Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictive Accuracy of 29-Comorbidity Index for In-Hospital Deaths in US Adult Hospitalizations with a Diagnosis of Venous Thromboembolism

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a significant source of mortality and morbidity worldwide. By analyzing data of the 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), we evaluated the predictive accuracy of the AHRQ’s 29-comorbidity index with in-hospital death among US adult hospitalizations with a diagnosis of VTE. Methods We assessed the case-fatality and prevalence of comorbidities among a sample of 153,518 adult hospitalizations with a diagnosis of VTE that comprised 87,605 DVTs and 65,913 PEs (with and without DVT). We estimated adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals with multivariable logistic regression models by using comorbidities as predictors and status of in-hospital death as an outcome variable. We assessed the c-statistics for the predictive accuracy of the logistic regression models. Results In 2010, approximately 41,944 in-hospital deaths (20,212 with DVT and 21,732 with PE) occurred among 770,137 hospitalizations with a diagnosis of VTE. When compared separately to hospitalizations with VTE, DVT, or PE that had no corresponding comorbidities, congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, coagulopathy, liver disease, lymphoma, fluid and electrolyte disorders, metastatic cancer, other neurological disorders, peripheral vascular disorders, pulmonary circulation disorders, renal failure, solid tumor without metastasis, and weight loss were positively and independently associated with 10%−125% increased likelihoods of in-hospital death. The c-statistic values ranged from 0.776 to 0.802. Conclusion The results of this study indicated that comorbidity was associated independently with risk of death among hospitalizations with VTE and among hospitalizations with DVT or PE. The AHRQ 29-comorbidity index provides acceptable to excellent predictive accuracy for in-hospital deaths among adult hospitalizations with VTE and among those with DVT or PE.
Bit-Parallel Algorithms for the Merged Longest Common Subsequence Problem

It is often a necessity to compare some sequences to find out how similar they are. There are many similarity measures that can be used, e.g., longest common subsequence, edit distance, sequence alignment. Recently a merged longest common subsequence (MergedLCS) problem was formulated with applications in bioinformatics. We propose the bit-parallel algorithms for the MergedLCS problem and evaluate them in practice showing that they are usually tens times faster than the already published methods.
Mono-camera based vehicle detection using effective candidate generation

This paper proposes a novel on-road vehicle detection algorithm for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The proposed algorithm uses shadow and edge information of original image to generate the candidate vehicles. The proposed algorithm extracts the shadow region darker than the road, and creates an edge image using the Canny edge detector. It performs AND operation between the shadow image and the edge image. The candidate vehicles are verified by SVM classifier based on the HOG feature vector. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm provides fast and accurate vehicle detection. And the number of candidates is reasonable for the vehicle verification.
Properties of a Newly Developed Immersion Tin Coating

Gradually diminishing solderability and potential risk of whisker growth are two major concerns in using immersion tin as a final finish for printed wiring boards. Both phenomena are attributable to the spontaneous formation of intermetallic compounds (IMC) of Cu6Sn5 and Cu3Sn between the tin coating and copper substrate. The formation of IMC consumes the free tin in the coating that is essential for good solderability. It also builds up compressive stress within the tin coating that induces whisker growth. The formation of IMC is known to be affected by the microstructure of the tin coating, as evidenced by the difference in whisker propensity observed between bright and matte tin coatings. Various methods have been used in the formulation of immersion tin chemistries to alter the microstructure of the tin deposit and to retard the intermetallic formation process, yet there is no direct experimental data to link solderability and whisker propensity to the physical properties of the tin deposit. The objective of this study was to investigate such a link through the evaluation of a newly developed immersion tin chemistry. The propensity to form whiskers was evaluated by aging in an ambient environment for 3000 hours and accelerated thermal cycling tests. Solderability was evaluated by wetting balance tests after simulated reflow thermal excursions. The distribution of IMCs was investigated by sequential electrochemical reduction analysis and cross examined by focused ion beam.
Breast Cancer Resistance Protein and P-Glycoprotein in 149 Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemias

Purpose: Recently, a new ABC protein, breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), was described. But its prognosis is not known in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In addition, the prognosis of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and BCRP in patients treated homogeneously by the same anthracycline (daunorubicin, idarubicin, or mitoxantrone) during all of the treatment with aracytine is not known. Therefore, we have evaluated the relationship between drug resistance phenotype, in vitro anthracene sensitivity, and the relation to treatment outcome. Experimental Design: We have analyzed 149 AML treated according to protocol of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer group. The prognostic value of BCRP and Pgp were analyzed in the whole population and according to intercalating agent. Results: BCRP was a prognostic factor, for achievement of complete remission (43% in positive patients and 69% in negative patients, P = 0.005), the 4-year disease-free survival (12% versus 33%, P = 0.03), and the 4-year overall survival (19% versus 38%, P = 0.003). When BCRP expression and Pgp function were categorized in three groups, +/+, +/− or −/+, and −/−, the achievement of complete remission was 45%, 66%, and 90% (P = 0.0003), the 4-year disease-free survival was 8%, 26%, and 40% (P = 0.01), and the 4-year overall survival was 16%, 37%, and 48% (P = 0.001), respectively. Pgp function was a prognostic factor in patients treated by daunorubicin and idarubicin but not by mitoxantrone. In contrast, BCRP expression was a prognostic factor in patients treated by daunorubicin and mitoxantrone but not by idarubicin. Conclusions: BCRP would be implicated in the resistance to chemotherapies in AML. But these are the patients expressing both BCRP and Pgp who have the poorest prognosis.
Uncertainties in Ecosystem Service Maps: A Comparison on the European Scale

Safeguarding the benefits that ecosystems provide to society is increasingly included as a target in international policies. To support such policies, ecosystem service maps are made. However, there is little attention for the accuracy of these maps. We made a systematic review and quantitative comparison of ecosystem service maps on the European scale to generate insights in the uncertainty of ecosystem service maps and discuss the possibilities for quantitative validation. Maps of climate regulation and recreation were reasonably similar while large uncertainties among maps of erosion protection and flood regulation were observed. Pollination maps had a moderate similarity. Differences among the maps were caused by differences in indicator definition, level of process understanding, mapping aim, data sources and methodology. Absence of suitable observed data on ecosystem services provisioning hampers independent validation of the maps. Consequently, there are, so far, no accurate measures for ecosystem service map quality. Policy makers and other users need to be cautious when applying ecosystem service maps for decision-making. The results illustrate the need for better process understanding and data acquisition to advance ecosystem service mapping, modelling and validation.
Environment of copper in Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin probed by binding of exogenous ligands to Met121X (X = Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, or Asp) mutants.

The binding of small exogenous ligands to mutants of the blue copper protein azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, altered in the axial position, Met121X (X = Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, or Asp), has been studied with optical and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The results show that small molecules can enter the pocket left by the side chain of Met121. For azide, the dissociation constants are Leu > Val > Ala, reflecting the increasing space available. The Gly and Asp mutants bind azide less strongly than the Ala mutant, due to competition with water (Gly) and the polar side chain (Asp). Similar trends are found for thiocyanate. Cyanide binds equally well to the Ala and Val mutants. A number of other small potential ligands were tried. Alcohols do not affect room-temperature optical spectra, but at low temperatures, the EPR spectrum is stellacyanin-like, indicative of a weak axial interaction. Ligands binding with a carboxyl group or nitrogen (e.g. acetate or azide) convert the metal center to a form intermediate between regular types 1 and 2, presumably by pulling the copper ion out of the trigonal plane formed by Cys(S) and two His(N). Cyanide interacts strongly as shown by the hyperfine coupling to the 13C nucleus. With increasing strength of the axial interaction, the two major bands in the visible region (600 and 400-500 nm) shift in parallel to higher energy, and at the same time, the strength of the latter transition increases at the expense of the former. This demonstrates that these transitions have a common origin, namely S-to-Cu charge transfer transition.
Circular-contour-based obstacle-aware macro placement

A modern system-on-a-chip (SoC) typically consists of a large number of mixed-size circuit components with big macros and standard cells. Pre-placed macros (obstacles) and big macros further complicate such mixed-size circuit placement, and thus often make existing works fail to obtain a legal mixed-size placement. In this paper, we present an obstacle-aware macro placement algorithm which locates big macros to simultaneously optimize wirelength and routability. We first propose a circular contour to characterize the region formed by all obstacles. With the circular contour, we can effectively avoid the overlap between movable macros and obstacles, and simultaneously optimize the shape and area of the region for standard-cell placement. Unlike most previous macro placers that spend much time on searching for a feasible solution, our circular packing scheme packs movable macros around the obstacle contour to generate feasible solutions efficiently, and thus assists simulated annealing to focus on solution-quality optimization. Experimental results show that our algorithm can achieve the best quality, compared to manual designs provided by industry and leading academic mixed-size placers.
Managing Inventory in Global Supply Chains Facing Port-of-Entry Disruption Risks

Ports-of-entry are critical components of the modern international supply chain infrastructure, particularly container seaports and airfreight hubs. The potential operational and economic impact resulting from their temporary closure is unknown but is widely believed to be very significant. This paper investigates one aspect of this potential impact, focusing specifically on the use of supply chain inventory as a risk mitigation strategy for a one supplier, one customer system in which goods are transported through a port-of-entry subject to temporary closures. Closure likelihood and duration are modeled using a completely observed, exogenous Markov chain. Order lead times are dependent on the status of the port-of-entry, including potential congestion backlogs of unprocessed work. An infinite-horizon, periodic-review inventory control model is developed to determine the optimal average cost ordering policies under linear ordering costs with backlogged demand. When congestion is negligible, the optimal policy is state invariant. In the more complex case of nonnegligible congestion, this result no longer holds. For studied scenarios, numerical results indicate that operating margins may decrease 10% for reasonable-length port-of-entry closures, that margins may be eliminated completely without contingency plans, and that expected holding and penalty costs may increase 20% for anticipated increases in port-of-entry utilization.
Toward understanding the placebo effect: investigating a possible retrocausal factor.

OBJECTIVE Conventional models of placebo effects assume that all mind-body responses associated with expectation can be explained by ordinary causal processes. This experiment tested whether some placebo effects may also involve retrocausal, or time-reversed, influences. DESIGN Slow cortical potentials in the brain were monitored while adult volunteers anticipated either a flash of light or no flash, selected with equal probability by a noise-based random number generator. Data were collected in individual sessions of 100 trials, contributed by 13 female and 7 male adult participants. OUTCOME MEASURES Ensemble median slow cortical potentials 1 second prior to a light flash were compared with the same measures prior to no flash. A nonparametric randomized permutation technique was used to statistically assess the observed difference. Electroencephalographic data were analyzed separately by gender. RESULTS Females' slow cortical potentials significantly differentiated before stimulus onset (z = 2.72, p = 0.007, two-tailed); males showed a suggestive effect in the opposite direction (z = -1.64, p = 0.10, two-tailed). Examination of alternative explanations indicated that the significant effect in females was not caused by anticipatory strategies, equipment or environmental artifacts, or violation of statistical assumptions. CONCLUSIONS This experiment, in accordance with previous studies showing similar, unconscious "presentiment" effects in humans, suggests that comprehensive models seeking to explain placebo effects, and in general how expectation affects the mind and body, may require consideration of retrocausal influences.
Hybrid HAp-Maleic Anhydride Copolymer Nanocomposites Obtained by In Situ Functionalisation

The aim of the work is to establish if maleic anhydride copolymer acts as a grain growth modulator and/or as a biocompatible functionalisation agent for hydroxyapatite. Experimental work was developed in three directions: nanocomposites synthesis, nanocomposites characterization and citotoxicity tests on nanocomposites. Maleic anhydride copolymer – HAp nanocomposites were prepared by in situ functionalisation in hydrothermal conditions and were characterized by chemical quantitative analysis, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, specific surface area and picnometric densities. Chemical bonding between the copolymer carboxyl groups and calcium ions of HAp induced a peak of 1577 cm-1 on the FT-IR analysis. Following the evolution of this characteristic peak with the hydrothermal synthesis conditions (different temperatures and pressures) and corroborates the results with XRD and SEM analysis it was pointed out the copolymer grain growth modulator behaviour. Citotoxicity studies in vitro on mice fibroblast cultures were performed. The results proved the biocompatibility of new hybrid –polymer nanocomposites.
Preemptive CD8 T-Cell Immunotherapy of Acute Cytomegalovirus Infection Prevents Lethal Disease, Limits the Burden of Latent Viral Genomes, and Reduces the Risk of Virus Recurrence

ABSTRACT In the immunocompetent host, primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is resolved by the immune response without causing overt disease. The viral genome, however, is not cleared but is maintained in a latent state that entails a risk of virus recurrence and consequent organ disease. By using murine CMV as a model, we have shown previously that multiple organs harbor latent CMV and that reactivation occurs with an incidence that is determined by the viral DNA load in the respective organ (M. J. Reddehase, M. Balthesen, M. Rapp, S. Jonjic, I. Pavic, and U. H. Koszinowski. J. Exp. Med. 179:185–193, 1994). This predicts that a therapeutic intervention capable of limiting the load of latent viral genome should also reduce the risk of virus recurrence. Here we demonstrate the benefits and the limits of a preemptive CD8 T-cell immunotherapy of CMV infection in the immunocompromised bone marrow transplantation recipient. Antiviral CD8 T cells prevented CMV disease and accelerated the resolution of productive infection. The therapy also resulted in a lower load of latent CMV DNA in organs and consequently reduced the incidence of recurrence. The data thus provide a further supporting argument for clinical trials of preemptive cytoimmunotherapy of human CMV disease with CD8 T cells. However, CD8 T cells failed to clear the viral DNA. The therapy-susceptible portion of the DNA load differed between organs and was highest in the lungs. The existence of an invariant, therapy-resistant load suggests a role for immune system evasion mechanisms in the establishment of CMV latency.
Vision feedback driven automated assembly of photopolymerized structures by parallel optical trapping and manipulation

We demonstrate how optical trapping and manipulation can be used to assemble microstructures. The microstructures we show being automatically recognized and manipulated are produced using the two-photon polymerization (2PP) technique with submicron resolution. In this work, we show identical shape-complementary puzzle pieces being manipulated in a fluidic environment forming space-filling tessellations. By implementation of image analysis to detect the puzzle pieces, we developed a system capable of assembling a puzzle with no user interaction required. This allows for automatic gathering of sparsely scattered objects by optical trapping when combined with a computer controlled motorized sample stage.
SAR Calibration Aided by Permanent Scatterers

We propose a calibration method suitable for a set of repeated synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions that uses both absolute calibrated devices (such as corner reflectors) and stable targets identified in the scene [the permanent scatterers (PSs)]. Precisely, the role of the PS is to extend the initial calibration sequence by monitoring the radiometric stability of the system throughout the whole mission life span. At a first step, this paper approaches the problem of PS-based normalization by an iterative maximum-likelihood method that exploits the stack of complex interferometric SAR images. Two solutions are given based on different assumptions on the PS phases. As a second step, the merging of these estimates with the available calibration information is discussed. Results achieved by experimental acquisitions are shown in two different SAR systems: 1) a C-band spaceborne SAR and 2) a Ku-band ground-based SAR.
Integrative biology and the developing limb bud 1

SUMMARY The identification or selective construction of mutations within genes has allowed researchers to explore the downstream effects of gene disruption. Although these approaches have been successful, a limitation in our assessment of the consequences of conditional changes, and thereby our understanding of roles or function of genes, limits the degree to which we examine the effects of our manipulations. It is also clear that linear associations are incorrect models for describing development, and newer methods now give us an opportunity to practice an integrative biology. In our attempts to explore the consequences of Hoxa13 disruption in mice and humans, it has become clear that a better understanding of the consequences of gene alteration may be achievable by taking a broader approach with a long‐term view. Fundamental questions regarding Hox gene function in vertebrates, including those related to the number of target genes; the degree of overlap of target gene regulation among paralogs; the magnitude of modulation exerted; and the identity of genes that are activated versus repressed need to be explored if a more thorough mechanistic understanding is to be achieved. To begin to address these questions, we undertook a comprehensive analysis of the expression of genes within developing limb buds of mice, and here we present some of our preliminary results. Our efforts will further (1) the exploration of the broader genetic relationships of expressed genes, (2) the determination of parallels or variations in target usage for a given gene in different tissues and between different organisms, (3) the evaluation of limb patterning mechanisms in other animal model systems, and (4) the exploration of gene expression hierarchies regulated by HOX proteins in developmental systems.
Performance Analysis of Rear Point Contact Solar Cells by Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation

The adoption of local point contacts at the back surface of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells is strategic in order to reduce the recombination losses at the rear side of the device. However, the reduction of the rear-contact surface leads to an increase of series resistance losses. In this paper, we present an extensive analysis based on 3-D optoelectronic numerical device simulations in order to highlight the dependence of the conversion efficiency on the main geometrical and technological parameters of the cell, such as the pitch and the size of the rear point contacts and the substrate resistivity. A state-of-the-art device simulator has been successfully adopted in order to accurately solve the transport equations in the semiconductor by taking into account all the loss mechanisms that are crucial in order to address the design of the cell.
ANODIZED LAYERS ON TITANIUM AND TITANIUM ALLOY ORTHOPEDIC MATERIALS FOR ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT The development of a post operative infection following the implantation of a foreign material, such as a total joint prosthesis, is one of the most feared complications in orthopedic surgery. Prevention of such bacterial infections is best accomplished through the delivery of antibiotics as close to the implant as possible. A novel method has been developed to attach, retain and release antibiotics from titanium based materials. This technique consists of forming porous surface coatings by anodizing and using the surface chemical properties of the oxide coatings to attach antibiotics. Coatings with pores in the size range 0.1 to 10 urn have been formed in acid as well as basic solutions. The thickness, stoichiometry and morphology of the coatings have been characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and electron spectroscopy techniques. The isoelectric point of the coatings has been measured by a streaming potential technique. The attachment and retainment of gentamicin sulfate, a ca.