Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oropharyngeal and esophageal candidiasis in immunocompromised patients: treatment issues.

The incidence of fungal infections, particularly those caused by Candida species, has increased markedly over the past 15 years [1]. Although the recent use of combination antiretroviral therapy that includes protease inhibitors may help reverse this pattern, candidal infections are currently by far the most common fungal infections in patients with HIV infection and AIDS [1]. While most cases of candidiasis are still caused by C. albicans, there has been a striking increase in the frequency with which non-albicans Candida species (primarily C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis, and C. glabrata) are isolated [2]. For example, non-albicans strains of Candida accounted for only 3.4% of oropharyngeal isolates from HIV-infected patients in the late 1980s, as compared with 16.8% of isolates by the beginning of 1990-a fourfold increase in 3 years [3]. A recent review of 37 publications revealed that almost half (46%) of all candidal infections in patients with cancer were caused by non-albicans species of Candida [4]. Oropharyngeal candidiasis is the most common opportunistic infection in patients with HIV infection, occurring in as many as 90% of HIV-positive patients at some point during the course of HIV disease [5]. Consistent with the overall pattern of fungal infections in general, the incidence of oropharyngeal candidiasis has reportedly risen steadily over time. A recent analysis of hospital discharge data from 1980 to 1989 by the National Center for Health Statistics, National Hospital Discharge Survey, and two commercially-generated hospital discharge data sources (PAS [Professional Activity Survey] and McAuto [McDonnell Douglas Automation Company Medical Records System]) revealed that the rate of oropharyngeal candidiasis increased almost fivefold (from 0.34 cases per 1,000 admissions per year to 1.6 cases per 1,000 admissions per year) from 1980 to 1989 [6]. The typical manifestations of oropharyngeal candidiasis are pseudomembranous, erythematous, and angular cheilitis. Although oropharyngeal candidiasis is easily treated, it often recurs and can be quite painful. As a result, it may prevent the intake
Real-time stereo vision on the PARTS reconfigurable computer

The paper describes a powerful, scalable, reconfigurable computer called the PARTS engine. The PARTS engine consists of 16 Xilinx 4025 FPGAs, and 16 one-megabyte SRAMs. The FPGAs are connected in a partial torus-each associated with two adjacent SRAMs. The SRAMs are tightly coupled to the FPGAs so that all the SRAMs can be accessed concurrently. The PARTS engine fits on a standard PCI card in a personal computer or workstation. The first application implemented on the PARTS engine is a depth from stereo vision algorithm that computes 24 stereo disparities on 320 by 240 pixel images at 42 frames per second. Running at this speed, the engine is performing approximately 2.3 billion RISC-equivalent operations per second, accessing memory at a rate of 500 million bytes per second and attaining throughput of over 70 million point/spl times/disparity measurements per second.
Investigation of Stoneley Waves in Multilayered Plates

Abstract—Stoneley waves are interface waves that propagate at the interface between two solid media. In this study, the dispersion characteristics and wave structures of Stoneley waves in elastic multilayered plates are displayed and investigated. With a perspective of bulk wave, a reasonable assumption of the potential function forms of the expansion wave and shear wave in nth layer medium is adopted, and the characteristic equation of Stoneley waves in a three-layered plate is given in a determinant form. The dispersion curves and wave structures are solved and presented in both numerical and simulation results. It is observed that two Stoneley wave modes exist in a three-layered plate, that conspicuous dispersion occurs on low frequency band, that the velocity of each Stoneley wave mode approaches the corresponding Stoneley wave velocity at interface between two half infinite spaces. The wave structures reveal that the in-plane displacement of Stoneley waves are relatively high at interfaces, which shows great potential for interface defects detection.
Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America

Moving from "People" magazine to publicists' offices to tours of stars' homes, Joshua Gamson investigates the larger-than-life terrain of American celebrity culture. In the first major academic work since the early 1940s to seriously analyze the meaning of fame in American life, Gamson begins with the often-heard criticisms that today's heroes have been replaced by pseudoheroes, that notoriety has become detached from merit. He draws on literary and sociological theory, as well as interviews with celebrity-industry workers, to untangle the paradoxical nature of an American popular culture that is both obsessively invested in glamour and fantasy yet also aware of celebrity's transparency and commercialism. Gamson examines the contemporary 'dream machine' that publicists, tabloid newspapers, journalists, and TV interviewers use to create semi-fictional icons. He finds that celebrity watchers, for whom spotting celebrities becomes a spectator sport akin to watching football or fireworks, glean their own rewards in a game that turns as often on playing with inauthenticity as on identifying with stars. Gamson also looks at the 'celebritization' of politics and the complex questions it poses regarding image and reality. He makes clear that to understand American public culture, we must understand that strange, ubiquitous phenomenon, celebrity.
Interference-aware Multipath Selection for Reliable Routing in Wireless Mesh Networks

This paper investigates the problem of selecting multiple routing paths to provide better reliability in multi-radio, multi-channel mesh networks with stationary nodes. Providing reliability is difficult in wireless networks because of unreliable transmissions. Previous work has investigated the use of additional data redundancy to improve the packet delivery rate, but requires node-disjoint paths to be used. In this paper we investigate multipath routing with packet duplication and non-disjoint paths for achieving better reliability and low delay. We propose a path weight function based on the ETT metric and interference minimisation. Our solution provides higher packet delivery ratio and lower end-to-end delay when compared to the single path WCETT metric, a maximally disjoint path selection metric, and the CAM metric.
Muscle shear modulus measured with ultrasound shear‐wave elastography across a wide range of contraction intensity

Introduction: In this study we examine the repeatability of measuring muscle shear modulus using ultrasound shear‐wave elastography between trials and between days, and the association between shear modulus and contraction intensity over a wide range of intensities. Methods: Shear modulus of the biceps brachii was determined using ultrasound shear‐wave elastography during static elbow flexion (up to 60% of maximal contraction) in healthy young adults. Results: The correspondence of shear modulus was confirmed in phantoms between the manufacturer‐calibrated values and the shear‐wave elastography values. The intraclass correlation coefficient of muscle shear modulus was high: 0.978 between trials and 0.948 between days. Shear modulus increased linearly with elbow flexion torque across contraction intensity, and its slope was associated negatively with muscle strength. Conclusions: Muscle shear modulus measured with ultrasound shear‐wave elastography may be useful for inferring muscle stiffness across a wide range of contraction intensity. In addition, it has high repeatability between trials and between days. Muscle Nerve 50: 103–113, 2014
Reasons for restorative therapy and the longevity of restorations in adults

The aim of this study was to obtain information on the restorative dental care of adults in Finland. A random sample of private dentists was drawn from the register, and in spring 2000 they were sent a questionnaire requesting them to record information for each restoration placed during one ordinary working day. A total of 800 dentists were contacted and 548 responded. The dentists reported placement of 3,455 restorations. Of these, 5% were Class I, 36% were Class II, 13% were Class III, 9% were Class IV, 21% were Class V, and 16% were extensive restorations including 4 or more surfaces. Overall, composite resin was the most common restorative material, and it was used in 79% of the restorations, whereas amalgam was used in 5%, compomers in 4%, and glass ionomers (either conventional or resin‐modified) in 7% of cases. In 5% of the cases, the tooth was restored with indirect restorative methods, using either gold or ceramic materials. Of the treatments, 65% were replacements of previous restorations. Secondary caries was the most common reason for replacement (36%, 52%, and 41% for composite, glass ionomer, and amalgam, respectively). Other common reasons were fractures of the tooth or restoration (23%, 11%, and 22% for composite, glass ionomer, and amalgam, respectively) and lost composite restorations (16%). The median age of failed restorations was 15 years for amalgam, 6 years for composite, and 7 years for conventional glass ionomer. Although the longevity of tooth coloured restorations was shorter than that of amalgam, comparisons with our previous studies indicate improved survival periods for tooth coloured materials.
Expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors in low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas

We analysed oestrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in a retrospective series of 21 low-grade endometrial stromal sarcomas (LGSSs). Archival formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded material was analysed by immunohistochemistry. ER and PR were measured with monoclonal antibodies and the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method and a score was calculated as for breast carcinoma based on both the percentage of positive tumour cell nuclei and the staining intensity. ER were seen in 15 (71%) and PR in 20 (95%) of tumours respectively. ER expression was scored as high in three (14%), moderate in four (19%), and low in eight (38%) tumours. Six (29%) tumours did not stain for ER and all of these were positive for PR. PR expression was scored as high in eight (38%), moderate in ten (47%) and weak in two (10%) LGSSs. Only one (5%) LGSS did not stain for PR (this tumour was positive for ER). ER and PR expression in LGSS is heterogeneous. This may have implications for hormone therapy in the management of these tumours. These results suggest that ER and PR should be routinely quantified in LGSSs by immunohistochemical methods. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign
A Comparison of Pearl s Causal Models and Settable Systems

This paper examines the relations between the causal models of Pearl and the settable systems framework recently introduced by White and Chalak. We pay particular attention to the suitability of these two approaches for analyzing the behavior of optimizing, interacting agents, the central concern of economics. We show that Pearls causal model is nested in the settable system framework, and we describe a number of ways in which Pearls causal models are not well suited to the study of interacting, optimizing agents. In contrast, settable systems have been explicitly designed to facilitate this study, accommodating systems of agents that not only optimize and interact, but that may learn from experience. We illustrate using examples from microeconomics, option pricing, game theory, and recursive estimation. Among the features of settable systems that distinguish it from Pearls causal models and that help deliver its capabilities are its countable rather than nite structure, its explicit use of attributes, and the introduction of partitions and partition-speci c response functions.
Short-term restraint stress and s.c. saline injection alter the tissue levels of substance P and cholecystokinin in the peri-aqueductal grey and limbic regions of rat brain.

Rats were exposed to short-term restraint (held by the tail for 1 min), injected s.c. with saline or subjected to the combination of these treatments. Fifteen and 30 min after these treatments the means serum corticosterone level was significantly increased by more than four times, compared to rats taken directly from their home cages, indicating a stress response. In the peri-aqueductal grey, the level of substance P-like immunoreactivity was increased by 45% (P < 0.01) and 65% (P < 0.01) 30 and 60 min after the combined treatment, respectively. Significant increases of the level of substance P-like immunoreactivity in the peri-aqueductal grey were also found after restraint only and after a s.c. saline injection. Similar, but less marked, changes in the level of cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity in the PAG were also seen. In the accumbens a significantly decreased level of substance P-like immunoreactivity was encountered at 15 and 30 min after treatment, while the levels of cholecystokinin- and neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactivity were not significantly changed. In other regions studied, no effects on peptide levels were seen. The changes in peptide levels had a time course similar to that of the increase in serum corticosterone. Also the successive removal of rats from a common cage was found to increase significantly the serum corticosterone and the substance P-like immunoreactivity in the peri-aqueductal grey in the animals that were taken late in sequence from the cage. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Treatment-resistant immune thrombocytopenic purpura associated with LDN use in a patient with MS

Naltrexone is an opiate µ-receptor antagonist approved for treatment of alcohol dependency at a recommended dose of 50 mg/day. The mechanism of action is proposed to be mediated by a normalization of endogenous endorphin levels. Despite few and inconclusive studies (casuistic or open-label), a naltrexone dose of 3–5 mg/day (low-dose naltrexone, LDN) has been suggested to ameliorate a wide range of diseases, especially Crohn disease1 and multiple sclerosis (MS). 2 Its effect in these conditions is mainly advocated by patients via both formal and informal networks. Reluctance among physicians to prescribe naltrexone has encouraged illegal import. Based on safety data from initial marketing studies conducted in the 1970s, naltrexone has generally been considered safe, with no serious side effects or adverse events. We present a case of therapy-resistant immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) after LDN use in a patient with MS.
Integrating life history and cross-immunity into the evolutionary dynamics of pathogens

Models for the diversity and evolution of pathogens have branched into two main directions: the adaptive dynamics of quantitative life-history traits (notably virulence) and the maintenance and invasion of multiple, antigenically diverse strains that interact with the host's immune memory. In a first attempt to reconcile these two approaches, we developed a simple modelling framework where two strains of pathogens, defined by a pair of life-history traits (infectious period and infectivity), interfere through a given level of cross-immunity. We used whooping cough as a potential example, but the framework proposed here could be applied to other acute infectious diseases. Specifically, we analysed the effects of these parameters on the invasion dynamics of one strain into a population, where the second strain is endemic. Whereas the deterministic version of the model converges towards stable coexistence of the two strains in most cases, stochastic simulations showed that transient epidemic dynamics can cause the extinction of either strain. Thus ecological dynamics, modulated by the immune parameters, eventually determine the adaptive value of different pathogen genotypes. We advocate an integrative view of pathogen dynamics at the crossroads of immunology, epidemiology and evolution, as a way towards efficient control of infectious diseases.
First Isolation of blaVIM-2 in Klebsiella oxytoca Clinical Isolates from Portugal

VIM-type carbapenemases were originally detected in Europe (2, 4, 7) and have been essentially found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as in Enterobacteriaceae (2, 6, 8). The blaVIM genes are often carried by mobile gene cassettes inserted into class 1 integrons (7, 11). The Klebsiella genus is responsible for the most frequent human nosocomial infections of the respiratory and urinary tracts. Four Klebsiella oxytoca clinical isolates were recovered by blood culture from neonatal patients at a pediatric hospital. The clinical isolates showed resistance to amoxicillin and ticarcillin, which was restored by clavulanate, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones, and intermediate susceptibility to imipenem (MIC, 4 μg/ml) and broad-spectrum cephalosporins and aztreonam (MICs, 8 and 16 μg/ml) and were susceptible to meropenem (MIC, 0.075 μg/ml). A deformation of ellipses between the two gradient sections with E-test MBL (metallo-β-lactamase) strips was indicative of MBL production (10).
Spermatocytes and round spermatids of rat testis: Protein patterns

Spermatogenesis is a process in the testis that involves meiotic cell division and spermiogenesis. The mechanisms of regulation and its associated proteins are mostly unknown. This publication shows the two‐dimensional (2‐D) gel electrophoresis protein map obtained from rat testis using nonlinear 3.5–10 immobilized pH gradients for the first‐dimensional separation. Eighteen proteins were successfully identified in the SWISS‐PROT protein database using amino acid analysis of proteins recovered from polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes and verified for one of them by comparison with Anderson's rat liver reference map. Fourteen new polypeptides were identified and four were previously known. Two of these new proteins were closely related to the spermatogenetic process. T‐complex protein 1 is expressed in large amounts in germ cells. Androgen‐dependent sperm‐coating glycoprotein is secreted by epididymal cells. In order to detect changes in protein expression during meiosis and spermiogenesis, spermatocytes and round spermatid cell populations were purified by centrifugal elutriation and compared. In this way several proteins not found in the spermatocyte 2‐D images could be highlighted. The sperm‐coating glycoprotein was thus shown to be present in large amounts in round spermatids.
$l_{2} - l_{\infty}$ Elimination of Overflow Oscillations in 2-D Digital Filters Described by Roesser Model With External Interference

Two-dimensional (2-D) digital filters can be corrupted by external interferences, but no stability criteria have yet been established. This brief proposes a new l2 - l∞ stability criterion for the absence of limit cycles in 2-D digital filters that are described by Roesser model with external interference. Our new criterion ensures the attenuation of the effect of external interference on 2-D digital filters to a prescribed level. This criterion also guarantees the asymptotic stability result without external interference. The proposed criterion is represented in terms of linear matrix inequality, which can be verified by using existing numerical packages. We use an illustrative example to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed criterion.
The clinical nurse leader: a catalyst for improving quality and patient safety.

AIM The clinical nurse leader (CNL) is a new nursing role introduced by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). This paper describes its potential impact in practice. BACKGROUND Significant pressures are being placed on health care delivery systems to improve patient care outcomes and lower costs in an environment of diminishing resources. METHOD A naturalistic approach is used to evaluate the impact the CNL has had on outcomes of care. Case studies describe the CNL implementation experiences at three different practice settings within the same geographic region. RESULTS Cost savings, including improvement on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) core measures, are realized quickly in settings where the CNL role has been integrated into the care delivery model. CONCLUSIONS With the growing calls for improved outcomes and more cost-effective care, the CNL role provides an opportunity for nursing to lead innovation by maximizing health care quality while minimizing costs. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Nursing is in a unique position to address problems that plague the nation's health system. The CNL represents an exciting and promising opportunity for nursing to take a leadership role, in collaboration with multiple practice partners, and implement quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across all health care settings.
Self-oscillating galvanic isolated bidirectional Very High Frequency DC-DC converter

This paper describes a galvanic isolated bidirectional Very High Frequency (VHF = 30 MHz - 300MHz) Class-E converter. The reason for increasing the switching frequency is to minimize the passive components in the converter. To make the converter topology bidirectional the rectifier has to be synchronous. This increases the complexity of the gate drives, which in this paper is solved by using a self-oscillating gate drive. A bidirectional converter has been implemented and is described in this paper; the converter reaches efficiencies above 80% in forward conduction mode and 73.5% in reverse conduction mode. The designed converter operates at a switching frequency of 35.6 MHz, which is well within the VHF range. The same converter is also implemented with PCB embedded inductors to minimize cost and the physical volume of the total converter.
Reproducible Surface Extraction for Variance Comparison in 3D Computed Tomography

This paper describes a novel method for creating surfaces models from distorted volume datasets in 3D computed tomography (3D-CT). As all 3D-CT datasets are prone to artefacts, especially geometry extraction may produce erroneous surface models if a single global threshold is used. Depending on the selected threshold either the area of material is thickened because ambient noise is added (threshold too low) or it is thinned because outlying material regions are classified as air (threshold too high). We propose a pipeline model which creates a reproducible output using common 3D image processing filters: First of all we use an edge preserving diffusion filter to reduce noise without blurring the edges of the specimen. Furthermore, a watershed segmentation filter is applied to the gradient image in order to extract a binary volume of the dataset. In the final step the surface model is constructed using an advanced approach called elastic surface nets. The major contribution of this paper is the development of the specific processing pipeline for extracting surface models of homogeneous industrial components and to handle large resolution data of industrial CT scanners. The pipeline is crucial for the following visual inspection of deviations.