Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The value of D-dimer test in the diagnosis of patients with nontraumatic acute abdomen.

BACKGROUND A patient with acute abdominal pain requires rapid evaluation. In these patients, it is very important to distinguish between surgical and nonsurgical pathology. Our aim was to compare the accuracy of the leukocyte count and D-dimer test in the diagnosis of acute abdomen. METHODS In this prospective study, 225 patients admitted to the emergency unit due to nontraumatic acute abdomen between June 2006 and November 2007 were evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 patients who needed immediate laparotomy and Group 2 patients who did not. Age, gender, leukocyte count, D-dimer level, causes of acute abdominal pain, and operative findings were investigated. P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS There was a positive correlation between the plasma D-dimer level and leukocyte count. D-dimer acted similarly to the leukocyte count in emergency abdominal conditions. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was statistically higher with the D-dimer test (p<0.0001). Additionally, in patients needing immediate laparotomy, the sensitivity of the D-dimer test was 95.7% versus 74.8% for leukocyte counts. CONCLUSION In a patient with acute abdomen, D-dimer test may be a strong alternative or an adjuvant to the leukocyte count.
Mastering Strategic Movement at Palm

Whether you're a startup taking on industry giants or a giant moving into markets dominated by powerful incumbents, how do you compete with opponents that have size, strength and history on their side? To prevent opponents from bringing their full strength into play, successful challengers use what authors David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak of Harvard Business School call judo strategy. Judo strategists avoid head-to-head struggles and other trials of strength, which they are likely to lose. Instead, by relying on speed, agility and creative thinking, they develop strategies that make it difficult for stronger rivals to compete. Judo strategy is most effective when three core principles ? movement, balance and leverage ? are used in combination. But at different stages of competition, a single principle may play a particularly important role. In the early days of a business, for example, before the contours of the competitive landscape have been fully defined, movement typically takes center stage. The authors use Palm Computing (now Palm Inc.) to illustrate judo strategy's core principle of movement at work. The company dominated the handheld computing market less than a year after shipping its first electronic organizer in early 1996, despite competition from the most powerful software company in the world. Microsoft marshaled masses of money, manpower and marketing muscle behind its own handheld operating system. But year after year, Palm remained far ahead. By mastering the principles of judo strategy and learning to implement them through specific techniques, other companies can emulate the way Palm competed with a stronger opponent. The authors came to that conclusion after studying companies as varied as Juniper Networks, Intuit, Frontier Airlines and Charles Schwab. They caution, however, that judo strategy is not a rigid formula to be followed step by step. Depending on the nature of their competition, companies will combine and implement the principles in different ways. But the basic tenets hold: Stay out of competitors' sights by deliberately acting harmless (like a puppy dog), define the competitive space to establish the game, and follow through fast to build a big lead before competitors learn how to respond.
Best Asymptotic Normality of the Kernel Density Entropy Estimator for Smooth Densities

In the random sampling setting we estimate the entropy of a probability density distribution by the entropy of a kernel density estimator using the double exponential kernel. Under mild smoothness and moment conditions we show that the entropy of the kernel density estimator equals a sum of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables plus a perturbation which is asymptotically negligible compared to the parametric rate n/sup -1/2/. An essential part in the proof is obtained by exhibiting almost sure bounds for the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the kernel density estimator and its expected value. The basic technical tools are Doob's submartingale inequality and convexity (Jensen's inequality).
Using NIR with Support Vector Regression to Predict the Crude Protein of Alfalfa

Near infrared spectroscopy with support vector machine (NIR-SVM) to predict the crude protein (CP) in Alfalfa samples. The R2 of the predicted CP versus the experimental CP of the training data set is 0.983. The R2 of the independent test Data Set is 0.9823. The result suggested that it is feasible to rapidly determine the CP of Alfalfa by NIR data based on SVR.
High quality text-to-speech synthesis system with efficient duration models developed using coding schemes based on vowel production characteristics

This paper explores encoding schemes based on production characteristics of vowels. The performance of coding schemes is analyzed for accurate prediction of durations of syllables using neural network models. Linguistic and production constraints represented by positional, contextual, phonological and articulatory (PCPA) features are used for predicting the durations of syllables. These features are coded with distinct numerical values before feeding to the neural network for building models. The evaluation of coding schemes is carried out by means of objective and subjective measures. The quality of text-to-speech synthesis system is observed to be better by incorporating the duration model with vowels coded based on lip roundness.
Microhabitats, Thermal Heterogeneity, and Patterns of Physiological Stress in the Rocky Intertidal Zone

Thermal stress has been considered to be among the most important determinants of organismal distribution in the rocky intertidal zone. Yet our understanding of how body temperatures experienced under field conditions vary in space and time, and of how these temperatures translate into physiological performance, is still rudimentary. We continuously monitored temperatures at a site in central California for a period of two years, using loggers designed to mimic the thermal characteristics of mussels, Mytilus californianus. Model mussel temperatures were recorded on both a horizontal and a vertical, north-facing microsite, and in an adjacent tidepool. We periodically measured levels of heat shock proteins (Hsp70), a measure of thermal stress, from mussels at each microsite. Mussel temperatures were consistently higher on the horizontal surface than on the vertical surface, and differences in body temperature between these sites were reflected in the amount of Hsp70. Seasonal peaks in extreme high temperatures (“acute” high temperatures) did not always coincide with peaks in average daily maxima (“chronic” high temperatures), suggesting that the time history of body temperature may be an important factor in determining levels of thermal stress. Temporal patterns in body temperature during low tide were decoupled from patterns in water temperature, suggesting that water temperature is an ineffective metric of thermal stress for intertidal organisms. This study demonstrates that spatial and temporal variability in thermal stress can be highly complex, and “snapshot” sampling of temperature and biochemical indices may not always be a reliable method for defining thermal stress at a site.
Creating and sharing web notes via a standard browser

Today practitioners in education actively publish their instructional materials as HTML documents, using a variety of media. Yet, in most cases, third parties can only passively read the documents displayed in their browsers. This partly accounts for why students in Web-based courses continue to take notes and get feedback on assignments from their teachers on paper documents [9]. In this paper, we describe an intuitve Web annotation environment that allows users to annotate directly on any DHTML-compliant portions of Web page using a standard browser, for private, group or public use along with support for voice synthesis and notification. In makes extensive use of DHTML to realize the interactive markup effects and offers capabilities not available in existing systems. Our implementation is among the few systems currently available that make use of DHTML for creating a wide range of group services within Web browsers.
Delineation of the molecular basis for selenium-induced growth arrest in human prostate cancer cells by oligonucleotide array.

Despite the growing interest in selenium intervention of prostate cancer in humans, scanty information is currently available on the molecular mechanism of selenium action. Our past research indicated that methylseleninic acid (MSA) is an excellent reagent for investigating the anticancer effect of selenium in vitro. The present study was designed to examine the cellular and molecular effects of MSA in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. After exposure to physiological concentrations of MSA, these cells exhibited a dose- and time-dependent inhibition of growth. MSA retarded cell cycle progression at multiple transition points without changing the proportion of cells in different phases of the cell cycle. Flow cytometric analysis of annexin V- and propidium iodide-labeled cells showed a marked induction of apoptosis by MSA. Array analysis with the Affymetrix human genome U95A chip was then applied to profile the gene expression changes that might mediate the effects of selenium. Gene profiling was done in a time course experiment (at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h) using synchronized cells. A large number of potential selenium-responsive genes with diverse biological functions were identified. These genes fell into 12 clusters of distinct kinetics pattern of modulation by MSA. The expression changes of 10 genes known to be critically involved in cell cycle regulation were selected for verification by Western analysis to determine the reliability of the array data. An agreement rate of 70% was obtained based on these confirmation experiments. The array data enabled us to focus on the role of potential key genes (e.g., GADD153, CHK2, p21(WAF1), cyclin A, CDK1, and DHFR) that might be targets of MSA in impeding cell cycle progression. The data also provide valuable insights into novel biological effects of selenium, such as inhibition of cell invasion, DNA repair, and stimulation of transforming growth factor beta signaling. The present study demonstrates the utility of a genome-wide analysis to elucidate the mechanism of selenium chemoprevention.
Dopaminergic effects on simple and choice reaction time performance in Parkinson's disease

The present study examined whether premovement central neural processing in Parkinson's disease was related to functional motor disability and plasma L-dopa concentration. Reaction time (RT) performance in simple and choice RT tasks was assessed while plasma L-dopa levels were controlled by continuous IV L-dopa infusion in five parkinsonian patients. Five age-matched controls performed the same RT tasks for comparison. Simple RT for the patients was longer than the normal control RT at all infusion levels (p ≤ 0. 005). However, choice RT was normal when the patients were “on,” but became prolonged as plasma L-dopa levels decreased (p ≤ 0. 01). The results show that there are abnormalities of premovement central neural processing in Parkinson's disease, and that simple and choice RTs are differentially affected by L-dopa replacement. This suggests that different neural mechanisms may be involved in the processing of these tasks.
Anaerobic degradation of cyclohexane by sulfate-reducing bacteria from hydrocarbon-contaminated marine sediments

The fate of cyclohexane, often used as a model compound for the biodegradation of cyclic alkanes due to its abundance in crude oils, in anoxic marine sediments has been poorly investigated. In the present study, we obtained an enrichment culture of cyclohexane-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria from hydrocarbon-contaminated intertidal marine sediments. Microscopic analyses showed an apparent dominance by oval cells of 1.5 × 0.8 μm. Analysis of a 16S rRNA gene library, followed by whole-cell hybridization with group- and sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes showed that these cells belonged to a single phylotype, and were accounting for more than 80% of the total cell number. The dominant phylotype, affiliated with the Desulfosarcina-Desulfococcus cluster of the Deltaproteobacteria, is proposed to be responsible for the degradation of cyclohexane. Quantitative growth experiments showed that cyclohexane degradation was coupled with the stoichiometric reduction of sulfate to sulfide. Substrate response tests corroborated with hybridization with a sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe suggested that the dominant phylotype apparently was able to degrade other cyclic and n-alkanes, including the gaseous alkane n-butane. Based on GC-MS analyses of culture extracts cyclohexylsuccinate was identified as a metabolite, indicating an activation of cyclohexane by addition to fumarate. Other metabolites detected were 3-cyclohexylpropionate and cyclohexanecarboxylate providing evidence that the overall degradation pathway of cyclohexane under anoxic conditions is analogous to that of n-alkanes.
Impact of Etiology on the Outcomes in Heart Failure Patients Treated with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: A Meta-Analysis

Background Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been extensively demonstrated to benefit heart failure patients, but the role of underlying heart failure etiology in the outcomes was not consistently proven. This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether efficacy and effectiveness of CRT is affected by underlying heart failure etiology. Methods and Results Searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were conducted to identify RCTs and observational studies that reported clinical and functional outcomes of CRT in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) patients. Efficacy of CRT was assessed in 7 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 7072 patients and effectiveness of CRT was evaluated in 14 observational studies with 3463 patients In the pooled analysis of RCTs, we found that CRT decreased mortality or heart failure hospitalization by 29% in ICM patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 21% to 35%), and by 28% (95% CI, 18% to 37%) in NICM patients. No significant difference was observed between the 2 etiology groups (P = 0.55). In the pooled analysis of observational studies, however, we found that ICM patients had a 54% greater risk for mortality or HF hospitalization than NICM patients (relative risk: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.30–1.83; P<0.001). Both RCTs and observational studies demonstrated that NICM patients had greater echocardiographic improvements in the left ventricular ejection fraction and end-systolic volume, as compared with ICM patients (both P<0.001). Conclusion CRT might reduce mortality or heart failure hospitalization in both ICM and NICM patients similarly. The improvement of the left ventricular function and remodeling is greater in NICM patients.
The State of the World's Children 1999: Education.

'Education For All: Making the right a reality. ' The State of the World's Children 1999 tells the stories of a world community that is unwilling to accept the consequences of illiteracy or the denial of the human right to a quality education. With the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a guiding framework, governments, policy makers, educators, community leaders, parents and children themselves are advancing an education revolution; their goal, 'Education For All. ' This report addresses the challenges encountered and the efforts and progress made by the international community as it strives to reach its goal. The eight tables in this report profile 193 countries. The countries are measured by basic indicators, nutritional status, health status, educational levels, demographics, economic indicators, the status of women and the rate of progress on major indicators since 1960. The State of the World's Children proposes that education is still one of the best investments a country can make in order to prosper.
Comparison of current control methods for a near unity power factor converter in a wind generator system feeding stand-alone loads

A simple near-unity power factor converter using two current control methods- the Average Current Control method (ACC) and Hysteresis Current Control method (HCC)-has been employed in this paper for a wind energy conversion system feeding simple loads. A simple stepped wind speed profile, comprising the rated wind speed and a higher wind speed, has been considered and the performance parameters of the unity power factor converter compared for these two current control methods. The wind turbine drives a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG), which is interfaced with the near UPF converter feeding a resistive load. The performance parameters under study are the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the input currents to the converter and the input Power Factor (PF) to the converter. Simulation has been performed in PSIM and Simulink employing SimCoupler for co-simulation and the results verify the efficacy of the converter in delivering satisfactory performance.
Protecting investors

On December 15, 2010, after 11 months of legal standoff, the Swiss corporation Novartis finally closed a deal to acquire the remaining shares of eye-care company Alcon from minority shareholders. Why did it take almost a year? The acquisition had become a relatedparty transaction after Novartis purchased a 25% stake from then majority shareholder Nestlé and nominated some of its own directors to Alcon’s board. Minority shareholders therefore claimed that the deal required the approval of a committee of independent directors. The parties finally reached an agreement when Novartis increased its offer to a level that minority shareholders deemed fair.1
Graphical models for localization of the seizure focus from interictal intracranial EEG

Decision algorithms are developed that use periods of intracranial non-seizure (interictal) EEG to localize epileptogenic networks. Depth and surface recordings are considered from 5 and 6 patients respectively. The proposed algorithms combine spectral and multivariate statistics in a decision-theoretic framework to automatically delineate the seizure onset area. In the case of depth recordings, we apply standard binary classification algorithms, including linear and quadratic discriminative analysis. For the surface recordings, novel decision algorithms are developed, based upon graphical models. The outcomes from the algorithms for both depth and surface recordings are in good agreement with the determination of the seizure focus by clinicians from ictal EEG. In the long term, the proposed approach may lead to shorter hospitalization of intractable-epilepsy patients, since it does not rely on ictal EEG.
The crossroads of anxiety: distinct neurophysiological maps for different symptomatic groups

Background Despite the devastating impact of anxiety disorders (ADs) worldwide, long-lasting debates on causes and remedies have not solved the clinician’s puzzle: who should be treated and how? Psychiatric classifications conceptualize ADs as distinct entities, with strong support from neuroscience fields. Yet, comorbidity and pharmacological response suggest a single “serotonin dysfunction” dimension. Whether AD is one or several disorders goes beyond academic quarrels, and the distinction has therapeutic relevance. Addressing the underlying dysfunctions should improve treatment response. By its own nature, neurophysiology can be the best tool to address dysfunctional processes. Purpose To search for neurophysiological dysfunctions and differences among panic disorder (PD), agoraphobia-social-specific phobia, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalized anxiety disorder. Methods A sample population of 192 unmedicated patients and 30 aged-matched controls partook in this study. Hypothesis-related neurophysiological variables were combined into ten independent factors: 1) dysrhythmic patterns, 2) delta, 3) theta, 4) alpha, 5) beta (whole-head absolute power z-scores), 6) event-related potential (ERP) combined latency, 7) ERP combined amplitude (z-scores), 8) magnitude, 9) site, and 10) site of hyperactive networks. Combining single variables into representative factors was necessary because, as in all real-life phenomena, the complexity of interactive processes cannot be addressed through single variables and the multiplicity of potentially implicated variables would demand an extremely large sample size for statistical analysis. Results The nonparametric analysis correctly classified 81% of the sample. Dysrhythmic patterns, decreased delta, and increased beta differentiated AD from controls. Shorter ERP latencies were found in several individual patients, mostly from the OCD group. Hyperactivities were found at the right frontorbital-striatal network in OCD and at the panic circuit in PD. Conclusions Our findings support diffuse cortical instability in AD in general, with individual differences in information processing deficits and regional hyperactivities in OCD and PD. Study limitations and the rationale behind the variable selection and combination strategy will be discussed before addressing the therapeutic implications of our findings.
Autonomous Reconfiguration of a Multi-Modal Mobile Robot

This paper presents an approach for a reconfigurable multi-modal mobile robot operating in an indoor environment, based on a probabilistic framework. The modalities are composed of a path planning method, a reactive motion strategy, and an emergency stop. While the mobile robot is achieving its mission to reach its goal, a Hidden Markov Model is used to estimate the most appropriate mode on-line, based on two types of information: context (using mainly information known a priori) and monitoring (evaluating aspects of the current situation that cannot be known in advance). The robot uses the modality that is considered as the most appropriate, switching between one and another as appropriate. We show in experiments that this approach can enable failure mitigation, while maintaining safety and robustness.
A New Pan-Sharpening Method Using a Compressed Sensing Technique

This paper addresses the remote sensing image pan-sharpening problem from the perspective of compressed sensing (CS) theory which ensures that with the sparsity regularization, a compressible signal can be correctly recovered from the global linear sampled data. First, the degradation model from a high- to low-resolution multispectral (MS) image and high-resolution panchromatic (PAN) image is constructed as a linear sampling process which is formulated as a matrix. Then, the model matrix is considered as the measurement matrix in CS, so pan-sharpening is converted into signal restoration problem with sparsity regularization. Finally, the basis pursuit (BP) algorithm is used to resolve the restoration problem, which can recover the high-resolution MS image effectively. The QuickBird and IKONOS satellite images are used to test the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed method can well preserve spectral and spatial details of the source images. The pan-sharpened high-resolution MS image by the proposed method is competitive or even superior to those images fused by other well-known methods.