Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disseminated intravascular coagulation: old disease, new hope

Disseminated intravascular coagulation has long been associated with increased mortality in patients with sepsis. An effective treatment is now available, and the authors of this review describe how improved understanding and earlier diagnosis could lead to targeted treatment and improved prognosis Although the first clinical observations on disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) were reported in the 19th century,1 this condition of widespread and disordered coagulation has probably afflicted mankind for as long as trauma and infection have beset us. Indeed, DIC is generally associated with an adverse outcome by most clinicians, and its acronym has been synonymous with “death is coming. ” However, a drug targeted at the coagulopathy of severe sepsis (activated protein C) has now emerged as the first successful treatment for the condition.2 We provide an updated overview of DIC and how its onset may indicate the turning point from which an adaptive response becomes maladaptive and potentially injurious to the host. Precise laboratory definition of this process could provide a therapeutic window in critical illness that may finally deliver an improved outcome. A systematic search of PubMed with the search term “disseminated intravascular coagulation” and related keywords yielded 10 262 publications, most of which related to pathophysiology and case reports. Owing to a lack of systematic controlled clinical trials, many recommendations are based on expert opinion and consensus driven guidelines rather than a secure evidence base. However, an increasing number of randomised controlled trials studying the diagnosis and management of DIC have been reported in the past five years, and we have incorporated these in the review. DIC represents a continuum in clinical-pathological severity, characterised by the increasing loss of localisation or compensated control in intravascular activation of coagulation. It has definable phases that characterise patients at risk for increased mortality. The International Society of Thrombosis …
The Impact of Chip Duty Factor on DS-UWB System Over Multipath Environment in the Presence of Narrowband Interference

In this paper, we investigate the impact of chip duty factor (DF) on direct sequence (DS) ultra wideband (UWB) system with Rake receiver over multipath and multiuser environment in the presence of narrowband interference. By employing DS-UWB signals with varying DF, the system performance corresponding to different parameters such as data rate, signal to interference ratio (SIR), signal to noise ratio (SNR) and number of interfering users are investigated. We found that by using signals with lower DF, system performance can be improved without compromising processing gain and data rate. Additionally, interference mitigation of low DF signal is more effective in high SIR environment. We also discovered an optimum data rate where the relative best system performance can be obtained
Advances in bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic respiratory condition primarily affecting infants born less than 28 weeks gestational age. BPD and the diagnostic criteria that define it have evolved since the initial description of the disease more than four decades ago. BPD is one of the most common and serious complications of extreme premature birth. Despite advances in neonatal care and continued research into therapeutic strategies the incidence of BPD remains unchanged. Pharmacologic approaches to the management of BPD include methylxanthines, corticosteroids, and vitamin A supplementation. Supportive therapies including the increased use of non-invasive ventilation and careful oxygen delivery strive to reduce injury inflicted on the developing lung. Stem cell-based therapies are a new investigational strategy showing promise for the prevention or treatment of BPD. The goal of this review is to highlight the evolution of BPD and review current and potential future therapeutic strategies for BPD.
Nonvolatile resistive switching memory based on amorphous carbon

Resistive memory effect has been found in carbon nanostructure-based devices by Standley et al. [Nano Lett. 8, 3345 (2008)]. Compared to nanostructures, hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) has much more controllable preparation processes. Study on a-C:H-based memory is of great significance to applications of carbon-based electronic devices. We observed nonvolatile resistance memory behaviors in metal/a-C:H/Pt structures with device yield 90%, ON/OFF ratio >100, and retention time >105 s. Detailed analysis indicates that the resistive switching originates from the formation/rupture of metal filaments due to the diffusion of the top electrodes under a bias voltage.
Comparison of security protocols in mobile wireless environments: tradeoffs between level of security obtained and battery life

As the popularity of wireless networks increases, so does the need to protect them. In recent years, many researchers have studied the limitations of the security mechanisms that protect wireless networks, as well as the effects of network traffic on the battery life. However, there has been less research on the effect of adding security mechanisms to mobile devices and their impact on energy usage. This is a particularly important area when one considers classes of attacks where an attacker can drain a device's battery by simply having it repeatedly execute energy intensive programs. In this manuscript, we examine a method for analyzing trade-offs between energy and security proposed by Colo/spl acute/n Osorio et al. This research describes a method to identify the most appropriate security profile for a given application, given battery constraints. We apply this methodology to the analysis of tradeoffs between energy utilization and security of current and proposed wireless protocols.
Management of urinary tract infections in adults.

Urinary tract infections account for more than 7 million visits to physicians' offices and necessitate or complicate well over 1 million hospital admissions in the United States annually1,2. It is helpful to categorize adult patients with urinary infection into five groups: young women with acute uncomplicated cystitis, young women with recurrent cystitis, young women with acute uncomplicated pyelonephritis, all adults with complicated urinary infection, and all adults with asymptomatic bacteriuria. This review will highlight recent advances in the treatment of patients in each of these categories, emphasizing cost-effective strategies that may be particularly important in the coming era .
AN IRON-OXIDIZING BACTERIUM FROM THE ACID DRAINAGE OF SOME BITUMINOUS COAL MINES

As late as 1945 Starkey called attention to the incompleteness of the information concerning the true autotrophic nature of iron bacteria, and to the confusion existing as to whether any bacteria in iron-bearing waters are concerned directly or indirectly with the precipitation of iron from the waters. The recent critical summary of researches on the iron bacteria by Pringsheim (1949) indicates a continuing interest in this member group of the Chlamydobacteriales, and, as Pringsheim states, "The general interest in iron bacteria is apparently greater than that bestowed upon other biological groups of comparable standing. This may partly be due to the fact that deposits of iron bacteria are readily perceived by the naked eye. " Carpenter and Herndon (1933) investigated the drainage produced by bituminous coal mines on different coal seams. They reported some waters were alkaline or near neutrality, whereas others were very acid, and suggested that the reaction responsible for the production of the acid waters was:
Contingency severity assessment for voltage security using non-parametric regression techniques

This paper proposes a novel approach to power system voltage security assessment exploiting nonparametric regression techniques to extract simple, and at the same time reliable, models of the severity of a contingency, defined as the difference between pre- and post-contingency load power margins. The regression techniques extract information from large sets of possible operating conditions of a power system screened offline via massive random sampling, whose voltage security with respect to contingencies is pre-analyzed using an efficient voltage stability simulation. In particular, regression trees are used to identify the most salient parameters of the pre-contingency topology and electrical state which influence the severity of a given contingency, and to provide a first guess transparent approximation of the contingency severity in terms of these latter parameters. Multilayer perceptrons are exploited to further refine this information. The approach is demonstrated on a realistic model of a large scale voltage stability limited power system, where it shows to provide valuable physical insight and reliable contingency evaluation. Various potential uses in power system planning and operation are discussed.
Cardiac resynchronization therapy guided by tissue Doppler.

The aim of this study was to observe the effect of tissue Doppler on cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). CRT was guided by tissue Doppler. Patients with CHF were studied by using tissue Doppler before and after resynchronization. The target vein was determined according to the latest systolic area identified via pre-implant tissue Doppler. After implantation, atrioventricular and interventricular intervals were optimized with the aid of tissue Doppler. Six months after CRT, a significant reduction in left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (6.89 ± 0.38 cm versus 6.45 ± 0.79 cm) and a significant increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (29% ± 2.19% versus 44.8% ± 8.47%) were observed. Simultaneously, intra-ventricular and inter-ventricular asynchrony indexes were significantly reduced. CRT guided by tissue Doppler can result in beneficial therapeutic effects.
Inhibition of collagenase activity by N-chlorotaurine, a product of activated neutrophils.

OBJECTIVE To study the effects of N-chlorotaurine on collagenase activity, as a model of the effects of neutrophil activation in inflammatory arthritis. METHODS Collagen degradation by collagenase was measured by the release of acid-soluble counts from 3H-collagen. RESULTS N-chlorotaurine inhibited the degradation of collagen by bacterial collagenase. This result is explained by a direct inhibition/inactivation of collagenase, since N-chlorotaurine had no effect on the proteolytic susceptibility of collagen itself. The effect appears to be specific to N-chlorotaurine since N-chloroalanine, N-chloroleucine, and HOCl/OCl- failed to inhibit collagenase; in fact, N-chloroalanine and N-chloroleucine actually increased the proteolytic susceptibility of collagen. CONCLUSION N-chlorotaurine may minimize damage to cartilaginous joint structures in inflammatory arthritis by inhibiting/inactivating collagenase.
UK dietary exposure to BSE in beef mechanically recovered meat: by birth cohort and gender.

BACKGROUND Meat recovered mechanically from bovine vertebral columns for use in burgers, sausages and other meat products may have been contaminated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from recovered spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG). We quantified UK exposure to BSE in beef mechanically recovered meat (MRM) by birth cohort (born pre-1940, in 1940-1969, post-1969), gender and calendar period (1980-1989, 1990-1996) because information on any two of BSE exposure intensity, vCJD incubation period and the new cases of vCJD tells us about the third. METHODS Synthesis of evidence on BSE epidemiology, MRM production, infectivity in spinal cord and DRG, and UK dietary consumption. FINDINGS Production of beef MRM peaked at 5000 tonnes in 1987, was nil in 1989 but recovered to 2000 tonnes in 1995 when it ceased altogether; reportedly 90% was used in burgers. Mean weight of spinal cord recovered per carcass was 3.3 g (95% credible interval 0.24-12.02 g) before the specified bovine offal (SBO) legislation and 1.5 g (0.02-8.30 g) after the legislation; whereas recovered weight of DRG (as infectious as spinal cord) was 27 g. Recovery of spinal cord from 1-year pre-clinical bovines peaked in 1988 at 238 g and of DRG in 1993 at 4250 g (medians). Median infectivity (5th and 95th percentiles) consumed in beef MRM was 33 250 (30 550-35 950), 65 600 (60 250-71 050) and 14 350 (13 150-15 600) bovine oral (Bo) ID50 units for the post-1969, 1940-1969 and pre-1940 birth cohorts in 1980-1989; and 44 250 (41 300-47 350), 39 600 (37 100-42,400) and 8750 (8100-9350) Bo ID50 units in 1990-1996. Males consumed almost 58% of infectivity in both periods. If the worst-case level of infectivity pertained, exposure, instead of halving in 1990-1996, would be sustained at around its 1980-1989 level for the two older birth cohorts and would have doubled in 1990-1996 for the post-1969 birth cohort. INTERPRETATION SBO legislation in 1989 contributed only a 6% reduction in the infectivity in beef MRM. Salient sensitivity issues are highlighted.
A high efficient triple-stacked 28VGaAs MMIC power amplifier with bandwidth of 6.5-10.5GHz

We report a triple-stacked GaAs MMIC power amplifier with high supply voltage of 28V and wide bandwidth of 6.5-10.5 GHz. This design possesses high efficiency and high power by using a dynamic bias feedback resistor to prevent the transistor from breakdown. A T-shaped couple resonator is used as the output matching network to achieve the broadband matching. Momentum simulation results show that the PA achieves 23.6-27.6% power-added efficiency (PAE) and 32.9-33.9 dBm saturated output power with chip area of 3.25 $mm^{2}. $
Looking beyond the financial ratios through Data Envelopment Analysis

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric performance evaluation technique, which is widely used in various fields over the past two decades, is used to assess the performance of India's leading bank, i.e. State Bank of India over a period of 10 years. The objective of this paper is to identify the relatively best-performing year based on monetary as well as non-monetary values. Secondary objective is to highlight the impact of various inputs over the output. The study utilizes the DEA method for measuring financial performance and tried to provide a comprehensive and complete picture of organization's performance. From the results, it is observed that the output can be increased by 0.5%, 8.2% and 5.4% with same inputs under different formulated models, i.e. A, B and C respectively. Further, scale efficiency results show that the financial years, i.e. 2005-06 and 2006-07, were the golden time for the bank to expand their banking activities in order to have maximum scale leverage. This study also supports the thumb rule or practice laid over a period of time of having numbers of DMUs twice or thrice greater than the number of variables. In addition, scale efficiency results will assist the State Bank of India to know their best performed year and as well facilitate in identifying their shortcomings and setting targets.
A Revised Optimal Control Pilot Model for Computer Simulation

This paper presents the theoretical development of a revised optimal control pilot model (ROCM) based the modified optimal control model (MOCM) of human operator developed by Davidson and Schmidt. An algorithm designed for easy implantation in current computer simulation and simulator fidelity analysis is presented. Example results based upon the analysis of a tracking task using a basic dynamics system is compared with the results of the ROCM and the results of the MOCM. The pilot frequency responses and root mean square obtained with the ROM are shown to more favorably to the measured experimental results than the MOCM in the pilot's frequency range of interest. The ROCM is not only consonant with the appropriate physical essence of the pilot, but also possess' the advantages of the MOCM.
The Chicken -Globin Gene Promoter Forms a Novel Cinched Tetrahelical Structure (*)

We have previously shown that the G-rich sequence GCG(GGT)GG in the promoter region of the chicken β-globin gene poses a formidable barrier to DNA synthesis in vitro (Woodford et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem. 269, 27029-27035). The K requirement, template-strand specificity, template concentration independence, and involvement of Hoogsteen bonding suggested that the underlying basis of this new type of DNA synthesis arrest site might be an intrastrand tetrahelical structure. However, the arrest site lacks the four G-rich repeats that are a hallmark of previously described intramolecular tetraplexes and contains a number of noncanonical bases that would be expected to greatly destabilize such a structure. Here we report evidence for an unusual K-dependent intrastrand “cinched” tetraplex. This structure has several unique features including the incorporation of bases other than guanine into the stem of the tetraplex, interaction between loop bases and bases in the flanking region, and base pairing between bases 3′ and 5′ of the tetrahelix-forming region to form a molecular “cinch. ” This finding extends the range of sequences capable of tetraplex formation as well as our appreciation of the conformational complexity of the chicken β-globin promoter.
Activity Rhythm of Drosophila Kept in Complete Darkness for 1300 Generations

Locomotor activity rhythms of dark stock flies of Drosophila melanogaster kept in complete darkness for 700 to 1340 generations were examined. The stock was established by the late Prof. S. Mori in November 1954 to investigate long-term effects of darkness on organisms. The activity of flies was recorded under three types of light conditions: DD after LD12:12, and DD after exposure to a 3.5 h (P3) or 7.5 h (P7) light pulse. In all of these conditions, the experimental dark flies exhibited clear circadian rhythms similar to those of control light flies. We compare our results with those of various studies on troglobites.
Analysis of Biological Effects and Signaling Properties of Flt-1 (VEGFR-1) and KDR (VEGFR-2)

Endothelial cells express two related vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases, KDR (kinase-insert domain containing receptor, or VEGFR-2) and Flt-1 (fms-like tyrosine kinase, or VEGFR-1). Although considerable experimental evidence links KDR activation to endothelial cell mitogenesis, there is still significant uncertainty concerning the role of individual VEGF receptors for other biological effects such as vascular permeability. VEGF mutants that bind to either KDR or Flt-1 with high selectivity were used to determine which of the two receptors serves to mediate different VEGF functions. In addition to mediating mitogenic signaling, selective KDR activation was sufficient for the activation of intracellular signaling pathways implicated in cell migration. KDR stimulation caused tyrosine phosphorylation of both phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and phospholipase Cγ in primary endothelial cells and stimulated cell migration. KDR-selective VEGF was also able to induce angiogenesis in the rat cornea to an extent indistinguishable from wild type VEGF. We also demonstrate that KDR, but not Flt-1, stimulation is responsible for the induction of vascular permeability by VEGF.
Effect of azithromycin, as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal treatment, on microbiological parameters and gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers in generalized aggressive periodontitis.

UNLABELLED Emingil G, Han B, Özdemir G, Tervahartiala T, Vural C, Atilla G, Baylas H, Sorsa T. The effect of azithromycin, as an adjunct to nonsurgical periodontal treatment, on microbiological parameters and gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers in generalized aggressive periodontitis. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 729-739. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S Background and Objective: To study the effectiveness of azithromycin in combination with nonsurgical periodontal therapy on clinical and microbiological parameters, and on the MMP-8 and TIMP-1 levels in gingival crevicular fluid, over a 6-mo time-period in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-two patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm study. They were randomly assigned to azithromycin or placebo groups (500 mg once daily for 3 d). Probing depth, clinical attachment levels, presence of bleeding on probing and plaque were recorded. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were obtained from one single-rooted tooth, while microbiological samples were obtained from two single-rooted teeth, all with a probing depth of ≥ 6 mm. Microbiological parameters were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR for Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia and total bacteria. Gingival crevicular fluid biomarkers were determined by immunofluorometric assay and ELISA. RESULTS All clinical parameters improved, and microbiological parameters and gingival crevicular fluid MMP-8 levels significantly decreased, over the 6-mo period (p < 0.05); both groups demonstrated similar improvements. The azithromycin group presented a higher percentage of deep pockets resolved (probing depth reduction of ≥ 3 mm from baseline) compared with the placebo group at 1 mo (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION Adjunctive azithromycin therapy provides no additional benefit over nonsurgical periodontal treatment on clinical parameters, microbiological parameters and gingival crevicular fluid biochemical markers investigated in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis.
The effects of wearing corrective lenses for presbyopia on distance vision

The possibility of patient behaviour concerning the wearing of reading spectacles influencing the magnitude and rate of change in distance vision has been hypothesised but not fully examined. This study examined the changes in distance vision over time of 674 presbyopic patients between the ages of 44 and 69 who came to their eye professional needing reading spectacles. Prior to this study, these patients had never worn spectacles. The majority of patients opted for full‐eye (complete) reading spectacles and 150 patients selected bifocals. It was found that patients wearing complete reading spectacles eventually adapted to wearing their reading spectacles for intermediate or distance work. Through X2, it was found that there were significant differences in the reduction of distance visual acuity between groups based on the amount of time spent wearing reading spectacles for intermediate or distance work. The greater the number of hours spent wearing reading spectacles and viewing beyond their focal point, the greater the change in distance visual acuity. It also appeared to affect the degree of change in their prescription. Age was not significantly related.