Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Daytime and Nighttime Blood Pressure as Predictors of Death and Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Events in Hypertension

Our aim was to assess the prognostic significance of nighttime and daytime ambulatory blood pressure and their ratio for mortality and cause-specific cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients without major cardiovascular disease at baseline. We performed a meta-analysis on individual data of 3468 patients from 4 prospective studies performed in Europe. Age of the subjects averaged 61±13 years, 45% were men, 13.7% smoked, 8.4% had diabetes, and 61% were under antihypertensive treatment at the time of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Office, daytime, and nighttime blood pressure averaged 159±20/91±12, 143±17/87±12, and 130±18/75±12 mm Hg. Total follow-up amounted to 23 164 patient-years. We used multivariable Cox regression analysis to assess the hazard ratios associated with 1 standard deviation higher blood pressure. Daytime and nighttime systolic blood pressure predicted all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, coronary heart disease, and stroke, independently from office blood pressure and confounding variables. When these blood pressures were entered simultaneously into the models, nighttime blood pressure predicted all outcomes, whereas daytime blood pressure did not add prognostic precision to nighttime pressure. Appropriate interaction terms indicated that the results were similar in men and women, in younger and older patients, and in treated and untreated patients The systolic night–day blood pressure ratio predicted all outcomes, which only persisted for all-cause mortality after adjustment for 24-hour blood pressure. In conclusion, nighttime blood pressure is in general a better predictor of outcome than daytime pressure in hypertensive patients, and the night–day blood pressure ratio predicts mortality, even after adjustment for 24-hour blood pressure.
Bursting with Possibilities -- An Empirical Study of Credit-Based Bursting Cloud Instance Types

We study the performance and cost efficiency as perceived by the end user of a specific class of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud instances, namely credit-based bursting instances. This class of instance types has been introduced by Amazon EC2 in summer 2014, and behaves on a fundamental level differently than any other existing instance type, either from EC2 or other vendors. We introduce a basic formal model for fostering the understanding and analysis of these types, and empirically study their performance in practice. Further, we compare the performance of credit-based bursting cloud instance types to existing general-purpose types, and derive potential use cases for practitioners. Our results indicate that bursting instance types are cost-efficient for CPU-bound applications with an average utilization of less than 40%, as well as for non-critical IO-bound applications. Finally, we also discuss a simple boosting scheme that enables practitioners to improve the cost efficiency of their bursting instance usage under given constraints.
Hematological parameters and prevalence of anemia among free-living elderly in south Brazil

Objective The aims of this study were to analyze the hematological parameters, the prevalence of anemia and the association between anemia and socioeconomic conditions in an elderly community-based population. Methods A population-based study was performed as part of the Multidimensional Study of the Elderly in Porto Alegre, Brazil (EMIPOA). An initial total of 1058 community residents aged 60 years and older were interviewed. Of these, 392 agreed to have a physical evaluation and a blood sample was taken from each. The hematological parameters analyzed in the blood samples included the hemoglobin concentration, mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red cell distribution width (RDW). The association between the variables and the diagnosis of anemia was assessed using the chi-squared test and a multiple logistic regression model. Results The overall prevalence of anemia was 12.8%. Anemia was present in 13.7% of women and in 10.4% of men. Normocytic normochromic anemia without anisocytosis was the most common type of anemia (46%). The assessment of erythrocyte morphology showed significant differences between anemic and non-anemic individuals (microcytosis = 12% vs. 1.5%, hypochromia = 40% vs. 8.8%, and anisocytosis = 26% vs. 7%). In the analysis of socioeconomic conditions, significant differences were found in respect to age and race. Conclusion The prevalence of anemia increases with age and is associated with race, microcytosis, hypochromia and anisocytosis. Anemia is not a condition that should be associated only with the aging process, as it may be due to pathological conditions that occur most frequently in this age group. As a result, a diagnosis of anemia warrants adequate clinical attention.
Alternatives to Allogeneic Blood Transfusion

There are undoubtedly important and available alternatives to allogeneic or homologous blood transfusion; the problem is that few, if any, of them are practical options in developing countries. This paper will therefore endeavour to document the various alternatives, but will deal only briefly with those alternatives which are neither practical, available nor affordable in the context of developing countries.
Relapsing Polychondritis With Initial Presentations of Recurrent Negative-Pressure Pulmonary Edema and Acute Respiratory Failure

Relapsing polychondritis is a rare autoimmune disease causing inflammation in cartilaginous structures and other tissues throughout the body. Negative-pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) due to laryngeal swelling from relapsing polychondritis is rare and has not been reported. Here, we report a case of relapsing polychondritis in an 18-y-old female who presented with recurrent NPPE and acute respiratory failure, which was diagnosed initially as ARDS during the influenza season. She underwent an emergent tracheotomy to relieve the upper airway obstruction resulting from severe laryngeal edema. A chest radiograph showed diffuse infiltrations, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum. The pulmonary infiltrations resolved rapidly in 2 d, and NPPE was diagnosed. Left ear swelling with erythematous change and saddle nose developed during the course of hospitalization, and an ear biopsy demonstrated severe cartilage necrosis. Relapsing polychondritis was diagnosed based on clinical images and pathological findings.
Strontium ranelate reduces the progression of experimental dog osteoarthritis by inhibiting the expression of key proteases in cartilage and of IL-1β in the synovium

Objective To explore the disease-modifying effect, under therapeutic conditions, of strontium ranelate (SrRan) on the progression of joint structural changes and on the major pathophysiological pathways in an experimental osteoarthritis dog model. Methods Dogs underwent sectioning of the anterior cruciate ligament, and 4 weeks after surgery received oral treatment of SrRan 25, 50 or 75 mg/kg per day, or placebo for 12 weeks. Methods included macroscopy, picrosirius red staining, histology, subchondral bone histomorphometry, quantitative PCR, and ELISA for CTX-II level in serum. Strontium plasma and synovial fluid levels were also measured. Results At steady state, strontium blood exposures were within the clinical therapeutic range of osteoarthritis patients and correlated with strontium concentrations in synovial fluid. SrRan treatment significantly reduced the osteoarthritis cartilage lesions at all doses tested (p≤0.05). Significantly better preservation of the collagen network was also found in SrRan-treated dogs at 50 and 75 mg/kg per day (p=0.03). The osteoarthritis subchondral bone thickening observed in osteoarthritis-placebo dogs was significantly reduced by SrRan at 50 mg/kg per day (p=0.02). The increased gene expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-13 and cathepsin K in osteoarthritis cartilage were all significantly reduced by SrRan at 75 mg/kg per day (p≤0.03) as were, in osteoarthritis synovium, IL-1β at 50 and 75 mg/kg per day (p=0.05) and MMP-3 at all doses tested (p≤0.02). The serum level of CTX-II was reduced (p≤0.04) by SrRan at 16 weeks in dogs treated with 50 and 75 mg/kg per day. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate in vivo in an animal model that SrRan reduced the progression of osteoarthritis structural changes. The inhibition of several key proteases as well as IL-1β may have contributed to the beneficial effect of SrRan.
Juvenile granulosa cell tumor presenting as isosexual precocious puberty: A case report and review of literature

The differential diagnosis for precocious puberty in a young female includes peripheral causes. This case report documents a rare cause of isosexual precocious puberty, a juvenile granulosa cell tumor of the ovary–and a brief literature review. A 7-year-old girl presented with rapid onset of pubertal development and elevated estradiol levels. Abdominal ultrasound revealed a mass in the right adnexa. Other causes of precocious puberty were excluded. Elective surgery was planned, but the patient presented to the emergency room with torsion of ovary. She underwent an exploratory laparotomy for tumor resection and right salpingo oophorectomy. Pathology reported a juvenile granulosa cell tumor of the ovary. Postoperatively, she experienced a cessation of vaginal bleeding and estradiol levels normalized. Early stage disease has good prognosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy is not indicated in this setting.
Simple wafer stacking 3D-FPGA architecture

A three-dimensional (3D) integration based on wafer-to-wafer bonding using through-silicon vias (TSVs) has been developed for the fabrication of new 3D large-scale integrated chips. To balance between cost and performance, and to explore 3D field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with realistic 3D integration processes, we propose spatially distributed and functionally distributed types of 3D FPGA architectures. The goal of this paper is to elucidate the advantages and disadvantages of these two types of 3D FPGAs. According to our evaluation, when only two layers are used, the functionally distributed architecture is more effective. When higher performance is achieved by using more than two layers, the spatially distributed architecture achieves better performance.
Low-Power, 8-Channel EEG Recorder and Seizure Detector ASIC for a Subdermal Implantable System

EEG remains the mainstay test for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy. Unfortunately, ambulatory EEG systems are far from ideal for patients who have infrequent seizures. These systems only last up to 3 days and if a seizure is not captured during the recordings, a definite diagnosis of the patient's condition cannot be given. This work aims to address this need by proposing a subdermal implantable, eight-channel EEG recorder and seizure detector that has two modes of operation: diagnosis and seizure counting. In the diagnosis mode, EEG is continuously recorded until a number of seizures are recorded. In the seizure counting mode, the system uses a low-power algorithm to track the number of seizures a patient has, providing doctors with a reliable count to help determine medication efficacy or other clinical endpoint. An ASIC that implements the EEG recording and seizure detection algorithm was designed and fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. The ASIC includes eight EEG channels and is designed to minimize the system's power and size. The result is a power-efficient analog front end that requires 2.75 μW per channel in diagnosis mode and 0.84 μW per channel in seizure counting mode. Both modes have an input referred noise of approximately 1.1 μVrms.
Neuroprotective Effects of Annexin A1 Tripeptide after Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest in Rats

Resolution agonists, including lipid mediators and peptides such as annexin A1 (ANXA1), are providing novel approaches to treat inflammatory conditions. Surgical trauma exerts a significant burden on the immune system that can affect and impair multiple organs. Perioperative cerebral injury after cardiac surgery is associated with significant adverse neurological outcomes such as delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Using a clinically relevant rat model of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA), we tested the pro-resolving effects of a novel bioactive ANXA1 tripeptide (ANXA1sp) on neuroinflammation and cognition. Male rats underwent 2 h CPB with 1 h DHCA at 18°C, and received vehicle or ANXA1sp followed by timed reperfusion up to postoperative day 7. Immortalized murine microglial cell line BV2 were treated with vehicle or ANXA1sp and subjected to 2 h oxygen–glucose deprivation followed by timed reoxygenation. Microglial activation, cell death, neuroinflammation, and NF-κB activation were assessed in tissue samples and cell cultures. Rats exposed to CPB and DHCA had evident neuroinflammation in various brain areas. However, in ANXA1sp-treated rats, microglial activation and cell death (apoptosis and necrosis) were reduced at 24 h and 7 days after surgery. This was associated with a reduction in key pro-inflammatory cytokines due to inhibition of NF-κB activation in the brain and systemically. Treated rats also had improved neurologic scores and shorter latency in the Morris water maze. In BV2 cells treated with ANXA1sp, similar protective effects were observed including decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell death. Notably, we also found increased expression of ANXA1, which binds to NF-κB p65 and thereby inhibits its transcriptional activity. Our findings provide evidence that treatment with a novel pro-resolving ANXA1 tripeptide is neuroprotective after cardiac surgery in rats by attenuating neuroinflammation and may prevent postoperative neurologic complications.
A Bayesian Approach to the Partitioning of Workflows

When partitioning workflows in realistic scenarios, the knowledge of the processing units is often vague or unknown. A naive approach to addressing this issue is to perform many controlled experiments for different workloads, each consisting of multiple number of trials in order to estimate the mean and variance of the specific workload. Since this controlled experimental approach can be quite costly in terms of time and resources, we propose a variant of the Gibbs Sampling algorithm that uses a sequence of Bayesian inference updates to estimate the processing characteristics of the processing units. Using the inferred characteristics of the processing units, we are able to determine the best way to split a workflow for processing it in parallel with the lowest expected completion time and least variance.
Identification of a Heparin-Binding Motif on Adeno-Associated Virus Type 2 Capsids

ABSTRACT Infection of cells with adeno-associated virus (AAV) type 2 (AAV-2) is mediated by binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycan and can be competed by heparin. Mutational analysis of AAV-2 capsid proteins showed that a group of basic amino acids (arginines 484, 487, 585, and 588 and lysine 532) contribute to heparin and HeLa cell binding. These amino acids are positioned in three clusters at the threefold spike region of the AAV-2 capsid. According to the recently resolved atomic structure for AAV-2, arginines 484 and 487 and lysine 532 on one site and arginines 585 and 588 on the other site belong to different capsid protein subunits. These data suggest that the formation of the heparin-binding motifs depends on the correct assembly of VP trimers or even of capsids. In contrast, arginine 475, which also strongly reduces heparin binding as well as viral infectivity upon mutation to alanine, is located inside the capsid structure at the border of adjacent VP subunits and most likely influences heparin binding indirectly by disturbing correct subunit assembly. Computer simulation of heparin docking to the AAV-2 capsid suggests that heparin associates with the three basic clusters along a channel-like cavity flanked by the basic amino acids. With few exceptions, mutant infectivities correlated with their heparin- and cell-binding properties. The tissue distribution in mice of recombinant AAV-2 mutated in R484 and R585 indicated markedly reduced infection of the liver, compared to infection with wild-type recombinant AAV, but continued infection of the heart. These results suggest that although heparin binding influences the infectivity of AAV-2, it seems not to be necessary.
Vaginal Dinoprostone Versus Oral Misoprostol for Predilatation of the Cervix in First Trimester Surgical Abortion

Summary: Prostaglandins are effective in predilatation of the cervix prior to first trimester surgical termination of pregnancy under local analgesia. A randomized open comparative trial was devised to compare the effectiveness and acceptability of vaginal dinoprostone with oral misoprostol. Two groups were randomized to control for age, parity and ethnicity. The operation was easier and less painful in older, parous, and Polynesian women. Both methods were effective with respect to ease of dilatation. Both were acceptable and equal with respect to the level of pain experienced by the woman during the operation. Vaginal dinoprostone is more gradual in its action, but it is more expensive, has to be refrigerated and self‐insertion may sometimes cause problems. Oral misoprostol is considerably cheaper and does not require refrigeration, but it was associated with more preoperative nausea, cramping and occasional heavy bleeding.
Cultural Change Towards a Gender-Neutral Landscape in Science, Academia and Research in 2025

Austria has a long tradition of gender equality policy measures in science, academia and research. Since the 1980s, a mix of measures has been successively introduced to promote excellent female scientists and academics, establish women’s and gender studies and remove the structural barriers for women. Accordingly, an increase in the share of women in all areas and functions in science, academia and research and the inclusion of gender studies in an increasing number of disciplines has been achieved in recent years. Despite this, the notion of the “scientific ideal” has remained almost unchanged, i.e. is still based on a typically male scientific career. This notion essentially considers a “good” scientist to be one who can devote his life totally to science and has no other restrictions on his time or commitments outside science. The question now is, what – and where – can we add to the existing policy mix to change this situation, i.e. to revise this notion of the “ideal”. At a series of workshops, researchers, academics and other experts used creative methods to develop their visions of a gender-neutral landscape in science, academia and research in 2025. These visions were then used to identify relevant fields of action for initiating cultural change. This paper summarises the results of this discursive process and outlines how the process that began with this project could now be continued.
Understanding the function of dendritic cells in atherosclerosis : lessons from mouse models

Although macrophages and other immune system cells, especially T cells, have been shown to play diseasepromoting roles in atherosclerosis, less is known about the role of antigen presenting cells. Functional, immune stimulating dendritic cells (DCs) have recently been detected in aortic intima, the site of origin of atherosclerosis. We had compared DCs with macrophages in mice with experimental atherosclerosis, to clearly define cell types by developmental and functional criteria. This review summarizes recent advances in studies of DCs in humans and in mouse models of atherosclerosis, as well as providing a simple strategy to measure regulatory T (Treg) cells in the mouse aorta.
Human JC virus perfect palindromic nuclear factor 1-binding sequences important for glial cell-specific expression in differentiating embryonal carcinoma cells

The brain cell specificity of the human papovavirus JC virus was examined by site-directed mutagenesis of the nuclear factor 1 (NF1) motifs within the viral regulatory region. The NF1 motif sites, located within the 98-bp tandem repeats that contain 6-bp perfect inverted palindromic sequences, were important for glial cell-specific expression of JC virus in differentiated embryonal carcinoma cells in vivo. The NF1 site on the late side of the repeats was not important, a fact confirmed by in vitro transcription studies. These observations were correlated with in vitro DNase I footprinting and mobility shift assays, which demonstrated specific interactions of factors in glial cell nuclear extracts with NF1 sites.
The Influence of Career Stages on Salespeople's Job Attitudes, Work Perceptions, and Performance

The study examines salespeople in four distinct career stages. The career stages literature suggests that people's psychological and sociological needs differ among these stages. General support for the theory is found. Job performance and attitudes were influenced by different career stages. The relationship of a salesperson's performance with personal, strategic, and territory factors also is found to vary according to career stage.
Channel Training and Estimation in Distributed Space-Time Coded Relay Networks with Multiple Transmit/Receive Antennas

This paper investigates the channel training and estimation problems for distributed space-time coding (DSTC). To use DSTC in multi-antenna relay networks, the receiver needs to know the channels between the relays and the receiver (Relay-R channels) and also the equivalent channels between the transmitter and the receiver (Equ-T-R channels). By sending pilot signals from the relays, the training of the Relay-R channels is equivalent to that of a multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) system. The training of the Equ-T-R channels can be conducted directly using DSTC; but it requires a long training period. Thus, a separate-training method is proposed, in which an estimation on the Equ-T-R channels is obtained from estimations on the channels from the transmitter to the relays (T-Relay channels) and the Relay-R channels. The pilot code designs that minimize the trace of the error covariance matrix are investigated. The requirements on the training period are also derived, from which an adaptive training-period design is proposed. Simulation shows that in some networks, even with shorter training period, the separate-training scheme can achieve better performance than the direct-training scheme.
Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Airborne Heavy Metals Collected from Beijing Bus Stations

Airborne dust, which contains high levels of toxic metals, is recognized as one of the most harmful environment component. The purpose of this study was to evaluate heavy metals pollution in dustfall from bus stations in Beijing, and to perform a risk assessment analysis for adult passengers. The concentrations of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The spatial distribution, pollution level and potential health risk of heavy metals were analyzed by Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping technology, geo-accumulation index and health risk assessment model, respectively. The results indicate that dust samples have elevated metal concentrations, especially for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. The nine metals can be divided into two categories in terms of spatial distribution and pollution level. Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb and Zn reach contaminated level and have similar spatial patterns with hotspots distributed within the Fifth Ring Road. While the hot spot areas of Co and V are always out of the Fifth Ring Road. Health risk assessment shows that both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of selected metals were within the safe range.