Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in non-surgical patients at hospital admission

Summary Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is known as a common complication in surgical and non-surgical patients. We hypothesized that according to the underlying risk factors and the acute illness, the prevalence of VTE in non-surgical patients admitted to hospital is widely underestimated. For three months each patient admitted to the department of internal medicine with an acute illness, but without known deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was investigated by ultrasound compression sonography. Patients’ history, risk factors and extent of immobilisation were documented. In patients with newly detected DVT D-dimer and fibrinogen were measured as well as computer tomography scans performed. Follow-up investigations of the DVT population were performed at four weeks and three months. Six hundred seventeen patients (49.3% men) were included. In 16 patients (men=7) a previously unknown thrombosis (2.6%) was detected, mainly in patients with acute cardio-pulmonary disease (56%) and the elderly (mean age 75.6 years). Eight patients had femoro-popliteal (50.0%), four a femoral (25.0%), and four a popliteal vein thrombosis (25.0%). Five had pulmonary embolism (31.3%). In patients with DVT D-dimer was 875 ± 1,228 mg/l, fibrinogen 568 ± 215 mg/dl and C-reactive-protein 58.54 ± 73.65 mg/dl. One patient died from sepsis during hospitalisation, one died from sudden cardiac death at home. None of the other 14 surviving patients relapsed. The study shows a 2.6% risk for DVT in outpatients with acute illness admitted to the department of internal medicine. These data demonstrate the high risk of DVT is in non-surgical patients. Early prophylaxis has to be considered in internal medicine patients especially in the elderly.
Wideband MIMO Antenna Systems Based on Coupled-Loop Antenna for 5G N77/N78/N79 Applications in Mobile Terminals

A wideband 8-antenna multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) system that can cover 3.3–5.0 GHz is proposed for the 5G new radio N77/N78/N79 application in mobile phones. The wide bandwidth of the MIMO antenna system is obtained by the proposed coupled-loop antenna, which has three coupling sections located separately at its top central and two sides. Due to this special arrangement, the coupled-loop antenna can support three resonance modes of loop antenna: <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.5\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.75\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.0\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula> modes. The distinctive feature of the proposed coupled-loop antenna design is that it can excite the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.75\lambda $ </tex-math></inline-formula> modes, which has not been reported before. The wide bandwidth is obtained by the combination of the three resonance modes. To evaluate the performance of the proposed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$8\,\,\times 8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> MIMO antenna system, the antenna isolation, envelope correlation coefficient (ECC), and channel capacity (CC) are all investigated. Antenna prototypes for an 8-antenna MIMO system located along the edge of mobile phones are fabricated and measured, and; quite good agreements between simulation and measurement are obtained.
Reporting War: Journalism in Wartime

Reporting War explores the social responsibilities of the journalist during times of military conflict. News media treatments of international crises, especially the one underway in Iraq, are increasingly becoming the subject of public controversy, and discussion is urgently needed. Each of this book's contributors challenges familiar assumptions about war reporting from a distinctive perspective. An array of pressing issues associated with conflicts over recent years are identified and critiqued, always with an eye to what they can tell us about improving journalism today. Special attention is devoted to recent changes in journalistic forms and practices, and the ways in which they are shaping the visual culture of war, and issues discussed, amongst many, include: * the influence of censorship and propaganda *'us' and 'them' news narratives * access to sources *'24/7 rolling news' and the 'CNN effect' * military jargon (such as 'friendly fire' and 'collateral damage') *'embedded' and 'unilateral' reporters * tensions between objectivity and patriotism. The book raises important questions about the very future of journalism during wartime, questions which demand public dialogue and debate, and is essential reading for students taking courses in news and news journalism, as well as for researchers, teachers and practitioners in the field.
The cocktail party effect.

The main advantages of wearing 2 ear level hearing aids are the possibilities of directional hearing and of avoiding the acoustical head shadow. These effects are rather easy to measure. There exists another effect which would seem, at first sight, to be of major importance: The fact that in an environment of hampering sounds one understands better with 2 ears than with only 1: the cocktail party effect (CPE). As in already described [Kuyper and de Boer, 1969] there are many ways to measure and even to define the CPE. The most natural way (and the best if one investigates hearing aids) is to use loudspeakers. Carhart [1965] describes a method which avoids the effect of head shadow. Unfortunately it was impossible for us to obtain in double prothetized subjects an effect which was greater than the variance.In order to avoid this variance we improved a method developed by Feldmann in 1963, and in this way succeeded in obtaining significant results for each single subject.Applying this method on prothetized s.
The Low-Volatility Anomaly: Market Evidence on Systematic Risk vs. Mispricing

The authors explored whether the well-publicized anomalous returns associated with low-volatility stocks can be attributed to market mispricing or to compensation for higher systematic factor risk. The results of their study, covering a 46-year period, indicate that the relatively high returns of low-volatility portfolios cannot be viewed solely as compensation for systematic factor risk. The results from their cross-sectional analyses indicate that average returns to low-volatility portfolios are determined by common variations associated with the idiosyncratic-volatility characteristic rather than factor loadings. This finding suggests that the excess returns are more likely driven by market mispricing connected with volatility as a stock characteristic.
Simulating survival data with predefined censoring rates for proportional hazards models

The proportional hazard model is one of the most important statistical models used in medical research involving time‐to‐event data. Simulation studies are routinely used to evaluate the performance and properties of the model and other alternative statistical models for time‐to‐event outcomes under a variety of situations. Complex simulations that examine multiple situations with different censoring rates demand approaches that can accommodate this variety. In this paper, we propose a general framework for simulating right‐censored survival data for proportional hazards models by simultaneously incorporating a baseline hazard function from a known survival distribution, a known censoring time distribution, and a set of baseline covariates. Specifically, we present scenarios in which time to event is generated from exponential or Weibull distributions and censoring time has a uniform or Weibull distribution. The proposed framework incorporates any combination of covariate distributions. We describe the steps involved in nested numerical integration and using a root‐finding algorithm to choose the censoring parameter that achieves predefined censoring rates in simulated survival data. We conducted simulation studies to assess the performance of the proposed framework. We demonstrated the application of the new framework in a comprehensively designed simulation study. We investigated the effect of censoring rate on potential bias in estimating the conditional treatment effect using the proportional hazard model in the presence of unmeasured confounding variables. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The spinning cyclic ‘Miura-oRing’ for mechanical collision-resilience

Impact protection structures enable aerial robots to navigate in confined or cluttered environments. As weight is a major limitation in designing aerial vehicles, origami-inspired folded structures made of thin material sheets can offer novel, lightweight solutions to tackle collision resilience challenges. Here, we study the use of energy absorption properties of origami structures for the protection of a miniature aerial robot in horizontal collisions. A ring-shaped, cyclic symmetric descendant of the Miura-ori, which we call the ‘Miura-oRing’ in this paper, is studied. It acts as a light-weight radial spring used as a collisioncushioning structure to be assembled on a quadrotor frame in order to provide horizontal impact protection.
Burkholderia pseudomallei Induces Cell Fusion and Actin-Associated Membrane Protrusion: a Possible Mechanism for Cell-to-Cell Spreading

ABSTRACT Burkholderia pseudomallei, a facultative intracellular bacterium, is the causative agent of a broad spectrum of diseases collectively known as melioidosis. Its ability to survive inside phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells and to induce multinucleated giant cell (MNGC) formation has been demonstrated. This study was designed to assess a possible mechanism(s) leading to this cellular change, using virulent and nonvirulent strains of B. pseudomallei to infect both phagocytic and nonphagocytic cell lines. We demonstrated that when the cells were labeled with two different cell markers (CMFDA or CMTMR), mixed, and then infected with B. pseudomallei, direct cell-to-cell fusion could be observed, leading to MNGC formation. Staining of the infected cells with rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin indicated that immediately after the infection, actin rearrangement into a comet tail appearance occurred, similar to that described earlier for other bacteria. The latter rearrangement led to the formation of bacterium-containing, actin-associated membrane protrusions which could lead to a direct cell-to-cell spreading ofB. pseudomallei in the infected hosts. Results from 4′,6′-diamidine-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) nuclear staining, poly-ADP ribose polymerase cleavage, staining of infected cells for phosphatidylserine exposure with annexin V, and electrophoresis of the DNA extracted from these infected cells showed that B. pseudomallei could kill the host cells by inducing apoptosis in both phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells.
Insulin resistance is associated with coronary plaque vulnerability: insight from optical coherence tomography analysis.

AIMS Previous studies have reported that insulin resistance plays an important role in the progression of atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between insulin resistance and coronary plaque instability is not well established. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between insulin resistance and coronary plaque characteristics identified by optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS AND RESULTS This study enrolled 155 consecutive patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. OCT image acquisitions were performed in the culprit lesions. Insulin resistance was identified using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Subjects were divided into three tertiles according to the HOMA-IR values. Patients in the higher HOMA tertile had more frequent prevalence of lipid-rich plaques than those in the middle and lower tertiles (83 vs. 62 vs. 57%; P = 0.01). The thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) prevalence rates among the higher (>2.5), middle (1.4-2.5), and lower HOMA-IR (<1.4) tertiles were 50, 29, and 26% (P = 0.02). The microvessel prevalence rates of the three tertiles were 54, 39, and 28% (P = 0.02). Furthermore, in the higher HOMA-IR group, the fibrous cap was significantly thinner compared with the other two tertiles (vs. lower HOMA-IR, P = 0.009; vs. middle HOMA-IR, P = 0.008). On multivariate analysis, acute coronary syndrome [odds ratio (OR): 17.98; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.12-52.02; P < 0.0001] and HOMA-IR >2.50 (OR: 3.57; 95% CI: 1.42-9.55; P = 0.007) were independent predictors for the presence of TCFA. CONCLUSION This study suggests that insulin resistance might be associated with coronary plaque vulnerability.
An Event Triggered-FOCV MPP Technique with Irradiance Change Detection Block for Next Generation EH-Converters

An Event Triggerred — Fractional Open Circuit Voltage Maximum Power Point Tracking (ET-FOCV MPPT) technique is introduced for irradiance change aware open-circuiting in FOCV systems. The ET-FOCV scheme is implemented using a novel Irradiance Change Detection (ICD) block which is based on gradient based current sensing technique. By avoiding the periodic open circuiting in the absence of irradiance change, this technique extracts more energy than the conventional FOCV systems. The proposed ICD block can operate from 10 Hz to 100 kHz system clock frequencies targeting micro scale energy harvesting systems. With the ICD block and ET-FOCV technique, the proposed solar energy harvesting system harvests energy from input power level of 200 µW to 20 mW and input voltage level of 100 mV to 1.5 V and charges a battery to 3.3 V by boost operation. The entire system is implemented in standard 180 nm CMOS technology and the extracted results validate the system performance.
Characterization of the Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 Decaheme Cytochrome MtrA

Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 has the metabolic capacity to grow anaerobically using Fe(III) as a terminal electron acceptor. Growth under these conditions results in the de novo synthesis of a number of periplasmic c-type cytochromes, many of which are multiheme in nature and are thought to be involved in the Fe(III) respiratory process. To begin a biochemical study of these complex cytochromes, the mtrA gene that encodes an approximate 32-kDa periplasmic decaheme cytochrome has been heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. Co-expression of mtrA with a plasmid that contains cytochrome c maturation genes leads to the assembly of a correctly targeted holoprotein, which covalently binds ten hemes. The recombinant MtrA protein has been characterized by magnetic circular dichroism, which shows that all ten hemes have bis-histidine axial ligation. EPR spectroscopy detected only eight of these hemes, all of which are low spin and provides evidence for a spin-coupled pair of hemes in the oxidized state. Redox titrations of MtrA have been carried out with optical- and EPR-monitored methods, and the hemes are shown to reduce over the potential range –100 to –400 mV. In intact cells of E. coli, MtrA is shown to obtain electrons from the host electron transport chain and pass these onto host oxidoreductases or a range of soluble Fe(III) species. This demonstrates the promiscuous nature of this decaheme cytochrome and its potential to serve as a soluble Fe(III) reductase in intact cells.
PICKLE 2.0: A human protein-protein interaction meta-database employing data integration via genetic information ontology

It has been acknowledged that source databases recording experimentally supported human protein-protein interactions (PPIs) exhibit limited overlap. Thus, the reconstruction of a comprehensive PPI network requires appropriate integration of multiple heterogeneous primary datasets, presenting the PPIs at various genetic reference levels. Existing PPI meta-databases perform integration via normalization; namely, PPIs are merged after converted to a certain target level. Hence, the node set of the integrated network depends each time on the number and type of the combined datasets. Moreover, the irreversible a priori normalization process hinders the identification of normalization artifacts in the integrated network, which originate from the nonlinearity characterizing the genetic information flow. PICKLE (Protein InteraCtion KnowLedgebasE) 2.0 implements a new architecture for this recently introduced human PPI meta-database. Its main novel feature over the existing meta-databases is its approach to primary PPI dataset integration via genetic information ontology. Building upon the PICKLE principles of using the reviewed human complete proteome (RHCP) of UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot as the reference protein interactor set, and filtering out protein interactions with low probability of being direct based on the available evidence, PICKLE 2.0 first assembles the RHCP genetic information ontology network by connecting the corresponding genes, nucleotide sequences (mRNAs) and proteins (UniProt entries) and then integrates PPI datasets by superimposing them on the ontology network without any a priori transformations. Importantly, this process allows the resulting heterogeneous integrated network to be reversibly normalized to any level of genetic reference without loss of the original information, the latter being used for identification of normalization biases, and enables the appraisal of potential false positive interactions through PPI source database cross-checking. The PICKLE web-based interface (www.pickle.gr) allows for the simultaneous query of multiple entities and provides integrated human PPI networks at either the protein (UniProt) or the gene level, at three PPI filtering modes.
The Clot Strikes Thrice: Case Report of a Patient with 3 Concurrent Embolic events.

PURPOSE Concurrent cerebral and systemic embolism are unusual occurrences. Acute myocardial infarction secondary to coronary embolism are particularly rare with only isolated reports in the literature. CASE REPORT A 49-year old Chinese man presented with right posterior cerebral artery infarction to our hospital. He developed chest pain and ST-elevation on ECG the next morning. Urgent cardiac catheterization showed a right coronary artery as well as a right profunda femoris artery occlusion. The cause of these 3 concurrent emboli was a large mobile left ventricular thrombus seen on echocardiography. Urgent anticoagulation was initiated, and the patient returned home after 1 month of rehabilitation with no further ischemic events. CONCLUSION In selected patients with high embolic risks, urgent anticoagulation after acute ischemic stroke can be a possible treatment option.
Oral cocaine pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in a cumulative-dose regimen: pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling of concurrent operant and spontaneous behavior within an operant context.

Despite wide use of cumulative-dosing procedures to evaluate dose-response relations, limited attention has been paid to investigating drug concentration-effect relations. We first characterized the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters for i.v. (2 mg/kg) and oral cocaine (20 and 40 mg/kg) in rats. Cocaine's concentration-time profile for the escalating cumulative-dose regimen was simulated from PK parameters, dose size (1, 2, 7, 20, and 45 mg/kg by the oral route), and dosing interval (tau, 35 min) as well as validated from blood sampling at various time points. This concentration-time profile was integrated with pharmacodynamic (PD) profiles of differential reinforcement of low rate performance and spontaneous activity (large and small movements) under a differential reinforcement of low rate 45-s schedule. Effects on three behavioral measures were characterized by integrated PK-PD models using the sigmoid E(max) (for increases in shorter response rate or large movements) and inhibitory E(max) (for decreases in density of reinforcement) models. But for the intrinsic differences in baseline and efficacy values among the behavioral endpoints, one set of PD parameters (i.e., potency and Hill factors) predicted concentration-effect relations for the three behavioral indices across all five doses. Concurrent monitoring of operant and spontaneous activity behavior within an operant context provides a novel behavioral paradigm to investigate drug effects on spontaneous activity under conditions where a behavioral contingency exists. Additionally, a cumulative-dosing procedure is efficient for determining the entire dose-response relation and provides an ideal mode to study phenomena such as sensitization or tolerance by varying dose size and/or tau.
A Dictionary Learning Method Based On EMD for Audio Sparse Representation

Sparse representation has long been studied and several dictionary learning methods have been proposed. The dictionary learning methods are widely used because they are adaptive. In this paper, a new dictionary learning method for audio is proposed. Signals are at first decomposed into different degrees of Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMF) using Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) technique. Then these IMFs form a learned dictionary. To reduce the size of the dictionary, the K-means method is applied to the dictionary to generate a K-EMD dictionary. Compared to K-SVD algorithm, the K-EMD dictionary decomposes audio signals into structured components, thus the sparsity of the representation is increased by 34.4% and the SNR of the recovered audio signals is increased by 20.9%. Keywords—Dictionary Learning, EMD, K-means Method, Sparse Representation.
How Computers Have Changed the Wage Structure: Evidence from Microdata, 1984-1989

This paper examines whether employees who use a computer at work earn a higher wage rate than otherwise similar workers who do not use a computer at work. The analysis primarily relies on data from the Current Population Survey and the High School and Beyond Survey. A variety of statistical models are estimated to try to correct for unobserved variables that might be correlated with both job-related computer use and earnings. The estimates suggest that workers who use computers on their job earn roughly a 10 to 15 percent higher wage rate. In addition, the estimates suggest that the expansion in computer use in the l980s can account for between one-third and one-half of the observed increase in the rate of return to education, Finally, occupations that experienced greater growth in computer use between 1984 and 1989 also experienced above average wage growth.