Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mortality Pr ediction using Time Series Motifs

In this paper, we explore the application of motif discovery (i.e., the discovery of short characteristic patterns in a time series) to the clinical challenge of predicting intensive care unit (ICU) mortality. As part of the Physionet/CinC 2012 challenge, we present an approach that identifies and integrates information in motifs that are statistically overor under-represented in ICU time series of patients experiencing in-hospital mortality. This is done through a three step process, where ICU time series are first discretized into sequences of symbols (by segmenting and partitioning them into periods of low, medium and high measurements); the resulting sequences of symbols are then searched for short subsequences that are associated with in-hospital mortality; and the information in many such clinically useful subsequences is integrated into models that can assess new patients. When evaluated on data from the Physionet/CinC 2012 challenge, our approach outperformed existing clinical scoring systems such as SAPSII, APACHEII and SOFA, with an event 1 score of 0.46 and an event 2 score of 56.45 on the final test set.
9.7 An LTE SAW-less transmitter using 33% duty-cycle LO signals for harmonic suppression

With limited frequency allocation in the radio spectrum, spectral efficiency has always been the core development of communication systems. To accommodate the increase in demand for wireless data services, RF systems have been challenged to provide better in-channel SNR (EVM) and lower out-of-channel emission. As performance requirements become more stringent, second-order RF circuit impairments, that were previously insignificant, have become major design considerations. One example is the Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) [1]. Compared with previous generations, channel bandwidth has been expanded to 9MHz in most of the sub-GHz bands and 18MHz in the GHz bands. For spectral efficiency, the TX OFDM subcarriers are grouped into Resource Blocks (RBs) that can be dynamically allocated within the channel bandwidth. Noise and spurious emission requirements have become more challenging in the sub-GHz bands, so that Counter 3d-order Intermodulation products (CIM3) has been recognized as an important design parameter [2-4] for LTE RF systems. CIM3 is the result of the lower 3d-order intermodulation (IM3) product of signals at around 1×LO and 3×LO by using mixers with 25% or 50% duty-cycle LO. If an fBB tone is being fed to the TX baseband input, after the mixer and the RF amplifier, the TX RF output will produce the desired signal tone at fLO+fBB and an unwanted CIM3 tone at fL0-3fBB [3]. The adverse effects of CIM3 are shown in Fig. 9.7. 1, using LTE Band 13 as an illustration. Band 13 has User-Equipment (UE) TX band from 777 to 787MHz, and RX band at -31 MHz away from TX. Extreme cases of full RB and single RB are considered. At full RBs, modulated CIM3 has a bandwidth three times the desired signal, and it folds directly into the TX channel, degrading the TX EVM and the 1st ACLR (E-UTRA). Furthermore, the ACLR of bandwidth-expanded CIM3 falls into the RX band causing desensitization. When single RB is transmitted, the CIM3 may fall into the restricted bands and violate the spectral emission requirement. Consider the Public Safety Band, where the LTE standard dictates that the emission from 769 to 775MHz has to be less than -57dBm/6.25KHz [1]. If the output power at the antenna is +23dBm and only single RB is being transmitted, the power density is 23dBm/180kHz. Normalizing to power density from 180KHz to 6.25KHz, the power density is 8.4dBm/6.25KHz, resulting in a CIM3 requirement of -65.4dB/6.25KHz. This is challenging for linearity, and also for noise requirement in the case of a SAW-less system. CIM3 suppression techniques such as harmonic rejection and power mixing have been proposed [2-5], but these techniques require extra calibrations and/or off-chip filtering components, which will be described in later paragraphs. This work presents a CIM3 suppression technique by removing the undesired 3rd-harmonic component in the LO signal through LO duty-cycle selection. With this direct root-cause elimination method, the TX meets CIM3 and RX band noise requirements for SAW-less LTE RF systems over process and temperature without calibration and off-chip filtering.
Towards bootstrapping trust in D2D using PGP and reputation mechanism

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication has emerged as a new technology, which minimizes data transmission in radio access networks by leveraging direct interaction between nearby mobile devices. D2D communication has a great potential in solving the capacity bottleneck problem of cellular networks by offloading cellular traffic of proximity-based applications to D2D links. This provides several benefits including, but are not limited to, lower transfer delays, higher data rates, and better energy efficiency. However, security in D2D communication, which is equally essential for the success of D2D communication in future networks, is a less investigated topic in literature. In this paper, we propose the combination of the PGP and reputation-based model to bootstrap trust in D2D environments. Our proposal aims at minimizing any suspicious connection with selfish users. Offloading cellular traffic to trusted D2D links provides significant throughput gain over the conventional cellular network. Our results show that the capacity gain can be as high as 133%.
Analysis of FDA Approved Anticancer Drugs Reveals the Future of Cancer Therapy

This review discusses 26 new anticancer drugs approved by the FDA in the past decade. Based on their targets, these anticancer agents can be divided into three groups. First group contains cancer-selective or semi-selective drugs that are effective in rare kinase-addictive cancers. For other malignancies, semi-selective drugs have to be judiciously combined with non-selective agents. The second group includes analogs of classic cytotoxic agents such as DNA alkylating agents, nucleoside analogs, and anti-microtubule agents. As expected, they have a marginal advantage over the existing cytotoxic drugs, nevertheless are more effective (in common cancers) than semi-selective agents. The third is a diverse group of tissue-selective agents that essentially attack the normal tissues of tumor origin and thus, exploit the tissue-specific similarities between normal and cancer cells. Our analysis predicts that monotherapy with semi-selective agents will be limited to rare cancers. In most cancers however, two anticancer strategies may be most fruitful: (a) combinations of cytotoxic drugs with semi-selective agents aimed at matching targets and (b) tissue-selective therapy aimed at normal and tumor cells of the same tissues.
Left Main PCI, Still a Main Issue

In this issue of journal, we have an observational study on left main PCI, a hot debate in interventional cardiology field (1). They reported that MACCE rate of 22% in one year follow-up seems to be pretty high. Several flaws make the interpretation of the results difficult. First and foremost, how could you mix protected and unprotected LM stenting together? Most of the unprotected ones didn’t have a better option, but protected LM stenting should be compared with other options: the good old CABGs. As far as I’m concerned, most of unprotected LM PCIs were done because of LM dissection or emergent conditions which make the results even more complicated. Using so many bare metal stents in this significant place again shows the emergency situation of the condition which was not stated. One year follow-up is not enough but still the MACCE rate is high. I mean if we had longer follow-up, higher figures where expected (2-4). Considering descriptive type of the study and mixing so many different types of patient subgroups which are actually completely different (protected and unprotected, emergent & elective, BMS & DES) makes the results uniterpretable. Using BMS in LM is not ethical in elective cases and I think they have used them in emergency situations. This further implies the inability to compare results (5, 6). Protected LM (includes most cases which is completely another issue and putting it together with unprotected cases is mixing two mutually exclusive issues). Although LM atherosclerosis seems to be responsive to risk factor modification and more or less under influence of the same factors as other vessels are, it has some different characteristics (7). The main difference is the presence of a large side branch (if we could call Left circumflex a side branch! ) which makes the most interventions on LM, a bifurcation lesion. As most of bifurcations happens, ostium of circumflex shows the highest rate of restenosis unless you use two stents which makes the procedure cumbersome (8, 9). In the end, I would like to stick to the latest RCTs and do recommend PCI for low risk anatomy with good SYNTAX score and surgery for the others.
On the association between variables with lower detection limits

In this paper, we define a modified version τb of Kendall's tau to measure the association in a pair (X,Y ) of random variables subject to fixed left censoring due to known lower detection limits. We provide a nonparametric estimator of τb and investigate its asymptotic properties. We then assume an Archimedean copula for (X,Y ) and express τb in terms of the copula parameter α and the censoring fractions. We deduce estimators for α and for the global Kendall's tau. We develop a goodness‐of‐fit test for the assumed copula. We evaluate the finite‐sample performance of the proposed methods by simulations and illustrate their use with a real data set on plasma and saliva viral loads. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sensitivity of MRI resonance frequency to the orientation of brain tissue microstructure

Recent advances in high-field (≥7 T) MRI have made it possible to study the fine structure of the human brain at the level of fiber bundles and cortical layers. In particular, techniques aimed at detecting MRI resonance frequency shifts originating from local variation in magnetic susceptibility and other sources have greatly improved the visualization of these structures. A recent theoretical study [He X, Yablonskiy DA (2009) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:13558–13563] suggests that MRI resonance frequency may report not only on tissue composition, but also on microscopic compartmentalization of susceptibility inclusions and their orientation relative to the magnetic field. The proposed sensitivity to tissue structure may greatly expand the information available with conventional MRI techniques. To investigate this possibility, we studied postmortem tissue samples from human corpus callosum with an experimental design that allowed separation of microstructural effects from confounding macrostructural effects. The results show that MRI resonance frequency does depend on microstructural orientation. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the resonance frequency shift suggests an origin related to anisotropic susceptibility effects rather than microscopic compartmentalization. This anisotropy, which has been shown to depend on molecular ordering, may provide valuable information about tissue molecular structure.
Factores determinantes de la lealtad en el comercio electrónico B2C: aplicación a la compra de billetes de avión

Este trabajo analiza la influencia del riesgo percibido, satisfaccion y confianza como determinantes de la lealtad hacia la compra de productos turisticos. El contraste de hipotesis se realiza con una muestra de 305 compradores online de billetes de avion. Los resultados indican que la satisfaccion, la confianza y el riesgo influyen directamente sobre la lealtad hacia un sitio web de compra de billetes de avion. La facilidad de uso tambien resulta ser una variable relevante, ya que ejerce una influencia directa sobre la confianza y el riesgo, e indirecta en la satisfaccion a traves de la utilidad percibida.
Keeping the Dream Alive: A History of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from King to the Nineteen-Eighties

Contents: A history of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference from its inception in the Montgomery bus boycott movement through the King years and the post-1968 period - The organization as well as the nonviolent movement are covered. (Origins of SCLC - King and his social-theological dream. Transition from King to Abernathy & Lowery - Major campaigns before and after 1968 - SCLC and contemporary America - SCLC and world issues - such as apartheid, peace, etc.)
Molecular Imaging of Cancer with Nanoparticle-Based Theranostic Probes

Although advancements in medical technology supporting cancer diagnosis and treatment have improved survival, these technologies still have limitations. Recently, the application of noninvasive imaging for cancer diagnosis and therapy has become an indispensable component in clinical practice. However, current imaging contrasts and tracers, which are in widespread clinical use, have their intrinsic limitations and disadvantages. Nanotechnologies, which have improved in vivo detection and enhanced targeting efficiency for cancer, may overcome some of the limitations of cancer diagnosis and therapy. Theranostic nanoparticles have great potential as a therapeutic model, which possesses the ability of their nanoplatforms to load targeted molecule for both imaging and therapeutic functions. The resulting nanosystem will likely be critical with the growth of personalized medicine because of their diagnostic potential, effectiveness as a drug delivery vehicle, and ability to oversee patient response to therapy. In this review, we discuss the achievements of modern nanoparticles with the goal of accurate tumor imaging and effective treatment and discuss the future prospects.
Sorting of GPI-anchored proteins from yeast to mammals – common pathways at different sites?

ABSTRACT Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) are luminal secretory cargos that are attached by a post-translational glycolipid modification, the GPI anchor, to the external leaflet of the plasma membrane. GPI-APs are conserved among eukaryotes and possess many diverse and vital functions for which the GPI membrane attachment appears to be essential. The presence of the GPI anchor and its subsequent modifications along the secretory pathway confer to the anchored proteins unique trafficking properties that make GPI-APs an exceptional system to study mechanisms of sorting. In this Commentary, we discuss the recent advances in the field of GPI-AP sorting focusing on the mechanisms operating at the level of the exit from the ER and from the trans-Golgi network (TGN), which take place, respectively, in yeast and in polarized mammalian cells. By considering the similarities and differences between these two sorting events, we present unifying principles that appear to work at different sorting stations and in different organisms.
Race is not a predictor of prostate cancer detection on repeat prostate biopsy.

PURPOSE We evaluated men undergoing repeat prostate biopsies for persistently increased serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels to determine if race was a predictor of cancer detection. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between July 1995 and June 2002, 401 men had undergone 2 or more transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsies at our institutions. Clinical information was gathered using our prostate biopsy database and retrospectively reviewed. Race, age, serum PSA, PSA velocity, total number of biopsies performed, total number of previous negative cores and the presence of high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) on prior biopsy were evaluated to determine if they were predictors of subsequent cancer detection. Multivariate analysis was performed using a time dependent covariate Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS Of the 401 men undergoing repeat prostate biopsy, 91 (22.7%) were diagnosed with prostate cancer. In total there were 180 (44.9%) black men and 221 (55.1%) white men. Cancer was diagnosed in 49 black men (27.2%) and 42 white men (19.0%, p = 0.06). On multivariate analysis serum PSA, HGPIN, ASAP and PSA velocity were predictors of prostate cancer detection (p = 0.006, <0.0001, 0.001 and 0.0004, respectively). Race was not found to be a predictor of prostate cancer detection on repeat prostate biopsy (p = 0.16). In the evaluation of clinical data for racial differences, black men had a significantly higher incidence of HGPIN on prior biopsy compared to white men (p = 0.02). Serum PSA, PSA velocity, presence of ASAP on prior biopsy, age, number of biopsies performed and number of previous negative cores were not statistically different between black and white men. CONCLUSIONS Race is not a predictor of prostate cancer detection in men undergoing repeat prostate biopsies. With the exception of HGPIN, all other clinical parameters were similar between black and white men. Serum PSA, PSA velocity, HGPIN and ASAP were found to be significant predictors of subsequent prostate cancer detection.
Naloxone as part of a prolonged release oxycodone/naloxone combination reduces oxycodone-induced slowing of gastrointestinal transit in healthy volunteers

Objectives: This exploratory study in healthy volunteers investigated the effect of single doses of oxycodone on gastrointestinal (GI) transit time and the degree to which a single dose of naloxone reverses the oxycodone-induced effect. Methods: Fifteen healthy male volunteers received: oxycodone 10 and 20 mg, oxycodone/naloxone 10/5 and 20/10 mg (all as prolonged release tablets) and placebo. Each dose was radiolabelled and administered with a capsule containing radiolabelled resin (surrogate for GI contents). Results: Scintigraphic analysis showed that 20 mg oxycodone significantly increased colon arrival time (mean 7.19 vs 5.15 h for placebo, p = 0.0159). Mean colon arrival time for oxycodone/naloxone 20/10 mg (5.16 h) was similar to placebo, although the difference between oxycodone/naloxone 20/10 mg versus oxycodone 20 mg was not significant (p = 0.0653). Colonic geometric centre analysis showed a significant increase in mean time for the resin to reach the colon following oxycodone 10 and 20 mg compared with placebo (increases of 5.3 and 8.8 h). There was no significant effect of naloxone at the lower dose; however, oxycodone/naloxone 20/10 mg significantly reduced mean colonic transit time by 2.1 h (p = 0.0376). Conclusion: A single dose of oxycodone 20 mg significantly prolonged GI transit time but this effect was reduced by co-administration of naloxone.
Airway mucosal blood flow in bronchial asthma.

As an inflammatory airway disease, asthma is expected to be associated with an increase in airway blood flow. We therefore compared airway mucosal blood flow (Qaw) among normal subjects (n = 11) and patients with stable asthma receiving (n = 13) or not receiving (n = 10) long-term inhaled glucocorticosteroid (GS) therapy. Qaw was calculated from the uptake of dimethyl ether in the anatomic dead space minus the most proximal 50 ml (DS), and expressed as blood flow per ml DS. Mean (+/- SE) Qaw was 38.5 +/- 5. 3 microl . min-1 . ml-1 in normals, 68.2 +/- 7.9 microl . min-1 . ml-1 in GS-naive asthmatics (p < 0.01), and 55.4 +/- 5.3 microl . min-1 . ml-1 in GS-treated asthmatics (p < 0.05). Ten minutes after administration of 180 microg albuterol by metered dose inhaler, mean Qaw increased by 83 +/- 26% in normal subjects (p < 0.01), but did not change significantly in GS-naive (+5 +/- 8%) or GS-treated (+32 +/- 15%) asthmatics. These results demonstrate that Qaw is increased in stable asthmatics and resistant to further increase by a standard inhaled dose of a beta-adrenergic agonist.
Semi-guided bilateral filter

The bilateral filter (BF) is a non-linear filter that spatially smooths images with awareness of large structures such as edges. The level of smoothness applied to a pixel is constrained by a photometric weight, which can be obtained from the same image to be filtered (in case of the original BF) or from a guided image (in case of the joint/cross BF). In this study, the authors propose a new filter called the semi-guided BF which is derived from solving a non-linear constraint least square problem. The proposed filter's photometric weight incorporates information from the image to be filtered and the guided image. They propose a fast implementation of the filter based on layer approximation. They also study the iterative application of the proposed filter and show that the filter can preserve large structures while smoothing out small structures. This makes the proposed filter an efficient and effective tool for structure-aware image smoothing. Experimental results have demonstrated that performance of the proposed filter is comparable to those of the state-of-the-art algorithms.
Validation Study of the Three-Objects-Three-Places Test: A Screening Test for Alzheimer's Disease

The aim of the present study was to validate a short, ecological test of episodic memory for the screening of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The validation was performed by computing intrarater reliability, homogeneity, internal coherence, convergent, discriminant and known group validities in the performance of normal subjects (N = 65), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients (N = 114), and AD (N = 44) and non-AD demented (N = 39) patients. Intrarater reliability was 0.88, homogeneity ranged from 0.81 to 0.97, and internal coherence was 0.87. With respect to convergent and discriminant validities, the test loaded strongly on memory factor (value = 0.64) and weakly on other nonmemory factors. The known group validity showed a specificity between 87% and 91% and a sensitivity between 92% and 100% in correctly identifying AD in age classes ranging from 50 to 65 and 66 to 80 years. The test is a valid instrument for the screening of AD.
[Variable rates of diseases in health survey and family practitioners' registries].

OBJECTIVE To compare the data from the health survey of the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS: about episodes of chronic diseases experienced by those questioned) and from general practice registration projects (regarding episodes of care). DESIGN Descriptive. SETTING Department of General Practice, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. METHOD Frequency figures from the CBS health survey regarding chronic diseases for 1992 were compared with data from three large continuous general practice registration projects: the Amsterdam Transition Project, the Nijmegen Continuous Morbidity Registration and the fourth British National Morbidity Study. From the Transition Project not only one-year data were used but also data referring to a four-year period (1989/'93). RESULTS Incidence and prevalence figures concerning illness and care were in good agreement regarding cardiovascular diseases, uterine prolapse, diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, epilepsy and cancer. The health survey had higher frequencies than the GP registration for respiratory disorders, hypertension (both mostly in the age group 25-44 years) gastrointestinal disorders, articular disorders and migraine. With regard to a number of diseases, the four-year registration was in better agreement with the health survey than the one-year registration (e.g. joint disorders): with other disorders the reverse was true (e.g. stroke). CONCLUSION There were similarities as well as differences between the frequencies from the health survey and the general practice registration projects. Regarding a number of these differences interpretation was possible by using not only one-year data from the GP practice but also data concerning a longer period (4 years) and by comparing the information for different age groups.