Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patients' fear of genetic discrimination by health insurers: the impact of legal protections

Purpose: The impact of laws restricting health insurers' use of genetic information has been assessed from two main vantage points: (1) whether they reduce the extent of genetic discrimination and (2) whether they reduce the fear of discrimination and the resulting deterrence to undergo genetic testing. A previous report from this study concluded that there are almost no well-documented cases of health insurers either asking for or using presymptomatic genetic test results in their underwriting decisions, either before or after these laws, or in states with or without these laws. This report evaluates the perceptions and the resulting behavior by patients and clinicians.Methods: A comparative case study analysis was performed in seven states with different laws respecting health insurers' use of genetic information (no law, new prohibition, mature prohibition). Semistructured interviews were conducted in person with five patient advocates and with 30 experienced genetic counselors or medical geneticists, most of whom deal with adult-onset disorders. Also, multiple informed consent forms and patient information brochures were collected and analyzed using qualitative methods.Results: Patients' and clinicians' fear of genetic discrimination greatly exceeds reality, at least for health insurance. It is uncertain how much this fear actually deters genetic testing. The greatest deterrence is to those who do not want to submit the costs of testing for reimbursement and who cannot afford to pay for testing. There appears to be little deterrence for tests that are more easily affordable or when the need for the information is much greater. Fear of discrimination plays virtually no role in testing decisions in pediatric or prenatal situations, but is significant for adult-onset genetic conditions.Conclusion: Existing laws have not greatly reduced the fear of discrimination. This may be due, in part, to clinicians' lack of confidence that these laws can prevent discrimination until there are test cases of actual enforcement. Ironically, there may be so little actual discrimination that it may not be possible to initiate good test cases.
Orthopedic Surgery and Trauma

ing heparin in pregnant women with a history of venous thromboembolism. Recurrence of clot in this pregnancy study group. N Engl J Med. 2000;343(20):1439-1444. 55. Pabinger I, Grafenhofer H, Kyrle PA, et al. Temporary increase in the risk for recurrence during pregnancy in women with a history of venous thromboembolism. Blood. 2002;100(3):1060-1062. 56. Smith MP, Norris LA, Steer PJ, Savidge GF, Bonnar J. Tinzaparin sodium for thrombosis treatment and prevention during pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2004;190(2):495-501. 57. Norris LA, Bonnar J, Smith MP, Steer PJ, Savidge G. Low molecular weight heparin (tinzaparin) therapy for moderate risk thromboprophylaxis during pregnancy. A pharmacokinetic study. Thromb Haemost. 2004;92(4):791-796. 58. Nelson-Piercy C, Powrie R, Borg JY, et al. Tinzaparin use in pregnancy: an international, retrospective study of the safety and efficacy profile. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2011;159(2): 293-299. 59. Rai R, Cohen H, Dave M, Regan L. Randomised controlled trial of aspirin and aspirin plus heparin in pregnant women with recurrent miscarriage associated with phospholipid antibodies (or antiphospholipid antibodies). BMJ. 1997;314(7076):253-257. 60. Empson M, Lassere M, Craig J, Scott J. Prevention of recurrent miscarriage for women with antiphospholipid antibody or lupus anticoagulant. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;(2):CD002859. 61. Nelson-Piercy C, MacCallum P, Mackillop L, et al. Reducing the risk of thrombosis and embolism during pregnancy and the puerperium. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; 2009. 62. Checketts MR, Wildsmith JA. Epidural haematoma following anticoagulant treatment in a patient with an indwelling epidural catheter. Anaesthesia. 1999;54(1):87-88. 63. Horlocker TT, Wedel DJ. Neuraxial block and low-molecularweight heparin: balancing perioperative analgesia and thromboprophylaxis. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 1998;23(6 suppl 2):164-177. 64. McKenna R, Cole ER, Vasan U. Is warfarin sodium contraindicated in the lactating mother? J Pediatr. 1983;103(2):325-327. 65. O’Reilly R. Anticoagulant, antithrombotic and thrombolytic drugs. In: Gillman AG, et al, eds. The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics. New York, NY: Macmillan; 1980:1347. 66. Bonnar J, Walsh J. Prevention of thrombosis after pelvic surgery by British dextran 70. Lancet. 1972;1(7751):614-616. 67. Walsh JJ, Bonnar J, Wright FW. A study of pulmonary embolism and deep leg vein thrombosis after major gynaecological surgery using labelled fibrinogen-phlebography and lung scanning. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commonw. 1974;81(4):311-316.
A Finite Volume Scheme for a Noncoercive Elliptic Equation with Measure Data

We show here the convergence of the finite volume approximate solutions of a convection-diffusion equation to a weak solution, without the usual coercitivity assumption on the elliptic operator and with weak regularity assumptions on the data. Numerical experiments are performed to obtain some rates of convergence in two and three space dimensions.
Long-term Follow-up of Percutaneous Vertebroplasty in Osteoporotic Compression Fracture: Minimum of 5 Years Follow-up

Study Design This was designed as a retrospective study. Purpose We assessed the radiographic and clinical outcome of patients who underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in osteoporotic compression fractures with a minimum of 5 years follow-up. Overview of Literature Percutaneous vertebroplasty is effective surgical method for treating osteoporotic compression fracture. Methods Between January 2000 and August 2005, 159 patients were treated with PVP for osteoporotic compression fracture at our department; 43 patients died during follow-up, and 69 patients (121 vertebras) were available for follow-up for over 5 years. We analyzed the clinical and radiologic outcome including cement feature. Results The mean follow-up period was 5.7 years. Clinical outcome by mean visual analogue scale (VAS) score revealed a decreased 4.9 points perioperatively. A decreased score was maintained over 5 years in 46% of patients. A new adjacent vertebral fracture was documented by 33 vertebral bodies in 22 patients. During the follow-up period, 43 patients (38%) in 112 patients died. Anterior body heig ht in the last follow-up was improved about 0.3 mm compared with the preprocedural value, but was not statistically significant. Also, the focal kyphotic angle was reduced from 12.3° at the preprocedural state to 11.7° at the postprocedural state, but was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions PVP for osteoporotic compression fracture is an efficient procedure for pain relief by long term follow-up. The cement injected vertebrae showed stable radiologic progression without significant changes in vertebral height or kyphotic angle.
Employing metamaterials for enhanced THz generation in photomixers

We propose an alternative THz photomixer design capable of orders of magnitude enhancement for continuous-wave THz generation. Utilizing suitably tailored arrays of plasmonic nanoscatterers, near-perfect optical absorption can be achieved in photoconductive active regions as thin as 50 nm. This would enable significant, ~100x, increase in output power with the addition of a high thermal conductive copper substrate as the ground plane along with an E-patch antenna for efficient radiation. Our analysis indicates that such a THz photomixer design may generate continuous wave powers in the milliwatt range and, through photoconductive gain, exceed the Manley-Rowe limit up to 2 THz.
Thermal Conductivity of Amorphous and Crystalline SiO2 Nano-Films from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Normal thermal conductivity of amorphous and crystalline SiO2 nano-films is calculated by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations in the temperature range from 100 to 700K and thicknesses from 2 to 6nm. The calculated temperature and thickness dependences of thermal conductivity are in good agreement with previous literatures. In the same thickness, higher thermal conductivity is obtained for crystalline SiO2 nano-films. And more importantly, for amorphous SiO2 nano-films, thickness can be any direction of x, y, z-axis without effect on the normal thermal conductivity, for crystalline SiO2 nano-films, the different thickness directions obtain different thermal conductivity results. The different results of amorphous and crystalline SiO2 nano-films simply show that film thickness and grain morphology will cause different effects on thermal conductivity.
Predicting Survival in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Insights From the Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-Term Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Disease Management (REVEAL)

Background— Factors that determine survival in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drive clinical management. A quantitative survival prediction tool has not been established for research or clinical use. Methods and Results— Data from 2716 patients with PAH enrolled consecutively in the US Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-Term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL) were analyzed to assess predictors of 1-year survival. We identified independent prognosticators of survival and derived a multivariable, weighted risk formula for clinical use. One-year survival from the date of enrollment was 91.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89.9 to 92.1). In a multivariable analysis with Cox proportional hazards, variables independently associated with increased mortality included pulmonary vascular resistance >32 Wood units (hazard ratio [HR], 4.1; 95% CI, 2.0 to 8.3), PAH associated with portal hypertension (HR, 3.6; 95% CI, 2.4 to 5.4), modified New York Heart Association/World Health Organization functional class IV (HR, 3.1; 95% CI, 2.2 to 4.4), men >60 years of age (HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.6 to 3.0), and family history of PAH (HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 4.0). Renal insufficiency, PAH associated with connective tissue disease, functional class III, mean right atrial pressure, resting systolic blood pressure and heart rate, 6-minute walk distance, brain natriuretic peptide, percent predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, and pericardial effusion on echocardiogram all predicted mortality. Based on these multivariable analyses, a prognostic equation was derived and validated by bootstrapping technique. Conclusions— We identified key predictors of survival based on the patient's most recent evaluation and formulated a contemporary prognostic equation. Use of this tool may allow the individualization and optimization of therapeutic strategies. Serial follow-up and reassessment are warranted. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00370214.
MOSELM approach for Voltage Stability Indicator using phasor measurement units

Voltage stability assessment is important in order to ensure a stable power system. Two algorithms were discussed in this paper which looks into estimating voltage stability based upon Thevenin Equivalent values in a system using Voltage and Current Phasors for different loading values. The first algorithm uses a Kalman filter based formulation. The second method uses an Online Learning approach known as the Modified Online Sequence Extreme Learning Machine (MOSELM). Results show that the Kalman Filter approach is capable of analyzing voltage stability but it requires some user specified information for tuning. On the other hand, the MOSELM approach show that it is capable of producing the same result as the Kalman Filter approach but require less amount of user specified information.
Study of Phase Transitions by Transient Methods

The present paper deals with the application of the transient techniques for thermophysical analysis of the structural changes in materials. The technique has been applied for study of equilibrium transitions as well as for kinetic transitions. A special methodology has been developed to study kinetic transitions like crystallization, melting, etc. in a “pseudo-equilibrium states” by the help of porous structures. The paper includes three different issues: the transient methods for measuring thermodynamic and transport parameters, data analysis and application of the pulse transient method for measurements of materials in thermodynamic equilibrium, pseudoequilibrium and in non-equilibrium (quasi-equilibrium) states. Equilibrium transitions in CsPbCl3 and CsPbBr3 single crystals, kinetic transitions of freezing and thawing water in porous stones and non-equilibriums states in E-glass and Al2O3 ceramics during sintering have been studied.
A quantitative survey of conidiation mutants in Aspergillus nidulans.

SUMMARY: A quantitative survey has been made of conidiation mutants in Aspergillus nidulans. Conidiation mutants were 6 to 13 times more numerous than auxotrophic mutants, but growth tests showed that the mutant defect in 85% of the conidiation mutants was not confined to conidiation. The number of loci specifically involved in conidiation was estimated to be 45 to 150. Mutants were classified according to the stage of the developmental block and also into asporogenous and oligosporogenous types; 64% were oligosporogenous, but in further tests, 84% of the asporogenous mutants were found to be temperature sensitive or slightly leaky, suggesting that many of the loci involved act only as modifiers in conidiation. The largest group of mutants was blocked before conidiophore formation, while many others failed at ill-defined stages of conidiation, suggesting that failure was due to the gradual build-up of metabolic deficiencies. A class of conidial maturation mutants has also been identified.
Total variation estimates for the TCP process

The TCP window size process appears in the modeling of the famous Transmission Control Protocol used for data transmission over the Internet. This continuous time Markov process takes its values in [0, ∞), is ergodic and irreversible. The sample paths are piecewise linear deterministic and the whole randomness of the dynamics comes from the jump mechanism. The aim of the present paper is to provide quantitative estimates for the exponential convergence to equilibrium, in terms of the total variation and Wasserstein distances.
Two distinct mechanisms underlie progesterone-induced proliferation in the mammary gland

The mouse mammary gland develops postnatally under the control of female reproductive hormones. Estrogens and progesterone trigger morphogenesis by poorly understood mechanisms acting on a subset of mammary epithelial cells (MECs) that express their cognate receptors, estrogen receptor α (ERα) and progesterone receptor (PR). Here, we show that in the adult female, progesterone drives proliferation of MECs in two waves. The first, small wave, encompasses PR(+) cells and requires cyclin D1, the second, large wave, comprises mostly PR(−) cells and relies on the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family member, receptor activator of NF-κB-ligand (RANKL). RANKL elicits proliferation by a paracrine mechanism. Ablation of RANKL in the mammary epithelium blocks progesterone-induced morphogenesis, and ectopic expression of RANKL in MECs completely rescues the PR−/− phenotype. Systemic administration of RANKL triggers proliferation in the absence of PR signaling, and injection of a RANK signaling inhibitor interferes with progesterone-induced proliferation. Thus, progesterone elicits proliferation by a cell-intrinsic and a, more important, paracrine mechanism.
A 280 GHz stacked-FET power amplifier cell using 50 nm metamorphic HEMT technology

This paper demonstrates the first stacked-FET monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier cell operating at 280 GHz. Three different circuits were fabricated using 50 nm gate length metamorphic high electron mobility transistors (mHEMT) in combination with grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) lines with 14 μm ground-to-ground spacing. First, cascode and stacked-FET configurations at 240 GHz are compared. The stacked configuration exhibits a more broadband small-signal gain response and a 1.3 dB enhancement of output power compared to the cascode cell. Subsequently, a power amplifier cell for operation at 280 GHz was designed and realized. The stacked-FET configuration is chosen due to its superior performance. The 280 GHz power cell demonstrates more than 8.3 dB of small-signal gain from 267 to 302 GHz (12.3%), with a maximum gain of 9.6 dB at 282 GHz, and an output-referred 2 dB compression point of 3.5 dBm.
Polarization properties of all-solid photonic bandgap fibers

We numerically analyzed the polarization effects in birefringent all-solid photonic bandgap fiber with different index contrast between matrix and circular inclusions. The birefringence in the analyzed fibers is induced by elliptical shape of the core composed of double defect in the hexagonal lattice of high index inclusions. Our simulations were fully vectorial and based on a plane wave method and finite element method. We determined location of photonic bandgaps, spectral dependence of phase and group modal birefringence, and confinement loss characteristics for different polarization modes in three analyzed structures.
volving statistical rulesets for network intrusion detection

Security threats against computer networks and the Internet have emerged as a major and increasing area of concern for end-users trying to protect their valuable information and resources from intrusive attacks. Due to the amount of data to be analysed and the similarities between attack and normal traffic patterns, intrusion detection is considered a complex real world problem. In this paper, we propose a solution that uses a genetic algorithm to evolve a set of simple, interval-based rules based on statistical, continuous-valued input data. Several innovations in the genetic algorithm work to keep the ruleset small. We first tune the proposed system using a synthetic data. We then evaluate our system against more
Analyzing web service similarity using contextual clones

There are several tools and techniques developed over the past decade for detecting duplicated code in software. However, there exists a class of languages for which clone detection is ill-suited. We discovered one of these languages when we attempted to use clone detection to find similar web service operations in service descriptions written in the Web Service Description Language (WSDL). WSDL is structured in such a way that identifying units for comparison becomes a challenge. WSDL service descriptions contain specifications of one or more operations that are divided into pieces and intermingled throughout the description. In this paper, we describe a method of reorganizing them in order to leverage clone detection technology to identify similar services. We introduce the idea of contextual clones -- clones that can only be found by augmenting code fragments with related information referenced by the fragment to give it context. We demonstrate this idea for WSDL and propose other languages and situations for which contextual clones may be of interest.
Dual Roles of Smad Proteins in the Conversion from Myoblasts to Osteoblastic Cells by Bone Morphogenetic Proteins*

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) induce ectopic bone formation in muscle tissue in vivo and convert myoblasts such that they differentiate into osteoblastic cells in vitro. We report here that constitutively active Smad1 induced osteoblastic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts in cooperation with Smad4 or Runx2. In floxed Smad4 mice-derived cells, Smad4 ablation partially suppressed BMP-4-induced osteoblast differentiation. In contrast, the BMP-4-induced inhibition of myogenesis was lost by Smad4 ablation and restored by Smad4 overexpression. A nuclear zinc finger protein, E4F1, was identified as a possible component of the Smad4 complex that suppresses myogenic differentiation in response to BMP signaling. In the presence of Smad4, E4F1 stimulated the expression of Ids. Taken together, these findings suggest that the Smad signaling pathway may play a dual role in the BMP-induced conversion of myoblasts to osteoblastic cells.
The Changing Face of Pediatric Respiratory Tract Infections: How Human Metapneumovirus and Human Bocavirus Fit into the Overall Etiology of Respiratory Tract Infections in Young Children

Lower respiratory tract infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. Recent technological advances in the field of molecular biology have allowed virologists to detect many previously undetected viral pathogens. Two of these, human metapneumovirus (hMPV) and human bocavirus (HBoV), are of particular clinical interest to pediatric health care providers. This review discusses the most common viral respiratory infections in children, explores the role of newly discovered respiratory pathogens, and describes techniques for the diagnosis of viral respiratory infections.
Quadruple-Ridged Flared Horn Operating From 8 to 50 GHz

This communication proposes a compact, high performance, quadruple-ridged flared horn operating from 8 to 50 GHz. A prototype fed by two coaxial connectors has been designed and fabricated based on the combination of a four-petal structure and a back plate. Measurements show that the input reflection coefficients are below −10 dB over more than 6:1 frequency range. Radiation patterns were measured in an anechoic chamber, and good agreement was found with the simulation results. Physical optics calculations predict an average of 68% aperture efficiency with the feed installed on the square kilometer array shaped offset Gregorian reflector. The horn is a good demonstration at very high frequencies of a wideband feed for radio telescopes.
Pain-reducing anesthesia prevents oxidative stress in human term placenta

Anesthesia is sometimes used for the reduction of maternal pain in normal human term labor, but whether the drugs affect oxidative stress remains unclear. The placenta serves as an interface between the maternal and fetal vasculature. In this study, we immunohistochemically analyzed two markers for oxidative stress, namely 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal–modified proteins (HNE), using placentas from 21 cases of normal tansvaginal delivery (V group), 20 Caesarean sections (C group), and 17 normal transvaginal deliveries with epidural anesthesia (E group). 8-OHdG staining in the nuclei of trophoblasts lining the chorionic villi was significantly stronger in the V group either compared with the C or E group (p<0.001), without significant differences in the C and E groups (p = 0.792). Moderate to intense staining by HNE of the intravascular serum of chorionic villi vasculature was frequently observed in the placentas from the V group, but less frequently of those in either C or E groups (p<0.001), nor the p value comparing the C and E groups was significant (p = 0.128) for HNE staining. Our results suggest that although the role of oxidative stress and its influences on fetal state in the placenta in labor remains unclear, it seems to be lessened by epidural anesthesia.
FRP Reinforced Short Wood Columns under Axial Compressive Load

This paper presents experimental research on axial structural behaviour of 14 short wood columns externally strengthened with CFRP, BFRP and AFRP fibers. All columns for tests were subjected to axial compressive load. The work carried out has indicated how different types of fiber cloth, strengthened arrangements and fiber layers affect behaviour of the short reinforced wooden columns. Research output shows that carrying capacity, stiffness and ductility of FRP reinforced wood columns is improved, and the increasing relationship between the reinforcement layers and bearing capacity is not linear. The all-bonded reinforcement scheme is better than semi-bonded one, and the semi-bonded one is better than the interval-bonded one. The performance of CFRP and BFRP reinforced columns is applied fully. This study confirms that the FRP reinforcing technique significantly enhances the carrying capacity of short wood columns.