Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fentanyl‐induced chest wall rigidity and laryngospasm in preterm and term infants

Objective: To assess the occurrence of muscle rigidity after fentanyl administration in premature and term neonates. Design: Prospective case series, observational study. Setting: A university hospital neonatal intensive care unit. Patients: 8/89 preterm and term infants (25‐40 wks gestational age) who received fentanyl for perioperative analgesia and sedation or intensive care procedures. Interventions: Mechanical or bag mask ventilation and antagonization with naloxone. Measurements and Main Results: We observed chest wall rigidity in 8 patients after low dosage of fentanyl (3‐5 μg/kg body weight). All patients presented with respiratory distress, hypercapnia, and hypoxemia leading to bradycardia. In two patients, laryngospasm was noted and associated with muscle rigidity, thus making intubation impossible. Naloxone (20‐40 μg/kg body weight) reversed the laryngospasm and muscle rigidity immediately, allowing restitution within 1 min. In our patient population, we found fentanyl‐induced chest wall rigidity in 4% of neonates after fentanyl administration. Conclusion: Even low doses of fentanyl can lead to thoracic rigidity in neonates. Additionally, we observed laryngospasm in two patients and speculate that it might be a variant of muscle rigidity.
Role of Echocardiography in Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is most common arrhythmia and its prevalence appears to be increasing as the population ages. Echocardiography can play a key role in risk stratification and management of patients with AF. Transthoracic echocardiography allows rapid and comprehensive assessment of cardiac anatomical structure and function. Pulmonary vein flow monitoring using echocardiography has the potential to an increasing role in the evaluation of cardiac function and AF ablation procedures. Transesophageal echocardiography also provides accurate information about the presence of a thrombus in the atria and thromboembolic risk. The novel technique of intracardiac echocardiography has emerged as a popular and useful tool in the everyday practice of interventional electrophysiology. Other imaging modalities, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging have complementary roles in risk stratification and assessment of patients with AF. Echocardiography continues to be the foundation of clinical evaluation and management of AF.
Research on the relationship between intellectual capital and listed companies performance of China

Based on the data of 100 Chinese listed companies (50 high-tech companies and 50 other companies), this study investigates the impact of intellectual capital and the constituent elements of intellectual capital on Chinese listed companies performance with regression analysis. The results show that, there is a positive relationship between intellectual capital and performance, and elements of intellectual capital are also positive to the companies performance. Relation capital has the most significant effect whereas structural capital's significance ranks medium and human capital doesn't have a significant effect.
A Method for Increasing Precision and Reliability of Elasticity Analysis in Complicated Burn Scar Cases

In this paper we propose a method for increasing precision and reliability of elasticity analysis in complicated burn scar cases. The need for a technique that would help physicians by objectively assessing elastic properties of scars, motivated our original algorithm. This algorithm successfully employed active contours for tracking and finite element models for strain analysis. However, the previous approach considered only one normal area and one abnormal area within the region of interest, and scar shapes which were somewhat simplified. Most burn scars have rather complicated shapes and may include multiple regions with different elastic properties. Hence, we need a method capable of adequately addressing these characteristics. The new method can split the region into more than two localities with different material properties, select and quantify abnormal areas, and apply different forces if it is necessary for a better shape description of the scar. The method also demonstrates the application of scale and mesh refinement techniques in this important domain. It is accomplished by increasing the number of Finite Element Method (FEM) areas as well as the number of elements within the area. The method is successfully applied to elastic materials and real burn scar cases. We demonstrate all of the proposed techniques and investigate the behavior of elasticity function in a 3-D space. Recovered properties of elastic materials are compared with those obtained by a conventional mechanics-based approach. Scar ratings achieved with the method are correlated against the judgments of physicians.
On the Outage Performance of Selection Amplify-and-Forward Relaying Scheme

In this letter, we propose a selection amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying scheme which has the lower outage probability than that of a conventional AF relaying scheme in cooperative relay networks. In real wireless environments, as the channel of source-to-destination (SD) link varies with an increase in time, we can also obtain a diversity gain through the SD link by retransmission in common with a conventional AF relaying scheme. Thus, we can expect a performance enhancement by adaptively determining the transmitting node between the relaying and source nodes. We propose a method for adaptively determining between AF relaying and retransmission schemes, and show that the additional diversity gain can be obtained by the proposed scheme.
Identities Anonymization in Dynamic Social Networks

Privacy in social network data publishing is always an important concern. Nowadays most prior privacy protection techniques focus on static social networks. However, there are additional privacy disclosures in dynamic social networks due to the sequential publications. In this paper, we first show that the risks of vertex and community re-identification exist in a dynamic social network, even if the release at each time instance is protected by a static anonymity scheme. To prevent vertex and community re-identification in a dynamic social network, we propose novel dynamic k^w-structural diversity anonymity, where w is the time that an adversary can monitor a victim. This scheme extends the k-structural diversity anonymity to a dynamic scenario. We also present a heuristic to anonymize the releases of networks to satisfy the proposed privacy scheme. The evaluations show that our approach can retain much of the characteristics of the networks while confirming the privacy protection.
Cholecalciferol 20 000 IU Once Weekly in HIV-Positive Patients with Low Vitamin D Levels: Result from a Cohort Study

Purpose: To evaluate efficacy and safety of 20 000 IU cholecalciferol weekly in HIV-infected patients. Methods: Longitudinal data for 243 HIV-infected patients with paired 25-OH-vitamin D3 values for the same month in 2 consecutive years were stratified by the initiation of supplementation in this retrospective study. Results: After 1 year of administration of cholecalciferol 20 000 IU weekly, about 78% of patients with initial vitamin D level <20 µg/L achieved vitamin D levels >20 µg/L and 42% achieved levels >30 µg/L. Supplemented patients with baseline vitamin D levels <20 µg/L showed a significant risk reduction for hypocalcemia (P = .006; risk difference: 20.8%) and a significantly lower increase in alkaline phosphatase (AP) compared to those in the nonsubstituted group. Conclusion: The dose of 20 000 IU of cholecalciferol once weekly was found to be safe and effective. Normalization of vitamin D levels within 1 year was observed in 42% to 75% of the patients.
Service differentiation with the adjustment of remaining backoff time in IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN

In traditional IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN, since no traffic differentiation is provided, QoS control for real-time services can not be supported. In this paper, we propose a method to provide service differentiation in legacy IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN, which uses Distribute Coordination Function (DCF) mode. For the low priority traffic, remaining backoff time is reset according to its pre-determined probability. The probability is given according to the application's category, e.g. real-time video/voice or best effort data. When it is needed to reset the remaining backoff time for low priority traffic, the terminal should recalculate the backoff time between the previous remaining time and the maximum contention window size. The recalculated backoff time tends to increase compared to the previous remaining backoff time. Accordingly, the whole backoff time for low traffic tends to increase. For the use of the proposed scheme, only simple modification at terminal, not at AP (Access Point), is required. So, it can be easily applied to normal IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN environments.
Revised American Thyroid Association guidelines for the management of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION The American Thyroid Association appointed a Task Force of experts to revise the original Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: Management Guidelines of the American Thyroid Association. METHODS The Task Force identified relevant articles using a systematic PubMed search, supplemented with additional published materials, and then created evidence-based recommendations, which were set in categories using criteria adapted from the United States Preventive Services Task Force Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The original guidelines provided abundant source material and an excellent organizational structure that served as the basis for the current revised document. RESULTS The revised guidelines are focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and hereditary MTC. CONCLUSIONS The Task Force developed 67 evidence-based recommendations to assist clinicians in the care of patients with MTC. The Task Force considers the recommendations to represent current, rational, and optimal medical practice.
Oxidative Stress in Glaucoma: A Burden of Evidence

G laucoma is an insidiously progressive optic neuropathy which affects nearly 90 million people worldwide, and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness. It is a neurodegenerative disorder of aging and occurs with increasing prevalence after the age of 40. Fundoscopic examination of the glaucomatous retina reveals characteristic excavation of the optic nerve head (ONH) with concomitant visual field defects. Although most cases of glaucoma are associated with prolonged latent periods of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), known as primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), approximately one third of glaucoma patients present with normal IOP. Furthermore, a significant number of cases progress despite clinically measurable reductions of IOP.7 Despite this paradox of pressure, the final common pathway of vision loss remains the apoptotic loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) with subsequent degeneration of the ONH. Such observations have perpetuated research to determine the etiology of and risk factors for developing glaucoma. In addition to elevated IOP, retinal ischemia, and nutritional status, oxidative stress has been proposed as an etiologic factor in the pathophysiology of glaucomatous RGC death. As central nervous system neurons, RGCs are especially susceptible to oxidative stress because of their tremendous oxygen consumption and high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids. But unlike cortical neurons, the RGCs are vulnerable to potentially high levels of oxidative stress as a result of direct light exposure. Oxidative stresses are induced through the formation of multiple reactive oxygen species (ROS) including superoxide (O2 ), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and the hydroxyl radical (dOH) that can initiate and propagate free radicals. The resultant free radicals can be terminated by antioxidant defense systems including the enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and nonenzymatic components such as glutathione [reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG)], thioredoxin, and antioxidant vitamins. The net oxidative burden between these opposing prooxidant and antioxidant systems is the oxidative stress that damages lipids, protein, and DNA culminating in cell death. Despite the potential role of oxidative stress in the glaucomatous death of RGCs, developing neurotrophindependent RGCs require ROS as part of the signaling process for cell death, analogous to that seen in neurotrophin-dependent neurons. Therefore, here we examine studies that attempt to provide evidence for and elucidate the role of oxidative stress in glaucoma.
Use of a two-channel functional electrical stimulator to stand paraplegic patients.

A two-channel electrical stimulator* can be used to stand patients who have spastic paraplegia from a complete spinal cord (not peripheral nerve) lesion (Fig. 1). Electrical stimulation causes the quadriceps femoris muscles to contract, maintaining the knee joints in extension and thus allowing standing. The advantages of standing are that it can help prevent decubiti, improve function of the bladder and other internal organs, and provide better blood flow in paralyzed parts of the body. Patients with paraplegia are usually fitted with mechanical orthoses to enable them to stand, but they often abandon the orthoses once they return home. We believe the functional electrical stimulator will be better accepted than the orthoses because it •is quickly and easily applied to the extremity •uses the patient's own muscles and metabolic energy •does not have an undesirable appearance •does not require any external devices…
On the Feasibility and Efficacy of Protection Routing in IP Networks

With network components increasingly reliable, routing is playing an ever greater role in determining network reliability. This has spurred much activity in improving routing stability and reaction to failures, and rekindled interest in centralized routing solutions, at least within a single routing domain. Centralizing decisions eliminates uncertainty and many inconsistencies, and offers added flexibility in computing routes that meet different criteria. However, it also introduces new challenges; especially in reacting to failures where centralization can increase latency. This paper leverages the flexibility afforded by centralized routing to address these challenges. Specifically, we explore when and how standby backup forwarding options can be activated, while waiting for an update from the centralized server after the failure of an individual component (link or node). We provide analytical insight into the feasibility of such backups as a function of network structure, and quantify their computational complexity. We also develop an efficient heuristic reconciling protectability and performance, and demonstrate its effectiveness in a broad range of scenarios. The results should facilitate deployments of centralized routing solutions.
The effect of preserving prepared sperm samples at room temperature or at 37 °C before intrauterine insemination (IUI) on clinical pregnancy rate

Objective: The comparison of the effect of preserving prepared sperm samples at room temperature or at 37 °C before intrauterine insemination (IUI) on clinical pregnancy rate. Materials and Methods: Retrospective clinical research. University hospital, infertility clinic. Patients with one or two follicles, between the ages of 20 and 40, whose infertility period was less than 6 years and the injected total motile sperm count was more than 10 million. Preserving sperm samples prepared for IUI at 37 ºC or at room temperature before IUI. The clinical pregnancy rate of IUI cycles between 1st of January 2004 and 1st of December 2011 in which prepared sperm samples were preserved at 37 ºC and the clinical pregnancy rate of IUI cycles between 1st of December 2011 and 31st of May 2014 in which prepared sperm samples preserved at room temperature. Results: Clinical pregnancy rates were similar in IUI cycles in which prepared sperm samples were preserved at 37 ºC and at room temperature (9.3% vs. 8.9%). Clinical pregnancy rates in IUI cycles with 2 follicles were higher than IUI cycles with 1 follicle (10.8% vs. 7.6%) (p=0.002). Further statistical analysis after splitting data according to the number of the follicles revealed that there was no statistical difference between clinical pregnancy rates after IUI cycles in which prepared sperm samples were preserved at 37 ºC or at room temperature in both one follicle (7.6% vs. 7.6%), and two follicle cycles (11.5% vs. 10.1%). Conclusions: Preserving prepared sperm samples at room temperature had no negative effect on clinical pregnancy rates when compared with reserving prepared sperm samples at 37 ºC during IUI cycles.
Both host and pathogen factors predispose to Escherichia coli urinary-source bacteremia in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND The urinary tract is the most common source for Escherichia coli bacteremia. Mortality from E. coli urinary-source bacteremia is higher than that from urinary tract infection. Predisposing factors for urinary-source E. coli bacteremia are poorly characterized. METHODS In order to identify urinary-source bacteremia risk factors, we conducted a 12-month prospective cohort study of adult inpatients with E. coli bacteriuria that were tested for bacteremia within ±1 day of the bacteriuria. Patients with bacteremia were compared with those without bacteremia. Bacterial isolates from urine were screened for 16 putative virulence genes using high-throughput dot-blot hybridization. RESULTS Twenty-four of 156 subjects (15%) had E. coli bacteremia. Bacteremic patients were more likely to have benign prostatic hyperplasia (56% vs 19%; P = .04), a history of urogenital surgery (63% vs 28%; P = .001), and presentation with hesitancy/retention (21% vs 4%; P = .002), fever (63% vs 38%; P = .02), and pyelonephritis (67% vs 41%; P = .02). The genes kpsMT (group II capsule) (17 [71%] vs 62 [47%]; P = .03) and prf (P-fimbriae family) (13 [54%] vs 40 [30%]; P = .02) were more frequent in the urinary strains from bacteremic patients. Symptoms of hesitancy/retention (odds ratio [OR], 7.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.6-37), history of a urogenital procedure (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 2-14.7), and presence of kpsMT (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1-8.2) independently predicted bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS Bacteremia secondary to E. coli bacteriuria was frequent (15%) in those tested for it. Urinary stasis, surgical disruption of urogenital tissues, and a bacterial capsule characteristic contribute to systemic invasion by uropathogenic E. coli.
A new query expansion method based on query logs mining

Query expansion has long been suggested as an effective way to improve the performance of information retrieval systems by adding additional relevant terms to the original queries. However, most previous research has been limited in extracting new terms from a subset of relevant documents, but has not exploited the information about user interactions. In this paper, we proposed a method for automatic query expansion based on user interactions recorded in query logs. The central idea is to extract correlations among queries by analyzing the common documents the users selected for them, and the expanded terms only come from the associated queries more than the relevant documents. In particular, we argue that queries should be dealt with in different ways according to their ambiguity degrees, which can be calculated from the log information. We verify this method in a large scale query logs collection and the experimental results show that the method makes good use of the knowledge of user interactions, and it can remarkably improve search performance.
Phonological Factors in Social Media Writing

Does phonological variation get transcribed into social media text? This paper investigates examples of the phonological variable of consonant cluster reduction in Twitter. Not only does this variable appear frequently, but it displays the same sensitivity to linguistic context as in spoken language. This suggests that when social media writing transcribes phonological properties of speech, it is not merely a case of inventing orthographic transcriptions. Rather, social media displays influence from structural properties of the phonological system.
EN 257 : Applied Stochastic Processes Problem Set 1

Recall, from Theorem 8.1-2 on page 490 in [4], that a random process X(t) with autocorrelation function RXX(t1, t2) has a m.s. derivative at time t if ∂RXX(t1, t2)/∂t1∂t2 exists at t1 = t2 = t. Furthermore, we recall that the correlation function RXX(t1, t2) is related to the covariance function KXX(t1, t2) as follows. RXX(t1, t2) = KXX(t1, t2) + μX(t1)μX(t2) (1) For this problem we have a constant mean function μX 6= 0 such that RXX(t1, t2) = σ cos (ω0(t1 − t2)) + μXμX . Evaluating the mixed partial derivative of RXX(t1, t2) at t1 = t2 = t yields the following result. ∂RXX(t1, t2) ∂t1∂t2 ∣∣∣∣ (t1,t2)=(t,t) = σ { ∂2 cos (ω0(t1 − t2)) ∂t1∂t2 ∣∣∣∣ (t1,t2)=(t,t) } = σω 0
Determination of Optimal Parameters for SKD11 CNC Turning Process

This study investigated the optimization of a CNC turning process for SKD11 (JIS). The design of experiments (DOE) method with an orthogonal array was applied. Nine experimental runs were performed based on the orthogonal array. The surface properties of roughness average and roughness maximum and the roundness were studied; the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adapted to investigate which parameters had the most influence on the CNC turning process for SKD11 (JIS). Also, models for predictions of the roughness average, roughness maximum, and roundness had been developed in terms of cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and the mixture ratio of cutting fluids.
Chemokine Analogues Show Suitable Stability for Development as Microbicides

New prevention strategies are urgently needed to slow the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and in the absence of an effective vaccine, there is hope that “microbicides”-HIV inhibitors applied to mucosal surfaces before sexual intercourse-may be able to make an impact.Because developing countries are at the center of the epidemic, affordability and stability during storage are key criteria for candidate microbicides. Furthermore, because formulation strategies that provide long-duration protection after a single dose may enhance acceptability and compliance, stability in the vaginal environment and in the presence of semen should also be considered.PSC-RANTES, a human chemokine analog, has shown promise as a candidate microbicide, but because it contains nonnatural structures that necessitate chemical synthesis steps, it is not suitable for production at a feasible cost and scale for general distribution in developing countries. We have recently developed 2 new fully recombinant chemokine analogs, 5P12-RANTES and 6P4-RANTES, which show equivalent anti-HIV activity to PSC-RANTES. In this study, we tested the stability of these molecules under conditions related to use as microbicides. Our results suggest that stability issues will not present a major obstacle to the further development of these promising molecules as microbicides.