Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between hospital volume and mortality in mechanical ventilation: an instrumental variable analysis.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship between hospital volume and mortality for nonsurgical patients receiving mechanical ventilation. DATA SOURCES Pennsylvania state discharge records from July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2006, linked to the Pennsylvania Department of Health death records and the 2000 United States Census. STUDY DESIGN We categorized all general acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania (n=169) by the annual number of nonsurgical, mechanically ventilated discharges according to previous criteria. To estimate the relationship between annual volume and 30-day mortality, we fit linear probability models using administrative risk adjustment, clinical risk adjustment, and an instrumental variable approach. PRINCIPLE FINDINGS Using a clinical measure of risk adjustment, we observed a significant reduction in the probability of 30-day mortality at higher volume hospitals (>or=300 admissions per year) compared with lower volume hospitals (<300 patients per year; absolute risk reduction: 3.4%, p=.04). No significant volume-outcome relationship was observed using only administrative risk adjustment. Using the distance from the patient's home to the nearest higher volume hospital as an instrument, the volume-outcome relationship was greater than observed using clinical risk adjustment (absolute risk reduction: 7.0%, p=.01). CONCLUSIONS Care in higher volume hospitals is independently associated with a reduction in mortality for patients receiving mechanical ventilation. Adequate risk adjustment is essential in order to obtained unbiased estimates of the volume-outcome relationship.
Defining malnutrition risk for older home care clients.

PURPOSE The Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC) is widely used to assess needs of home care clients and includes five items used to screen for malnutrition. This study involved defining malnutrition risk and identifying other items within the RAI-HC that might improve malnutrition screening among adults aged 65 or older receiving home care. METHODS A literature review, three focus groups of community care access centre case managers (n=29), and five key informant interviews with registered dietitians were used to identify malnutrition risk factors and indicators. A nominal group (n=5) was used to rank RAI-HC malnutrition risk items. Data were charted and integrated to create the final list of potential risk factors. RESULTS Seven malnutrition indicators (dietary intake, appetite, dysphagia, nutrition support, end-stage disease, weight status, and fluid intake) and seven risk factors (health status, functional ability, self-reported poor health, mood status, social function, cognitive performance, and trade-offs) were considered important concepts in the construct of malnutrition for older home care clients. CONCLUSIONS These items identified through divergent methods form the basis for developing a screening-for-malnutrition-risk tool for home care.
Fast embedded feet pose estimation based on a depth camera for smart walker

Assisted gait monitoring could benefit from the measurement of feet position and orientation. These measurements could also be used to implement intention-based control laws for smart walkers. Several works have been dedicated to the detection of lower limbs. The proposed methods are usually fast, but only detect the position of the legs. Others may even be more complete, but are not adapted to reactive applications. Also, they often use markers attached on the feet, which is unsuitable in daily routine. In this paper, a fast feet position and orientation detection algorithm is proposed. It is based on a camera depth sensor and does not require the use of any marker. The obtained results are compared with a ground truth provided by a motion traking system to experimentally assess the performances of the proposed algorithm.
A Review of Cyber Threats and Defence Approaches in Emergency Management

Emergency planners, first responders and relief workers increasingly rely on computational and communication systems that support all aspects of emergency management, from mitigation and preparedness to response and recovery. Failure of these systems, whether accidental or because of malicious action, can have severe implications for emergency management. Accidental failures have been extensively documented in the past and significant effort has been put into the development and introduction of more resilient technologies. At the same time researchers have been raising concerns about the potential of cyber attacks to cause physical disasters or to maximise the impact of one by intentionally impeding the work of the emergency services. Here, we provide a review of current research on the cyber threats to communication, sensing, information management and vehicular technologies used in emergency management. We emphasise on open issues for research, which are the cyber threats that have the potential to affect emergency management severely and for which solutions have not yet been proposed in the literature.
The Blue Laser Diode: GaN based Light Emitters and Lasers

Physics of gallium nitrides and related compounds GaN growth p-Type GaN obtained by electron beam irradiation n-Type GaN p-Type GaN InGaN Zn and Si co-doped InGaN/AlGaN double-heterostructure blue and blue-green LEDs inGaN single-quantum-well structure LEDs room-temperature pulsed operation of laser diodes emission mechanisms of LEDs and LDs room temperature CW operation of InGaN MQW LDs latest results - lasers with self-organized InGaN quantum dots.
Significance of automatic detection of vowel regions for automatic shout detection in continuous speech

Automatic detection of shout prosody in continuous speech signal involves examining changes in its production characteristics. Our recent study of electroglottograph signals highlighted that significant changes occur in the glottal excitation source characteristics during production of shouted speech, especially in the vowel contexts. But the differences between normal and shouted speech, in the production features derived over utterances or word segments, may be masked sometimes by pauses or unvoiced regions related variations. Also, for such a real-time system, these vowel regions need to be found automatically. In this paper, changes in the shout production features are examined in the automatically detected vowel regions. Production of a vowel involves periodic impulse-like excitation and relatively high signal energy. Hence, the knowledge of epochs using zero-frequency filtering, and accurate vowel onset points can be used for detecting these regions. Changes in two excitation source features, the instantaneous fundamental frequency and strength of excitation, and in a vocal tract filter feature the dominant frequency, are examined for five steady vowel regions. Larger changes in these distinguishing features are observed in the automatically found vowel regions, than in word segments. This approach can help improving the systems for automatic detection of shout regions in continuous speech, and in paralinguistic applications that involve detection of prosody or emotions.
Theoretical and Experimental Characterization for the Inelastic Behavior of the Micro-/ Nanostructured Thin Films Using Strain Gradient Plasticity With Interface Energy

Thin film technology is pervasive in many applications, including microelectronics, optics, magnetic, hard and corrosion resistant coatings, micromechanics, etc. Therefore, basic research activities will be necessary in the future to increase knowledge and understanding and to develop predictive capabilities for relating fundamental physical and chemical properties to the microstructure and performance of thin films in various applications. In basic research, special model systems are needed for quantitative investigation of the relevant and fundamental processes in thin film material science. Because of the diversity of the subject and the sheer volume of the publications, a complete a review of the area of the current study is focused particularly on the experimental and theoretical investigations for the inelastic behavior of the micro-/nanostructured thin films.
Sex differences in depressed substance abusers.

OBJECTIVE The main goal of this article is to highlight gender-specific differences in the epidemiology, clinical nature, and treatment responses of comorbid depression and substance abuse. The second goal is to make recommendations for future research in the area of gender-specific aspects of comorbid depression and substance abuse. DATA SYNTHESIS A literature review was conducted using the keywords sex, gender, depression, and substance use disorders for the time period 1980 to the present. We first outline the well-known sex differences in the epidemiology of depressed substance abusers and discuss the clinical significance of substance abuse in depression. Two distinct ways of understanding the role of substance abuse in depression are presented. The first is the role that depression may play in escalation of substance use, and the second is depression as a common sequela of chronic substance abuse. These 2 manifestations that are not mutually exclusive, often co-occurring in female substance abusers, have important treatment implications. Research on treatment response for the above clinical presentations is discussed followed by a summary of the factors that may influence sex differences in the association between depression and substance abuse. CONCLUSION Recommendations for future research examining sex differences in animal models of depression, substance abuse, and therapeutic response to medications were made. The need for gender-specific clinical research on the association between depression, stress, and substance abuse is also highlighted.
Fear Primes May not Affect Women ’ s Implicit and Explicit Mate Preferences

Two studies explored the effect of fear priming on women’s mate preferences. In Study 1, 53 females completed Implicit Attitudes Tests (IATs) that measure preferences for strong-versus-weak and friendly-versus-aggressive mates. Participants listened to a fear-prime or control scenario, completed IATs and an emotion scale. Reaction times indicated overall (non-significant) preferences for strong and friendly mates. Fear-prime condition participants reported no more negative affect than did control-condition participants. In Study 2, 66 females listened to scenarios and completed emotion scale, ideal mate questionnaire, and IATs to determine preference for strong and tall mates. Participants showed overall preferences for strong mates, as well as for mates who were 7.7" taller and 44.5 pounds heavier than themselves, with no significant difference between groups.
Loss of adhesion‐regulated proteinase production is correlated with invasive activity in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignancy of the oral cavity. However, the cellular and biochemical factors that underlie locoregional and distant spread of the disease are poorly understood. Invasion of OSCC requires multiple cellular events including dissolution of cell‐cell junctions, basement membrane attachment, extracellular matrix proteolysis, and migration.
Targeting Integrin α6 Stimulates Curative-Type Bone Metastasis Lesions in a Xenograft Model

Laminin-binding integrin receptors are key mediators of epithelial cell migration and tumor metastasis. Recent studies have demonstrated a role for the α6 integrin (ITGA6/CD49f) in maintaining stem cell compartments within normal bone marrow and in residency of tumors metastatic to bone. In this study, we tested a function-blocking antibody specific for ITGA6, called J8H, to determine if preexisting cancer lesions in bone could be slowed and/or animal survival improved. Human prostate tumors were established by intracardiac injection into male SCID mice and treatment with J8H antibody was initiated after 1 week. Tumor progression was monitored by micro-computed tomography (CT) imaging of skeletal lesions. Animals that received weekly injections of the anti-ITGA6 antibody showed radiographic progression in only 40% of osseous tumors (femur or tibia), compared with control animals, where 80% of the lesions (femur or tibia) showed progression at 5 weeks. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated a significant survival advantage for J8H-treated animals. Unexpectedly, CT image analysis revealed an increased proportion of bone lesions displaying a sclerotic rim of new bone formation, encapsulating the arrested lytic lesions in animals that received the anti-ITGA6 antibody treatment. Histopathology of the sclerotic lesions demonstrated well-circumscribed tumor within bone, surrounded by fibrosis. These data suggest that systemic targeting of the ITGA6-dependent function of established tumors in bone may offer a noncytotoxic approach to arrest the osteolytic progression of metastatic prostate cancer, thereby providing a new therapeutic strategy for advanced disease. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(6); 1558–66. ©2014 AACR.
Fronto-Parietal Connectivity Is a Non-Static Phenomenon with Characteristic Changes during Unconsciousness

Background It has been previously shown that loss of consciousness is associated with a breakdown of dominating fronto-parietal feedback connectivity as assessed by electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Structure and strength of network connectivity may change over time. Aim of the current study is to investigate cortico-cortical connectivity at different time intervals during consciousness and unconsciousness. For this purpose, EEG symbolic transfer entropy (STEn) was calculated to indicate cortico-cortical information transfer at different transfer times. Methods The study was performed in 15 male volunteers. 29-channel EEG was recorded during consciousness and propofol-induced unconsciousness. EEG data were analyzed by STEn, which quantifies intensity and directionality of the mutual information flow between two EEG channels. STEn was computed over fronto-parietal channel pair combinations (10 s length, 0.5–45 Hz total bandwidth) to analyze changes of intercortical directional connectivity. Feedback (fronto → parietal) and feedforward (parieto → frontal) connectivity was calculated for transfer times from 25 ms to 250 ms in 5 ms steps. Transfer times leading to maximum directed interaction were identified to detect changes of cortical information transfer (directional connectivity) induced by unconsciousness (p<0.05). Results The current analyses show that fronto-parietal connectivity is a non-static phenomenon. Maximum detected interaction occurs at decreased transfer times during propofol-induced unconsciousness (feedback interaction: 60 ms to 40 ms, p = 0.002; feedforward interaction: 65 ms to 45 ms, p = 0.001). Strength of maximum feedback interaction decreases during unconsciousness (p = 0.026), while no effect of propofol was observed on feedforward interaction. During both consciousness and unconsciousness, intensity of fronto-parietal interaction fluctuates with increasing transfer times. Conclusion Non-stationarity of directional connectivity may play a functional role for cortical network communication as it shows characteristic changes during propofol-induced unconsciousness.
The treatment of adolescent transsexuals: changing insights.

INTRODUCTION Treatment of individuals with gender identity disorder (GID) has in medicine nearly always met with a great deal of skepticism. Professionals largely follow the Standards of Care of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. For adolescents, specific guidelines have also been issued by the British Royal College of Psychiatrists. AIM To describe the stepwise changes in treatment policy which, in recent years, have been made by the team of the Gender Identity Clinic at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. METHODS The first step taken to treat adolescents was that, after careful evaluation, (cross-sex hormone) treatment could start between the ages of 16 and 18 years. A further step was the suppression of puberty by means of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs in 12-16 year olds; the latter serves also as a diagnostic tool. Very recently, other clinics in Europe and North America have followed this policy. Results. The first results from the Amsterdam clinic show that this policy is promising. CONCLUSIONS Professionals who take responsibility for these youth and are willing to help should yet be fully aware of the impact of their interventions. In this article, the pros and cons of the various approaches to youngsters with GID are presented, hopefully inciting a sound scientific discussion of the issue.
Flexible origin of hydrocarbon/pheromone precursors in Drosophila melanogaster[S]

In terrestrial insects, cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) provide protection from desiccation. Specific CHCs can also act as pheromones, which are important for successful mating. Oenocytes are abdominal cells thought to act as specialized units for CHC biogenesis that consists of long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) synthesis, optional desaturation(s), elongation to very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), and removal of the carboxyl group. By investigating CHC biogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster, we showed that VLCFA synthesis takes place only within the oenocytes. Conversely, several pathways, which may compensate for one another, can feed the oenocyte pool of LCFAs, suggesting that this step is a critical node for regulating CHC synthesis. Importantly, flies deficient in LCFA synthesis sacrificed their triacylglycerol stores while maintaining some CHC production. Moreover, pheromone production was lower in adult flies that emerged from larvae that were fed excess dietary lipids, and their mating success was lower. Further, we showed that pheromone production in the oenocytes depends on lipid metabolism in the fat tissue and that fatty acid transport protein, a bipartite acyl-CoA synthase (ACS)/FA transporter, likely acts through its ACS domain in the oenocyte pathway of CHC biogenesis. Our study highlights the importance of environmental and physiological inputs in regulating LCFA synthesis to eventually control sexual communication in a polyphagous animal.
Parametric Study of the Reflective Periodic Grating for In-Plane Displacement Measurement Using Optical Fibers

This paper presents a technique for a simple sensing principle that can be used for the measurement of displacement. The proposed sensor head is composed of a reflective grating panel and an optical fiber as a transceiver. The simplified layout contributes to resolving the issues of space restraints during installation and complex cabling problems in transmission fiber optic sensors. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed technique, it is important to obtain the sinusoidal signal reflected from the grating for reasonable phase tracking. In the numerical analysis, a real wave based optical beam model is proposed for the extraction of predicted signal according to the grating width and ratio of reflection bar width to spacing. The grating pattern design to obtain a sine wave reflected sensor signal was determined within an R-square value of 0.98 after sine curve fitting analysis. Consequently, the proposed sensor principle achieved the in-plane displacement measurement with a maximum accuracy error of 5.34 μm.
PCA-Based Parameter Set Mappings for LPV Models With Fewer Parameters and Less Overbounding

This brief presents a method for an automated generation of improved representations of linear parameter varying (LPV) systems, which is based on principal component analysis applied to typical scheduling trajectories. The procedure can help to reduce the conservatism in controller design by finding tighter regions in the space of scheduling parameters that contain the set of given trajectories. In addition, this method allows to determine approximations of LPV models with a reduced number of parameters and facilitates a systematic tradeoff between the number of parameters and the desired accuracy of the model. The proposed technique is illustrated by the application to a model of a two-link robot. Performance achieved with the controller designed using the reduced model is compared with those obtained by a robust control approach.
Metabolic markers of neuronal injury correlate with SIV CNS disease severity and inoculum in the macaque model of neuroAIDS

In vivo MR spectroscopy (MRS) studies have shown reductions in NAA/Cr levels in patients with severe neurocognitive deficits due to AIDS dementia complex (ADC), also known as neuroAIDS. The relationship between the cellular changes within the brain during neuroAIDS and the role of NAA/Cr as a metabolic marker remains unclear. In order to clarify the relationship between NAA/Cr and disease severity we utilized the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/macaque model of encephalitis. High‐field proton MRS was performed on extracted metabolites from frontal cortex tissue samples of 29 rhesus macaques (6 healthy, 23 moribund with AIDS). Neuropathologic determination of encephalitis severity for each animal was completed and was found to correlate with NAA/Cr levels. Decreases in Glu/Cr and GABA/Cr may indicate that both excitatory and inhibitory neurons are affected. Highly significant correlations between NAA/Cr, Glu/Cr, and GABA/Cr were observed. These neuronal metabolites were also decreased in the absence of classical SIV encephalitis (SIVE). At any disease classification, animals inoculated with SIVmac251 were found to have lower levels of NAA/Cr than animals inoculated with SIVmac239. In considering therapy for neuroAIDS the findings here support prevention of the encephalitic process, but suggest that suppressing the formation of multinucleated giant cells alone would be insufficient to prevent neuronal injury. Magn Reson Med 59:475–484, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An ambiguity principle for assigning protein structural domains

Our novel algorithm for delimiting protein structural domains provides insights into protein folding, function, and evolution. Ambiguity is the quality of being open to several interpretations. For an image, it arises when the contained elements can be delimited in two or more distinct ways, which may cause confusion. We postulate that it also applies to the analysis of protein three-dimensional structure, which consists in dividing the molecule into subunits called domains. Because different definitions of what constitutes a domain can be used to partition a given structure, the same protein may have different but equally valid domain annotations. However, knowledge and experience generally displace our ability to accept more than one way to decompose the structure of an object—in this case, a protein. This human bias in structure analysis is particularly harmful because it leads to ignoring potential avenues of research. We present an automated method capable of producing multiple alternative decompositions of protein structure (web server and source code available at www.dsimb.inserm.fr/sword/). Our innovative algorithm assigns structural domains through the hierarchical merging of protein units, which are evolutionarily preserved substructures that describe protein architecture at an intermediate level, between domain and secondary structure. To validate the use of these protein units for decomposing protein structures into domains, we set up an extensive benchmark made of expert annotations of structural domains and including state-of-the-art domain parsing algorithms. The relevance of our “multipartitioning” approach is shown through numerous examples of applications covering protein function, evolution, folding, and structure prediction. Finally, we introduce a measure for the structural ambiguity of protein molecules.