Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chloroquine use improves dengue-related symptoms

Dengue is the most important arboviral disease in the world. As chloroquine, an antimalarial agent, has shown some antiviral effects, this study evaluated its effect in patients with dengue. A randomised, double-blind study was performed by administering chloroquine or placebo for three days to 129 patients with dengue-related symptoms. Of these patients, 37 were confirmed as having dengue and completed the study; in total, 19 dengue patients received chloroquine and 18 received placebo. There was no significant difference in the duration of the disease or the degree and days of fever. However, 12 patients (63%) with confirmed dengue reported a substantial decrease in pain intensity and a great improvement in their ability to perform daily activities (p = 0.0004) while on the medication and the symptoms returned immediately after these patients stopped taking the medication. The same effect was not observed in patients with diseases other than dengue. Therefore, this study shows that patients with dengue treated with chloroquine had an improvement in their quality of life and were able to resume their daily activities. However, as chloroquine did not alter the duration of the disease or the intensity and days of fever, further studies are necessary to confirm the clinical effects and to assess the side effects of chloroquine in dengue patients.
Global stability analysis for plane limit cycle walking models with feet and actuation

Biped robots based on limit cycle walking paradigm commonly need less energy than other models and generate pretty natural gait, because this paradigm has fewer artificial constraints to walking motion compared to other conventional ones. To increase performance and to realize a practical biped, the model needs further studies on its stability, disturbance rejection capability, and versatility, the ability to perform various gaits, etc. In this work, we tried to increase its stability, disturbance rejection capability. To have a stable walking gait, the walking model requires proper initial conditions. The set of proper initial conditions is called as basin of attraction. The larger of basin of attraction gives more stable walking and can resist to larger disturbances. Unfortunately, the basin of attraction for a purely passive walking model is very narrow. Some research showed the basin of attraction could be enlarged with swing leg actuation in the falling forward region. Firstly, we modified the foot shape of a purely passive walking model, the simplest walker which has pointed foot. Modified models have larger basin of attraction with varying parameters. Secondly, we applied another form of actuation to the simplest walker. The actuation such as toe-off can't increase the basin of attraction.
Preimage Attacks on CellHash, SubHash and Strengthened Versions of CellHash and SubHash

CellHash [3] and SubHash [4] were suggested by J. Daemen, R. Govaerts and J. Vandewalle in 1991 and 1992. SubHash is an improved version from CellHash. They have 257-bit internal state and 256-bit hash output. In this paper, we show a preimage attack on CellHash (SubHash) with the complexity 2 and the memory 2 for any t (with the complexity about 2 and the memory size 2). Even though we modify them in a famous way, we show that we can find a preimage on the modified CellHash (the modified SubHash) with the complexity 2 and the memory size 2 (with the complexity about 2 and the memory size 2).
Care of girls and women with Turner syndrome: a guideline of the Turner Syndrome Study Group.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this work is to provide updated guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of girls and women with Turner syndrome (TS). PARTICIPANTS The Turner Syndrome Consensus Study Group is a multidisciplinary panel of experts with relevant clinical and research experience with TS that met in Bethesda, Maryland, April 2006. The meeting was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies. EVIDENCE The study group used peer-reviewed published information to form its principal recommendations. Expert opinion was used where good evidence was lacking. CONSENSUS The study group met for 3 d to discuss key issues. Breakout groups focused on genetic, cardiological, auxological, psychological, gynecological, and general medical concerns and drafted recommendations for presentation to the whole group. Draft reports were available for additional comment on the meeting web site. Synthesis of the section reports and final revisions were reviewed by e-mail and approved by whole-group consensus. CONCLUSIONS We suggest that parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of TS be advised of the broad phenotypic spectrum and the good quality of life observed in TS in recent years. We recommend that magnetic resonance angiography be used in addition to echocardiography to evaluate the cardiovascular system and suggest that patients with defined cardiovascular defects be cautioned in regard to pregnancy and certain types of exercise. We recommend that puberty should not be delayed to promote statural growth. We suggest a comprehensive educational evaluation in early childhood to identify potential attention-deficit or nonverbal learning disorders. We suggest that caregivers address the prospect of premature ovarian failure in an open and sensitive manner and emphasize the critical importance of estrogen treatment for feminization and for bone health during the adult years. All individuals with TS require continued monitoring of hearing and thyroid function throughout the lifespan. We suggest that adults with TS be monitored for aortic enlargement, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia.
A Composite HST Spectrum of Quasars

We construct a composite quasar spectrum from 284 HST FOS spectra of 101 quasars with redshifts z > 0.33. The spectrum covers the wavelengths between 350 and 3000 Å in the rest frame, with a peak S/N level of ~130 per Å at ~1200 Å. Since ~90% of the sample quasars have redshift z < 1.5, the spectrum is suitable for studying the wavelength region shortward of Lyα without large effects from intervening Lyα forest absorption. Data in the waveband between 350 and 600 Å are mainly from the spectra of z > 1.5 quasars, for which significant corrections for the accumulated Lyman-series line and continuum absorption have been applied. There is a significant steepening of the continuum slope around 1050 Å. The continuum between 1050 and 2200 Å can be modeled as a power law fν ∝ να with α = -0.99 ± 0.05. For the full sample the power-law index in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) between 350 and 1050 Å is α = -1.96 ± 0.15. For the radio-loud subsample (60 objects), the EUV spectral index is α ≃ -2.2, while for the radio-quiet subsample (41 objects) it is α ≃ -1.8. The continuum flux in the wavelengths near the Lyman limit shows a depression of ~10%. The break in the power-law index and the slight depression of the continuum near the Lyman limit are features expected in Comptonized accretion-disk spectra. Comptonization produces a power-law tail in the wavelength band shortward of ~1000 Å and smears out the Lyman-limit edge of the intrinsic accretion-disk spectrum. In the EUV waveband, we detect several possible emission features, including one around 690 Å that may be O III + N III produced by the Bowen fluorescence effect. Comparing our composite spectrum with one made at higher redshifts by Francis et al., we find that the equivalent widths of Lyα and high-ionization emission lines are larger in our sample, reflecting a known luminosity dependence. The equivalent widths of low-ionization lines do not exhibit such a dependence, suggesting that the quasar EUV continuum above ~50 eV is steeper at higher luminosity. Radio-quiet quasars appear to show a slightly harder continuum and lower ionization levels in their emission lines.
[The SIESTA study. One more step in the knowledge of acute coronary syndromes].

Rev Esp Cardiol 2003;56(4):335-7 335 There is a great deal of physiopathological and epidemiological data that have identified the beginning and the course of atherosclerotic disease as being related to a chronic inflammatory process. Thrombosis added to erosion, fissure, or rupture of the atherosclerotic plaque produces the acute coronary syndromes (ACS) that are the clinical manifestation of this disease. At the present time, a significant percentage of investigation being done on atherothrombosis is focused on the identification of inflammatory cells, cytokines, and reactant and adhesion molecules in the acute phase of the disease, among other inflammatory markers, whether at the cellular level, in vascular tissue, or in the blood, both in the initial phase of the disease and in the more chronic stages. While our knowledge of inflammation as the instigator of atherosclerosis continues to increase, C-reactive protein (CRP), which is produced by the liver in response to chronic inflammatory phenomena, has been described as having prognostic value in patients with ACS. The FRISC and TIMI 11A studies, among others, have provided data in this respect. Similarly, in population studies it has been shown that elevated PCR values have prognostic value with regard to the development of future cardiovascular complications — like vascular mortality — and for this reason are even more powerful than other classic and universally recognized risk factors such as total or LDL cholesterol levels. In the AFCAPS/TexCAPS study it was found that in healthy subjects with normal cholesterol but above average CRP levels treatment with lovastatin reduced ED I TO R I A L S
Si tunnel transistors with a novel silicided source and 46mV/dec swing

We report a novel tunneling field effect transistor (TFET) fabricated with a high-k/metal gate stack and using nickel silicide to create a special field-enhancing geometry and a high dopant density by dopant segregation. It produces steep subthreshold swing (SS) of 46mV/dec and high ION/IOFF ratio (∼108) and the experiment was successfully repeated after two months. Its superior operation is explained through simulation. For the first time convincing statistical evidence of sub-60mV/dec SS is presented. More than 30% of the devices show sub-60mV/dec SS after systemic data quality checks that screen out unreliable data.
Efficient query processing on road traffic network

Road traffic data analysis has become a major focus of data mining research due to the key role it plays in optimizing road network performance. A major challenge for query processing on road traffic data is the time and memory required due to the large volume of traffic measurements available. We propose a method that provides high compression ratio while achieving high query accuracy for compressed network traffic data. We use temporal graphs for representing traffic data as they can preserve both the topological and temporal relations in the network. Unlike existing methods which mainly focus on unweighted graphs, we aim at analysing connected weighted graphs. The main idea is to exploit the redundancies between consecutive snapshots in a temporal graph to approximate the queries efficiently. Our method is demonstrated on real life road traffic network data from Melbourne. Results are compared to the output of another recent approach, and our results show that our proposed algorithm can achieve greater time efficiency with similar accuracy.
Characterizing uniformly ultimately bounded switching signals for uncertain switched linear systems

In this paper, the uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) switching control problem is investigated for a class of continuous-time switched linear systems with parametric uncertainties and exterior disturbances. It is assumed that each subsystem is UUB. First, a class of switching signals, which may contains infinite number of switching and preserves the UUB of the switched systems, is characterized. Then, a switching law is synthesized to improve the disturbance attenuation properties in the sense that all state trajectories can converge into a smaller region than any single subsystem acts alone. The switching law is given as a static state feedback form, and provides a conic partition of the state space. To avoid unstable sliding motions, some modifications are introduced later. The techniques are based on multiple polyhedral Lyapunov functions.
The prognostic significance of postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio after radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer

Background The pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio has prognostic value after radical prostatectomy for treating localized prostate cancer. However, the use of postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio has not been evaluated in this population. We investigated the prognostic significance of early postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Methods We retrospectively reviewed clinical data from 2,302 patients with localized prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy at our institution between years 2000 and 2010. Only patients with pre- and postoperative complete blood counts with differential results were included. Patients who received neoadjuvant or postoperative adjuvant treatment and those without adequate medical records were excluded. Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to analyze biochemical recurrence-free survival and overall survival rates. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were used for each endpoint. Results Kaplan-Meier curves showed that high postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (>3.5) was significantly associated with decreased biochemical recurrence-free survival (p = 0.009) and overall survival (p = 0.010). In the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, high postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was a significant predictor of biochemical recurrence (hazard ratio 1.270, p = 0.008) and overall survival (hazard ratio 1.437, p = 0.033). Conclusions Our results demonstrate that postoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is an independent factor for biochemical recurrence and overall survival in patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. These findings suggest that neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio can be a potentially valuable tool for stratifying high-risk patients and facilitating choices of postoperative therapy in patients with prostate cancer.
VHDL Based Maximum Power Point Tracking of Photovoltaic Using Fuzzy Logic Control

It is important to have an efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique to increase the photovoltaic (PV) generation system output efficiency. This paper presents a design of MPPT techniques for PV module to increase its efficiency. Perturb and Observe method (P&O), incremental conductance method (IC), and Fuzzy logic controller (FLC) techniques are designed to be used for MPPT. Also FLC is built using MATLAB/SIMULINK and compared with the FLC toolbox existed in the MATLAB library. FLC does not need knowledge of the exact model of the system so it is easy to implement. A comparison between different techniques shows the effectiveness of the fuzzy logic controller techniques. Finally, the proposed FLC is built in very high speed integrated circuit description language (VHDL). The simulation results obtained with ISE Design Suite 14.6 software show a satisfactory performance with a good agreement compared to obtained values from MATLAB/SIMULINK. The good tracking efficiency and rapid response to environmental parameters changes are adopted by the simulation results.
Improving the accuracy of ray-tracing techniques for indoor propagation modeling

Problems with the use of ray-tracing techniques in indoor propagation environments are identified, and a new set of widely applicable diffraction coefficients is developed. The limitations on the accuracy of the ray-tracing method in indoor propagation environments are first assessed. The effects of scatterers with dimensions approaching the wavelength of operation and of scatterers with finite conductivity are considered. The accuracy of ray tracing is quantified by comparison to a full-wave simulation technique, which combines the finite-difference time-domain method with a spatial transformation technique, the Kirchhoff surface integral formulation. Simulation results demonstrate that when the magnitude and phase of the received signal components are properly accounted for, the ray-tracing solution may be accurate down to a fraction of a wavelength. A new set of diffraction coefficients is presented for calculations involving obstacles with finite conductivity. The new coefficients eliminate an artificial dip in the diffracted field strength, which is often encountered when currently available techniques are used. Validation is provided by comparison with full-wave simulations and measurements. Improved accuracy in both the illuminated and shadowed regions is demonstrated.
In Vitro Kinetic Analysis of Fermentation of Prebiotic Inulin-Type Fructans by Bifidobacterium Species Reveals Four Different Phenotypes

ABSTRACT Kinetic analyses of bacterial growth, carbohydrate consumption, and metabolite production of 18 Bifidobacterium strains grown on fructose, oligofructose, or inulin were performed. A principal component analysis of the data sets, expanded with the results of a genetic screen concerning the presence of a β-fructofuranosidase gene previously encountered in Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DSM 10140T, revealed the existence of four clusters among the bifidobacteria tested. Strains belonging to a first cluster could not degrade oligofructose or inulin. Strains in a second cluster could degrade oligofructose, displaying a preferential breakdown mechanism, but did not grow on inulin. Fructose consumption was faster than oligofructose degradation. A third cluster was composed of strains that degraded all oligofructose fractions simultaneously and could partially break down inulin. Oligofructose degradation was substantially faster than fructose consumption. A fourth, smaller cluster consisted of strains that shared high fructose consumption and oligofructose degradation rates and were able to perform partial breakdown of inulin. For all strains, a metabolic shift toward more acetate, formate, and ethanol production, at the expense of lactate production, was observed during growth on less readily fermentable energy sources. No correlation between breakdown patterns and the presence of the β-fructofuranosidase gene could be detected. These variations indicate niche-specific adaptation of bifidobacteria and could have in vivo implications on the strain specificity of the stimulatory effect of inulin-type fructans on bifidobacteria.
Detecting misbehaving nodes in MANETs

There has been a tremendous growth in the use of wireless communication in the past few decades. Mobile Ad hoc NETwork (MANET) is one of the most important one among various wireless communication mechanisms. In MANET, each node in a network performs as both a transmitter and a receiver. They rely on each other to store and forward packets. Its unique infrastructureless network and self-configuring capability makes it ideal for many mission critical applications, including military use and remote exploration. However, these characteristics also make MANET vulnerable to passive and active attacks due to its open medium, changing topology and lack of centralized monitoring. To address the new security challenges, Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is required to detect the malicious attackers before they can accomplish any significant damages to the network. Many existing IDSs for MANETs are based upon Watchdog mechanism. In this paper, we propose a new IDS called Enhanced Adaptive ACKnowledgement (EAACK) that solves four significant problems of Watchdog mechanism, which are ambiguous collisions, receiver collisions, limited transmission power and false misbehavior report. We use Network Simulator 2 to simulate the proposed mechanism and compare the results with existing mechanisms.
Comparative evaluation of buckling resistance of Proglider and One-G file: An in vitro study

Aim: Comparative evaluation of buckling resistance of Proglider and One-G file, An In vitro Study. Materials and Methods: The test instruments – Proglider and One-G files were subjected to a devised buckling resistance test, which consisted of the application of an increasing load in the axial direction of the instrument by using a universal testing machine. The maximum load required to generate a lateral elastic displacement of 1 mm was recorded for each instrument. Data were analyzed using the one-way ANOVA test. Results: The results indicated that the buckling resistance of One-G files is significantly better than Proglider files (P < 0.05). Conclusion: One-G rotary files manufactured with conventional nickel-titanium alloy showed higher buckling resistance compared to Proglider files manufactured with M-wire alloy.
Intrabolus pressure gradient identifies pathological constriction in the upper esophageal sphincter during flow.

Propulsion of a bolus through the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) is driven by a pressure drop in the direction of flow against frictional resisting force. Basic mechanics suggest that the axial rate of drop in intrabolus pressure (IBP), i.e., the intrabolus pressure gradient (IBPG), should be locally sensitive to abnormal constriction. We sought to quantify space-time patterns of IBP and IBPG that correlate with pathological disruption to transsphincteric bolus transport. High-resolution high-fidelity perfused manometry was applied concurrent with videofluoroscopy in 6 healthy controls and 10 patients with restricted UES opening and 4 bolus volumes. Pressures were interpolated spatially and displayed as space-time isocontours with bolus head and tail trajectories superimposed to identify the IBP domain. IBP and IBPG were averaged over an approximately steady period of transsphincteric flow. The axial location and magnitude of maximum IBPG were quantified for each swallow relative to the location of the abnormal restriction. We found that average hypopharyngeal IBP and locally maximal IBPG were significantly higher in the patient group (P < 0.001), whereas the maximum IBPG was insensitive to bolus volume, and the locations of maximum IBPG in the patient group were well correlated with axial locations of maximal UES constriction (r = 0.84, P < 0.01). Space-time structure of IBP and IBPG correlated qualitatively with swallow dysfunction. Because IBPG reflects pressure force driving the bolus against frictional force in the UES, IBPG reflects local changes in frictional resistance from pathological constriction during bolus flow. Consequently, the location and magnitude of IBPG reflect the existence and location of abnormal constriction, and IBP and IBPG structure reflect decompensation of the pharyngeal swallow.