Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical prediction model to aid emergency doctors managing febrile children at risk of serious bacterial infections: diagnostic study

Objective To derive, cross validate, and externally validate a clinical prediction model that assesses the risks of different serious bacterial infections in children with fever at the emergency department. Design Prospective observational diagnostic study. Setting Three paediatric emergency care units: two in the Netherlands and one in the United Kingdom. Participants Children with fever, aged 1 month to 15 years, at three paediatric emergency care units: Rotterdam (n=1750) and the Hague (n=967), the Netherlands, and Coventry (n=487), United Kingdom. A prediction model was constructed using multivariable polytomous logistic regression analysis and included the predefined predictor variables age, duration of fever, tachycardia, temperature, tachypnoea, ill appearance, chest wall retractions, prolonged capillary refill time (>3 seconds), oxygen saturation <94%, and C reactive protein. Main outcome measures Pneumonia, other serious bacterial infections (SBIs, including septicaemia/meningitis, urinary tract infections, and others), and no SBIs. Results Oxygen saturation <94% and presence of tachypnoea were important predictors of pneumonia. A raised C reactive protein level predicted the presence of both pneumonia and other SBIs, whereas chest wall retractions and oxygen saturation <94% were useful to rule out the presence of other SBIs. Discriminative ability (C statistic) to predict pneumonia was 0.81 (95% confidence interval 0.73 to 0.88); for other SBIs this was even better: 0.86 (0.79 to 0.92). Risk thresholds of 10% or more were useful to identify children with serious bacterial infections; risk thresholds less than 2.5% were useful to rule out the presence of serious bacterial infections. External validation showed good discrimination for the prediction of pneumonia (0.81, 0.69 to 0.93); discriminative ability for the prediction of other SBIs was lower (0.69, 0.53 to 0.86). Conclusion A validated prediction model, including clinical signs, symptoms, and C reactive protein level, was useful for estimating the likelihood of pneumonia and other SBIs in children with fever, such as septicaemia/meningitis and urinary tract infections.
Value of serial troponin T measures for early and late risk stratification in patients with acute coronary syndromes. The GUSTO-IIa Investigators.

BACKGROUND The baseline cardiac troponin T (cTnT) level strongly predicts short-term mortality in acute coronary syndromes, but the added value of later measures to predict short- and long-term outcome and in the context of baseline clinical characteristics is unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS Relations between baseline, peak, and 8- and 16-hour (late) cTnT results and outcomes were assessed in 734 patients in a GUSTO-IIa substudy. Proportional-hazards models assessed the prognostic information gained from late cTnT when added to a mortality model containing the baseline cTnT result and clinical factors. At baseline, 260 patients were cTnT-positive (>0.1 ng/mL), 323 became positive later, and 151 remained negative (</=0.1 ng/mL). Mortality at 30 days was 10% in the baseline-positive group, 5% in late-positive patients, and 0% in negative patients. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, any positive cTnT result predicted 30-day mortality (baseline, chi2=8.96, P=0.0113; 8-hour, chi2=6.51, P=0.0107; 16-hour, chi2=8.40, P=0.0038). Both the 8- and the 16-hour results added to the strength of the baseline result (baseline+8-hour, chi2=12.04, P=0.0072; baseline+16-hour, chi2=13.52, P=0.0036). Only age and ST-segment elevation were stronger predictors of 30-day mortality than baseline cTnT; results were similar for prediction of 1-year mortality. Most of the mortality difference between cTnT-positive and -negative patients occurred within the first 30 days. CONCLUSIONS The cTnT level is a strong, independent predictor of short-term outcome in acute coronary syndromes. The addition of later samples to a baseline level is useful to evaluate the risk of serious cardiac events.
Differential Pharmacological Properties and Signal Transduction of the Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptors EDG-1, EDG-3, and EDG-5*

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (SPP) is a potent lipid mediator released upon cellular activation. In this report, pharmacological properties of the three G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for SPP, EDG-1, -3, and -5 are characterized using aXenopus oocyte expression system, which lacks endogenous SPP receptors. Microinjection of the EDG-3 and EDG-5 but not EDG-1 mRNA conferred SPP-responsive intracellular calcium transients; however, the EDG-5 response was quantitatively much less. Co-expression of EDG-1 receptor with the chimeric Gαqi protein conferred SPP responsiveness. Gαqi or Gαqco-injection also potentiated the EDG-5 and EDG-3 mediated responses to SPP. These data suggest that SPP receptors couple differentially to the Gq and Gi pathway. All three GPCRs were also activated by sphingosylphosphorylcholine, albeit at higher concentrations. None of the other related sphingolipids tested stimulated or blocked SPP-induced calcium responses. However, suramin, a polycyclic anionic compound, selectively antagonized SPP-activated calcium transients in EDG-3 expressing oocytes with an IC50of 22 μm, suggesting that it is an antagonist selective for the EDG-3 GPCR isotype. We conclude that the three SPP receptors signal differentially by coupling to different G-proteins. Furthermore, because only EDG-3 was antagonized by suramin, variations in receptor structure may determine differences in antagonist selectivity. This property may be exploited to synthesize receptor subtype-specific antagonists.
In-the-ear hearing aids. The use and benefit in the elderly hearing-impaired.

Preliminary clinical experiences with in-the-ear hearing aids (ITE-HAs) have been promising, and a beneficial effect has been demonstrated in younger hearing-impaired subjects. However, the subjects applying for audiological examination and rehabilitation are predominantly elderly people (i.e. greater than or equal to 70 years). The present questionnaire examination was performed in order to evaluate the use and benefit of ITE-HAs also in the elderly hearing-impaired, and compare with the effect in younger subjects. An extensive questionnaire was sent 6 months after hearing aid fitting to all patients fitted with ITE-HAs. A total number of 693 subjects corresponding to 80% responded to the questionnaire. 70% of the patients are greater than or equal to 70 years and 23% are above the age of 80 years. The results demonstrate that the elderly hearing-impaired use the hearing aids predominantly in situations when listening to television and in small groups; 64% use their hearing aids the whole day and only 6% never use the aids; with increasing age were indicated increasing handling problems, both concerning change of battery, handling of volume control, and insertion of the aid into the ear canal. Only 8% of the patients were dissatisfied with the cosmetic appearance of the hearing aids, the dissatisfaction being more frequent in the young age group below 70 years (16%) than above the age of 70 years (9%). It is concluded that also the elderly hearing-impaired use and benefit from ITE-HAs.
Transposition of Tn917 in Bacillus megaterium

Transposon Tn917, carried on plasmid pTV1, was introduced into Bacillus megaterium and transposed efficiently and apparently randomly. Insertional mutations included at least eight different auxotrophic loci, two carbon source loci, and sporulation loci. One trp::Tn917 mutation was further verified as an insertion by both reversion and transduction.
Toward an electrophysiological “sweet spot” for deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus

Enhanced beta‐band activity recorded in patients suffering from Parkinson‘s Disease (PD) has been described as a potential physiomarker for disease severity. Beta power is suppressed by Levodopa intake and STN deep brain stimulation (DBS) and correlates with disease severity across patients. The aim of the present study was to explore the promising signature of the physiomarker in the spatial domain. Based on local field potential data acquired from 54 patients undergoing STN‐DBS, power values within alpha, beta, low beta, and high beta bands were calculated. Values were projected into common stereotactic space after DBS lead localization. Recorded beta power values were significantly higher at posterior and dorsal lead positions, as well as in active compared with inactive pairs. The peak of activity in the beta band was situated within the sensorimotor functional zone of the nucleus. In contrast, higher alpha activity was found in a more ventromedial region, potentially corresponding to associative or premotor functional zones of the STN. Beta‐ and alpha‐power peaks were then used as seeds in a fiber tracking experiment. Here, the beta‐site received more input from primary motor cortex whereas the alpha‐site was more strongly connected to premotor and prefrontal areas. The results summarize predominant spatial locations of frequency signatures recorded in STN‐DBS patients in a probabilistic fashion. The site of predominant beta‐activity may serve as an electrophysiologically determined target for optimal outcome in STN‐DBS for PD in the future. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3377–3390, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Path Following Control of Planar Snake Robots Using a Cascaded Approach

This paper considers path following control of snake robots along straight paths. Under the assumption that the forward velocity of the snake robot is nonzero and positive, we prove that the proposed path following controller K-exponentially stabilizes a snake robot to any desired straight path. The performance of the path following controller is investigated through simulations and through experiments with a physical snake robot, where the controller successfully steers the snake robot toward and along the desired straight path.
Zero Lower Bound and Parameter Bias in an Estimated DSGE Model

This paper examines how and to what extent parameter estimates can be biased in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model that omits the zero lower bound constraint on the nominal interest rate. Our experiments show that most of the parameter estimates in a standard sticky-price DSGE model are not biased although some biases are detected in the estimates of the monetary policy parameters and the steady-state real interest rate. Nevertheless, in our baseline experiment, these biases are so small that the estimated impulse response functions are quite similar to the true impulse response functions. However, as the probability of hitting the zero lower bound increases, the biases in the parameter estimates become larger and can therefore lead to substantial differences between the estimated and true impulse responses.
Novel mutations in DLL3, a somitogenesis gene encoding a ligand for the Notch signalling pathway, cause a consistent pattern of abnormal vertebral segmentation in spondylocostal dysostosis

The spondylocostal dysostoses (SCD) are a group of disorders characterised by multiple vertebral segmentation defects and rib anomalies. SCD can either be sporadic or familial, and can be inherited in either autosomal dominant or recessive modes. We have previously shown that recessive forms of SCD can be caused by mutations in the delta-like 3 gene, DLL3. Here, we have sequenced DLL3 in a series of SCD cases and identified 12 mutations in a further 10 families. These include 10 novel mutations in exons 4–8, comprising nonsense, missense, frameshift, splicing, and in frame insertion mutations that are predicted to result in either the truncation of the mature protein in the extracellular domain, or affect highly conserved amino acid residues in the epidermal growth factor-like repeats of the protein. The affected cases represent diverse ethnic backgrounds and six come from traditionally consanguineous communities. In all affected subjects, the radiological phenotype is abnormal segmentation throughout the entire vertebral column with smooth outlines to the vertebral bodies in childhood, for which we suggest the term “pebble beach sign”. This is a very consistent phenotype-genotype correlation and we suggest the designation SCD type 1 for the AR form caused by mutations in the DLL3 gene.
The Impact Of Merger-Related Regulations Using Exact Distributions Of Test Statistics

In Schipper and Thompson [1983] (henceforth ST), we estimated a pooled cross-section, time-series model of the return-generating process for the common stock in a sample of related firms. Some of the test statistics reported, based on linear constraints across estimated coefficients, are quadratic forms in the sample covariance matrix. Under the structure and assumptions of the model, these test statistics have asymptotic chi-squared distributions (as the number of time-series observations goes to infinity). In that paper, we did not discuss the exact distributions of these test statistics. In this paper, we show that under the assumption of normality of residuals, the test statistics reported in ST involving asymptotic chisquared distributions have convenient finite sample distributions which can be used to test some of the hypotheses examined there.1 In doing so we reaffirm that the average impact on shareholder wealth of the Williams Amendments was negative and statistically significant for the
Testing the models for detection of earnings management

In this paper authors analyze the predictive power of existing models for the detection of earnings management of the companies in countries around the world. In addition, based on a representative sample of companies in the industrial sector of the Republic of Serbia, they tend to develop an improved model for the detection of manipulative financial reporting, which will be suitable for the Serbian business environment by using multiple linear regression. The application of existing models of discretionary accruals in the Serbian economic environment shows that these predictive models do not have sufficient explanatory power (Jones model 5.4%; Dechow model 2.6%; Kasznik model 37%), and there is a need for their further modifications. From these models, only Kasznik model proved to be statistically significant model for the sample of 65 companies in the industrial sector of the Republic of Serbia. As a result of the research, a modified model of discretionary accruals has been developed, which has improved explanatory power and which allows detection of new techniques of manipulation of financial reporting in the industrial sector of the Republic of Serbia. The explanatory power of our modified model is 63.7%.
TripleA: Accelerated accuracy-preserving alignment for iris-codes

The discriminative power of the iris enables reliable biometric recognition on large-scale databases where a rapid comparison of biometric reference data is essential to limit response times. In case of national-sized databases a one-to-many comparison might still represent a bottleneck of a biometric identification system, in particular if numerous relative tilt angles have to be considered in the comparisons stage. While a compensation of head tilts improves the robustness of an iris recognition system, extensive feature alignment increases the probability of a false match as well as comparison time. In this paper we present a novel method to accelerate iris biometric comparators in an accuracy-preserving way. Emphasis is put on the alignment of iris biometric reference data, i.e. iris-codes. Based on an analysis of the nature of iris-codes and comparison scores between them we propose an efficient two-step alignment process referred to as TripleA. This scheme, which can be operated in various modes, significantly reduces the amount of relative tilt angles to be considered during iris-code comparisons. Hence, comparison time as well as the probability of a false match are reduced at the same time. In an experimental evaluation on the Casia v4-Interval iris database we achieve a more than fourfold speed-up in the comparison stage maintaining biometric performance using different feature extraction techniques.
Advances in understanding genomic markers and pharmacogenetics of Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACT Introduction: The inheritance pattern of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is likely multifactorial (owing to the interplay of genetic predisposition and environmental factors). Many pharmacogenetic studies have tried to establish a possible role of candidate genes in PD risk. Several studies have focused on the influence of genes in the response to antiparkinsonian drugs and in the risk of developing side-effects of these drugs. Areas covered: This review presents an overview of current knowledge, with particular emphasis on the most recent advances, both in case-control association studies on the role of candidate genes in the risk for PD as well as pharmacogenetic studies on the role of genes in the development of side effects of antiparkinsonian drugs. The most reliable results should be derived from meta-analyses of case-control association studies on candidate genes involving large series of PD patients and controls, and from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Expert opinion: Prospective studies of large samples involving several genes with a detailed history of exposure to environmental factors in the same cohort of subjects, should be useful to clarify the role of genes in the risk for PD. The results of studies on the role of genes in the development of side-effects of antiparkinsonian drugs should, at this stage, only be considered preliminary.
The effect of maternal milk on neonatal morbidity of very low-birth-weight infants.

OBJECTIVE To examine the dose effect of maternal milk on neonatal morbidity of very low-birth-weight (<1.5 kg) infants. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING An urban tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit and follow-up clinic. POPULATION One hundred nineteen singleton very low-birth-weight infants admitted from January 1, 1997, to February 14, 1999 (mean birth weight, 1056 g; mean gestational age, 28 weeks; 57% male; and 43% white). METHODS A comparison of the effect on neonatal outcomes of daily graded doses (1-24, 25-49, and > or = 50 mL/kg of body weight) of maternal milk through week 4 of life vs a reference group receiving no maternal milk. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Neonatal outcomes examined included rates of sepsis after age 5 days, retinopathy of prematurity, chronic lung disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, jaundice, duration of ventilator dependence, and length of hospital stay. RESULTS Seventy-nine infants (66%) received maternal milk, of whom 32 received at least 50 mL/kg per day through week 4 of life. Poisson regression analysis adjusting for birth weight, sex, and ethnicity revealed that the mean number of episodes of sepsis for infants receiving at least 50 mL/kg per day was lower by a factor of 0.27 (95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.95) compared with infants receiving no maternal milk. There was no effect of maternal milk on other neonatal outcomes. CONCLUSIONS A daily threshold amount of at least 50 mL/kg of maternal milk through week 4 of life is needed to decrease the rate of sepsis in very low-birth-weight infants, but maternal milk does not affect other neonatal morbidities.
Insulin-like growth factor II prevents apoptosis in a human teratoma derived cell line

Aim—To study how insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) affects the behaviour of human teratoma cells. Methods—The human pluripotential teratoma cell line Tera 2 was cultured under serum-free conditions in the presence or absence of IGF-II. Effects on cell proliferation and apoptosis as well as on the expression of the proto-oncogene c-myc were studied. Results—In this study we show that Tera 2 cells deprived of serum undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis). The onset of nuclear fragmentation was observed 12 hours after serum withdrawal. The morphological changes of the Tera 2 cell nuclei were confirmed by the occurrence of a nucleosome ladder. However, the constitutive expression of the proto-oncogene c-myc was not decreased in parallel with initiation of apoptosis. The apoptotic response to serum withdrawal could be counteracted by simultaneous addition of IGF-II. In addition it was found that human testicular tumours (seminoma and embryonal carcinoma) contain raised levels of insulin-like growth factors. Conclusions—The precise roles of IGF-I and IGF-II have been unclear, and there is overwhelming evidence against these factors as primarily transforming agents. The finding that IGF-II apparently counteracts apoptosis in vitro may well explain its effects on tumours in vivo.
Helicobacter pylori infection in Swedish school children: lack of evidence of child-to-child transmission outside the family.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Helicobacter pylori infection is mainly acquired in early childhood, but the exact routes of transmission remain elusive. To distinguish between risks of intrafamilial and extraneous child-to-child transmission, we studied H. pylori seroprevalence among Swedish school children with varying family backgrounds. METHODS In a cross-sectional study, 695 of 858 (81%) 10-12-year-olds in 36 school classes in Stockholm donated blood and answered a questionnaire. Infection was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed by immunoblot and urea breath test. RESULTS Overall, 112 (16%) children were infected. The seroprevalence was 2% among 435 children with Scandinavian parents and 55% among 144 children with origin in high prevalence areas (Middle East and Africa). Among children born in Scandinavia, the odds ratios (adjusted for gender, socioeconomic status, and family size) for being seropositive were 39.1 (95% confidence interval, 16.7-91.3) and 5.6 (1.8-17.3) when having parents born in high and medium prevalence areas, respectively, relative to children with Scandinavian parents. Importantly, the prevalence of infection among the classmates was not a risk factor for H. pylori infection. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that intrafamilial transmission is far more important than child-to-child transmission outside the family. The H. pylori prevalence in the parental generation may be a crucial determinant for the child's risk of contracting the infection.
Impact of Facebook Website on Collective Conviviality and Intellectual Activities

Facebook website is famous among the different ages of peoples across the world. It gives platform for connecting people having different backgrounds, societies and communities to share the information. People of Sindh seem to be very much engaged in collective conviviality and intellectual activities. It has been observed that Facebook is responsible for the mutual conviviality and interpersonal communication and also influenced and affected on the collective activities in Sindh. Use of this type of networking sites is more strongly related to decreased time that spent with family and friends. This paper presents the positive and negative impacts of Facebook networking site. The data is collected in written form after requesting the people of Larkana to pass their valued comments. Maximum number of respondents argued Facebook website spread negative effects on collective conviviality.