Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pre-analytical practices for routine coagulation tests in European laboratories. A collaborative study from the European Organisation for External Quality Assurance Providers in Laboratory Medicine (EQALM)

Abstract Background Correct handling and storage of blood samples for coagulation tests are important to assure correct diagnosis and monitoring. The aim of this study was to assess the pre-analytical practices for routine coagulation testing in European laboratories. Methods In 2013–2014, European laboratories were invited to fill in a questionnaire addressing pre-analytical requirements regarding tube fill volume, citrate concentration, sample stability, centrifugation and storage conditions for routine coagulation testing (activated partial thromboplastin time [APTT], prothrombin time in seconds [PT-sec] and as international normalised ratio [PT-INR] and fibrinogen). Results A total of 662 laboratories from 28 different countries responded. The recommended 3.2% (105–109 mmol/L) citrate tubes are used by 74% of the laboratories. Tube fill volumes ≥90% were required by 73%–76% of the laboratories, depending upon the coagulation test and tube size. The variation in centrifugation force and duration was large (median 2500 g [10- and 90-percentiles 1500 and 4000] and 10 min [5 and 15], respectively). Large variations were also seen in the accepted storage time for different tests and sample materials, for example, for citrated blood at room temperature the accepted storage time ranged from 0.5–72 h and 0.5–189 h for PT-INR and fibrinogen, respectively. If the storage time or the tube fill requirements are not fulfilled, 72% and 84% of the respondents, respectively, would reject the samples. Conclusions There was a large variation in pre-analytical practices for routine coagulation testing in European laboratories, especially for centrifugation conditions and storage time requirements.
An expanded binding model for Cys2His2 zinc finger protein–DNA interfaces

Cys2His2 zinc finger (C2H2-ZF) proteins comprise the largest class of eukaryotic transcription factors. The ‘canonical model’ for C2H2-ZF protein–DNA interaction consists of only four amino acid–nucleotide contacts per zinc finger domain, and this model has been the basis for several efforts for computationally predicting and experimentally designing protein–DNA interfaces. Here, we perform a systematic analysis of structural and experimental binding data and find that, in addition to the canonical contacts, several other amino acid and base pair combinations frequently play a role in C2H2-ZF protein–DNA binding. We suggest an expansion of the canonical C2H2-ZF model to include one to three additional contacts, and show that computational approaches including these additional contacts improve predictions of DNA targets of zinc finger proteins.
Developing a competency-based curriculum for eye care managers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

INTRODUCTION There are insufficient healthcare providers to supply eye care services to the millions of people living with visual impairment in developing countries. Eye care providers may supply more efficient and effective services if supported by skilled managers. To help produce skilled managers, appropriate competencies for eye care managers in Sub-Saharan Africa were included in the curriculum for the Postgraduate Diploma in Community Eye Health course (PGDCEH) at the University of Cape Town. METHODS The competencies were developed from information from course-development consultations with Sub-Saharan ophthalmologists, and heads and managers of eye care programs; minutes of curriculum planning meetings; and the competencies and skills required by general, eye and public health managers. The competencies were mapped onto the PGDCEH curriculum. RESULTS The core expectations for eye care managers were in keeping with accepted generic management competencies and skills. Additional competencies (eg population/public health) were commensurate with those for medical and population-based clinical management, medical education and public health. Broader aspects of eye care (eg patient-centered care) were also incorporated. CONCLUSIONS Competencies for eye care managers in Sub-Saharan Africa were developed using participatory and multidisciplinary approaches to enhance context-appropriateness. Identifying these ensures that the PGDCEH learning content reflects the actual skills required, provides clarity about learning outcomes, and forms the basis for student assessment. Further, job descriptions and workplace performance evaluation of graduates can be based on these. Ongoing evaluation of the PGDCEH implementation and outcomes will provide feedback to make improvements to the course.
Depressive Trajectories and Risk of Disability and Mortality in Older Adults: Longitudinal Findings From the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

BACKGROUND Depression and disability are closely linked. Less is known regarding clinical and subclinical depressive symptoms over time and risk of disability and mortality. METHODS Responses to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression scale (CES-D10) were assessed over a 4-year period in men (n = 1032) and women (n = 1070) aged 70-79 years initially free from disability. Depressive symptom trajectories were defined with group-based models. Disability (2 consecutive reports of severe difficulty walking one-quarter mile or climbing 10 steps) and mortality were determined for 9 subsequent years. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards adjusted for covariates. RESULTS Three trajectories were identified: persistently nondepressed (54% of men, 54% of women, mean baseline CES-D10: 1.16 and 1.46), mildly depressed and increasing (40% of men, 38% of women, mean baseline CES-D10: 3.60 and 4.35), and depressed and increasing (6% of men, 8% of women, mean baseline CES-D10: 7.44 and 9.61). Disability and mortality rates per 1,000 person years were 41.4 and 60.3 in men and 45.8 and 41.9 in women. Relative to nondepressed, men in the mildly depressed (HR = 1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.89) and depressed trajectories (HR = 2.12, 95% CI 1.33-3.38) had increased disability; women in the depressed trajectory had increased disability (HR = 2.02, 95% CI 1.37-2.96). Men in the mildly depressed (HR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.01-1.52) and depressed trajectories (HR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.10-2.41) had elevated mortality risk; women exhibited no mortality risk. CONCLUSIONS Trajectories of depressive symptoms without recovery may predict disability and mortality in apparently healthy older populations, thus underscoring the importance of monitoring depressive symptoms in geriatric care.
Plasma endothelin and nitric oxide levels in patients with acute pancreatitis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the changes of plasma endothelin (ET) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in patients with acute pancreatitis. METHODS The level of plasma ET was measured by radioactive-immunoassay, and NO by spectrophotometry. RESULTS The levels of ET, NO and the ET/NO ratio in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) within 24 hours in hospital were all significantly higher than those in other groups of patients [(176+/-8) pg/ml, (97+/-11) micromol/L, and 1.83+/-0.12, P<0.01]. Compared to healthy controls (N), the levels of ET and NO in patients without pancreatitis acute abdomen (NAP) and patients with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) increased significantly (P<0.01). After appropriate treatment, the levels of ET and NO in the MAP group were lower (P<0.01). Compared with those before treatment, the levels of ET and NO in the SAP group on the 3rd and 7th day in hospital dropped significantly (P<0.01). The ET/NO ratio on the 7th day was also lower than that on admission (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS The malfunction of endothelial cells and the increased ET/NO ratio may be related to the mechanism of pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance in patients with SAP; early dynamic determination of these parameters may help predict the prognosis of SAP.
Memory and Spectral Diffusion in Single-Molecule Emission

The blinking dynamics of single violamine R (VR) molecules embedded in crystals of potassium acid phthalate (KAP) are analyzed using threshold and change-point detection (CPD) methods (Watkins, L. P.; Yang, H. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 617). Analysis employing thresholding resulted in power-law distributions of on and off times corresponding to a power-law exponent of ∼2, consistent with a distributed kinetics model for population and depopulation of the nonemissive state. When the same emission time traces were analyzed using the CPD method, a power-law exponent of ∼1.5 is obtained. In addition, multiple emission states are observed using CPD, inconsistent with a simple two-state blinking model, and indicative of spectral diffusion. The role of spectral diffusion in the distributed blinking kinetics of KAP/VR is investigated by spectrally decomposing the emission using a dichroic mirror. Combining the CPD method with this experiment yielded the emission energy, intensity, and temporal duration of blink.
AIDS education efforts begin to address plight of Tanzanian youth.

In Tanzania, 5.3% of the urban population and 1.4% of the rural population were infected with HIV by 1995, and AIDS accounts for 30,000 deaths a year. During the next decade, AIDS may become a leading cause of death for children of Tanzania, and the epidemic will place a heavy burden on families. It has been estimated that, by the year 2010, Tanzania's gross domestic product will be 14-24% lower that it would have been without AIDS. The largest increase in prevalence in Tanzania has been among teenagers who are sexually active but ignorant of sexual matters because of societal norms that treat sex as a taboo topic. Spurred by the alarming projections of the National AIDS Control Programme, the government finally endorsed AIDS education in May of 1993. In the meantime, the Tanzania Red Cross Society has instituted projects in 660 primary schools in Kagera (one of the hardest hit regions); the Society for Women and AIDS has helped six secondary schools institute AIDS education in Dar es Salaam; and EMAU, an NGO providing family life education for youth, has reached thousands of young people with seminars and booklets. The governmental response will introduce HIV/AIDS education in 21,532 primary schools with the help of the UN Children's Emergency Fund.
Smarter Traffic Prediction Using Big Data, In-Memory Computing, Deep Learning and GPUs

Road transportation is the backbone of modern economies, albeit it annually costs 1.25 million deaths and trillions of dollars to the global economy, and damages public health and the environment. Deep learning is among the leading-edge methods used for transportation-related predictions, however, the existing works are in their infancy, and fall short in multiple respects, including the use of datasets with limited sizes and scopes, and insufficient depth of the deep learning studies. This paper provides a novel and comprehensive approach toward large-scale, faster, and real-time traffic prediction by bringing four complementary cutting-edge technologies together: big data, deep learning, in-memory computing, and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). We trained deep networks using over 11 years of data provided by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the largest dataset that has been used in deep learning studies. Several combinations of the input attributes of the data along with various network configurations of the deep learning models were investigated for training and prediction purposes. The use of the pre-trained model for real-time prediction was explored. The paper contributes novel deep learning models, algorithms, implementation, analytics methodology, and software tool for smart cities, big data, high performance computing, and their convergence.
Four wheel torque blending for slip control in a hybrid electric vehicle with a single electric machine

Vehicle electrification aims at improving energy efficiency and reducing pollutant emissions. It also creates opportunities to enhance active safety systems with the use of electric machines (EM) as regenerative braking actuators to support the friction brake system. Vehicle energy efficiency can be improved by integrating regenerative braking (RBS) and friction brakes to enable more frequent energy recuperation activations especially during high deceleration demands. This study aims at designing and implementing a new torque allocation strategy for wheel slip control in a four-wheel-drive (4WD) hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) with a single EM. The antilock braking system (ABS) is designed using sliding mode control, which offers robustness against tyre force nonlinearity. A brake torque blending algorithm is developed to distribute torques between electric and friction brake actuators based on a pre-defined energy recuperation priority. The challenge of allocating brake torques at each of the four wheels with brake-by-wire (BBW) and a centralized EM is particularly addressed in this study. Simulation analyses using a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test rig are conducted to verify the proposed control algorithms.
Are Young People's Educational Outcomes Linked to Their Sense of Control?

This paper analyzes the link between young people's sense (locus) of control over their lives and their investments in education. We find that young people with a more internal locus of control have a higher probability of finishing secondary school and, conditional on completion, meeting the requirements to obtain a university entrance rank. Moreover, those with an internal locus of control who obtain a university entrance rank achieve somewhat higher rankings than do their peers who have a more external locus of control. Not surprisingly, there is a negative relationship between growing up in disadvantage and educational outcomes. However, this effect does not appear to operate indirectly by increasing the likelihood of having a more external locus of control. In particular, we find no significant relationship between family welfare history and young people's locus of control.
Clinical Guide and Update on Porphyrias.

Physicians should be aware of porphyrias, which could be responsible for unexplained gastrointestinal, neurologic, or skin disorders. Despite their relative rarity and complexity, most porphyrias can be easily defined and diagnosed. They are caused by well-characterized enzyme defects in the complex heme biosynthetic pathway and are divided into categories of acute vs non-acute or hepatic vs erythropoietic porphyrias. Acute hepatic porphyrias (acute intermittent porphyria, variegate porphyria, hereditary coproporphyria, and aminolevulinic acid dehydratase deficient porphyria) manifest in attacks and are characterized by overproduction of porphyrin precursors, producing often serious abdominal, psychiatric, neurologic, or cardiovascular symptoms. Patients with variegate porphyria and hereditary coproporphyria can present with skin photosensitivity. Diagnosis relies on measurement of increased urinary 5-aminolevulinic acid (in patients with aminolevulinic acid dehydratase deficient porphyria) or increased 5-aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen (in patients with other acute porphyrias). Management of attacks requires intensive care, strict avoidance of porphyrinogenic drugs and other precipitating factors, caloric support, and often heme therapy. The non-acute porphyrias are porphyria cutanea tarda, erythropoietic protoporphyria, X-linked protoporphyria, and the rare congenital erythropoietic porphyria. They lead to the accumulation of porphyrins that cause skin photosensitivity and occasionally severe liver damage. Secondary elevated urinary or blood porphyrins can occur in patients without porphyria, e.g. in liver diseases, or iron deficiency. Increases in porphyrin precursors and porphyrins are also found in patients with lead intoxication. Patients with porphyria cutanea tarda benefit from iron depletion, hydroxychloroquine therapy and, if applicable, elimination of the hepatitis C virus. An alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone analogue can reduce sunlight sensitivity in patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria or X-linked protoporphyria. Strategies to address dysregulated or dysfunctional steps within the heme biosynthetic pathway are in development.
The effect of a transtheoretical model-based motivational interview on self-efficacy, metabolic control, and health behaviour in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM This study aimed to determine the effect of a transtheoretical model-based motivational interview method on self-efficacy, metabolic control, and health behaviour in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS A randomized controlled study design was used. The study was conducted with 50 individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus, divided into an intervention group and a control group. The researcher held motivational interviews with the patients in the intervention group. Both groups were observed at the beginning of the study and 6 months after the baseline interview. The study data were collected between January 8 and November 18, 2014. RESULTS Comparing the intervention and the control groups, the differences in the level of self-efficacy and participants' metabolic values were significant (P < .05). The number of participants in the action stage of the intervention group for nutrition, exercise, and medication use significantly increased compared with the control group (P < .05). CONCLUSION The transtheoretical model-based motivational interview method increased the self-efficacy level of participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus, which helped them improve their metabolic control and health behaviour stages over this 6-month period.
Epilepsy Surgery in 2019 : A Time to Change

Epilepsy has been known to humankind since antiquity. The surgical treatment of epilepsy began in the early days of neurosurgery and has developed greatly. Many surgical procedures have stood the test of time. However, clinicians treating epilepsy patients are now witnessing a huge tide of change. In 2017, the classification system for seizure and epilepsy types was revised nearly 36 years after the previous scheme was released. The actual difference between these systems may not be large, but there have been many conceptual changes, and clinicians must bid farewell to old terminology. Paradigms in drug discovery are changing, and novel antiseizure drugs have been introduced for clinical use. In particular, drugs that target genetic changes harbor greater therapeutic potential than previous screening-based compounds. The concept of focal epilepsy has been challenged, and now epilepsy is regarded as a network disorder. With this novel concept, stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) is becoming increasingly popular for the evaluation of dysfunctioning neuronal networks. Minimally invasive ablative therapies using SEEG electrodes and neuromodulatory therapies such as deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation are widely applied to remedy dysfunctional epilepsy networks. The use of responsive neurostimulation is currently off-label in children with intractable epilepsy.
Useful Platelet Indices for the Diagnosis and Follow-Up of Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to assess the utility of early postnatal platelet indices in the prediction of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) and its response to pharmacological treatment in preterm infants. Study Design The medical records of 971 infants with gestational age < 30 weeks and birth weight < 1,500 g were analyzed retrospectively. Infants with hsPDA comprised the study group and those without hsPDA comprised the control group. Complete blood count results were recorded, and red cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR) and platelet mass were calculated. Results A total of 481 infants, 169 in the hsPDA group and 312 in the control group, were included. In terms of platelet indices, the hsPDA group showed significantly lower mean platelet volume (MPV) and platelet mass, whereas RPR was significantly higher (p < 0.05, respectively). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that RDS (relative ratio [RR]: 2.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.45–3.93; p < 0.001), MPV < 7.85 (RR: 3.71; 95% CI: 2.29–6.01; p < 0.001), and RPR > 0.070 (RR: 5.33; 95% CI: 3.28–8.65; p < 0.001) were independent risk factors for hsPDA. Conclusion Low MPV and platelet mass and high RPR in the first hours of life are risk factors for hsPDA and hsPDA refractive to pharmacological treatment with ibuprofen in preterm infants.
Studies of radiation health effects inform EPA actions

In 1970, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was given the responsibility to provide guidance to other federal agencies in the formulation of radiation protection standards. To carry out its federal guidance responsibilities and protect human health, the EPA must estimate risk at low doses to limit the risk of radiogenic cancers from environmental exposures. These risk estimates are based on models which conform to the linear no threshold (LNT) hypothesis. A cancer risk model conforms to the LNT hypothesis if the excess risk of cancer at low doses increases approximately proportional to dose, with no threshold. Risk models with a linear-quadratic dose response can satisfy the LNT hypothesis. Based on careful review of evidence from epidemiological and radiobiological studies, authoritative scientific bodies have repeatedly endorsed the use of LNT models for estimating and regulating risk and concluded that despite uncertainties at low dose and dose rates, the LNT model remains the most practical and implementable model for radiation protection. This article describes the rationale underlying the use of LNT models for calculating risk for low dose and dose rate exposures and discusses some of the epidemiological evidence which inform on its continued use.
How to Boost the Activity of the Monolayer Pt Supported on TiC Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction: A Density Functional Theory Study

Developing the optimized electrocatalysts with high Pt utilization as well as the outstanding performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has raised great attention. Herein, the effects of the interlayer ZrC, HfC, or TiN and the multilayer Pt shell on the adsorption ability and the catalytic activity of the TiC@Pt core-shell structures are systemically investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For the sandwich structures, the presence of TiN significantly enhances the adsorption ability of the Pt shell, leading to the deterioration of the activity whilst the negligible influence of the ZrC and HfC insertion results the comparable performance with respect to TiC@Pt1ML. In addition, increasing the thickness of the Pt shell reduces the oxyphilic capacity and then mitigates the OH poisoning. From the free energy plots, the superior activity of TiC@Pt2ML is identified in comparison with 1ML and 3ML Pt shell. Herein, the improved activity with its high Pt atomic utilization makes the potential TiC@Pt2ML electrocatalyst for the future fuel cells.