down to 19 mblf (meters below lake floor) at NB and down to 13 mblf at AR. Although SRR were lower at AR than at NB, organic matter (OM) concentrations were higher. In contrast, dissolved OM in the pore water at AR contained more macromolecular OM and less low molecular weight OM. We thus suggest, that OM content alone cannot be used to infer microbial activity at Lake Van but that quality of OM has an important impact as well. These differences suggest that biogeochemical processes in lacustrine sediments are reacting very sensitively to small variations in geological, physical, or chemical parameters over relatively short distances.
Fiber-delivered mid-infrared (6-7 μm) laser ablation of retinal tissue under perfluorodecalin

The Er:YAG laser (λ=2.94μm) is an effective tool in vitreo-retinal surgery. Pulsed mid-infrared (λ=6.45μm) radiation from the Free Electron Laser has been touted as a potentially superior cutting tool. To date, use of this laser has been limited to applications in an air environment. The goal of this study was: 1) determine feasibility of fiberoptic delivery of λ= 6. 45μm using silverhalide fibers (d=700μm); 2) use infrared transparent vitreous substitute (perfluorodecalin) to allow non-contact ablation of the retina at λ= 6. 45μm. Fiber damage threshold=7.8J/cm2 (0.54GW/cm2) while transmission loss=0.54dB/m, allowing supra-ablative radiant exposures to the target. FTIR measurements of perfluorodecalin at λ=6. 45μm yielded μa=3 mm-1. Pump-probe imaging of ablation of a tissue-phantom through perfluorodecalin showed feasibility of non-contact ablation at λ=6. 45μm. Ablation of the retinal membranes of enucleated pig eyes was carried out under perfluorodecalin (2 Hz, 1.3 J/cm2). Each eye was cut along its equator to expose the retina. Vitreous was replaced by perfluorodecalin and laser radiation was delivered to the retina via the silverhalide fiber. The eye was rotated (at 2 rpm) to create an ablation circle around the central axis of the retina. Histological analysis of the retina in a limited number of eyes shows that retina ablation using this method is feasible and can be accomplished with minimal collateral damage. Remote structures are shielded, as the radiation exposure falls below the ablation threshold owing non-negible absorption of perfluorodecalin at λ=6. 45μm. This may optimize efficacy and safetly of laser-based vitreoretinal surgery.
A Simple Method That Uses Differential Staining and Light Microscopy To Assess the Selectivity of Wood Delignification by White Rot Fungi

Cryostat microtome sections of birch wood degraded by white rot fungi were examined by light microscopy after treatment with two stains: astra-blue, which stains cellulose blue only in the absence of lignin, and safranin, which stains lignin regardless of whether cellulose is present. The method provided a simple and reliable screening procedure that distinguishes between fungi that cause decay by selectively removing lignin and those that degrade both cellulose and lignin simultaneously. Moreover, morphological characteristics specific to selective delignification were revealed.
Cascadia: A System for Specifying, Detecting, and Managing RFID Events

Cascadia is a system that provides RFID-based pervasive computing applications with an infrastructure for specifying, extracting and managing meaningful high-level events from raw RFID data. Cascadia provides three important services. First, it allows application developers and even users to specify events using either a declarative query language or an intuitive visual language based on direct manipulation. Second, it provides an API that facilitates the development of applications which rely on RFID-based events. Third, it automatically detects the specified events, forwards them to registered applications and stores them for later use (e.g., for historical queries). We present the design and implementation of Cascadia along with an evaluation that includes both a user study and measurements on traces collected in a building-wide RFID deployment. To demonstrate how Cascadia facilitates application development, we built a simple digital diary application in the form of a calendar that populates itself with RFID-based events. Cascadia copes with ambiguous RFID data and limitations in an RFID deployment by transforming RFID readings into probabilistic events. We show that this approach outperforms deterministic event detection techniques while avoiding the need to specify and train sophisticated models.