Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carotid artery stenting vs carotid endarterectomy: meta-analysis and diversity-adjusted trial sequential analysis of randomized trials.

BACKGROUND The role of carotid artery stenting (CAS) when compared with carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is controversial, with recent trials showing an increased risk of harm with CAS. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the periprocedural and intermediate to long-term benefits and harms of CAS compared with CEA. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials searches for randomized clinical trials until June 2010 of CAS compared with CEA for carotid artery disease. Periprocedural (≤30-day) outcomes (death, myocardial infarction [MI], or stroke; death or any stroke; any stroke; and MI) and intermediate to long-term outcomes (outcomes as in the Stenting and Angioplasty With Protection in Patients at High Risk for Endarterectomy [SAPPHIRE] trial: composite of periprocedural death, MI, or stroke plus ipsilateral stroke or death thereafter; periprocedural death or stroke plus ipsilateral stroke thereafter; death or any stroke; and any stroke) were evaluated. DATA EXTRACTION Two of us independently extracted data in duplicate. Baseline characteristics, inclusion and exclusion criteria, use of an embolic protection device, US vs non-US study, and the earlier-mentioned outcomes of interest were extracted from each trial. DATA SYNTHESIS We identified 13 randomized clinical trials randomizing 7477 participants. Carotid artery stenting was associated with an increased risk of periprocedural outcomes of death, MI, or stroke (odds ratio = 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.59), 65% and 67% increases in death or stroke and any stroke, respectively, but with 55% and 85% reductions in the risk of MI and cranial nerve injury, respectively, when compared with CEA. The trial sequential monitoring boundary was crossed by the cumulative z curve, suggesting firm evidence for at least a 20% relative risk increase of periprocedural death or stroke and any stroke and at least a 15% reduction in MI with CAS compared with CEA. Similarly, CAS was associated with 19%, 38%, 24%, and 48% increases in the intermediate to long-term outcomes of SAPPHIRE-like outcome, periprocedural death or stroke and ipsilateral stroke thereafter, death or any stroke, and any stroke, respectively. The trial sequential monitoring boundary was crossed by the cumulative z curve, suggesting firm evidence for at least a 20% relative risk increase of any stroke. CONCLUSIONS In this largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis to date using outcomes that are standard in contemporary studies, CAS was associated with an increased risk of both periprocedural and intermediate to long-term outcomes, but with a reduction in periprocedural MI and cranial nerve injury. Strategies are urgently needed to identify patients who are best served by CAS vs CEA.
Sub-nanojule threshold lasing in 5×5 μm2 organic photonic boxes

×The lasing threshold of a microcavity is mainly determined by the spontaneous emission factor β, which is inversely proportional to the mode volume Vc. We demonstrate an experimental way to decrease the mode volume via lateral structuring of the microcavity. This redistributes both number and density of the transversal cavity modes, which increases the amplitude of the internal electromagnetic field. Our samples are microcavities with an active layer of variable thickness (0.2 to 2 μm) made of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminium (Alq3) doped with 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2- methyl-6-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM). With thermal coevaporation through a shadow mask, this layer is structured into an array of photonic boxes square-shaped microcavities with an area of 55 μm2. Using a microscope objective, we record the spatial distribution of the cavity transmission spectra with submicron resolution. The modes of the photonic boxes show a clear discretization, which is due to the multidimensional optical confinement. Under selective excitation of the DCM molecules via a focused pulsed laser (532 nm, 1.5 ns, 2 kHz , &diameter; ≈ 3μm), we record the spatially and spectrally resolved emission of single photonic boxes. The laser pulse energy is varied to obtain input-output curves of the cavity modes. At an excitation energy of ~30 pJ, we observe superlinear growth as well as a spectral narrowing of the emission from the lowest energy mode of a single photonic box. For this lasing transition, we determine a spontaneous emission factor β of ≈0.01.
Rickettsia felis–associated Uneruptive Fever, Senegal

During November 2008–July 2009, we investigated the origin of unknown fever in Senegalese patients with a negative malaria test result, focusing on potential rickettsial infection. Using molecular tools, we found evidence for Rickettsia felis–associated illness in the initial days of infection in febrile Senegalese patients without malaria.
Integration of Evidence-Based Knowledge Management in Microsystems: A Tele-ICU Experience

The Institute of Medicine's proposed 6 aims to improve health care are timely, safe, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered care. Unfortunately, it also asserts that improvements in these 6 dimensions cannot be achieved within the existing framework of care systems. These systems are based on unrealistic expectations on human cognition and vigilance, and demonstrate a lack of dependence on computerized systems to support care processes and put information at the point of use. Knowledge-based care and evidence-based clinical decision-making need to replace the unscientific care that is being delivered in health care. Building care practices on evidence within an information technology platform is needed to support sound clinical decision-making and to influence organizational adoption of evidence-based practice in health care. Despite medical advances and evidence-based recommendations for treatment of severe sepsis, it remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in the world. It is a complex disease state that has proven difficult to define, diagnose, and treat. Supporting bedside teams with real-time knowledge and expertise to target early identification of severe sepsis and compliance to Surviving Sepsis Campaign, evidence-based practice bundles are important to improving outcomes. Using a centralized, remote team of expert nurses and an open-source software application to advance clinical decision-making and execution of the severe sepsis bundle will be examined.
The current status of the motherese hypothesis

ABSTRACT Partially conflicting results from correlational studies of maternal speech style and its effects on child language learning motivate a comparative discussion of Newport, Gleitman & Gleitman (1977) and Furrow, Nelson & Benedict (1979), and a reanalysis of the original Newport et al. data. In the current analysis the data are from two groups of children equated for age, in response to the methodological questions raised by Furrow et al.; but, in line with the original Newport et al. analysis, linguistic differences between these age-equated children are handled by partial correlation. Under this new analysis the original results reported by Newport et al. are reproduced. In addition, however, most effects of the mother on the child's language growth are found to be restricted to a very young age group. Moreover, the new analysis suggests that increased complexity of maternal speech is positively correlated with child language growth in this age range. The findings are discussed in terms of a theoretical analysis of the Motherese Hypothesis; the conditions of both learner and environment in which ‘simplified’ data could aid a learner. Finally, the results of our past work, those of Furrow et al., and those of the present analysis, are discussed as they fit into, and add to, current theorizing about the language acquisition process.
Pertussis outbreak in a basic school in Estonia: Description, contributing factors and vaccine effectiveness

The aim of the current study was to assess the epidemiological situation concerning the emergence of a pertussis outbreak, as well as potential contributing factors and vaccine effectiveness. A retrospective epidemiological description and an analysis of the outbreak among students were performed. The basic school in Adavere had a total of 150 students in 2003. Of these, 54 cases of pertussis, with median age 12 y, all corresponding to clinical case definition, were identified with an attack rate of 36%. Regarding confirmation of the diagnosis, out of all clinical cases, 18 were confirmed by laboratory testing (2 by isolation of B. pertussis and 16 serologically based on single sera) and 36 with epidemiological linkage only. Of all the students with pertussis, 35 (65%) had received 4 doses and 6 (11%) 3 doses of DTwP vaccine; 13 (24%) students had received fewer than 3 doses or were unvaccinated. The contributing factors in generating this outbreak were close epidemiological contacts, late identification of pertussis diagnosis in the primary, secondary and later cases, as well as a too late initiated active surveillance. In this outbreak, low vaccine effectiveness and low vaccination coverage also played an important role.
A low power DC-7.8 GHz BiCMOS LNA for UWB and optical communication

A low noise amplifier (LNA) for ultra wideband (UWB) and optical communication is presented in this paper. Active impedance matching allows a -3dB bandwidth from dc to 7.8GHz at 50/spl Omega/ port impedances. At a low power consumption of 1.8 V /spl times/ 3.6 mA, the amplifier has a power gain of 10.6 dB, a noise figure below 4.4 dB, an input compression of -12 dBm and return losses above 7.8 dB. The fully integrated circuit is fabricated on commercial 0.25/spl mu/m BiCMOS technology and requires a chip area of 0.45 mm/sup 2/.
Interfaces for interactive audio-visual media browsing

In this demo, we present new interfaces for interactive navigation in continuous, time-based multimedia files, such as video recordings. In contrast to common techniques for multimedia skimming, our approaches enable users to interactively navigate audio files along the timeline and support time-synchronized browsing in both audio as well as visual data streams.
Joint Use of H-inf Criterion in Channel Estimation and Precoding to Mitigate Pilot Contamination in Massive MIMO Systems

In this paper, a channel estimation (CE) and precoding scheme by using H-infinity (H-inf) criterion for mitigation of pilot contamination (PC) in Massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is reconsidered. Firstly, different thresholds in H-inf CE and precoding are considered. Secondly, asymptotic analysis of the large system is applied to simplify the H-inf precoding, which shows that the complexity of an order of magnitude is reduced. Thirdly, approximate downlink achievable data rates per user are presented for different CE and precoding schemes, such as H-inf and minimum mean square error (MMSE) CE, MMSE, zero-forcing (ZF) and H-inf precoding. The analytic work shows that the proposed scheme can provide dual mitigation to the PC. That is, the H-inf CE mitigates the PC by adjusting its thresholds, and the H-inf precoding is utilized to suppress the PC by considering inter- cell interference. The numerical results show that the joint use of H-inf CE and H-inf precoding outperforms existing several schemes in terms of mitigation to the PC.
A Framework for Authentication and Authorization Credentials in Cloud Computing

Security is a key concern when adopting cloud technology. Cloud solutions include not only issues inherited from related technologies, such as virtualization and distributed computing, but also new concerns associated to complexity of the cloud ecosystem, composed by the cloud entities and their interactions. One of the concerns is related to authentication and authorization in the cloud in order to provide robust mechanisms to identify entities and establish their permissions and roles in the cloud, controlling resource usage and promoting accounting and isolation. This paper identifies the state of the art in terms of credential management focusing on the cloud ecosystem. It proposes a credential classification and a framework for studying and developing solutions in this context, unifying concepts related to cloud deployment models, service types, entities and lifecycle controls.
An injection-locked oscillator-multiplier circuitry suitable for MB-OFDM clock generation

A circuit architecture capable of generating fast-hopping multiple local oscillator signals is presented. It is based on first harmonic injection-locked ring-oscillator, which extracts the Nth harmonic from an N-stage injection-locked oscillator. To study this technique, a multiply-by-nine with nine-stage single-ended ring-oscillator has been fabricated using 350nm CMOS technology. The free-running frequency of the oscillator is 1.05 GHz with a phase-noise of -71 dBm/dBc at the 1 MHz offset frequency. The locked phase-noise is -116 dBm/dBc. The circuit draws 6 mA from a 1.5 V supply. Further, based on the proposed circuit, the clock architecture suitable for MB-OFDM has been simulated using 65 nm CMOS technology.
Fast and scalable priority queue architecture for high-speed network switches

In this paper, we present a fast and scalable pipelined priority queue architecture for use in high-performance switches with support for fine grained quality of service (QoS) guarantees. Priority queues are used to implement highest-priority-first scheduling policies. Our hardware architecture is based on a new data structure called a pipelined heap, or P-heap for short. This data structure enables the pipelining of the enqueue and dequeue operations, thereby allowing these operations to execute in essentially constant time. In addition to being very fast, the architecture also scales very well to a large number of priority levels and to large queue sizes. We give a detailed description of this new data structure, the associated algorithms and the corresponding hardware implementation. We have implemented this new architecture using a 0.35 micron CMOS technology. Our current implementation can support 10 Gb/s connections with over 4 billion priority levels.
Solving the Quadratic Assignment Problem on heterogeneous environment (CPUs and GPUs) with the application of Level 2 Reformulation and Linearization Technique

The Quadratic Assignment Problem, QAP, is a classic combinatorial optimization problem, classified as NP-hard and widely studied. This problem consists in assigning N facilities to N locations obeying the relation of 1 to 1, aiming to minimize costs of the displacement between the facilities. The application of Reformulation and Linearization Technique, RLT, to the QAP leads to a tight linear relaxation but large and difficult to solve. Previous works based on level 3 RLT needed about 700GB of working memory to process one large instances (N = 30 facilities). We present a modified version of the algorithm proposed by Adams et al. which executes on heterogeneous systems (CPUs and GPUs), based on level 2 RLT. For some instances, our algorithm is up to 140 times faster and occupy 97% less memory than the level 3 RLT version. The proposed algorithm was able to solve by first time two instances: tai35b and tai40b.
Cytosolic Hsp70 and co-chaperones constitute a novel system for tRNA import into the nucleus

tRNAs are unique among various RNAs in that they shuttle between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, and their localization is regulated by nutrient conditions. Although nuclear export of tRNAs has been well documented, the import machinery is poorly understood. Here, we identified Ssa2p, a major cytoplasmic Hsp70 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a tRNA-binding protein whose deletion compromises nuclear accumulation of tRNAs upon nutrient starvation. Ssa2p recognizes several structural features of tRNAs through its nucleotide-binding domain, but prefers loosely-folded tRNAs, suggesting that Ssa2p has a chaperone-like activity for RNAs. Ssa2p also binds Nup116, one of the yeast nucleoporins. Sis1p and Ydj1p, cytoplasmic co-chaperones for Ssa proteins, were also found to contribute to the tRNA import. These results unveil a novel function of the Ssa2p system as a tRNA carrier for nuclear import by a novel mode of substrate recognition. Such Ssa2p-mediated tRNA import likely contributes to quality control of cytosolic tRNAs. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.04659. 001
Effects and mechanisms of Cryptotanshinone on rats with adjuvant arthritis.

BACKGROUND Cryptotanshinone (CT) is the major active constituent of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of CT on rats with adjuvant arthritis (AA). METHODS AA was induced by the metatarsal footpad injection with complete Freund's adjuvant in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The secondary inflammatory reaction was evaluated by hind paw swelling and the polyarthritis index. Activity of interleukin-1 (IL-1) was detected by the concanavalin A-induced thymocytes proliferation assay. The lymphocytes proliferation and IL-2 production were assayed by 3-(4,5-2dimethylthiazal-2yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) and activated mouse splenocytes proliferation, respectively. RESULTS Intragastric administration of CT (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly decreased secondary inflammatory reactions and increased the spleen and thymus index. There was a marked immunologic and inflammatory response in the AA model, which was accompanied by the decrease of thymocyte proliferation and IL-2 production as well as the increase of IL-1 production. CT apparently enhanced thymocyte proliferation and decreased IL-1 production in AA rats. CONCLUSION These results indicate that CT may exert its anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects through inhibiting lymphocyte proliferation and production of pro-inflammatory mediators.
Temporal web dynamics and its application to information retrieval

The World Wide Web is highly dynamic and is constantly evolving to cover the latest information about the physical and social updates in the world. At the same time, the changes in web contents are entangled with new information needs and time-sensitive user interactions with information sources. To address these temporal information needs effectively, it is essential for the search engines to model web dynamics and understand the changes in user behavior over time that are caused by them. In this full-day tutorial, we focus on modeling time-sensitive content on the web, and discuss the state-of-the-art approaches for integrating temporal signals in web search. We address many of the related research topics including those associated with searching dynamic collections, defining time-sensitive relevance, understanding user query behavior over time, and investigating the mains reasons behind content changes. We also cover algorithms, architectures, evaluation methodologies and metrics for time-aware search, and discuss the latest breakthroughs and open challenges, both from the algorithmic and the architectural perspectives.
The Great Irish Famine: Identifying Starvation in the Tissues of Victims Using Stable Isotope Analysis of Bone and Incremental Dentine Collagen

The major components of human diet both past and present may be estimated by measuring the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) of the collagenous proteins in bone and tooth dentine. However, the results from these two tissues differ substantially: bone collagen records a multi-year average whilst primary dentine records and retains time-bound isotope ratios deriving from the period of tooth development. Recent studies harnessing a sub-annual temporal sampling resolution have shed new light on the individual dietary histories of our ancestors by identifying unexpected radical short-term dietary changes, the duration of breastfeeding and migration where dietary change occurs, and by raising questions regarding factors other than diet that may impact on δ13C and δ15N values. Here we show that the dentine δ13C and δ15N profiles of workhouse inmates dating from the Great Irish Famine of the 19th century not only record the expected dietary change from C3 potatoes to C4 maize, but when used together they also document prolonged nutritional and other physiological stress resulting from insufficient sustenance. In the adults, the influence of the maize-based diet is seen in the δ13C difference between dentine (formed in childhood) and rib (representing an average from the last few years of life). The demonstrated effects of stress on the δ13C and δ15N values will have an impact on the interpretations of diet in past populations even in slow-turnover tissues such as compact bone. This technique also has applicability in the investigation of modern children subject to nutritional distress where hair and nails are unavailable or do not record an adequate period of time.
Molecular Diagnosis of Vector-Borne Parasitic Diseases

Vector-borne diseases still represent a serious problem in public health despite of the efforts of the surveillance and public health systems to mitigate these pathologies. Among these infections, those diseases caused by parasitic protozoa such as Chagas disease, malaria, leishmaniasis and African trypanosomiasis still represent serious issues in public health. These diseases are also named as neglected diseases affecting vulnerable populations around the world. One of the main goals in the basic research of these diseases is the deployment of accurate, reliable and feasible methods for the diagnosis of the etiological agents. Due to the rise of DNA technologies, several researchers have been able to develop rapid methods for the molecular diagnosis of vector-borne parasitic diseases. Herein we conducted a systematic review about the old-fashioned and current methodologies for the diagnosis of Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and malaria with special emphasis on molecular diagnosis to update the reader about their availability and feasibility. One of the purposes of this review is to encourage the researchers to deploy new methodologies that can be easily applied in endemic countries with no sophisticated methodology. This is imperative since an early diagnosis will enhance an early, rapid and appropriate treatment for populations that suffer these complex diseases.