Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical effectiveness of a critical care nursing outreach service in facilitating discharge from the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND Improved discharge planning and extension of care to the general care unit for patients transferring from intensive care may prevent readmission to the intensive care unit and prolonged hospital stays. Morbidity, mortality, and costs increase in readmitted intensive care patients. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a critical care nursing outreach service in facilitating discharge from the intensive care unit and providing follow-up in general care areas. METHODS A before-and-after study design (with historical controls and a 6-month prospective intervention) was used to ascertain differences in clinical outcomes, length of stay, and cost/benefit. Patients admitted to intensive care units in 3 adult teaching hospitals were recruited. The service centered on follow-up visits by specialist intensive care nurses who reviewed and assessed patients who were to be or had been discharged to general care areas from the intensive care unit. Those nurses also provided education and clinical support to staff in general care areas. RESULTS In total, 1435 patients were discharged during the 6-month prospective period. Length of stay from the time of admission to the intensive care unit to hospital discharge (P = .85), readmissions during the same hospital admission (5.6% vs 5.4%, P = .83), and hospital survival (P = .80) did not differ from before to after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS Although other studies have shown beneficial outcomes in Australia and the United Kingdom, we found no improvement in length of stay after admission to the intensive care unit, readmission rate, or hospital mortality after a critical care nursing outreach service was implemented.
The challenge of hair cell regeneration

Sensory hair cells of the inner ear are responsible for translating auditory or vestibular stimuli into electrical energy that can be perceived by the nervous system. Although hair cells are exquisitely mechanically sensitive, they can be easily damaged by excessive stimulation by ototoxic drugs and by the effects of aging. In mammals, auditory hair cells are never replaced, such that cumulative damage to the ear causes progressive and permanent deafness. In contrast, non-mammalian vertebrates are capable of replacing lost hair cells, which has led to efforts to understand the molecular and cellular basis of regenerative responses in different vertebrate species. In this review, we describe recent progress in understanding the limits to hair cell regeneration in mammals and discuss the obstacles that currently exist for therapeutic approaches to hair cell replacement.
Multi-tier programming

Multi-tier applications are traditionally designed in the style of a client-server architecture, forcing different parts of the system to be split up into separate modules that are targeted for different platforms. Even though the advantages of a modular design are apparent, it is questionable whether choosing a multi-tier architecture for the physical design of an application should also dictate its logical design. Not to forget that the increase in complexity as the result of manually developing a distributed application can raise the occurrence rate of bugs considerably. In this thesis, we provide the basic building blocks for a sequential multi-tier programming language. Such a language would allow programmers to write multi-tier applications in sequential style instead of having to write distributed code manually. Henceforth, the process of modularizing the program code into components targeted for the specific tiers could be handed over to a (semi-)automatic tool. To realize the process mentioned above, this dissertation proposes an approach based on two pillars: firstly, on an algorithm for computing an optimal modularization, and secondly, on a transformation scheme that generates a distributed program with the same semantics as the original sequential program. The first pillar focuses on the theoretical background of a placement inference system. This system automatically assigns a correct placement to a sequential program, characterizing a potential distribution of code. Such a placement is needed as input for the succeeding steps of transformation. Elements of the first pillar are an intermediate language expressing the timing behavior of distributed programs, a constraint-based placement analysis, and a constraint solver determining all valid placements for a program. Through devising a cost model for distributed programs, it is possible to estimate the worst-case runtime behavior of a program with a given placement. Optimal placements are computable by determining placements with minimal worst-case behavior. The second pillar presents a program transformation scheme which, by going through a series of intermediate languages, transforms a sequential program with the support of a placement into a distributed counterpart that uses explicit communication primitives. The intermediate languages are formally defined by operational semantics and static type systems with annotated types. The transformation steps of the scheme are formally specified by either equational rules or translations between two calculi. For onemajor step of the transformation scheme, namely the shift from a message-based to a bidirectional stream-based communication paradigm, the thesis provides a formal correctness result using the bisimulation proof method.
Forecasting Large Datasets with Bayesian Reduced Rank Multivariate Models

The paper addresses the issue of forecasting a large set of variables using multivariate models. In particular, we propose three alternative reduced rank forecasting models and compare their predictive performance for US time series with the most promising existing alternatives, namely, factor models, large scale Bayesian VARs, and multivariate boosting. Specifically, we focus on classical reduced rank regression, a two-step procedure that applies, in turn, shrinkage and reduced rank restrictions, and the reduced rank Bayesian VAR of Geweke (1996). We find that using shrinkage and rank reduction in combination rather than separately improves substantially the accuracy of forecasts, both when the whole set of variables is to be forecast, and for key variables such as industrial production growth, inflation, and the federal funds rate. The robustness of this finding is confirmed by a Monte Carlo experiment based on bootstrapped data. We also provide a consistency result for the reduced rank regression valid when the dimension of the system tends to infinity, which opens the ground to use large scale reduced rank models for empirical analysis.
The influence of systemic diseases on oral health care in older adults.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW Systemic diseases are more common in older adults than in younger people, even among those who are functionally independent. Dentists should understand how these diseases can affect the dental care of their aging patients. The authors review some of the management issues associated with selected systemic diseases common in older adults who are functionally independent. CONCLUSIONS To provide good oral health care, dental professionals must understand the special needs of older people and their ability to undergo and respond to care; they should work closely with the rest of the health care team; and they should be prepared to manage emergencies. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Many older people have a variety of systemic diseases that have an impact on their oral health care. The dentist may need to consult with the patient's physician to develop an appropriate treatment plan.
High-Dose Sirolimus and Immune-Selective Pentostatin plus Cyclophosphamide Conditioning Yields Stable Mixed Chimerism and Insufficient Graft-versus-Tumor Responses

Purpose: We hypothesized that lymphoid-selective host conditioning and subsequent adoptive transfer of sirolimus-resistant allogeneic T cells (T-Rapa), when combined with high-dose sirolimus drug therapy in vivo, would safely achieve antitumor effects while avoiding GVHD. Experimental Design: Patients (n = 10) with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were accrued because this disease is relatively refractory to high-dose conditioning yet may respond to high-dose sirolimus. A 21-day outpatient regimen of weekly pentostatin (P; 4 mg/m2/dose) combined with daily, dose-adjusted cyclophosphamide (C; ≤200 mg/d) was designed to deplete and suppress host T cells. After PC conditioning, patients received matched sibling, T-cell–replete peripheral blood stem cell allografts, and high-dose sirolimus (serum trough target, 20–30 ng/mL). To augment graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effects, multiple T-Rapa donor lymphocyte infusions (DLI) were administered (days 0, 14, and 45 posttransplant), and sirolimus was discontinued early (day 60 posttransplant). Results: PC conditioning depleted host T cells without neutropenia or infection and facilitated donor engraftment (10 of 10 cases). High-dose sirolimus therapy inhibited multiple T-Rapa DLI, as evidenced by stable mixed donor/host chimerism. No antitumor responses were detected by RECIST criteria and no significant classical acute GVHD was observed. Conclusions: Immune-selective PC conditioning represents a new approach to safely achieve alloengraftment without neutropenia. However, allogeneic T cells generated ex vivo in sirolimus are not resistant to the tolerance-inducing effects of in vivo sirolimus drug therapy, thereby cautioning against use of this intervention in patients with refractory cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 21(19); 4312–20. ©2015 AACR.
Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells Have Neurovascular Tropism and Improve Diabetic Neuropathy

Bone marrow‐derived mononuclear cells (BMNCs) have been shown to effectively treat ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Because diabetic neuropathy (DN) is causally associated with impaired angiogenesis and deficiency of angiogenic and neurotrophic factors in the nerves, we investigated whether DN can be ameliorated by local injection of BMNCs. Severe peripheral neuropathy, characterized by a significant decrease in the motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities (NCVs), developed 12 weeks after the induction of diabetes with streptozotocin in rats. The injection of BMNCs restored motor and sensory NCVs to normal levels and significantly improved vascular density and blood flow in diabetic nerves over 4 weeks. Fluorescent microscopic observation revealed that DiI‐labeled BMNCs preferentially engrafted in sciatic nerves. Whole‐mount fluorescent imaging and confocal microscopic evaluation demonstrated that many of the BMNCs localized following the course of the vasa nervorum in close proximity to blood vessels without incorporation into vasa nervorum as endothelial cells at a detectable level. Real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that the levels of angiogenic and neurotrophic factors were significantly increased in the nerves by BMNC injection. Local transplantation of BMNCs improved experimental DN by augmenting angiogenesis and increasing angiogenic and neurotrophic factors in peripheral nerves. These findings suggest that BMNC transplantation may represent a novel therapeutic option for treating DN. STEM CELLS 2009;27:1686–1696
MIMO-Based Vehicle Positioning System for Vehicular Networks

Accurate vehicle positioning is very important factor in many safety applications of vehicle Ad-Hoc networks (VANETs). Two approaches for vehicle positioning have been studied in the literature: global positioning system (GPS) and cooperative positioning system. In this paper we propose MIMO-based vehicle positioning system (MVPS) for vehicular networks. MVPS exploits the spatial channels of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system. Antenna elements of MIMO system are embodied in proper positions around the vehicle’s body. Because of the space separation between antennas elements, signals concurrently transmitted from multiple transmit antennas can easily be separated using their unique fading characteristics. By estimating the distance from each antenna of the transmitting vehicle to each antenna of the receiving vehicle, we can proximate vehicle’s position and driving direction. To evaluate the accuracy of MVPS using OPNET Modular we create a simulation model that includes all the vehicular network details for urban area. Comparing the estimated vehicle positioning, obtained from the simulation, to the exact vehicle position, MVPS achieves very high positioning accuracy.
Sorting biotechnology applications: Results of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis

When people respond to questionnaires, they may construct preferences using various sources of information available, even questions within the questionnaire. An experimental approach with a representative sample of the Swiss population was applied to investigate how stable attitudes towards biotechnology are and which criteria people use spontaneously to evaluate and categorise biotechnology applications providing as little information as possible. A free card-sorting task using risk as a criterion versus not imposing a criterion was applied. Data were analysed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and were represented in a cognitive map. Results of our experimental manipulation suggest that people’s preferences for biotechnology applications are relatively stable. Different sorting instructions did not result in different cognitive maps. Results suggest, therefore, that participants’ evaluations are not strongly influenced by criteria used in a questionnaire. The descriptions of the applications seem to be more crucial.
Effects of Chelators (Deferoxamine, Deferiprone and Deferasirox) on the Growth of Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Aeromonas Hydrophila Isolated from Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia Patients

Infections are among the leading causes of death for thalassemia major patients. The known predisposing factors of infection include prior splenectomy, iron overload and use of iron chelator such as deferoxamine (DFO). While encapsulated organisms frequently found in splenectomized patients were readily controlled by prophylactic vaccination and vigilant antibiotic treatment, ferrophilic organisms such as Yersinia and Klebsiella remain common pathogens in thalassemic patients. Yersinia infections are more prevalent in temperate regions and Klebsiella infections are commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas. While the use of DFO further aggravates the risk of Yersinia infection, oral chelators such as deferiprone (L1) do not enhance the growth of Yersinia in vitro or in vivo. We found that the growth of Klebsiella was marginally enhanced by DFO in vitro when compared to Yersinia. Such an unfavorable effect was not found in either L1 or deferasirox (DFRA) in vitro. The growth of Aeromonas was not affected by the presence of all three forms of chelators. Therefore, we suggest that factors other than DFO may account for the increased prevalence of Klebsiella and Aeromonas infection in Asian thalassemic patients.
Functional Collaboration between Different Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors Suppresses Tumor Growth with Distinct Tissue Specificity

ABSTRACT The presence of two families of seven distinct mammalian cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor genes is thought to mediate the complexity of connecting a variety of cellular processes to the cell cycle control pathway. The distinct pattern of tissue expression of CDK inhibitor genes suggests that they may function as tumor suppressors with different tissue specificities. To test this hypothesis, we have characterized two strains of double mutant mice lacking either p18INK4c and p27KIP1 or p18INK4cand p21CIP1/WAF1. Loss of both p18 and p27 function resulted in the spontaneous development by 3 months of age of at least eight different types of hyperplastic tissues and/or tumors in the pituitary, adrenals, thyroid, parathyroid, testes, pancreas, duodenum, and stomach. Six of these hyperplastic tissues and tumors were in endocrine organs, and several types of tumors routinely developed within the same animal, a phenotype reminiscent of that seen in combined human multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes. The p18-p21 double null mice, on the other hand, developed pituitary adenomas, multifocal gastric neuroendocrine hyperplasia, and lung bronchioalveolar tumors later in life. G1 CDK2 and CDK4 kinase activities were increased in both normal and neoplastic tissues derived from mice lacking individual CDK inhibitors and were synergistically stimulated by the simultaneous loss of two CDK inhibitors. This indicates that an increase in G1 CDK kinase activity is a critical step during but is not sufficient for tumor growth. Our results suggest that functional collaborations between distinct CDK inhibitor genes are tissue specific and confer yet another level of regulation in cell growth control and tumor suppression.
Fractal Based Space Vector PWM for Three Level Inverter

ABSTRACT: This paper presents a space vector pulse width-modulation technique based on fractal approach for multilevel inverters is presented. Here the properties of fractal structure together with the simplicity of fractal arithmetic are exploited to generate the SVPWM. The proposed method does not use any lookup tables for sector identification. The switching space vectors are also directly determined without using any lookup tables. Simulations are carried out using MATLAB/Simulink for a three level inverter. The proposed scheme can be extended to an n-level inverter, and a generalized algorithm is also presented.
Information and Locus of Control as Factors in the Outcome of Surgery

The present study was aimed at assessing the relationships of locus of control and amount of information patients possess regarding their surgery to several criteria of post-surgical adjustment, utilizing a self-report measure of pain, number of analgesics taken, days in hospital and frequency of complaints. 48 patients about to undergo elective cholecystectomy were evaluated one day prior to surgery and five days subsequent to surgery. The results supported the hypothesis that amount of information was negatively related to outcome especially with respect to pain. There was a correlation of . 38 between information and the subjective and behavioral criteria of pain for internal individuals and of . 39 between information and the subjective measure of pain found for external individuals. The results were discussed relative to their implications for interventions with surgical patients and the training of health personnel.
Effort or Circumstances : Which one matters in health inequality ?

This paper attempts to quantify the contribution of inequalities of opportunities and inequalities due to differences in effort to be in good health to overall health inequality in France. It examines three alternative specifications of legitimate and illegitimate inequalities drawing on Roemer, Barry and Swift‟s considerations of circumstances and effort. The issue at stake is how to treat the correlation between circumstances and effort. Using a representative French health survey undertaken in 2006 and partly designed for this purpose, and the natural decomposition of the variance, the contribution of circumstances to inequalities in health ranges between 44.5% and up to 46.4% according to the scenario, whereas the contribution of efforts is not beyond 10%. The remaining part is due to the impact of age and sex.
Post Operative Surveillance of Human Hydatidosis: Evaluation of Immunodiagnostic Tests

Summary We investigated the kinetics of antibodies detected by indirect hemagglutination (IHA), IgE Elisa and immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) in patients with hydatid disease operated on and continuously followed in the pre‐operative and post‐operative periods. In the pre‐operative phase the IgE Elisa test was found to be adequately sensitive (68.4%) compared with IHA (79%), with a ratio of IgE Elisa/IHA positivity of 87%, while IEP was positive in 55.3% of cases (IEP/IHA ratio = 70%). During post‐operative follow‐up IHA became negative late in patients who were cured (7 out of 11 were still positive after 4 yrs), whereas IEP and IgE Elisa became negative within 2 yrs of operation (apart from 1 patient with a persisting positive IgE Elisa 3 yrs later). However, IgE Elisa appeared clearly more sensitive in revealing postoperative recurrences (13 out of 13 patients had positive IgE Elisa, vs. 6 out of 13 IEP).
Passivity based trajectory tracking control with predefined local linear error dynamics

In this contribution a new systematic approach is presented to achieve desired local linear error dynamics for trajectory tracking of a nonlinear plant, where passivity based control by interconnection and damping assignment (IDA-PBC) is used to stabilize the error dynamics. Especially in the tracking case the solvability of the matching PDEs may restrict a state-independent dissipation matrix for the resulting time-varying port-Hamiltonian (pH) closed loop system to be singular. This in turn may impede to prove stability with the closed loop energy as a time-varying Lyapunov function. As a consequence an extension of the approach of local linear dynamics assignment for the resulting pH system, which has been introduced in a previous paper, is proposed. A factorization of the state- and time-dependent design matrix can ensure complete damping of the closed loop system, while the principal part of the matching PDEs remains state-independent to simplify the solvability conditions and the solution itself. The application of the approach is presented with the magnetic levitation experiment, including the estimation and optimization of the domain of attraction.
Averaged-Switch Modeling of Fourth-Order PWM DC–DC Converters Considering Conduction Losses in Discontinuous Mode

This manuscript addresses dynamic average-value modeling for fourth-order pulse-width modulation (PWM) DC-DC converters in discontinuous capacitor-voltage mode. Although significant literature is devoted to analysis of the inductor-based switching stage of second-order DC-DC converters in discontinuous current mode, much less has been published regarding the discontinuous voltage mode in the capacitor-based switching stage in fourth-order converters. Accurate average-value models are further complicated by the presence of non-ideality in the switching stage components. This manuscript presents a full-order average-value model for the capacitor-based switching stage, taking into account conduction losses according to the energy conservation principle. The proposed model is validated with a hardware prototype and detailed simulation and is shown to accurately predict large-signal time-domain transients as well as small-signal frequency-domain characteristics.