Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Right upper lobe atelectasis after tracheal extubation in a morbidly obese patient

Summary Background: Acute lobar collapse caused by a reflex bronchoconstriction was previously reported to occur during the induction of anesthesia, however there are no reports on its occurrence during the emergence period. Case Report: A 56-year-old morbidly obese woman was scheduled for surgery due to a gastric ulcer perforation. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental 500 mg, fentanyl and rocuronium, and maintained with sevoflurane in a N2O/O2 mixture. The operative procedure and anesthesia were uneventful; however, the patient developed a sudden decrease in SaO2 and blurring of consciousness after extubation. She was re-intubated and ventilated with 100% O2. Arterial blood gas analysis at that time showed respiratory acidosis and hypoxemia. Further work-up revealed a bronchospasm-induced right upper lobe atelectasis, which occurred immediately after tracheal extubation. The patient was successfully treated using mechanical ventilation and bronchodilators. Conclusions: Bronchospasm may cause acute lobar atelectasis immediately after tracheal extubation. Morbid obesity and the use of 100% oxygen may facilitate atelectasis formation during emergence from anesthesia.
What to do with a dangling else

In this second column on getting lexer and parser generators to do what you want, we are going to look at the problem of how to write grammars for if-then-else statements. This is another deceptively simple problem whose solutions reveal the nature and limitations of parsing technology. It is one of the cases where tension between writing a conflict free grammar and using a hack that works is the strongest.
Activity of autonomic nervous system is related to body weight in pre-menopausal, but not in post-menopausal women

Abstract This study analyzed vegetative modulation, expressed as heart rate variability (HRV) power spectral analysis, in lean and obese women at pre-menopausal or post-menopausal age to reveal possible differences in menopause-related autonomic activity in lean and obese subjects. Sedentary women (n = 40) were divided in four groups: pre-menopausal lean and obese women, post-menopausal lean and obese subjects. The HRV-power spectrum was evaluated on a 5-min long ECG recording. The absolute values of the spectrum were summed in the following frequencies: a low-frequency (0.04–0.15 Hz; LF) and high-frequency (0.15–0.40; HF) range. LF and HF were values used to estimate the sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. LF and HF values of pre-menopausal obese women are lower than values of lean women. The menopause induced a same decrease in LF and HF values in lean and obese subjects, so that no difference was found in post-menopausal groups. This experiment indicates that modifications of autonomic modulation can be included among factors related to obesity in pre-menopausal, but not post-menopausal women.
Taxonomy of exertion games

A new set of computationally-augmented games have emerged recently that require the user to move their body. These exertion games are believed to contribute to social, mental and in particular, physical benefits, marking a change in how we perceive computer gaming. However, although these games are a commercial success, research is lacking a theoretical understanding how to analyse existing and guide future designs. We present initial investigations towards a taxonomy of such exertion games with a focus on social aspects, based on work on traditional play and sports. Our contribution lays the foundation for the creation of a theoretical framework on exertion games, expanding our understanding of this exciting new area.
Inhibition of pinocytosis by nicotine.

The pinocytosis of invertase by sucrose-laden cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages was used as a model to study the effects of nicotine on pinocytosis. Sucrose-laden macrophages attached to glass coverslips were exposed to media containing invertase or invertase plus nicotine for 30 minutes. Cultures were then returned to control media to allow for the intravacuolar hydrolytic activity of pinocytosed invertase. The activity of invertase, which is indicated by the disappearance of sucrose vacuoles, was partially inhibited by nicotine tartrate at concentrations of 13.2 and 6.60 mM, but not at a concentration of 1.32 mM. Similar results were obtained with nicotine alkaloid but not with sodium tartrate. The apparent interference of the interaction of invertase with intracellular sucrose was confirmed by radiometric means in cells containing sucrose-24C. Tetramethylammonium and hexamethonium ions also interfered with the invertase effect. Nicotine did not inhibit the activity of invertase in vitro . It is concluded that nicotine blocked the pinocytosis of the enzyme.
Integrin Cross Talk: Activation of Lymphocyte Function-associated Antigen-1 on Human T Cells Alters α4β1- and α5β1-mediated Function

A regulated order of adhesion events directs leukocytes from the vascular compartment into injured tissues in response to inflammatory stimuli. We show that on human T cells, the interaction of the β2 integrin leucocyte function–associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) with its ligand intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) will decrease adhesion mediated by α4β1 and, to a lesser extent, α5β1. Similar inhibition is also seen when T cells are exposed to mAb 24, which stabilizes LFA-1 in an active state after triggering integrin function through divalent cation Mg2+, PdBu, or T cell receptor/ CD3 complex (TCR/CD3) cross-linking. Such cross talk decreases α4β1 integrin–mediated binding of T cells to fibronectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). In contrast, ligand occupancy or prolonged activation of β1 integrin has no effect on LFA-1 adhesion to ICAM-1. We also show that T cell migration across fibronectin, unlike adhesion, is mediated solely by α5β1, and is increased when the α4β1-mediated component of fibronectin adhesion is decreased either by cross talk or the use of α4-blocking mAb. The ability of mAb 24 Fab′ fragments to induce cross talk without cross-linking LFA-1 suggests signal transduction through the active integrin. These data provide the first direct evidence for cross talk between LFA-1 and β1 integrins on T cells. Together, these findings imply that activation of LFA-1 on the extravasating T cell will decrease the binding to VCAM-1 while enhancing the subsequent migration on fibronectin. This sequence of events provides a further level of complexity to the coordination of T cell integrins, whose sequential but overlapping roles are essential for transmigration.
The relationship of vitamin D with non-traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease in subjects with metabolic syndrome

Introduction Several studies implicate an inverse relationship between 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)Vit D) serum levels and metabolic syndrome (MetS). We sought to investigate a possible relationship between 25(OH)Vit D and emerging risk factors associated with MetS, such as small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C) concentration, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. Material and methods We studied 110 consecutive otherwise healthy individuals. Of these, 52 were diagnosed with MetS and 58 who did not meet the MetS criteria served as controls. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) subclass analysis was performed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Lp-PLA2 activity was determined in total plasma by the trichloroacetic acid precipitation procedure. Serum 25(OH)Vit D was determined quantitatively by an enzyme immunoassay method. Results Metabolic syndrome subjects had significantly lower 25(OH)Vit D levels (11.8 [0.6-48.3] ng/ml; 29.5 [1.5-120.75] nmol/l) compared with controls (17.2 [4.8-62.4] ng/ml; 43 [12-156] nmol/l, p = 0.027). Univariate regression analysis showed that 25(OH)Vit D concentration was inversely related to triglycerides (r= − 0.416, p = 0.003) and sdLDL-C (r= − 0.305, p = 0.004). There was no association of 25(OH)Vit D with waist circumference, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting glucose, Lp-PLA2 and hsCRP. In multivariate regression analysis the relationship between 25(OH)Vit D and sdLDL-C became insignificant when triglycerides were included in the model. Conclusions Subjects with MetS exhibit lower 25(OH)Vit D serum levels compared with non-MetS individuals. Low 25(OH)Vit D is associated with higher sdLDL-C levels possibly through elevated triglycerides. No association between 25(OH)Vit D and Lp-PLA2 or hsCRP was found.
Changes in Aging Mouse Neuromuscular Junctions Are Explained by Degeneration and Regeneration of Muscle Fiber Segments at the Synapse

Vertebrate neuromuscular junctions are highly stable synapses, retaining the morphology they achieve in early postnatal development throughout most of life. However, these synapses undergo dramatic change during aging. The acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) change from smooth gutters into fragmented islands, and the nerve terminals change similarly to be varicosities apposed to these islands. These changes have been attributed to a slow deterioration in mechanisms maintaining the synapse. We have used repeated, vital imaging to investigate how these changes occur in the sternomastoid muscle of aging mice. We have found, contrary to expectation, that individual junctions change infrequently, but change, when it occurs, is sudden and dramatic. The change mimics that reported previously for cases in which muscle fibers are deliberately damaged: most of the AChRs present disappear rapidly and are replaced by a new set of receptors that become fragmented. The fiber segment underneath the synapse has centrally located nuclei, showing that this segment has undergone necrosis, quickly regenerated, and been reinnervated with an altered synapse. We show that necrotic events are common in aged muscle and have likely been missed previously as a cause of the alterations in aging because central nuclei are a transient phenomenon and the necrotic events at the junction infrequent. However, the changes are permanent and accumulate over time. Interventions to reduce the neuromuscular changes during aging should likely focus on making muscle fibers resistant to injury.
A lower bound for interval routing in general networks

Interval routing is a space-efficient routing method for point-to-point communication networks. The method has drawn considerable attention in recent years because of its being incorporated into the design of a commercially available routing chip. The method is based on proper labeling of edges of the graph with intervals. An optimal labeling would result in routing of messages through the shortest paths. Optimal labelings have existed for regular as well as some of the common topologies, but not for arbitrary graphs. In fact, it has already been shown that it is impossible to find optimal labelings for arbitrary graphs. In this paper, we prove a 7D/40 1 lower bound for interval routing in arbitrary graphs, where D is the diameter—i.e., the best any interval labeling scheme could do is to produce a longest path having a length of at least 7D/40 1. q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
DATA ALLOCATION IN DISTRIBUTED DATABASE SYSTEMS PERFORMED BY MOBILE INTELLIGENT AGENTS

As the European Union extends its boundaries the major companies have extended their presence on different markets resulting sales expansion and marketing specialization. Moreover, globalization brings a bigger impact on vital business’s data because of the applications that have been developed on platforms having specific aspects by means of database technology and infrastructure. In fact, even if you are a big company, it is not always profitable to bring an expensive solution to a new member company in a pour country, but to develop and extend the existing solution at smaller rates, but with less computational flexibility. As a result, the companies have to implement the same or more applications on different database systems, but have a global view on the entire system. A major cost in executing queries in a distributed database system is the data transfer cost. This cost is a result of transferring multiple database segments (fragments) accessed by a query to the original place of the query. Due to the complexity of the modern database management systems the execution process of the queries implies accurate estimations and predictions for performance characteristics. This seems to be very hard at early design stages. In this paper we propose a solution for data allocation and optimization in distributed database systems done by means of mobile agents having attached learning capacities completed by collaboration and coordination functionalities. To exemplify our model we construct a fragment dependency graph model on which we express the dependencies among the fragments accessed within a distributed query. This model is than used to formulate data allocation problems and to propose a solution implying mobile agents and agent learning and cooperation. As conclusions we underline some of the advantages our solution can bring to this research field and the future work we intend to perform.
Compact CP antenna based on resonant quadrifilar spiral structure for UHF RFID handheld reader

A compact circularly polarized (CP) antenna based on the resonant quadrifilar spiral structure for the application of UHF RFID handheld reader is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. Such an antenna indicates stable circular polarization performance and wide radiation beamwidth. The gain bandwidth (>2 dBic) can cover the frequency band from 902MHz to 928 MHz, which is suitable for most of the popular UHF RFID systems in the world.
Triple RRTs: An Effective Method for Path Planning in Narrow Passages

Although Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs) have been successfully applied in path planning of robots with many degrees of freedom under non-holonomic and differential constraints, rapidly identifying and passing through narrow passages in a robot's configuration space remains a challenge for RRTs-based planners. This paper presents a novel two-stage approach to address the problem of multi-d.o. f. robot path planning in high-dimensional configuration space with narrow corridors. The first stage introduces an efficient sampling algorithm called Bridge Test to find a global roadmap that identifies the critical region. The second stage presents two varieties of RRTs, called Triple-RRTs, to search for a local connection under the guidance of the global landmark. The two-stage strategy keeps a fine balance between global heuristics and local connection, resulting in high performance over the previous RRTs-based path planning methods. We have implemented the Triple-RRTs planners for both rigid and articulated robots in two- and three-dimensional environments. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Health-related quality of life and appropriateness of knee or hip joint replacement.

BACKGROUND We studied the association between explicit appropriateness criteria for total hip joint replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) with changes in health-related quality of life of patients undergoing these procedures. METHODS Prospective observational study of 1576 consecutive patients with diagnoses of osteoarthritis on waiting lists to undergo THR or TKR. Explicit appropriateness criteria using the RAND appropriateness method were applied. Patients completed 2 questionnaires that measured health-related quality of life, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), before the procedure and 6 months afterward. RESULTS Patients who were considered appropriate candidates for these procedures had greater improvements than those who were considered inappropriate candidates in all 3 WOMAC domains (pain, functional limitation, and stiffness; THR: 43.0, 40.6, and 40.4 vs 14.7, 19.1, and 15.9; TKR: 34.9, 32.5, and 30.2 vs 23.2, 18.9, and 17.1; P<.001 for all comparisons). Patients who underwent THR and were judged to be appropriate candidates had greater improvements in the physical function, role-physical, bodily pain, and social function domains of the SF-36 than those judged to be inappropriate candidates (34.4, 35.1, 33.1, and 26.6 vs 19.6, 9.2, 5.7, and 7.0; P = .04, P = .03, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). Appropriate candidates for TKR demonstrated greater improvement in the social function domain of the SF-36 after the procedure than those deemed inappropriate candidates (19.9 vs 7.9; P = .004) but not in the other domains of functional status. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest a direct relationship between explicit appropriateness criteria and better health-related quality-of-life outcomes after THR and TKR surgery. Our results support the use of these criteria for clinical guidelines or evaluation purposes.
Energy Efficient Traffic Aware MAC Protocols for Delay-Sensitive Wireless Sensor networks

Wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of large number of distributed sensor nodes, which are generally battery-powered and may not recharge easily. Consequently, how to maximize the lifetime of the nodes is an important issue while designing a MAC protocol. However, lowering the energy consumption may result in higher latency. To address such a tradeoff, this paper proposes DDC-MAC and UDDC-MAC. For delaysensitive WSNs, DDC-MAC minimizes latency with energy consumption at a reasonable level. In DDC-MAC, each sensor node chooses a duty cycle according to traffic and average latency experienced by that node. Each node follows multiple listen and sleep schedules. Therefore, they switch into the listen state frequently and reduce the network lifetime. To minimize energy consumption due to multiple listen and sleep schedules, UDDC-MAC is proposed in which Schedule Unifying Algorithm (SUA) is integrated with DDC-MAC so that multiple listen and sleep schedules are unified into a single unified sub-optimal schedule. We study the proposed protocols by simulating these protocols using NS-2 and compare their performance with DS-MAC, S-MAC (Full), SMAC (10%) in terms of average energy consumption of a node and average end to end latency experienced by the packet. The simulation results show that UDDC-MAC achieves improved latency performance and is more energy efficient than DDC-MAC, S-MAC and DS-MAC.
Anomaly Detection Algorithms for the Sleeping Cell Detection in LTE Networks

The Sleeping Cell problem is a particular type of cell degradation in Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks. In practice such cell outage leads to the lack of network service and sometimes it can be revealed only after multiple user complains by an operator. In this study a cell becomes sleeping because of a Random Access Channel (RACH) failure, which may happen due to software or hardware problems. For the detection of malfunctioning cells, we introduce a data mining based framework. In its core is the analysis of event sequences reported by a User Equipment (UE) to a serving Base Station (BS). The crucial element of the developed framework is an anomaly detection algorithm. We compare performances of distance, centroid distance and probabilistic based methods, using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and Precision-Recall curves. Moreover, the theoretical comparison of the methods' computational efficiencies is provided. The sleeping cell detection framework is verified by means of a dynamic LTE system simulator, using Minimization of Drive Testing (MDT) functionality. It is shown that the sleeping cell can be pinpointed.
Reactive navigation in outdoor environments using potential fields

The paper presents an approach to reactive navigation in cross-country terrains. The approach relies on a particular probabilistic obstacle detection procedure, that describes the area perceived by a pair of stereo cameras as a set of polygonal cells. To generate the motion commands on the basis of this terrain description, we present some improvements and adaptations to the classical potential fields technique. Results on real stereo data illustrate our contribution throughout the paper, and simulated long range traverses are discussed.
The Rise of Elite Short-Course Triathlon Re-Emphasises the Necessity to Transition Efficiently from Cycling to Running

Transitioning efficiently between cycling and running is considered an indication of overall performance, and as a result the cycle–run (C–R) transition is one of the most researched areas of triathlon. Previous studies have thoroughly investigated the impact of prior cycling on running performance. However, with the increasing number of short-course events and the inclusion of the mixed relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, efficiently transitioning from cycle–run has been re-emphasised and with it, any potential limitations to running performance among elite triathletes. This short communication provides coaches and sports scientists a review of the literature detailing the negative effects of prior variable-cycling on running performance experienced among elite, short-course and Olympic distance triathletes; as well as discussing practical methods to minimise any negative impact of cycling on running performance. The current literature suggests that variable-cycling negatively effects running ability in at least some elite triathletes and that improving swimming performance, drafting during cycling and C–R training at race intensity could improve an athlete’s triathlon running performance. It is recommended that future research clearly define the performance level, competitive format of the experimental population and use protocols that are specific to the experimental population in order to improve the training and practical application of the research findings.
Periorbital Changes Associated With Topical Bimatoprost

Purpose: To describe periorbital changes induced by chronic topical therapy with daily bimatoprost 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan Inc., Irvine, CA, U.S.A.). Methods: A clinical investigation of 5 nonconsecutive patients with unilateral glaucoma treated daily with topical bimatoprost 0.03% for up to 4 years prior to presentation. Results: In eyes treated with bimatoprost 0.03% the authors noted periorbital fat atrophy, deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus, relative enophthalmos, loss of the lower eyelid fullness, and involution of dermatochalasis compared with the fellow untreated eye. By inspecting old photographs the authors confirmed that these unilateral changes were not present prior to starting bimatoprost. In addition, these changes were partially reversible after discontinuation of the medication, whenever that was possible. In 2 cases imaging studies confirmed the clinical impression that these findings were not related to primary orbital pathology. Conclusions: Physicians and patients should be aware of the potential of bimatoprost 0.03% to produce periorbital changes.